• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Forza AI..

thorns

Banned
must be the most advanced AI in a racing game. I wish this is the minimum standard for AI for racing games next-gen.

It's not without its flaws, but it's quite a bit beyond any other AI I've played against. I was in a ford gt vs. a me four-twelve and a tvr cerbera tsukuba circuit and we had a very intense 3 way battle for around 5 laps. We were constantly battling for position and trying to outbrake each other. If I ran a little wide in a turn, the others would immediately capitalize on my mistake and try to squeeze in. It was mostly clean racing as well, there was some contact, but mostly it was just minimal. I'm seriously impressed.

AI is usually very underrated in games, but I hope that will change soon, since it can add so much to the experience.
 

Stinkles

Clothed, sober, cooperative
I agree with some of the haters, that there does seem to be one "alpha" car in every race, more aggressive and unpredictable - but I actually enjoy that, it adds a little arcade flavor. the rest of the time, the cars feel either realistic, or at worst, logical.
 

Hyoushi

Member
Yeah, I like it too, but it seems slightly quirky sometimes on Hard. It has a tendency somewhat similar to PGR2 on Platinum, in that if you are in second place, the 1st placed car becomes The Unstoppable Ninjacar for some reason.

Like, if you've been doing nice laps and you're comfortably ahead of the nearest opponent. Then you make a mistake on a corner, and one car passes you. This car will then go on to make MUUUUUCH better laps than it just did when it was in second, when it couldn't even keep up with you :/
 
The car behind you usually drives slower then it should simply because it is trying not to bump into you, but once it get pass you, then it's full speed ahead. That's why it does seems that he is much faster then before. That's my observation.
 
Grand Prix 4 AI is better. :)

Lap after lap of jostling, the best racing game ever... speaking of which, where is Geoff Crammond? I hope he comes back with a bang (Grand Prix 5 :D ) where ever he is.
 

Musashi Wins!

FLAWLESS VICTOLY!
I think there's some rotation on hard about what sort of drivers you'll get. I've gotten the crazed alpha driver who will sometimes lose it even when he finally gets past me. I've gotten some line drones who are fairly logical. I get some who are pass happy.

But I agree, as far as console ai goes, this has easily the best of any racing game I've tried.
 

stewy

Member
I was thinking about this the other day when I entered an arcade race with a slightly underpowered car. I can't agree with folks on the AI in Forza. It's decent for the most part, but man, if the AI is driving a car that can brake later in a turn and it's right behind you, it'll almost always run over you under braking. In fact, the AI is way too aggressive to me. It's not aggressive in the "I'm following the perfect line no matter what" way GT4's is, but it's just too bumper-happy most of the time.

It actually feels like a slightly tweaked version of Project Gotham 2's take no prisoners AI. I guess maybe that qualifies it as the "best console AI evar," but it doesn't really make it very good in my opinion.

I'd like to see more companies try the dynamic aggression AI found in EA's NASCAR console games. While I think their "pissed off" drivers are a bit ridiculous, since they'll wreck themselves attempting to wreck you, I do like the more human feel of drivers that will remember you wronged them and will show less courtesy when they're around you.
 

Musashi Wins!

FLAWLESS VICTOLY!
It feels nothing like PGR2's ai to me. Which I hate. I rarely get hit in corners (though I have). Maybe I don't brake as hard as you there.
 

stewy

Member
Well like I said, it was when I was running a car that I needed to brake early in. Honestly I'd never noticed this sort of thing before. I usually brake really late into the turns, too.
 

Musashi Wins!

FLAWLESS VICTOLY!
There are definitely track and turns where I've experienced more than others. I suppose it's a case by case thing, I've heard others say what you say and I was confused by it as it hasn't happened much to me.

PGR2 was brutally up your ass on every track, glued to the line. Drove me mad.
 

Tarazet

Member
He's wrong, though. I've raced against 12 year olds on Live. By comparison, Forza's AI is like racing against a 47-year-old commuter who's been driving the same stretch of road for half of his life. Dull and slow-witted.
 

hgplayer1

Member
I think Forza's AI is great. Ive watched replays were AI cars at the back of the pack go back and forth changing positions. Ive seen cars lock up all four wheels going hard into a turn trying to catch up. Ive seen cars hit the brakes when some contact ahead causes a spin and a cloud of smoke or dirt. Ive seen some of the standard racing game crap too but this is the best racing AI Ive experienced in a while.
 
