At the beginning of the career it wasn't much of a problem, but now I'm really getting my *** kicked by the AI in this game. They're very fast, they go through some corners at speeds I cannot match for the life of it, and in some races you have to make it past 4 or 5 of those guys. It doesn't help that the fastest cars usually start in front of me either.

At Nordschleife it's a real nightmare to fight those guys, since there's no room to pass the slower cars and one lap of the Ring isn't enough to move through the field without endangering yourself. No use to promote clean racing when you've got only a few laps to catch the AI...

Also, when you crash into the AI racers, it's usually you who gets the short end of the stick, so playing aggressively doesn't work well. The problem is, the AI loves to bump you and try suicidal overtaking maneuvers, and when we collide, it's usually me who gets thrown into a barrier. Not very nice, isn't it?

I'm at Modern A and Normal difficulty BTW. Normal in Shift 1 was a breeze for me, but it seems they really upped the difficulty in Shift 2. Seriously, when the community asked SMS for better AI, they meant less aggressive racers, not faster ones.

Any thoughts?

I dont know, maybe 'Hard' is easy in disguise, but im having no problems on Hard with them.
Maybe its a bug?
-But i can't win the Modern A Invitational on Nordschleife with MP4-12c, for some reason.
-People are reporting that Retro championship and time trial championship are hard as hell, and im having no problems.

Though, by no problem i mean they dont overtake me as long as i drive flawlessly, sometimes requiring risky maneuvers to get past 2-3 cars at once (in places where you aren't cutting the track but driving over the pavement for example on Miami tracks which can net you a spinout if you aren't careful). As soon as i make a single mistake the race is lost.
And my AI drivers seem to be rather...peaceful. Most of time they dont ram me but when we both are cornering they often disregard my presence and that ends in one of us crashing.
Maybe the game is easier on keyboard(weird thought but...anything is possible), or maybe its just a bug.

When making contact with AI cars you can easily clip their side mirrors which leads to you crashing(sometimes them as well). If you bump into them from the inside of the turn just a little bit you might spin out, at least thats what happens when i do that, and when they do that to me.

And for some reason cars seem to be very light in collisions. For example there's a big crash, i try to get back on track, and on my way there i push a Viper (which is standing sideways in relation to my cars front) and more often than not end up crashing that Viper against the wall. Im pretty sure that doesnt happen at 50 km/h in real life.

starting of the game is easy, what i realized when you reach the end of the game, the AI is more likely ramming my car. I got pushed out of track and rolled many times.

I have the AI at medium but theyre way too slow in many races, actually. just when i dont know a track they can keep up.

I dont know, maybe 'Hard' is easy in disguise, but im having no problems on Hard with them.
Maybe its a bug?
-But i can't win the Modern A Invitational on Nordschleife with MP4-12c, for some reason.
-People are reporting that Retro championship and time trial championship are hard as hell, and im having no problems.

It took me 3 tries to win the invitational with the McLaren. The car is nervous so you have to be a bit careful around the bumpy Nordschleife. Beware of the Veyrons at Döttinger-Hohe! Your car isn't a top speed monster so they will eat you alive on the straights.

People are having trouble with blown engines in the invitational but I've managed to complete the lap without problems.

I was disappointed when I won the McLaren. I thought it would be faster. The works conversion for it isn't as big of an upgrade as it is for other cars (it doesn't bump up the rating as much). As it is, it handles very well but it doesn't accelerate fast enough to be competitive with some of the high-powered cars.

The problem with Retro is that DMac is a damn good driver. Even with a Works BMW E30 I had difficulty passing him at the first track (Oschersleben B course). The rest were easy though, as I always started in first, so I just had to fend off DMac.

Time attack is a bit difficult only if you haven't got a strong car. I used a Works SLS in the last championship. The guy who gave me the most problems wasn't Chris Rado, but another SLS.

This brings me to another issue with the AI. It seems that, out of all the AI opponents, at least two use the same cars as you, and these guys are among the fastest of the bunch. Racing against them is hard because, since they use the same cars as you do, it all comes down to driver skill, and their AI is damn good so it's difficult to beat them.

I have the AI at medium but theyre way too slow in many races, actually. just when i dont know a track they can keep up.

Maybe they're adjusting to my skill since I mostly got first places in my career? Clever thing if it's true, but surely annoying.

