AI traffic needs better “common sense” behavior + more tools for modders

[TGMODZ]

One of the biggest immersion breakers right now is how AI traffic handles basic real-world driving situations, especially yielding and merging. At the moment, AI vehicles often ram into the player even when the player clearly has no safe alternative, such as when pulling out of garages, fuel stations, service areas, or side roads. Even if you look both ways and wait for a reasonable gap, AI will frequently accelerate into you instead of slowing down or yielding.

This also happens a lot when merging onto highways and freeways. Instead of creating a gap and letting one vehicle in at a time (which is how real traffic usually behaves), AI tends to maintain speed or even speed up, forcing unrealistic braking, collisions, or awkward stops on the on-ramp. The same rigid behavior shows up at stop signs, where traffic often feels robotic instead of natural and cooperative.

It would be great to see improvements focused on “common sense” driving behavior, such as:

- AI slowing down and yielding when a vehicle is exiting garages, fuel stations, service areas, etc.

- More cooperative merge behavior on highways, allowing one vehicle in at a time.

- Smarter stop sign logic that feels natural instead of purely rule-based, also allowing one vehicle in at a time.

- Better awareness of player intent (turn signals, steering, low speed, etc.) so AI can react more like real drivers.

- Realistic traffic density

In addition, it would be really helpful if modders were given more tools and parameters to improve AI behavior on our own. Things like adjustable merge logic, yielding behavior, reaction distance, courtesy probability, and player-intent awareness would allow the community to experiment and push traffic realism much further. The modding community has already shown that it can significantly improve many aspects of the game when given the right tools, and AI traffic could benefit greatly from that.

I’m not expecting perfect real-world traffic, but even moderate improvements in courtesy, anticipation, and cooperation would massively improve realism, reduce frustration, and make traffic feel more human-like instead of robotic-like.

Overall, smarter and more cooperative AI behavior — along with better modding control — would be one of the biggest quality-of-life improvements for both ATS and ETS2.

[J_Kasumi]

More dynamic traffic would be great.

[TGMODZ]

I understand most people think it's funny the way AI behaves, but come on, looking both ways to see if it's clear, then being instantly in a crash... y'all gotta admit, that's somewhat unrealistic and frustrating as hell.

[Frayner]

It’s more a spawning problem than a AI issue, though they do have their issues. There are a lot of times you look one way and see nothing, look the other way, then look back and suddenly an AI issue coming.

As for the merging problem, that stems from way way back in the early ets2 days when AI would get stuck in merging lanes when it used to be that cars merging from the right gave way. Until they fix that merging problem, cars merging from the right are programmed to have the right of way, and the other AI just don’t react fast enough cause the detection range is too small, but that’s was changed because ai used to react way to much to the player and other AI. They really just need to find a better balance.

As it is right now, I myself don’t really have a problem with them because it somewhat feels like in real life where I’ve been cut off and not let out of private drives before. But that’s my own opinion.

[plykkegaard]

AI is fine, a few spots have issues and should be reported as bugs

[TGMODZ]

@Frayner What/how would you suggest to SCS to improve this?

@plykkegaard AI is not fine when they ram into you after you looked both ways with evidence of no one coming.

[Lionv8]

I would say traffic spawn rate should be done by taking other factors beside the current one which is type of road, other factors like:
-Size of city, bigger city, more traffic. After recent downgrade in traffic many big cities are empty.
-More traffic on transit routes. Some of the roads have higher traffic due to transport of cargo, people and tourist.
-More dynamic traffic. Amount of traffic depended on hours (rush hours with the most traffic).

Whole rework of the traffic system is needed.

[Lionv8]

As well there should be more traffic on highway junctions. Beside already mentioned cities, highway junctions also suffers lack of traffic.

[TGMODZ]

As well there should be more traffic on highway junctions. Beside already mentioned cities, highway junctions also suffers lack of traffic.

Their probably waiting for or after DX12 to do this.

[TGMODZ]

@Lionv8 At least that's what I hope their doing.