iRacing: AI Development Update

[Paul Jeffrey]

Following a community enquiry about the status of AI development in iRacing, RaceDepartment reached out for a comment from those in the know...

Behind the scenes, the new AI code has been in development for the online racing simulation for a couple of years now, in fact I managed to get some seat time with the WIP version of the AI build back at the 2018 Sim Racing Expo, but a little bit of confusion about the current development direction appears to have taken seed within the community in recent days.

Earlier this week I noticed one of our community members mention a curious comment from the iRacing customer services, who noted that AI development within the sim isn't something on the immediate priority plan list. Curious, the community member in question posted a comment asking if anyone knows more about this potential change in development direction by the title.

Having thought about it myself, I noticed we hadn't actually had much in the way of news about the AI for quite a while, which led me to reach out to our friends at iRacing for an update directly from the people behind the sim itself.

Fear not, AI is still very much on the cards for a release "sooner rather than later". What's more, a career mode is also in the works!

"Yes, I can confirm we are definitely on with development of AI for iRacing. In fact we have been for a couple of years" said Executive Director of iRacing, Tony Gardner.​

"We hope to release it sooner rather than later. Although even after we release it, just like everything we will continue to improve it, both the AI itself and the career mode/features around it.

It really just looks look any other iRacing race, if we are doing it correctly that is how it should look. In fact we have put out plenty of videos already using AI, we just didn’t make much of a point that it was AI. For example showing off a new piece of content, like a car or track...." ​

So there you go folks, iRacing will indeed be getting an AI update in the near future... plus a nice and unexpected bonus in the form of some kind of career mode.. rumours be gone!

For more news about iRacing, head over to the iRacing sub forum here at RaceDepartment and get involved with the community today!

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[Eckhart von Glan]

lol, that'll keep you busy for years to come ...

 

[BrunoBæ]

I just looked at Motec and I've bookmarked it for later. When I recover from the information overload I'm already dealing with I'll give this a look. Thanks.

Conserning MoteC then dont try to become an experienced user allready before you start using it.
Just do as I did by starting to just install and get accustomed to the most basic and simple of the preset graphs that is allready included.
And then when you as example have got an understanding of the relation between braking force and the resulting longitudinal g-force - then it maybe could be handy to compare it with the (brake)wheelspin at different speeds.
Just an example to show both how simple you can start - and how usefull the telemetry output can be used if you as example want to be able to adjust the brake force to get optimal brake effect.

CatsAreTheWorstDogs: Hehe and dont listen to (often falacy users) who try to tell you how incredible complex and nearly impossible this great telemetry tool is to use.

 

[DriverJay]

If it happens im definitely buying the Sim just hoping it happens sooner rather than alot later down the line

 

[RCHeliguy]

VRS is helping a lot I've knocked 2.5 sec of my best lap time in the last two days and I'm a lot more consistent. I was over braking too much so I increased the max brake pressure on my Sprints by about 10kg so I could modulate it better and I've improved my timing. I still need to work on smoothing out my braking after a long straight.

 

[Aaron Markham]

I can read this scenario very often, why are you guys paying for iracing? For me personally is iracing "better" because i can race a few series with very competitive field and i must give it a time and lot of effort. And there is one car and one track for whole week. If i want to race different cars and tracks every race or just sit and drive, i can play any other sim or game. But here will be wreckers.... a lot of wreckers..... Thats why i tryed iRacing and love it.

I stopped paying for iRacing two years ago since I didn't have the time to dedicate to it anymore. I've relied on AC, ACC, RF2 & AMS since then. The problem is there are no modern NASCAR simulations on the market that are worth a darn. Once AI is released I will sign back up since iRacing is the only option for a modern NASCAR simulation.

 

[BrunoBæ]

The problem is there are no modern NASCAR simulations on the market that are worth a darn.

Reasonable argument.
If I had the slighest interest in ovals and Nascar I would probably also be interested in iRacing.
Furthermore my guess is that its a lot easier to program reasonable AI algorithms for ovals than for road tracks.

 

[RCHeliguy]

Different things work for different people at different points in time and I don't think there is a one size fits all title out there.

There is no point in trying to fit round pegs in square holes, and there is some money involved in iRacing that can be prohibitive for some.

For me there was a perfect storm of things that triggered my jump into iRacing, but before that point I wasn't receptive. I had a friend telling me about iRacing 2 years ago but everything he said fell on deaf ears.

It's weird because I had a feeling that at some point track racing would grab me, but I had no idea what would trigger me.

Keep in mind that I had almost ZERO experience on tracks, but I wanted to learn. Past the initial excitement of racing real people, I'm really enjoying VRS. Yes, it is yet again more money, but I feel like I'm actually learning and progressing vs just doing laps and getting nowhere. The challenge has hooked me and having good learning tools sealed the deal.

 

[Gadaga]

Just speculating here, but I wonder if the reason the AI has been so long coming is that it's going to hit game performance so hard. Particularly if the AI uses the same physics and tyre model as the player's car - and if it doesn't, what's the point? Also, will VR still perform as well with AI?

Well I sure do hope that they'll use other cores/threads than the one(s) for the game so far (iracing is, if I understood correctly, hardly making use of the many cores our today processors have)

 

[RCHeliguy]

Well I sure do hope that they'll use other cores/threads than the one(s) for the game so far (iracing is, if I understood correctly, hardly making use of the many cores our today processors have)

To be fair they are not alone. PC2, AC, ACC anything by Codemasters are horribly single core limited. Some use a couple cores.

 

[Mr.Mints_Taboo]

Reasonable argument.
If I had the slighest interest in ovals and Nascar I would probably also be interested in iRacing.
Furthermore my guess is that its a lot easier to program reasonable AI algorithms for ovals than for road tracks.

