Didn't know you were referring to collisions only. Sorry. I still have to say: R3E has the best AI to me at present amongst the racing games/sims I play.
I should have just said collisions.I have some decent time in r3e 290+ hours almost all single player so its not a dislike. I actually had some great races but I don't go over 30 minutes for fear of incidental contact late in a good race. 2 years ago it was nearly impossible for me to start mid-pack and that sure has improved. But it still needs balance, with AC flush collisions will slow both cars down, a reasonable compromise similar with AMS & rF2. Even getting a tap in the rear quarter panel will give a jolt and a swerve but nothing like the uncontrolled spin R3e has. Actually try a fun smash em up race, try to knock the AI around it is hard to budge! I still swear by rF2's AI. Currently i'm going through my 2nd full 92 F1 season doing 90 minutes a race with 27 AI cars. The AI still surprises me with human like moves and in 18 races I have done so far I have had one DNF due to collision. I'm sure it has a lot to do with player style, skills, etc...
Full ACK! Good AI - Bad Physics. Here are some examples if you havn't seen them: https://forum.sector3studios.com/index.php?threads/collision-physics.7860/
I am also a single player and long before this thread started, I tested the spin out on corners with various classes. At times, I have been nudged on the inside on a corner and sent off in a spin and the AI hasn't flinched. I have then tested by doing the same to the AI by nudging it in the same spot on the same corner and again I have spun out while the AI stays on track. Sometimes it doesn't matter who does the nudging, the result is the same. This problem doesn't happen all the time but the issue is definitely there. I noticed it enough to warrant doing a lot of testing to see if I was doing something wrong and to find out what was causing it.
More complaints about the aI shooting off player cars. It does not happen to me. And I use adaptive AI, so ending up in packs of cars quite often. I just wonder what do I do differently than those people claiming to be so fast drivers, and getting shot off so often. I rub myself to the doors of other AI cars, I kiss the car ahead lightly and gets kissed from the guy behind me. I exchange small samples of car paint and physically ommunicate with AI cars quite often. I celebrate driving three wide time and again. Why do i not get shot off, why am I not spinning all the time? What do i do wrong? I think it must be great fun to get sent spinning, if only for nothing else than to experience the change. Here is a little story, from yesterday. I did trackday server driving in AC, tourist day at the Nordschleife. I was in a relativley slow street car, and at the old boxes and T2 cornering, the right turn, 3 LMP-1s showed up in my rear. You recall that section of the Nordschleife: a sharp right turn, the ideal line then says you go for the right lane and stay close to the wall, after box exit you even do kind of Scandinavian flip to the right to get a better angle on the left turn that follows, and then comes a passage that is bending just mildly and offers great opportunity to overtake, even more so in such superfast cars. But what happened? While I slid into the opening right turn at T2, the first LMP aggressively shot into the inside, my right side, cutting my lane dangerously and I had to jump pff the gas, and two seconds later, right before the exit of the old boxes, I saw the second LMP also launching its attack while I was already engaged in turningfor the right lane to get the ideal line for the upcoming left turn, I broke off, had even to brake, and came almost to a standstill, and the car jumped by on my right side. Since I had to brake, the third LMP finally and happily slammed into my rear. Four cars went into the T2 combo, just two made it through alive. Great. What happened? There were three human drivers who thought just because they had totally superior HP and engine power they must attack at the very first opportunity, basically in the first second of their approach on me, instead of - what reason would have dictated - either leaving me the ideal line and overtaking more predictably on the alternative line (slower car or not, the car in front has the right of way), or even better choice: one would have waited behind the slower car until the sharp final left turn of T2 was passed, and then easily and safely fly byn the much more easy passage following T2. But no, these were humans driving likier crazy, and if you would ask them i am quite sure that all of them consider themselves to be a hell of a good driver. Sorry, you can be a great drifter, or a superfast driver, you can can be an alien and whatever - but if you cannot make it around the track in one piece while remaining between the two white lines left and right, and without crashing or wrecking others or forcing others to aggressively brake because of you - then you are no good driver at all but a rolling warhead that is out of control.
