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Having received a PS2 along with Gran Turismo 3 (and a bunch of other PS2-related stuff that has nothing to do with this post) for Christmas, I’ve been racing away practically non-stop since the festive season.
I’ve been buying cars…upgrading cars…selling cars…tuning cars…testing cars…and it’s made me suddenly stop and think – this game is all wrong.
Here’s the scenario: you start the game, grab yourself a nice little motor and then spend about 15 minutes getting a B license, before hitting the road. You then manage to win a few races, probably the Sunday Cup, before upgrading your car to something with a little more go under the bonnet.
With a little more confidence in yourself and your beloved car, you then proceed to enter slightly more challenging races against more skilled opponents in faster cars. So, the lights turn green and you floor it with all your might. It feels great – roaring past all the other cars and zooming into the distance. However, horror strikes – a corner. You brake far too late and the car goes hurtling into the gravel pit. So, you slowly make you’re way back onto the tarmac and nail it, in pursuit of all the other racers. And this is how the race continues. Sure you learn to stay on the track when going around corners, but hefty under steer causes you slow right down and end back up where you started – in last place.
So, what do you do? You go back to previous, easier races, win them, get a bit of cash, upgrade your car to give it a bit more grunt down the straights, and use this to your advantage in the races you previously failed to come first in. My point? This involves absolutely no skill.
Another point – although everyone harps on about Gran Turismo’s ‘highly realistic handling’, in some respects this is rubbish. Can’t be bothered to brake for corners? Simply drive on the inside of other racers and use them as a cushion when negotiating the aforementioned corner. In real life, the other car would most likely be out of the race, as well as yourself.
Racing cars at high speeds is a sport and requires high levels of skill and concentration. By simply using the walls and other racers as deceleration cushions, in the safe knowledge that your car will still perform as well after the collision as before, is eradicating the need for skill.
Maybe it’s just me, but the two points I have brought to your attention above affect the game in two ways. Firstly, in relation to the first point about upgraded cars, completing the game in this way is simply a chore and, for me, takes away a lot of the enjoyment that could be had if things were slightly different.
Secondly, about the lack of car performance degradation, this takes away the need for skill and the game becomes less challenging and less enjoyable as a result.
So, now you know why I think Gran Turismo isn’t as good as it could be, and now I’ll tell you what they have to do to make Gran Turismo 4 (trust me, it will see the light of day) the perfect racing simulator.
The first most obvious point that springs to mind, and one that many have mentioned before for the wrong reason, is that car performance degradation and visible body damaging should be implemented. Seeing the side of your car crumple as you slide into another is not only realistic, it’s appealing to the eye and can actually add to your enjoyment of the game (imagine multiplayer games of ‘who can smash their car up the most’).
As for the car performance degradation, this will obviously make races drive more carefully and skilfully, not wanting to pay a hefty cost to repair their car. Again, I believe this will make the game more fun and challenging to play.
And finally, about going back to easier races to win easy money. Quite simply, I think once you’ve come first in a race, you shouldn’t be given any more money from winning it again. Unfortunately, I don’t think this’ll ever happen, as most gamers would probably give up around about 10% through the game.
And there’s what needs to be added to the game, along with approximately a thousand new cars and a few tracks along with track updates.
Just one final point – car performance degradation and car body damaging would not only be computationally expensive, it’ll also be expensive in terms of development time. The solution? Develop the game for the PS3 (which’ll have more than enough grunt to handle it). By doing this, this also gives the developers plenty of time to create, as we won’t be seeing PS3 around for quite some time…hopefully.
I’ve been buying cars…upgrading cars…selling cars…tuning cars…testing cars…and it’s made me suddenly stop and think – this game is all wrong.
Here’s the scenario: you start the game, grab yourself a nice little motor and then spend about 15 minutes getting a B license, before hitting the road. You then manage to win a few races, probably the Sunday Cup, before upgrading your car to something with a little more go under the bonnet.
