B-Spec is infinitely broken, not fun, and isn't racing

[ItWasntMe]

Does the damage Bob does to my cars need to be repaired as well?

I mean, if I stack my Veyron (I did). And I want to repair it (I do). It will cost me 500k at least.

If I repair it, and Bob takes it out and nails it into a wall, am I going to foot the bill?

Thanks.

 

[ratty23]

Does the damage Bob does to my cars need to be repaired as well?

I mean, if I stack my Veyron (I did). And I want to repair it (I do). It will cost me 500k at least.

If I repair it, and Bob takes it out and nails it into a wall, am I going to foot the bill?

Thanks.

There is no damage to repair - its the structural rigidity....
Even if you drive a car round a track without hitting anything, the chassis gets warped and becomes 'loose'
Thats when you need to 'repair' it

 

[ItWasntMe]

There is no damage to repair - its the structural rigidity....

Yes well you know what I mean!

And I know that it will become less rigid over time, but I just wanted to know if B Spec Bob has an accident whether the 'repair' bill will be as high as when I stack it.

That is all.

 

[theewar]

The repair bill stays the same no matter who is driving.

I would have to agree with everything RedSuinit
is saying about B-spec.I also have 6 drivers,one of them being lvl 30 and getting the (A star is born trophy).My other drivers range from lvl 0(just 1 of them) to 20,23,25 and 27,all of them do fantastic work now and two of them can drive for up to 2 hours at a time.I mostly do the Mazda 4 hour race.

About the broken B-spec Driver.............I had a mate over a few nights ago and although he has played some driving games,he would not be as mad about them as I am.He knew I had the new GT5 game and asked if he could have a go.The car he picked for himself was the Zonda-R and the track was Laguna.First turn he was in the sand,got back on the track,next right hander,again in the sand.When it came to him passing other cars he found it hard to get his braking right for the turns and more often than not he hit the AI cars or ended up in the sand..

So I quess I could say my mate is Broken,or it could be he just needs more time playing the game to get better..

 

[dominic280378]

The repair bill stays the same no matter who is driving.

I would have to agree with everything RedSuinit
is saying about B-spec.I also have 6 drivers,one of them being lvl 30 and getting the (A star is born trophy).My other drivers range from lvl 0(just 1 of them) to 20,23,25 and 27,all of them do fantastic work now and two of them can drive for up to 2 hours at a time.I mostly do the Mazda 4 hour race.

About the broken B-spec Driver.............I had a mate over a few nights ago and although he has played some driving games,he would not be as mad about them as I am.He knew I had the new GT5 game and asked if he could have a go.The car he picked for himself was the Zonda-R and the track was Laguna.First turn he was in the sand,got back on the track,next right hander,again in the sand.When it came to him passing other cars he found it hard to get his braking right for the turns and more often than not he hit the AI cars or ended up in the sand..

So I quess I could say my mate is Broken,or it could be he just needs more time playing the game to get better..

So the assumption is that a level 0 driver is someone who can barely drive at all?
I think a lot of the problems people are having is there is no official instruction on how to actually play B-Spec mode. Expecting hours of trial and error is unacceptable and not being able to pause it is unforgivable IMO. When was the last time you couldn't pause a game? the 80's?

 

[Azhur]

Yes well you know what I mean!

And I know that it will become less rigid over time, but I just wanted to know if B Spec Bob has an accident whether the 'repair' bill will be as high as when I stack it.

That is all.

There is no such thing as a damage repair bill. The damage incurred during a race from crashing is repaired automatically and for free after the race. The chassis warping that is repaired in GT auto is caused by the acceleration, braking, and cornering G forces that are encountered during racing. If the car is still handling fine then you do not need chassis maintenance, the same as it was in GT4.

So the assumption is that a level 0 driver is someone who can barely drive at all?
I think a lot of the problems people are having is there is no official instruction on how to actually play B-Spec mode. Expecting hours of trial and error is unacceptable and not being able to pause it is unforgivable IMO. When was the last time you couldn't pause a game? the 80's?

I assume a level 0 driver is someone who doesn't even have a B license yet. They know where the pedals and steering wheel are, but they lack finesse with their inputs and don't know anything about overtaking properly. Fortunately, once you've gone through this period once, you can jump future drivers right up to competency. I think a lot of the problems people are having is that GT4's b-spec was simple set and forget nonsense. In contrast, GT5's b-spec is a race manager mode that you're supposed to pay attention to and interact with. The rest of people's problems are due to the limited and occasionally incompetent AI. Not being able to pause is very odd but hardly game-breaking to me.

 

[RacingManiac]

I had fun yesterday watching Bob driving my S2000 and Miata sideway around Tsukuba....I learned to dial in a ton of understeer for him...he has throttle issue...

 

[curtis_boy]

I assume a level 0 driver is someone who doesn't even have a B license yet. They know where the pedals and steering wheel are, but they lack finesse with their inputs and don't know anything about overtaking properly. Fortunately, once you've gone through this period once, you can jump future drivers right up to competency. I think a lot of the problems people are having is that GT4's b-spec was simple set and forget nonsense. In contrast, GT5's b-spec is a race manager mode that you're supposed to pay attention to and interact with. The rest of people's problems are due to the limited and occasionally incompetent AI. Not being able to pause is very odd but hardly game-breaking to me.[/QUOTE]


He speaks the truth in gt4 the fast forward button was how i managed but now its time to use strategy lol

 

[theewar]

So the assumption is that a level 0 driver is someone who can barely drive at all?

