AI after today's update.

[Ho3n3r]

Yes, the slower AI in the same class stubbornly blocks the leading AI. Blue flags are completely useless, and I get no penalties even when I ignore blue flags myself.

Agree with the first part, that's what happens in LMU right now.

Regarding the part I've highlighted in red: worth noting that the blue flags are different than in F1, you don't need to slow down and give way by slowing down or jumping out of the way.

 

[aaron0288]

I am doing 6h race at Fuji in Hypercar. AI is 2-3sec slower compared to quali. After 3 stints I lapped every single car in my class. I was 11th in quali!

BTW why lapped cars don't get blue flag and they try to race with me?

There’s an element of reality there, as ultimately, you look at real life lap times in races (in Hypercar especially), with tyre wear/full tanks/fuel saving etc, they’re often 2-3 seconds off qualifying pace. Only at very specific times during the race are they allowed to go full chat, depending how well they’ve managed tyres/fuel etc.

Tyre wear doesn’t really seem to be a thing in LMU outside of the wear percentage changing. I’ve got them to under 50% without feeling any difference. I’m sure someone’s tested it and there’s a drop off at some point, but you can easily double stint tyres pretty much everywhere. Weight is definitely simulated in game and through the FFB which is good and I quite enjoy fuel saving, but unless you change the AI fuel usage in the json files to use much less than you, fuel saving is pointless outside of making it more immersive for yourself.

I get that’s a lot of AI programming for the devs to get right, and it’ll be impossible for them to get it 100% right, especially with all the variables in multiclass endurance racing. But there are definitely improvements needed for the career mode to mean anything.

Must say my biggest issue right now is the speed difference between player and AI. I just fly past them everywhere, even with worse corner exits or more fuel onboard.

 

[ndslpsp]

There’s an element of reality there, as ultimately, you look at real life lap times in races (in Hypercar especially), with tyre wear/full tanks/fuel saving etc, they’re often 2-3 seconds off qualifying pace. Only at very specific times during the race are they allowed to go full chat, depending how well they’ve managed tyres/fuel etc.

Tyre wear doesn’t really seem to be a thing in LMU outside of the wear percentage changing. I’ve got them to under 50% without feeling any difference. I’m sure someone’s tested it and there’s a drop off at some point, but you can easily double stint tyres pretty much everywhere. Weight is definitely simulated in game and through the FFB which is good and I quite enjoy fuel saving, but unless you change the AI fuel usage in the json files to use much less than you, fuel saving is pointless outside of making it more immersive for yourself.

I get that’s a lot of AI programming for the devs to get right, and it’ll be impossible for them to get it 100% right, especially with all the variables in multiclass endurance racing. But there are definitely improvements needed for the career mode to mean anything.

Must say my biggest issue right now is the speed difference between player and AI. I just fly past them everywhere, even with worse corner exits or more fuel onboard.

I don’t want to write off the AI entirely. After all, when tyre wear is disabled, they make pretty decent opponents for 20–40 minute races. But their performance in long-distance endurance races is absolutely abysmal. We’re not even talking about changing weather conditions — they are incredibly frustrating even in dry, clear‑weather endurance events.

I never run endurance races against same‑class AI. I’d rather race my GT3 alone with a pack of Hypercar P2s out on track. Yeah, I just finish the race and I’m the champion.

 

[aaron0288]

I don’t want to write off the AI entirely. After all, when tyre wear is disabled, they make pretty decent opponents for 20–40 minute races. But their performance in long-distance endurance races is absolutely abysmal. We’re not even talking about changing weather conditions — they are incredibly frustrating even in dry, clear‑weather endurance events.

I never run endurance races against same‑class AI. I’d rather race my GT3 alone with a pack of Hypercar P2s out on track. Yeah, I just finish the race and I’m the champion.

Oh no, me neither. They are for the most part fantastic to race against. There are just lots of annoying little issues that are exacerbated while you’re trying to run an endurance race. Which is a bit of an issue in this game

 

[mjo1704]

You can fine-tune the AI drivers' speed—at least in corners and on the approach to them—by adjusting the AI cars' brake pressure in the JSON file.
I adjusted it myself because the AI cars were able to brake much later than I could.

 

[ndslpsp]

On top of that, I’ve found lapped vehicles frequently get stuck and create long trains in single‑class endurance events. This issue, however, almost never shows up for me in three‑class mixed endurance races.

 

[ndslpsp]

There’s an element of reality there, as ultimately, you look at real life lap times in races (in Hypercar especially), with tyre wear/full tanks/fuel saving etc, they’re often 2-3 seconds off qualifying pace. Only at very specific times during the race are they allowed to go full chat, depending how well they’ve managed tyres/fuel etc.

