rec.autos.simulators

by **Peter Hoope** » Sat, 17 Mar 2001 04:33:07

Hi all,

This is just a quick question regarding N4 and the problematic AI.

I have had the sim for a few weeks now but have spent much of that
time just trying to tweak things so that I get good performance from
my current system (PIII 600, 128mb RAM, V5 5500 AGP).

Over the last few days however I have been having some offline races
and have been quite surprised at the very poor collision detection in
the sim. I have owned all the other Papy sims (Indy 500, ICR 1& 2,
Nascar 1, 2, 3, 99 and now 4, GPL) and my initial impressions are that
the collision detection in N4 is the worst Papy have produced.

Now don't get me wrong I do actually love the sim and have already had
a blast with it but this particular bug is one that does detract
considerably from the realism factor. Watching as a car merges
slightly with a car in front whilst battling for position is bad
enough but when the car behind actually merges three-quarters of the
way into the car in front is about as bad as it can get and is
something that should surely have been picked up early in the testing
stages. After all it was blatantly apparent to me after just a few
laps.

This brings me on to my other point, namely the performance of the AI
cars. Is the reason that the AI seem to find it so hard to avoid
contact with the player car attributable to this merging cars
problem?? Most of the incidents I have been involved with do not
happen to the AI cars because if they are involved in a similar tussle
they simply merge together at the point where contact is made whereas
if I am involved there is contact. I know that some of the accidents
involving myself have been down to a misjudgment from me but there
have been plenty of others where I have held my line perfectly only to
spun from behind as the following car bumps me on either the inside or
outside. At some points it makes you wonder whether the car widths
have been miscalculated somehow.

Is there any news on whether these issues are being addressed in the
patch?

Regards

PH

by **hanse..** » Sat, 17 Mar 2001 05:14:40

Kinda like racing online eh :-)

Chris

On Thu, 15 Mar 2001 19:33:07 +0000, Peter Hooper

>Hi all,

>This is just a quick question regarding N4 and the problematic AI.

>I have had the sim for a few weeks now but have spent much of that
>time just trying to tweak things so that I get good performance from
>my current system (PIII 600, 128mb RAM, V5 5500 AGP).

>Over the last few days however I have been having some offline races
>and have been quite surprised at the very poor collision detection in
>the sim. I have owned all the other Papy sims (Indy 500, ICR 1& 2,
>Nascar 1, 2, 3, 99 and now 4, GPL) and my initial impressions are that
>the collision detection in N4 is the worst Papy have produced.

>Now don't get me wrong I do actually love the sim and have already had
>a blast with it but this particular bug is one that does detract
>considerably from the realism factor. Watching as a car merges
>slightly with a car in front whilst battling for position is bad
>enough but when the car behind actually merges three-quarters of the
>way into the car in front is about as bad as it can get and is
>something that should surely have been picked up early in the testing
>stages. After all it was blatantly apparent to me after just a few
>laps.

>This brings me on to my other point, namely the performance of the AI
>cars. Is the reason that the AI seem to find it so hard to avoid
>contact with the player car attributable to this merging cars
>problem?? Most of the incidents I have been involved with do not
>happen to the AI cars because if they are involved in a similar tussle
>they simply merge together at the point where contact is made whereas
>if I am involved there is contact. I know that some of the accidents
>involving myself have been down to a misjudgment from me but there
>have been plenty of others where I have held my line perfectly only to
>spun from behind as the following car bumps me on either the inside or
>outside. At some points it makes you wonder whether the car widths
>have been miscalculated somehow.

>Is there any news on whether these issues are being addressed in the
>patch?

>Regards

>PH

by **Dave Henri** » Sat, 17 Mar 2001 09:29:06

I would think they were having a difficult time with the collision
detection and how
the AI "sees" each other and the human driver...so they fudged and made
anything short
of a fullblown "Titantic vs the Iceberg" collision, not count. You should
see when two cars get stuck together on top of each other...
No word yet on any patch or fix...there is a possible work-around posted
at
theuspits.com

dave henrie

by **Phaso** » Wed, 21 Mar 2001 05:46:48

Actually, it's funny. While racing online is usually a wreckfest because of
inconsiderate morons, I find that racing against guys that *do* know what
they are doing, is much easier than against the AI! Why? Well, the AI
races flawlessly against itself, i.e. it can do 200 laps with 3 or 4 cars
wide, only a few inches between each car. The AI expects you to do the
same! When racing online, people are (rightly so) scared of wrecking, so
they either pass or let somebody pass them, just so that they *don't* have
to race side by side for many laps, which is inherently dangerous. The AI
just leaves absolutely no margin for error.

Another thing that I've noticed - while the AI will not move over for you
just because you are coming up behind fast, it *will* move over if you bump
them. Bump the AI right square in the ass, not too hard, and it will move
over for you even if you aren't as fast as it. The beauty part is that the
AI will move off the racing line, and therefore have to slow down, and then
you can pass it even if it is faster than you.

-Phasor

> Kinda like racing online eh :-)

> Chris

> On Thu, 15 Mar 2001 19:33:07 +0000, Peter Hooper

> >Hi all,

> >This is just a quick question regarding N4 and the problematic AI.

> >I have had the sim for a few weeks now but have spent much of that
> >time just trying to tweak things so that I get good performance from
> >my current system (PIII 600, 128mb RAM, V5 5500 AGP).

> >Over the last few days however I have been having some offline races
> >and have been quite surprised at the very poor collision detection in
> >the sim. I have owned all the other Papy sims (Indy 500, ICR 1& 2,
> >Nascar 1, 2, 3, 99 and now 4, GPL) and my initial impressions are that
> >the collision detection in N4 is the worst Papy have produced.

> >Now don't get me wrong I do actually love the sim and have already had
> >a blast with it but this particular bug is one that does detract
> >considerably from the realism factor. Watching as a car merges
> >slightly with a car in front whilst battling for position is bad
> >enough but when the car behind actually merges three-quarters of the
> >way into the car in front is about as bad as it can get and is
> >something that should surely have been picked up early in the testing
> >stages. After all it was blatantly apparent to me after just a few
> >laps.

> >This brings me on to my other point, namely the performance of the AI
> >cars. Is the reason that the AI seem to find it so hard to avoid
> >contact with the player car attributable to this merging cars
> >problem?? Most of the incidents I have been involved with do not
> >happen to the AI cars because if they are involved in a similar tussle
> >they simply merge together at the point where contact is made whereas
> >if I am involved there is contact. I know that some of the accidents
> >involving myself have been down to a misjudgment from me but there
> >have been plenty of others where I have held my line perfectly only to
> >spun from behind as the following car bumps me on either the inside or
> >outside. At some points it makes you wonder whether the car widths
> >have been miscalculated somehow.

> >Is there any news on whether these issues are being addressed in the
> >patch?

> >Regards

> >PH

rec.autos.simulators

N4 - A Couple Of Observations

N4 - A Couple Of Observations

N4 - A Couple Of Observations

N4 - A Couple Of Observations

N4 - A Couple Of Observations