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The recently released Gran Turismo 3, is one of the games that looks certain to sell millions of Playstation 2s for Sony. It has been raved about for over a year, with demos, trailers and thousands of screen shots preceeding its launch, all leading to one of the most anticipated games of the year. Now that its here, we can ask the question "Is it perfect?". The answer to this question is never yes, but with GT3, its a close as it`ll ever be.
The reduction in the number of cars is really not that serious. The major losses were in second hand cars, and the huge numbers of multiple versions of a car model (for example the various types of skyline), so all in all, the variety has not been seriously affected. However, its main flaw (that has also bugged all the previous GT games) would appear to be the lack of damage to cars. However, I disagree, and believe that this may not be a bad thing at all.
There are good and bad points about car damage. Whilst it may seem to be a big hole in GT3`s realism, it is in fact not as great a problem as you may think. There are of course games around that do have damage, such as Twisted Metal, F1 games, Touring Cars etc..., but none of them seem to truly benefit from it.
Good things about damage:
It may appear more realistic, which seems important to a game that boasts realism. If you crash your car in real life, it may crumple a little, or sustain serious scratching and small dents. More powerful crashes certianly result in a great deal of damage to the car.
You could often expect the performance of the car to be reduced by damage. For example, if you lose a rear wing in formula 1, the resulting reduction in down force leads to less grip, and more spins. This forces you to slow down, and make a pit stop.
A more ruthless side to it is that during championships, you may often be one of only two true contenders for the title towards the end of the series, and it may be to your advantage to cause serious damage to a rival, if only a few points seperate you. Call this "Schumacher style", or "Senna sense".
Bad things about damage:
The manufacturers (for example audi) don`t exactly benefit from customers watching their brand new Audi TT smash into a wall, resulting in serious damage. Would you buy a car that you just saw get so easily smashed up? (Obviously it isn`t accurate, as the speeds in these games are a little over the speed limit, but its still damaging to manufacturers).
It can also spoil a good race. Imagine an endurance race. Laguna Seca, 200 miles for example. You`ve completed 195 miles, which has taken over two hours, and you`ve only brushed the barrier gently a handful of times. You are leading by a narrow margin, but are quietly confident about victory. However, the car behind seems to have slightly better grip with its tyres, and is beginning to close the gap.
You watch the time difference fall slowly, until the pressure really gets to you. It results in a forced error, hurling your car over a bump and into a barrier. Whilst you may normally recover from this (be it just behind your opponent), you find that you can no longer use your car. Two hours are wasted, and you may never attempt the race again.
Do you really want to be put off such a rewarding game?
Another thing to mention is that most of the collisions in GT3 are small scrapes. More serious crashes are rare, as the tricky license test get you fully prepared for nearly every race. The super license requires you to complete a lap in a very fast time, without any collisions whatsoever. If you can do this, then you probably won`t ever see damage even if it is available.
When you scrape another car, or brush the barrier gently, there will not be an incredible amount of damage anyway, so it isn`t that necessary to put in. So why bother?
Lastly, the graphics are obviously one of GT3s strongest points, and the addition of damage would almost certainly have a detrimental effect on the visuals. Would you rather have the best looking car in any game ever, or one that has had to sacrifice detail, just to accomodate some damage options?
Overall, I have to say that whilst the damage may sound more realistic, it really wouldn`t work in the Gran Turismo style game. I am completely happy with the way it is, and think it is on the verge of perfection. If you want damage, then look elsewhere, but you`re missing out on one of the best games of the year.
The reduction in the number of cars is really not that serious. The major losses were in second hand cars, and the huge numbers of multiple versions of a car model (for example the various types of skyline), so all in all, the variety has not been seriously affected. However, its main flaw (that has also bugged all the previous GT games) would appear to be the lack of damage to cars. However, I disagree, and believe that this may not be a bad thing at all.
There are good and bad points about car damage. Whilst it may seem to be a big hole in GT3`s realism, it is in fact not as great a problem as you may think. There are of course games around that do have damage, such as Twisted Metal, F1 games, Touring Cars etc..., but none of them seem to truly benefit from it.
