AI Poll [Archive] - Live for Speed

danowat

28th March 2006, 11:50

Does LFS need AI, simple 3 options, I did search to see if this question has been asked before, and nothing came up, disregard if it has been covered before.

I am interested to see how many people think AI is important in LFS, IMO LFS is an online sim and doesnt NEED AI.

Dan,

MyBoss

28th March 2006, 11:55

of course LFS should have AI, without it I know I wouldn't have bought S1 since I didn't have internet at that time.

Its good for practise to.

mr_x

28th March 2006, 12:13

it should have AI, so noobs can practice the tracks with them before they go online and make our lives hell! (not that they do/will) also i like to practice offline and i love games like GTR for their AI so i can have fun offline when i dont feel like going online

sgt.flippy

28th March 2006, 12:20

I voted for it needs AI, because of what the previous guy said. The only thing we need is AI that's more difficult to beat. I like the behaviour of the AI sometimes. I don't think there is no need for any advancing of the AI, just make them a bit faster.

danowat

28th March 2006, 12:26

This is how I see it.

LFS is sold as the online racing sim, in an online environment AI is of little to know use, I would prefer the resources spent on improving the AI to a level where they would give a good race,were diverted to other more worthy items in LFS.

I understand that they can help offline players, but I find that hotlapping gives me all the track practice I need, and should I need race practice I find a server with people on it.

Infact, I cold probably go as far to say that the AI as it currently is, is worse than non at all, they are truely bad on some tracks, BLGP for instance.

Dan,

andy_bonjon

28th March 2006, 12:44

LFS definitely needs AI at least for people playing for the first time and for people who can't get on the internet!

There is no way i would have got my licence if i had found that the first time i played it was just me driving around a track on my own.... yes i know its meant to be an online game but you do need to have something to keep people happy who cant get online! And when i first went online i was very daunted because everyone was so much better and i had read loads about people getting angry when a 'noob' causes an accident so i was a little scared tbh (:D :shy: )

i used the AI to improve as if you can have a clean race against them you can have a clean race against anyone!! :D although they do need to be made a bit quicker i think... that way once you start beating them easily you know you can at least keep up online!

the other thing the AI is good for is wrecking..... now i will never agree with wrecking online (unless its specifically a destruction derby in a carpack) but you can take out any wrecking needs on the AI... making them pile up can be pretty hilarious when your bored!

but i do agree that the AI doesnt need time wasted on them atm! that can come later on after some of the important things are sorted..... the AI are ok for now! :thumb:

PLAYLIFE

28th March 2006, 12:46

I like AS Cadet with FOX for example. But nobody races that online. AI is the only option...:shrug:

B2B@300

28th March 2006, 12:49

I voted that AI would be valuable, because sometimes (and especially in some time zones) there are few human opponents online to race against.

I voted no for exactly the same reasons but from a different perspective :scratchch Having good AI would give people an option which means there is even less chance of you finding people online in those times zones :razz:

AndroidXP

28th March 2006, 12:49

I never use the AI, but I can see its use for fooling around and as a newcomer training. I would be against removing them as there seem to be quite a few people who regularely race them because of a bad/missing internet connection, but on the other hand, any improvements to it are only "nice to have", too.

Personally, I wouldn't mind either way.

mkinnov8

28th March 2006, 13:23

Actually the AI in LFS are (or can be great) after some training.

Im running a system test on another PC at the moment, and its constantly running LFS AI races, when they started they were crashing all over the place, but after a few 30 lap races they are becoming challenging.

AI needs to be looked at a little, eg. Pitting for fuel, not resetting when damaged etc, and yes I do think its worth the Dev's time for a week or two.

LFS without AI, nah, I wouldnt have bothered with it.

When I found LFS, I had no internet connection whatsoever, I would have walked.

Bob Smith

28th March 2006, 13:33

The AI could certainly be useful at times. However how much would we use them? But I think that's a vicious circle of a question at the moment, we don't use them because they're crap, if they were better we might feel more inclined to make use of them...

