According to many, racing the AI can be hit or miss in Le Mans Ultimate. But with these few tips, your experience is sure to be full of hits – in the good way.
Since its launch, there is no doubt that Le Mans Ultimate‘s online Race Control service has proven popular. Players are desperate to rise through the ranks to compete in special events and multi class races.
But as something of a spiritual successor to GTR2, focusing on a full sportscar season, LMU must also be a fantastic offline simulator. With an immersive driving experience and rFactor 2 AI performing well in traffic, the new title is certainly on its way there.
However, there are some frustrating quirks to the early access game’s AI racing experience. Here are some tips on how to improve competition.
In LMU, the AI seems to forget this fact. Instead, Hypercar competitors seemingly pit whenever they want to, never attempt to double stint tyres and spend as much time calculating fuel as an iRacing rookie in a fixed series.
Le Mans Ultimate AI already works well enough for a fun experience. Image credit: Studio 397
With that in mind, it is a good idea to mimic this lack of intelligent strategy when racing the computer. Sure, you will not want to pit at 60% Energy remaining in the Ferrari 499P. But when it comes to tyres and fuel filling in the pits, they are small sacrifices to make. Here is what you will want to do.
The first thing one should do if feeling bullied by the LMU AI is to turn down the Aggression setting in the Difficulty page. In general, the standard 50% does appear to be a good setting, though incidents do still occur. You can either put that down to realistic mistakes, or prefer a contact-free event and turn the setting down further.
If you do find yourself in the wringer a little too often, there are some signs of car body language that can help to avoid incidents.
Firstly, the most frequent contact in intra-class battles seems to be cars behind making contact mid-turn when the player tries to cut across and pull off and undercut. In this case, one would suggest refraining from aggressive moves when the pack is still quite tight. In fact, early-race moves in endurance racing are rare and only really happen on straights.
Secondly and as aforementioned, the AI does seem to misjudge approach speeds on the brakes into slow corners. But they do seem to be cleaner when the player, in a slower class, goes for a slightly defensive line. Somehow, they recognise the player better like this.
Whilst the most recent patches have focused on ironing out bugs and introducing minor fixes, future updates are set to bring new features, better gameplay and overall improvements. So hopefully in a few months’ time, this guide will be redundant. But until then, do enjoy some strategy-less endurance racing offline.
What tricks do you have for improving AI racing in Le Mans Ultimate? Tell us on Twitter at @OverTake_gg or in the comments down below!
Since its launch, there is no doubt that Le Mans Ultimate‘s online Race Control service has proven popular. Players are desperate to rise through the ranks to compete in special events and multi class races.
But as something of a spiritual successor to GTR2, focusing on a full sportscar season, LMU must also be a fantastic offline simulator. With an immersive driving experience and rFactor 2 AI performing well in traffic, the new title is certainly on its way there.
However, there are some frustrating quirks to the early access game’s AI racing experience. Here are some tips on how to improve competition.
Follow AI Strategy in Le Mans Ultimate
Le Mans Ultimate is the official game to the World Endurance Championship. And one major aspect of endurance racing is pit strategy. Which compound to use, how much fuel to take on and how long can you make a set of tyres last – these are all key factors to winning an endurance event.In LMU, the AI seems to forget this fact. Instead, Hypercar competitors seemingly pit whenever they want to, never attempt to double stint tyres and spend as much time calculating fuel as an iRacing rookie in a fixed series.
Le Mans Ultimate AI already works well enough for a fun experience. Image credit: Studio 397
With that in mind, it is a good idea to mimic this lack of intelligent strategy when racing the computer. Sure, you will not want to pit at 60% Energy remaining in the Ferrari 499P. But when it comes to tyres and fuel filling in the pits, they are small sacrifices to make. Here is what you will want to do.
- Only ever run the softest compound in Hypercar and GTE races
- Always change tyres at the pit stop, never try to double-stint
- Fill the tank to the brim, rather than planning distance to the end of the race
Racecraft to Look Out For
Across social media, sim racers are bound to notice the complaints of overly-aggressive AI in racing situations on Le Mans Ultimate. From being in lower classes and getting rear-ended on the brakes to side-by-side contact through corners fighting for position, the bots can be unforgiving.The first thing one should do if feeling bullied by the LMU AI is to turn down the Aggression setting in the Difficulty page. In general, the standard 50% does appear to be a good setting, though incidents do still occur. You can either put that down to realistic mistakes, or prefer a contact-free event and turn the setting down further.
If you do find yourself in the wringer a little too often, there are some signs of car body language that can help to avoid incidents.
Firstly, the most frequent contact in intra-class battles seems to be cars behind making contact mid-turn when the player tries to cut across and pull off and undercut. In this case, one would suggest refraining from aggressive moves when the pack is still quite tight. In fact, early-race moves in endurance racing are rare and only really happen on straights.
Secondly and as aforementioned, the AI does seem to misjudge approach speeds on the brakes into slow corners. But they do seem to be cleaner when the player, in a slower class, goes for a slightly defensive line. Somehow, they recognise the player better like this.
Plenty of Improvement Needed
Overall, a full release should not require quite so many concessions from the player when trying to have a fun online race. However, Le Mans Ultimate is still in Early Access with the developers constantly releasing updates for the game.Whilst the most recent patches have focused on ironing out bugs and introducing minor fixes, future updates are set to bring new features, better gameplay and overall improvements. So hopefully in a few months’ time, this guide will be redundant. But until then, do enjoy some strategy-less endurance racing offline.
What tricks do you have for improving AI racing in Le Mans Ultimate? Tell us on Twitter at @OverTake_gg or in the comments down below!
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