So I've driven a few single player races, but I have yet to see any AI drivers crash or make mistakes (without my involvement ). Are they not supposed to also make the odd driver error?
They do make mistakes. But they're subtle mistakes like misjudging a corner or getting on the power too hard. They haven't been turned into the Keystone Cops.
Yes the AI makes mistakes. Often if you are close to them and really pressuring them into corners, they will make some fairly big mistakes. Either braking too late, too early, not taking the racing line, messing up their braking and wobblling through a corner, or missing the turn entirely and running off track. Among many other things. This is still being looked at though, and will likely be improved as time goes on. Frankly, I think the AI makes too many mistakes as it is right now
Originally I was under the impression that the new "stress" feature can be tuned by the player. It seems it cannot. But it would be a good idea to have a slider for it in the session setup screen, like some people often mentioned an "aggressiveness slider".
I'm gonna counter that and say No, a slider for this is not the answer. What is would be if RRE takes Talent Files into account (I hear it does but it's all encrypted so can't look!) then the 'Composure' variable should account for whether the AI get Stressed and make a mistake or not; The higher the Composure the less chance of mistakes under pressure, the lower the Composure the more chance of mistakes under pressure. That's the way I look at it anyway, as I've said elsewhere the AI Stress Level implementation is brilliant and something I've long since wanted in a race sim, but as every first release it needs tweaking to have it working correctly, as right now - IMO - it's too easy to put every driver under pressure until they make a mistake. Of course if RRE doesn't use a Composure variable or something similar then I have no idea, only Sector3 know that much, but I believe it's a shame it's all encrypted, AI variables need to be more open for the individual racer.
At lower skill levels (mine!) the AI mistakes are less subtle, and I love it! Also being near the back helps to see the mistakes. If a car crashes in a forest and it's behind you, do you hear it or care? A slider for Composure could work in tandem with individual drivers....they are not mutually exclusive. A slider for Keystone Cops would also be good, but I guess I'll stick to iRacing if I want to go side by side with a bunch of monkeys.
What I would like is for some of the more serious crashes to lead to retirements, just like in real races. I mean, if you crash your race car into a wall, you're not likely to keep going. In other games I've played (like the F1 racing games), when you set the damage to high, one good contact with the barrier will give you a DNF, including the AI drivers.
This certainly does happen already. Depending on the severity of the crash, the AI drivers will retire. Highly dependent on the severity though. A little spin that puts them in the wall is almost certainly never enough to force a retirement. Spinning and causing a pile up with multiple AI slamming into them though? Yep, that'll do it You already know RR has mechanical failures. What you really mean to say is that you want the entire damage system (along with damage modelling) to be entirely redone and expanded. Not gonna happen.
...and you know full well I was referring to the AI. I've yet to see an AI car retire from a race with a genuine mechanical failure.
I was having head on crashes with the AI last night, neither my car nor the AI retired. All I got was a damaged engine and bodywork damage, everything on realistic.
For the first time ever last weekend I had gear change issues due to crash damage. I have seen ai sitting in the pits with wheels missing too