Rtsbasic

28th March 2006, 13:53

Maybe if things like the AI could be left open for plugins which would let the community help develop the game, and if a plugin becomes good enough make it offical and ship it as part of the package. Means eventually you should get a good AI, but its one less thing for the developers to do.

Vain

28th March 2006, 14:22

I don't always want to be pushed off the road or yelled at for driving a secure line and still get wrecked by some idiot. That's why the AI is definitely needed.
Also, when I practice a new track and car-combo I set up a field of AIs so I get to know where I can take over other cars safely and where I have to step back. Every driver should do that.

Vain

DeXteRrBDN

28th March 2006, 14:30

Actual AI is just fine for me. I only use them to take some laught or to have some transit, but I go online when want some skills.

It would be nice to have a better AI, but it's not a big deal for me.

Gentlefoot

28th March 2006, 14:30

I can't comment as I have not used them.

I couldn't think of the point of them until I read this thread and saw someone had mentioned players without internet connections.

SlamDunk

28th March 2006, 14:54

Although I've had fun with the AI (with bouncy racing etc.) I still think that AI is a waste of development time in LFS.

mrodgers

28th March 2006, 15:03

I voted yes. I don't use AI for racing, but I do have 1 AI driver that I created, Darby. I have been wanting to train her just for interest to see how fast she can be. I recently set up a race at blackwood with AI in the majority of the car classes available, UF1, GTi, GT, GTi GTR, MRT, LX6, FOX, FZR, and F08. It was VERY interesting and comical to watch. 20 lap race (had 30 or 40% fuel or something) and surprisingly, everyone ran out of fuel except for the UF1 and the F08 down to the final lap. The F08 ran out on the last corner allowing the UF1 to catch back his 3 laps down and win the race. Hillarious to watch. The F08 ran into the sand for a period of time and it was funny to watch it trying to get out. Eventually it did. I have a replay of it somewhere. That would make a good video.

Gentlefoot

28th March 2006, 15:05

he he. Seems there is more value to the AI than I thought.

filur

28th March 2006, 15:21

I never use the AI, but I can see its use for fooling around and as a newcomer training. I would be against removing them as there seem to be quite a few people who regularely race them
Same here.

Hyperactive

28th March 2006, 16:17

I don't race against the AIs at all. So I don't need it.

But there are reasons (no people online to race with, newbie practise, player has no internet connection) why this feature should be there and therefore I give it a yes - it is needed.

Theafro

28th March 2006, 17:09

I haven't raced the AI for ages, simply because they're not exactly intelligent or fast - although i would bet that most noobs spend a good preportion of their time racing the AI. It's nice to not have the pressure of actual human opponents when you're learning to drive, so I voted yes. AI are kinda important.

Ball Bearing Turbo

28th March 2006, 17:41

Don't care either way. I guess it should be included in the end result, but it sure isn't a priority. I wouldn't miss it if it wasn't there, save for running them over with monster trucks hehe :D

th84

28th March 2006, 17:42

This is why I want the AI. I like racing against people like th84 and Tristan, but when they're not online it's hard to find opponents who aren't intelligent or fast.

hey thats not nice!!! I resemble that remark!!! :razz:

nesrulz

28th March 2006, 18:28

In this thread (http://www.lfsforum.net/showthread.php?t=1166), post #27 (http://www.lfsforum.net/showthread.php?p=16295#post16295) (14th September 2005 nesrulz - DEMO driver)

No, LFS is an online sim, AI is not worth the dev's time

Becky Rose

28th March 2006, 18:52

it should have AI, so noobs can practice the tracks with them before they go online and make our lives hell! (not that they do/will)
Guilty as charged ! I do try to stay out of the way though, but practicing online gives

A) A better indication of target times
B) The opportunity to observe the best/better racing lines
C) The chance to leach a setup for the track
and most importantly,
D) A sense of community.

I still like the odd AI race though.

ekze

28th March 2006, 18:58

BuddhaBing

28th March 2006, 19:56

It's often difficult to find a race online during the times I usually play LFS (west coast of Canada, GMT-8), so I use the AI a lot.