I had been enjoying oval racing on iRacing, but after rookies, the amount of choices (each with a price tag) is ridiculous and dilutes the racers across too many series. For this reason I bought Heat 3, as it was about the price of an iRacing track, and provided an acceptable (to me) gateway into living my "Days of Thunder" dreams. I have been enjoying long races against (AI) drivers of comparable skill level to me. I do miss the sudden smash-ups of iRacing filling the track ahead with smoke and broken cars, but I can live with long green runs that force me to win on merit rather than inherited positions.

It *might* be easier to program Oval AI (sure seems like it should be) but I think the difference between Oval and Road is that Road Racers race the tracks while Ovallers race each other...very simplistic view but with some validity. Less corners but more variables (infantile, ego-maniacs.)
There certainly seem to be more good examples of Road AI than Oval AI.

Heat 3 AI is just about acceptable to me, and I have low standards...

 

[Edgar.A]

So there's actually no update whatsoever and therefore the source is "trust me dude" and quote from couple years ago? k
So it led me to reach out to my friends at iRacing for an update directly from the people behind the sim itself

Fear not, we're on track to transition into realistic Mario simulator with paper airplanes

said Tony Gardner

 

[Mr.Mints_Taboo]

So there's actually no update whatsoever and therefore the source is "trust me dude" and quote from couple years ago? k
So it led me to reach out to my friends at iRacing for an update directly from the people behind the sim itself
said Tony Gardner

I'd like to see the transcript of that call, please.

 

[rpstar]

AI is a good addition for sure. As for those who complain about the price of iRacing I just say show me a $60 sim to date that has managed good consistently organized online play. Don't say SRS, it's kinda ok but a far cry from what iRacing provides. Could it be done cheaper than iRacing? Maybe, but I don't think you are going to get it for anything close to your $60 one-time fee you might pay for other sims. Good services cost money unless somehow they can be advertisement support and sim racing is just not there.

 

[BarMotorsports]

Perhaps they need the AI due to dwindling player numbers. The last time I dipped into iRacing about a year ago, aside from the rookie Miata, rookie stock car, and Skippies, many of the series that I wanted to race would not go official. I fear that having AI as an option might dilute the already meager player base. I'm on the West Coast of the US, so this may not be as much of an issue in Europe or East Coast US. But I'd say 90% of the series they run are just not an option for me.

I never race organized races now due to time restraints, enjoy live practice sessions and open live races when I can...
AI will allow me to drive in excellent iRacing simulator in a car I may never have bought because no one else runs the class OR just because "I want to"... iRacing records will support my claim... I only stop back to see if AI is here yet, take a few flying laps in a favorite car then off again back to to AAC, AC, RRE! Its easy, if you don't like AI, ignore it.

 

[Slowdive]

I never race organized races now due to time restraints, enjoy live practice sessions and open live races when I can...
AI will allow me to drive in excellent iRacing simulator in a car I may never have bought because no one else runs the class OR just because "I want to"... iRacing records will support my claim... I only stop back to see if AI is here yet, take a few flying laps in a favorite car then off again back to to AAC, AC, RRE! Its easy, if you don't like AI, ignore it.

Well who knows how good or bad their AI will be. But lets assume it'll be average. I don't see myself paying 20x more than every other sim out there to do the same thing in a game with subpar graphics and physics. The big selling point of iRacing is the multiplayer that is not available anywhere else. This is why they're able to charge absurd amounts of money for their product. I can't imagine that alot of people are in your boat and are willing to shell out hundreds of dollars and a monthly fee to do what you could do in AC for 20 bucks with a lot more flexibility.

 

[Furious Panda]

Basically they should just do AI for oval, complete waste of time implementing it for road racing

 

[Mr.Mints_Taboo]

Basically they should just do AI for oval, complete waste of time implementing it for road racing

I will definitely buy into those monster trucks (so at least 1 vehicle purchase (bogof), and two tracks), a higher level of Oval Racer and a longer track, New Hampshire (the Roval looks amazing, but is rarely raced on the road side) and the lotus 79.
That's nearly £100 there, plus renewing my subscription.

I am not claiming to be a representative demographic, but I am sure there must be a few others like me. The AI allows me to grow my confidence ready for the online hammering I will surely get from real people.
iRacing is all about the real people, but the AI is (for me) an invaluable training tool.

Of course, if I could get the online iRacing experience in rFactor or RRE or similar, then I could save myself some money.
It looks like iRacing will give me AI before the other games give me the iRacing structure...in which case they will reap the benefits.

 

[BrunoBæ]

It looks like iRacing will give me AI before the other games give me the iRacing structure...in which case they will reap the benefits.

My guess is that there will never be another game offering iRacings server structure and service.
Mainly because iRacing was first out of the box offering both maintained servers and a structured race schedule that have been stable enough for people to dare to pay 1-2 years in advance - because they believe iRacing still exist at that time.
And furthermore the problem for other racing games is that the total niche is so small that there is not money enough around to make it profitable for a similiar service to exist beside iRacing.

The only thing that coul blur the picture is if the V7 still doesnt solve iRacings TM problems.

 

[Eckhart von Glan]

Well, so far it hasn't exactly held back the approx. 5,000 players a night - me included. If more become convinced that there is progress, so much the better, keep 'em coming. I do not think they actually make much money, numbers of users are a joke compared to what other titles sell, but I am quite confident we will still see them around in 10 years, their approach often looks sensible.

 

[Mr.Mints_Taboo]

The only thing that could blur the picture is if the V7 still doesn't solve iRacing's TM problems.

Nah, NTM is like Formula One - Next season/ NTM is going to be awesome!

Oh, except that I still have hope for the tyre model.
(Sorry about fixing the grammar - like racing, it's a compelling compulsion.)