Testing new SHO Competition AI v1-beta8

[Shovas]

I think I've found an improvement to AI competitiveness after comparing AMS1 RCD Talent files. A key parameter that I think improves AI with this beta is the RCD Talent Composure parameter.

I'd appreciate some testing to see if I'm on the right track. Click here to download a beta of the my mod for these changes. I've been testing with 2004 Ferrari 575s at 2004 Oschersleben GP so far.

With the changes below, AI Race performance matched their Qual performance in that they were competitive, hard to race against, didn't give a spot up too easily, tried to retain their spot, didn't fall back too far when passed, were able to drive side-by-side through corners, etc.

The Composure param has a default value of 0.010 and its range is unknown in GTR2, as far as I can see. In AMS1 it is 0-100. In GTR2 I had always noticed that AI were particularly easy to pass. I was trying to narrow down a param that caused this and when I tried Composure=100 trying to pass an AI was much harder. The great thing about this is that it's only one parameter and we then get to retain the personalities already present in the Talent files that make racing so interesting (things like aggression, consistency, chance of crash and recovery, etc.).

I also zero'd out RCD Talent ColdBrain params as, personally, I thought it made AI far too slow for too long when starting race.

So, the RCD changes were:

//AI skill mistake variables
MinRacingSkill = 0.90
Composure = 100

//AI ColdBrain variables
RaceColdBrainMin=1.0
RaceColdBrainTime=0
QualColdBrainMin=1.0
QualColdBrainTime=0

I also tried AMS1 PLR AI Brake Power/Grip and AI Corner Grip params as I found the AI overly slow in corners even though they might be faster than me elsewhere.

The PLR changes were:

AI Power Calibration="0"
AI Additional Fuel Mult="0.99000"
AI Brake Power Usage="0.99800"
AI Brake Grip Usage="0.99000"
AI Corner Grip Usage="0.99000"
AI Max Load="40000.00000"
AI Min Radius="20.00000"
AI to AI Collision Rate="40"
Player Car Equal="1"
AI Realism="1.0"

All other AI related params in the PLR should be at their default.

Reminder, you still have to get yourself somewhere in the middle of the pack (high or low shouldn't matter) to have a good race.

This beta8 release undoes everything about previous betas and only the above changes are recommended for this mod.

Thanks for the help!

 

[Vilmos Vas]

Hey Shovas,
I've done a 30 min race with this beta and it was pretty fun. I qualified 10th in the NGT class and finished 4th which seems like I gained too much but there were two accidents ahead of me which helped me climbing up the board quicker than expected. All in all, looks like it works as intended, you are definitely on the right path!

Thank you for all your effort, GTR2 became my favourite racing sim, after all these years (again)!

By the way, I've tried your new FFB mod as well, and it feels pretty good, however it feels a bit lighter than the previous version (not a problem) and I feel like it's not that communicative than v5 (I'm using the CSL Elite settings, as that's the closest thing to my ageing belt-driven wheel). Not sure what causes this, but I think a prefer v5 now.

Thanks again, keep on going mate!

 

[Shovas]

Hey Shovas,
I've done a 30 min race with this beta and it was pretty fun. I qualified 10th in the NGT class and finished 4th which seems like I gained too much but there were two accidents ahead of me which helped me climbing up the board quicker than expected. All in all, looks like it works as intended, you are definitely on the right path!

Thank you for all your effort, GTR2 became my favourite racing sim, after all these years (again)!

Glad to hear it!

I was about to come back here and say I think I was wrong about Composure being a key parameter. It's so difficult to do reliable testing with these AI. Sometimes it feels like the changes have done something and sometimes it doesn't but every test is a full quali and race (even if they are short) you have to race the AI hard to make sure they're behaving right. It's quite draining.

By the way, I've tried your new FFB mod as well, and it feels pretty good, however it feels a bit lighter than the previous version (not a problem) and I feel like it's not that communicative than v5 (I'm using the CSL Elite settings, as that's the closest thing to my ageing belt-driven wheel). Not sure what causes this, but I think a prefer v5 now.

The latest update definitely wouldn't have been a massive change. I'm not sure it should have gotten lighter, though, that' strange. What edition did you use? You can always increase strength by increasing the FFB Steer Force Output Max (in 10% increments I recommend). You can also try tuning according to this Question-and-Answer format help: https://selah.ca/secrets-of-gtr2/#The_GTR2_Force_Feedback_Engineer

I can see how it might be less communicative than you're used to. That's due to the Grip Factor change. Previously it was amplifying grip loss from the rear end artificially and I had reduced that quite a bit. You can decrease Grip Factor to tune rear end grip loss effect back in (in 10% increments I recommend).

Or if you're happy with v5 that's great, too. If you end up tuning v6 I'd be happy to add it in the mod for future versions.