First off: I don't play MP, so it was okay for me to buy the game for SP only and I accepted that there wouldn't be pitstops. Also: I wouldn't have bought if they didn't offer the 2014 update also, since what I like about racing are strategical decisions regarding tires, pit stops and so on. And these things where really important in the real DTM this year. Oh and I have no experience with RRE.
I played the first race of the Championship several times with Practice/Qualifying/Race to see how the mechanics are working.
ADAPTIVE AI
So what's adaptive AI? Since there is no manual all I have is the information other users have given and what's floating in the net: adaptive AI adapts to you after 5-10 Laps. That's the theory.
In practice, well, I would like to know how it exactly works, because I'm a little bit putzzled. To what does it adapt? My fastest time on the circuit? Some average from my last 5-10 Laps? Why 5-10 Laps? And then: WHEN does the AI adapt? In the same session? The next session? Does it adapt every time anew?
My experience: I startet a free practice, the AI was usually 1.5 Seconds off my pace. The same in Qualifying and in the race. Then I quit that, went back into the main menu and startet a new game. Now sometimes the best cars were in range of my fastest lap... in one particular game in Practice and the first 2 Qualifying sessions the AI did that very well, but in the last Qualifying session they were again off 1.5 seconds. The race was no better.
It was one of the dullest races in my life. I won but I really crept around the track talking to my girlfriend and still I was 30 seconds in the lead after 31 rounds. If I had tried my best I'm sure I would have been 3 seconds better per lap. Beforehand I tried a full length race, but couldn't be bothered to drive 42 laps with the AI 2 seconds behind me in every lap. There's no point in it. This isn't fun, this is work and really boring.
SINGLE PLAYER EXPERIENCE
The thing is: The driving is nice, the graphics really suit me, I tweaked my FFB to my liking and WHEN the AI is up to your speed or faster it is really enjoyable. This is what I got out of the demos. That's great and I like it. But after several tries, I only had that pleasure to see the AI adapt maybe 2 times out of maybe 10. So the AI is good and it is fun raciing against them, but it would be important to know to what and when they adapt to you.
Another letdown was what I call the rfactor syndrome...the AI does it's best lap in Practice and Qualifying in their very first lap... so if you have P1 after 3 of your own laps you don't have to be bothered to watch what will happen, because the AI usually can't beat you. Which is a shame because there is something like a TV director setting, where you see the other cars lap (sadly without the TV overlays).
Then - there's no manual. Some things really aren't very clear to me. For example on the mini display in your car you have three warning signs. Oil lamp, exclamation mark and something that relates to your motor. At first I didn't have auto clutch on, so rightfully I smashed my gearbox to pieces after 3 Laps. I really would like to know what failures can happen to the car and why they happen. What do they mean exactly?
I played with every option on real. So real flags, tire wear, motor failures - everything was activated. Tire wear I didn't really notice. It's probably there, but unnoticable to me.
The thing is.. with an AI that most often doesn't adapt to you, no Pitstops, no Safety Car, no tire strategy BUT everything else working it is not the DTM Experience it is the Vettel Experience. Really, in my first full length race I was in no time 30 seconds in front. What should I do the next 32 laps? If you want to entertain yourself, well, you can hotlap, but that's it. In real life I would love this, in a game, well... As long as you don't make any dumb move (and driving really slowly doesn't cut as that) there's not much race to have.
SimBin are very opaque regarding information or answering questions and because of this this message is directly adressed to them:
I know developing games is hard and afaik you only have a small team, but there are only so many things I can accept when I pay for a full price game. I bought a fully functional hotlap simulator with beautiful modeled cars and tracks (credit where credit's due), where the driving is great fun and all else works indeed, but: without proper working AI this game is worthless to me. The AI is good IF it is up to my pace, but I it's far to erratic how this works. Please fix the Race Experience ASAP or explain how I can edit the AI so that this game is actually fun.
PS: And for heavens sake write a manual or explain your options ingame better. Somebody without simulator knowledge will be helpless with so many options which aren't explained properly.
I played the first race of the Championship several times with Practice/Qualifying/Race to see how the mechanics are working.
ADAPTIVE AI
So what's adaptive AI? Since there is no manual all I have is the information other users have given and what's floating in the net: adaptive AI adapts to you after 5-10 Laps. That's the theory.
In practice, well, I would like to know how it exactly works, because I'm a little bit putzzled. To what does it adapt? My fastest time on the circuit? Some average from my last 5-10 Laps? Why 5-10 Laps? And then: WHEN does the AI adapt? In the same session? The next session? Does it adapt every time anew?
My experience: I startet a free practice, the AI was usually 1.5 Seconds off my pace. The same in Qualifying and in the race. Then I quit that, went back into the main menu and startet a new game. Now sometimes the best cars were in range of my fastest lap... in one particular game in Practice and the first 2 Qualifying sessions the AI did that very well, but in the last Qualifying session they were again off 1.5 seconds. The race was no better.
It was one of the dullest races in my life. I won but I really crept around the track talking to my girlfriend and still I was 30 seconds in the lead after 31 rounds. If I had tried my best I'm sure I would have been 3 seconds better per lap. Beforehand I tried a full length race, but couldn't be bothered to drive 42 laps with the AI 2 seconds behind me in every lap. There's no point in it. This isn't fun, this is work and really boring.
SINGLE PLAYER EXPERIENCE
The thing is: The driving is nice, the graphics really suit me, I tweaked my FFB to my liking and WHEN the AI is up to your speed or faster it is really enjoyable. This is what I got out of the demos. That's great and I like it. But after several tries, I only had that pleasure to see the AI adapt maybe 2 times out of maybe 10. So the AI is good and it is fun raciing against them, but it would be important to know to what and when they adapt to you.
Another letdown was what I call the rfactor syndrome...the AI does it's best lap in Practice and Qualifying in their very first lap... so if you have P1 after 3 of your own laps you don't have to be bothered to watch what will happen, because the AI usually can't beat you. Which is a shame because there is something like a TV director setting, where you see the other cars lap (sadly without the TV overlays).
Then - there's no manual. Some things really aren't very clear to me. For example on the mini display in your car you have three warning signs. Oil lamp, exclamation mark and something that relates to your motor. At first I didn't have auto clutch on, so rightfully I smashed my gearbox to pieces after 3 Laps. I really would like to know what failures can happen to the car and why they happen. What do they mean exactly?
I played with every option on real. So real flags, tire wear, motor failures - everything was activated. Tire wear I didn't really notice. It's probably there, but unnoticable to me.
The thing is.. with an AI that most often doesn't adapt to you, no Pitstops, no Safety Car, no tire strategy BUT everything else working it is not the DTM Experience it is the Vettel Experience. Really, in my first full length race I was in no time 30 seconds in front. What should I do the next 32 laps? If you want to entertain yourself, well, you can hotlap, but that's it. In real life I would love this, in a game, well... As long as you don't make any dumb move (and driving really slowly doesn't cut as that) there's not much race to have.
SimBin are very opaque regarding information or answering questions and because of this this message is directly adressed to them:
I know developing games is hard and afaik you only have a small team, but there are only so many things I can accept when I pay for a full price game. I bought a fully functional hotlap simulator with beautiful modeled cars and tracks (credit where credit's due), where the driving is great fun and all else works indeed, but: without proper working AI this game is worthless to me. The AI is good IF it is up to my pace, but I it's far to erratic how this works. Please fix the Race Experience ASAP or explain how I can edit the AI so that this game is actually fun.
PS: And for heavens sake write a manual or explain your options ingame better. Somebody without simulator knowledge will be helpless with so many options which aren't explained properly.
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