Now this is what PD should have made the Top Gear Test Track Challenge...

F

Fashion Cat

160
spatulaorama
emperor of ammo
Anyone remember seeing this GT5 trailer earlier at the 1 minute mark this year probably got excited that there would be the possibility of racing against the Stig mano-a-mano, toe to toe on the Top Gear Test Track in some of the most exciting racing machinery GT5 had to offer.

Instead, what do we get? Stupid Samba Bus many loathed, a Lotus Elise challenge 90% of the population whined and moaned about, and to finish off, another wagon race which you'd never use them again, ever in GT5.

PD, and Kaz, my friends, we were expecting something more along the lines of these proper automotive challenges instead of that other 3 round noise disgracing the halls of Top Gear Test Track. Here are just a taste of what I would have expected to see. I think translator-san would have a helluva time trying to get some of the English idioms over successfully, but what the hell.

All races held at the Top Gear Test Track with premium cars abiding by Road Legal vehicles. These cars will be 100% stock with sport hard tires. The STIG is your main arch-rival opponent whom you must beat.

Some example duels that I anticipated after seeing that trailer...

Gold: Beat the Stig by a margin of X seconds or greater

Silver: Beat the Stig by a margin of Y seconds or greater

Bronze: Beat the Stig by any margin < Y seconds


3 o&#8217;clock Bar Fight​
(You spilled my pint - OUTSIDE. NOW.)
Subaru STI 2010 Sedan vs. Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X 2008

Sistership​
Maserati Gran Turismo S vs. Ferrari F430

Brothership​
Audi R8 V10 vs. Lamborghini Gallardo LP 560-4

Bring a Knife to a Gunfight​
​

Audi TTS Coupe vs. Nissan 370Z

East Meets West Parts I, II, III​
Honda NSX Type R vs. Mustang GT
Nissan GT-R vs. Dodge Viper
Lexus IS-F vs. Dodge Challenger SRT8

Autobahn Warriors​
​

Part I: Mercedes Benz SLS AMG vs. Audi R8 V10
Part II: Mercedes Benz C63 AMG vs. BMW M3 Coupe
Part III: Audi RS6 vs. BMW M3 Coupe
Etc...

Where Eagles Dare​
​

Corvette ZR-1 C4 vs. RUF Yellow Bird

The People's Race​
​

VW Golf GTI V vs. VW Golf GTI V

In AWD We Trust​
​

Your mix of permanent AWD cars: STI vs. Evos vs. Audis S/RS.

Flat Four Fighters​
​

Subaru STI 2011 Sedan VS. Subaru STI 2008 Hatchback

Godzilla vs. King Kong​
​

Nissan GT-R vs. Dodge Viper SRT10

The Church of V8​
​

Audi R8 V8 vs. Ferrari F430
Corvette ZR-1 C6 vs. Ford GT
Oodles of V8 goodness races can fill this up...

The Way of the Bushido​
​

Nissan GT-R R34 V Spec II Nur vs. Toyota Supra RZ
Mazda RX8 vs. Honda Civic Type R
Mitsubishi Evo VIII vs. Subaru STI 2006 Sedan

My Fair Lady​
​

Nissan 370Z vs. Infiniti G35 Coupe

The Heart of Maranello​
​

Ferrari F430 Scuderia vs Ferrari 458 Italia
Ferrari F40 vs. Ferrari F430

Raging Bulls​
​

Lamborghini Gallardo LP 560-4 vs. Lamborghini Gallardo LP 560-4
Lamborghini Countach 25th Anniversary vs. Lamborghini Countach 25th Anniversary

Showdown at High Noon​
​

Lamborghini Murcielago LP 670 SV vs.Ferrari Enzo
Audi R8 V10 vs. Nissan GT-R Spec V
Ferrari F430 Scuderia vs. Lamborghini Gallardo LP 560-4​

...and the list goes on and on ad infinum...
Honestly this wouldn't be hard at all to implement. It would be set up like a A-spec mode but the only AI is the STIG who will play fair and aggressively, but not screw you off the track like the bunch of mindless AI we see in the regular series - like PD could pull that off (hopefully?). Traction control and other aids could be turned on or off depending on your skill level and other factors could be considered.

The point of these match ups isn't always going to have fair cars vs fair cars. Sometimes you have the upper hand against the Stig with a higher performance car and sometimes you are the underdog but should persevere and have faith!

Now wouldn't you agree racing against the Stig in stock cars toe-to-toe would provide far more interesting challenges than a 50 hp hippie bus? Thought so.
Feel free to add any other match ups you think would be epic and give the title an interesting name!
 
