AI gets DNF at the last lap

[Adr3r]

Hello everyone.

I've got a problem when I race against AI. The issue appears when I choose a longer race than approximately 20 minutes for example 50-60 minutes endurance race. The the AI's behaviour is normal untill they reach last lap, there's no matter whether I'm on the first place or one of computer streered driver. Then, almost every bots go to the pit and get DNF and I am got an easy win. I don't have to tell there's no fun from that victory. When I race at lenght of 20 minutes, everything is fine. I think that there's no fuel problem, because when AI come the pit, they still have about 4-8 liters. I remember I have increased something in racetrack files to get them more fuel according to an old guide which I had found in the Internet a long time ago. Although the AI got more petrol, they are still getting DNF. I tried with mandatory pit stops and X4 wear for fuel consumption but without succsess.

Has somebody got an idea how to repair that?

 

[Manuel-Germany]

I was searching for the same thig days ago.

Yes, there is a way to fix the fuel consumption in the files of the tracks itself. But it will be quite complicated (there was a rule like track length x16 or so).

I have heard something, that there is a file with a global setting. Someone changend a factor for the AI from "1" to "0.8", so that the AI uses 20% less fuel. But, I have sleepless nights, I don't find that post anymore. Also, I searched so many files but until no with no sucess, I simply dont't find such a global setting.

If anybody knows: Post it here.

 

[MrRandom287]

In the .PLR file (which can be found in "C:\Users\<UserName>\Documents\SimBin\RACE 07\UserData\<Player Name>") there is an option called "AI Additional Fuel Mult". Truthfully I am not sure if that can be changed in Race 07 though.

 

[Manuel-Germany]

Ah, great, that look pretty much for what I have searched for.

I tried it out, but after closing the game, the value jumps back to "1.00000" in the file. So, the game seems to refuse to keep my manipulated setting.

But the fact that there is such an entry gives me hope that it will be possible to adjust it somwhere else.

Will keep on trying and share my results.

Just to mention: Many of the add-on tracks don't have this "out of fuel" problem, as the modders figured out a better value for the fuel consumption. But changing a global value seems much easier.

 

[Sven Hielscher]

In Windows set your PLR file read only. That will stop the game from changing it. Of course you will have to make it writeable again if you want to change something. But remember what you want to be changed and do that again before making the file read-only again.

 

[Manuel-Germany]

I did run several tests, always set the file to read only.
However, the game seems to remove that option: After closing the game, the file is writable and the value is set back to 1.00000

I have tried out several settings, from 0.80000 over 0.50000 to 0.10000

Always the same track, same mix of classes. The effect stays the same, the same number of cars run out of fuel.
So, I think the game changes that .PLR file very early after loading the game.

Maybe changing the entry in the tracks itself will result best, but when everybody here changed his files by his own, no one will be online-compatible and has his own version of the tracks on disk. Hopefully, the modders may take a look on this issue and release their tracks with a good fuel use value.

But, I keep on seaching for another option. Never give up...

 

[Sven Hielscher]

I did run several tests, always set the file to read only.
However, the game seems to remove that option: After closing the game, the file is writable and the value is set back to 1.00000

I have tried out several settings, from 0.80000 over 0.50000 to 0.10000

Always the same track, same mix of classes. The effect stays the same, the same number of cars run out of fuel.
So, I think the game changes that .PLR file very early after loading the game.

Maybe changing the entry in the tracks itself will result best, but when everybody here changed his files by his own, no one will be online-compatible and has his own version of the tracks on disk. Hopefully, the modders may take a look on this issue and release their tracks with a good fuel use value.

But, I keep on seaching for another option. Never give up...

You could change the file's owner to admin only, that will definitely disable Race from doing any changes. I had some issue with the graphics settings and did exactly that to the config.ini file.

Well, maybe the reason could be the default setups? Or the estimated fuel consumption for that track is simply wrong?
Would you mind sharing the car and track combo so me/others may have a look too?

 

[Manuel-Germany]

Was a mix of original and add-on cars. But let us come to the initial question, because I have found a solution here.

Two of my computers did run several races for testing today (I just parked somewhere after the start and let the AI drive).

Okay, in this example I took an old version of Laguna Seca, wich had a bad fuel consumption calculation.

In the .AIW file of the track (in the folder LOCATIONS), you will find two important lines:

lap_length=
...
FuelUse=

In this case, the file had these entrys:
lap_length=3598.115967
...
FuelUse=43177.391604

Let us ignore the numbers behind the .
We just calculate following:
43177 / 3598 = 12

I remember, that a factor of 16 ist more than enough, so I calculated:
3598 * 16 = 57568

I changed the fuel use to:
FuelUse=57568.391604

And, here we go.
Before, half of the cars did pit in the last lap, the other cars ran out of fuel and were standing around on the track.

After my little change, the race was just fine. No car ran out of fuel, everything was perfect.

So, I did some tests with the maximum of 50 lap races.
Here, you must look clearly: If you mix up different classes (which I usually do), some cars may have enough fuel to fully run the 50 laps, while others have to pit due to their use of fuel.
So, race will be a litte unfair.

If you run races >30 laps, I recommend to the "force pit stop" in the race settings to get a fair result.

As a first solution, we could say: Always check if the factor between "lap_length" and "FuelUse" is 16 in the .AIW file.

I hope future track modders will keep an eye on this.

I am thinking about checking all of my .AIW files by hand now, even it will be around 300 Add-On Tracks I have...

 

[Kenny Paton]

As a first solution, we could say: Always check if the factor between "lap_length" and "FuelUse" is 16 in the .AIW file.

Good find.
I only run max of 20 minutes nowadays but that's good info to know for those who want longer races.

 

[Manuel-Germany]

Good news so far: Many of the add-on tracks have a good ratio between track length and fuel use, so the AI will be a fair competition. I would say 50% of the tracks were fine.
The rest had to be adjusted by hand in the .AIW file. It took quite some time to check all tracks, but, hey, I wanted it like this.

During this, I also checked the maximum nuber of cars possible. Most of the tracks can handle more cars without any issues (pit boxes and starting grid). This was the most time-intensive part, trust me...
I also changed every add-on track with the optimum value.

Yes, I know - many modders don't like their work to be changed, so an extra sorry from my side for this. But I like to have many cars in the race.

If anybody wants to know, I could post a list with the track name and the optimum number of cars possible, so everyone can decide if he/she wants to change the value by him/herself.