Mods are kind of pointless (to me)

[Brent Mills]

So my general routine when encountering a well-regarded car or track is to download it, do a a couple laps, either like it or not and then go do my normal thing which is to join a SRS race or if going online it will likely be another vanilla server with the same old cars.

I've really really tried to enjoy the offline aspect of AC by setting up careers and custom champs with mods I like, but it's just so hard to enjoy racing against the AI. When you make a mistake before the straight and the AI behind has a big run on you, you give him lots of room and he inexplicably brakes rather than pass you, that for me is just such a massive turn off that if I want to carry on doing something offline, I'll fire up RF2 where stupid **** like that will never happen.

So for me, until they fix the AI (I guess since we are now multiple years into AC, this is unlikely to happen), or mod servers start becoming more popular (please let this happen!) , mods are kind of pointless. Do you feel differently?

 

[UMC 22]

Do you feel differently?

Yes, I feel completely differently. Your entire complaint above revolves around the AI, and on those points I agree. AC does have poor AI and I do not enjoy racing against it. But to then say that as a result all mods are pointless is a pretty huge leap and, at least in my view, completely incorrect. They may be pointless to you personally, but they're not to me. And I dare say that I'm not the only one.

For one thing, mods do make an appearance online. Mod tracks are used all the time if they're of good quality. Mod cars are used too, examples being both the Ginettas being run right now and the excellent F3 mod which made an appearance recently. Both were tried out because the community asked for them. But look at the attendance. It's very low. If races go unattended then sooner or later the cars will be dropped in favour of something else. The only way staff know what's popular and what's not is grid sizes, so if we want to see certain cars/tracks being used, then it's down to us as a community to do our part and free up our evenings to race them.

As well as that, there are plenty of people that enjoy just hotlapping in their favourite cars offline. I do it all the time, for hours at a time. It may not be to your taste and I would agree that online racing is far more fun overall, but competing against yourself can be good fun too. I probably spend just as much time in mod cars offline as I do in stock cars. Mods are most certainly not pointless for me, and I greatly appreciate all the work of AC's hugely talented modding community.

 

[Epistolarius]

I'm quite interested in what makes you post a thread like that. What kind of answers you expect on a website with several thousand mods for this sim. And how you'll respond to this:

Do you feel differently?

Yes.

Almost everything is moddable with this sim. SRS you mentioned is technically a mod, a third-party plugin not part of the original software. But obviously modding is totally pointless because the AI had difficulties in whatever conditions you set a race up.

If you want to criticise the AI then I would encourage you to do that on official channels where the devs are reading your feedback. And I'm pretty sure the devs know, Kunos is probably pulling his hair out over it as we speak.

None of this has to do with modding as a whole, AI doesn't make mods pointless. The state of the AI doesn't affect modded cars, tracks, liveries, helmets, suits, sounds, apps, themes, third-party software like alternative launchers. If you want to make that connection because AI makes you not enjoy the sim the way you play it then that's on you. If AI makes you not enjoy the sim, any of its content or mods available for it as a whole then there are other games out there. If rf2 is more enjoyable then what keeps you from playing and trying (making?) mods for that sim? For many other people modding is what keeps games like this alive and interesting, even if the base software has issues (which arguably all sims have). And people still seem to be able to do racing against this AI and have fun with it, believe it or not.

or mod servers start becoming more popular (please let this happen!)

Make one or ask someone to set one up. Stuff like this doesn't materialise out of thin air without people coming together to make it reality.

 

[F_B]

I have to agree partly with the OP: yes, you see mod tracks online, but most of the time they’re not used. Now with NJMP released one of the Streetfight servers even hosted this excellent mod track. But guess what? Not populated when I checked it yesterday. In my opinion that’s a problem with AC and its multiplayer: people don’t use mods, most stick to vanilla content like Spa, Monza and Nords.

I also tried running my own server mostly with mod content but that wasn’t very successful either.

However mods are still great to have and make up a big part of my experiences I have with AC. Without some great mods this sim wouldn’t be as big as it is now imo.

 

[Brent Mills]

Don't worry this is not about some strange idea to stop AC being moddable, I just realised that it's such a pity I don't get much enjoyment out of all the great mods out there which I would do if there was good AI. Don't think there's much point complaining about the AI on the main site, I'd likely be banned or told I'm wrong by the fan-boys. If hot-lapping is your thing then there's definitely a great reason to have mods, but I get bored of that quite quickly.

edit: something that might help the online situation enormously would be to make mods downloadable as in RF2. I just don't think most people can be bothered to exit the game, download a mod and go back in, and also many people likely have the 'don't show unowned' content filter enabled. My feeling is that this could really encourage mod participation a lot more.

 

[Fat-Alfie]

Make a track for AC - doing that will keep you occupied for at least 6 months

 

[Ryno917]

So my general routine when encountering a well-regarded car or track is to download it, do a a couple laps, either like it or not and then go do my normal thing which is to join a SRS race or if going online it will likely be another vanilla server with the same old cars.

I've really really tried to enjoy the offline aspect of AC by setting up careers and custom champs with mods I like, but it's just so hard to enjoy racing against the AI. When you make a mistake before the straight and the AI behind has a big run on you, you give him lots of room and he inexplicably brakes rather than pass you, that for me is just such a massive turn off that if I want to carry on doing something offline, I'll fire up RF2 where stupid **** like that will never happen.