Good things about damage:
It may appear more realistic, which seems important to a game that boasts realism. If you crash your car in real life, it may crumple a little, or sustain serious scratching and small dents. More powerful crashes certianly result in a great deal of damage to the car.
You could often expect the performance of the car to be reduced by damage. For example, if you lose a rear wing in formula 1, the resulting reduction in down force leads to less grip, and more spins. This forces you to slow down, and make a pit stop.
A more ruthless side to it is that during championships, you may often be one of only two true contenders for the title towards the end of the series, and it may be to your advantage to cause serious damage to a rival, if only a few points seperate you. Call this "Schumacher style", or "Senna sense".
Bad things about damage:
The manufacturers (for example audi) don`t exactly benefit from customers watching their brand new Audi TT smash into a wall, resulting in serious damage. Would you buy a car that you just saw get so easily smashed up? (Obviously it isn`t accurate, as the speeds in these games are a little over the speed limit, but its still damaging to manufacturers).
It can also spoil a good race. Imagine an endurance race. Laguna Seca, 200 miles for example. You`ve completed 195 miles, which has taken over two hours, and you`ve only brushed the barrier gently a handful of times. You are leading by a narrow margin, but are quietly confident about victory. However, the car behind seems to have slightly better grip with its tyres, and is beginning to close the gap.
You watch the time difference fall slowly, until the pressure really gets to you. It results in a forced error, hurling your car over a bump and into a barrier. Whilst you may normally recover from this (be it just behind your opponent), you find that you can no longer use your car. Two hours are wasted, and you may never attempt the race again.
Do you really want to be put off such a rewarding game?
Another thing to mention is that most of the collisions in GT3 are small scrapes. More serious crashes are rare, as the tricky license test get you fully prepared for nearly every race. The super license requires you to complete a lap in a very fast time, without any collisions whatsoever. If you can do this, then you probably won`t ever see damage even if it is available.
When you scrape another car, or brush the barrier gently, there will not be an incredible amount of damage anyway, so it isn`t that necessary to put in. So why bother?
Lastly, the graphics are obviously one of GT3s strongest points, and the addition of damage would almost certainly have a detrimental effect on the visuals. Would you rather have the best looking car in any game ever, or one that has had to sacrifice detail, just to accomodate some damage options?
Overall, I have to say that whilst the damage may sound more realistic, it really wouldn`t work in the Gran Turismo style game. I am completely happy with the way it is, and think it is on the verge of perfection. If you want damage, then look elsewhere, but you`re missing out on one of the best games of the year.
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I am pretty sure it is going to be the best-selling game in UK. I mean if it has sold 100000 in the first two days...
Think about all the people who didnt have the money on the 20th.Some people want the hype to die down before going out and buying the game.
Think about all the people who didnt have the money on the 20th.Some people want the hype to die down before going out and buying the game.
Wòókiee Møn§†€R wrote:
> GT3 is proving to be an absolutely massive game, and
> according to IGN, has broken all previous sales records in the US.
> (http://ps2.ign.com/news/36769.html)
> It looks set to do the same here
And it has!
From http://ps2.ign.com/news/36864.html ...
"GT3 Gets Off To Fast Start in UK
Sony's ultimate driving simulator is now a top selling game in all three major territories.
July 24, 2001
According to reports in several European trade publications Gran Turismo 3 A-spec is off to the fourth best start in the history of videogame sales in the UK, only trailing the likes of Pokemon Yellow, Gran Turismo 2 and WWF Smackdown. While official numbers haven't been released, it's believed that the game has sold nearly 100,000 units in just its first two days at retail.
Given that this is generally a slow time for videogame software sales in the UK and the PlayStation 2's installed base is only around 540,000 units, the sales of GT3 have exceeded many analysts expectations."
> GT3 is proving to be an absolutely massive game, and
> according to IGN, has broken all previous sales records in the US.
> (http://ps2.ign.com/news/36769.html)
> It looks set to do the same here
And it has!
From http://ps2.ign.com/news/36864.html ...
"GT3 Gets Off To Fast Start in UK
Sony's ultimate driving simulator is now a top selling game in all three major territories.
