We’re in the second day since the troubled launch of Driveclub, and Evolution Studios has been keeping in touch with players to give more information about the game and what’s up with the online gameplay situation.
The AI is indeed great. The fact that it slows down a bit when it gets too far just keeps you in the race, but they surely don't let you pass easily in any shape or form.
And those reviewers that say the AI sticks too rigidly to the racing line and seem oblivious to the other cars around them are just wrong, because you are the expert. Those reviewers aren't qualified to share their opinions. Right Abriel?
Need for Speed games do the 'slow down' thing too. I've had some races where they'd actually wait for me to pass them at the finish line. Not very satisfying when they let you win!
@Volkama: having played racing simulators not only on the job, but also as a hobby since the times of GP legends and the original nascar series by Papyrus, moving all the way up to iRacing definitely gives you more insight on the genre compared to someone who plays racing games in passing just when he has to review them, and complains because he can't cut corners in a way that would get you penalyzed with a drive through in every racing environment besides destruction derby lol.
Most racing game have this feature... FH2 does not, if you F#%K up you better restart or pray that the drivatars in front of you crash into oncoming traffic or obstacles! It pisses me off, but makes the game more challenging at the same time. Nothing wrong with "Rubber Band AI" but there should be an option to turn it off at higher difficulties as well as a better pay out in comparison.
Right cool, so realistically speaking most people do not play every racing game for both hobby and profession, correct?
So the majority of people should ignore your gushing review (that reads like a marketing piece), because they don't have the necessary background to appreciate the game like you do?
The reviews you are publically dismissing are the ones that most people are likely to find they agree with?
@Volkama: lol you're getting ridiculous with your grasping at straws.
The fact that most reviewers don't have any idea of how to properly judge a racing/driving model doesn't mean gamers can't. Lovely strawman argument indeed.
Try again. You're amusing in your continuous attempts to bash this game. Now you've gotten to the point to say that reviews from people that know nothing about a very technical genre are better. What's next?
I think the AI in Driveclub is not great at all. I'm a pretty avid racing game fan, and I like Driveclub, but to say the AI is great is just dishonest. Either that or you have never played a racing game with actual great AI. They feel like they are practically stuck to a rail and will completely ignore you and other AI cars just to maintain that same rigid line. Personally I consider them more obstacles than opponents.
^^ Why? Because they actually put up a challenge and you can't just easily loose them? Welcome to the real world. Not sure which racing games you've played, but that's how it should be. They stay in your mirror to give you a real fight.
And about the slow down thing...every racing game does that. Adaptive AI. Of course it'll slow down. If not, you'd have no chance against it.
Easy tested: start a multi lap race, slap yourself in the middle of where you think the AI will pass, and let them do a lap. When they come around, you'll definitely see them abandon their line to avoid you. If you think you weren't in the right position, move to the line they took, and the next lap you'll see them avoid you in a different way.
Most complaints about "rigid" AI in racing games come from early braking or line invading where the AI can't avoid you pretty much like a human driver wouldn't avoid you.
"they bump me, it must be their fault"
In most cases, that isn't the case. Even the most elementary AI has better avoidance than most human players would have.
Wanna make the test more fun? put yourself somewhere inconvenient and start doing donuts. You'll see that even if you're moving in the largest majority of cases the AI will manage to avoid you, will swerve off its line and slow down considerably. I just did it.
I'm not bashing the game. At all. I have a very open mind about it, and I will pass judgement after playing it myself.
As I have said previously, I have some concerns about the "grippy" handling model (I was never a ridge racer fan), but I don't need reviews to tell me if I like the handling when there is a free version available to try.
The above comment about AI is the closest I have come to a negative commentary, but I sincerely didn't mean to imply that I have had a problem with the AI myself, as I have not played it yet. The comment was just a continuation of http://n4g.com/news/1600456... where Abriel raises his opinion above all others.
I am bashing Abriel's attitude. The condescending dismissal of any negative reviews, the "people will only have a problem if they're too stupid to appreciate the game" jibes.
I am not grasping at straws. If my conclusion is ridiculous it is only because the things he has said are ridiculous. My summary is a direct and fair interpretation of what Abriel has said. Nothing more, nothing less.
It's an arcade racer. Falling behind and having to finish a track alone wouldn't be much fun.
Should probably be an option in there to disable handicapping like that for people that want a more pure offline race, but otherwise speaking it isn't a terrible flaw.