With a little more confidence in yourself and your beloved car, you then proceed to enter slightly more challenging races against more skilled opponents in faster cars. So, the lights turn green and you floor it with all your might. It feels great – roaring past all the other cars and zooming into the distance. However, horror strikes – a corner. You brake far too late and the car goes hurtling into the gravel pit. So, you slowly make you’re way back onto the tarmac and nail it, in pursuit of all the other racers. And this is how the race continues. Sure you learn to stay on the track when going around corners, but hefty under steer causes you slow right down and end back up where you started – in last place.
So, what do you do? You go back to previous, easier races, win them, get a bit of cash, upgrade your car to give it a bit more grunt down the straights, and use this to your advantage in the races you previously failed to come first in. My point? This involves absolutely no skill.
Another point – although everyone harps on about Gran Turismo’s ‘highly realistic handling’, in some respects this is rubbish. Can’t be bothered to brake for corners? Simply drive on the inside of other racers and use them as a cushion when negotiating the aforementioned corner. In real life, the other car would most likely be out of the race, as well as yourself.
Racing cars at high speeds is a sport and requires high levels of skill and concentration. By simply using the walls and other racers as deceleration cushions, in the safe knowledge that your car will still perform as well after the collision as before, is eradicating the need for skill.
Maybe it’s just me, but the two points I have brought to your attention above affect the game in two ways. Firstly, in relation to the first point about upgraded cars, completing the game in this way is simply a chore and, for me, takes away a lot of the enjoyment that could be had if things were slightly different.
Secondly, about the lack of car performance degradation, this takes away the need for skill and the game becomes less challenging and less enjoyable as a result.
So, now you know why I think Gran Turismo isn’t as good as it could be, and now I’ll tell you what they have to do to make Gran Turismo 4 (trust me, it will see the light of day) the perfect racing simulator.
The first most obvious point that springs to mind, and one that many have mentioned before for the wrong reason, is that car performance degradation and visible body damaging should be implemented. Seeing the side of your car crumple as you slide into another is not only realistic, it’s appealing to the eye and can actually add to your enjoyment of the game (imagine multiplayer games of ‘who can smash their car up the most’).
As for the car performance degradation, this will obviously make races drive more carefully and skilfully, not wanting to pay a hefty cost to repair their car. Again, I believe this will make the game more fun and challenging to play.
And finally, about going back to easier races to win easy money. Quite simply, I think once you’ve come first in a race, you shouldn’t be given any more money from winning it again. Unfortunately, I don’t think this’ll ever happen, as most gamers would probably give up around about 10% through the game.
And there’s what needs to be added to the game, along with approximately a thousand new cars and a few tracks along with track updates.
Just one final point – car performance degradation and car body damaging would not only be computationally expensive, it’ll also be expensive in terms of development time. The solution? Develop the game for the PS3 (which’ll have more than enough grunt to handle it). By doing this, this also gives the developers plenty of time to create, as we won’t be seeing PS3 around for quite some time…hopefully.
WòókieeMøn§†€® wrote:
> you need more practice!
I am gradually getting better and better now (taking the right racing line round corners at right speed etc) and some of the points I raised are starting to be less of an issue, but I still stand by a lot of my points. Such as going back to easier races to win easy money. I know you shouldn't have to if you're good enough, but for most, this'll be simply too tempting.
> you need more practice!
I am gradually getting better and better now (taking the right racing line round corners at right speed etc) and some of the points I raised are starting to be less of an issue, but I still stand by a lot of my points. Such as going back to easier races to win easy money. I know you shouldn't have to if you're good enough, but for most, this'll be simply too tempting.
kingklik wrote:
> However, horror strikes – a corner. You brake far
> too late and the car goes hurtling into the gravel pit. So, you slowly make
> you’re way back onto the tarmac and nail it, in pursuit of all the other racers.
> And this is how the race continues.
All I can say is... you need more practice!
All the cars handle very differently, and apart from individual models, you need to get use to the different constructions - FF, MR, RR, FR.
Buy at least some sports tyres, preferably racing tyres - usually medium or soft compound.
Learn the tracks! On GT1 I had real problems with some tracks, but I mastered them through lots of practice.
Honestly, without meaning to be insulting, if you can't drive well on GT3, the *only* reason is simply that you're not good enough. But practice enough and you will be - driving GT3 is very rewarding, and practice *will* make perfect.
