Is it just me, or does the AI cheat like crazy?

Phileosophos · 06-11-2012, 06:27 AM

I played a while last night for the first time, and after a few difficulties with the car handling model I got something resembling the hang of it. But here's the thing that's frustrating me: is it just me, or does the AI cheat like crazy? In the first area, there's one particular "domination" event I just can't beat, and the reason is because no matter how well I do the AI always comes from behind and frags me, blows past me, etc. at the end of the race.

I must have tried almost two dozen times last night, and the last time was the most egregious. I had made it out into the front of the pack and completely dominated the course for all but the last quarter mile of the race. Then all of a sudden, out of nowhere, three AI cars come roaring up behind me--not even using boost, mind you, just driving far faster than they have any business driving, and all pass me within about two seconds of hitting the finish line. I went from being completely in the clear, nobody behind me, to coming in fourth in about a ten second window.

Does the AI in this game "rubberband" as in other racing games? It sure seems like it.

Frontman · 06-11-2012, 07:24 AM

No, not noticed so far that AI drivers are cheating.
What car are you using?
With cars like Sylvian type or Motega XR or Hurricana CX it is actually quite easy to dominate all races. The hardest race in the beginning is the one with just one round because it's difficult to escape in just one round and it will be rather tight. All others you can easily win by accumulating more power (other thread discusses how to get early power e.g. by tailgating, jumping, hitting targets and thrashing things).
Thus AI drivers are not that hard to beat - with some more practice you will stay always on 1st place once you are there (and don't make obvious mistakes).

Doctor_Hades · 06-11-2012, 08:54 AM

Ridge Racer Unbounded is an arcade racing game and like many such games, including the original Ridge Racer titles, it has rubber banding A.I. where the cars slow down if you get too far behind and speed up if you get too far in front. This is done to keep the races close and competitive but it can be annoying as it makes them less reliant on skill and more reliant on luck. Unbounded isn't as bad as some other games but the rubber-banding is definitely still there and it's perhaps a bit telling that the game has no replay feature (it would make the rubber-banding easier to spot).

To be honest I've been very disappointed with this game. It's not terrible per se but it's a pale shadow of the previous Ridge Racer games which had a more enjoyable (if completely unrealistic) drift system and far superior track designs. In Unbounded all the tracks have a bland cookie-cutter design to them and get boring after only a few races. I guess the Track Editor is to blame here as the tracks are clearly made from modules that repeat all too frequently throughout the short but boring Career mode.

FlatOut Ultimate Carnage was a terrific game from Bug Bear, Ridge Racer Unbounded isn't IMO. It's just plain mediocre.

Dave3d · 06-11-2012, 10:15 AM

Wait until you get past the first 2 areas (7/7 each, so 14 total).
I think I came in 2nd 1-2 times in all 14 races, the rest in 1st.
Cant even place on the 3rd area.

Scaling is REALLY bad.

KazzyMac · 06-11-2012, 12:43 PM

The AI don't actually rubber-band that badly if you're in front of them; I haven't really noticed them slow down when I've been behind either.

What I have noticed though is that they do one of two things; they either obtain Power easier (possibly their coding has them having a smaller power bar) or they actually have infinite Power, and they just use it whenever they feel like it. My experience with custom tracks on Hard difficulty make me think it's the former (they gain Boost easier) since on Hard difficulty some of the AI cars can get full Power within a few seconds of the start (from drafting cars ahead)

But even on Hard difficulty, it's about getting ahead early. At least on that difficulty the main problem is simply getting to the front. I find once you're there it's easy to stay there once you pull out a 3-4 second lead, since that puts you far enough ahead to prevent any sneak-Frags. Of course this depends on how good a player you are as to how much speed you can keep up.

RoyalMonaco76 · 06-11-2012, 01:52 PM

They're just like in Flatout. Maintain speed and take corners well, they'll eat your dust. Screw up one corner(hit a wall while drifiting), and AI catches up magically.

Phileosophos · 06-11-2012, 07:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RoyalMonaco76

They're just like in Flatout. Maintain speed and take corners well, they'll eat your dust. Screw up one corner(hit a wall while drifiting), and AI catches up magically.

Ah, maybe that's it. I did hit a wall on the final turn last night and all of a sudden those cars came out of nowhere to power past me in the last few seconds. It had been completely clear behind me just seconds earlier. I'll bet that's it.

Kruztee · 06-11-2012, 11:42 PM

I certainly have not seen any evidence of rubberbanding in this game. As discussed in an other thread, I believe that the AI is not using the same system to build boost power as te players. Although they do not seem to have unlimited boost, they do seem to be able to use it more liberally, especially at the start of races. My guess is that they AI power boost is on a cooldown (say one burst permitted every 20 seconds or so). With good driving and clever use of boost chains, it's definately possible to beat them in all the races of the first few tiers at least. A bit off-topic, but the harder challenges are the drift levels, in my opinion.

