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Important Notes Regarding the Pocono A.I. by J.R. Franklin:

The A.I. for this track were constructed using a default papy_ai.ini, the default fast setups for each physics (CUP, GNS and CTS) and the opponent strength set at 97%. Ratings for the car sets used in testing and in developing the A.I. for this track are from the NRatings program using the MasGrafx Full Season V3.1 formulas. We went to great efforts to make the AI and racing as realistic as possible. At the same time, we also took some liberties with the A.I. tools available in the track.ini to enhance the "fun" factor. We're confident that you'll enjoy the offline racing experience against the AI the way we have set them up for you. 

We also made an effort to get the A.I. to have an occasional random wreck that would bring out some cautions to further enhance the realism.  In trying to achieve this, we first went through the entire track and made sure that the proper surface designations were in place to allow for cautions when wrecks and spinouts occur.  In addition, we had to "push the envelope" a bit with the settings in the track.ini. This required getting the A.I. to race a little tighter, change lanes and be a little more aggressive.  As a result, the end user may experience an early wreck or 2 between the A.I. at the beginning of a race. This is because at the start of a race, the pack is at its largest and tightest. Testing revealed that once a couple of early wrecks occurred, then the A.I. seemed to settle down and spread out.  However, once another random wreck occurred, the restart would re-tighten the pack and as the saying goes....."Cautions can breed more cautions".  Kind of like real life racing!

KNOWN A.I. ISSUES.  There are a couple of known issues with the A.I. that we wanted to make you aware of:  

First of all, there is a slight slowdown by the A.I. as they enter corners.  This is most noticeable in turn 1 and the tunnel turn.  It also seems to be a little more noticeable when racing with the CTS physics as opposed to the Cup and GNS physics.  

Secondly, the A.I. occasionally will brush the wall at the exit of turn 1 during intense side-by-side or 3-wide racing.  This is a result of pushing the "ai_squeeze_pcnt" value up and mostly noticeable when running the CTS physics.  Increasing this value gets the A.I. to pull out of line and "hunt" for positions.  It significantly enhances the realism of racing against the A.I. and consequently the overall "fun" factor.  As this only happens occasionally as mentioned above, we have decided to keep these values high in the track.ini.  However, if you find this to be bothersome or an annoyance, simply reduce the amount of the "ai_squeeze_pcnt" by 0.10 to 0.20. (i.e. change a value of 1.40 to 1.30 or 1.20) in the appropriate physics section (i.e. ai_track, ai_track_gns or ai_track_cts).  You may find that it's fine in Cup and GNS, but only needs to be adjusted in the CTS.  In that case, only make that adjustment in the ai_track_cts section of the track.ini.


SUMMARY.  To enjoy the best results, we recommend that you use the default fast setups provided with the track and car/truck sets containing ratings as described above. Your results and A.I. behavior, however, may vary depending on the type of mod used, the ratings of your specific car set, different setups used, driving style, skill level and countless other variables that make it practically impossible to predict the results that you will achieve while racing on this track.

We hope that you enjoy the Pocono racing experience!

J.R. Franklin