A Letter about GranTurismo's AI Sub-Forum

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Canada
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photonrider
My dear Jordan,

I do hope you had a lovely Christmas with your family, and that the New Year kicked off just the way you liked it.
GTPlanet grows from strength to strength; I placed my loyalties in the right camp - there is no site more passionate about Gran Turismo :)

I wanted to send you this via PM, then realised that there may be others that could be of similar mind, though with thoughts unvoiced - so therefore decided to talk to you 'in front of the council' as such, within the Site Help sub-forum and let others also come forward with their comments if they so wish.
The down side of that being that Site Help (while closely overviewed by you - and rightly so) is not as patronised as the GT6 Forums when it comes to the activity of Gran Turismites - so I've dared to put it in here and hope you come by this.

This is about the AI Forum.

We've always had one for the various iterations of Gran Turismo that had B-Spec, but with the loss of B-Spec (till released) in GT6 we have not had one set up. This has resulted in valuable B-Spec/AI information being scattered across several sub-forums.
For instance there are two very valuable discussions on the AI in the Suggstions Forum that could very well be as useful in a dedicated AI Forum (with the particular suggestions and poll in the Suggestions Forum, of course) and there are also AI-based threads such as the 'Rabbit HQ' thread and 'AI Names' thread that could belong there.
As well, there are many unique facets of the AI that some of us would like to discuss as particular topics; AI psychology, AI vehicle characteristics, AI racing lines, the history and development of the AI, Bugs or glitches concerning AI, Easter eggs involving AI . . . and so on.

Artificial Intelligence is a big part of our game in Gran Turimo (as it is in most all other video games). In fact it is the AI Player we play against (when not online with live racers) as most techs would agree: it is a single brain we're playing against, a single brain that manipulates all the odds against us and uses its acquired intelligence against our own. Video games are therefore, at their core, a battle of wits and will against the brain that runs the game. Looked at that way, the Artificial Intelligence that runs the game is a significant, if not downright fascinating, entity.

It would be a boon to have a separate sub-Forum for aficionados of the discipline - especially those that know that getting the best out of the AI means getting the best out of a very large part of the game.

I should factor in two things:
You have said recently there is a new format in the works. (I'm personally very excited about the news; every iteration brings improvement and tools that facilitate fast-paced and lucid streaming of our thoughts.) This could be then the time to initiate that sub-forum, or even earlier as a prototype.
Secondly - it is just over a year now since PD made this promise:

CaptureB-Specpromise2_zps63449d1f.jpg



They haven't fulfilled this yet, though it is an obvious eventuality when considering the global marketplace and how it operates, and we should have this feature soon, maybe even sooner than we expect (having out-waited ourselves), and it may be useful to have the AI sub-forum up and running before it gets here.

I leave these thoughts for your consideration, and I'm hoping many others who are looking forward to working with the AI, will add to it in helping you come to a decision.

Thanking you for your attention!

:cheers:
Harry.
 
My dear Jordan,

Two months to the date since I ventured that the time was ripe for B-Spec to come along, and it since has done, and in now firmly ensconced in our game-play routines.
This is amply reflected in the fact that there is over a dozen B-Spec-related threads within the Main Board, but unfortunately buried randomly amongst the other general topic threads. It would be most helpful if these threads were all in one place - and would even encourage more activity as we could see at a glance what topics focused on B-Spec have been covered or as yet await topic-opening.

The 'likes' in the OP reflect similar thoughts, and by their quantity I would hazard that more than a few members would appreciate this. Do please consider the matter and if opening a separate AI Sub-Forum in the GT6 Forums fits in with your agenda be assured many of us would be more than delighted.

:cheers:
Harry.
 
If you are asking about creating a new forum, @photonrider you need to put the request in the right place.

Moved.

Thank you, @daan. I knew I could rely on that Scots intuition to help me out. I would have moved it myself and/or closed it when appropriate, (as I usually do with many of the discussions I initiate) but lost that facility, and have to ask the staff whenever such action is required. Thank you, again.

I placed it in the GT6 Forums first to generate the right attention - and in fact didn't tag Jordan since I wanted it to be more of a gentle nudge that the time was right for a B-Spec Forum and that we should prepare:


I wanted to send you this via PM, then realised that there may be others that could be of similar mind, though with thoughts unvoiced - so therefore decided to talk to you 'in front of the council' as such, within the Site Help sub-forum and let others also come forward with their comments if they so wish.

The down side of that being that Site Help (while closely overviewed by you - and rightly so) is not as patronised as the GT6 Forums when it comes to the activity of Gran Turismites - so I've dared to put it in here and hope you come by this.

However - as much as that was the time for the right heads-up for everybody, now is the appropriate time to actually create a 'B-Spec Forum, just as we had in GT5 - and the letter in here, now, in the appropriate place, is perfect. Thank you, once again. ;) 👍


VBR
@photonrider - Maybe you could add a poll to this thread.

That may be a bit redundant - unless there are people out there that don't want GTPlanet to have a GT6 B-Spec Forum (for whatever unfathomable reason). A B-Spec Forum is a necessity if the game has B-Spec. GT5 had one and so will GT6; my letter, at the time it was posted, was just a quick forewarning that the time was nigh, and that we should ready ourselves for it.
A bit of prescience, if you will, or just paying closer attention to PD and the way they work.

Opinions are of course valuable:
B-spec forum? *votes 'yes'*

A B-Spec Sub forum will be good Great 👍

Comments like the above will tell us how much it would be used.
 
Thank you, Jordan.

I broached it as a 'GT6 AI Forum' since at the time we were not really sure whether it was surely going to be called 'B-Spec' even though promised as such - since when GT6 came out there was no A-Spec in Career Mode (and Marketing being marketing could have foisted some new label on us) - so I wanted to play it safe; as well the AI do not only exist in B-Spec but also in A-Spec.

No doubt we shall also be discussing the AI from A-Spec in the B-Spec Forums, but I guess it's all good. ;)
 
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