They definitely need to implement a standard AI like they had in Forza 4 and below. I enjoy the behavior and unpredictability of Drivatars sometimes (especially in Forza Horizon where its much less serious anyway) but it’s super annoying when a Drivatar does something really stupid and causes a pileup that should have never happened.
I pray that there is an option to flip the Drivatars to regular AI or put much more restriction on their driving style, but we probably won’t get much more than the current “Limit Aggression” setting from Forza 6
I know it’s a petty complaint but I liked the actual driver names that you got in the old games and playing FM6 when your console is offline. I’d way rather see Rossi, Muller, etc. as opponents than random Xbox Live user names even if some are on my friend list. You aren’t actually driving against them so why give the illusion that you are? Games like Dirt Rally give you nation specific names of people to compete against.
That said AI does need an improvement and more of a clear delineation between levels. Rubber-banding as in FH3 is the worst though. You can see cars behind you on the mini-map not slowing for 90 degree corners so that they can catch up to you. If there was no rubber-banding I would stomp races like Goliath every time but the cars are given a metric to cheat to catch up.
Hey I’ve raced against that guy. He can’t find an apex to save his life. LMAO thanks for that laugh. That gamertag is probably actually real and there’s much worse ones out there than that. I have names turned off specifically because I don’t like seeing hovering names above cars. Last time I checked that does not exist, talk about taking away from the immersion.
I tested this in an interesting way. I noticed that the drivatars never have a build better than the car you are driving. So for one event I used the slowest car I could find, stock with no upgrades. Therefore the HP and everything about the car was identical with me and the drivatars. Yet, somehow on a straightaway, the exact same car as me passed me when I was already at top speed for the car!
They never have a PI better than you but in FH3 the range of build qualities you can have at a given PI was huge because of the warped weighting of grip v power.
I sincerely hope that the change made here allows a much wider range of difficulties because the drivatars in FH3 could be put to shame ie the rubber band broken.
I knew that which is why I used the slowest car I could find. The AI couldn’t build another car with the same PI that had more HP or get some other edge. By using the slowest car with the lowest PI the drivatars all used the exact same car as me.
I just wish they simplified the drivatar difficulty system. There is like 7 different choices, and IMO unbeatable is very beatable. I am able to move into pole position on the first lap even with setback mods.
I’ve also been noticing that the drivatars hardly ever try to defend their position. It seems like they just move out of the way very wide each time, sometimes even going off track. Rarely do I see a drivatar that I can pressure without them careening off course.
I certainly do hope that they tone down the aggressiveness of the AI. It seems every time you pass them they dive bomb you on the brakes in the next corner and take yo and themselves out.
The Drivatar AI is among the worst I’ve seen.
Really, ganging up on the first corner of South Beach track, Mount Panorama, Nurburgring short, Sebring and the list goes on.
Please include actual AI this time.
The “Limit Agression” barely does anything. From what I’ve seen if you turn the “Limit Agression” on the Drivatars will stop trying to slipstreaming you. There’s no much else it does and if there is it’s not noticeable.
You can’t go side by side with them. There’s been plenty of times I’ve gone side by side with the Drivatars and they’ve just decided to drive of the track and on to the grass or gravel.
They don’t tuck themselves in during braking. If a Drivatar is behind you and they try to outbrake you, they’ll always try to make the move stick regardless. They don’t back out of the move and they don’t try to tuck themselves in.
They don’t have any spacial awareness. There’s been countless times I’ve been side by side and the Drivatars will either squeeze me out into the grass or sand or physically push me there. This also happened during braking where the Drivatars will try to outbrake you and go for a space that just isn’t there.
They dont have any concept of danger, risk, or caution. There are some corners on a track where you just don’t overtake because the risk to reward level is not in you’re favour by a long shot. One obvious part of the race is the very first corner. Most drivers IRL will be quite cautious not to make contact as it will ruin you race. The Drivatars don’t do this however.
They’re bad at avoiding crashes or taking real action. There’s been plenty of times where there’s a pile up on the circuit and the Drivatars don’t try to avoid It, they just keep to their racing line and go straight into the pile up. There’s also been instances where I’ve seen Drivatars pushing other cars for like 500 meters and I’ve been on the receiving end of that as well. A real driver wouldn’t do that.
There’s places one ever track where the Drivatars will always crash. The worst place is Silverstone GP in the rain. The second to last corner the AI will always brake too late, go onto the grass and crash into the tire barrier and then they will be stuck there driving back and forth into the barrier for the whole race ruining any competition.
