Racing game AI user programmed

[BL8001]

Every time I have played a racing game and I have played many, I have thought how cool it would be if we could become the AI.

What I mean is this, what if we could go to a track in the particular game, let's just say Monza as an example. And we will use F1. So you get in a red bull and take laps. These laps are recorded and stored in an AI library. So you race how you feel red bull should race and you build your own custom red bull driver AI.

You then get in a ferrari and put in some ferrari laps.

If you want it to be broader then you just race on any track and your laps become a basis to what the AI will do. You put in 50 laps and now the AI can randomly choose any of your 50 laps to use as one of their laps.

This concept extends to all AI in all sports games though. So you play a fifa or pes game as man utd and record that as how the AI should play using that team.

This would work for every sports game.

Now take it one step further and allow users to upload their "recorded" AI.

Forza 5 explores this concept but not that deeply.

[woodjer]

Re: Racing game AI user programmed

I don't know about current games but 2k used to do this with their NFL and NBA games (maybe NHL & MLB, too). Basically, every user had a profile (VIP, maybe?) and you could download them to practice against their tendencies and such. I never really used it much because it was so focused on online play but now that I think about it, it would be a great idea for dynasty modes, too. Give each coach a profile and allow it to follow them from team to team. Playbooks are one thing but play style would be even cooler. Nice thought, man.

[BL8001]

Re: Racing game AI user programmed

This AI theory is based off mistakes. What, in my opinion, is the hardest thing for any developer to do is to code mistakes with AI behavior.

Fifa is so in need of this, NCAA series too when it was still alive.

Some of the things that happen to my team in FIFA are laughable and would never happen to the CPU because the cpu's behavior is much more clinical. And its for that simple reason that every team in that game plays the same more or less.

I just look at that game and think, if I could just play one game with every team I wanted to make "ghost" AI for, the game would be amazing. I would simply play like the teams really do and try to play through the best players on the squad. Makes sense, but they have yet to figure it out.

Now a racing game is really easy to implement this. Becuase right now in just about every race title the AI laps oblivious to your positioning on the track. I mean most of the AI racers dont even get a wheel on curbing.

I had a race in moto gp with failures on and on the last lap with two turns to go I blew an engine and finished in last place.

I have yet to see the cpu blow an engine and give me a win. In 80+ races I have seen an AI rider retire once although it went by in a blur, he may have wrecked and was getting back on track. Regardless, he was motionless as I flew by and picked up a spot. This happens quite often in real races. Complicated machines fall apart driver/riders make mistakes, etc.

Now I contrast that with how many times in games the AI has plowed into me for whatever reason, bad programming making them amazing through corners, unaware AI, handicapping, rubberbanding, whatever it may be. These instances are in the hundreds.

Instead of having that happen so often, I would love to see a racer take a wide line into a turn, or just get out of shape and have to reel it back in to set up the next corner, or put wheels in the grass, or lose the backend, turn in too early and have to drift across the apex to get back on his line, etc

I think the only way we can get real life behavior from the AI is to do the work ourselves.

The framework is there in most any sports game on the market. We are just lackong the functionality to make it usable.

[JimmyDeicide]

Re: Racing game AI user programmed

Wouldnt the drivatars in Forza 5 be pretty close to what you are talking about?

[DirtyJerz32]

Re: Racing game AI user programmed

I think MS has done a really good job in getting this almost to what the OP is looking for. F5 and Horizon 2 have adjustable Drivatars so you can even set the difficulty in which the AI controlled Drivatars race.

Playing H2 and F5, I've seen cars spin out on turns, braking too soon, too late, taking corners too wide, crashing into each other and all sorts of craziness.

I drive like a manic and I've been told by some OSers, that they want to unfriend me just so they can avoid my Drivatar.

I believe MS and Turn 10 are on the right track with the implementation of Drivatars.

[brandon27]

Re: Racing game AI user programmed

I think MS has done a really good job in getting this almost to what the OP is looking for. F5 and Horizon 2 have adjustable Drivatars so you can even set the difficulty in which the AI controlled Drivatars race.

Playing H2 and F5, I've seen cars spin out on turns, braking too soon, too late, taking corners too wide, crashing into each other and all sorts of craziness.

I drive like a manic and I've been told by some OSers, that they want to unfriend me just so they can avoid my Drivatar.

I believe MS and Turn 10 are on the right track with the implementation of Drivatars.

I agree with this. I'm not sure how they do it, but it's pretty awesome to race against these drivatars.

For example, I was playing Forza 5 the other night, racing at Sebring, I'm in second, about halfway through the final lap, thinking to myself damn, I'm never going to catch up, then with only a few turns to go, I'm about 10 or maybe 15 car lengths back, and all of a sudden he takes a wide entry into the turn and ends up spinning out. I was in shock to the point I almost spun out because I was paying attention to the leader spinning out in front of me and ended up in the grass. It was so awesome to feel. Felt like a bit of a cheap win, but at the same time, there's been so many times in racing games where the AI has stolen one or a million from me, so it felt good.

Some of the things you see these drivatars to, and I see it more in forza 5 than I do in Horizon 2, but some of the are damn agressive into turns, then you have others who back off really early into the turns. It sure feels like you're racing against 10 or 11 different AI drivers, as opposed to 11 AI drivers programmed as 1.

I wish games like Madden and NHL would take note. Start building the AI around the way we play the game, not how you want it to play and us to play.

It's one of the first things in that other thread about what you'd like to see in a new NASCAR game that I said... Give me an AI system built around the Forza drivatars system. It works, and makes the game much more enjoyable. To make it even better, with a game like NASCAR... actually get the real life drivers in there to turn laps themselves, or use their real life telemetry to build their AI profiles and driving styles. The systems have the horsepower to do it, so lets get it done.

[kwebbvols4423]

Re: Racing game AI user programmed

I think MS has done a really good job in getting this almost to what the OP is looking for. F5 and Horizon 2 have adjustable Drivatars so you can even set the difficulty in which the AI controlled Drivatars race.

Playing H2 and F5, I've seen cars spin out on turns, braking too soon, too late, taking corners too wide, crashing into each other and all sorts of craziness.

I drive like a manic and I've been told by some OSers, that they want to unfriend me just so they can avoid my Drivatar.

I believe MS and Turn 10 are on the right track with the implementation of Drivatars.

This for sure. They nailed it.

[DirtyJerz32]

Re: Racing game AI user programmed

You guys can go ahead and add my GT if you want.

DirtyJerz32 is the tag. Beware though, I'm a little reckless.