Racing events and autonomous rival — v0.2.0

Event definitions

The pure C++20 Racing/RaceEvents.h catalog defines:

Event	Laps	Gates per lap	Autonomous rival
Circuit Race	3	4	Experimental one-car AI
Time Attack	1	4	Disabled

Player keys 3 and 4 switch events, reset the player's race and separately track best completion time for each event. Credits are earned offline on a completed event, with an additional clean-driving bonus. A recovery during a run adds a five-second time penalty and forfeits the clean bonus.

Pilot implementation

AI/RivalPilot.h contains a deterministic, testable steering planner. It consumes position, heading, speed and a target waypoint; outputs steering, throttle, braking and arrival status. It rejects nonfinite sensor inputs and bounds steering commands. The Unreal ALatebrakeRivalCar actor supplies its world-state and applies computed commands to the same starter rigid-body pawn system as the player. The initial loop uses four fixed waypoints, intentionally matching the starter circuit.

The rival is not yet a properly qualified competitive opponent. Its cornering, braking distance, obstacle handling, AI race progression, recovery, avoidance and overtaking are untested; the player completion result is independent of the AI's progress. Do not advertise full racing-AI competition or multiplayer.

Test and gameplay QA

Portable CTest suites validate basic planner controls, angle wrapping, invalid numbers, event settings, reward calculations and previous race invariants. Unreal integration still needs manual checks for spawn, despawn, physics response, collision, laps, UI and saves. Only the local player's pawn can trigger their own checkpoint scoring.

The roadmap anticipates more sophisticated path following, original vehicle rigs, traffic and race-aware controllers in later pre-releases once hardware performance and engine behavior have been measured.

v0.2.1 stabilization

A portable RivalRouteProgress object tracks ordered waypoint approaches, approximate completed loops and low-speed stalls. Eight seconds of low-speed telemetry requests a recovery, with a bounded recovery counter. The Unreal rival uses that request to teleport to a lane-aligned point near the next target and preserve its approximate route history. The pilot has anticipation braking for close waypoints; the car base class uses a shared deterministic steering filter.

Important: waypoint loops remain approximations of AI route completion. Rival rank, valid gate crossings, finish time and head-to-head competition are not implemented. The latest portable CTest and the Unreal in-editor gameplay must be evaluated independently.

Unreleased v0.5.2 — event-aligned rival route duration

The previous experimental rival route always stopped after three approximate waypoint laps, even when a selected championship round required one, two or four laps. ALatebrakeRaceGameMode::RefreshRival() now configures the rival with the actual selected RaceProgress checkpoint count and lap target after it spawns or reuses the rival actor. RestartRace() clears route position, approximate lap count, stuck timer and recovery history without reverting to the old three-lap default.

The expanded desktop HUD displays RIVAL ROUTE completed/required LAPS so the value is not mistaken for the number of laps in a quick race. The Route value is approximate waypoint telemetry, not a head-to-head finishing order, valid gate crossing or automatic race reward. The player's authoritative RaceProgress, medals and save records are unchanged.

Portable C++20 RivalRouteTests now checks the route length and final waypoint for every career event which actually spawns a rival, plus one-event replay resets, stuck-recovery reset and out-of-range configuration. Real UE physics, steering/cornering, opponent competitiveness and installed-game display behavior remain unverified.

v0.5.49 source development — checked rival recovery outcomes

The route counter is explicitly attempts, not successes. Each stalled recovery request now becomes pending until the actual Unreal TryRecoverTo verifier reports placement. RivalRouteProgress separately counts verified and rejected engine outcomes; duplicate or unsolicited acknowledgements cannot alter counters, and a pending attempt cannot advance approximate waypoint or lap telemetry. Both failure and success consume one of the same finite recovery budget slots.

The non-compact HUD distinguishes attempted from verified and rejected rival teleports. These values do not modify the player-authoritative race result or qualify the experimental AI as competitive. See Rival recovery QA for portable tests and required real Unreal/device validation. This change is unreleased source work.

v0.5.60 — original-circuit corner anticipation

The prototype rival still uses PlanRivalTurn for steering/arrival. AnticipateRivalCorner now examines the current gate and the original four-gate predecessor/successor geometry. Inside a close approach to a known 90-degree turn it can request brake and zero positive throttle when actual planar speed exceeds a continuously distance-dependent target. The policy cannot move waypoints, mark laps, revise the route's finite verified/rejected recovery audit or modify player credits. Invalid sensor readings fail closed.

The decision is compiled and tested against the real C++20 policy in RivalCornerAnticipationTests.cpp (all four bends), with Unreal-source integration checks. The change is not a claim that the AI will physically take the bend correctly in Chaos. See RIVAL_CORNER_QA.md for real engine and device tests.