I'm sorry this has to be said, the terrible state of AI traffic

[Vinnie Terranova]

For the time being, I think the lack of traffic is actually okay. Before SCS starts getting the game to spawn more traffic, something should be done about the traffic behaviour that has seemingly gotten worse in one of the past few updates. I've actually turned my g_traffic down from 1.0 (the default) to 0.5. I've done so partially because I'm running the game on hardware that is considered somewhat old now, but also it seems to help with the traffic just randomly stopping in the middle of the highway for no reason. The traffic in its current state seems to work better when there are fewer vehicles on the road.

Lowering g_traffic to less than 1.0 will make the sparse AI traffic we already have even more sparse. That's not the way how to 'solve' bad AI behaviour... Even if it's a temporary 'solution'.

But you can memorize what the AI traffic will do, because it is a computer program.

You cannot always memorize AI behaviour: trucks that shift lanes for no reason at all is something that always surprises me. Always.

However, whether you can memorize what the AI will do or not, if you drive the same way you do (or at least the way you should) in real life, you will have nothing to worry about.

This is simply not true. A lot of times I drive differently in ATS than I would drive in real life; the AI cannot always respond to my driving style, which is totally understandable. But sometimes I really drive in ATS the same way as in real life (taking into account the limitations of the game vs real life); but even if I drive the same way as I do in real life, the AI behaves very bad.

So if you drive like I do in the game, which I wouldn't even consider doing in real life, remember to have fun.

Well I have some fun with driving in ATS. But I like to have more fun. And one way to have more fun in ATS than I have now, is with a better AI.

[Optional Features]

We have lots of large metropolitan areas in ATS that have heavy traffic IRL such as Denver, Salt Lake City, Portland, Seattle, Phoenix, etc. Heck, we have Los Angeles where rush hour traffic is literally a meme. I would expect the traffic in large metro areas in Texas like Houston and Dallas/Fort Worth to be similar to what we have already been seeing.

Oh totally. As someone that travels a lot by road, I wish traffic was like the game. I would never get off schedule. Even with heavy traffic, there are few slowdowns, and the ones we do get are abrupt and incredible short. I would love to roll through a town at rush hour, but instead it's either highway speed or stop instantly before continuing as if nothing happened.

For the time being, I think the lack of traffic is actually okay. Before SCS starts getting the game to spawn more traffic, something should be done about the traffic behaviour that has seemingly gotten worse in one of the past few updates. I've actually turned my g_traffic down from 1.0 (the default) to 0.5. I've done so partially because I'm running the game on hardware that is considered somewhat old now, but also it seems to help with the traffic just randomly stopping in the middle of the highway for no reason. The traffic in its current state seems to work better when there are fewer vehicles on the road.

Yeah, worst are the country roads. Nothing like traffic that stops to let you in and is evenly spaced so you can barely get out yourself.

[Optional Features]

@Vinnie Terranova When I drive irl, I know that the vehicles around me are controlled by the laws of physics. So if I'm behind a semi, he won't stop in two feet (and if he stops suddenly at all, there will be noise and visible indications of such).

There are no such visual clues in game, neither are the laws of physics present. Some motorcycles would struggle to stop as quickly as a tour bus in this game.

[plykkegaard]

Just keep your distance both IRL and in the game, you'll be fine

[nautofon]

Another thing the AI doesn't do yet is to use high beam lights at night, except for flashing at me when I use mine. As you know, in reality, oncoming vehicles using high beams are easier to see in advance, so AI use of high beams actually has some gameplay impact.

I suspect this might strictly speaking be more of a graphics engine / performance limitation though, rather than an issue with the AI as such.

[supersobes]

Using high beams is something I wish the AI traffic did. When I'm driving at night in ATS with no one in front of me, I have my high beams on. When a vehicle traveling the same direction as I am passes me, I switch back to low beams. In a real world situation, the vehicle doing the passing would then switch to high beams. It's kind of a common courtesy thing that the lead vehicle in a group of vehicles will use high beams, allowing not only them to see, but also the drivers behind them. It would be useful if the vehicles in ATS did that.

[nautofon]

Good point! And in addition to being useful, it would also help make the AI "feel" more alive I think.

[nautofon]

Just a heads-up, there appear to be some AI changes with the upcoming 1.46 update, which is currently in public beta. While it doesn't yet seem to address most of the issues discussed in this thread, it's certainly good to see that they are in fact spending time on improving the AI.
viewtopic.php?p=1746794#p1746794

[J.Random]

The only barely AI-related change there is the change in the spawn algorithm. And while I haven't touched OB, I'm sure it does nothing to fix the Truman effect, which I'd say is the main spawn issue.

[canuckster]

Just a heads-up, there appear to be some AI changes with the upcoming 1.46 update, which is currently in public beta. While it doesn't yet seem to address most of the issues discussed in this thread, it's certainly good to see that they are in fact spending time on improving the AI.
viewtopic.php?p=1746794#p1746794

Seems to be mostly visual improvements, nothing that will change the actual logic that causes all the AI issues I feel have become too hard to ignore.