Adaptive AI by Class

[Haiden773]

Does the adaptive AI adjust/vary by class? I reinstalled the title last week and have since run three, 10 race weekends in the GT3. After the first race, the AI was noticeably better, and after the second, they'd improved more. Even so, I'm still outpacing them by about 2 seconds in practice, and then anywhere from .500 to 1 second in quali. The races are okay, but even if I fall behind at the start, I know I can catch and over take the leaders within a few laps. I've added a mandatory pit, which helps add a bit of challenge.

After those three, I had one Formula race (10L), which was very challenging. I could only qualify 5th or 6th and ending up finishing 2nd or 3rd--can't remember. Basically, the pace was good and the AI seemed matched.

But when I switched over to DTM yesterday, I'm way behind. Even on my favorite track, one I know extremely well, I can barely get in the top 5 for practice, and then fall to last in qualifying, maybe second to last if I'm lucky. The race is just tragic.

I've raced at least three 10 lap races in DTM, coming in last or close to last every time, but there doesn't seem to be any change in the AI difficulty. However, the AI pace in GT3 races seems exactly the same.

Any thoughts?

 

[Kenny Paton]

@Lars Hansen is our AI guru, maybe he can help.

 

[Lars Hansen]

@Lars Hansen is our AI guru, maybe he can help.

Apparently only the AI is daft enough to proclaim me as guru of anything.
But I digress.....

Does the adaptive AI adjust/vary by class? I reinstalled the title last week and have since run three, 10 race weekends in the GT3. After the first race, the AI was noticeably better, and after the second, they'd improved more. Even so, I'm still outpacing them by about 2 seconds in practice, and then anywhere from .500 to 1 second in quali. The races are okay, but even if I fall behind at the start, I know I can catch and over take the leaders within a few laps. I've added a mandatory pit, which helps add a bit of challenge.

After those three, I had one Formula race (10L), which was very challenging. I could only qualify 5th or 6th and ending up finishing 2nd or 3rd--can't remember. Basically, the pace was good and the AI seemed matched.

But when I switched over to DTM yesterday, I'm way behind. Even on my favorite track, one I know extremely well, I can barely get in the top 5 for practice, and then fall to last in qualifying, maybe second to last if I'm lucky. The race is just tragic.

I've raced at least three 10 lap races in DTM, coming in last or close to last every time, but there doesn't seem to be any change in the AI difficulty. However, the AI pace in GT3 races seems exactly the same.

Any thoughts?

Okay, basic stuff first.
Yes, the AI adapts for each car/track combo. Or at least that's the gist of it.
So the very first race you run against the AAI will be run at 80%.
If that isn't fast enough it'll then try to adapt to your race-pace for each following race.

Should you subsequently try another combo, the AAI will look for other info re. your pace.
First it checks to see if you've used that car-class before, and uses the average of those AI levels.
Next, it checks to see if you've run the track with other classes, and uses the average of those.
Finally, if neither of the above is true, it'll use the average of all the info in your AI-file.

Which is all well and good, and it also explains why the levels changed when you switched classes.
The problem is that the algorithm that the AI uses to adapt isn't particularly good when left to its own devices, so it needs a hand every once in a while.
The basic issue is that once the AI gets to a level that it thinks is close enough, it'll no longer try to adapt. So e.g. in the DTMs, if you're a second behind on the lap-times, it'll call that good enough and won't try to find a slower pace to see if that might get closer.
Vice-versa in the case of the GT3s.

It's a pretty easy fix though, all you have to do is bracket the right level in the AI-file
Assuming you're not interested in editing the XML-file itself, you'll need to run a few laps against a fixed AI level.
Racing against fixed AI also adds lap-times to the data-base which the AAI will then subsequently use.
I did this small video on the process:

As always, it takes longer to explain the process than to actually do it.
Normally it takes me about 15-20 minutes to get a good AAI for any particular combo.
And once you have a decent sampling base, you can pretty much dispense with the process altogether, since all those averages mostly ensures that any new combo starts in roughly the right place.
And if everything else fails, upload you aiadaption.xml file here and I'll see what I can do.
(It's found in Documents\My Games\SimBin\RaceRoom Racing Experience\UserData\Player1)

 

[Haiden773]

Apparently only the AI is daft enough to proclaim me as guru of anything.
But I digress.....



Okay, basic stuff first.
Yes, the AI adapts for each car/track combo. Or at least that's the gist of it.
So the very first race you run against the AAI will be run at 80%.
If that isn't fast enough it'll then try to adapt to your race-pace for each following race.

Should you subsequently try another combo, the AAI will look for other info re. your pace.
First it checks to see if you've used that car-class before, and uses the average of those AI levels.
Next, it checks to see if you've run the track with other classes, and uses the average of those.
Finally, if neither of the above is true, it'll use the average of all the info in your AI-file.

Which is all well and good, and it also explains why the levels changed when you switched classes.
The problem is that the algorithm that the AI uses to adapt isn't particularly good when left to its own devices, so it needs a hand every once in a while.
The basic issue is that once the AI gets to a level that it thinks is close enough, it'll no longer try to adapt. So e.g. in the DTMs, if you're a second behind on the lap-times, it'll call that good enough and won't try to find a slower pace to see if that might get closer.
Vice-versa in the case of the GT3s.

It's a pretty easy fix though, all you have to do is bracket the right level in the AI-file
Assuming you're not interested in editing the XML-file itself, you'll need to run a few laps against a fixed AI level.
Racing against fixed AI also adds lap-times to the data-base which the AAI will then subsequently use.
I did this small video on the process:

As always, it takes longer to explain the process than to actually do it.
Normally it takes me about 15-20 minutes to get a good AAI for any particular combo.
And once you have a decent sampling base, you can pretty much dispense with the process altogether, since all those averages mostly ensures that any new combo starts in roughly the right place.
And if everything else fails, upload you aiadaption.xml file here and I'll see what I can do.
(It's found in Documents\My Games\SimBin\RaceRoom Racing Experience\UserData\Player1)

Thank you!

That makes total sense now. I didn't know data from fixed difficulty races was also used for the adaptive method. That tidbit alone will make a huge difference.

 

[Kenny Paton]

And he says he's not a guru

 

[Lars Hansen]

And he says he's not a guru
View attachment 226113

Nor, for that matter, do I dance.

 

[The Flying Hun]

The Force is strong in this one.

 

[davideliasirwin]

Do I have to run races to train the AI or does practice count as well?

 

[UMC 22]

Do I have to run races to train the AI or does practice count as well?

I believe it needs to be race sessions.

 

[Lars Hansen]

I believe it needs to be race sessions.

You're right, it does.
Practice, hotlaps, online, etc. doesn't count.

 

[83charlie]

How do you add new tracks to r3e adaptive ai primer ? Autodrom Most shows up blank after running two races as instructed. I did delete my original adaptive ai file.

 

[Lars Hansen]

You need to edit the assets.txt file.
Or you can wait until I get back from work, and I'll post an updated one.

 

[Lars Hansen]

As promised, updated assets.txt. Simply overwrite the old one in your Adaptation Tool folder.
Adds Most, GT3 2018 and Porsche 934 (Gr. 4s)

 

[83charlie]

As promised, updated assets.txt. Simply overwrite the old one in your Adaptation Tool folder.
Adds Most, GT3 2018 and Porsche 934 (Gr. 4s)

Thank you. It is much appreciated for providing the assets.txt file.