EDIT: I've learned the AI in this game is adaptive. Explains why the fastest racers have lap times similar to mine, despite me playing at Normal difficulty (I'm not a bad driver). IMO it was a very poor choice of SMS to include this feature, since the layout of the career events isn't very compatible with this kind of AI. In Shift 2 most of the races have few laps, and there's no qualifying, so you usually start at the middle of the pack (mostly fifth, sometimes even seventh). Success in an event is achieved by finishing the race (or series) in at least third position (podium). However, it's very difficult to move through the field when the AI drivers are as skilled as you are. With equal cars, it's like playing a spec series, but, if there are no differences in driver skill, will there actually be any changes in position in such a small number of laps? The reason why real-life races have many laps is that drivers aren't expected to gain a lot of positions in only a few laps, provided skill levels and machinery are similar (Senna at Donington 1993 is an exception to the rule, but he's Senna). Attempting to gain too many positions in the 2 or 3 laps of the events in the game leads to the player having to be very aggressive and therefore more prone to mistakes. Trying to overtake at 300 kph on the Nordschleife has a high chance of turning into a disaster. Not a very cool thing if you ask me.

Man, if the Modern A events are this hard already, I can't imagine what's waiting for me at GT3 and GT1... :P I think I may have to lose on purpose to make further events easier.

^Hehe, that would be really clever yes. I must say that i didnt do a lot of career yet though, as Shift2 still works like crap on my pc and i cant use my steering wheel here... So what i told u was based on quick races ;)

I actually cant wait to have Shift2 working well on my pc... really want to complete the career :)

Man, if the Modern A events are this hard already, I can't imagine what's waiting for me at GT3 and GT1... :P I think I may have to lose on purpose to make further events easier.

Disappointment for me, in this particular area.

Especially the Starlight Specials which was supposed to be challenging (all night races), i ended up overtaking the cars in the front after about 1-2 laps.

Disappointment for me, in this particular area.

Especially the Starlight Specials which was supposed to be challenging (all night races), i ended up overtaking the cars in the front after about 1-2 laps.

I have to agree, i expected GT3 to be hard, or at least harder than previous races but it was really easy. Most of time first lap was enough to be first, or right behind the leader.



BTW, does anyone know how to make Audi R8 LMS more...drivable? Compared to the GT3 DB9 it seems like its only purpose is to spin out in every corner. Acceleration is bad as well, so maybe there's a problem with traction. Except that this happens on default settings, on which said DB9 does pretty well against AI.

Man, if the Modern A events are this hard already, I can't imagine what's waiting for me at GT3 and GT1... :P I think I may have to lose on purpose to make further events easier.

Don't worry about those. You'll be good enough finishing them all. This part is already about the driver no matter what GT1 or GT3 car you drive. A little bit of early braking and wrong apex turn will put you in the back.

I've also experienced AI suicidical maneuvers, they seem then to continue perfectly, while I'm stuck, and as well at first tracks I managed to win all 1st place. BTW I've managed to get the AI stuck in places like hairpins(w/e you call those things) and tight turns, and I managed hit them, they spin, I drift, and gain control.

Yeah... I never liked the AI in that game and I never will. The best AI is in GRID and DiRT2.

The Retro championship is hard as shit. No matter how much you gain in the corners, as soon as you hit a straight, the AE86 takes off and disappears. I had to ram the guy off the track every single race or I never would have gotten his car. Of course, I discovered that his car had a 100 hp advantage on me after I won so I probably should have souped up my Skyline R32 a bit more.

The Modern A Invitational is near impossible. It's another one of those cases where driving cleanly doesn't get me anywhere and driving dirty usually ends with me flipping the car. I wish the game didn't spawn Bugatti Veyrons, Koenigseggs and Pagani Zondas against the MP4-12C either. It's not a hypercar. It competes at the league of the Ferrari F458 and the game is pitting it against the fastest cars in the world that cost 2-5 times as much.

I experienced that with Modern B invitational, while the Z06 was awesome in every possible way, the SLR's were simply too fast on that long straight. But on that track(i dont remember the name) there was one corner where the AI always slowed down...after completing the turn. I dont know why but every single AI car on that corner just slows down after completing it despite not being in any danger of going off track. This pretty much allowed me to do whatever i want with the AI there.


This corner, i believe it was one before the sharp one with a big concrete area on the outside.

One way or another you will notice it, they slowdown so hard that its just obvious.

With respect to the adaptive AI, the other option is the infamous "rubber band".

