Race Sim Central
Rec.Autos.Simulators Archive

N4 - A Couple Of Observations

4 posts by 4 people · 15 Mar 2001 19:33 UTC - 19 Mar 2001 20:46 UTC

Peter Hooper 15 Mar 2001 19:33 UTC#195444
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
Kinda like racing online eh :-) Chris On Thu, 15 Mar 2001 19:33:07 +0000, Peter Hooper <[email hidden]> wrote:
Quoted text (44 lines)>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 >
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 "Peter Hooper" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:[email hidden]...
Quoted text (8 lines)> 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). >
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 <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:[email hidden]...
Quoted text (53 lines)> Kinda like racing online eh :-) > > > Chris > > On Thu, 15 Mar 2001 19:33:07 +0000, Peter Hooper > <[email hidden]> wrote: > > >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 > > >

Sponsors

Affiliate Links

Sim Gaming Expo MOZA Racing Sim-Lab Fanatec TrakRacer Asetek Internet Privacy From NordVPN Dreamhost Capital One Credit Card Application Fanatical CDKeys Amazon Amazon UK Project Motor Racing iRacing Get your racing gloves, boots and more from Demon Tweeks. Enlist at Roberts Space Industries, developers of Star Citizen and Squadron 42


Back from the ashes since July, 2019. First created in 2001 with the merger of Legends Central (founded 1999) and simracing.dk.

A site by a sort of sim racer, for sim racers, about racing sims. News and information on both modern and historic sim racing software titles.

All products and licenses property of their respective owners.


Facebook Threads Bluesky Twitter Mastodon Instagram YouTube Tiktok Twitch Reddit Google News Apple News Subscribe via WordPress Flipboard eBay

Race Sim Central © 1999-2026 | Some links pay RSC a commission. Advertising does not equal endorsement.Cookie Policy