COBAL

COBAL stands for Context-Oriented Behaviour Augmentation Layer, and it is built on one principle: context is king. Built using the Lua libraries provided by Custom Shaders Patch, COBAL uses a scenario engine able to understand and automatically infer each AI car's context many times per second, and uses this information to continuously adapt and improve every AI pilot's racecraft.

By efficiently computing hundreds of parameters in real time, COBAL allows AI cars to find, at every moment, the limits of aggression while staying clean, and to produce tighter packs, harder defending, better lines, and more wheel-to-wheel combat.

Supported circuits and cars ship already calibrated over hundreds of automated races: no tuning, no per-track files, nothing to configure. Your only job is to drive and enjoy.

By measurement, not by feel. An automated laboratory ran hundreds of full races, sweeping candidate settings and scoring every race on pre-defined metrics: side-by-side time, completed overtakes, physical pack spacing, contacts and spins. A setting was kept only if it produced more racing with a physically tighter pack and clean driving. At runtime COBAL learns nothing and searches nothing: it simply executes the calibrated laws.

Normally, the parameters governing AI cars' behaviour in Assetto Corsa are set once at the beginning of the session and stay fixed throughout the whole session. COBAL, on the other hand, reads each car's situation live (attacking, defending, under pressure, etc.) and adjusts its driving accordingly by adapting and augmenting the main parameters exposed by CSP many times per second, so that each AI pilot can improve its racecraft at every instant while driving clean.

The effect is large. Across 458 automated races at Barcelona, the leading configurations lifted the median time spent racing side by side from 136 to 375 seconds per race (2.8× the baseline), and increased completed overtakes by up to 83%, with no increase in hard contacts. That is more than six minutes of wheel-to-wheel racing in a six-lap race, where the unaugmented AI delivered only two.

Moreover, COBAL comes ready to use: every supported circuit and car ships already calibrated, so it requires no tuning and no configuration from the player.

Yes. The COBAL AI Leaderboard makes the racing context inferred for every AI car visible as the action unfolds. Alongside the familiar timing information, each AI pilot carries a live, plain-language status: CLEAR AIR, CLOSING IN, ON THE TAIL, WHEEL-TO-WHEEL, MIRROR WATCH, UNDER ATTACK, or RECOVERING.

These are not decorative moods or scripted reactions. Each status is the readable face of COBAL's shared scenario engine. It is derived from live race geometry such as gaps, closing speed, lateral overlap, and incidents. The same context feeds COBAL's augmentation modules. At a glance, you can spot a chase developing, distinguish a nearby follower from a genuine attack, and follow battles elsewhere in the field without interpreting timing gaps alone.

Assetto Corsa's built-in AI still drives every car. COBAL does not pretend to read its intentions. It identifies the measurable racing situation, shows that inference openly, and uses it to shape its bounded augmentations in real time.

It's measured, not promised. COBAL's behaviour is calibrated in advance through automated race campaigns, and this calibration is what allows it to deliver, in the leading configurations, 2.8× more side-by-side racing and up to 83% more overtakes, with no increase in hard contacts, as measured over 458 races. More information can be found in the COBAL white paper.

At launch, COBAL is calibrated for the Barcelona circuit and the main Kunos GT3 cars through automated race campaigns. More circuits and cars will follow, chosen by the community.

Assetto Corsa on PC, together with Content Manager and Custom Shaders Patch. Beyond that, you only need the circuits and GT3 cars you want to race: each COBAL release lists the minimum Custom Shaders Patch version and the content it supports. On circuits or cars that are not yet supported, COBAL simply stays inactive.

Install it like any other mod: drag the zip into Content Manager, or extract the COBAL folder into your Assetto Corsa folder. That is the whole setup: everything ships pre-calibrated, so there is nothing to configure. In game, the COBAL panel lets you switch it on or off and adjust it if you ever want to.

COBAL is an ambitious project built for the Assetto Corsa community. Behind every release lie months of development and measurement campaigns spanning hundreds of hours of automated racing.

Every new circuit and car is calibrated before it ships, and every new feature goes through the same measurement. Community support is what keeps that work moving at pace. My goal is to deliver on average at least 2 additional circuits per month and several cars, plus new features as they are ready.

COBAL is distributed on Patreon with three memberships: Free, Supporter, Contributor. The free one unlocks the complete experience at Barcelona. The supporter membership delivers every new circuit, car and feature as it ships. The contributor membership includes everything the supporter gets, plus a vote on what gets built next. Early members lock in their price: it will never increase.

COBAL was born of a passion for sim racing and is dedicated to the Assetto Corsa community that inspired it. A special thanks goes to Ilja Jusupov, aka x4fab, creator of Custom Shaders Patch: his work is the foundation this project stands on. Without CSP, there would be no COBAL.