Official GT5 discussion thread

[Arwin]

I've seen tears two, three times every 8 hours of play. I must just not be sensitive - I only see it in the center of the screen. Or maybe it's caused by having a 1366x768 lcd tv.

Yeah, for some cars narrow and narrower cockpit view are really nice settings.

By the way, B-spec race Amateur NA race gives the Furai concept. It's a standard car but looks pretty and can handle itself among LM cars. B-Spec is also the best way to get a Zonda R.

 

[poopypoo]

I like some of the comments here. I feel like GT5 is a great disappointment but I haven't played it as I don't have a PS3. ^^; The lines were too long at the video games market. I am mostly just a little disappointed with how much it looks like GT3. ^^; I know that's an overstatement. I'm not trolling, honestly; GT is one of my favorite all-time series, but now that I've gotten hooked on Forza, the physics model seems very unconvincing. I have yet to see any really convincing understeer on par with Forza's. The suspensions mostly seem much tighter than is believable, and cars appear to float over road surfaces. That said, GT clearly has a superior long-term SP car-RPG mode going on. So many cars, so many tracks, so much more hand-holding. More modes, too; that's cool, even if most of them look like I wouldn't really play them more than twice. Anyway, I appreciate the comments here as always. The commentary is very balanced and reasoned (although a certain someone seems to be repeating himself a lot -- guess it can't be helped), and I'm sure you guys, with your actual hands-on experience (as opposed to my watching a few dozen laps), will be able to steer me right. This is, of course, the do-I-buy-a-PS3 game, and funds are very very tight right now...

 

[djskribbles]

My 0.02c after ~10-15 hours of playing (not even half-way done!)

Don't pay too much attention to those pixelated car pics that are floating around. They are indeed real and in the game, but they are mostly limited to the very low-end cars. Even most of the standard cars look good, but lack cockpit views. Some of the tracks don't look so great, but most of them are ok or even very nice. As for performance, it is similar to GT5P(not great, but more than playable IMO). Tearing is noticeable (but not bothersome to me) and the framerate dips (especially in the cockpit view).

As for the physics/gameplay, most if not all seem to be very happy. The physics are much improved over previous GT games. The only thing that kind of bugs me is the frequent load times, and some of them are a little long (depending on the race).

Overall, if you're a GT or racing sim fan, I don't think you'll be disappointed. It may not be as polished as previous GT games, but it's still my favorite GT so far.

 

[Billy Idol]

I am level 6 now...did some beginners cups.

Hint: if you want it easy...just buy the HONDA CIVIC TYPE R 97' as your first car.
Besides being a premium, I had no problems to lead the races after the first couple of turns

 

[patsu]

Saw a few Gaffers commented that GT5 physics is very close to PC race sims.

I'm just a first time GT player (second time if I count GT5P). ^_^
Started the game with pad and a Civic R-Type. So far so good.

The car collection and RPG element make the game somewhat more interesting for me. Otherwise, I may get bored quickly. The initial bumper car physics works out great for me. I am not looking for a challenging game at this stage yet. So I think they made the right decision for newcomers.

Noticed screen tearing once, and flickering shadows at the beginning of each race. After than that, it's par for the course for me.

I think the greatest thing about GT5 so far is that there are a lot of game in the package. There seems to be many events and activities for making $$$. Got gifted a few small cars to try out.

Once I get the wheel, I may retry the tracks and play more perfectly. Now, I'm just fooling around to have fun.

For seasoned players who played GT before, I think Polyphony should have Advanced Placements for them to turn on tougher physics, damage and AI right away.

EDIT:

I am level 6 now...did some beginners cups.

Hint: if you want it easy...just buy the HONDA CIVIC TYPE R 97' as your first car.
Besides being a premium, I had no problems to lead the races after the first couple of turns

Hey, that's what I did !

 

[Arwin]

Yep, the honda is a good car, and since you have to buy one anyway when you start, that's a good one (I also wanted a Premium one ).

The easiest probably is to go do some licence tests and then when you have enough experience do some of the Special Events. These give you lots of cash and experience very quickly and then you can buy a better car really soon. You also win cars for bronze, silver and gold licences respectively (so if you gold your first licences, you get 3 cars in total. Now gold is not easy to do, but bronze is not very hard).

Did I mention I made it past level 20 yesterday and unlocked the Extreme events? I don't think I got that far into a GT5 game in the first week ever (I played a tonne this weekend, had a day off yesterday too). I was highest ranking in my friendslist yesterday (27 people with GT so far, now one more ).

