Gran Turismo 7: Sophy AI Expansion Arriving in March Update 1.57

Aston Martin Vantage GT7.jpg
Image: Polyphony Digital
It is the day before the next update arrives for Gran Turismo 7 and as well as the three cars getting added - including the Aston Martin Vantage - there is also a major expansion to the Sophy AI program.

We made our predictions for the cars being added in the update to Gran Turismo 7 arriving on March 27th, and they have pretty much all proved true. The Aston Martin Vantage from 2018 will undoubtedly be of most interest to the majority of other players.

There is also the 2021 Mazda CX-30 X Smart Edition and the 2001 Renault Kangoo 1.4, but it is not just cars that are getting added. New race events, another car collection to complete but primarily, it will become possible for players on the PS5 version of the game to race the Sophy AI in custom races.


GT7 Update 1.57: What's New?​

Up until now, the revolutionary Sophy AI opponents have been exclusive to race against in quick races without the ability to customise them. Not only will that change in this update, but there will also be the ability to tune the cars that the opponents race against to your liking. The AI is still limited to all of the compatible tracks, so it is not available for all tracks just yet.

Along with the Sophy AI update, there will be three new races available in World Circuits. These new events are the Sunday Cup on Brands Hatch Indy, European Clubman Cup 600 at Deep Forest Raceway Reverse and the Japanese FF Challenge 450 at Tokyo Expressway - Central Counterclockwise.

Finally for those car collectors, a new Extra Menu with three Suzuki cars: the iconic Escudo Pikes Peak Special, the Jimny XC and the Vision Gran Turismo concept. It is available from the GT Café at Collector Level 45 and completing it will result in earning a gift.

GT7 Sophy Custom Race.jpg

Rejoice as Sophy AI will now be available to race in custom races. Image: Polyphony Digital

All that and more will arrive with the downloadable update arriving March 27th, with updates traditionally deployed at 6:00 UTC.

What type of custom race do you intend to do with the Sophy AI on Gran Turismo 7? Let us know in the comments below and join the discussion in our Gran Turismo 7 forum!
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RedLMR56
Biggest sim racing esports fan in the world.

Comments

Premium
It appears Sophy 2.1 will now have pitstop strategies . This will be very interesting to see how dynamic it is.

Will they be very creative with fuel usage and appear to hyper optimize short shifts for a perfect run to just leaving end race fuel sample quantity and not a microgram more?
 
Premium
Still keeping that pathetic 20 meter distant rolling start for a tenth place start for a paltry 2 lap race... so take a car that's at least half a dozen seconds a lap faster* than the opposition so you can cruise past 9 cars to win, and they're all this new AI that isn't gonna just pull over and say "after you Claude"

*Shotgun to a knife fight
 
Still keeping that pathetic 20 meter distant rolling start for a tenth place start for a paltry 2 lap race... so take a car that's at least half a dozen seconds a lap faster* than the opposition so you can cruise past 9 cars to win, and they're all this new AI that isn't gonna just pull over and say "after you Claude"

*Shotgun to a knife fight
Thankfully, custom races have "normal" starts, unlike career mode races :)
 
Premium
To help dispel disinformation. Configurations in custom races allow for very specific definitions. I'll give the benefit of the doubt that this super obvious part was "forgotten"


1743013537669.png

1743013413706.png
 
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Premium
To help dispel disinformation. Configurations in custom races allow for very specific definitions. I'll give the benefit of the doubt that this super obvious part was "forgotten"


View attachment 830612
View attachment 830611
I'm sorry I didn't realise that the screen shown was for a custom race,
So I guess that the 2 and 3 lap clubmans and Sunday races aren't rolling start races with 20 meters between cars then, a long time since I played that game.
My intention wasn't to spread disinformation I simply looked at the picture and remembered seemingly 'wrongly'
 
Another update, another handful of cars that would make way more sense in a game like Forza Horizon...
Again, lovely cars and I respect that they're immortalizing them with an insane amount of detail, but we need modern race cars in this game, pronto.

Unless they're ramping up for a Horizon competitor and are just adding these for the sake of it?
 
It seems to me that the ultimate goal of Sophy was to solve Gran Turismo's long standing single player AI problem once and for all. It being now compatible with custom race is major news, as if Sophy is adaptable enough to now handle fuel/tyre use and various race lengths (and takes more realistic lines than it used to), it should be ready to be implemented as the primary form of computer opponents by the time GT8 is likely to release.

The original version of Sophy that would exploit the game physics to set impossible lap times would've also given PD good data on what to adjust if they want to keep up with other sim racers and maintain their claim to being the real driving simulator. The main thing Sophy took advantage of back then was the dirty tyre logic being an on/off switch instead of the game simulating each tyre individually like it otherwise does for wear and temperatures.
 
Unfortunately, it turned out that custom races with GT Sophy allow only for rolling starts (with minimum distance between cars of 15m in one line), standing starts are disabled, as well as rain :(
 
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I wish they would take the time to explain what the Sophy AI actually is at this point. The project seemed like a groundbreaking advancement when it first emerged. However, it’s clear that not all of the original programming from the original Sophy AI was incorporated, likely because it would require too much processing power for a console. It seems to have been scaled down in some way. I'm not trying to sound negative. I’m just genuinely interested in learning more about the Sophy AI project and its current status.
 
Premium
So, is the AI in Gran Turismo able to self-learn? Or is this an AI in a different form outside of the game?
This is my speculation from my fair bit of highly related experience. They train it in their DCs using a GAN which is self learning/improving. The definition of "better" to target tho is behind their closed doors. This then is optimized and weights are updated in updates/releases which is where it gets pushed out for drivers and racers to experience. Local self learning if any is minimal at best comparatively, and likely just adaptive to "moods" during a single race.
 
Premium
Ok so far, the hot spicy five pepper events are far more aggressive and defensive. Super fun, but hot dang like a great A ranked lobby with respect, but will take every opening. Need to see if there is a setting to enable.
 
Premium
I thought I was going bonkers, but there is just a bug for the settings.
Off means weak
Weak means Off
Once this is known, HOLY AMAZING FRIGGIN BEST SIM RACING EVER!

 

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