KazzyMac · 06-12-2012, 03:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kruztee

I certainly have not seen any evidence of rubberbanding in this game. As discussed in an other thread, I believe that the AI is not using the same system to build boost power as te players. Although they do not seem to have unlimited boost, they do seem to be able to use it more liberally, especially at the start of races. My guess is that they AI power boost is on a cooldown (say one burst permitted every 20 seconds or so). With good driving and clever use of boost chains, it's definately possible to beat them in all the races of the first few tiers at least. A bit off-topic, but the harder challenges are the drift levels, in my opinion.

I think it's the case that they simply obtain Power quicker;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=koBdD...ure=plpp_video

It might take a while to see but I used this video as a reference. The AI were spamming the boost during the jump section at the start (they were using boost but gaining full Power again very quickly whilst in midair), which is what led me to believe they obtain Power quicker.

I also suck in that video, but meh.

Phileosophos · 06-12-2012, 07:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kruztee

I certainly have not seen any evidence of rubberbanding in this game.

I think tonight I had proof positive of it. I got really lucky in a race and found myself a full 8 seconds ahead of everybody else. I decided to burn my boost about 500 m from the finish line, and as soon as I did, there was an AI car right behind me. It was almost like triggering the boost made the computer decide to catch a car up to me. There's just no way a car can go from being eight seconds behind to right there so fast.

KazzyMac · 06-13-2012, 02:46 AM

I've never had that happen to me, ever.

... although I last played this game on console so maybe some patch might have come out to make the AI harder to beat. Who knows. Don't have the game installed anyway.

Doctor_Hades · 06-13-2012, 04:21 AM

I've seen the A.I. use boost near the start of races when they can't possibly have built any up in such a short time so there's definitely some kind of "cheating" going on to give them an advantage. And despite what others say to the contrary, there is definitely some rubber-banding going on too. Like I said earlier though, this is a pure arcade racer not a simulation so those things are not unusual in these types of games. They're designed to keep the races close, competitive and exciting.

Kruztee · 06-13-2012, 05:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Doctor_Hades

And despite what others say to the contrary, there is definitely some rubber-banding going on too.

Hehe, I'm still not convinced there is any rubber banding going on. I've never personally seen any evidence that it is - although it would seem others claim that they have. I'm certainly not calling anyone a liar, simply that I don't see any evidence that rubber banding is going on. I can commonly lap slower cars on some tracks. If there were indeed rubber banding in place, I can't see how a situation like that would ever occur. In fact I can also win some of the early courses by a considerable margin (8~10 seconds). This is also quite inconsistent with rubber banding.

Kruztee · 06-13-2012, 05:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Doctor_Hades

I've seen the A.I. use boost near the start of races when they can't possibly have built any up in such a short time so there's definitely some kind of "cheating" going on to give them an advantage.

I see this a lot too. The AI does seem to be "cheating" in this respect, I agree.

Phileosophos · 06-13-2012, 06:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kruztee

I see this a lot too. The AI does seem to be "cheating" in this respect, I agree.

Yeah, I saw a completely egregious case of it last night. I was in first place when an AI car boosted past me on a long-ish straightaway. I waiting until his boost was done and triggered my own, figuring I'd frag him and take the lead again. Just as I was about to crash into his rear bumper and finish him he boosted again!

There's just no way that's legit. We were on a straightaway with nothing to run into, no airtime, and nobody to tailgate. Yet somehow he triggered two boosts within maybe a fifteen second gap. Must be nice to have that "infinite boost" feature my car is clearly lacking.

06-11-2012, 06:27 AM	#1
Phileosophos Join Date: Mar 2008 Reputation: 19 Posts: 402	Is it just me, or does the AI cheat like crazy? I played a while last night for the first time, and after a few difficulties with the car handling model I got something resembling the hang of it. But here's the thing that's frustrating me: is it just me, or does the AI cheat like crazy? In the first area, there's one particular "domination" event I just can't beat, and the reason is because no matter how well I do the AI always comes from behind and frags me, blows past me, etc. at the end of the race. I must have tried almost two dozen times last night, and the last time was the most egregious. I had made it out into the front of the pack and completely dominated the course for all but the last quarter mile of the race. Then all of a sudden, out of nowhere, three AI cars come roaring up behind me--not even using boost, mind you, just driving far faster than they have any business driving, and all pass me within about two seconds of hitting the finish line. I went from being completely in the clear, nobody behind me, to coming in fourth in about a ten second window. Does the AI in this game "rubberband" as in other racing games? It sure seems like it.

