AI for a Drafting Fest at Talladega or Yet Another Dega AI version 0.9 While the original AI (artificial intelligence -- or computer driven cars) provided by Papyrus "pretend" to draft, many of us have been quite unhappy with their performance at Talladega. While the cars' performance is modeled on restrictor plate racing, the AI don't seem to keep in mind that their cars have a restrictor plate. Enter "Yet Another Dega AI" (YADAI)! It is our goal to re-create the type of racing we see while watching a Winston Cup race at Talladega (or Daytona). This version of YADAI, is not perfect, but comes closer than Papyrus' or other AI patches seen to date. There are still some problems, some appear to be hard-coded into the simulation and others can be refined in future versions of YADAI. What can you expect from installing YADAI? More and longer trains of drafting cars. No longer will you or the AI be able to pass drafting cars without drafting partners. If you lose the draft, you will not be able to pick it up again unless you find a "dancing partner" or the pack ahead starts dicing for positions. Yes, there will still be passing by the AI, but they are more interested in staying in drafting packs than passing. Don't worry, there will still be 3-wide passing in the tri-oval. Your rear view mirror will fill up with the hoods of the drafting cars behind you. You will be able to "entice" fast cars to leave a pack to help you pass. The AI will better maintain their speed going into and out of the turns. The AI will make their pit ins and outs faster. This will help alleviate the problem of the racing cars slowing down for cars going into or out of the pits. However, don't expect the AI to get any smarter about not falling in line behind crippled and slower cars (sorry, but it looks like Papyrus will need to fix this one). HOW TO To reap the benefits of YADAI, copy the enclosed files into the TALADEGA directory under the TRACKS directory. If you decide you don't like the resulting performance of the AI, you can revert to the original AI by copying all of the *.LP files from the CD-ROM's NASCAR2\TRACKS\TALADEGA directory back into the same directory on your hard drive. FINE TUNING To fully appreciate this new AI, you will need to alter the RELS figure in the TALADEGA.TXT file. Even at Papyrus' default level of 104, the AI cars under-drive compared to the performance and handling of the human driven car. This is one of the reasons it is possible to pass drafting cars even without recruiting a drafting partner. I recommend starting with a range between 108-114. The lower end should be for joystick users, while the higher numbers should be for drivers with steering wheels for input. While the resulting speeds and times will be higher than the real speeds and times at this track, the experience of racing will be more realistic. Since Papyrus has allowed the human drivers to outperform the track, the AI should be granted the same right. Here is a good way to calculate the right RELS number for use with YADAI. Start a regular race at Talladega (make sure you have the YADAI files installed). Do not qualify. You will want the last position on the starting grid. For quicker testing, you may want to turn off the "Pace Lap" option. At the drop of the green flag, drop back from the pack. Make sure that you are far enough away from the pack to not pick up any effects from the draft. Once you have gotten your car up to speed, continue to run 5-8 laps. With the F2 Standing List displayed, monitor your time from the Leader of the race. Since they should be drafting after 2 or 3 laps, they should easily be gaining 0.10+ seconds a lap on your position. If you can keep up with the leaders or gain on them, raise the RELS number in TALADEGA.TXT. However, if they are gaining more than 0.20 seconds per lap, lower the RELS number. In order for this test to work, you must be running consistently your best laps. Once you have found a comfortable RELS line, you can fine tune it by comparing your times while drafting. If the RELS is too high, you will consistently run faster laps when tucked behind a fast car or pack of cars than when you are leading a pack of cars. Ideally one should be running about the same lap times while following a draft or leading a draft (well, unless the lead car is in fact faster than you are). Try to find an even ground with the RELS number that will allow you to get comparable times leading or following in a pack. As you get better at Talladega with your setups and driving line, you may need to raise the RELS number to keep up with your performance. For a real challenge try 120! Now that you have upped the ante by raising the RELS line, you need to adjust the BLAP number. This number controls the qualifying speeds. Here are suggested BLAP numbers for the different RELS based on 1997's pole qualifying time: RELS BLAP 108 49994 109 50005 110 50014 111 50024 112 50034 113 50044 114 50054 DRIVING WITH THE NEW AI