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Agreed!

Some of those challenges you thought up bought a smile to my face:
Godzilla vs King Kong? Brilliant!

These are the sort of challenges I was hoping for too.

So far, I've only done the first Top Gear challenge, and it bored the hell out of me.

Also, as many people have said in other threads, why can't we get a leaderboard challenge where we have to beat the times set on the Top Gear Power List?
 
Wow you put a lot of time into that post. I agree though, it doesn't seem as though much time went into the whole TG test track idea. Something more like what you;ve suggested here would have been awesome.

There seems to be a lot of negative feedback regarding the Top Gear track so hopefully it's one of the the things PD pick up on and fix.

At least the track is already there so all they have to is add new challenges/modes via download

EDIT: Also all of these challenges should take part over a single, standing start lap (as im sure you intended). Or maybe over two or three laps maximum with no more than two cars head to head. The idea of racing a full field of cars on a figure 8 doesn't make any sense
 
CarreraGT
Wow you put a lot of time into that post. I agree though, it doesn't seem as though much time went into the whole TG test track idea.
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I bet you I put more time into my post (about a good 50 minutes to format the text and do simple proofreading because I suck a typing and spelling and make stupid grammar mistakes) than PD did to hire some suchi-poncho-wearing lazy ass to dream up the most pointless NON-AUTOMOTIVE inspiring crap this side of Jalopnik's new swear word.

But thank you for your comment, I really do hope somehow or somewhere or sometime this idea does get picked up. Simple, but really this is what the arm-chair virtual racecar drivers wanted, isn't it?
 
I laughed my ass off at the first challenge! They should hire you to give them some ideas for challenge names ;)
 
Fashion Cat
I bet you I put more time into my post (about a good 50 minutes to format the text and do simple proofreading because I suck a typing and spelling and make stupid grammar mistakes) than PD did to hire some suchi-poncho-wearing lazy ass to dream up the most pointless NON-AUTOMOTIVE inspiring crap this side of Jalopnik's new swear word.

But thank you for your comment, I really do hope somehow or somewhere or sometime this idea does get picked up. Simple, but really this is what the arm-chair virtual racecar drivers wanted, isn't it?
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Haha, you're probably right. I have nothing against the modelling of the track itself, but the whole thing is pointless unless it's used in the same context as it is in the show.

Let's face it there's absolutley nothing special about the track itself, its purely the formula that everyone loves and is what makes the stig famous.

The way it is, it's about as useful as including rally stages in a formula one game. Pointless
 
Fashion Cat
I bet you I put more time into my post (about a good 50 minutes to format the text and do simple proofreading because I suck a typing and spelling and make stupid grammar mistakes) than PD did to hire some suchi-poncho-wearing lazy ass to dream up the most pointless NON-AUTOMOTIVE inspiring crap this side of Jalopnik's new swear word.

But thank you for your comment, I really do hope somehow or somewhere or sometime this idea does get picked up. Simple, but really this is what the arm-chair virtual racecar drivers wanted, isn't it?
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Your ideas are brilliant. PD royally screwed up the TGTT segment, the sheer magnitude of the content that could be dreamed up in a short amount of time would have been awesome. This game suffers from not utilizing on the rivalries that exist within the industry automotive industry, especially the Europeans where manufacturer rivalries mirror those of kings and castles during monarchies of the past. Basically, the Japanese have developed a game that is technically excellent but lacks the personality, heart and passion of people of other automotive cultures. They needed some Europeans and Americans on the team so that these ideas could have been developed.

Edit: What do you mean by "Jalopnik's new swear word"? I'm not getting what you did there despite being an avid Jalop myself...
 
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Some really good ideas! It's pretty evident they didn't bother putting in any real effort with the TGTT section.. it could have been epic..!
 
That original post is Aces 10 awesome!
Exactly the sort of events I was hoping for with the Top Gear Track and more - PD hire this man to do some Top Gear DLC challenges ASAP!
 
Thank you TC.. now THAT is exactly the kind of thought that should have gone into adding the Top Gear licese into GT. I was hoping too that they would open up the entire runway for drag races just like the show. There was so much potential here.. can't believe they wizzed it down their leg with such poor implementation. :grumpy:
 
I take my hat off to you OP!!!

Pure Genius! PURE GENIUS!!! I was expecting the exact same thing when I originally bought the game. I wanted to beat stig! TG did exactly what the viewers wanted, WE WANTED to see a 911 vs a R8. And we EXPECT the same thing if a video game gives us the TGTT
 
It's funny you know bwcause in some of the earlier trailers, you could see the stig in the car. And I'm sure i can remember reading articles that said we would ba able to take on the stig...

