Yeah 3rd is where I am behind the two MP4s. I can see them the whole race though as I'm running about a quarter second faster. Sadly by the time I get through the 458s I am too far back to do anything in 5 laps.
Only tried the AI with the E30 so far and have to say I'm pretty impressed considering their early stage in development.
Most of the incidents I had were due to my own impatience and when driving properly they behaved well.
Did notice they yielded too much when you were in the right position though which is a bit boring and much like LFS AI behavior but overall I'm enjoying running with them
Damn you BBT know I have to go do a few HL at Imola to quench my curiosity
Hm, i guess it depends on the car then, i've been hammering that Imola/abarth combo for days now, and with this patch i'm about two seconds slower.. But yeah, so much more going on with the tires and ffb now..
I know that I tend to be positive about things (just how I live my life), but I was really pleasantly surprised tonight when I tried a few different cars (I did not try the little open wheeler, in fact I never have so I cannot comment).
The McLaren used to be quite razor edge, and I know it's SUPPOSED to be that way with the assists turned off per real life, but now it's still razor edge but you can be pre-emptive and drive the shit out of it without ever feeling like the car bit you for no reason - you really have to provoke it to spin now.
Hard to explain but the tires feel much less forgiving but much MORE forgiving at the same time somehow.
I'll have to try the 458 at Imola since I ran so many laps trying not to suck so bad, and see how that feels. But the fact that I shaved that much time off in 3 laps of basically fooling around in the McLaren tells me something. I feel a hell of a lot more confident in the cars now - I will never be as fast as Phil or anything but I sure don't have to be so careful with the cars now.
Update: the AI hack does still work. Select a challenge and then switch to Quick Race (maintains the grid - I like this about the AC UI, everything you do transfers to the "next" thing you do - brilliant) and choose any track you want and it works decently.
Had to go out for half the day so only have just had a chance to do some laps in the McLaren around Imola.
It doesn't have tonnes more grip and hence I'm not doing quicker lap times out of the box (my pb is a 1-52-87) I got back to the 52's again but still takes a lot of effort but easier to be constant than the previous patch.
The tyres are definitely giving me more feel at the limit than the previous patch so I concur with your view above. The transition between grip and no grip is smoother and I felt like I could read the optimal slip angle better while driving than previously (not so hit an miss), also the car was a little more forgiving under brakes and acceleration as I can better read/feel lock-up and wheel spin with new patch.
The other thing I noticed has changed is that previously I felt you needed to have more steering angle than what I felt was natural to be fast on certain corners/bends and with the new patch this seems to have improved somewhat.
I am liking it a lot, will hopefully get some time to test the 458 and F40 tonight
Well, I tried the E30 AI and Fiat 500 AI, of which didn't really turn out to be a challenge. I also hopped on to the Lotus 49 @ Monza chalenge, which I didn't drive since patch 0.2.1, and I got 0.7 seconds quicker there. I didn't even drive this simulator since early Decemberish. It was good to get back on, but the hotlapping still doesn't entertain me enough to spend serious ammount of time on the simulator. rFactor 2 is a lot more rough, but still gives me more joy with the online + real road combo currently.
On that note, keep in mind if you are to report any AI issues to do so when using the predefined combo from special events. They're sort of "case studies" for the time being.
just had another go and i reconfigured my wheel and it doesnt seem half as bad as it did, but i think its placebo tbh. either way.. i tried the supercar challenge and the mclarens are doing 2'18.5 ish laps, im only just managing 2'19.9's so i looked online for the fastest laps and id be about 17th on the list.
Good to see you posting here a bit, assuming you are the same xaotik as on ac forum :-)
I quite like the 1m but I'm still not liking the understeer ffb drop off. It's just too much. The steering loads up really nicely, then all of sudden it's like you have hit a patch of ice and you inadvertently add more lock.
(You pack for that long before you move? Especially important things like your wheel?)
Phil: I take it back, you suck. Here's your fail award: :trophy_br
Indeed I assumed this much. Since it's not "official" I wouldn't bother reporting issues with combos they haven't "released". I'm just happy they left the hack in place, and didn't mess with Joux being compatible.
The Tatuus now has more drag for a given level of wing angle. Not sure if downforce is changed at all. So with the same setup you will be slower on the straights and no quicker through the corners = slower. But the car is better to drive now. Haven't tried many car/track combos yet, but so far the subtle change has made quite a big difference.
May try the AI trick and see what here like on other tracks.
Surprised about how stable the performance is even with all 12 AIs in view. The E30 race is a blast, even tho they still almost kick my ass on "medium" The 500 Abarth race is bumper cars at its finest, and lets not talk about the Supercar challenge ...
Lower the wing I guess so that you sacrifice less straight line speed. I had a quick try at Vallelunga yesterday and found less wing was a bit quicker, but I doubt I found the optimum compromise.
What I don't like about the AI is the feeling they're not on the same physics engine like you.
They only need to tap you the slightest at your rear quarter panel and you lose it.
If you on the other hand tap them on the rear quarter panel nothing happens, it's more likely that you end up spinning. Even if you dive bomb them on their rear end they correct it like it's just a little bump. You end up nowhere in the middle of the gravel.
Gives me that kind of train like "the AI is driving on rails"-feeling you know from games like the Gran Turismo series.
AI is ok.. enough so they can stop right now with wasting their time on it. It's not better in any other game/sim i bet..
They brake pretty early on Hard..