> However, horror strikes – a corner. You brake far
> too late and the car goes hurtling into the gravel pit. So, you slowly make
> you’re way back onto the tarmac and nail it, in pursuit of all the other racers.
> And this is how the race continues.
All I can say is... you need more practice!
All the cars handle very differently, and apart from individual models, you need to get use to the different constructions - FF, MR, RR, FR.
Buy at least some sports tyres, preferably racing tyres - usually medium or soft compound.
Learn the tracks! On GT1 I had real problems with some tracks, but I mastered them through lots of practice.
Honestly, without meaning to be insulting, if you can't drive well on GT3, the *only* reason is simply that you're not good enough. But practice enough and you will be - driving GT3 is very rewarding, and practice *will* make perfect.
sherman wrote:
> good post (damn, forgot to quote the message)
Say, that's a nice change. Thanks man!
> good post (damn, forgot to quote the message)
Say, that's a nice change. Thanks man!
good post (damn, forgot to quote the message)
kingklik wrote:
Point to ssxpro - I was largely
> exaggerating when talking about thousands of cars. I fully understand the time
> and effort required to create these cars.
Sure, thats fair enough. It would be nice though to get a lot more cars. Still, 100 or so is enough, especially when compared to most other racers.
Point to ssxpro - I was largely
> exaggerating when talking about thousands of cars. I fully understand the time
> and effort required to create these cars.
Sure, thats fair enough. It would be nice though to get a lot more cars. Still, 100 or so is enough, especially when compared to most other racers.
ResÆvilfan wrote:
> What a muppet
Ssxpro replied with some sensible comments regarding my post and gave his opinion where required. I would care for you to do the same is future. You seem to think I'm merely slagging off GT3 and I seem to have offended you by this. However, the point of my post is to share with readers what I believe is wrong with the game and how it could be improved. I still thoroughly enjoy playing the game.
Point to ssxpro - I was largely exaggerating when talking about thousands of cars. I fully understand the time and effort required to create these cars.
> What a muppet
Ssxpro replied with some sensible comments regarding my post and gave his opinion where required. I would care for you to do the same is future. You seem to think I'm merely slagging off GT3 and I seem to have offended you by this. However, the point of my post is to share with readers what I believe is wrong with the game and how it could be improved. I still thoroughly enjoy playing the game.
Point to ssxpro - I was largely exaggerating when talking about thousands of cars. I fully understand the time and effort required to create these cars.
What a muppet (not you ssxpro). The reason your slipping and sliding everywhere is because your not controlling the car as you should, Moving the left analog stick from left to right is the equivilent of turning the steering wheel all the way from one end to the other. When a corner approaches slow down and gently TILT the analog stick and you won't "crash into the gravel pit"
GAME had the same problem
GAME had the same problem
kingklik wrote:
>-this game is all wrong.
I can see we`re going to have a difference of opinion :-)
> hefty under steer causes you slow right down and end
> back up where you started – in last place.
Depends what car you are in. Possibly something like a Yaris would suffer like this, but jump in a viper, a corvette or something like that, and you`ll find the opposite, oversteer. Its realistically modelled around the real life equivalents. To get round it though, you can fiddle with the suspension - though remember, everything has both positive and negative points.
> a bit more grunt down the straights, and use this to your advantage in the races
> you previously failed to come first in. My point? This involves absolutely no
> skill.
True perhaps that there is little skill in saving money and making your car far superior, but then you don`t have to go back and do that, you can just drive the way you learnt in the licence tests, and win anyway.
>Another point – although everyone harps on about Gran Turismo’s ‘highly realistic handling’, in some respects this is rubbish. Can’t be bothered
> to brake for corners? Simply drive on the inside of other racers and use them as a cushion when negotiating the aforementioned corner.
This is true, but if you bother to learn how to drive, then its totally unnecessary. Besides, using them as a cushion only works once, after that, you are ahead. It`d be silly to wait for them on the straights and do it repeatedly as that contradicts your argument that the game is just go fast on the straights and crash the corners... see paragraphs above.
In real life, the other
> car would most likely be out of the race, as well as yourself.