This just hit me but maybe there are other (better) TG challenges to be unlocked... One can only hope
 
This is the kind of stuff I thought they were going to do. I mean they even introduce the stig in the cut scene before you start the top gear events......... only to never see him again.

so disappointing.
 
Very very nice idea, and brilliantly done! I too was really dissapointed with the TGTT challenges. I was hoping for a possibility to beat the stig.

I would imagine that this would only work with a Ghostcar. When you would use an actual AI driver people would complain about how stupid he is ("why does the stig keep bumping me from behind???" lol, that didn´t sound right).

A recorded lap of the actual stig driving the actual game would be awesome though.

Another scenario that I would love is your very own Top Gear challenge.

This too could be done with various themes. For example:

Keep on truckin´

The Top Gear production office has asked you to buy and tune a truck and show up at the Top Gear Test Track for a number of challenges.

You can spend up to 85.000 cr on the truck and tuning parts.

Challenge one: Acceleration

A sportstruck is all about Power. Let´s see if you can beat the stig in a race over half a mile in his (insert 300 to 350 hp Sportscar here).

Challenge two: Handling

Did you make the right choices in tuning the truck? Now we will find out! You have to beat the time the stig set with a (insert slow enough and beatable car here) through the slalom course.

Challenge three: Racing

You did great on the first to challenges but this is the one that counts. Beat the stig in a three lap battle, racing your truck against a true legend (for example 300 sl, or other older sportscars that are slow enough to be beatable, but fast and sexy enough to be a challenge).

This is something that could easily be done with the tools that are allready in the game. Nothing fancy but far more enjoyable than samba busses.

Other themes could be as mentioned in the OP, german cars, italian cars, or you could use actual top gear themes like cheap porsche challenge, cheap italian supercars, etc.

What do you guys think?
 
Did you ever thought about the first topgear is for fun?
I mean those challenges are Top Gear style. They do so much ********. Like Airport-Vehicle race or the Bus-Race and so on.

Maybe there will be a second TG challenge. At least i hope so.

But those challenges would be really great!
 
Brilliant post fashion cat, I am really suprised, and really dissapointed at what a waste PD have made of some of the franchises included in GT5.

The top gear challenges are laughable, even one of yours would be 100x better than the dross we currently have.
 
Excellent thread-would love to see these implemented in game, but sadly I doubt it will happen. Why? Well I reckon it has something to do with Mr. Ben Collins.

The opening movie for the Top Gear Event proclaims you can take on the Stig...this was probably what PD planned until Ben Collins. I think they may have thought The Stig identity would have been a legal matter as fall out from Top Gear firing the current Stig (just an assumption-not truth so dont get on your high horses people!), So they revised their original idea at the last minute with one make races in the stupid vans and over frisky Elises which must have been pretty easy to install.

Good idea...poorly executed. Still, theres always the split screen arcade mode where we can try Fashion cats ideas!
 
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CarreraGT
The idea of racing a full field of cars on a figure 8 doesn't make any sense
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The only episode I remember of Top Gear with LOTS of high performance cars at the same time on the track was the challenge of most fuel efficient sports car with each vehicle loaded with only a gallon of petrol and see how far they can last.

Audi R8 V8 FTW. :sly:

I was thinking about standing vs rolling starts and maybe the ones where you are the underdog you may have a head start by 1 second or so during a rolling start.

Also, Ben Collins, you ass. Look what you've done.

Actually it doesn't matter, Perry McCarthy, Schumacher in the FXX episode, and Collins are to the Stig as Roger Moore, Sean Connery, Pierce Brosnan et al are to James Bond.

Just put any random bloke into the white suit with F1 driving skills and call it a day. They don't have to woo women.
 
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In all honesty I hate the Top Gear Test Track, it's boring and flat and driving around cones is not my idea of fun. The idea for the different car match ups is great, but it's all done on that same lame course which would net no fun. One thing though could be cool, is if the show had car match ups that we could do in the game and they also give times set by the Stig for us to challenge. These could be done as online Time Trial downloads, you get the time and possibly a ghost to go up against. Netting you money and possibly paint chips and specially outfitted TG eblazoned cars to show off online.

I still hate the track though, seriously they should find a more interesting location. Maybe multiple lay outs or something to break up that flat deformed figure 8 layout.
 
I agree with these, but at the same time, I love the ones we have.
The Lotus challenge is only getting complaints because some people find it too difficult.
But the Samba bus was just painful. I did, however have many, many laughs at the intersections when I drove the Kublewagon(or whatever its called)
 
Brilliant - very creative challenges. Amazing PD apparently never watched the show even once and didn't incorporate this stuff in the game.
 
