- AI Learns To Drive - Neural Network Tournament - 22 September 2026
Hi everyone, I decided to organize a tournament. Entry is free. Submit one trained network and it races in an elimination bracket for a share of โฌ100 in Steam gift cards. Each round can bring a new track and a new surface, so train a network that drives well everywhere, not just on one track. Every race is published as a video. I will be answering questions on Discord. Still deciding between a classic bracket and rounds where everyone races at once and the top advance - it depends on how many entries arrive. https://forms.gle/LGwyFXLMErM7p2ss9 The full rules are linked in the form. Entering means you agree to them.
- AI Learns to Drive - Changelog 1.1.0 (The Champions Trial) - 15 September 2026
๐ THE CHAMPIONS TRIAL Our Discord moderators prepared one final, hardest challenge. Collect all 81 stars to unlock the last mysterious track - until then it stays locked and unnamed. Beat every champion to finish the campaign and earn the Champion achievement and the exclusive Champion skin. ๐ NEW FEATURES Network Animations: watch the network react live and see which neurons light up as the car drives Copy Button: one click copies your full evolution settings as text โ paste it into Discord to share or compare builds Large Track Editor: build tracks past the normal 11x7 grid, up to 50x50 tiles. Enable in Settings โ Game โ Features. Kept experimental since very large tracks can hurt performance ๐ FIXES Leaderboards: better uploading and debouncing, fixed a worse time being uploaded over your best one Size-Normalized Mutation: clearer UI and tooltips Other minor fixes
- AI Learns To Drive v1.0 โ Launching August 20, 2026 ๐ - 7 August 2026
v1.0 arrives August 20, 2026! What's coming Race Mode โ race your networks against others, climb race leaderboards, create & share races via Workshop Track of the Week โ one featured track every week. Set your time and climb the weekly board; when the week closes, the track locks and your result converts into season points โ a running standing across all weeks Car collisions & starting grid (experimental) โ cars line up on a grid and actually bump. Coin economy โ earn from challenges, achievements & leaderboards; spend on skins, sensors & outputs Vehicle skins โ patterns & color customization New sensors โ Boost and Track Curvature Random Track Generator โ a fresh layout every generation Diagonal track tiles FPS boost Play it before launch Want it early? Join the Discord and hop on the testing branch โ you get everything above now, and every bug you report makes launch day smoother. Thaโฆ
- AI Learns To Drive โ Testing v1.0.0 - 2 July 2026
New version is ready for testing! Try it out and fill this form to receive a special Tester skin + coins: https://forms.gle/u4QXWDeX8Yqt6YcC7 What's new Race Mode โ race against other networks, watch races, climb leaderboards, create & share races via Workshop, and easily switch between Train and Race Coin economy โ earn from challenges, achievements & leaderboards; spend on skins/sensors Vehicle skins โ patterns & color customization New sensors: Boost and Track Curvature Diagonal track tiles Hall of Fame โ top 50 players with per-track breakdown Random Track Generator Controller support + keyboard shortcuts FPS boost Coming next New race campaign (current one is testing only) Track of the week Short videos before release Bug fixes, achievements & more How to test upcoming updates early Want to try new features first? Join the Steam test branch: Right-click the game in your Steam libraโฆ
- What's Next? Road to v1.0 - 12 February 2026
Hey everyone, just wanted to share my plans for the next few months. I'm currently working on the big v1.0 version, which includes the new Race Mode, a brand new Campaign, Skins, and much more. To get this right, I'm going to hold off on updating the main game until everything is finished and polished. So the main branch might be quiet for a bit while I work on this - feel free to take a break and come back for the big update. Here is the timeline: Development (Now): I'm just working on the new features and content. Test Branch (SOON @Tester ): If you want to try the new (unstable/buggy) stuff early, I'll put it here. Check Discord for info. New Videos (Before Launch): I'll start posting clips and trailers to show you what's coming. Full Release v1.0 (Late Spring - Est. May): The big release. Post-Release Events (After Launch): We can organize some events such as tournament. Some earlyโฆ