It's important to note that the AI also responds to your driving style - if you ram, the AI will ram back. However, clean racing will be respected.

Of course, this is actually easier at harder difficulties because the AI will make fewer mistakes.

^Although i will avoid ramming in almost whatever it takes, the AI always tries to spin me off-track by hitting me at the back end of the side...

Whenever they can, that is.

The only one time they rammed into my back was a failed misjudge corner from me, however i ended up getting in 1st despite dropping down to 5th or 6th in the pack.

needless to say this was from the Modern A Invitation, where all five ahead of me were Zondas.

But AgentRoo has a point, you ram the AI, they ram you back. proven because i rammed some AI in a Supra off the track and he ended up flipping me. :|

IMO hard AI was at GT4 in German Touring Car Champioship (they were hitting you all over the last laps)

Well, still dont got the game, but this is really warning me.

^Not much to be afraid of ;) The AI can be annoying, but if u dont put it too hard and give them some space they wont really harm u.

I never knew that a Cayman S could drift so well...and i really appreciate how they made its retractable spoiler move along with many other cars like LF-A for example.

My only tip for Modern B is that near the end of the track, Turn 12 I think, the turn is a sharp right with a green area on the inside. If you cut far enough into the green area and return to the track ASAP after the green ends, you can gain a few positions and not get penalized for cutting the track.

So far I've found the AI too easy even set to hard. The McLaren invitational is just annoying, but I've had no troubles in the other events.

The Retro is pretty easy, he may pull away on the straight (well he does have a Hachi Roku with a 3-Rotor...) but if you set your car up right you'll beat him in braking and turning. I used an RX-7 FD3S to beat that championship and it was B class. Not that many engine mods, but all handling mods were maxed out.

I normally go for balance over power and with the RWD's especially this helps. Too much power and they are a real handful.

BTW there is a bug with the Ford Escort Cosworth. If you run and automatic gearbox it doesn't shift up gears properly. It downshifts fine but you lose precious seconds on upshift :(

The AI seems slow at Endurance events - just did one and smoked them.

If you're having problems with nervous handling cars I always put semi-slick tires on them as soon as I buy a car. Probably the single biggest improvement I've seen. Brakes and suspension upgrades will help too. As for tips with beating certain events, most of these I haven't tried yet but I'll post back once I try them out.

I noticed that most of time if i fully upgrade a car (all available upgrades, engine swap, works) then it becomes really nervous. But if i stick to only handling upgrades the car loses its initial nervousness and is drivable.... example: Cayman S.

Yeah never do the power mods until you have the handling mods. Test. Then apply power tweaks slowly. Eventually you will find the optimal balance for your car :)

I actually find the initial stages when you have barely any cash and are scraping for every mod much more fun than rolling in cash (after about two sets of events...) and able to max each car as you don't learn them thoroughly and don't feel the difference between stock and modded.

Yeah never do the power mods until you have the handling mods. Test. Then apply power tweaks slowly. Eventually you will find the optimal balance for your car :)

I actually find the initial stages when you have barely any cash and are scraping for every mod much more fun than rolling in cash (after about two sets of events...) and able to max each car as you don't learn them thoroughly and don't feel the difference between stock and modded.

Damn NFS VIP rewards took that away from me, that and Limited Edition. I got a Silvia for 0 $ and had 30k to upgrade it. Ended up making it to C or B class when i didn't even do a single D class race. :Facepalm:

This annoyed me in Shift1.

Nurburgring, lots of supercars, impossible to get through them. Annoying.


Oh and guys, when there's non-works cars racing, are they stock-ish or free of liveries? What I'm asking is, does it feel remotely like HS or PU for example?

Can you appreciate Grand Tourers in long races? Is it easier to push through with a heavier car?

I didnt see too many liveries on AI cars, mostly they were stock looking save for bodykit mods here and there, but on higher tuning levels they started getting liveries on more and more cars.


It is easier to push through with a heavier car, but only because of the weight itself, they dont avoid you any more than a Caterham.


The whole adaptive AI deal might be true. They seem to copy my driving. Damn bastards just ignore my presence on the track and push forward, and will take someone else with them if they are about to crash. :(

Does your level of tuning influence other cars?

So if you just go with a factory spec, showroom floor condition car, what do the opponents look like (in shift1, even Quick Race, they had liveries and bodykits already)?

If you race in the highest class (supercars?), are there races without liveries/bodykits?

What does Quick Race look like? Does the game ever - ever - look like High Stakes?

