Personally it’s the worse news possible for me, I got forza 5 on day one and I’m now at level 72 why? Because I hate drivatars.
Drivatars for me are a huge leap backwards, T10’s Ai system had come a long way since the forza 1 days of drivatars and they just ruin a really good game imho.
Am I glad that Drivatar is arriving in Forza Horizon 2? Yes!
Here is why: in order for something to be improved upon, it must continue to be utilized so that the system’s troubles can be exposed, acknowledged and corrected. This is the basic premise of implementing new ideas and making them useful. In turn, all I keep reading are rants from community members being critical of this maneuver, but to those of you I ask: how much further into the gaming future can you foresee the use of pre-programmed artificial intelligence being an acceptable practice by game developers?
With today’s cloud-based capabilities and an almost entirely online functionality, there is no excuse for videogames being released with AI that is both limited in programmability and capacity to make on-the-fly decisions. Sure - Forza Motorsport 5’s debut of the Drivatar has been less than stellar; but, we have to start somewhere and Turn 10 Studios is leading the charge in revolutionizing single-player competition.
You say ‘Drivatars are a huge leap backwards’, but dare I say this board will be up in arms when other racing games take on new AI techniques that make the racing experience that much more challenging and, overall, exciting. There have been and will continue to be growing pains with the Drivatar system, but nothing worth the effort comes easily. I believe, the biggest step backwards would be relying on a concept (traditional AI) that, in theory, has been used since the day videogames were born.
To this end, I recommend that those who have become apprehensive to a seven-month-old feature open their minds to the possibilities and think for a moment that what we are witnessing is the potential future of racing games. Move yourself away from what has become comfortable to you (again: traditional AI) and let’s embrace something that is an honest effort in changing the way we take to the virtual track.
Very good reply and I find myself agreeing with you my only wish hope or whatever you want to call it is that T10 are aware that there drivatar system as it stands at the moment is border line demolition derby and many forza fans are far from impressed with.
I love forza and have played and collect lce versions of them all I even completed horizon ( not Inc rally) which as a game really isn’t my thing but with Forza 5 I can’t even bring myself to play it solely because of the drivatars, no matter what level I try or how clean I race the drivatars are all over the place they have no racecraft what so ever.
I am hopeful that we’ll see an improvement to the drivatar algorithms from what we have in FM5 so I don’t have a problem with this. I was hoping FM5s algorithms would grow and change in response to feedback (and perhaps they will make some changes to improve them), but I don’t think abandoning them is the right idea. It will probably take a few tries to get them sorted out.
No Drivatars are one of the worst things to hit gaming. Give me well programmed AI everyday of the week. Codies for Grid Autosport got real life race drivers to program their AI…This has to be the future not mimicking what 8 year olds are doing.
At least the craziness of Drivatars will suit Horizon better than Forza 5.
Yes indeed, plus Playground games and Turn10 isn’t going to change what they’ve already implemented in the game.
They’ve done it before, drivatars were implemented in forza 1 but not again in the series until now.
The only thing the drivatars in FM1 had in common with FM5 was the name. They are two entirely different concepts, and the underlying programing and implementation is radically different. It’s a case of recycling the name, rather than any progression of a concept.
To that effect, it is highly unlikely that FH2’s drivatars are going to differ much from FM5, especially since statements have been made to the effect that training data will be taken from what people have already done in FM5. Tweaks to make it game specific are likely, but the base programing/implementation isn’t likely to be all that different.
On a positive note, though FM5’s drivatars didn’t work out has well has I had hoped for in practice, T10’s experience does allow for potentially great improvements in FH2. The whole concept might very well be better suited to such a game has FH2 anyway, where things like corner cutting are more of an acceptable norm, rather than a discouraged behavior.
Intentional collisions or other grieving type behavior , on the other hand, may be a big problem. We shall see.
Drivatars didn’t really work out well in Forza 5…too many people played who aren’t used to the nuances that a more sim style game like Motorsport requires. That’s why they’re so frustrating - people are just blasting through the corners instead of racing.
In an open world like Horizon, though, I think they’ll be a great fit.
I’m glad to hear Forza Horizon 2 is coming. Drivatars or no drivatars. Now to figure out how to freeze myself safely untill the fall.
NO, NO, NO, NO!! Drivatars is the single worst feature of Forza 5 in my opinion. The first lap of nearly every race is wasted trying to navigate around these totally irrational and unpredictable drivers, who will swoop from the inside lane to the outside lane just to knock you off the track.
I actually shelved Forza 5 for several months because of drivatars.
Please return the AI format of earlier Forza products.
Yes, definitely! I think Shadow expains it vey well, and I agree whith him.
Hopefully over time drivatars will get better, i’m looking forward to them in Horizon 2.
I know my experience with drivatars differs from many other players. I prefer the drivatars in FM5 to the AI in FM4.
Those I race against are somewhat unpredictable but don’t seem to get up to much of the mischief I see complained about on the forums.
They are fresh to race against, not dull like normal AI.
So yeah I am happy they are coming to Horizon 2.
My only concern is that player behaviour in the original Horizon was worse than it is in FM5. I just hope the drivatars don’t learn all of the shenanigans.
You race on Unbeatable right? Do Drivatars overtake you? I find with me they very rarely do and now the vast majority of the time i race to 2nd and never see a car again.
Just how good are the Drivatars you race against?
I drive on the second highest difficulty and the grid is fairly tame. I get overtaken if the opponent has a faster car on the straights, or I brake too early so they dive on the inside. Sometimes there is a drivatar that brakes really late into corners and cuts me off. I think the best strategy when dealing with drivatars is threading through all the chaos right off the start line - you’ll be in a world full of hurt if you’re stuck between a slow road hogger who can’t drive straight. Usually the cars up front are much more predictable, and once you passed them you could focus on setting a lap time or two.
Once I get in the top 3 I can be overtaken if I make a mistake. If not I don’t think they overtake but pace wise they need to get quicker on unbeatable.
In my career races there can be minor contact but rarely is it over the top with sideswipes, brake checks etc
As SatNiteEduardo describes, this is exactly the same for me (also on Unbeatable). The first lap can be a bit of a pain to get round some of the cars, especially on the tigther tracks, but this all enhances the feel of racing. Usually i end up being in the top 3 by the end of lap 1, then either i manage to stay ahead if i am 1st, or the real fight starts to try and overtake the 1st and/or 2nd placed cars. Most of the time i have no problem with the drivatars, some contact here or there, but no sideswipes, smashing in the rear, brake tests, etc.
Quite often i end up with a real nice fight to try and overtake the 1st placed car, where i really have to line up the other car and going for the overtaking, sometimes being overtaken back if you outbrake yourself just a bit… ends up being a lot of fun.
So yes, i am happy that the drivatars make it into Horizon 2. Loved the first one, so hope the 2nd one is going to be at least as much fun.
Largely disagree.
The Drivatars make the AI more human. It’s just that the down-side is that makes them more annoying. What Drivatars need is to be broken into categories, with different behavior sets based on how you play. If you’re a jerk, you should be lumped with Jerkatars. If you’re sporting, you should be with sporting Drivatars.
Largely disagree.
The Drivatars make the AI more human. It’s just that the down-side is that makes them more annoying. What Drivatars need is to be broken into categories, with different behavior sets based on how you play. If you’re a jerk, you should be lumped with Jerkatars. If you’re sporting, you should be with sporting Drivatars.