Half the time I expect the Ferrari F355 in my rearview mirror to switch on its red and blue lights in an attempt to get me to pull over. Unfortunately, that never happens, and instead they resort to smashing in my ass or hitting one of my rear tires in an attempt to put me into a spin. This is what NFS: Hot Pursuit would be like if it had realistic physics.

Why is driving a standard racing line crap?

It's a good indicator of what your speed should be, but a lot of the time you can coast through turns it tells you to break on, and other times you can actually accelerate when the suggested line tells you to brake. If you're just starting out, it's very helpful, and will teach you basic driving techniques that elude most novice drivers (the shortest path is not always the quickest; use all of the road for maximum efficiency and speed), but more advanced players will be brought down by its conservative recommendations.

EDIT: whoops, got 'standard racing line', and 'suggested racing line' mixed up, even though they are essentially the same thing. Meh.
 

stewy

Member
MarkRyan said:
Why is driving a standard racing line crap?

It's crap if they drive a standard racing line despite the human driver already being where they want to go. real drivers don't just pull into other cars in an attempt to enter every turn correctly.
 
stewy said:
It's crap if they drive a standard racing line despite the human driver already being where they want to go. real drivers don't just pull into other cars in an attempt to enter every turn correctly.

"Real" drivers might not pull into another car just to take every turn correctly, but a large number of xbl drivers unfortunately do :(.

Worse than the overly aggressive assholes, who took driving lessons in Burnout 3, are the overly aggressive idiots who don't understand the concept of breaking at all when someone's in front of them. People with a 1300+ ELO STILL commit this error on Road America continually; I can't count the times my car's been near demolished when some asshole barrels into me at 140+mph on Road America's first very sharp turn. Thanks, idiot-- You know, there are 3 laps in the race, right? Are you also aware that no bonus points are awarded for taking others cars out?

That aside, Forza's online community has been pretty good thus far. Once people realize you aren't an asshole, you're generally added to many good drivers friends lists, and the game gets much better from than point on.
 

MarkRyan

Sam Houser fucked my wife
stewy said:
It's crap if they drive a standard racing line despite the human driver already being where they want to go. real drivers don't just pull into other cars in an attempt to enter every turn correctly.
That's a problem, but lots of people think that sticking to proper racing lines is somehow bad AI (and that it's better to have AI that drives like a retard, just like real idiots online!).
 

stewy

Member
MarkRyan said:
That's a problem, but lots of people think that sticking to proper racing lines is somehow bad AI (and that it's better to have AI that drives like a retard, just like real idiots online!).

Which is precisely why I said that Forza's AI is better than most other console games, but really can't be considered "good."
 

stewy

Member
OpinionatedCyborg said:
"Real" drivers might not pull into another car just to take every turn correctly, but a large number of xbl drivers unfortunately do :(.

Worse than the overly aggressive assholes, who took driving lessons in Burnout 3, are the overly aggressive idiots who don't understand the concept of breaking at all when someone's in front of them. People with a 1300+ ELO STILL commit this error on Road America continually; I can't count the times my car's been near demolished when some asshole barrels into me at 140+mph on Road America's first very sharp turn. Thanks, idiot-- You know, there are 3 laps in the race, right? Are you also aware that no bonus points are awarded for taking others cars out?

That aside, Forza's online community has been pretty good thus far. Once people realize you aren't an asshole, you're generally added to many good drivers friends lists, and the game gets much better from than point on.

Yeah...unfortunately that's always been a problem on most online racing games (console ones, anyway). I generally try to pick a really high or low line going into the first turn of every race, basically watching my mirror and going wherever there's no one behind me. Then brake early and try to steer through the carnage. I find most times I can make it through the inevitable first-turn pileup that way.

Still, there's nothing better than racing with a group of respectful drivers who communicate with each other. That's when Forza with a headset really shines.
 
Top Bottom