CPU race times in different Mario Kart games

[famousringo]

IIIIITHE1IIIII said:

OneTwoThree said:

Hmm no I don't think that's true. In DD their times were realistic, based on the positions on the map. Felt like they actually had the remaining CPU drivers battle it out, just decoupled from realtime cause no graphics output had to be rendered.

 

Also, what exactly do we mean when we say rubberbanding? I feel like everybody is using it to describe something different:

- item distribution (strong items for the bad drivers, poor ones for the fast drivers)? 

- the fact that every MK game assigns some CPU drivers as main opponents to the player?

- actual BS, like a CPU speeding and getting items as needed?

The latter was only true in MK SNES, MK64 and MK:SC. As far as I recall. In newer games I never thought the CPU cheated. Sure, CPU driving can be unrealistically perfect, but as long as it's consistent and in line with the specs of the character / kart combination, it's fine. IMO the rule of thumb is: If what the CPU kart does is possible for a human driver, it's not rubberbanding. 

Then I challenge you to show me a race where the positions in Double Dash are different from how they were when then player crossed the finish line. Because after 10 years of playing the game I have never seen that happen.

When I talk about rubberbanding I refer to how the game makes sure that the player never has a convincing lead over the CPU, while the CPU becomes slower if the player underperforms. Both of which have been the case in every Mario Kart release. Mario Kart 7 and 8 are two very apparent examples of this, surpassed only by Mario Kart 64.

Not sure about slowing down for a slow player, but I've had some pretty sizable breakaways in MK8. And achieved some enourmous ones in MK Wii. I wouldn't be surprised to find some dynamic difficulty in the game, but "never a convincing lead" just hasn't been my experience.

Of course, it's hard to tell how exactly how big the leads are in MK8, since there are no race times.