Gran Turismo 7 Has the Strangest AI I've Ever Seen

[@Roflwaffle16]

Once again thank you all for the positive response. I put a lot of effort into this video unsure if there would many be people who'd actually care, but clearly I'm not alone on this. There's been a lot of interesting feedback in terms of possible reasons. The more I think about it the more it does seem clearly intentional in a lot of ways to make them so unrealistically bad in most situations. Do they think this is the type of 'racing' that the majority wants? Or is it made so people who want to have a real race are practically forced into sport mode to get their fix? Whatever their reasons may be it's clear to see that it's pushed many people away from the game and even the franchise as a whole. They're so fixated on this format for races and AI manipulation that it's hard to see this ever changing unless there's some sort of widespread backlash (à la the in-game economy just after release).

[@pokegamer4220]

Give the ai a chance. You can NASCAR race with them.

[@gillesgrindel7985]

@@pokegamer4220 The whole point of single races is not as much to win than to get the perfect race meaning you have to overtake on the outside. If you try the inside and you're not able to be ahead at the the turning point, the door will be closed

[@_BitJager_]

This is gold, please continue!

[@tommydplayskeys]

Yes, I wonder if Sony has pressured them into nudging players towards to game mode which requires a PS Plus subscription?

[@gillesgrindel7985]

@@tommydplayskeys The AI doesn't race, it is programmed to be reach at a specific point. You can tried several time the same race, no matter if you make a mistake or not, if you are faster than the previous race, you will always reach the same car around the same spot on the track. The fastest you are, the fastest the AI is. There is only one car which is actually try to beat you.

[@davidulan5975]

Being a rural dweller where high speed internet isn’t blazing fast, single player campaigns and robust single player racing is needed to get the most out of my games. Great job on articulating so many shortcomings, and thanks for the ideas on how to get more out of the game!

[@8Tarkus8]

If you have a wheel, get Assetto Corsa Competizione. While not the greatest, the AI is still very good and a real challenge

[@AdamsBrew78]

@@8Tarkus8 also the new World of Outlaws .. it’s got iRacings pedigree behind it, a company known to be the best in the business for AI. I just wish we had a console pavement racer up to that level. I always consider Assetto when I see it on sale on my Series X, but I’m deflated to see the reviews complaining about how buggy and crash prone the Xbox port is. Shame :(

[@riptaiyo]

I have a friend that lives in Missouri and the internet is bad out there

[@HugoStiglitz88]

You don't need even remotely fast internet to play online. I used to do it on 3G mobile hotspot LOL multiplayer doesn't even use 1Mbps/1 up even with voice chat, let alone without it

[@GraveUypo]

get starlink if you can. used to have absolutely useless satellite that was 5mbps and had a 50gig cap at my farm. starlink bought the internet there 20 years to the future. it's as close to fiber as you'll ever get in a rural area. only downside is there every so many seconds there are some micro-stutters as satellites switch in and out of range. but it's still pretty close to being as good as a 250mbps fiber with no caps

[@uncleflansy5621]

It blows me away the amount of time, energy, and money PD puts into presentation, audio, realism, car models, etc., but then they have whatever hobo walks in do all their AI work. It's such a bad design decision.

[@Roflwaffle16]

That's not true at all. They probably let their kids do it 😉

[@galliman123]

@@Roflwaffle16 Just like how one of Genki racing project staff children drew their logo

[@redryder666]

Sophie?

[@benconway9010]

@Damar Fadlan yeah but unfortunately it doesn’t pay

[@LePedant]

The AI development team had to program an AI that would work in the limitations of the hardware of the PS4. The more aware the AI, the more calculations it has to do.

[@someonetookmynick]

my biggest gripe with GT's AI is how sometimes they drive like they're on a rail.. PD needs to watch your videos. you have explained our issues with the game so succinctly!

[@RedDrake110]

They literally do. I had a unusual bug once where an AI just stopped in the middle of the road after the arnage corner at LeMans (LM700) No red flags, nothing and 5 more AI crash out at the exact same spot, causing a yellow flag but nothing else.. Also you can dummy the AI super hard on pit strategies. (I know the AI does a 3 stop at WTC800, sardegna (down to the laps in which the pitting happen (4,8,13)), which is how I go over 1.5 minutes clear of second place..) They stamped out the tomahawk tune for WTC 600, but not make a high paying 900 and 1000+pp events? (The one 950pp event I enjoy at road Atlanta doesn't even pay enough (it should pay at least 1.6 million))

[@purwantiallan5089]

@@RedDrake110 the AI in GT7 is way worse than GT1 from 1998 bro. Sad. 😂

[@swilleh_]

underground 1 handling and rubberband basically

[@doormatt]

Yeah, they definitely do. One time while doing Le Mans I was so far ahead that it rained while I still had hard tyres on, but all of the AI behind me pitted for wets. Obviously I kept spinning out and struggled to keep speed, and on the long straight I got genuinely bounced around by AI cars who could clearly see me and still just floored it in a straight line.

[@toddgrant6133]

It is the absolute worst AI in all gran turismo games, the brake distance of the ai is ridiculously short

[@Milehupen]

Its rare that I give a video a like, but this one resonates with my opinion on the game so much, that I simply want these 30 minutes to go viral and eventually reach someone in charge who could change this whole situation. Excellent work man.

[@Roflwaffle16]

Thanks, man, that means a lot! I'd love for that too, but I have a feeling that even if this were to reach someone from PD I'm not sure what impact that would have. We're making the assumption that this is entirely incompetence (which I'm sure at least a few things are) but to me it seems as if they know what they're doing. We can complain all day and all night but when it comes down to it they are the people who designed the game to be like this. As I mentioned at the part with the AI becoming 20+ sec a lap slower, it would take them less effort to not implement a mechanic like that, but they still do. What are they trying to achieve? Who knows, but it doesn't seem like most of this stuff happened by accident...