As much as I am looking forward to netKar PRO, I'm still undecided about whether to pick it up largely due to its lack of AI.

sgt.flippy

28th March 2006, 19:58

P5YcHoM4N

28th March 2006, 20:12

The biggest problem with the AI I have found is they don't know how to stop at the limits. I've been training a full field for about 2 weeks (fill them to 100% fuel then goto uni), and I've found that they always want to go faster each lap, and won't stop trying to go faster until they crash, then they slow down a tad, then do it again. So for a few laps they are great, then they go off the line a lot as they go too wide, they crash, then they suck, get great... it's rather annoying as I spend most of my time playing with the AI.

Gabkicks

29th March 2006, 01:53

it would be wonderfull to have competitive AI in lfs :). all it would do is help to strengthen the online community because people would be able to practice offline and learn proper offensive and defensive techniques without ruining someone's race.

there are hardly ever any formula v8 races going on and it would be nice to have smart ai. maybe even allow us to tweak each ai driver's behavior; agression, braking/cornering skill and things like that.

Hatemaker

29th March 2006, 02:59

I voted that AI would be valuable, because sometimes (and especially in some time zones) there are few human opponents online to race against.

This is my reasoning exactly. Also, it does provide fun for those who have little to no internet connectivity, and for those who are still learning to ropes to get the feel of racing with others on the track without running real people off the road.

STRAHD

29th March 2006, 03:31

Yes it should. I like to play around with the AI offline a fair bit. AI driving the UF and GTI make for good oncoming traffic sometimes. Im happy with how they are now though, would just be nice if they were a little more aware of what they were doing:pillepall

96 GTS

29th March 2006, 05:22

I think LFS needs AI as well. Sometimes (frequently in my case) there aren't any servers with the combo you'd like. Especially the LRF class, no one ever races those. I know I could join a league to play them, but I don't have the time to commit to that.

Hankstar

29th March 2006, 05:28

:nod:
AI are a good training tool imho. In early days, before I raced online, I used them as practice dummies before I learned not to hit other drivers. In GPL, racing against the AI was an especially good way to prepare for online racing - i.e. if you couldn't beat them there was no way you could beat a real human! Good thing about the GPL AI is that you can adjust how good they are, and that would be cool to be able to do in LFS.
And yes, sometimes there aren't any servers I feel like joining, so good AI would be a nice little bonus...

danowat

29th March 2006, 06:13

TBH, I am quite suprised in the results, I would have expected the "no's" to outwieght the "yes's".

It's also been a good eye-opener on how many people do use the AI, and why, TBH I don't think I have personally touched the AI in years, although we do have rolling roadblocks when we play on a LAN at work.

It also brings up the issue of lack of populated servers with different combos, there is obviously a call for this, and it saddens me to see over 300 servers sit idle when they could be put to use on more unique combos.

What I also found interesting, is people using, or starting to use, LFS without any net connection, TBH for me if it were not for the net connection I very much doubt I would play LFS at all.

Thanks for all the response :)

Dan,

mrodgers

29th March 2006, 12:09

It also brings up the issue of lack of populated servers with different combos, there is obviously a call for this, and it saddens me to see over 300 servers sit idle when they could be put to use on more unique combos.
Most of these comments come from North America where I usually only see 8 servers with anyone in them. You can set the 292 empty servers that are left to any cool and awesome combo you want, those 8 populated servers will still be Aston National GTR's, Oval F08's, and the rest FXO's wherever.

What I also found interesting, is people using, or starting to use, LFS without any net connection, TBH for me if it were not for the net connection I very much doubt I would play LFS at all.
I agree. I downloaded LFS S1 demo because I wanted something more like regular production cars. Tried it offline for an evening, then went online for the first time ever to race the next. It's all history after that.

andy_bonjon

29th March 2006, 12:36

What I also found interesting, is people using, or starting to use, LFS without any net connection, TBH for me if it were not for the net connection I very much doubt I would play LFS at all.

i suppose it depends what you have played before.... i.e. if your already coming from PC games where you are used to playing online its probably the first thing your going to do... but then im sure there are also a fair few people (like myself) who come from the world of arcade games and are just not used to the realism and being able to play against REAL opponents! So i guess in that situation the AI helps a little bit to adjust to a simulation!

