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Gran Turismo 4 Preview
ãã¾ããããsã®ãS writes "FiringSquad has published a preview of Polyphony Digital's Gran Turismo 4, the upcoming flagship online racing title for PlayStation 2." Acccording to the preview, where the last Gran Turismo made us all adopt a Playstation 2, this one will have us adopting network adapters for online racing. The preview's also got some notes about the lengths Polyphony Digital has gone to in order to make GT4 as realistic as possible.
I didn't hear it the first time...
Daniel
Carpe Diem
Am I the only one who finds the GT games deadly boring? Polypholy dont actually add anything to the games, other than to try and make it that little bit more realistic.
How about adding some AI to the CPU racers, or just make the game enjoyable to play. When PS2 owners were raving about GT3, I was playing the likes of Le Mans, Daytona and MSR on the Dreamcast.
Le Mans (which on the DC is a different game to the average PSX version) had you racing up to 22 cars with PROPER AI, Daytona was a classic arcade game, and MSR was doing new things with the Kudos system.
I put my books on Amazon, Smashwords, Demonoid, ISOHunt and Pirate Bay. Search for 'Michael Cargill'
First thought was "Why so many photos of real cars driving around?"
:-O
Oh. Wait. That's in game???
I'd love to see some of the blatant physics mistakes fixed from GT3. Two examples:
1) The axis restriction. No car can rotate more than 90 degrees in any direction from normal on any axis. It's to prevent the car from ending up upside down, something that wouldn't fly in GT, as there's no "abort" button a la "RUSH."
2) The wheelie 700 Mph trick. It's fun, and it's cool to do, but it's probably indicative of a larger shortcut in the physics engine.
Either way, I'm already drooling for GT4. Online play is enough to make me want it, but man, I really wanted hard drive features. Importing my own music is something I've wanted to to with GT4. Oh well, there's always 5...
Attention deficit disorder is a complicated issue, spanning several major... HEY LET'S GO RIDE BIKES!
What Network games are available for the PS2?
I guess my real question might be - are there any network games for the PS2 that make buying the network adapter worthwhile?
BlackNova Traders
It appears they are doing distance color washing with blur, and generally toning down the image to mimmoc a television broadcast. Whereas Ridge Racer's ilk went for hypercolor, the artists on GT4 appear to have chosen realistically muted shades of grey and dirty brown. Texturing seems to be pretty spot-on too, without delving too much into the extremely textured look of many games. Thankfully GTA3's much abused car-top reflections appear to be muted too. In fact, between the muted colors and muted textures, the game is definitely not a visual feast for the eyes, which is perfect for a realistic racer.
The ______ Agenda
This isn't that exciting for me...don't get me wrong GT3 was a great game and I enjoyed it thoroughly. But what is Sony really adding here? A few new cars and tracks?
GT really needs an engine overhaul:
- better collision physics - I get tired of racing against other 'bricks'
- car damage - now pieces falling off etc., would be very exciting and cool, but even something as simple as a damage bar to represent what is going on and reduce performance. There's just no way in a game as realistic as GT3 (in other areas) that the fastest route on some tracks should involve setting up a nice billard ball bounce. That should totally screw up your car. The best would be individual parts breaking, and affecting handling, as well as cosmetic damage that may even affect aerodynamics.
Without some major changes, we're still just playing GT1.
I'd gladly wait a couple of more years for GT4 if it had actual new features!
Realistic car damage in car racing games is quite important, but at least some car damage (like in CMR 2.0) is better than none at all. I'm quite surprised that such a well-respected brand as the Gran Turismo series has still failed to put this in.
If you want real collision damage, I suggest Auto Crossing for the real thing.
-- ladies and gentlemen we are floating in space!
I'm really not sure about damage now. A couple of years ago while playing GT2 I'd have probably agreed, but not after GT3.
Yes, lack of damage is a problem with the realistic look they have going on. Hell, before we even get to damage I'd like to start by having rally cars that don't look shiny and clean after 10 laps of dirt racing. But its what comes with it thats the problem.
Far more than with GT2, progress in GT3 is boringly slow. Without the second-hand market, you spend ages doing the same tracks over and over again at first earning a few pennies to pay for meagre upgrades to the car. Cash is really boringly tight.
So if you could write off the $100,000 worth of Lotus Elise on the first corner and have to start saving all over again, you'd be going straight for the "revert to saved" option the moment you recieved any damage in any case.
If you want to see spectacular crashes, buy Burnout 2 (its a more fun game all round, too, but you didn't hear me say that). If you want to play Gran Tourismo's career mode, you're better off without damage that you'll never see again after the first time.