- AI Learns to Drive - Changelog 0.13.1 (UX & Training Improvements) - 18 December 2025
๐ NEW FEATURES Elite Preservation: Select preservation mode: Off, Auto, or Custom preserve best cars without mutation Auto-Save Modes: Save on Every Generation, Best Lap, or Best Distance + notification when auto-saved Editor Weight & Biases Initialization: Choose Random or Zero initialization for new weights when adding layers or resetting Sorting Options: Sort networks & tracks in the selector menu ๐ ๏ธ IMPROVEMENTS Improved Save Button: Choose to save highest-reward car from previous or current generation prevents accidentally saving a bad network Reward Sliders: Improved UI with more ticks and wider layout Parameter Reset: Reset parameters per group General, Reproduction, Rewards - not all parameters at once Time Display: Training and last save times now show as readable duration e.g. 2h 15m ๐ FIXES Fixed: Various minor bug fixes
- AI Learns to Drive - Changelog 0.12.4 (Workshop & Custom Challenges) - 10 November 2025
๐ฎ WORKSHOP Upload Content: Upload custom tracks and networks to Steam Workshop Subscribe: Subscribe to Workshop items easily ๐ LEADERBOARDS Workshop Leaderboards: All Workshop tracks now have leaderboards Modded Network Indicator: Shows if a modded network was used Challenge Stars: Stars now visible on leaderboard uploaded automatically after starting track Full List Link: Added link to Steam Community page with full leaderboard list ๐ฏ CUSTOM CHALLENGES Challenge Creator: Add custom challenges to any track and upload to Workshop ๐ง NETWORKS Network Size Limits: Increased max neurons to 16 from 12 and max layers to 12 from 8 ๐ ๏ธ IMPROVEMENTS Leaderboard UI: Improved loading, uploading, and UI UI: Various UI improvements ๐ FIXES Fixed: Raycast crash bug Fixed: Lap completion issue on smallest track ๐ Community Thanks & Price Increase The game has been out for almost a year now, and Iโฆ
- AI Learns to Drive - Changelog 0.11.0 (Sensors & Content) - 19 October 2025
๐ NEW FEATURES New Content: 3 tracks, 4 challenges 54 stars totalNew Sensors: Front/Side Acceleration, Wall DistanceNew Achievements: Drift Master, Terminal VelocityLap Notifications: Shown when completing new best lap ๐ง NETWORKS DriftMaster: New network specialized for drifting Updated Networks: Eagle, Rhino, Sleipnir with brake control Removed: Cheetah network ๐ ๏ธ IMPROVEMENTS Distance Display: All units now metric (m, km/h)UI Scaling: Better scaling across resolutionsSensor Editor: Better descriptions and namingPopulation Settings: Higher default population sizeDecimal Precision: Unified across all displays ๐ FIXES Fixed: Reward Sliders: Values no longer reset when savingFixed: Leaderboards: Upload rate limiting issues
- AI Learns to Drive - Changelog 0.10.2 (New Outputs & Rewards) - 7 October 2025
NEW OUTPUTSAdded optional neural network outputs: Handbrake: Apply handbrake for drifting Train your AI to drift!Brakes: Apply regular brakes REWARD SYSTEM OVERHAULReward Editor: Customize rewards and choose what behaviors to train 7 NEW Reward Metrics:Drifting: Time spent in a sustained drift Actual Distance: Actual distance the car's body has traveled Wall Distance: Distance from the nearest wall Center Distance: Distance from the track's center line Momentum Change: How much the car's speed changes Throttle Frequency: How much the throttle input changes Braking Frequency: Total time spent braking 2 Reward Types:Default: Total accumulated value over the entire run Average: Average value per second while active EVOLUTION EDITOR IMPROVEMENTSOutput Management: Add or remove brake and handbrake outputs from trained networks Smart Weight Editing: Existing weights preserved when editing traโฆ
- AI Learns to Drive - Changelog 0.9.5 (200% Performance Boost & Determinism) - 20 September 2025
https://i.imgur.com/pFeGXVg.png This update introduces physics engine changes, focusing on performance and determinism. โก Performance Partially multi-threaded physics updates. Rewrote Godot's raycasting system from scratch (testers estimate 100-300% performance improvements) โ๏ธ Determinism Fixed inconsistencies in the first generation, newly created cars, the wheel sensor, and after pausing the simulation. Improved determinism to ~99% (collisions remain non-deterministic). ๐ง Settings Added "Maximum Parallelism" setting to control thread count. Increased default max population to 800 (up to 3000). Added a "Lap Time" reward (set this to -100% if you want fast lap times) ๐ผ๏ธ UI Standardized terminology (e.g., "Score" is now "Distance"). Fixed lap time rounding issues.