So for me, until they fix the AI (I guess since we are now multiple years into AC, this is unlikely to happen), or mod servers start becoming more popular (please let this happen!) , mods are kind of pointless. Do you feel differently?

Granted I haven't played rF2 in a couple years, so it could be better now, but AI in all ISI sims has always been crap. They've always done exactly what you said; braked instead of passing me. Always. It's been that way since SCGT released, carried through all the F1 titles and on into rF and rF2. If they've made it better in the last two years, cool. Hopefully there's something that can be learned and applied to other titles.

As for AC? The AI can be really good at times. I've had several absolutely fantastic races in the Cayman GT4 Clubsport at Brands Hatch, for instance. But, yes, it is definitely a mixed bag.

I'm yet to play any racing game of any type that has consistently good AI, unfortunately.

 

[Brent Mills]

braked instead of passing me. .

I think you must have had aggression too low, rf2 AI is amazing, almost feels like driving against real people.

 

[After_Midnight]

Do you feel differently?

Yes.

Really pointless is your whole post if you make the authorization of mods depending on the KI ingame.

 

[Epistolarius]

Don't think there's much point complaining about the AI on the main site, I'd likely be banned or told I'm wrong by the fan-boys.

If that's your mentality then that's on you. There is plenty of discussion about the issues the AI in Assetto Corsa has over on the official forums. If you expect to get banned for what you would say then perhaps you should reconsider what you'd say.

 

[Brent Mills]

Well guys, you're right this post was kind of pointless, I guess it was me venting my frustration at having a game that is so close to being awesome but then misses that status by a fair distance because of really sub-standard AI. It should have had a title about the sub-standard AI and then the fact that my mods are little used because of it, rather than the other way around.

 

[Ryno917]

I think you must have had aggression too low, rf2 AI is amazing, almost feels like driving against real people.

I've tried aggression settings all through the range, and the same issue appeared constantly. Like I said, though, I haven't touched rF2 in a couple years, so maybe it's gotten better.

 

[Michael Hornbuckle]

Yes.

Really pointless is your whole post if you make the authorization of mods depending on the KI ingame.

I think bitching about the AI was the point of the OP, not sure what mods have to do with it though.

 

[Brent Mills]

Yeh was in a bad mood earlier,wish I'd never written any of this. I'd not want it thought that modders work is not appreciated.

 

[Brandon Wright]

Yeh was in a bad mood earlier,wish I'd never written any of this. I'd not want it thought that modders work is not appreciated.

I can somewhat see the point you were getting at, if you can't find mods used online and the AI isn't good enough for you to enjoy racing offline, then the value of said mods is lessened. But it depends on how narrow your scope is. I can spend an hour just hot lapping around a new mod track because I saw it on tv and want to learn it. There's also great mods like Pacific Coast that are fun just to cruise on, and he even has a layout where the AI stays in the right lane so you can blast pass them like you're overtaking traffic.

As for mods being used online, in the RD Porsche Cup club race this past Saturday we used the Road America mod and had nearly 20 people on the grid. This week we're using the new New Jersey Motorsports Park mod and already have almost a dozen signed up (sign up here if interested). So it just depends on where you're looking I guess. Due to less than ideal AI mods maybe aren't as useful as they could be, but they're still useful.

 

[Brent Mills]

I really need to look into doing some RD races. As it stands my time is taken up by IRacing, and SRS. However with the IRacings recent price increases I'll likely lapse on my next years subs so I'll probably try then.

 

[Bobby Pennington]

I'm a big fan of track mods done well. The car mods, some are good, some are so so, but the work these guys put into them is impressive. I usually use mod cars for hill climbs, rally and of course F1.
Overall I tend to stick with the original Kunos cars for their physics. I mean I've never driven Konisegg and will never get to, but it's cool I can in this game and I have to trust their physics.
I own a 944, rebuilt it myself after blown head gasket, so I know how the car handles. Having said that, most but not all, 944 mods I've driven are either to tail happy or have to much grip. That's my experience and mho. Nothing else.

 

[Fat-Alfie]

Same here - I have a very short list of mod cars and tracks installed. I am probably less fussy about tracks (the layout is more important than the visual aspect for me), but cars are all about the physics. I trust Kunos to get it right, but there are only a handful of mod cars that feel as good as theirs, and those are the ones I use and keep. When you hear that the guy who made the physics for a mod car has spent hours trawling through the net researching the car, and hundreds of pounds buying specialist books for data, and scale models to measure the geometry, you know that it is going to be a keeper (you know who you are )

 

[DutchDevil79]

Yep mods make it more interesting for me. I like to drive different tracks and I have some friends who always join in racing new tracks (there just aren't enough tracks in AC standard game). And as for new cars it really depends on the physics yes. If they feel right I will drive them as well but you have to look for them.
But I agree with you that mods should be hosted more online. As there is hardly any fun in racing against the AI.

On Thursday nights we always have a group of people running mods online. Mostly Dutch people but we also got a Brazilian and Portugees friend joining once in a while. You´re free to join us if you like. This is our program for tommorow.

https://gathering.tweakers.net/forum/list_message/50489231#50489231

 

[Brent Mills]

Thanks Dutch, I might just do that.