There is a reason that just about anyone with real life track experience considers the physics in GTS to be near the bottom of the barrel compared to other games such as AC, PCars, Iracing and Race room.
Also there is a reason that you see real life pro racers racing online or doing streams with other "sim" titles but unless it is a promo put out by PD the game studio you never see that type of activity with GTS as compared to the other titles.
Even then when you see the pro drivers it is on a PC based game and not a console based game as the PC opens up so many additional options over the console based version which is limited by the platform itself.
GTS does do many things right, the livery editor I would die for in other titles, the actual graphics are fantastic compared to most other titles regardless of platform. But the driving although I think is made easier with the on rails approach is to appeal to non serious gamers that want an arcade type of game that is not totally arcade.
GTS when it comes to driving physics is on of the least realistic titles out there that wants to call itself a "sim" type of game. The AI in GTS is also a joke compared to the other titles as well, what GTS considers pro AI is basically almost the easiest AI settings in the other titles.
No title is perfect, they each have their strong points but GTS the driving or the AI is not one of their strongest points.
What would be awesome is if all the studios got together and the strong points from each title was put into one game, physics from AC, weather and time from PC2, graphics and livery editor from PD, AI a combination from PC2 and ACC and online matchmaking, track content and penalty system from Iracing.
Now that would be a game that should tick all the right boxes!
Lots of people have plenty of real world experience and enjoy GT Sport also.
My take on pc is that I ain’t buying ALL THAT. I don’t want a recreational experience to include hours upon hours troubleshooting issues, updating software, getting viruses from game mods etc etc etc.
I work hard and don’t have time for that.
For my racing sim game I want to put it in. Then I want to turn it on. Then I want to drive or race. I do not want to have to spend hours adjusting all the overcooked ‘sim’ parameters that so many devotees hold as the holy grail of virtual reality.
Like PC2 when you go out on track on cold tires in a race car, instead of saying “take it easy” imo the pit guy should tell the truth like “ok in this game the devs have made it so that the surface grip is slick as ice for two laps then when you get your tires to temp your pressures will have been set wrong, which will annoy you, not to mention the cars setup is not well balanced which means you have to tune it to your taste before you can begin to enjoy the experience”
I think that having equal playing field is huge. The driving in GT is quite good imo, plenty good enough for a challenging fun race.
In real life you have seat feel, and forces acting on you that unless you are in a quite expensive rig like the ones McLaren uses how much of a simulation is any game really?
A vibration motor is what it is.
So, for me adding more ‘true hardcore sim’ features and settings ultimately detracts not adds to my experience.
When I want to play a sim game I want to press a button and drive.
That’s what GT Sport does, not only that if I feel mellow, I can escape into the livery editor, not only that I can leave the game in and it’s a fantastic background screensaver with good tunes, I’d like to see them add more music at this point though, like a LOT more.
The replays look and work fantastic and those are fun to go over as well.
The game is also like its own little social media platform as well.
One thing I know about it is that if I race online, I will not be racing with people who have spent weeks optimizing their ‘super hardcore reality sim’ settings for their cars, making them impossible to compete with. In GT Sport it’s skill vs skill on a fair playing field.
I don’t know what more a person could ask for really.
There’s a lot to be said for all of this, plus there is more powerful hardware coming out soon for this game like in a year or two which will give them more capability.
The game looks fabulous also on a quality display.
To be honest I am really into driving, but I have zero desire to venture into the ‘super hardcore pc sim reality” world.
This game checks all the boxes for me.