I just took my drift-used Cayman S* to the Dubai Autodrome or however its called, club variant. 15 cars on 'identical' setting. None of them used liveries, and since i didn't use any bodykit mods, they appeared stock as well. Will try on 'same class' soon. BTW, my Cayman S did have a livery, so this might mean they simply ignore your 'visual' upgrades like liveries and rims.

I suppose tuning level does affect other cars in a way, but im not sure how exactly. I bought a FD3S RX-7, put on some handling upgrades and weight reduction, went into a career race and there were some other RX-7's as well, and most of them had some lowlevel bodykits. So i guess they dont copy your tuning setup (unless set to 'identical' in quick race), but instead try to set their upgrades to be somewhat on your level.

So you can take a stock car and race against 15 identical cars(different colors obviously) and they shouldnt use liveries, they'll just copy your upgrades(in that case, they will all be stock)


*(weird, but it works....besides i always wanted to try using some unusual cars in drifting, im not sure there are any Porsches used in drift competitions....not saying they arent, because there probably are some people doing that. Who knows.)

I agree a bit, FIA GT 1 is realy hard! but FIA GT3 was not so hard.

Does your level of tuning influence other cars?

So if you just go with a factory spec, showroom floor condition car, what do the opponents look like (in shift1, even Quick Race, they had liveries and bodykits already)?

If you race in the highest class (supercars?), are there races without liveries/bodykits?

What does Quick Race look like? Does the game ever - ever - look like High Stakes?

This game is not supposed to look like High Stakes. It's fun in its own way.

This game is not supposed to look like High Stakes. It's fun in its own way.

I don't care, some screenshots look a bit classic.

So I want to know that if I blast some PU music it'll be fun.

Sir Tristan, Shift 2 is different in a lot of ways to High Stakes (unfortunately no Grand Tours of the Alps or anything) however it has lots of tracks which are damn accurate and the handling (with the input lag removing dll by Juls from NoGripRacing) is pretty good especially with that dll. Don't use the bff files if you don't want to alter the handling ;)

Cars in the D to A levels won't put liveries on unless past a certain point of tune and you have them on. For instance if you stick the 3rd bodykit on your car you will see more liveried cars than the 2nd or 1st bodykits. The AI doesn't just copy your tuning options either it tunes the cars up to a similar level so they may not have the same parts as your car at all :)

^In addition to that, be careful against Veyrons. Especially at Spa. These things are FAST. The AI simulates the strengths and weaknesses of each car, therefore it's nothing like Most Wanted for example. A Veyron will be fast on the straights and not too bad around corners. A Carrera GT will be difficult to catch around the sharp bends of Nordschleife, and so on.

Shift 2 is fun, but very challenging IMO at the later levels.

OMG this AI thing is WIN. No NFS has ever treated cars with such class except Porsche.

If HP2010 had half as much car characteristics shining through... GTs being easy on the straights..

From what I've seen there is also little to no rubber banding. If I nail a circuit I can be from 5-20s ahead by the end depending on the lap times, whereas if I mess up it gets pretty heated. Passing clean is rewarded by the AI not playing ram the player. It's very good in that respect and LIGHT YEARS ahead of Forza and GT5 in AI. Hell they even put up some competition in the GT3 and higher classes ;)

What i liked is they actually let you pass them when you lap them (endurance races is where i found this)

Though they dont necessarily know where its 'too far' (they just swerve to the left/right to let you pass, no matter where they are on the track) its still a nice idea, better than having to battle through them.

On the other hand, the endurance race on Road America was quite boring after a while, because it was me, another guy right on my tail, third one just out of my vision and everyone else faaaaaar behind.

^Road America! Did they fix the odd bump in one of the corners? They did fix the odd bump on the Nordschleife :)

EDIT: Talking about Shift 1 -> Shift 2

^Im not sure which corner you are speaking about (duh) but i encountered no bumps during the 20? lap long race on it.

^Then im sure its fixed ;) It was in a tight corner to the left.

^In addition to that, be careful against Veyrons. Especially at Spa. These things are FAST. The AI simulates the strengths and weaknesses of each car, therefore it's nothing like Most Wanted for example. A Veyron will be fast on the straights and not too bad around corners. A Carrera GT will be difficult to catch around the sharp bends of Nordschleife, and so on.