Perhaps, but again, once you learn to drive, you rarely crash, and certainly don`t do anything major. Its so minimal that I bearly notice the lack of damage or collision effects.
Racing cars at
> high speeds is a sport and requires high levels of skill and concentration. By
> simply using the walls and other racers as deceleration cushions, in the safe
> knowledge that your car will still perform as well after the collision as
> before, is eradicating the need for skill.
Have you tried doing the licences like that? In particular the S-licence. Its not achievable by your method. Similarly, try and win some of the pro league races by simply crashing all the corners.
> Firstly, in relation to the first point about upgraded cars, completing the game
> in this way is simply a chore and, for me, takes away a lot of the enjoyment
> that could be had if things were slightly different.
Try the F1 championship in pro league. In this competition you are no more tuned than your opponents. Similarly, many other pro league tournaments see you fairly evenly matched with your fellow competitors.
Secondly, about the lack
> of car performance degradation, this takes away the need for skill and the game
> becomes less challenging and less enjoyable as a result.
There is the oil that darkens as you go, though that isn`t a mojor thing. Then there`s the tyres that make a huge difference. Lap times can vary by huge amounts between green and red tyres. Most other racing games are only affected by simple things like poor tyres or no wheels. Very few start to go slower when the sides get bashed in.
Makes it less enjoyable? Nope, I don`t think so.
So, now you know why
> I think Gran Turismo isn’t as good as it could be,
Thats fair enough. Each to their own opinion.
and now I’ll tell you what
> they have to do to make Gran Turismo 4 (trust me, it will see the light of day)
> the perfect racing simulator.
The first most obvious point that springs to
> mind, and one that many have mentioned before for the wrong reason, is that car
> performance degradation and visible body damaging should be implemented.
I can`t see this happening without a lot of money being poured into car manufacturers pockets. They don`t want to see their top of the range cars getting smashed up in a racing game as this could damage their sales - testament to the reality conveyed in the game.
Seeing
> the side of your car crumple as you slide into another is not only realistic,
> it’s appealing to the eye and can actually add to your enjoyment of the game
Smash those ril purty cars??!!?? No way, much prefer them all shiny and slick. Look great in the replays.
> (imagine multiplayer games of ‘who can smash their car up the most’).
You mean destruction derby? Two different games, and its not what GT sets out to do.
As for
> the car performance degradation, this will obviously make races drive more
> carefully and skilfully, not wanting to pay a hefty cost to repair their car.
> Again, I believe this will make the game more fun and challenging to play.
I still think tyres and oil are sufficient. It would just get silly if GT took engine maintenence to the level they take their cars looks and tuning parts. Imagine all the tiny pieces of engine you`d be looking after! It would soon become the game to train mechanics!
And
> finally, about going back to easier races to win easy money. Quite simply, I
> think once you’ve come first in a race, you shouldn’t be given any more money
> from winning it again.
The problem with that is the prize money not being enough in the first place. Its fine if you want to just go through selling your old cars and progressing constantly, but if you want to sit back and collect all the cars, then you`re going to need access to a lot more funds.
Unfortunately, I don’t think this’ll ever happen, as most
> gamers would probably give up around about 10% through the game.
I`d still want to take it to completion, but I`d regret it every time I had to sell off an older car.
And there’s
> what needs to be added to the game, along with approximately a thousand new cars
> and a few tracks along with track updates.
Thousands of cars? I can`t see that happening. Each car on GT3 was said to take a month to make. Take this level of detail even higher for the sequel, and you could be looking at huge developement times for the game. Do we want to wait 6 years?
Just one final point – car
> performance degradation and car body damaging would not only be computationally
> expensive, it’ll also be expensive in terms of development time. The solution?
> Develop the game for the PS3 (which’ll have more than enough grunt to handle
> it). By doing this, this also gives the developers plenty of time to create, as
> we won’t be seeing PS3 around for quite some time…hopefully.
Same problem here. Cars took days or perhaps weeks on PSone. Then it was fortnights or a month on PS2. Take it to PS3 and you could see a serious limitation on cars. Perhaps only a hundred or so, if they spend enough time developing. To add all the features you suggest would not only cost huge amounts of money, but would also in my opinion not help all that much.