The Drivatars have no racing etiquette or once again no sense of danger. The amount of times I’ve seen an AI crash and when re-joining the track, cause a massive pile up is ridiculous. The amount of times I’ve been clipped or smashed into when a Drivatar also re-joins the track is also ludicrous. It’s because they don’t wait for other cars to go by when they re-join the track and they also try to get back to there racing line immediately when re-joining the track, no matter the risk or possibility of consequences.
Sorry for the long post but the Drivatars are the one main thing I feel has to be improved for FM7. They are terrible in FM6 and there’s far more problems I haven’t even mentioned with them.
Of course they don’t, because they’re trained by players predominantly in single player games and who has any respect for the AI in a racing game? Players barely if ever give up track position to AI, so the Drivatar AI is trained to cling to its track position with its fingernails and teeth. Players don’t need to have any caution because if they stuff up a corner or smack into something they can just rewind, so they will take risky lines and the AI is trained to take risky lines as well.
Which means that the first corner of Long Beach is a 20 car pileup because none of that works well with a close pack on a tight corner with no runoffs.
That said, the AI seemed to be barely aware of the player in the pre-Drivatar games either, if you were on the racing line and it wanted to be there it was quite happy to steer you off the road.
All of this lines up with my experience of Drivatars in game so far and leads me to believe that your typical Drivatar carries over little to no amount of driving habits from the real player it is based on.
If somebody was to race against my Drivatar, I would expect it to do the following:
Have a strong ability to weave through traffic and avoid crashes.
Deliberately brake slightly earlier than the optimal braking point for a corner when side-by-side and on the inside line.
Make considerable effort to rejoin a racetrack safely if forced off-track, naturally merging with traffic rather than coming back at a dangerous angle.
Be capable of holding a position through a corner, sticking to the outside line during a side-by-side if necessary.
Slipstream other cars on straights whenever possible.
Until my Drivatar can do those things, I have little faith in the system’s performance matching whatever you hear from the marketing materials.
I have driven against my Drivatar before on my friends profile and console and you are right, very little of my driving traits are shown. I did 5 or 6 races with my Drivatar there and noticed that it was pretty much the exact same as every other AI apart from one or two things. My Drivatar did have all the annoying traits as usual which I won’t list again because of the length but whenever my Drivatar did overtake me it was always on the outside line which does match my preference for overtaking around the outside whenever its possible. My Drivatar did also chose the cars I would drive and have driven the most in Forza 6 such as the McLaren P1, BMW V12 LMR and Maserati MC12. These two points could 100% be total coincidence but either way my Drivatar acted near enough like any other with just a few glimpses of my driving style. I also noticed that my Drivatar finished in either first or second behind myself in pretty much every race. It could be because my friend only has me added on his console (PC gamer) and therefore my Drivatar had a slight sabotage over the other randoms? Not too sure on that actually.
Weren’t the Drivatars, since the very beginning, supposed to be imitations of Forza players, and not real life race car drivers? If that’s the case no wonder they have so many unprofessional, bad habits.
Weren’t the Drivatars, since the very beginning, supposed to be imitations of Forza players, and not real life race car drivers? If that’s the case no wonder they have so many unprofessional, bad habits.
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Actually, in the beginning the ai was more professional but many players new to forza complained constantly the ai was too perfect and boring. I never had any issues with the old ai. You just had to also drive perfect and you will find they were a pleasure to race along side. But, forza developers created community drivatars to satisfy those complaints. I think they should bring back the old ai and combine with the new drivatars system. This should be designed to have the professional ai in front of the pack while the cheesy cummunity drivatars are toned down in the back of the race. This way everyone would be satisfied, depending on your experience level, if you can’t hold a steady line, break too early, can’t avoid crashing the car in front of you, you will be in the back racing with the similar community drivatars. But if you race clean fast and alert, you will be able cruise up front to compete with the professional ai. And we always have to start at the rear of the race, right? please Rossi don’t get too far ahead at the start because I need some time getting pass the wreckers to catch up with you.
but whenever my Drivatar did overtake me it was always on the outside line which does match my preference for overtaking around the outside whenever its possible. My Drivatar did also chose the cars I would drive and have driven the most in Forza 6 such as the McLaren P1, BMW V12 LMR and Maserati MC12. These two points could 100% be total coincidence but either way my Drivatar acted near enough like any other with just a few glimpses of my driving style. I also noticed that my Drivatar finished in either first or second behind myself in pretty much every race. It could be because my friend only has me added on his console (PC gamer) and therefore my Drivatar had a slight sabotage over the other randoms? Not too sure on that actually.