rec.autos.simulators

I found something rather odd with the AI in F1 2000 and it may shed
some light on the serious problem with the "crashing" AI.
If you enter a race with the AI the AI will crash rather frequently.
But, if YOU exit the race the AI will NOT crash after YOU leave the
race.

Here is how to test it.

Start a Quick Race at Brazil (or any track) . Race your race. Even if
your crash stay in the race. Do not exit out until the race is over.
There will be a lot of crashed cars at the final results.
Now, start another quick race at the same track.
As soon as the race starts exit out of the race and watch the race
results. This time only one or two cars will crash if ANY.

Now.. why is this?
Could it be the AI are crashing due to a calculations bug?
Or maybe your inputs is some how screwing up the AI drivers?
Or maybe ISI/EA felt it would make the game easier if the AI crashed
if you were doing badly.
I have noticed the better YOU drive the better the AI does.

I think this is the problem with the AI plain and simple.
Only two questions are..

1) Why does this occur?

2) How the %^*%$* can it be fixed?

BTW, the above test was done with the beta AI patch and without, same
results.

- James "Gunslinger" Wohlever

Techware Computer Services
http://www.racesimcentral.net/

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I don't think it has anything to do with how well you drive.
At my last race at Interlagos (Quickrace 50%, 110% AI) I started 22nd.
After the first lap i was #14. Not many laps after that I was nummer 5.
then 4, then 3, then 2, then 1. The AI from 4-1 all spon out in the same
slow corner. And the contuniued to do that all race long. 10 laps before
time I had enough of the, so I exited the race. And just like you said, they
didn't crash anymore.
I lapped constant in the 1.17 - 1.18 range without any mistakes. Still they
spon like mad.

Don't know if that had anything to do with power increase they get at 110%.
It seems like they cant control the extra power. It's like they give the
throttle the same amount whether they are at 70% or 120%.

Borchers

The only thing I can add is that at the default AI setting of 70% they drop
like flies.
However, I upped it to 100% and there seems to be a lot less crashes.
That excludes the Jordan I just saw flying over the top of my car (upside
down) ala Martin Brundle =)
...Col

I don't have the game but have been reading the posts trying to decide
if I should get it or not.  I was wondering how much like a real life
race the dropout rate of the AI cars is ?  In a real race, as we've seen
a lot recently, a lot of cars don't finish.  Are they trying to simulate
this
fact by crashing out the AIs ?  Are we right to assume that AI cars are
to always be infallible and a full grid of AI's would _all_ always finish a
race ?

--
John Hartridge

Hi John.

The issue as I see it is not the fact that a lot drop out of an F12K
race, like you say that is not unusual in real F1.  The issue is that
the AI cars sometimes spin out other cars when it would be easy to
avoid them. (under a controlled speed in a slow corner for example.
The cars behind just continue to move forward and bump the car ahead.
The hairpin at Monaco for example.)

The other issue is the 90% of the AI cars "loosing it" in the same
corner every lap. Seems to be a grip problem.

In any case, ppl are working on these issues, although it is very
uncertain whether they are fixable by anyone.

I do not have this game but when you say you want to watch the race
results that this allows things to be speeded up so that you don't have
to wait in real time for the end of the race.   If so, then I would
hazard a guess that the routines used to calculate what happens when in
a race in real time are completely different to those used when out of
the race and watching the race results.   I would guess that those
routines aren't as sophisticated in order to speed things along and are
dumbed down quite considerably.

<snip>
--
Peter Ives - (AKA Ivington)

No person's opinions can be said to be
more correct than another's, because each is
the sole judge of his or her own experience.

I found it to be *MUCH* more life like. Maybe too much. The one
thing I hated about F1RS is that you could run a 25% race and
not have any cars crash out. In F1 2000 it is *MUCH* different
and one of the things I really like about the game. The first time
you come around a turn and have to dodge a broken body
part which is laying on the track you will probably go "wow".
I did :-)

--

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