The GT5 expectation thread (including preview titles)*

[Billy Idol]

What I wonder during testing GT5 and watching others play:

Why don't at least include kind of punishment model.

For me it is kind of ultra lame when driving Nürburgrin with 150+km/h, crashing into the wall and nothing happens...in the best case, I could even gain some time due to the short cut or due to the fact that I did not brake.

I accept that it is difficult to include a damage model (in this respect I think that racers like Motorstorm and Burnout are much more realistic: hit a wall, and you are typically destroyed and thus get some form of punishment).

But why didn't they include some kind of time penalty, or something like this (drive 10 seconds after crash only in first gear)...I mean, typically in a racer it should be priority number one for the gamer to not crash...in GT5, the consequences of a crash are often negligible and sometimes you even gain...

 

[Arwin]

But why didn't they include some kind of time penalty, or something like this (drive 10 seconds after crash only in first gear)...I mean, typically in a racer it should be priority number one for the gamer to not crash...in GT5, the consequences of a crash are often negligible and sometimes you even gain...

It's in there. They just didn't include it in the gamescom demo. There's a tonne of penalty systems in there already, as you can see in GT5 Prologue, but for GT5 Proper there's various damage options as well.

Don't take it on faith from me though Just check here:

http://us.gran-turismo.com/us/news/d5247p4.html

 

[Billy Idol]

It's in there. They just didn't include it in the gamescom demo. There's a tonne of penalty systems in there already, as you can see in GT5 Prologue, but for GT5 Proper there's various damage options as well.

Don't take it on faith from me though Just check here:

http://us.gran-turismo.com/us/news/d5247p4.html

Ah, ok! This makes a lot sense, IMO.
Probably they did not want to annoy the people and put it out from the demo...

 

[tha_con]

You must have been posting when I was. There's no copyright on the exterior of buildings and public places, hence people can take holiday snaps without paying licensing fees! These guys are citing the flags as being unfairly used.

I can recognise the track, but it goes to show how far we are from recreating actual places, as the Top Gear runways aren't surrounded by flat, luscious grass! There should be areas of rough, tall grass and the like. Overall it's too clean. But in terms of gameplay, this is an awesome feature. Everyone can grab their favourite cars that have done laps and see how they do in game. I wonder how much Top Gear will link into GT5? The website could well ahve its own leaderboards, for example.

Honestly it doesn't matter if the grass is tall or short. Accuracy for the actual track (you know, the part you actually use in the game) is literally the most important part. The other stuff boils down to nit picking, IMO.

 

[Rotmm]

Skidmarks being tested out at GamesCom on the Top Gear track.

Strange that there are skidmarks on the track, but that the spinning wheels seem to have no effect on the grass, as seen just before the car reverses into an invisible barrier at 1:26.

Still, it's fantastic to finally get some visual feedback like that, improving the perception that the car and road are part of the same package.

 

[Rotmm]

etc...The other stuff boils down to nit picking, IMO.

I wouldn't get too worked up about it. I read it as Shifty making the point as a general comment about how differences between real world and real world environments can be highlighted in games such as this, and not as a direct critisism of a PS3 game.

 

[tha_con]

I wouldn't get too worked up about it. I read it as Shifty making the point as a general comment about how differences between real world and real world environments can be highlighted in games such as this, and not as a direct critisism of a PS3 game.

It's kinda hard to convey tone. I'm not worked up about it, I just don't necessarily think it's remotely important for a racing game to accurately reproduce the type of grass for a particular track. Maybe in a Golf game, but not racing

 

[Shifty Geezer]

It's kinda hard to convey tone. I'm not worked up about it, I just don't necessarily think it's remotely important for a racing game to accurately reproduce the type of grass for a particular track. Maybe in a Golf game, but not racing

Although you have a point, a great deal of the appeal og GT is recreating reality. Technically the only important part of a racing game is the mechanics, so recreating scenery is a waste of time - and yet how many people would take to racing around plain grey blocks instead of a visually appealing recreation of London streets?

As Rotmm picked up on, it was just an observation about how far computer games have to go. Of all the race tracks in all the world to recreate, the Top Gear test track should be one of the simplest, yet getting the aesthetic right is not at all easy. It'll feel like Top Gear to race, but it doesn't look like Top Gear, which is part of the objectives of racing simulators that present players with real-world tracks, and GT6/7/8 will take as another step closer.

 

[Rotmm]

It'll feel like Top Gear to race, but it doesn't look like Top Gear....