- AI Learns to Drive - Changelog 0.9.3 (Car Details & Icons) - 1 September 2025
๐ NEW FEATURES Car Details Panel: View detailed real-time car data, including: Last lap times Live reward breakdown ... Car Status Icons: New icons display car status for: Parent from previous generation Highest reward (next parent) Was driven Is idle ๐ ๏ธ IMPROVEMENTSReward Sliders: Increased precision for more granular reward tuning Challenge Tooltips: Hover over challenges to see detailed descriptions for better clarity โ๏ธ BALANCEA07 Challenge: Updated to require completing a lap with the Truck Collision Physics: Reduced wall friction and crash penalties. Leaving collision elimination off might be a viable tactic
- AI Learns to Drive - Changelog 0.9.1 (New Vehicles) - 14 August 2025
https://i.imgur.com/J4HPrFu.png ๐ NEW VEHICLES Added 3 new vehicles with different properties and handling: Rally Car: Excels on dirt with 4WD for better drift control, decent on other surfaces Snowmobile: Dominates on ice but struggles on asphalt Truck: A heavy vehicle that is slow to turn and hard to stop More info about vehicles is available on the wiki ๐ CAMPAIGN IMPROVEMENTS Network Updates: Updated default networks (Rhino, Cheetah, Polar, Turtle) with new vehicle assignments Challenge Updates: Rebalanced some challenges for new vehicle speeds. Further rebalancing and more B-series tracks are coming soon ๐ NEW WIKI GUIDE Training Strategies: New wiki guide with four distinct strategies for evolving your AI: Starter Strategy: A simple approach for easy tracks, ideal for beginners Selective Breeder: Manually select promising cars to guide evolution Improved Starter: An advanced stโฆ
- AI Learns to Drive - Changelog 0.8.0 (Tutorial & Hall of Fame) - 18 July 2025
๐ NEW FEATURES Tutorial: Interactive guide to teach new players the core mechanics Hall of Fame: View all-time best players in the new leaderboard section ๐ ๏ธ IMPROVEMENTS Leaderboards: Now display track names and entry counts for better context Leaderboards: Improved loading & uploading UI: Improved UI ๐ FIXES Fixed: Display Bug: Resolved issue where game would crash if setting too large resolution https://i.imgur.com/0fV37pW.png https://i.imgur.com/rkOo47y.png
- AI Learns to Drive - Changelog 0.7.1 (Leaderboards) - 6 July 2025
๐ NEW FEATURES Leaderboards: Compete on campaign track leaderboards with your best lap times Game Speed: Control simulation speed with 0.5x, 1x, and 2x options ๐ ๏ธ IMPROVEMENTS Lap Time Precision: Now displayed to two decimal places for more accuracy Content Descriptions: Improved descriptions for tracks and networks, and now visible for locked cars New Car: Added a new default car trained by community member @cjramos22 ๐ FIXES Fixed: Dialog Layering: Corrected how dialog windows overlap Fixed: B06 Track: Resolved incorrect ID for the B06 challenge track https://i.imgur.com/n8q1Uyv.png https://i.imgur.com/Zrgw6wZ.png
- AI Learns to Drive - Changelog 0.6.0 (Charts) - 24 March 2025
https://i.imgur.com/CkNflys.png ๐ NEW FEATURES Charts: Display evolution history with multiple data types including Speed, Score, Population, Time, Track Timeline, Lap Time, and Settings Evolution Save Files: New settings tracking and GZIP compression - same structure but smaller files New Godot Version: Migrated to 4.3 Leader Following: Follows car with highest current reward Best Car Saving: Now saves car with highest current reward New Settings: Options to show/hide car sensors and car outline https://i.imgur.com/PAByCTy.png ๐ FIXES Fixed: Selection Methods: Removed novelty from selection methods Fixed: Car Movement: Eliminated cars no longer move Fixed: Linux Fonts: Fixed font fallbacks on Linux Fixed: Collision Count Reward: Corrected counting when elimination enabled Fixed: Filename Case: Resolved saving filename case sensitivity bug ๐ก NOTES GZIP compression may break existingโฆ