[@Frz900]

Agreed, so glad I came across this video because now I don't feel crazy, decided to run a gr.4 race on grand valley for fun, 42 laps, and I set the fastest lap at like 1:38.something but 3 laps after I took the lead one of the ai's in like 16th set a 1:34.... With that being said, polyphony knows what they're doing and don't plan on changing it. Not any time soon at the least because "sophy" but that's their little play thing that they don't wanna share with the public

[@J.C...]

🤣 Rare? Who cares how many vids you like? It's not like it costs money to like a vid. So there's no reason to be conservative about which vids get a like 🤣

[@untouchedsports8296]

People keep buying the game. The devs are not watching. Nothing will change. Not like they dont know the issues. They are ignoring you because you will buy the next game anyway. STOP BUYING SHIT GAMES!!

[@purwantiallan5089]

@@Roflwaffle16 Roflwaffle, seems like offline and online custom races in GT7 is woefully broken. Is GT7 playable off or just online only?

[@sssss8700]

I tend to be pretty bad at GT’s online races. I feel like I’d improve more if I could play offline with 3-5 opponents that are actually competitive rather than 30 that suck until the last second, or it would at least make replaying races offline a lot more fun. Would also love to be able to filter cars for custom races by year, country, engine type, etc. the more filters the better. Was really hyped for gt7 but now I just want a way to play the old games again.

[@MXNLYKE8]

the ai is so bad and slow that i started 3 and a half minutes down on a 3 lap race around the 24 hour nordschleife layout and still won the race

[@dbzcollector9963]

@@MXNLYKE8 bro stop going mlg pro on the ai’s and hit the online scene lol

[@MXNLYKE8]

@@dbzcollector9963 i was just testing out how fast i could push the gr3 brz around the nurburgring

[@dbzcollector9963]

@@MXNLYKE8 no I get it the AI is trash lol i literally out lap them on almost every circuit at max difficulty and I don’t even upgrade my cars anymore just to give me that little extra challenge or I’ll use the worst possible tire. They just don’t take good lines and carry speed in the corners compared to real players that push their tires to the limit.

[@MXNLYKE8]

@@dbzcollector9963 hopefully there can be some decent racing when that sophy ai is intergrated into the game

[@John-zc2my]

I drove the 1 hour Kyoto race yesterday and I caught up within 6-8 laps (something like that). Immediately after I entered 1st, the previous 1st place drive began to drive like a bay out of hell. I was not able to shake him no matter how hard I tried…. It’s just odd.

[@fridaycaliforniaa236]

Cheated AI is a cancer

[@KaySpde]

I put up the best lap time for 8 straight laps while trying to catch up to 1st place, just so that the 1st place driver could beat all of my previous bests by 3 full seconds, while never once giving up the lead lol. This game is outright bad

[@chalsjul]

GT fans: We want single player races to be fair and balanced. Polyphony: Sure, have fun hunting down a car that is 100-150 PP over the event’s limit. With a 30-second handicap. In just 10 laps. While overtaking 18 other cars. Super balanced! In all seriousness, great video. GT7’s single player isn’t talked about nearly enough.

[@marvinlinnarz5856]

Meanwhile the GT40 from GT2 that has way more HP than allowed. I've even saw a 600hp Race Car in 285hp Race

[@spoonmugen5599]

@@marvinlinnarz5856 Granted, the GT40 only had 10 HP over the limit (The reasons why it's so BS is because it's a Le Mans car, so it's going to be Uber-efficient with the power), and the Vector M12 LM car (Which is the 600 HP car you are referring to) is in the 295 HP race due to a glitch/error in the coding. Basically, one of the Shelby Mustangs got switched in the car listings for some reason, and they forgot to readjust all the other cars because of it (This only applies to the OG NTSC version). As a result, you got this blatant cheater and on the opposite spectrum, basically cars that have no shot of being a challenge (The Xantia at the SSR5 endurance race and the Viper at Laguna Seca's endurance race).

[@japanfour292]

The easy money guide thumbnail was hilarious. Don't miss this game at all

[@platinum2263]

i think my biggest issue with the AI is specifically two of the things you spoke about in this video. the stark shifts in difficulty, and their actual universal awareness. the shifts in difficulty i actually didn't immediately experience, which was nice. it was actually once i played that Mini clubman + race that i saw what the AI could really do, and considering it starts the same, it almost felt unfair at the time. im not allowed to tune my Mini much further past what its at stock, and yet its so much slower than what the AI is handling? it was so jarring that i haven't actually touched the Gr.3 or that race in particular again, in favour of continuing the neutered form of racing with "car collection" as an apology. but the issue is, you see it again elsewhere, in particular in the missions and license centres, places where polyphony *cant* kill the fun with slow AI, missions that *require* you to be focused and prepared! the S10 of the super license is one of the only things i've actually had to spend HOURS trying to do in this game, nothing else comes close. and i really just have to wonder where the team that made these went for the main games content? what happened to the team that gave you a super formula and asked you to pelt it around every corner like your name was Aryton Senna himself to get gold? where did they go for the 30 odd menu books of "beat easy race, collect car, life moves on" ??? and the 2nd issue, their awareness. this is the one that has pulled me off the game. for days. the AI cannot, in any circumstances, race wheel to wheel. its impossible. some wouldn't even qualify for a standard driving license the way they seem incapable of checking mirrors. its almost a learned rule of thumb to avoid the inside of a corner, regardless of how big of a gap it is, because the AI will shut the door, regardless of how far in you are. tight bunches of cars are left to stumble with themselves, blue flags may as well not exist if they dont obey them, and the fact that this is all hidden behind a clean race bonus for *not hitting them?* it turns the game into a frustrating form of on track day care quicker than anything else could.

