Parameters to ensure crashed AI get towed back to pit to try again?

[Shovas]

Aside from AIW edits, are there any parameters I can tweak that could reduce crashes or preferably ensure that AI get towed back to pit to try lapping again?

While racing P&G cars on tracks they weren't designed for, most cars put in laps but a handful will crash and never get towed back to pits to go out again and put a lap in.

This results in the classic random gridding problem when some AI do not put a qualifying lap in.

I'm aware of PLR Vehicle Removal, and Location GDB Attrition but still need to test them to see how useful they'll be.

 

[Speednut357]

I know it can be done in rfactor but can't remember where the command is. I will have a look later and locate it. That may give us a clue how to do it in GTR2.

 

[Speednut357]

It was Crash Recovery="1" in the Plr that I thought it was. In factor, it has a slightly different description and three options.
My P&G seems to do it fine. I tested crashing into AI on their first lap in Qualify and watching them despawn. They just go back to the pit and give it another shot. But you say on some tracks? Maybe there is something else missing from the tracks in question.

 

[jgf]

The starting position of AI with truncated qualifying runs is assisted by the "ComparativeTime=" line in the .car file; the value, usually in the 101-110 range (percentage, I think, of some speed relevant to the particular car), assigns a qualifying time to that car. If the car files do not have this line (many mods do not) you get those really messed up grids.

I'm not sure what parameters tell the game to remove an AI from the track. Immobility seems to be the main factor, as long as he is moving he will try to return to the pits (rarely successful, another AI is bound to plow into him, putting both out of the race); but I also suspect whether the engine is running plays a part - with some cars I've seen them fly off a turn, flip over, and sit there for ages, upside down revving the engine. But in those instances where the AI cannot leave the pits, they will move back and forth slightly for several minutes the disappear and a couple of minutes later respawn in the same spot only to repeat the scene.

 

[Shovas]

I'm not sure what parameters tell the game to remove an AI from the track. Immobility seems to be the main factor, as long as he is moving he will try to return to the pits (rarely successful, another AI is bound to plow into him, putting both out of the race); but I also suspect whether the engine is running plays a part - with some cars I've seen them fly off a turn, flip over, and sit there for ages, upside down revving the engine. But in those instances where the AI cannot leave the pits, they will move back and forth slightly for several minutes the disappear and a couple of minutes later respawn in the same spot only to repeat the scene.

Yeah this is basically what's going on. They usually go around a corner too fast, flip over, and then you can usually see them visually twitching and I think it's this "movement" that prevents them from being towed.

But I think I've also seen AI get behind a fence and sit there completely still and not be towed. Although maybe their engine is still running.

The tracks I'm using with AI where I see this issue are often P&G-focused vintage tracks from Altbierbude.de and it feels like AI isn't really a focus of their tracks because their sites focus on online multiplayer.

I was hoping to find something to ease the problem without needing AIW skills.

 

[jgf]

This is an endemic issue with the AIW system, it functions best with cars similar to what the track developer used to create it. If the creator was an F1 fan they probably ran F1 cars there when creating the AIW file, go there with GT cars and they will try to drive like F1 cars; and vice versa, notice how an F1 mod runs at default tracks.

You can try slowing the AI in turns via the talent files, if their lap times get too bad increase the overall AI strength (midadjust), working back and forth you can often get a decent balance this way.

Someone should take a hint from teh old Sierra NASACR sims, the was a replay-to-LP file converter; do a good lap in whatever car, save the replay, load that into the converter and it would create an AI file from that lap. BAM, the AI drive just like you (not a good idea in my case...lol).