Added to that, I suppose that part of the problem is us UK'ers see the Top Gear track almost every week (and more if you like Dave ) and therefore because of that have greater knowledge of how it should 'look' and 'behave' (the latter especially so when corners are cut,,, if you can't do a Gambon or a Criuse, it's not Top Gear) than pretty much any other purchaser of a game like GT5 will have of any other track on the disc.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

TG is pretty big all over the world with car enthusiasts; they get hundreds of millions of viewers! I'm sure everyone knows the 'rough' that they've seen cars careen into, as opposed to the immaculate lawns of this recreation.

 

[Rotmm]

Maybe the release of the game will shame the Top Gear presenters into including a rideable lawnmower race in one episode

 

[Arwin]

TG is pretty big all over the world with car enthusiasts; they get hundreds of millions of viewers! I'm sure everyone knows the 'rough' that they've seen cars careen into, as opposed to the immaculate lawns of this recreation.

The grass can be pretty lush depending on the season, but what seems to be missing in particular right now is the bumps of grass near the start/finish, where people sometimes go wide and get launched somewhat. Would have been nice if that at least was in. Of course, in this game your laptime probably won't count in that case but still. As someone else pointed out, the trademark camera angles should also be in there (but they probably are, except knowing PD they probably added a few hundred additional camera angles - if you watch a 10 lap replay and leave the camera to the computer, you easily get the impression that hardly a replay camera is reused lap op lap).

The rest is pretty irrelevant. But a hook into what famous people drive and what the Stig drives could certainly help the game. Or they should each get their own specific Top Gear PSN account and do laps that go into the leaderboards. And of course it could definitely help with the training laps.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

They should have race lines for specific cars. I wonder if TG and PD could set up in-car telemetry to record such details so players could view exactly the Stig's course with any particular car and see if they can improve upon it? Although of course, the game is no doubt going to be faster than RL.

 

[Rotmm]

Speaking of which (yea, yea, off-topic I know):

Publisher HarperCollins is in a legal dispute with the BBC over a book that reveals the identity of Top Gear's The Stig, BBC News understands.

Both sides appeared in London's High Court on Monday after the BBC confirmed it was trying to halt its publication.

The Stig regularly takes to the track on the BBC Two show, but never removes his helmet on screen.

The BBC says the publication of the book breaches contractual and confidentiality obligations.

HarperCollins declined to give any official comment.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-11058504

 

[patsu]

That's actually been an option since GT4, believe it or not.

I did not play GT4. ^_^

It's in there. They just didn't include it in the gamescom demo. There's a tonne of penalty systems in there already, as you can see in GT5 Prologue, but for GT5 Proper there's various damage options as well.

Don't take it on faith from me though Just check here:

http://us.gran-turismo.com/us/news/d5247p4.html

Do we know what the rules are ? I'm guessing they are still tuning it ? And probably has to continue tuning after launch. Kazunori said a couple of times that people may turn off damage (and associated rules) because it's tough.

 

[nightshade]

The grass can be pretty lush depending on the season, but what seems to be missing in particular right now is the bumps of grass near the start/finish, where people sometimes go wide and get launched somewhat.

lol that wretched bump....almost half of the people tend to go wide followed by a jump in that particular place. Its the iconic bump.

 

[patsu]

Yamauchi responds to screenshot conspiracy theories and the recent flag controversy:
http://www.andriasang.com/e/blog/2010/08/25/gt5_controversies/

Among the problems mentioned in the text bubbles:

1. The mini map appears to show the player's car in the incorrect area.
2. There are four cars in front of the player, but these are not on the mini map.
3. The mini map shows 20 cars when the position display lists 16 cars.
4. Even though this is the first lap, there are cars scattered about the mini map.
5. If this is the Suzuka Circuit, it shouldn't take more than 3 minutes to get through a full course. Why does the timer show 5:25?
6. If this is the first lap, why is "Last Lap" shown in the upper right?
7. If this is the first lap, why is there a Best Lap time shown? (The image creator notes that the game could be including past lap times.)
8. Why does the white car in front not have its break lights flashing when it's going into a hairpin turn?
9. Why do the analogue and digital speed readouts differ? (The image creator notes that this could be due to the analogue pointer being simulated properly.)

GT series producer Kazunori Yamauchi decided to issue a response earlier today to this screenshot via his Twitter. Seriously... he responded!

 

[Shifty Geezer]

I watched that kart clip and saw the flags for the first time. Seriously, just put in some random flags, PD! No-one will be the wiser, no-one will care, and those idiots will be placated (or at least won't have any legitimate complaint).

 

[patsu]

Inside Sim Racing's coverage on GT5 @ Gamescom:
(Starts @ 28:00)

 

[Billy Idol]

Optional Hard Drive Install?

http://www.justpushstart.com/2010/08/28/gran-turismo-5-offers-hard-drive-install/

I wonder if this increases performance during driving, or just the load times?