[@Mr00Ted]

This race design managed to extinguish my temptation to get a PS5 and really get into this game (I just got it for my old PS4). Congrats PD on costing sony 600 of my canuck coins

[@ENLSN77]

Same. GTsport was a taste of what was to come and i refuse to play online.

[@axellyann5085]

Same here. It was one of the very few games that would make me buy a ps5, but the expectations with AI improvement didn't happen. So the money i had to buy it i just did a upgrade on my pc and continue with my ps4.

[@nightwolf9375]

@@ENLSN77yeah just stick with Sport, the only things that are missing is customization and some cars and tracks.

[@GTAfear]

The bit with Super GT was funny not only because I love to watch his videos, but also because just today I was playing GT6 and got an AI opponent named S. Alvarez. I took a picture as that's likely the only chance I'll ever get to race Steve, haha. Anyway, as someone who's only played GT1, 2 and 6 (the latter being the one I've played the most, still do actively), it's a shame that not much has changed for years now. Not that I didn't know that already, as I occasionally read posts on GT Planet and comments on KZbin as well. It's interesting because many of the things that you mention in this video are the things that go through my head when playing GT6. The AI is obviously flawed in multiple ways, but sometimes it *can* put up a half-decent fight. What I've noticed is that AI cars seem to pick a line that they'll take through a corner prior to entering the corner. It's as if each track is divided into sections (no, I don't mean sectors) and the line that the AI takes depends on the car's "state". This "state" is defined by the AI's position on the track and the positions of rival cars, including the player, at the very beginning of the section. For example, if there are no rival cars in the vicinity of the AI at the start of a section, it will evaluate the section to be "clear" and will go for the normal racing line. If you're driving behind an AI on a straight, approaching a corner with a big braking zone, the AI will sometimes evaluate its "state" as needing to take a defensive line through the upcoming section, which it will then proceed to do. If you're roughly halfway alongside an AI car at the beggining of a section, it most likely *will* give you enough space and you will be able to navigate the corner in double file. And so on. The problem is that once an AI's "state" has been determined, it is unlikely to change until the next section begins, and I think this is where most criticism about the AI being braindead and unresponsive comes from. Because players often go for late lunges or change lines mid-corner thinking that the AI will react to their presence, but this does not happen. The AI *does* in fact react, but only to other AI cars, and it may react to the player only upon very aggressive contact - I've noticed that AI cars sometimes move out of the way or adjust their line even mid-corner if I accidentally hit them from behind (which we all know happens much too frequently because of their absurd mid-corner braking). This is why I've said that the AI can sometimes put up a decent fight, in the sense that once you learn how they behave on each track, you can anticipate their movements and sometimes actually make it look like an actual race. I know this doesn't reallly sound exciting, but I've found that it actually suits my playstyle because I always try to go for smooth, clean driving and realistic-looking replays (yes, I almost always watch the replay after a race) because I like the immersion that way. But as one of the other commenters has said, that probably means that I'm actually quite a slow driver and if I were to try racing online in the newer games, I would probably be embarrassed. My point is that Polyphony really has a specific way of doing the AI - a way that hasn't changed much for over a decade, it would seem. But judging from everything I've learned by playing their games and watching videos like this, I don't think it's incompetence on their part, but rather a design choice. Why this is, I am not really sure, but my guess is that they are trying to make the games more accessible, which is understandable as we know your average gamer doesn't really care for race etiquette or realistic racing, they just want to hop into a gorgeous-looking virtual car, win a race or two and feel good about themselves. But the flip side to that is that we long-time fans end up with a somewhat disappointing game that never really fully utilizes its potential. Self-defeating indeed, just as you describe it. Thanks for the video.

[@DingbatToast]

Your analysis of the AI behaviour seems about right. My opinion is that originally, it was due to a limitation of processing power in the earlier playstations. In GT7 it's just something they didn't update. GT7 is a pretty lazy mess of a game, considering what they had to work with and how long they had to do something special.

[@AKK5I]

Huh what are you talking about the SuperGT guys' real name is Alex Albon

[@villedocvalle]

Hey please do yourself a favor and go play GT3. I went out and bought a used PS2 along with that $10 Amazon HDMI converter along with 2 memory cards and a used copy of the game and am so happy I did. If you rally like these games then you are doing yourself a disservice in not having played GT3. It will make you fall into a deep love for this franchise and sadly make you curse the ineptitude of the current games.

[@GTAfear]

@@villedocvalle Thanks for the recommendation. I actually own two PS2's and a legitimate copy of GT3. I have actually played the game a few times, even started a playthrough once, but never really got into it. I didn't mention this in my original comment because I didn't think it really counted as having truly played the game. But I really should give it another go and do a full playthrough, even more so because I've been getting an itch to play other older games as well, such as the 3D-era GTA's. I might just hook up one of my PS2's soon. :)

[@TwoFoxGibbon]

I'm primarily a single player racer. Just for fun, car collecting, relaxation. The AI is one huge reason why I no longer play daily. Aside from the one big concern of the AI simply refusing to change course, and will hard nose their driving line, there is another fun issue. When you start a race, you start from the back. Usually 15-20 seconds, sometimes 30 or more seconds. Once you weave your way to the front, THEN, the AI really kicks in to give you a good race. But not really. Suddenly, the AI that you just schooled, went last to first, quashed a 20 second deficit, suddenly races like Wind and any minor mistake will cost you first place. It's a weird and frustrating dynamic.

[@GranBreaker_]

Man I was really looking forward to this sequel of your first GT Critique and I can say that you didn't disappoint in that regard. Really well though out video ! The part that I really like is probably the epilogue. I was desperately waiting for content creators to talk about the abysmal number of issues that surrounds the single player. Not only in terms of racing but also in terms of rewards, progression etc. And the best thing about this video for me alongside that epilogue : you've combined my two most beloved video game franchises into one vid which is Gran Turismo and the Yakuza Series with the use of some songs from 0 and 4 ! I wasn't expecting it but I'm pleasantly surprised You definitely earned my sub !