>-this game is all wrong.
I can see we`re going to have a difference of opinion :-)
> hefty under steer causes you slow right down and end
> back up where you started – in last place.
Depends what car you are in. Possibly something like a Yaris would suffer like this, but jump in a viper, a corvette or something like that, and you`ll find the opposite, oversteer. Its realistically modelled around the real life equivalents. To get round it though, you can fiddle with the suspension - though remember, everything has both positive and negative points.
> a bit more grunt down the straights, and use this to your advantage in the races
> you previously failed to come first in. My point? This involves absolutely no
> skill.
True perhaps that there is little skill in saving money and making your car far superior, but then you don`t have to go back and do that, you can just drive the way you learnt in the licence tests, and win anyway.
>Another point – although everyone harps on about Gran Turismo’s ‘highly realistic handling’, in some respects this is rubbish. Can’t be bothered
> to brake for corners? Simply drive on the inside of other racers and use them as a cushion when negotiating the aforementioned corner.
This is true, but if you bother to learn how to drive, then its totally unnecessary. Besides, using them as a cushion only works once, after that, you are ahead. It`d be silly to wait for them on the straights and do it repeatedly as that contradicts your argument that the game is just go fast on the straights and crash the corners... see paragraphs above.
In real life, the other
> car would most likely be out of the race, as well as yourself.
Perhaps, but again, once you learn to drive, you rarely crash, and certainly don`t do anything major. Its so minimal that I bearly notice the lack of damage or collision effects.
Racing cars at
> high speeds is a sport and requires high levels of skill and concentration. By
> simply using the walls and other racers as deceleration cushions, in the safe
> knowledge that your car will still perform as well after the collision as
> before, is eradicating the need for skill.
Have you tried doing the licences like that? In particular the S-licence. Its not achievable by your method. Similarly, try and win some of the pro league races by simply crashing all the corners.
> Firstly, in relation to the first point about upgraded cars, completing the game
> in this way is simply a chore and, for me, takes away a lot of the enjoyment
> that could be had if things were slightly different.
Try the F1 championship in pro league. In this competition you are no more tuned than your opponents. Similarly, many other pro league tournaments see you fairly evenly matched with your fellow competitors.
Secondly, about the lack
> of car performance degradation, this takes away the need for skill and the game
> becomes less challenging and less enjoyable as a result.
There is the oil that darkens as you go, though that isn`t a mojor thing. Then there`s the tyres that make a huge difference. Lap times can vary by huge amounts between green and red tyres. Most other racing games are only affected by simple things like poor tyres or no wheels. Very few start to go slower when the sides get bashed in.
Makes it less enjoyable? Nope, I don`t think so.
So, now you know why
> I think Gran Turismo isn’t as good as it could be,
Thats fair enough. Each to their own opinion.
and now I’ll tell you what
> they have to do to make Gran Turismo 4 (trust me, it will see the light of day)
> the perfect racing simulator.
The first most obvious point that springs to
> mind, and one that many have mentioned before for the wrong reason, is that car
> performance degradation and visible body damaging should be implemented.
I can`t see this happening without a lot of money being poured into car manufacturers pockets. They don`t want to see their top of the range cars getting smashed up in a racing game as this could damage their sales - testament to the reality conveyed in the game.
Seeing
> the side of your car crumple as you slide into another is not only realistic,
> it’s appealing to the eye and can actually add to your enjoyment of the game
Smash those ril purty cars??!!?? No way, much prefer them all shiny and slick. Look great in the replays.
> (imagine multiplayer games of ‘who can smash their car up the most’).
You mean destruction derby? Two different games, and its not what GT sets out to do.
As for
> the car performance degradation, this will obviously make races drive more
> carefully and skilfully, not wanting to pay a hefty cost to repair their car.
> Again, I believe this will make the game more fun and challenging to play.
I still think tyres and oil are sufficient. It would just get silly if GT took engine maintenence to the level they take their cars looks and tuning parts. Imagine all the tiny pieces of engine you`d be looking after! It would soon become the game to train mechanics!
And
> finally, about going back to easier races to win easy money. Quite simply, I
> think once you’ve come first in a race, you shouldn’t be given any more money
> from winning it again.
