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Important Notes Regarding the Bristol 2014 FSE A.I. by J.R. Franklin:

The A.I. for this track were constructed using the following:

1. a default papy_ai.ini, 
2. the default fast setups for each physics (CUP, GNS and CTS) 3. the opponent strength set at 97%. 
4. 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 A.I. 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 A.I. 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:  

1.  Full Lap Start Grid on Pit Road.  The cars on the right-hand line of the full pace lap start grid on pit road will make a jog to the left when the pace car brings them off of pit road for the parade lap.  It doesn't cause any issues other than it looks a bit odd.  Several things were tried but nothing could be done to correct this.

2.  Pace Car.  Upon the drop of a caution, the pace car will pull out of it's stall and drive immediately up onto the track between turns 1 and 2.  Because the configuation of this track has both the entrance and exit of the pits in turn 2, it requires the unique "dual switch" to be employed in the track.ini.  This is the only way that pit road will work properly and somewhat realistically like the real Bristol.  However, because of the "dual switch" the pace car will not follow the pit0 lps out of it's stall and merge up onto the track on the backstretch like it should (and does when leading the pack off of pit road during the parade lap).  Bristol is one of the only NR2003 tracks that has to utilize this unique "dial switch" feature. 

3. Safer Barrier Protrusions. The A.I., while  racing in the outside groove and 3-wide, will occasionally brush the Safer Barrier walls protruding out on the straightaways. 


SETUP CREDITS: 
Danny Coral - Fast.cup, Fast.gns and Expert.gns
Wayne Faircloth - Fast.cts, Expert.cts and Qualify.cts
Sam Lincoln - Fast_SL.cup
WildAssMotorsports.com (Imtimidator) - Fast_WAM.gns and Fast_WAM.cup

(Special thanks to these very talented setup men listed above who make this track fun and easy to race on
"Right Out of the Box!")


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 (other than those as recommended), 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 tight, hard-racing, short track Bristol experience!

J.R. Franklin