[@Tacko14]

I’d like to rant now, but I won’t. One thing though, someone here said it too: back in the day, there were no onlines, and I thought I was pretty good. Then I went online in gt6, and discovered how slow I was. Well, no matter, there were no standings. Only in gts I started to improve. My big issue is that I can’t train anywhere but by going online and just diving in. Driving fast is one thing, actually racing your opponents and fighting for your place is quite another. Somewhat timid, unsure people like me, we hardly dare show our face. I nééd the AI to be good or I don’t dare to go online. In gts, my biceps actually shook during the first race of the day, just being nervous

[@deano2506]

Spot on, the AI always has been awful in the GT series but it hit's an all-time low in GT7. The only place that the AI is a challenge is in the 1 hour endurance races but even then it's highly inconsistent. The 1 hour Tsukuba race in the challenge menue is a great example, if your difficulty is set to hard then the leader will be doing a 59 second lap but if your difficulty is set to easy then the leader will be doing a 57 second lap. It's so stupid, your difficulty settings aren't supposed effect the challenges and you most certainly shouldn't have an easier race on hard difficulty than on easy.

[@crkvend]

Man, this video pretty much nails it! I know the AI gets some flack, but I’m honestly surprised this is not talked about more. For a game trying to be a sim, this is baffling.

[@keisuketakahasi4584]

the ai is just as bad as the menu books "play it like we want not how you want"

[@blast4898]

This is definitely my biggest gripe with GT7. I just want to be able to race against AI opponents at their full potential in custom grids. I’ve been experimenting and have to say the only way is to go 3/4 throttle and slow down your pace too. It really sucks not being able to push like you would normally. I was able to beat a Veneno in my stock 512 BB, wasn’t entertaining at all running down something that would be near impossible to catch irl. Realism vanquished

[@Tacko14]

33:30 yes! I’ve been wondering about that. Onlines are all about bopped racecars or bog standard roadcars. So, here’s this great part of the game where you build up and tune your roadcar collection. I like doing that, especially the bodykits look amaaaazing! But that’s only of any use if career mode lives up to it. Right now, my mate and I do career mode to build our collection, so we can race each other in private lobbies. Which is fast becoming the main reason why we play at all. That, and me making fun of his somewhat lackluster liveries. Sorry, Sani, you’re my mate. Without that, you might as well just buy racecars and ignore the main game

[@stephenwhitfield5018]

Thanks for this video, it resonates so much. I guess because the AI on other titles has become more advanced in recent years, it’s more noticeable how outdated it is on GT7. It feels like the AI cars are just obstacles to avoid rather than cars to race against.

[@senorlechuga8832]

Oh god thanks for reminding me the AI from GT6. Halfway through the game I realized that the AI drivers always started and finished in the same spots. Whoever starts first finishes first (or second behind me), and so on. And then you have like 16 cars and the last two seem to be slower, then the first two being way faster than the rest of the pack. They wouldn't even attempt to overtake or anything. I swear this thing is still bugging me to this day and I actually had to take a break to forget about it

[@Official_MikeyT]

Fun fact in the WTC700 race at Deep Forest, the Mustang loops it in the last kink on lap 3 100% of the time.

[@nickklavdianos5136]

Honestly that's probably the sole reason I stopped playing GT games. If I, an average driver with experience of three GT games, can start 20th with the hardest settings and pass everyone on the first lap, what's the point? I don't like doing online racing because offline I have much more freedom, I can race any racetrack I want with any car I want. As you said, either I must run a race that essentially is a timetrail with some opponents as obstacles in between, or I must do a custom race and dunk on all AI drivers. And that's why I migrated to Project Cars 2 and F1 for my racing nowdays.

[@akinahara]

Sorry for going off-topic, but I'll mention the AI from GRID Legends. Y'know, one of the games that dropped last year but nobody really knew or cared about it? That one. Anyway, I played a good amount of time with the difficulty of the AI set to Legend which is basically the hardest difficulty. They are honestly pretty competitive and trying to pass them is honestly pretty challenging and fun. But they're not without their annoying gimmicks. 21 cars, one street track, 3 laps, and one player. Kind of slow in packs but not too fast either (don't even get me started on open wheel street track racing), but if you take that lead, they will fight for it. ESPECIALLY, with their nemesis AI. If you bump into the 1st place dude too much, he'll basically get pissed and trigger his anger into faster AI. So fighting a nemesis AI is not only scary, but a challenge to shake off. Last is spacial awareness. They have spacial awareness (I think?), but it's not apparent. It gets annoying when they don't care but they will give way sometimes. But to summarize, the AI can be competitive, but sorta get slow when you play with 21 other cars on the GRID. Please try the game, it's honestly pretty fun. Buy it on discount (for PC players).

[@zoiosilva]

It's funny how your proposal to tune down the car to have more fun on offline mode is exactly how I used to play GT6 back in the day. I had a Civic Type R '97 tuned down to have a bit less than half the PP of the AI with an extremely fine tuned handling and gearbox settings, in a track that had a 360º curve that I can't remember the name. I had to be cirurgically precise to finish it at 1st in a 5 laps race. It was my favorite way of play that game. When my kids grow up a bit more I hope to have time to go back playing racing games. Maybe they'll even play them with me.

[@pg2441]

Another excellent video, great job. Loved the use of Yakuza music! It's an exciting time ahead of us with more advanced AI hopefully making for more immersive worlds in racing and much more.