Tyre wear doesn’t really seem to be a thing in LMU outside of the wear percentage changing. I’ve got them to under 50% without feeling any difference. I’m sure someone’s tested it and there’s a drop off at some point, but you can easily double stint tyres pretty much everywhere. Weight is definitely simulated in game and through the FFB which is good and I quite enjoy fuel saving, but unless you change the AI fuel usage in the json files to use much less than you, fuel saving is pointless outside of making it more immersive for yourself.

I get that’s a lot of AI programming for the devs to get right, and it’ll be impossible for them to get it 100% right, especially with all the variables in multiclass endurance racing. But there are definitely improvements needed for the career mode to mean anything.

Must say my biggest issue right now is the speed difference between player and AI. I just fly past them everywhere, even with worse corner exits or more fuel onboard.

If your main issue is inconsistent pace with the AI over long stints, there’s a simple solution.
Just disable tyre wear and the pace lines up nicely. The AI gets quicker lap after lap as fuel burns off.
It’s ideal when you don’t feel wear makes much difference to your lap times either way.

 

[ndslpsp]

There’s an element of reality there, as ultimately, you look at real life lap times in races (in Hypercar especially), with tyre wear/full tanks/fuel saving etc, they’re often 2-3 seconds off qualifying pace. Only at very specific times during the race are they allowed to go full chat, depending how well they’ve managed tyres/fuel etc.

Tyre wear doesn’t really seem to be a thing in LMU outside of the wear percentage changing. I’ve got them to under 50% without feeling any difference. I’m sure someone’s tested it and there’s a drop off at some point, but you can easily double stint tyres pretty much everywhere. Weight is definitely simulated in game and through the FFB which is good and I quite enjoy fuel saving, but unless you change the AI fuel usage in the json files to use much less than you, fuel saving is pointless outside of making it more immersive for yourself.

I get that’s a lot of AI programming for the devs to get right, and it’ll be impossible for them to get it 100% right, especially with all the variables in multiclass endurance racing. But there are definitely improvements needed for the career mode to mean anything.

Must say my biggest issue right now is the speed difference between player and AI. I just fly past them everywhere, even with worse corner exits or more fuel onboard.

If you turn tyre wear on, the AI wear their tyres out fast. They start slowing after a dozen laps or so, sitting at roughly 70% remaining before each pitstop.
For you though, it takes two stops to hit that same wear level, with far less lap time loss.

 

[aaron0288]

Thanks. I don’t mind so much the lap time differences, I can mitigate that by upping the AI fuel usage in the json files and with implementing fuel saving myself, which is realistic. It’s the straight line speed I’m talking about. I’ve even upped the fuel ratio in my car to max to see if the added weight would cause my car to be more equal in a straight line than the AI, but nope. I just sail past them and have so much more acceleration in many scenarios.

 

[ndslpsp]

Thanks. I don’t mind so much the lap time differences, I can mitigate that by upping the AI fuel usage in the json files and with implementing fuel saving myself, which is realistic. It’s the straight line speed I’m talking about. I’ve even upped the fuel ratio in my car to max to see if the added weight would cause my car to be more equal in a straight line than the AI, but nope. I just sail past them and have so much more acceleration in many scenarios.

I’ve posted about this before regarding the AI holding back on throttle on straights. If you set the fuel multiplier above 1.05, they will go flat-out on straights. But they burn energy faster than you, which makes things unbalanced.

You can even go extreme and set this value to 2, then disable fuel consumption to put everyone on equal footing. You’ll find you can no longer overtake them on straights, and the performance becomes balanced.

Also, the fuel multiplier only works for cars with virtual energy systems. It has no effect on GTE, LMP2 and similar vehicles — they have fixed built-in fuel burn rates that cannot be modified.

 

[ndslpsp]

I think the reason is that when the fuel multiplier in the JSON file is set too low, the AI will drive in a fuel-saving manner, giving you openings on the straights. The maximum value for this setting is 2, which ensures they race against you without needing to conserve fuel.

Thanks. I don’t mind so much the lap time differences, I can mitigate that by upping the AI fuel usage in the json files and with implementing fuel saving myself, which is realistic. It’s the straight line speed I’m talking about. I’ve even upped the fuel ratio in my car to max to see if the added weight would cause my car to be more equal in a straight line than the AI, but nope. I just sail past them and have so much more acceleration in many scenarios.

 

[ndslpsp]

Thanks. I don’t mind so much the lap time differences, I can mitigate that by upping the AI fuel usage in the json files and with implementing fuel saving myself, which is realistic. It’s the straight line speed I’m talking about. I’ve even upped the fuel ratio in my car to max to see if the added weight would cause my car to be more equal in a straight line than the AI, but nope. I just sail past them and have so much more acceleration in many scenarios.

That’s just how the AI behaves. Once you enable tyre wear, vehicle damage and fuel consumption, their performance usually falls apart. Remove those variables, and the races become really intense. I race against them for an hour every day, and I struggle to crack the top 10 at 96% difficulty.

That said, we shouldn’t expect perfectly polished endurance race AI. No game can pull that off right now, not even iRacing’s AI.