"I Know You Are But What Am I?"
So it looks great. So you can mod your car to your hearts content. But its very, very easy to get a car big enough and fast enough to beat all comers by enormous margins, and because your car takes no damage on the most ridiculous cars (960 bhp and the like) you can just drive it round the barriers on many courses without even steering.
I was sorely disappointed that the screenshots once again seem to show only pristine cars. Every release they do this, and every release people complain like hell.
whats it going to cost. im not willing to pay extra to play online.
I want 2D games back.
Why do magazines insist on doing previews but showing screen shots of outside views which are basically just replays. You never see those fews when you play the actual game because you are too busy behind the wheel. You don't see the pretty scenary fly by and you rarely have time to see the other cars. Show screen shots behind the wheel, not majestic shots showing courses.
You have to blame the car makers for this one. They won't license the car models if the cars can take damage in game. That means that to have in-game damage, you'd have to have a bunch of cars that sorta look like real cars but aren't and are distunguisable from the real things (so that they don't get sued). It's not PD's fault.
Comment forecast: Bits of genius surrounded by a sea of mediocrity.
I guess I'm one of the "everyone"s you're speaking of: I think it's cool to have UTF usernames. But as an English-speaker for my entire life, my eyes aren't trained to differentiate Japanese characters. I would imagine that it would be easy in the future (when "everyone" gets a Japanese username) for someone to masquerade as someone else just because I can't tell the difference between one character and another, i.e. "You say you're Bob? OK, you're Bob as far as I can tell".
GT3 had the best feel of the three Gran Tourismo's. It had a lot less fishtailing and the less time you spend correcting your steering, the more entertaining the game. That probably means the game is less realistic, too.
The graphics are nicer, but as others have stated, the in-game graphics are significantly worse because 30% or more of the screen is filled by the road. So mostly we're talking about better replays.
I welcome the tracks. I just wish they would have a creator or download capability. I welcome the extra cars, but most of the cars feel the same except for their parameters, which you feel during the game and only see during the replays. Again, downloadable cars are needed, especially paintjobs and decals.
The game seriously needs to allow GT1, 2, and 3 players to import their saves. However, I'm fairly certain it won't. Part of the longevity of GT games is the amount of time it takes to unlock.
The thing I'm going to miss the most about GT3 is the ability to slide into an opponent around a corner to cushion the turn and come out without a scratch. Of course, the opponent ends up on the guardrail.
That could be easily rectified by not having to pay for damages to your car. A nonexistant repair model is far better than a nonexistant damage model. You crash, careening around the course... you are punished by having to start over.
From a gameplay perspective it makes perfect sense.
(I'll never understand why Racing games don't have enough money and RPG's have too many random enemy encounters. Neither should be too tight or too frequently forced that people complain about it, especially in games with 500 cars or 50 hours of gameplay)
The ______ Agenda
well, then you can just çzé£Yããã
Reading the ./ posts confirm the following facts:
There are two kinds of racing game fans:
* Arcade-type racing fans: Love unrealistic physics and speed, expect their game to break the rules and have a high fun factor. The daytonas, F-zeros, SMKs, etc., fall into this category.
* The Simulation-type racing fans: Love realistic cars/environments/details and expect their game to mimic reality. GT, Virtua RAcing, etc.
I guess I'll stay with the F-zeros and Daytonas... I have enough driving 80 minutes on the highway everyday.
First of all, all the pics that are posted are of Replays, not actual gameplay. This really annoys me because I would like to see what the game looks like when I'm playing, not replaying my run. The game looks outstanding anyway, there is no need to show actual footage of someone playing. Second again the replay mode is shoved don't our throats. Replays are automatic, no way to turn them off, You have to hit start and say exit, "are you sure you wish to exit?" yes. I don't care about replays, I want to play the game. Give me the option to view them so I can see what happened, but don't force them on me. I doubt this will cahnge because it has been like this in the first 3 GTs.
Anyone ever play the old CGA/EGA graphics game Vette? The one where you race corvettes through San francisco running down pedestrians and stuff.
GT4 would rock if it modeled Vette's damage system with the modern graphics. Get wacked on the front left wheel and steering as well as the engine gets damage. Hit hard enough and your engine blows up killing everyone within 30 miles.
Though the realistic damage should be an option as it could turn off many people. It's no fun when you get bumped on a turn and from then on have a max speed of 60mph. Also as mentioned above, some people like to take the inside of the curve, using an opponent on the outside to help them turn faster by wacking them into the guardrail.