[@tractioncontroldelete]

You’ve nailed it! It’s so bizarre. I play single player 95% of the time so this really resonates with me

[@NukeshotMedia]

When I saw the point about how the custom grid rolling start gap gets stuck at 15 meters, it reminded me also that on the part where you can change the names of the opponents, the country list doesn't include Argentina despite the game being able to generate as from Argentina. Would also be good to have more countries listed in general so you can recreate real life grids better. An example of this would be to have "S. Buemi", who is from Switzerland. Switzerland isn't a selectable option, which is even weirder given there is a circuit set there in the form of Deep Forest. There are other examples of this but listing so many countries would take forever.

[@emilskjaerlund4091]

Thank you for this, i have done custom races ever since release, its like clock work that the ai slows doen half way through the race, i drove a 2j vs an 2x, 10 laps on spa, i got lapped on lap 5, then i unlapped myself, caught up and finished 1 second behind and "boost" was off. But thank you i have seen no one talk about this

[@millbrick]

The Tokyo expressway clubman cup plus race genuinely was what showed me that the game's singleplayer could've been better. The first time i went into it, i just entered in a near-stock RE-Amemiya RX7, and got paired with what was essentially 3 other tuners. It felt genuinely thrilling running what essentially was a scene straight out of Wangan Midnight against a handful of racers i could actually perceive as rivals.

[@re_negado]

2:48 The _Ridge Racer_ formula... Amazin't.

[@willfantry2773]

FINALLY something that encapsulates my frustration with GT’s AI in such a straightforward manner. My Gran Turismo playthroughs pretty much turn into “how slow of a car can I enter and still win” - for example, I took an AE86 with sports tires and under 200HP to win WTC600, and I maxed a non-swapped Beetle to win the Schwartz league (That was pain, but since I found out how short the campaign was and how little the AI would get better, I figured I’d give myself an artificial challenge). Something I observed in my repetition of these particular events that you didn’t bring up was that the AI in GT7 are particularly programmed not only to be obstructive, but consistently so at the exact same spots on the track. No matter how I changed my pace, tune, whatever, there’d be an AI car or two at the exact time distance leading into the death chicane at DT Seaside, which always resulted in an absurdly slow car blocking the entire at the exact same place through final corner in the complex. Same situation with two hard braking corners on Red Bull Ring, AI would zoom past me and brake in very specific ways non-conductive to the racing line, and further brake at the apex partly on the racing line. All of these at the exact same spot to the inch, every lap, no matter which particular AI car (and I could even change which AI it was by manipulating championship orders in the earlier rounds). There’s clearly dev time being put into AI, but it’s specifically to make it as annoying and non-raceably obstructive as possible, rather than close and competitive.

[@94XJ]

29:00 oh my goodness...I immediately was transported back in time hearing that music

[@gringoviejo8023]

Well done video. Solid production, a very smooth voice, and well planned script.

[@lucwijngaard8413]

I have lost the 1 hour Lago race on my first try due to AI actively taking me out in the first corner

[@klaushoffmann8948]

Yesterday I saw your both new videos about GT7. I AM SO GLAD SOMEBODY FINALLY ADRESSES THE SINGLEPLAYER ISSUES!!! Your analysis really helps classifying some aspects of the ai I did not understand before. There ist one more point to the ai: it always and always tries to turn the rear of your car. I dont't know how many races I could not finish properly because of that. It is particularly bad if you come between two cars in the region of a corner; the car before you will try to slow you down so that the car behind you can turn your car. AAArgh!!! One other aspect of the game was never adressed before: I like to drive in cockpit-perspective. In GT Sport the game saved your settings regarding this perspective for every car. In GT7 i have to set it each and every time I change a car. How dull and unnecessary ist that? All the multiplayer gamers don't care, because they don't ever use the cockpitview, because it slows them down, and they want to win. I also like to win, but in the first place I like an immersive experience. Last point: if you really want to have immersion and fun with authentic races, GT7 ist simply unplayable. It's a good diving simulator, but a disaster as a singleplayer racing game.

[@Kubapl418]

After you've mentioned the Clubman+ races, I've decided to give them a try myself (did play them a while back, but never gave them a 2nd try), and wow, it is exactly how you describe it. The worst thing is that we know this game has potential, but we're being forced to some questionable design choices that spoil the fun. GT5 to me was the last real Gran Turismo with how it felt to play. In GT7, menu books are weak, but what also buggers me is that they decided to split events not based on actual car requirements but on track locations - this kind of makes me race one track over and over until I clear all the events, rather than build one car and drive it in 3-5 events. It also demotivates me from building cars, as I'd rather just use something stock that's fast enough (but also handles like a boat) Tldr: the game is full of wasted potential, and you do not have enough views and subs

[@johnsyeats2044]

As someone who has put thousands of hours into the series over the years, thanks for these videos, they articulate a lot of the feelings I have about GT7. There are a hundred things I could say about the state it's in, but I think it can be summed up in that the game's engine is a great starting point. Visually it looks fantastic and it drives fairly well. Unfortunately it's been implemented in a game that just isn't very good and that struggles to be fun, challenging or entertaining. Like a badly built house on good foundations, it doesn't matter what colour of paint you put on the walls or how many fancy light fixtures you put up, the only way to truly fix it is from the ground up.

[@davidaghayan2534]

the question is why should a developer work on a good ai that battles and behaves like a human being when most people can't even put themselves together online to race each other? especially if the aim is to win/get medals as a challenge which targets the simple ability of driving a few laps in a row with increasing difficulty.I know, not appealing in the long run with todays understanding of racing games. in the long run its not appealing to stick to rules nor working on finding the right bop to race the ai. but that's how i am still racing gt5/6 today on ps3. I understand the frustration but its probably the outcome of technical limitations and the player base itself. if sophi is capable of mixing the adaptive ai from r3e but without having weird rubberbanding in certain single corners. nice video, watched it all the way through!

[@csabey88]

what I miss from GT Sport was in custom races you were able to set as opponents any class (as group) used to race the Nurburgring with cars 3-4 classes higher on Expert difficulty starting from back of the grid. That way the race was really on. Surprised me that GT7 doesn't have the same settings possibility. Anyways good tips in the video, will be trying out to have some challenging races.