For real. They have saud all along that it's not a full-on simulation, yet people still complain that its not like Forza or GT. I don't get it, I honestly don't.
And here we go. I knew this would somehow be flipped into a cool feature. The AI is so awesome it waits for you to not only keep you in the race but so that it can say PSYCH!!! lol catch up loser!
I mean come on guy! Reviewers have been called noobs for not liking this game's rigid AI and now you wanna defend this hand holding feature? I mean really now guy?
When I mentioned it I was lambasted. See disagreers? It does have rubberbanding, albeit reverse rubberbanding so you can catch up. Not long before this spun into a positive though, "dynamic difficulty with smart AI" Watch this space.
@Kionic It's a lose/lose situation for the developer. People would either complaint about the AI being too hard to catch up with, or people would complaint about the AI slows down for you to catch up
I figured as much, managed to get a huge lead on the AI on some events. Once you get to the faster cars they even make mistakes regularly like breaking too late or bad tries at overtaking each other, made me laugh more than once.
I also noticed that the penalty system received some criticism which I didn't understand. You only get penalized when cutting corners with all 4 wheels or crashing mindlessly into other drivers... that's exactly how it should work, especially when playing online. Also the AI gets penalties just like you so it evens itself out.
Yeah. The AI is more than competent in this game. I've watched them spin out, due to bad decisions around turns. I also saw them trying to overtake each other with or without success and if you ram into the AI, they seem to remember you down the line and will do the same if they have a chance. It generally happens around the worst of turns too, which makes you do a 180.
I love how hard the AI is in this game. It makes every race a challenge. Ive played this game for close to 20 hours and still want to play more and more. The sign of a great game is one that has you thinking about it after you put the controller down. I do that in spades with Driveclub.
Hahah yes it's challenging but fun. But it would be sooo much better if the servers would work properly :/ I feel like the game still has lots of untouched potential which we didn't even get to experience yet.
Why the hell are you people here? You, Torque, Volkama, and a dozen others have overrun EVERY Drive Club article talking about a game you've never shown any actual interest in. All you're doing is trolling, but that doesn't seem to matter a damn bit. I could mark and report each and every comment that's trolling, and it'd still be here next week, but I can all but guarantee I've got a ban coming up for calling you all out.
You haven't played the game. You're not interested in the game. You're contributing nothing valid to the conversation. By the definitions the mods keep giving me in relation to my own comments, there are at least six comments here that deserve moderation at the time of this writing.
I wonder how many actually will be?
Oh, that's excluding mine, which I'm certain will be marked for being off topic.
Actually his point is valid, Why should developers make you feel stupid by slowing down for you to catch up. Imagine what Dark souls would have been like if the AI stopped attacking when you low on health or if the bad guys stopped shooting when you run out of ammo in Uncharted
The only time they'll catch up is when they're drafting behind you. Nowhere i've seen rubberband AI during gameplay or them slowing down while they're ahead.
All of a sudden AI is a big topic these days...Including Assassins Creed Unity. Now we are starting to see some of the advantages of the cloud from Microsoft and the reason why Respawn and Insomniac games are stating they are using the cloud. Biggest gripes for me despite beautiful graphics was that Killzone had very dumb AI and now we are seeing it again with DC.
The AI was not aggressive effective but they are just a side story, environment of the game. Despite this they are at least participating and does not hinder the gameplay at all. And from the get go, it was clear that they were just grunts just like DOTA and not the center AI of the game.
Ok, but I don't think the AI needed the cloud to be non aggressive effective. Is that better? The effectiveness of the non aggressiveness is also questionable along with even its existence and I expect a big modification in the next game.
"The AI cannot cheat, & will never artificially catch up to you! They will slow down a little though if you get too far behind"
Ive been hearing the sweet trumpets of driveclubs ai in certain articles only to now find out the ai slows down when it gets too far...
I cant...I CANT
I figured as much, managed to get a huge lead on the AI on some events. Once you get to the faster cars they even make mistakes regularly like breaking too late or bad tries at overtaking each other, made me laugh more than once.
I also noticed that the penalty system received some criticism which I didn't understand. You only get penalized when cutting corners with all 4 wheels or crashing mindlessly into other drivers... that's exactly how it should work, especially when playing online. Also the AI gets penalties just like you so it evens itself out.
Please stop trying to convince yourselves this game is good - it's getting embarrassing
wait so they actually let you catch up thn beat you?
lmao just when i thought it couldnt get worse
I know i might get attacked for saying this, but I really like this game its so much fun:)Peace:)