Although i think i only want the AI because they have been my only friends for all but 2 weeks at christmas :D damn uni firewall! cant wait for May!!

Rappa Z

29th March 2006, 12:46

I like AS Cadet with FOX for example. But nobody races that online. AI is the only option...

I like that too. Ai should stay for noobs.

tinvek

29th March 2006, 13:07

wish a few people would use ai to learn how to pass and when to wait for a gap :)

AK-Chester

29th March 2006, 13:27

IMO LFS is an online sim and doesnt NEED AI. +1 :rolleyes:

Madman_CZ

29th March 2006, 13:35

heh lfs should have ai although ive never properly raced with them... and the few times i have i got shunted off the track by them..... they kinda prepare you for what one will encounter on the online servers..... ai are like some of the online racers who dont know how to use brakes or overtake!!!

wsinda

29th March 2006, 13:54

LFS is an online sim and doesnt NEED AI.
Yeah right, like it doesn't need throttle help, automatic shifting and keyboard control. That's stuff for noobs?

Yep. These features help newcomers climb the learning curve, so that they may eventually become competitive online racers.
If you want LFS to gain any popularity, it will NEED all those features. Otherwise you may soon be racing alone, online.

(As to myself: I would never have installed LFS if it was online-only.)

Hatemaker

29th March 2006, 14:36

Until a while back, before I moved from Germany to America, I never had a problem finding serverws with god combos to play on, because there was always a lot going on. But now that I live in America, i can never find anything good going on. I never really understood before how Americans would claim that nothing good was ever going on, until recently. Maybe I should just become more nocturnal than I already am to keep the good races comming? Well, I'll figure that one out later, but the Americans are right, In North/South America, there are less servers running with people in them than there are servers in Europe/Asia/Mid-East and whatnot.:shrug:

But! I'm not saying this can't be helped. This has a simple solution. Americans just need to get their own servers that would house more races for them. I'm aware of a few that are already running, but are sparcely populated. I'm sure if people would get in there, it'd be pretty fun.

peejayh

2nd April 2006, 20:07

I do so agree that LFS needs AI. I have never got onto an online race except head to head with my brother and I would probably be in the way of most of what appears to be fulltime sim racers. With five levels of skill to work through I'm in no hurry to join an online race. It's hard enough for me to understand the jargon which is rife on this site!! Make a little room for the slowcoaches but still enjoy the program immensely!!

XCNuse

2nd April 2006, 21:05

i said yes, i still believe LFS needs AI's, i have used them several times to be honest for racing reasons, and how to keep racing clean (which.. it was me being clean not them lol)

but as of right now, the AI's plain.. suck lol
but once that all gets fixed and we have good AI's that can drive a normal pace of a few seconds behind WRs and be able to control themselves and be aware of their surroundings, then im sure AI's will come into much more use

Racer Y

4th April 2006, 05:11

You know, at first it seems like an obvious YES LFS needs A.I. - then it
doesn't. I do think that since LFS DOES have AI anyways, then it ought to be made as good as what the other aspects of the game are (easier said than done I bet)
Also, with A.I., a different way to play LFS could be done. Where the player
is a racecar/team OWNER and A.I.'s make up his team. Car owners could race their A.Is against each other And win credits and use the credits towards
"fixing car parts" that the A.I wore out or broke during racing or maybe
use winnings to "hire" another driver to race as well so that the owner can race two cars and increase his chances of winning.

Something to where the player focuses on the overall racing strategy
instead of just the driving part. Where like if someone joins a ten race series,
they have to keep track of finances as well as where to set the downforce
to make sure that they can finish the series - and having to depend on a computer A.I. (that the owner trained) to perform in the actual race.
... train them to be aggressive - they go through tires, and trannies and clutches. train them to be conservative...well they won't win much money, but less is spent on parts as well. something like that.