[@lorezn9416]

everything you said is so true, that’s what I think 100% of time while completing single player races. Glad I am not the only one

[@bsn0730]

This hits the nail on the head so well. I've always gotten so frustrated with how the ai works on this game.

[@johnedwards230]

Starting every race in 20th 30 seconds behind the leader is the most maddening aspect of this game. Its the thing that really pushed me onto PC racing in the end.

[@spudley_1_325]

Unfortunately, whilst I completely agree with everything he said, I don't think we should have to downgrade our cars to get a good race - I want to drive my cars at their max level, not at 50%. The AI should change, not the players.

[@Caferacerofauckland]

I’ve had A.I consistently post laps slower than mine, and once I take the lead they absolutely embarrass me by putting up a time 10 seconds faster than my fastest ever time on Nurb 24h circuit, all the while using Racing Hard tyres. It’s just frustrating how they shift from 10 seconds slower per lap to 10 seconds faster depending on my position to them. Oh and all of this is with “boost” (rubberbanding) set to Off. sure…

[@gentlemanjunkie7864]

I love how they can drive on rails in the wet, while I follow them on wets and slide all over the place. Then if I pass, the just spin me out.

[@MagnusArnason]

I have also run into a problem in custom races that the AI knocks out a FL that is 10 seconds faster than the world record for one lap but still that guy ends up in 10th. I feel like if they are making it so that the AI is acting weird to make you feel like there is more going on for beginners then it should be connected to the difficulty level. Professional on hard level should feel like an actual race where you can do well or bad based on how you are driving and the AI not being effected by that at all. They also need to be made to be aware of what is going on and not being stuck on rails and driving into you if you are in their already planned line. And lastly I don’t see any problem with having the payout higher for custom races because that gives the game so much replayability instead of always doing the same races again and again you could set up your own and actually make some credits doing so. The payouts for online are not that great either

[@josephmatuszak3855]

Yep, Clubman Plus series is pretty brilliant.

[@Tacko14]

Blast, I already subscribed earlier. Hope your channel goes on to greatness. You’re asking all the right questions imo

[@WillyWilson11]

I remember noticing that internal clock as a kid playing GT4, obviously not knowing about, but still noticing that the leader would speed up the closer you came. Really shows how extreme it is I guess!

[@konosuhardbass]

It happens in GT3 too. Did Kaz keep this AI behavior ever since the start of GT?

[@bwh32]

I don’t understand why there hasn’t been a 100% customisable single player race option in GT or forza, pick every car on the grid and their liveries, pick track, difficulty, weather, lighting etc. GT has always picked goofy opponents and grids that don’t go together. Also enthusia had best CarPG progression model.

[@marvinlinnarz5856]

You can do that in GT7🤨. You can literally fill the Grid with your Garage. Or did you meant something else?

[@jaball77]

It's the inconsistency that gets to me. I'm playing with a controller and not a great player, but I breezed through the game on Normal difficulty. I went and raced the Group 1 races at Daytona and Suzuka and won those handily. But then I went to the Gr1 race at Road Atlanta and got absolutely slaughtered no matter what strategy I tried, and I don't get it. The AI is just too fast and on top of that, they'll punt you off into the fence without a second thought. Horrible inconsistency.

[@LuisMoreno-nn7pl]

GT7's AI kind of reminds me of GT5's B-Spec mode. It's not just affected by how close the player car is, but also by other AI cars nearby.

[@ottolehto]

Great Public Service Announcement - hope someone sees this

[@mfallen6894]

I love these long form essay vids. You're onto something with this series, and given there are MILLIONS of disgruntled GT fans, you've got a wide-open market to exploit. Keep at it and you'll be well above 100k subs in no time!

[@jofmar7914]

In custom races set boost to weak. You will notice how A.I doesn’t slow down as much(they only do during last 2-3 laps of the race ,if they are leading). With boost set to off they slow down very early.

[@xracer5995]

Excellent video mate, thanks for the upload 👍👍👍

[@rainsilent]

These first two videos are why GT7 was such a massive disappointment for me. The next is likely the nail in the coffin as to why I couldn't play GT7 for more than a few months after release. Working within the confines of, to be blunt, shitty design is doable even if it sucks most of the fun of the game away. The massive insult on top of it that was the 'rewards' is what encouraged me to just stop playing this game full stop. Polyphony took the best racing series and rather than just modernize it they took out what made it not just unique but good and then filled it with all of the worst aspects of modern gaming for no good reason.

[@dylanmooney919]

Dope video man. Your passion for the series is wonderful. I've had pretty similar experiences with the AI in GT7. I really hate them. I literally whispered "get him, get him!" to myself whenever you bumped them.

[@juni_2452]

i thought this game would bring the franchise back to it's roots, but currently it just feels like a halfed-assed version of the old games. I'm hopefull that they are working on a aniversary update that would fix some things, i would be happy with just a few fixes, doesn't even need to be a full overview of the issues.

[@geoprancer]

I just did the Super Formula extra menu book because i have 2 and wanted to get some credits, and especially at fuji, its like the AI don’t even know you’re there. I would be on the inside, hugging the apex, and the AI hears “sharp right” from no one and crashes into me

[@aojracing4885]

I remember a career mode race at Red Bull Ring where I was supposed to finish 3rd to complete the mission. I drove a terrible race in the rain, spun several times and still finished 3rd. So I though "oh, if I focus and do a good race I'll easily win!" I did the race again with much better lap times and no mistakes, and ended 3rd at the same distance from the leader. Horrible manipulation. The worst part about this whole issue is there is no logical reason to do it. The game proves they can do it well, but they choose a system that everyone hates and is terrible and weird and baffling. And this applies to so, so many other aspects of the game (as much as I love it for the things it gets right). Despite all the conspiracies about microtransactions, I struggle to see a method to the madness. There are aspects in these latest Gran Turismo games that are not necessarily lazy of poorly thought out, just unexplainably baffling. It's hard to offer criticism when the ultimate goal of this stuff exceeds human comprehension.