You will need to spend some time learning how the new AI drive the track and race the competition. There are enough differences, that you may be frustrated at first. Take your time and analyze what the AI are doing and why. You will find that since you are usually driving tucked up behind other cars, that you must really concentrate on driving through the windshield of the cars in front of you. This is always the case in close racing, but is more important in a restrictor plate race. Be ready to lift a little on the gas when the cars ahead start dicing for position or come up on slower traffic. Also be ready for the car in front of you to lift a little to let someone into the pack. Since the new AI now know how important the draft is, they would rather have someone come into the pack in front of them than break up a fast moving train. So they will lift a little to let people in. Be kind to your drafting partners! If you treat them nice, they will draft with you and help you move up the field. If you mess with them (cut them off, or squeeze them), they will drop back and you will lose the benefit of their draft. Many times you will find that you make better time following certain cars than you do leading. With time you will learn the grooves you can take going through the turns without upsetting your drafting partners. When it comes down to racing for the finish or a position when racing to the yellow flag, then it's time to mess with your partners! Until then, they are the best friends you have on the track. There are spots on the track where the AI still act poorly. Learn these spots early and avoid the headaches and crunched fenders that may result. Here are a few rough points to watch out for. DRIVERS' MEETING Coming out of the dog-leg, if you are in the middle or outside groove, the inside cars have a tendency to push you into the wall. This can be avoided if you are carry enough speed and hold your line in the middle or in between the middle and outside groove. If you are not carrying enough speed or start drifting to the outside groove, be patient and lift. This will allow the inside car to make its determined move to the outside lane. If you only lift slightly, you should be able to pick up their draft and make a move later. Entering turn 3 on the inside groove can be quite difficult if there are cars outside of you. Depending on your speed and your approach, you may be able to force them to keep the outside groove. However, this is a dicey place to pass unless you approach it just right. You either need a lot of steam, or must be far enough in front of the outside car to make this turn without getting nudged or nailed. Exiting turns 2 and 4 on the outside can also be tricky. Again, it depends on the amount of speed you carry coming out of the turns and the groove you take. If you carry enough speed and hold the inside car to the low to middle grooves, you should be able to continue safely through the this turn up to the outside wall. If you find yourself slipping to far up the groove and the inside car is moving up and maintaining speed, the prudent choice is to lift and let them have the outside groove entering the straight. Entering the pits under yellow can be a problem. Depending on how far back you are in the pack, the cars in front may come to a stop while they wait for the pitting cars ahead to straighten things out. Be patient and alert to this problem. Stay to the left of the car in front and be prepared to slow or stop. Do not pass this car before entering your pit stall or you will receive an unwelcomed black flag. First turn after the green flag at the start of the race is another problem area. As the AI try to go through this corner 2 wide and also prepare to form a one car groove down the back stretch, they tend to slow and bunch up. If you didn't qualify up front, be ready to take this corner extremely carefully and be ready to touch the brakes. Maybe even brake heavy if you are on the inside. If you are on the outside, you may be able to move up to the wall. In an attempt to keep the cars in the racing groove from slowing too much when passing cars exiting the pits, we have greatly increased the speed the AI takes through turns 1 and 2 on the apron. You may find this too fast, however, the speed tends to compensate for the extra time the AI take entering and while pitting. Also they do not seem to get up to proper speed while coming down the back straight. Well, there you have it! Version 0.9 of YADAI (Yet Another Dega AI). Please send all feedback, positive and negative, to mcarver@teleport.com. The YADAI team: Rob Camp (snowdog@whidbey.com) Jon Guest (jon_guest@pegasus.meganet.co.uk) Michael E. Carver (mcarver@teleport.com) The following people have been extremely helpful in the preparation of YADAI: All of the folks at The Sim Project (http://members.aol.com/simproject) Christopher D. Lund (Author of TLMetry) Gerhard Lingenberg Tom Hansen And too many others to name Thanks!