I played enough to still my absolute hunger for this game - I'm not craving it anymore now like an addict, but I'll be playing this game for many, many hours ... was in a GTP room yesterday having some online fun too. Was a bit messy though - I expect I'll have more fun with my old, disciplined German pals.

 

[gokickrocks]

Saw a few Gaffers commented that GT5 physics is very close to PC race sims.

I can't comment on PC race sims since I haven't played one, but GT5 physics....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JAGOn-Ye5DI

...most likely he was low level so there was no damage but with my mediocre knowledge of physics, i think to myself...really?

my biggest gripe with GT5 is that when I was low level, I tried to bump AI cars off the road but they would barely budge, but when playing one of the muscle car races with the 90 degree bend in the beginning I get the slightest bump from the AI that sends me to the barriers (this is with me applying the brakes for the turn)...it wasn't until I started to use the Buick Special '62 that basically let me jump to 1st in the first few feet of the track that I was able to avoid it

anyways, enough of my rambling...has anyone completed a whole series? (not a cup, but say the whole professional series) I heard you basically get a blank check to get any car you want up to a certain level, if so im going to stop saving up for one car and just spend em on the cars I need to win those races

 

[nightshade]

I like some of the comments here. I feel like GT5 is a great disappointment but I haven't played it as I don't have a PS3. ^^; The lines were too long at the video games market. I am mostly just a little disappointed with how much it looks like GT3. ^^; I know that's an overstatement. I'm not trolling, honestly; GT is one of my favorite all-time series, but now that I've gotten hooked on Forza, the physics model seems very unconvincing. I have yet to see any really convincing understeer on par with Forza's. The suspensions mostly seem much tighter than is believable, and cars appear to float over road surfaces. That said, GT clearly has a superior long-term SP car-RPG mode going on. So many cars, so many tracks, so much more hand-holding. More modes, too; that's cool, even if most of them look like I wouldn't really play them more than twice. Anyway, I appreciate the comments here as always. The commentary is very balanced and reasoned (although a certain someone seems to be repeating himself a lot -- guess it can't be helped), and I'm sure you guys, with your actual hands-on experience (as opposed to my watching a few dozen laps), will be able to steer me right. This is, of course, the do-I-buy-a-PS3 game, and funds are very very tight right now...

I feel that GT's car physics are easily a generation ahead of Forza's (ofcourse at higher levels). Here's where I compared it http://forum.beyond3d.com/showpost.php?p=1497783&postcount=33

 

[poopypoo]

Played this & Forza 3 back to back (using the same car, Ferrari F40)....all I can say is its a LOT easier to drive in Forza, hell I went through the entire nordschleife half asleep (its already 3 am) & didn't loose control of my car even once....and this was with all assists turned off.

I've always felt that Forza3 has had some hidden assists over which the player has no control, with GT I can't even look away for a split second without getting my a*s handed to me. Once you play both games back to back you'll realize just how much of a difference there is in term of car physics.

Well, forgive me if I don't find that anecdote terribly convincing. Got any more specific details for us?

I must say it would appear as though GT5 looks way way way too easy because I haven't seen any "level 40" or whatever videos yet. I always play Forza 3 fully maxed difficulty (bonus cash 100% yay!), and always in cockpit mode, and it's difficult to imagine a much more difficult handling model for most of the cars at speed. The way you must carefully manage understeer (as well as the more customary oversteer) makes it pretty unique amongst all racing games. Admittedly it doesn't match some PC games.

Forza also has one really cool advantage I have yet to encounter -- 99% of the cars are utter rubbish untuned. Specifically springs & dampers; it feels like GT but far, far more cerebral. You stiffen up for transitional steering control and then adapt to what the tires will allow. It really feels a lot more convincing than GT ever did. I hope GT5 can add to this (originally their) legacy! I played the first three GT games to about 99% completion, and well, I'd say I'm very bored of GT, but I have high hopes! Now to find some videos with whatever full physics complement unlocked.

My dream game is stocked with a near-complete list of normal-people cars; this is one area in which GT excels (rather unevenly, but better than the competition). I think almost everyone wants to race and tune what they own or people they know own -- why would I care whether I have the 2008 or the 2009 LM DB9 racing model??

GT5 clearly has a fantastic replay and video mode. That's a real must in a racing game and Forza's pretty much sucks! And of course after a few months, it's hard to find motivation to press on in F3. I spend more time these days modifying and painting/decalling cars than racing these days, because the racing is brutally long, and the vanity shots are very, very, very beautiful...