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06-11-2012, 07:24 AM	#2
Frontman Join Date: Mar 2012 Reputation: 12 Posts: 301	No, not noticed so far that AI drivers are cheating. What car are you using? With cars like Sylvian type or Motega XR or Hurricana CX it is actually quite easy to dominate all races. The hardest race in the beginning is the one with just one round because it's difficult to escape in just one round and it will be rather tight. All others you can easily win by accumulating more power (other thread discusses how to get early power e.g. by tailgating, jumping, hitting targets and thrashing things). Thus AI drivers are not that hard to beat - with some more practice you will stay always on 1st place once you are there (and don't make obvious mistakes).

06-11-2012, 08:54 AM	#3
Doctor_Hades Join Date: Mar 2010 Reputation: 26 Posts: 635	Ridge Racer Unbounded is an arcade racing game and like many such games, including the original Ridge Racer titles, it has rubber banding A.I. where the cars slow down if you get too far behind and speed up if you get too far in front. This is done to keep the races close and competitive but it can be annoying as it makes them less reliant on skill and more reliant on luck. Unbounded isn't as bad as some other games but the rubber-banding is definitely still there and it's perhaps a bit telling that the game has no replay feature (it would make the rubber-banding easier to spot). To be honest I've been very disappointed with this game. It's not terrible per se but it's a pale shadow of the previous Ridge Racer games which had a more enjoyable (if completely unrealistic) drift system and far superior track designs. In Unbounded all the tracks have a bland cookie-cutter design to them and get boring after only a few races. I guess the Track Editor is to blame here as the tracks are clearly made from modules that repeat all too frequently throughout the short but boring Career mode. FlatOut Ultimate Carnage was a terrific game from Bug Bear, Ridge Racer Unbounded isn't IMO. It's just plain mediocre.

06-11-2012, 10:15 AM	#4
Dave3d Join Date: Feb 2009 Reputation: 241 Posts: 2,140	Wait until you get past the first 2 areas (7/7 each, so 14 total). I think I came in 2nd 1-2 times in all 14 races, the rest in 1st. Cant even place on the 3rd area. Scaling is REALLY bad.

06-11-2012, 12:43 PM	#5
KazzyMac Join Date: Dec 2011 Reputation: 46 Posts: 864	The AI don't actually rubber-band that badly if you're in front of them; I haven't really noticed them slow down when I've been behind either. What I have noticed though is that they do one of two things; they either obtain Power easier (possibly their coding has them having a smaller power bar) or they actually have infinite Power, and they just use it whenever they feel like it. My experience with custom tracks on Hard difficulty make me think it's the former (they gain Boost easier) since on Hard difficulty some of the AI cars can get full Power within a few seconds of the start (from drafting cars ahead) But even on Hard difficulty, it's about getting ahead early. At least on that difficulty the main problem is simply getting to the front. I find once you're there it's easy to stay there once you pull out a 3-4 second lead, since that puts you far enough ahead to prevent any sneak-Frags. Of course this depends on how good a player you are as to how much speed you can keep up.

06-11-2012, 01:52 PM	#6
RoyalMonaco76 Banned Join Date: Jul 2011 Reputation: 7 Posts: 138	They're just like in Flatout. Maintain speed and take corners well, they'll eat your dust. Screw up one corner(hit a wall while drifiting), and AI catches up magically.

06-11-2012, 11:42 PM	#8
Kruztee Join Date: Nov 2009 Reputation: 7 Posts: 47	I certainly have not seen any evidence of rubberbanding in this game. As discussed in an other thread, I believe that the AI is not using the same system to build boost power as te players. Although they do not seem to have unlimited boost, they do seem to be able to use it more liberally, especially at the start of races. My guess is that they AI power boost is on a cooldown (say one burst permitted every 20 seconds or so). With good driving and clever use of boost chains, it's definately possible to beat them in all the races of the first few tiers at least. A bit off-topic, but the harder challenges are the drift levels, in my opinion.

06-13-2012, 02:46 AM	#11
KazzyMac Join Date: Dec 2011 Reputation: 46 Posts: 864	I've never had that happen to me, ever. ... although I last played this game on console so maybe some patch might have come out to make the AI harder to beat. Who knows. Don't have the game installed anyway.

06-13-2012, 04:21 AM	#12
Doctor_Hades Join Date: Mar 2010 Reputation: 26 Posts: 635	I've seen the A.I. use boost near the start of races when they can't possibly have built any up in such a short time so there's definitely some kind of "cheating" going on to give them an advantage. And despite what others say to the contrary, there is definitely some rubber-banding going on too. Like I said earlier though, this is a pure arcade racer not a simulation so those things are not unusual in these types of games. They're designed to keep the races close, competitive and exciting.