July 24, 2001
According to reports in several European trade publications Gran Turismo 3 A-spec is off to the fourth best start in the history of videogame sales in the UK, only trailing the likes of Pokemon Yellow, Gran Turismo 2 and WWF Smackdown. While official numbers haven't been released, it's believed that the game has sold nearly 100,000 units in just its first two days at retail.
Given that this is generally a slow time for videogame software sales in the UK and the PlayStation 2's installed base is only around 540,000 units, the sales of GT3 have exceeded many analysts expectations."
blimeyoreilly wrote:
> Each car has an odometer (not for
> measuring smell), and has an oil change light. When the mileage
> rolls to 10,000 will it start blinking annoyngly ?
Not quite 10,000km - we're not talking about your family Ford Mondeo with a user-friendly service interval here. If you go racing hard in any normal car your oil will turn to sludge in a few thousand kilometers (plus you'll need an engine re-build every 10,000km too). And, as we're talking about monster bhp racers here, it's even less.
I have a 1099bhp RUF RGT in my GT3 garage and the oil gets used up after about 10 races of 10 laps. I think it's safe to say the bigger the bhp, the greater the oil usage.
> Each car has an odometer (not for
> measuring smell), and has an oil change light. When the mileage
> rolls to 10,000 will it start blinking annoyngly ?
Not quite 10,000km - we're not talking about your family Ford Mondeo with a user-friendly service interval here. If you go racing hard in any normal car your oil will turn to sludge in a few thousand kilometers (plus you'll need an engine re-build every 10,000km too). And, as we're talking about monster bhp racers here, it's even less.
I have a 1099bhp RUF RGT in my GT3 garage and the oil gets used up after about 10 races of 10 laps. I think it's safe to say the bigger the bhp, the greater the oil usage.
Road Rash on the Moto GP engine... :D
What like Road Rash???
Road Rash 3D was one of my favourite games on the PSone
Road Rash 3D was one of my favourite games on the PSone
blimeyoreilly wrote:
> Imagine how much longer the game would have taken to develop if the
> designers had to model new graphics for each car model with front,
> wing, door, and rear damage.
Polyphony may have already been working on damage for some time. They have always wanted to include it in the GT games but were never allowed.
Anyway, according to Totalgames.net, Polyphony will have a lot of time to impliment damage into GT4 because their next game will be a motorbike game. So we're possibly looking at 3-4 years (maybe even 5) until GT4.
> Imagine how much longer the game would have taken to develop if the
> designers had to model new graphics for each car model with front,
> wing, door, and rear damage.
Polyphony may have already been working on damage for some time. They have always wanted to include it in the GT games but were never allowed.
Anyway, according to Totalgames.net, Polyphony will have a lot of time to impliment damage into GT4 because their next game will be a motorbike game. So we're possibly looking at 3-4 years (maybe even 5) until GT4.
Imagine how much longer the game would have taken to develop if the designers had to model new graphics for each car model with front, wing, door, and rear damage.
Each car has an odometer (not for measuring smell), and has an oil change light. When the mileage rolls to 10,000 will it start blinking annoyngly ? Finally something close to maintenance in the GT games. You can now change the oil as well as washing your car or changing the alloys. GT3 is the real driving simulator AND my sunday morning trip to the garge simulator too.
Damage ? I think I'll settle for tyre degradation and that winking oil light.
Each car has an odometer (not for measuring smell), and has an oil change light. When the mileage rolls to 10,000 will it start blinking annoyngly ? Finally something close to maintenance in the GT games. You can now change the oil as well as washing your car or changing the alloys. GT3 is the real driving simulator AND my sunday morning trip to the garge simulator too.
Damage ? I think I'll settle for tyre degradation and that winking oil light.
You are right Wookie, but dont forget that TOCA cars are much more vulnerable to damage if u know what I mean. The cars in GT ar real cars most of them not being racing cars. Developers of TOCA new that damage is a part of their sport. Just like F1 then
Oh... and notice in the IGN report (URL in previous post) that those in the US are for once paying more than us! Their price is $49.99 - ours is £39.99!
Okay, they're paying around the same - but usually our price would be £49.99 on the usual £1 = $1 conversion!
Okay, they're paying around the same - but usually our price would be £49.99 on the usual £1 = $1 conversion!
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