I HATE rubberband AI in racing games!

What is " rubberband AI" you may ask? Play Burnout 3. Great game, horrible AI. Period. If you pass your opponent(s) or even cause them to crash horribly while you race away, it doesn' t matter how well you do or how much thruster boost you apply, the enemies will catch up to you in next to no time at all. Usually they will pass you (at which point the AI adjusts) and suddenly they do not wander more than a few hundred feet in front of you, making it easy to pass them back up by using your turbo thrust afterburner boost thingy. However even if you are in first place and you happen to crash into a table or a small sign causing a major wreck for yourself, you will get knocked back at least to 4th place and have a hell of a time catching back up.

Such AI truly pisses me off and removes any real challenge from the game. You can' t win by strategically causing an accident for your evil opponents (opponents in ALL games are obviously pure evil, since they oppose YOU) and race ahead smartly, avoiding accidents to secure the win. Your turbo afterburner boost thrust thingy is mostly only for show. Also when the evil enemy opponents pass you, it is easy to pass them right back up using your firey exhaust afterburner boost thrust rumbler flame thingy. Not a real challenge by any means. I hate games that cheat!

Don' t get me wrong, I love Burnout 3, especially the crash mode which is an actual TRUE challenge! Well, it' s not really that hard, but it is hella fun. I got gold in all 100 crashes. But strategy, skill, and challenge play a much larger aspect in that portion of the game than the racing portion. Yeah, I like Burnout 3, even if the graphics aren' t as good as Out Run 2. Fortunately in Out Run 2 I' ll be racing the clock.

I' ve not had many problems with Burnout 3. In fact I actually quite *like* the rubberband AI. I accepted it and even though some races have been harder to win that I would have liked I' ve still never felt cheated.

The best thing about it is it works both ways. You takedown your opponents and you' ll only really have limited trouble from the top two. But if you are good you' ll just take them down again of they get too close. Amazingly in some races I' ve taken the lead and never seen an opponent again. When rubberband AI is at it' s best for you however is when you crash. First playing the game I crashed and held my head in my hands going from 1st to 6th thinking all was lost. But with 2 laps to go I was in the lead by the end of the last.

At the end of the day the game is called Burnout 3 Takedown, with the takedown element of the game meant to mean something. I believe without the rubberband AI the game would be too easy if you did good and too hard if you were a beginner.

yeah...i was gonna say that too...i liked the rubberband AI in Burnout 3...i thought it was pretty sweet. it keeps all the takedown drivers in the game and allows for more opportunity to wreck stuff. so i guess i dont have a problem with it at the moment anyway.

ORIGINAL: Xtreme

yeah...i was gonna say that too...i liked the rubberband AI in Burnout 3...i thought it was pretty sweet. it keeps all the takedown drivers in the game and allows for more opportunity to wreck stuff. so i guess i dont have a problem with it at the moment anyway.

Yup... agreed. If there wasn' t at least some element to keeping the AI close, some races would lose a measure of excitement. Nothing makes for a white-knuckle race than knowing that there' s always someone on your tail.

It can be frustrating, I agree... but in this game, it' s there for a reason.

I' m in agreement with Joe here, especially when talking about Burnout 3. I' m not entirely against rubberband A.I.. I just think it could have been done a little better. They shouldn' t have made it where the car just flies by you like it does. It should be like any other race where the AI gradually catches back up.

Anyways, I don' t play a lot of one player racing games. I play mainly online, and only play offline when I need a new car.

In response to the following complaint I have decided to change my signature:

" by the way, yoshimitsu you might want to click the little checkbox that makes your signature disappear." -Jonah Shoemaker, Residential Dumbass

yoshimitsu15, I had noticed that. You' ll be leading for a bit and the second place man will sometimes just steamroll right past you then slow down realising that they' ve just done the impossible giving you the change to take ' em out.

This happens a lot on the dual races but it' s supposed to in those to keep you on the edge of your seat. I' ve never unfairly lost a race yet thanks to cheap AI.