I agree with Skybird. Learning how the various AIs drive is part of the skill. Each game, each car, each track, all are different. Once you accept that, and drive accordingly, spins and offs are reduced. Racing in a league is the same, you get a feel for who is aggressive, who is patient etc, and you treat them accordingly. I find that if I can anticipate a hit, and I back off the throttle a bit, it gives back some grip to the tyres.Which keeps me on the grey stuff. Driving on the edge, is it any wonder when the slightest tap sends you reeling like Kirk on the bridge of the Enterprise (The real Kirk, not that Chris Pine imposter!) This was true in TOCA and TOCA 2, and it is still true today in R3E, RF2, AC, etc. A little bit of defensive driving will get you to the chequered flag most of the time. Yes, it's still annoying to get whacked, but often I can think to myself "I could have mitigated that and kept racing." And that's what keeps me going. I would like to see the AI go off more often, and the collision physics still needs work.....but I'm not perfect. Hopefully I am still improving. I can't expect more from the game than to keep getting better.
I've changed my mind today. While I agree with most of the stuff @Skybird has said the whole AI aggression thing needs to go and never come back. I can understand that they do want to overtake in the corners and you should leave them room, I do understand that you shouldn't try to push yourself onto their inside line when they clearly have the intention to take it and not leave you room, but being sideswiped off the track on a straightaway is where I draw my line of tolerance. I overtook a guy in 3rd lap on the first corner at Bathurst. Nice clean and not too aggressive pass, plenty of room. The dude does not back down however and a second later we are in a side by side battle down the straightaway. Here I am thinking this is cool and it's going to be down braking, but the AI had other ideas and just slammed me on the side and put me into the grass. You know that mechanic in Mad Max where you have button you push and get an insta-sideslam? Exactly like that! I get it, Bathurst is in Australia, but until them bombs drop, let it remain Bathurst and not Fury Road. And just an hour before I had like 3 clean races in Project CARS, in the Lotus 49 of all the cars the AI can't handle there. Not a single damn contact. You would think that the praised Raceroom AI would deliver a superior experience to something widely considered as the worst AI in simracing.
The AI blindness towards cars to either side of them is a known problem. To be fair, without Crew Chief watching out for me, I wouldn't know they were there either. Considering the Crew Chief information comes from RaceRoom, it makes you think.....
As I use GTR2 SP as a placeholder until fully online again (very limited inet access atm) I was not only impressed by the good performance of that 12-Year old sim showing (guess raced GTR2 about 5 Yrs ago last time) but stumbled upon various issues that are discussed with RRE but were existing in 2006 already . In this regard I sometimes assume it takes S3 so long with Multiclass Racing in Singleplay cause they face the same problem like in 2006 : The faster GTs are extremely hesitant to overtake/lap the smaller classes (same with NGTs/G2 when they are about to pass G3 cars.At VLM LeMans 79 - brilliant Mod-Track like Mid-Ohio by VirtuaLM they even refuse to overtake at the superlong straight of that time ! Doh ! Man, it's about how many kms straight ahead ?). Just one example and generally the AI is very tough, tight and challenging while racing you - even on the slightest gap - but surprisingly suffering from very similar issues like we have today with RRE.... Hmmmmm....
I cannot get back to GTR2 after the years, I have been spoiled by better FFB. I do remember however that the AI was frustrating, same goes for rFactor, but then again, back in the day, I didn't really care much for the clean experience, if they irritated my enough, I just rammed them off the road. It's a bit tricky to do that in Raceroom though.
It can be done, the speed delta must be relatively low, however. Soft, silky cat pawns are what is needed. I reinstalled GTR2 for curiosity two years ago, when I still did not know Raceroom and AC was new. I could not get back into it. The driving and the physics engine have moved half across the galaxy since then. When GTR2 got released it was my to-go-driving sim for years, however. Racing sims have advanced by incredible ammounts in past years.