Of course there is a reason, I'm way too busy to waste my time coding random changes pointlessly.
Eric found that on the "Kyoto Chicanes" configuration (that uses a lot of the Oval) AIs in some cars would run out of fuel, because they decided to pit too late, given their starting fuel load.
At first I thought it must be an error in their fuel calculation but all seemed OK, they were just heading into the pits too late. It turned out that they made their decision at the last split, but on at least this configuration, the AI drivers' imaginary line to head for the pits starts before that final split point.
So when they would decide to pit, it was too late, I guess you see what I mean. So I made them make the decision to pit or not, at the last moment they could still enter the pits, which of course makes more sense and solves the bug.
If this mode doesn't come this year, Live for Speed will lose a lot of players because people are tired of playing on the same maps. That's why it needs to come as soon as possible because it's been years.
Thanks for the explanation! Haven't seen that issue happening on any track configuration (that has pits) ever before. Strange that it has happened on that particular track configuration
And I just realized, of course I can still force those AI drivers to make a pit stop, I just have to react faster as I have less time to clear that stop-go penalty from them
I think the same will happen on "Chicanes" and "Oval" in the new version as Chicanes is just the Oval with a couple of chicanes.
The attached image shows how the issue came up - basically the pit lane is so long compared with the track. It would be dangerous for them to swerve off into that pit lane after passing the last split.
Thank you for the update and the videos devs.
Awesome work you put into this Eric! Looks pretty realistic from layout perspective (not only) and can't wait to explore it.
I do not see any track marshals in the videos. Are they subject to be reworked maybe? Would be a great to have realistic looking ones that may even wave flags.
*daydreaming*
Especially when looking at the endurance layout at Kyoto, it would be great if at some point in the future we could have (community made?) layout objects to make the track seem more alive (like a typical (endurance) race weekend).
Like food/drink stands, tents, flags, fire & smoke effects and people (and groups of people) in different poses etc.
Yes, it's all with the 1000 Hz physics and multithreading which seems stable and solid.
I don't know if this helps, but I just ran 8 BF1 AI at KY Oval, in daytime, on my old PC, with everything turned up, I got 80 to 100 FPS.
EDIT: Internal view, mirrors on, shadow maps in mirrors, 4 shadow map cascades at 2048x2048 each, 1920x1080.
Spec:
Intel Core 2 DUO (dual core) E8500 3.17 GHz
8 GB RAM
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti
You can save by reducing textures to half res and reducing shadow maps and environment maps if needed.
I think it runs well on a lot of older computers. I think we tested and it ran OK (with some things turned down) on a really slow laptop with onboard graphics. But we don't have the resources to run tests on all sorts of configurations, so can't promise anything. I guess we'll find out in public testing.
Graphics and physics are both more demanding than in the old version but they are split over two CPU cores instead of just one.
Also good to see (at least from what I can see in the 2 videos) that AI seem to have a smoother transition into the pitlane. In the current public version, in some configurations, AI can swerve pretty heavily to get into the pitlane, or when exiting, they will brake and turn (e.g. BL1 into chicane). Or maybe it's just the updated tracks that have their blend lines reworked?
On the multithreading front, I was wondering: you say graphics and physics are split over 2 cores, but aren't you using more threads now for various things? Is the out-of-pit stutter mitigation only about spreading the loading over several frames, but not several threads? I was also wondering about splitting car physics over a few (physical) cores, say 16 cars per core or something.
But in any case, I just hope you (and Eric) are now closing in on the finishing touches leading to the test patch, so we can both enjoy it and hopefully have some useful feedback for you.
I assume those UK tracks are all tracks except Fern Bay (which is in Jamaica) and Kyoto Ring (which is in Japan) and therefore use UTC time (or UTC+1 on daylight saving time)?
We know that:
- Blackwood, South City, Aston and Rockingham (I'd be worried if it wasn't ) are confirmed to be located on the UK
- Westhill technically isn't explicitly mentioned as UK track on the website/manual, but it has left-hand traffic, so... well, Australia, New Zealand and some other countries also have that
- Autocross and Layout Square can technically be anywhere, but I can't really figure out any other country where they would be located other than UK
As someone who had to recreate this for my own avatar lighting, I appreciate this greatly. (Side note: is this something that will be available via telem/sdk, or at least could we get the altitude and azimuth of the sun for simple recreation of it? This would be the second game I could integrate with!)
Once the update drops, the first thing I'll do is set up an AI race and a static camera somewhere using Shift + U, and enjoy the day / night transition like a spectator.
Then of course, I'll jump in a car and experience the 1000 Hz physics with multithreading.
Out of curiosity: Will all tracks feature full trackside illumination? For example Aston could look cool with only partial lights, while some sections remain dark (similar to SPA or Nordschleife).