 

[rabidrabbit]

anyways, enough of my rambling...has anyone completed a whole series? (not a cup, but say the whole professional series) I heard you basically get a blank check to get any car you want up to a certain level, if so im going to stop saving up for one car and just spend em on the cars I need to win those races

I completed the whole Amateur series, and indeed got some check or 'gift' something in addition to some car. I was wondering what it was.

 

[inefficient]

I beat the game today! Or at least I got the ending credits. Credits were surprisingly short.

Anyway I feel like I have barely scratched the surface of this game. I'm only lvl16. So far almost none of the challenges I played had night or bad weather racing. I imagine that it is reserved for the much harder difficulty levels.

Did some of the SLoeb challenges. And man, the replay videos of rally racing in the dirt look incredible!

 

[Arwin]

What did you do to get the Ending creadits? Beat all the Professional challenges? Get to the 50% point? I'm level 20 (or 21?) and I've already done a bunch of Expert challenges and have unlocked Extreme, but no Endurance races yet (those come soon after the Extreme levels). I also haven't completed the Special Events yet. My percentage is something like 40%, but I know the later in the game you are the slower that percentage goes up generally. Must have played at least 30 hours so far (you can see how many km I've driven at any rate)

What you get when completing a series by the way is a 'level xx' car ticket. Once you collect it, you get a random car of that level. You don't have any control over what you get as far as I can tell. I think even Prologue had these ending credits before it unlocked the S mode, right? Very typical of a GT game.

 

[tha_con]

Well, forgive me if I don't find that anecdote terribly convincing. Got any more specific details for us?

I must say it would appear as though GT5 looks way way way too easy because I haven't seen any "level 40" or whatever videos yet. I always play Forza 3 fully maxed difficulty (bonus cash 100% yay!), and always in cockpit mode, and it's difficult to imagine a much more difficult handling model for most of the cars at speed. The way you must carefully manage understeer (as well as the more customary oversteer) makes it pretty unique amongst all racing games. Admittedly it doesn't match some PC games.

Forza also has one really cool advantage I have yet to encounter -- 99% of the cars are utter rubbish untuned. Specifically springs & dampers; it feels like GT but far, far more cerebral. You stiffen up for transitional steering control and then adapt to what the tires will allow. It really feels a lot more convincing than GT ever did. I hope GT5 can add to this (originally their) legacy! I played the first three GT games to about 99% completion, and well, I'd say I'm very bored of GT, but I have high hopes! Now to find some videos with whatever full physics complement unlocked.

My dream game is stocked with a near-complete list of normal-people cars; this is one area in which GT excels (rather unevenly, but better than the competition). I think almost everyone wants to race and tune what they own or people they know own -- why would I care whether I have the 2008 or the 2009 LM DB9 racing model??

GT5 clearly has a fantastic replay and video mode. That's a real must in a racing game and Forza's pretty much sucks! And of course after a few months, it's hard to find motivation to press on in F3. I spend more time these days modifying and painting/decalling cars than racing these days, because the racing is brutally long, and the vanity shots are very, very, very beautiful...

He's right though...FM3 was absurdly easy. IMO Forza 2 was the better of the two when it comes to physics.

 

[poopypoo]

He's right though...FM3 was absurdly easy. IMO Forza 2 was the better of the two when it comes to physics.

Weird. I thought FM2 was easier. I tuned almost every suspension the sameish way, and bought tires to suit the style, and never had big difficulties. I've though FM3 to be much less forgiving -- except of course for the rewind, which does make things easier, in one regard, but the cornering, nose dive, and braking timing are much much tougher in FM3. I dunno, there are certainly a lot of variables at play. I'm not a big MP-racer, and having gotten into FM2 a little late in its lifecycle, I've probably chosen more challenging cars in FM3 (since my habit is to play exclusively production cars which I've not previously tried)... so I can;t claim to be an expert. It would be a second job... more than fulltime, I think.

 

[warcrow]

Funny thing!

Last night I fired up the game and was pleased to be greeted by the car I had been previously driving. There it sat--almost smilingly so--in glorious 1080P. The soft-lighting effects nearly blinded me with their brilliance, and the reflections mirrored the rich artistic legacy of the buildings sitting nearby. It really was an incredible display of graphical fidelity, and honestly I felt like I standing there, that is until suddenly this GIGANTIC ROCKY CREATURE appeared out of nowhere and crushed my Tuscan dream. I couldn’t believe it! My controller dropped from my hands as I slowly realized it was just the heavily aliased, headlight sprites coming into view--what a bummer.