The problem with that is the prize money not being enough in the first place. Its fine if you want to just go through selling your old cars and progressing constantly, but if you want to sit back and collect all the cars, then you`re going to need access to a lot more funds.
Unfortunately, I don’t think this’ll ever happen, as most
> gamers would probably give up around about 10% through the game.
I`d still want to take it to completion, but I`d regret it every time I had to sell off an older car.
And there’s
> what needs to be added to the game, along with approximately a thousand new cars
> and a few tracks along with track updates.
Thousands of cars? I can`t see that happening. Each car on GT3 was said to take a month to make. Take this level of detail even higher for the sequel, and you could be looking at huge developement times for the game. Do we want to wait 6 years?
Just one final point – car
> performance degradation and car body damaging would not only be computationally
> expensive, it’ll also be expensive in terms of development time. The solution?
> Develop the game for the PS3 (which’ll have more than enough grunt to handle
> it). By doing this, this also gives the developers plenty of time to create, as
> we won’t be seeing PS3 around for quite some time…hopefully.
Same problem here. Cars took days or perhaps weeks on PSone. Then it was fortnights or a month on PS2. Take it to PS3 and you could see a serious limitation on cars. Perhaps only a hundred or so, if they spend enough time developing. To add all the features you suggest would not only cost huge amounts of money, but would also in my opinion not help all that much.
Having received a PS2 along with Gran Turismo 3 (and a bunch of other PS2-related stuff that has nothing to do with this post) for Christmas, I’ve been racing away practically non-stop since the festive season.
I’ve been buying cars…upgrading cars…selling cars…tuning cars…testing cars…and it’s made me suddenly stop and think – this game is all wrong.
Here’s the scenario: you start the game, grab yourself a nice little motor and then spend about 15 minutes getting a B license, before hitting the road. You then manage to win a few races, probably the Sunday Cup, before upgrading your car to something with a little more go under the bonnet.
With a little more confidence in yourself and your beloved car, you then proceed to enter slightly more challenging races against more skilled opponents in faster cars. So, the lights turn green and you floor it with all your might. It feels great – roaring past all the other cars and zooming into the distance. However, horror strikes – a corner. You brake far too late and the car goes hurtling into the gravel pit. So, you slowly make you’re way back onto the tarmac and nail it, in pursuit of all the other racers. And this is how the race continues. Sure you learn to stay on the track when going around corners, but hefty under steer causes you slow right down and end back up where you started – in last place.
So, what do you do? You go back to previous, easier races, win them, get a bit of cash, upgrade your car to give it a bit more grunt down the straights, and use this to your advantage in the races you previously failed to come first in. My point? This involves absolutely no skill.
Another point – although everyone harps on about Gran Turismo’s ‘highly realistic handling’, in some respects this is rubbish. Can’t be bothered to brake for corners? Simply drive on the inside of other racers and use them as a cushion when negotiating the aforementioned corner. In real life, the other car would most likely be out of the race, as well as yourself.
Racing cars at high speeds is a sport and requires high levels of skill and concentration. By simply using the walls and other racers as deceleration cushions, in the safe knowledge that your car will still perform as well after the collision as before, is eradicating the need for skill.
Maybe it’s just me, but the two points I have brought to your attention above affect the game in two ways. Firstly, in relation to the first point about upgraded cars, completing the game in this way is simply a chore and, for me, takes away a lot of the enjoyment that could be had if things were slightly different.
Secondly, about the lack of car performance degradation, this takes away the need for skill and the game becomes less challenging and less enjoyable as a result.
So, now you know why I think Gran Turismo isn’t as good as it could be, and now I’ll tell you what they have to do to make Gran Turismo 4 (trust me, it will see the light of day) the perfect racing simulator.
The first most obvious point that springs to mind, and one that many have mentioned before for the wrong reason, is that car performance degradation and visible body damaging should be implemented. Seeing the side of your car crumple as you slide into another is not only realistic, it’s appealing to the eye and can actually add to your enjoyment of the game (imagine multiplayer games of ‘who can smash their car up the most’).