NZHippo
That original post is Aces 10 awesome!
Exactly the sort of events I was hoping for with the Top Gear Track and more - PD hire this man to do some Top Gear DLC challenges ASAP!
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we should make a thread about it i would do it but i can make thread just yet.
i want those challenge on gt5 it dont need to be the stig due to copyright issues
but a good AI will work
 
Great post Fashion Cat!
I too hoped for more from the TG challenges but I think most of them can be done using 2 player mode or online, it's just that you don't get A-spec points or money for them.
As for Beat the Stig's lap times mode, tbh I'd probably get bored of that after doing all the licence tests which is basically the same thing.
I'll be doing 1 on 1 challenges with my friends though, it'll be good fun. As will us both buying a low powered old car, tuning it and seeing if it's faster than a racing kart or not.
I think with the track and all the cars available, we can come up with lots of TG challenges, we just need to use our imaginations.
Now back to GT Auto, I want my car converting to run on cow poo!
 
:eek: Has any one tried the advanced special event at the Top Gear track? Who the hell thought that one out!?

Not only have you got to race those pathetic kubbelwagons, but you have avoid a squadron of schwimmerwagons that are driving around the track, in such a way, that they intersect your racing line at the figure of eight point on the track...

This could have only been thought up by a sadist! :crazy:
 
mike3648
Still, theres always the split screen arcade mode where we can try Fashion cats ideas!
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Too bad I’m a solo gamer at my household and only have a single wheel.

SavageEvil
… I hate the Top Gear Test Track, it's boring and flat and driving around cones is not my idea of fun.
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Well it is based off an old RAF airfield I believe and Lotus did the best they could to make an airport tarmac as appropriate as possible for a race track. Since there’s zero elevation, they had to come up with something to give it a distinctive touch, but alas, it’s still really airport tarmac. However the Hamster did comment that the test track is an equalizer so brutal 0-60 acceleration would have lost its advantage in the hammerhead and top speed is neutred in such places as the follow through then closing in with Bacharach. I personally have no qualms with the test track. It is what it is.

One thing though could be cool, is if the show had car match ups that we could do in the game and they also give times set by the Stig for us to challenge. These could be done as online Time Trial downloads, you get the time and possibly a ghost to go up against. Netting you money and possibly paint chips and specially outfitted TG eblazoned cars to show off online.
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I think racing Stig the Ghost woudn’t be as exciting as a right up duel. In a time attack sequence, you have a different pyschology than you would with an actual challenger. Different techniques such as blocking and the driving lines might be a little different.

Also think of the replays, I think seeing two cars go head to head in replays (which is another bane in this game) would be epic of close race matches).

HOWEVER, PD would have to seriously overhaul their existing AI and make it more smart, more realistic, and more believable. I would like to see a dynamic AI where if the Stig has an overpowered car, he may get too cocky/arrogant and make mistakes at the hammerhead or go the way of the Koniesssegggggegegee. If he knows you’ve just spun out, he might have mercy and go a little slower. Something just other than dead end AI which PD have scraped from the bottom of the sim barrel.

xisco44
… i want those challenge on gt5 it dont need to be the stig due to copyright issues
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Why the fear of copyright issues? PD already has the rights to use the Top Gear franchise from the BBC. All they need now is to secure the music of Jessica from the Allman Bros. If we weren’t racing the stig, we might as well just race the already brain dead AI.

but a good AI will work
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Indeed.

TonyLomas
Great post Fashion Cat!
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Thank you.

I think with the track and all the cars available, we can come up with lots of TG challenges, we just need to use our imaginations.
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As much as the fans love to extend it out and make the best lemonade out of lemons, I think these sort of events should have been made available at the get go.

Now back to GT Auto, I want my car converting to run on cow poo!
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Oh don’t go all green peace on me now. :sly:
 
I think we should try to recreate some of Fashion Cats' ideas online. We could take each theme and come up with a series of events, Top Gear style. For example, with the Evo vs. Impreza matchup, there could be a 5 lap sprint around the TG track, a rally test on either Toscana or Eiger (or both), a drag race, etc. It might be hard to organize it all, but if we are all cooperating, then it wouldn't be too bad. It would be getting away from what is strictly seen in the show, but we could have 'teams.' To continue the Impreza vs. Evo example, there could be 4 or 5 people running Evos, and 4 or 5 running Imprezas (try to keep the sides even) with each person scoring points in each event. After all the events, whichever team has the most points wins. What do you guys think?
 

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