- AI Learns to Drive - Changelog 0.5.1 (Track Expansion & Reward System) - 3 March 2025
๐ NEW FEATURES New Track: 6 new tracks with 18 new challenges and new tile types Reward System: New evolution settings tab for customizing car rewards and penalties Parent Preservation: Option to keep best cars unmutated during evolution New Tiles in Track Editor: Select different tile types using scroll wheel or number keys Active Population Counter ๐ ๏ธ IMPROVEMENTS Achievements: Add 36 and 45 star achievements Icons: Enhanced icons, should be working on Proton ๐ FIXES Fixed: Volume Control lag: Eliminated slider lag, crashes in audio settings Fixed: Display Settings crash: Resolved crashes related to fullscreen, borderless and screen size options ๐ก NOTES Only compatible tracks can be saved in track editor https://i.imgur.com/fUUyJvS.png https://i.imgur.com/Qe3eQzg.png
- AI Learns to Drive - Changelog 0.4.2 (Weights Edit, Window Options, Steam Cloud) - 8 February 2025
Manual Weight & Bias Editing: Fine-tune your AI by directly editing neural network weights and biases. Simply click on them to adjust! Network Editor Overhaul: Improved user experience in the network editor, fixed inverted weight colors (red, green) Expanded Window Settings: Added resolution options and borderless window mode (should resolve resize-related crashes). UI Scaling: UI now scales for better visibility on larger screens. Dynamic Backgrounds: Replaced the static background with dynamic backgrounds that adapt to the average color of the track tiles. Simulation Accuracy Option: Boost FPS during training by reducing the accuracy of neural network updates. For optimal performance during evaluation, set accuracy to 100%. Maximum Population: Raise the maximum population number up to 1000 (works best with reduced accuracy). Steam Auto-Cloud Support: Automatically sync your custom traโฆ
- AI Learns to Drive - Changelog 0.4.1 (Auto-Save & Idle Elimination) - 5 February 2025
Auto-Save: Optional auto-save feature saves best cars after each generation. Idle Elimination: Option to automatically eliminate cars idle for >8s. Direction Sensor: New sensor outputs 1, 0, or -1 indicating forward, stationary, or reverse movement along the track. Fixed: Precise Time Sync: Times now synchronized to 1/10th second, fixing rounding errors. Control Panel Shortcuts: Added shortcuts for play/pause, skip, etc.
- AI Learns to Drive - Changelog 0.4.0 (Achievements and Sensors) - 2 February 2025
Added 13 challenging Steam achievements Added 4 new basic sensors: Front Velocity Side Velocity Angular Velocity Wheel Angle Added options to restore network state from auto-saved snapshots Speed is now displayed in km/h Fixes: Fixed bug where lower FPS would cause faster lap times Improved stats precision Fixed skidding at high speeds Fixed "09 Sharpest" ID
- AI Learns to Drive - Changelog 0.3.5 (Improved Physics and Timing) - 28 January 2025
Near-Deterministic Physics Setting the mutation rate to 0 should result in all cars behaving identically. (Selection size 0) Improved stat accuracy. A warning is now displayed before overriding your network. Bug Fixes Fixed difference between best lap times and challenge completions. Fixed scrolling issues. Corrected excessively long skid marks. Fixed the vehicle sound playing before generation starts. Attempted to fix font issue for Proton users.
