What do you mean by "AI in Forza 3 exhibits much better racecraft than the AI in GT5" I feel like the actual race-craft in GT5 is quite good. For example the video I have posted in
this thread show some very good race craft by the AI.
My observations are mostly based on watching my B-Spec driver. A few things I've noticed AI doing in GT5:
* If the AI is on a straight coming up to a corner, and a leading car hits the brakes going into the braking zone, the AI car will quickly follow suit to keep a (way too large) space buffer. It does this even before its braking zone. I would expect the AI to close the distance in the braking zone, to at most a car length, but it often will not do this.
* If the AI is following a leading car through a turn which requires the lead car to slow even slightly (ie: a kink where the lead car lifts or taps the brakes) the AI will often slam the brakes to avoid closing a large distance quickly. This is similar to my last observation as far as the AI code is concerned, I suppose, but it makes closing on a leading car extremely difficult for my B-Spec driver. I watch him follow the 1st place car around the track endlessly in this manner, and manual commands are only occasionally enough to break him out of his funk.
* The AI cuts off passes that have already been made. It's infuriating to watch my B-Spec driver sometimes on tracks like Tsukuba, because he'll pull to the inside of a leading car with a head of steam, get nearly past the other car, then slam the brakes to let the other guy by because the pass wasn't 100% complete before he got to the braking zone. I'm not talking dive bomb passes here, but clean passes made well before the corner.
* Speaking of braking zones, the AI is extremely conservative about them. The typical corner for the AI seems to be: brake early in a straight line -> coast to the turn in point -> coast through the turn -> wait until well past the acceleration point -> nail the throttle. If the AI is feeling flustered, it nails the throttle just hard enough to break the tires loose, and loses a bunch of time recovering.
* It seems the AI doesn't drive different cars differently. It takes the same line with FF/FR/AWD. I have to pay more attention to this to articulate it better; it's just a feeling I've noticed watching my AI car drive a FF hatchback followed by a Miata.
* When driving human vs AI, the AI cars often ignore my car. I know this is what the OP was about, and I don't want to open a can of worms here, but who here hasn't had the AI drive THROUGH their car like it wasn't even there?
I'm sure if I watched more B-Spec I'd have a few more things to add, but that's the gist of my complaints with GT5's driving AI. By comparison to Forza I don't mean to say Forza is excellent. It most definitely is not; I have often wished for more racer-like AI when driving that game, too. But I seem to have many fewer AI incidents with Forza than with GT5. Particularly, Forza doesn't have nearly the problems GT5 does with the silly "chickening out" maneuvers my B-Spec driver does, and it seems to recognize your presence much more readily than GT5 does. I DO get punted by Forza AI cars... especially if they are driven by the "M. Rossi" AI (that jerk!), but it's a much more rare occurrence than in GT5, at least for my driving style.
Perhaps that's a big part of people's perspective on the AI in racing games: their driving style. A dive-bombing car-combat kind of driver may have different interactions with the AI than a "courteous racer" who only makes moves that are realistic, and leaves room for opposing drivers.
In any case, improved AI would DRAMATICALLY increase my enjoyment of GT5, and I guess that's part of my frustration... AI has always been GT's Achilles' Heel, and GT5 is no different. If I were Polyphony, I would spend some big money on an AI programmer and rewrite the entire system. I'd rather have six excellent AI opponents than twelve morons!