(it's a joke people, lighten up! )

Anywho I'll give GT5 this--it's held my interested longer than most other sim racing games. The king for me is still GT3--which I played for a few hours a day, lasting a couple weeks--but I think GT5 has a good chance at surpassing it. There seems to be a lot do that interest me, particularly the Special Cup stuff I find enjoyable.

Last night I focused on getting silvers in the first and second license tests so I could get the free car for my A-spec races, and I mostly enjoyed it. The license tests are a real time consuming process, and the heavy menu-bouncing one has to endure doesn’t help! But in the end it was a rewarding series of events, plus I got my car.

I also like that fact that restarting a race from within the game (IE: sitting on the track) is almost instantaneous affair (unlike NFS Hot Pursuit), I love that.

BTW, do you guys feel like it’s worth upgraded/tweaking these cars? So far I haven’t had to touch a thing.

 

[tha_con]

That depends on what races you're doing, honestly. Some races will absolutely require you to tweak your car, unless you shoot for the moon and buy a super car to go through them. I really enjoy the tuning stuff, so I do it to some cars, but mostly when I want to have fun.

Also, what menu bouncing in license tests? Or do you mean after you finish and have to restart? I usually pause and restart if I know I'm not going fast enough (because of I can see my ghost).

 

[patsu]

I can't comment on PC race sims since I haven't played one, but GT5 physics....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JAGOn-Ye5DI
...most likely he was low level so there was no damage but with my mediocre knowledge of physics, i think to myself...really?

If the PC sims fans like GT5, there must be a valid reason (assuming they don't lie). Comparing low level physics won't give the right view since it's tuned for accessibility and gameplay.

my biggest gripe with GT5 is that when I was low level, I tried to bump AI cars off the road but they would barely budge, but when playing one of the muscle car races with the 90 degree bend in the beginning I get the slightest bump from the AI that sends me to the barriers (this is with me applying the brakes for the turn)...it wasn't until I started to use the Buick Special '62 that basically let me jump to 1st in the first few feet of the track that I was able to avoid it

anyways, enough of my rambling...has anyone completed a whole series? (not a cup, but say the whole professional series) I heard you basically get a blank check to get any car you want up to a certain level, if so im going to stop saving up for one car and just spend em on the cars I need to win those races

I bump into cars many times during my race. If they all roll away like bowling pins, there'd be no challenge to win since I can bulldoze everything. I find myself bumping off them and steering around them to overtake. I also use them to slow down abruptly if I realize that I was going too fast. Helps to learn the tracks (cornering speed).

Did you use the Civic Type-R ? I could get in front of the crowd pretty easily; and it doesn't seem to get bumped around.
[EDIT: The outcome will probably be different for different car model and driving speed.]

Once or twice, an AI car would rear-end me, which sent me drifting a little, but that just spiced up the racing. I reckon I'll probably suffer later when the driving physics become more real. I'll have to figure out the right way to win sooner or later.

What do license tests teach you ? Also any good tuning guide around ?

 

[macabre]

What did you do to get the Ending creadits? Beat all the Professional challenges? Get to the 50% point? I'm level 20 (or 21?) and I've already done a bunch of Expert challenges and have unlocked Extreme, but no Endurance races yet (those come soon after the Extreme levels). I also haven't completed the Special Events yet. My percentage is something like 40%, but I know the later in the game you are the slower that percentage goes up generally. Must have played at least 30 hours so far (you can see how many km I've driven at any rate)

What you get when completing a series by the way is a 'level xx' car ticket. Once you collect it, you get a random car of that level. You don't have any control over what you get as far as I can tell. I think even Prologue had these ending credits before it unlocked the S mode, right? Very typical of a GT game.

I got the ending credits by doing the last event in the pro (3rd) series. I think it`s called "GT world championship " or something. Also gives you a silver trophy.
I try to do as many events as I can with the same car so I don`t need to switch cars so often, so I got there with lvl 15 or so. I`m now lvl 19 and also about 60% left.

 

[corduroygt]

Finished all the go-kart challenges with gold, had to turn down FFB all the way down to 1 because it's way too strong when you're in a kart. Autumn mini ring in karts is awesome.

 

[homerdog]

Would installing to an SSD help the loading times? They are a bit long even when installed to the HDD.

I am going to be really into this game after exams. It does a great job of easing you in and teaching the basics - something I find sorely lacking in most racing sims.

It is very pretty. Even most of the standard cars look good. Premium cars are astounding. Biggest detractor are the shadows, which are horrendous... surprised PD left it like that.