During the latest monthly livestream, Forza Motorsport Creative Director Chris Esaki did a deep dive into the revamped AI that players will face in the upcoming racing game.
Esaki explained that there’s two sides to the AI system in a game like Forza Motorsport: the AI controller, which is how the computer-controlled racers brake, throttle, and steer, and the driving line, which is the path they follow on the track. Both have been completely overhauled, said Esaki, and have followed the game’s overarching principle of clean, competitive circuit racing.
To do that, Turn 10 has essentially remade how Drivatar works. Previously, as you might remember, Drivatar attempted to replicate the actual driving behaviour of real users in your friends list based on their previous races in Forza. However, that also meant the behavior of ‘unsafe drivers’ was replicated in your races, possibly turning them into a Destruction Derby-like experience.
In the new Forza Motorsport, the users’ behavior won’t be mimicked any longer. Only the liveries and other customizations made to cars and driver suits will carry over to a friend’s race via Drivatar.
To create the fastest possible AI without any cheats (rubber banding, etc.), Turn 10 used machine learning to master every single combination of track, car (including upgrades), and weather condition. In Forza Motorsport 7, there were only three driving lines that were manually added to the game by the developers; the new Forza Motorsport has nineteen driving lines for each combination.
In comparison with the previous game conducted on the Maple Valley track, the overhauled AI was shown to be 13 seconds faster. The AI now takes advantage of the full track, including pushing to the curb, and even looks more believable.
New Forza Motorsport Gameplay
AI Comparison | Forza Motorsport (2023) vs Forza Motorsport 7
The AI in Forza Motorsport has seen massive improvements and is faster & more competitive than ever, now based on machine learning.
Coming October 10. pic.twitter.com/tNjkVK9sS2
— Klobrille (@klobrille) July 17, 2023
This also means that while there are no scripted mistakes, ‘honest mistakes’ of the AI are possible every once in a while.
Esaki also discussed once again the tire collision model. He previously mentioned the 48x more accurate system in the new game, but this time, he showed that the previous physics caused spikes and wild behavior with suspensions. The new system should allow for improved drivability.
Forza Motorsport is due to launch on October 10th for PC and Xbox Series S|X. In other Forza news, the live stream also revealed the Forza Horizon 5 Summer Party update that launches later today, adding six reward cars (2019 Hennessey Camaro Exorcist, 2018 DeBerti Ford Mustang GT, 1973 Ford XB Falcon GT, 1970 Hot Wheels Pontiac Firebird Trans Am Custom, 2022 Toyota GR86, and 1973 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am SD-455) and extending the in-game duration of nighttime per the requests of the community.