The Veryons and Huyaras are just toys to my 950 hp Lamborghini Murcielago LP 640-4. I have never driven a car with such as acceleration and handling like my lambo. it is just incredible! from 0-100 just in 2,4 seconds!

^Road America! Did they fix the odd bump in one of the corners? They did fix the odd bump on the Nordschleife :)

EDIT: Talking about Shift 1 -> Shift 2

The bump under the Corvette bridge was fixed. Though what really helps regarding bumps is that suspension modelling is much better this time around. The cars won't bounce out of the track.

The Veryons and Huyaras are just toys to my 950 hp Lamborghini Murcielago LP 640-4. I have never driven a car with such as acceleration and handling like my lambo. it is just incredible! from 0-100 just in 2,4 seconds!

The Lamborghini is overpowered in this game.

the lamborghini is overpowered in this game.

qfft.

If i remember right, the GT-R does 0-100 in 2,1 seconds... now thats insane! (Somehow it handles like crap though.. :P)

Particularly the GT-R SpecV works. Handling sucks though, it does a lot of understeer.

I seem to have no luck with my cars. Audi R8 = ridiculous oversteer, undrivable. Skyline R34 Works - undrivable, i dare you to press the goddamn accelerator. Hold it for more than half a second and you are all over the wall.
1200 HP Scion tC seems to be overpowered in comparison to those, doesn't have the damn problems.

^Oversteer is very easy to fix?

@F.R. Thats exactly what im talking about.

The Problem I find in shift 2 is that there is no possable way to gain a tunning advantage over the thrice damnd AI driven cars. Now it may not seem like it but the "Rubber Banding" is definately still in this game. In some cases it seemed that the AI driven cars are 1 whole performance classs above what I am driving. The first indicator of this on a non-boss race is when the pack accelerates at warp speed while you seem to be going in slow motion molasses speed. Im with the OP on this. I too am sick and tired of this Impossable to keep up with crap.

I am also sick and tired of being the Ai's plaything where every feather touch sends my car flying off the track, into a wall or facing the other way making it flat out impossable to make a podium finish. I can't even retaliate properly because the moment I touch the offending car I am once again sent flying off the track,into a wall or facing the other way. I drive as clean as I possabily can but it does not seem to matter. Looks like the undercover folks got there wish again, The Minority wanted the AI to be impossabily difficult for the casual gamer/racer to even get a podium finish. well they got thier wish.

I am also sick and tired of being the Ai's plaything where every feather touch sends my car flying off the track, into a wall or facing the other way making it flat out impossable to make a podium finish. I can't even retaliate properly because the moment I touch the offending car I am once again sent flying off the track,into a wall or facing the other way. I drive as clean as I possabily can but it does not seem to matter. Looks like the undercover folks got there wish again, The Minority wanted the AI to be impossabily difficult for the casual gamer/racer to even get a podium finish. well they got thier wish.

I totally agree with this part. Hitting another car sends you right out of the track, no matter if you actually hit someone or if you have been hit by AI.

I would also add that even on easy mode it seems AI make very few or no mistake at all, they master every corner and follow the racing line in a flawless way.

EDIT : I will end my post with saying that the hardest event was Modern A at the Nürburgring, the tour, not the invitational event. The first events weren't so hard, but the last race on the Nordschleife is totally insane. It's about five minutes of hell, alone in my car at night, in the middle of an overpowered sea of LP640s (because for some reason all AIs use LP640 no matter what car I use) which make no mistake at all, starting in the middle of the grid and having to go up and up passing these crazy guys. I still didn't make it yet.

I actually am starting to appreciate how hard this game is compared to Shift 1. I also started using the bumper cam (something I did in Forza 2) all the time because it feels like I have a lot more direct control over the car when I'm closer to the road.

<- Got through the Modern B and A Invitational.

SHIFT2 is amazing. I never experienced the AI problems described.

I always use the helmet cam. Always. I look out everywhere to see if I have room for manoeuvre.


The game amplifies cars' differences. You NEVER enter the same race (unless it's a duel). Tuned DB9 is so different from a Z06, heavier but more stable.

A GT2 can exit corners like a mofo, but has to slow down more than, say, a Z06.

^I got these tips from car magazines, notably a GT2 RS vs 599 GTO comparison - and while there is no 599, there ARE FR monsters.

Every car feels so different there, man... Love this game.

In HP3, there are differences, but they're both subtle and rudimentary.

AI have always been tough to fight with. I dont really feel like sayinh anything right now but these things have ruined my entire career.