[@glencooley66]

Firstly this is an excellent video. Hands down. A few things to ponder at least for me are how do you separate accessibility (in the racing/reach term) from what is good racing ai. It's tough on a few levels being pragmatic. The second pragmatic part is audience range. When I was playing GT 1 no one could see me abuse the AI with errrr considerate nudging off in my 900 gazillion hp skyline.... There are a few realities in terms of player accomplishment which may dictate but not excuse some of the game play design choices. What does make things hard to swallow is the licenses and the missions being heavily contact penalty aware but in all but a few the AI doesn't follow those models just it's lines I'm not as annoyed with the way the AI rubber banding is, more the format they use that requires it that is frustrating for someone who is a driver and racer, all that said 15 year old Glen got frustrated racing the GT1 AI and just smashed them with tunes in cars I'd never heard of (Tommy Kaira???) The chilli pepper races and HC missions do their job well in upping the challenge. As to Sophy, I'm not sure that is what you need for compelling single player racing, because again you are nerfing what is inherently better than all but the top 0.001% to make it playable against us mortals. Where Sophy does help is it helps PD understand AI decision making when to push, when to look inside, when to lean on the brakes. AI is hard, making competitive AI that is balanced is even harder. What PD have done is copped out of either in GT7. Probably for gameplay reasons but at the detriment of slightly less than casual customers.

[@Roflwaffle16]

Thanks! Yeah it's a tough one. I don't really see a reason for the AI to not race somewhat realistically. It's more of a case of giving players more options to tailor the speed of them to their own needs. GT7 has three difficulty options, I always use the hardest and being honest I didn't test the other two. Maybe I'm being too nice making the assumption that they work as intended... Of course you can't avoid the reality that players will race with them how they want to. What I will say is that although I enjoyed the racing of previous GT games it could devolve to bumper cars at times. This wasn't too much of an issue in those games in terms of how they played but trying to race like that in GT7 just isn't as satisfying. Because of the current physics engine contact is pretty much always a negative and you really want to avoid it, unlike past games where the cars would just nudge one another and continue as if nothing happened. Also the mix of ultra-hyper-realistic graphics can make that offset a bit jarring. How they scale the speed of Sophy will be a big factor in it's success or failure. Obviously a super human AI is no fun for anyone below that top 0.001%, so being able to adjust it will be key. Hopefully this will be an out of race option which we can adjust. I don't want to have a race with Sophy where if I spin out or decide to drive really slow then it will try and match my pace. That would just be stupid and not much different from what we have now.

[@PositronCannon]

You've basically put all my thoughts about the appalling state of GT's AI into words with this video, and then went well beyond in showing things are even more utterly bizarre than I thought. I really do not understand what Polyphony are thinking, if they do that at all.

[@paulabbott2813]

PD disrespect the player and slap him in the face with this AI. After 1.49 the AI seems to have worse, if that could ever happen. I can literally see the cogs in this game and the algorhithms that PD have created is simply biased against the player and quite insidious.

[@crashmaster26]

The fact that they refuse to produce this game for PC is already enough for me to say "fine don't take my money" ... everything about this game has be complete shit since day one and to date, it's made zero progress on anything I would care about as a sim racer. I'm shocked that ANYONE spent money on this trash. VOTE WITH YOUR WALLETS and never pre-order!

[@galliman123]

Making go karts go flying into the sun on Daytona with a Tomahawk X is how I get revenge on the AI

[@sloppyfadge9565]

I’ve sent 8 complaint emails to PD about custom races for all the reasons you’ve said. I do 30 minute enduro races, gives me the best race over all I find. But If i spin all the cars slow down, if you pit before them they slow down, if you let them pit first I get in and out ahead but as you’ve noted they get very fast always table the FL off me yet I still always win.

[@BeAGoodDoga]

You can also “break the A.I.” with cars from your garage, by lowering ride height of cars like the Amuse S2000 GT1 Turbo, Wicked Fabrication GT 51, or Nissan GT-R Gr.4, and selecting them as opponents - they can’t drive them properly! Plus you’ll have roadblocks scattered across the track at random parts!😂😂😂😂😂

[@richardhumberstonept622]

They never move off racing line! Ever! They smash you off the track, no awareness, they never spin out when hit, they hit you you’re spinning for days

[@fbi1307]

Remember how much marketing they put into their ai 💀💀💀 How much "realistic" it was and it was a robot that was trained by learning from players or some shit

[@r4mhamilton]

That’s probably/ most likely about the Sophy Ai.

[@jimlansa7098]

all they needed to do is play ACC and learn how ai should race in a sim race game

[@dazeen9591]

I remember in Gran Turismo PSP, the AI would really push the car to the limit. At least in the simpler tracks. I took my TVR 12 speed I believe to the driving course and the AI Bugatti Veyron zoomed way past me and was like half a lap ahead of me in a 2 lap race.

[@galliman123]

Random site note, some AI cars can run out of fuel during the Road Atlanta GR 1 race...

[@purwantiallan5089]

Seems like even Offline Single Player Custom Race is completely broken both on AI and the component themselves.

