previous simbin titles have had simplified physics i know cause when i was tweaking mods there is a diffent set of values for the ai.
Yep, I think it's fairly self evident if you have a slider that goes over 100% that the AI performance is faked, isn't it? It sounds a bit like the AI is talking to Alan Sugar "I'm going to give it 110%, Lord Sugar"
If you use the free content, say, Saleen at Bridge, the AI are beating the current top leaderboard times but you can follow them (either in replay or by chasing them and pretty much conclude it's faked) compared with loading and following the ghosts from the leaderboards.
It looks like it shares the race 07 / race pro faked qualifying thing to get some quicker "hotlap" times. e.g you can top practise lap time, qualify 12th and then go back to trivially beating them. I don't know what this is supposed to be simulating? IRL, of course, cars tend to be slower at the start of the race because they are full of fuel etc. But clearly if that isn't affecting your times (because of the settings you have) it shouldn't affect their times either.
assetto corsa may not have simplified physics but the ai is no wear near as good as r3e so maybe they need to think about it.
Stefano seems to be rapidly finding and fixing bugs though - and, if you have the CPU oomph to throw at the AI, I think this has a lot of potential. Especially as regards training.
Amongst the bugs he's tweeted about, the AI were picking street tyres (so if you've been beating them on slicks quite easily, that's probably why), they weren't braking properly to avoid hitting the player in some circumstances, he seems to have done work on the start.
You can learn a fair deal just setting the AI in any game to a level where you can comfortably sit on their tail and just drive around behind them, and then upping the slider to get out of that comfort zone.
But of course, if the AI physics is faked you soon reach a point where that breaks down. Where you and the AI are not on level terms. This makes a mockery of any idea that the AI are competitive too, if you're just looking at the laptimes, sure, you can set them to whatever you want, but the idea you are racing them neck and neck in the same car is just an illusion if the physics are faked.
With AI that has the same physics engine and you just have an algorithm that is inputting steering and pedal inputs you can, in theory at least, train with them right up to the true limits of the sim. The other low hanging fruit, of course, would be giving you a computer driver who is consistent, doesn't get tired with whom you can test setup changes (although I suppose that raises questions about driving style affecting setup)
I hope assetto corsa add some features to that end though. It'd be nice to be able to alter the AI performance in game by twiddling a dial, the same way you can alter something like brake balance. It'd be nice to have a hotlap mode where an AI driver is dropped onto the track in front of you as you pass the start / finish for you to chase around (like a ghost)
And then, of course, something to let you compare the laps.
