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AI-controlled rivals have been showcased for Project Motor Racing for the first time in a social media preview clip – which also unveils another new (classic) car and a ‘Northampton’ circuit, which definitely isn’t Silverstone.
As Game Design Director, Austin Ogonoski narrates the fresh (alpha) gameplay footage – the first replay video outside of slickly edited trailers in the public domain – we can see an Aston Martin DB9 race car.
This could either be the GT1-spec DBR9 or the later DBRS9, which ran under the early GT3 ruleset. As it’s racing in a pack of mostly older vehicles – a menagerie of Listers, Morgans and TVRs etc. – we presume it’s the former.
Notably, the race is taking place at a circuit branded as Northampton, not Silverstone, despite sharing the same layout as the British Grand Prix venue. Instead, it looks to be named after the nearby town.
Historically, Silvestone has been tricky for game developers to secure licencing for, and has even disappeared from prior titles such as rFactor 2. Traxion has approached developer Straight4 Studios for comment.
It joins the likes of Kyalami, Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, Lime Rock Park and the Nürburgring Nordschleife.
AI overview
The new car and ‘fictional’ track first caught our attention, but there’s also important information about how the upcoming sim racing title will handle AI-controlled rivals.
“PMR’s main focus this development cycle was to make our AI think like real racers, and part of that is through smart corridor technology,” says Ogonoski.
It’s claimed that this approach means overtakes should happen in the same places as the real world, and that the racing is “tighter, more consistent.”
“We’ve also trained our AI to anticipate each opponent’s aim point,” continues Ogonoski.
“Traditionally, racing sim AI is only concerned with what’s happening around them, and sometimes they can get a little spooked. Our AI can now interpret the likely intentions and trajectory of every other car around them and cooperate the way real drivers do.”
The development team worked with Williams Racing last year on a mixed-reality Lap of Legends content piece, and it’s said that elements of PMR’s AI tech were used for that project.
During the sim racing media’s hands-on with the embryonic driving sim in April, all testing was minus AI (or multiplayer) rivals on track. We hope to test these systems on the run-up to launch to see if they match the stated ambitions.
Project Motor Racing is currently slated for a ‘fall’ release across PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S, with a Factory Driver Program for pre-release testing and feedback expected to be opened ‘soon’.
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