I hated the Kudos system in Gotham racing. Racing for capitalistic money is where it's at.
I hope they totally revamp the car customization features in GT4. It was alot of fun but ended up becoming the same exact thing... buy the best parts for you car, race, rinse and repeat.
Can it be confirmed or denied that GT4 will have 5.1 sound? The other changes in the game seem to be fairly incremental, but I found the sound ( and soundtrack for that matter) to be kind of lacking. When I play SOCOM (on my pretty spiffy home theater system), it sounds and feels like my room is in the middle of a warzone, but when I play GT3, that roar I would expect to feel coming out of the sub and just a general audio experience as immersive as the visual and gameplay just isnt there. More cars are nice, I will give you that, as well as what I would assume to be marginally tweaked graphics, but I guess we will not see a revolutionary type game until PS3 comes out. The lack of even a rudimentary damage system (car go BAM into wall at X miles an hour = topspeed - X* FACTOR or something similar with handling) is pretty dissapointing though. Hopefully the physics model will be somewhat improved to prevent 'using' walls and spearing opponents. I guess it wouldnt be GT style to have just a basic damage system, if it is going to be done it is going to be done right. And as for the game being changed to have the races 'closer', have some mercy on us! If every series has to be as grueling and difficult as the vitz professional or F1 series, the level of frustration is going to turn many players away- the scarcity of money in the game prevents you from getting a car that is significantly ahead of the curve of where you are in the game, unless you really just sit there doing easy courses for hours stockpiling cash. I LOVED GT3, and I will buy GT4 regardless, but I am not overly optimistic about it being that much of an improvement. I view this more as a 'track and car add-on pack' than anything. I really doubt I will be gaining 100% completion on GT4 (which by the way, after spending 4 months playing, give me a little something better for my accomplishment than a car I already have, and a chance to watch credits which I have already seen again- How about something cool like putting every car in my garage, unlimited cash, or a totally unique super car, course or something. Note to non GT'ers- GT is NOT a 50 hour game. I would say closer to 250, though that is a very rough estimate). And of course, my $50 will be well spent if for only the online mode. I am very curious to see how that will pan out- I know there are some cars that I grew very fond of, and had tweaked oh so nicely, but as my friends and I soon found out, the only real way to race is with two cars set up exactly the same. I hope the game facilitates this somehow, and they can keep cheating out of the game entirely.
I seem to recall that there were legal issues with quite a few of the car manufacturer's- part of the agreememnt to use such acurate likenesses of their vehicles was that they didn't want them shown all messed up and damaged. This could have been an old gamers' wives tale, though. Personally, I've always felt the game would be much better with realistic vehicle damage. They'd probably have to tone down the difficultly and (greatly) tone up the money received from matches (to cover the cost of repairs), though!
Nothing to see here.
??berou
What are those Kanji?
I haven't played GT3, but I've seen quite a bit. It looks beautiful, and 4 is mind blowing. Does anyone have problems with the engine sounds? The lack of wind/ground noise as a car goes by?
The sounds are bad. If they are going to tout this as a simulator, fix the audio first.
Damage is a must too. I want to flip my car. I want to cartwheel down the infield. I want to blow my engine if I redline too long.
Eat shit é¦é
i agree that the sound should be fixed. as far as damage goes, i think it should be an option. some people may not like or may not be skilled enough to play with damage. if they at least make damage an option on the settings menu, everyone would be pleased. however, graphics have to be done first. because of their complex nature and the need to layer and texture graphics the process is very long. everything must be built around the graphics. sound and special effects are easier and less time consuming...plus they take up less memory on the game.
GT is dressed up like a simulation, but is far from it. Besides the obvious technical niggles like the ramming AI and the lack of damage which destroy any sense of realism (the goal of a simulator, no?) there is the big problem...
The catch-up code. The article says that GT4's catch-up code will be even more pronounced than in the earlier games. This means that no matter how well or how poorly you perform, all the other cars will finish close to you. A slow car will get a magic speed boost to catch up with you, or (maybe worse) a fast car will get slowed down if you aren't up to snuff.
This would be an OK option for an arcade mode, but the GT series puts it in every possible racing configuration. Because all the cars are basically in one pack, the only lap that matters is the last lap, and even then you are really concerned with the last 1/4 lap.
So, the GT series might be a good arcade racer like Ridge Racer and Sega Rally, but it is not anything like a simulation, no matter how many pokemon-like trade up features are crammed into it.