Graphics aside, modern racing games are unrealistic...

The game has to be set on easy, if you turn it up to hard/realistic settings its much more difficult.

That game does look beautiful though.

 

in defense of the designers/developers, remember that this is a GAME first and a SIMULATION second. these guys make a zillion tradeoffs every day during the design-develop-refine cycles to make sure it's FUN. if it's a pure simulation, it's not gonna be as much fun as if it's a game.

fwiw,
doody

 

The Driving Events in GT5 Prologue are actually not races as much as they are challenges. For example, this one happens to be to gain the lead in one lap around Suzuka. Others are pass these three fast cars in two laps, hold this guy off for a lap, etc.

I also, no offense, find it strange to cover 'modern racing games,' let alone GT5, with such a blanket statement judging from one Youtube video.

 

You're reviewing a videogame, you've never played and only by watching a clip on youtube? Perhaps you should try prologue and refrain from posting about topics you are so detached from.

 

The game looks good, but the sound effects and engine noises really suck.

Why can't they make them sound real too? They all sound like sewing machines.

 

Played the demo at Wallyworld the other day with a 599. Felt lame.

355 challenge was a great game/simulator

Old school hard drivin' is still fun.

 

just to make you feel better about the game, picture Michael Schumacher in the F40 and and the rest of the cars driven by 4 year olds.

 

The AI is often the weak link in racing games, but many PC versions allow you to alter the code to tweak their abilities.

If you want realism, get off the Playstation and try this game on a PC.
http://gtr-game.10tacle.com/index.php?id=246&L=1
Without traction control it is a real challenge. You can set the opponent difficulty past actual.

Or if vintage open wheel is more to your liking.
http://www.amazon.com/Sierra-Sports-Grand-Prix-Legends/dp/B00001LCDH
Jackie Stewart is reported to have tried it and said it was harder than a real car. It sold poorly because it took hours before a new driver could even complete a lap.

 

I played GT5P extensively this past weekend, and to be honest...

I completely disagree.

Go actually play the "GAME" for an extended period of time, and then come back to this thread. Here are some key points:

1) After playing the game, it is clear that this person has set the AI level to the easiest setting. You can tell as the other cars are clearly not using full throttle at any point in the race...

2)As has been said, this video is not a "race" in the classic sense of the word. It is a specific set of circumstances that you are presented with and asked to overcome.

3) Either he is using a wheel/pedal to play, or he has set the in-game traction control to a med-high level. In my time playing it with a controller, I used no traction control until I got to the supercars. I found that not using the traction control made the beginner and intermediate level vehicles act as they should... in predictable fashions, and could quite redily tell a difference in vehicle dynamics between the RWD, FWD, and AWD vehicles. Once I moved on to the supercars I was required to turn the traction control on to a low level simply because the playstation controller cannot offer the level of throttle control a steering/pedal control can offer. Had I such a device, I would have left the TC off.

4) The game may be touted as a "racing simulator", but it is still, first-and-foremost, a game. Some concessions must be made so that the players that don't have the same passion for racing as we do can still find value on the game.

5) This is technically a DEMO for the full version of GT5, which is not due out until next year. Therefore there is a very good chance that much of what will be learned from GT5P will be implemented into the full version of the game.


The driving dynamics are a very large part of the game, but again some concessions had to be made. The developers of the game MUST compromise because one of the most fundamental aspects of "driving dynamics" is being able to feel how the vehicle is actually moving. This cannot be translated to your couch so you can feel it in your back end.

I would say, IMHO, they have done the best job to date of approximating the driving dynamics of all these different vehicles. GT5P is far superior to any of the previous iterations, and I'm expecting it to be even better in the full version.

 

Ah yes, Grand Prix Legends! It was hard to master but once you got it it was so much more satisfying. I only managed to do well at Silverstone and Spa. Too bad they didn't make a Vista version.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L023Gxp4pWM&feature=related
amazing!

 

I played Grand Prix Legends for many years, participating in several on-line racing leagues. Although I have drifted away from it now, there is still a very active GPL community. Many user-created mods have been made that have updated the original graphics to a very high standard, created hundreds of add-on tracks, and several add-on carsets. I particularly enjoyed the historical factor. If you're interested in sim racing, you could do a lot worse.

Another sim with high realism is rFactor (www.rfactor.net), which also has quite an active user/modding community.

- Eric

 

The Gran Tourismo series never was a simulation and never will be one, no matter what Sony claims. If you want a sim, play the Simbin/Blimey games or rFactor.

 

Virtual cannot begin to compete with reality until you get to The Matrix technology levels.

In my years with the Gran Turismo series of games I've probably had a few hundred crashes that would've been fatal or at least permanently disabling in real life. Somehow I survived them all with no damage to the cars, and even went on to finish the races. Once in a while I actually won.

The psychological difference between actually risking your life or simply wasting some free time on the couch is staggering. Even the most realistic simulator won't actually kill you if you brain-fart a corner on a mountain track and clip a rock wall at 120 mph.

So IMO, the point is moot.





That said, GT has come a long way. I was so delighted when they tuned up the dive and squat levels in GT4 to make up for the fact that the couch doesn't react like a real car (yet) , it really added more realistic difficulty to the game. I felt like I had to re-learn how to drive.

The best thing about GT is how it rewards fluid movements and balanced inputs. This allows the driver to really flow. I always set my personal lap records when i ignored all the data on the screen and fully concentrated on not ham-fisting it.

I haven't played Prologue yet. Perhaps I'll post more when I do.

- Josh

 

that comparison video is incredible!!

hell... even the silhouette of the tree lines are exactly the same!!!

hehe... now go play, and be amazed...

 

That is awesome!

 

I love Grand Tourismo, and it is a game, but a hell of a good one!

I think the shot you are looking at is a demo, that is shown to get you excited about all the passing etc.. how you too can wipe the slate clean.

Having played GT for a long time, I can tell you if you have the AI up high, its reall hard to win from behind... one mistake and you are toast.

that being said its not a complete simulation, but pretty close, you have to be smooth, and delicate to do a great lap, just like the real thing... I have done a 5:34 at the Nurburgring... I dont know if that is possible in real life, if it is I would not want to be in the car when its happening... I think the point is that when compared to the other GT cars and AI that is the competition, and I find it just as stimulating as being out on the real track. for one, if I crash in GT all I have to do is re set the game... in real life, I would NEVER get anywhere as close to 10 /10ths just to be sure I keep my car in once piece.... so I say yes to GT! play the game, its not exact but close enough, and the replays alone are worth playing the game.

 

Not all video games should be completely realistic. Sure, this one could go for a reality check, but imagine an FPS (first person shooter) in which you die after one shot?

Now that wouldn't be much fun. Neither would a racing game where you'd need to make over 500,000 to get a car that could actually win races.

(I haven't played Prolouge since I'm too poor to afford a PS3 but it looks like a great game)

Andy