I really want to get into custom races, but every time I try, I don't get what I'm looking for.
So today I made a full grid of race tuned N-Ones on RH tires.
First test was with Reggie, the regular AI, on "highest" settings (boost weak & professional). Five laps at Spa. I took P1 at Blanchimont in the first lap and quit the race. I forgot to turn the power down on my car before the race (the 96% bug), but still, wouldn't have much of a difference. That's pointless, but Sophy should definitely do better here.
Well, nope, Sophy still hasn't learned to drive this car unfortunately. She's still living a bit in the past when it comes to updates.
So, did I spend hours and millions on making a useless custom grid?
Well, I'm not giving up after the first test and I really needed a dose of Nordschleife, so I set up a 2 lap race on N24 against Reggie with the same settings as before. This time I also didn't forget to turn my power down before the race.
The first lap wasn't that bad! Two cars put up a good fight and didn't let me pass easily, another one even managed to retake his position after I passed him!
On the other hand there were 2 cars with the "blinker and let him pass" bug. And overall I was still climbing ranks much too fast.
At the end of the first lap I was at P4. I passed Norris (I had a F1 grid set up) at the right hander after the straight. Then everything fell apart quickly. The most awkard and unrealistic thing happened: Verstappen, at P2, put the blinker and let me pass😟
That left only Oscar in front of me. I was hoping that at least he would put up a good fight for the remaining lap.
Nope. Could have passed him after the Schumacher S, but stayed behind. He didn't get the next turn well and I passed him on the straight, just to let him back in front again. But he still didn't want to fight, so I passed him again at Sabine Schmitz corner. I let him in front again, slowed down even more and let 2 more cars pass. At Schwedenkreuz I was back at P1. So I thought, ok, let's push a bit and see how much of a lead I can get. The way the AI drove until then I was positive that I could easily get a 15-20 seconds lead.
Nope. The moment I started to push, all the drivers behind me had a sudden enlightenment and realized that they're in a race an maybe should also push.
The biggest lead I had over Oscar for the remaining lap was 1.7 seconds! He was constantly at my tail, even trying to attack once. Strangely, at Döttinger Höhe, neither he nor anyone else tried to get into my slipstream, so I won rather comfortably. But look at this:
View attachment 1497542
Pretty close, isn't it? I didn't even get the fastest lap!
So the AI can be fast! Not in a "fair way" probably, just with artificial boost, but I don't even care about that so much, as long as it leads to enjoyable result.
But the problem is that the AI simply refuses to drive quick when they're in front of you. They only do it once you passed them all.
It's so unsatisfying to know that they could give you a good race but for whatever reason they just don't.
Long post, sorry, can't sleep🤓