[@yovo7499]

20:00 I've recently played some custom Gran Turismo 5 races and I noticed the same thing, I would underpower my car so that there's some difficulty and I would catch up to the leader, easily overtaking everyone and then would notice that while I was in second place the AI in third(who's car was 30-40pp above mine) would stick to your bumper even if you were driving perfectly and would occasionally try to overtake you(sometimes successfully)

[@hysealia1]

Mate this video is superb, so many great points. The thing that bothers me the most about this current AI is the sheer potential that it could have. We always hear about GT being a 'CarPG', and we all have memories of finding our own direction through the older games like it was a definitive role playing experience. I can imagine a time with decent AI that can lead to closely contensted racing the whole way through, with optional practice and qualifying adding so much depth and meaning to each individual event. Adjustable AI for GT seems to me to be the only reasonable option, allowing players to challenge themselves if they need to. Starting 5th for a Clubman Cup race where you are .3 of a second off pole really appeals to me, using the winnings you receive to add a small upgrade to your car so you can come back and hopefuly win would feel so satisfying. Not all players would have to do it, but with adjustable difficulty you enable those who want to challenge themselves capable to do so. Wouldn't it be amazing to come home from work with a goal to finish a particualar event instead of breezing through 5 races for gold like they are time trials.

[@in4mus85]

I'm surprised there aren't more videos about this. Also what I've noticed is just about every PP restricted race is fairly “competitive”.

[@alan133]

The best AI in a simcade game I find so far is in the F1 series. With qualifying and pit stop strategies it do feels like you are aactuallyin a simulated race weekend instead of playing a mini game of "can you win from the back of the grid in 5 laps". Ais also defend properly, give spaces when are other cars are side by side, or brake/actually tries to avoid obstacles (mainly other cars) on track. You can also adjust the AI so they are around your pace so you don't have to be an esport player to keep up with them, and can adjust them accordingly when your skills improves.

[@Grooving_Guns]

What pisses me off is that the AI drivers don't move out of your way when you are much faster. Instead, it's almost like they try to block you. So unrealistic and poorly programmed.

[@RandomCarGuy17]

You hit the nail on the head about the A.I. and something I said for a while. Polyphony Digital can easily put the same effort into the A.I. opponents as their visuals and livery editor, but they just don't want to. It could be for a push in favor of online racing and I honestly theorized that when GTSport first came out. but it's likely not that, more like they just don't care enough. A lot of the GT World Tour mode feels like this theme of not caring.

[@jeffro24]

They should just give us the gt sofie ai with a difficulty slider

[@TheDian101]

I’m so addicted to GT7 and I’m not big on multiplayer so it’s sad you can’t have great challenging races against the AI…

[@inurabera]

As someone who hasn't played a proper racing game since GT1, the AI have been a constant source of frustration for a lot of the reasons you explained in GT7. I think the recent Sophie AI showcase has given me far better (and cleaner!) races against the AI as well, as you're not constantly dodging them as moving roadblocks, instead of actually racing them.

[@lasarith2]

I just did an hour long endurance race on Nurburgring , the AI drove like I wasn’t even there, they’d turn into me, and drive me straight into the walls/ barriers , there was one car that actually indicated for me to pass them , only to then once I was passing , to drive into me ( side) 🤷🏼‍♂️

[@incominglaunch]

Really enjoyed this video, well put together. Keep it up mate

[@charliecouzins7652]

Amazing video, really nailed it. super interesting and entertaining . Tskuba clubman+ is the best race by far and I'm still yet to beat it 😅. The group 3 and above races are challenging too. On custom races you missed a strange ai limit, thier throttle input is limited to 90% on some groups. This makes them super slow.

[@Aidan_-_]

The Main Problem on GT7. Thank you for covering the topic.

[@alanevans6482]

All while I'm sitting here playing Grid 1&2 having white knuckle races for 1st. The AI manipulation in Grid is pretty awesome.

[@ollielynch4733]

This is a really good vid and absolutely explains perfectly my and everyone else’s experiences with the AI in this game. I also noticed that the throttle input on the AI cars isn’t even fully planted when on straights, they’re not even trying to hide the fact they’re on purposely slowing them up. It’s the worst AI I’ve ever experienced and I really hoped they’d have fixed it for this generation of gaming. With the addition of Sophy recently, we can only hope that they build on that and have some sort of difficulty slider implemented for Sophy in the near future.

[@Mikauo_Xblade]

I just watched the entire video, then scrolled down to realise that you only have a thousand subscribers! Lets get that number up!

[@FalconMotorsportsFalconF]

Something I notices is that the ai isn't good at lapping other ai. I've done some custom races with mixed class racing, and sometimes a gr.1 car will basically stop and tail a gr.4 car instead of passing. It makes it easy to pass some cars by taking any line that isn't the racing line.

[@Roflwaffle16]

Yes! This very true. I actually used footage of exactly that with Gr.1 and Gr.4 cars at Laguna Seca but forgot to mention it in the script. It's almost like the slower the car in front is the harder it is for them to overtake, makes no sense. I'll probably mention it briefly in my next video.

[@red9350]

If you install the Strato mod for Gran Turismo 6 they tuned the AI skill and aggressiveness to 10, they drive really good and seem almost human. It's a pity they never use such setting in the base, un-modded game

[@the_normsk]

The research behind this video is very good. You put some effort into this! I look forward to much more content.

[@JTeam45]

Went looking for this after noticing in the Tokyo Expressway "Race" challenge how much faster the Top 3 cars got once I got there. Thought I was going insane for a minute, glad to know I was not.

[@danieldorn9989]

We now know where Ferrari got their racing strategists from - Polyphony.

[@STRIDER_503]

As a long-term GT fan since I was a kid, it always baffles me that, when driven by AI, some cars are always absurdly slow, while some others are polar opposite. This has been an issue since GT1 came out, and it seems things just got even worse in GT7... well, it could be that they want as many people to enjoy the game without getting beaten by AI too much, but c'mon... at least give us an option to boost their overall performance.

[@HugoStiglitz88]

That's what's so crazy about sophy. They legit race as clean as the cleanest humans while also being ultra fast and aggressive. They need to be made into a real career mode, or completely revamp the current career mode

[@ceeinfiniti1389]

Holy crap. Those LMP1's should have done circles around you!!! What a joke of a "racing" game.