As for the car performance degradation, this will obviously make races drive more carefully and skilfully, not wanting to pay a hefty cost to repair their car. Again, I believe this will make the game more fun and challenging to play.
And finally, about going back to easier races to win easy money. Quite simply, I think once you’ve come first in a race, you shouldn’t be given any more money from winning it again. Unfortunately, I don’t think this’ll ever happen, as most gamers would probably give up around about 10% through the game.
And there’s what needs to be added to the game, along with approximately a thousand new cars and a few tracks along with track updates.
Just one final point – car performance degradation and car body damaging would not only be computationally expensive, it’ll also be expensive in terms of development time. The solution? Develop the game for the PS3 (which’ll have more than enough grunt to handle it). By doing this, this also gives the developers plenty of time to create, as we won’t be seeing PS3 around for quite some time…hopefully.
I’ve been buying cars…upgrading cars…selling cars…tuning cars…testing cars…and it’s made me suddenly stop and think – this game is all wrong.
Here’s the scenario: you start the game, grab yourself a nice little motor and then spend about 15 minutes getting a B license, before hitting the road. You then manage to win a few races, probably the Sunday Cup, before upgrading your car to something with a little more go under the bonnet.
With a little more confidence in yourself and your beloved car, you then proceed to enter slightly more challenging races against more skilled opponents in faster cars. So, the lights turn green and you floor it with all your might. It feels great – roaring past all the other cars and zooming into the distance. However, horror strikes – a corner. You brake far too late and the car goes hurtling into the gravel pit. So, you slowly make you’re way back onto the tarmac and nail it, in pursuit of all the other racers. And this is how the race continues. Sure you learn to stay on the track when going around corners, but hefty under steer causes you slow right down and end back up where you started – in last place.
So, what do you do? You go back to previous, easier races, win them, get a bit of cash, upgrade your car to give it a bit more grunt down the straights, and use this to your advantage in the races you previously failed to come first in. My point? This involves absolutely no skill.
Another point – although everyone harps on about Gran Turismo’s ‘highly realistic handling’, in some respects this is rubbish. Can’t be bothered to brake for corners? Simply drive on the inside of other racers and use them as a cushion when negotiating the aforementioned corner. In real life, the other car would most likely be out of the race, as well as yourself.
Racing cars at high speeds is a sport and requires high levels of skill and concentration. By simply using the walls and other racers as deceleration cushions, in the safe knowledge that your car will still perform as well after the collision as before, is eradicating the need for skill.
Maybe it’s just me, but the two points I have brought to your attention above affect the game in two ways. Firstly, in relation to the first point about upgraded cars, completing the game in this way is simply a chore and, for me, takes away a lot of the enjoyment that could be had if things were slightly different.
Secondly, about the lack of car performance degradation, this takes away the need for skill and the game becomes less challenging and less enjoyable as a result.
So, now you know why I think Gran Turismo isn’t as good as it could be, and now I’ll tell you what they have to do to make Gran Turismo 4 (trust me, it will see the light of day) the perfect racing simulator.
The first most obvious point that springs to mind, and one that many have mentioned before for the wrong reason, is that car performance degradation and visible body damaging should be implemented. Seeing the side of your car crumple as you slide into another is not only realistic, it’s appealing to the eye and can actually add to your enjoyment of the game (imagine multiplayer games of ‘who can smash their car up the most’).
As for the car performance degradation, this will obviously make races drive more carefully and skilfully, not wanting to pay a hefty cost to repair their car. Again, I believe this will make the game more fun and challenging to play.
And finally, about going back to easier races to win easy money. Quite simply, I think once you’ve come first in a race, you shouldn’t be given any more money from winning it again. Unfortunately, I don’t think this’ll ever happen, as most gamers would probably give up around about 10% through the game.
And there’s what needs to be added to the game, along with approximately a thousand new cars and a few tracks along with track updates.
Just one final point – car performance degradation and car body damaging would not only be computationally expensive, it’ll also be expensive in terms of development time. The solution? Develop the game for the PS3 (which’ll have more than enough grunt to handle it). By doing this, this also gives the developers plenty of time to create, as we won’t be seeing PS3 around for quite some time…hopefully.