I think a lot of the problems people are having is there is no official instruction on how to actually play B-Spec mode. Expecting hours of trial and error is unacceptable and not being able to pause it is unforgivable IMO. When was the last time you couldn't pause a game? the 80's?

Its not an assumption,its a fact a lvl 0 driver (B-spec mode) is someone who can barely drive and with exp and time he gets better.The lvl system goes all the way to 40.Now I could be wrong on this next bit(correct me if wrong)but my understanding of GT5 B-spec mode is that this is the first time we have real drivers who we interact with.previous GT's yes there was a B-spec mode but I always thought it was the car you gave orders because of the lack of interaction with the Silhouette behind the wheel.This time round you get to pick a name for your driver and decide if you want him to be a cool customer,a hot head or a driver who is somewhere in the middle,You can also pick what he wears.

Theres also an online Manual in GT5 which explains most if not all things to do with B-spec Drivers........I for one enjoy B-spec mode in GT5 a lot more than I did in the previous GranTurismo Games because of all the things I just pointed out above.

 

[dominic280378]

Its not an assumption,its a fact a lvl 0 driver (B-spec mode) is someone who can barely drive and with exp and time he gets better.The lvl system goes all the way to 40.Now I could be wrong on this next bit(correct me if wrong)but my understanding of GT5 B-spec mode is that this is the first time we have real drivers who we interact with.previous GT's yes there was a B-spec mode but I always thought it was the car you gave orders because of the lack of interaction with the Silhouette behind the wheel.This time round you get to pick a name for your driver and decide if you want him to be a cool customer,a hot head or a driver who is somewhere in the middle,You can also pick what he wears.

Theres also an online Manual in GT5 which explains most if not all things to do with B-spec Drivers........I for one enjoy B-spec mode in GT5 a lot more than I did in the previous GranTurismo Games because of all the things I just pointed out above.

The problem is that there are posts from plenty of people on this forum that report level 20 b-spec drivers require as much management as level 4 or 5.
Theres no path for leveling up, no one knows how exactly the driver gets better, a green bar labeled "cornering" moves up a fraction, its too vague.
If B-Spec is intended to simulate managing a racing team they boiled it down to:
1) Pick a random person that can barely drive
2) Pick the color of his clothes
3) Issue 1 of 4 vague commands, that you can't cancel once given
4) Sit and wait and hope

It doesn't paint motor sport in an exactly thrilling light, the fact that it makes up half the content of the game is staggering.
As the title of the thread says: infinitely broken, not fun and not racing

 

[HBR-Roadhog]

The pace up down and maintain instructions are all short term only. If left alone for any length of time Bob will always cool down and drive slower when he is well ahead or behind other cars. He will always heat up and drive faster when he is close to other cars. At low levels he will heat up to the point of wrecking the car.

When you issue a pace up his meter will begin to raise and will continue to do so slowly for several seconds and then will stablize and then if away from other cars will start to drop again. Maintain instruction will cause his meter to stop dropping for a while and then he will start to cool down again.

If you driver is in a car that is a close match you may have to give him lots of instruction to keep him in the front of the pack. If he is in a superior car that can pull away while is is totaly cool then you can goes leave him alone and he will bring home the win everytime.

btw I have not need to give Bob any instructions since the FGT championship race and my last 3 drivers hired have perfect records with 0 instructions largely due to the car they are driving but also because thier skill level is through the roof now.

 

[tinram]

1) Pick a random person that can barely drive
**I pick a driver based on temperament and skill, nothing really random.
2) Pick the color of his clothes
**I would not want him/her driving in briefs/panties.
3) Issue 1 of 4 vague commands, that you can't cancel once given
**Not vague to me, keep him calm with pace down. Pace-up on parts of the track that he seems familiar to not necessarily on the straights. These are suggestions to your driver, they will do what is necessary within their skills.
4) Sit and wait and hope
** no waiting cause you need to do #3, and hope ... of course, you are the team manager.

Finally if you don't enjoy B-spec, you don't need to play it. It's there to have fun not to torture yourselves.

 

[Abriael]

The fact that you simply can't get how it works (quite a feat, since it's rather easy) doesn't mean it's "infinitely broken and not fun", and yes, it isn't racing, obviously it's managing.

Ultimately, no one holds you at gunpoint to play it. There's NOTHING between the B-spec rewards that you can't obtain in other ways. Many enjoy it, if you don't, then don't play it.

The only thing "infinitely broken" are some gamers that expect every single aspect of a game to be tailored around their tastes.

 

[dominic280378]

The fact that you simply can't get how it works (quite a feat, since it's rather easy) doesn't mean it's "infinitely broken and not fun", and yes, it isn't racing, obviously it's managing.

Ultimately, no one holds you at gunpoint to play it. There's NOTHING between the B-spec rewards that you can't obtain in other ways. Many enjoy it, if you don't, then don't play it.

I don't play it anymore, but I've played it enough to have an opinion on it, and as this is a thread discussing the negatives of B-Spec, so I'll provide my opinion on it, thank you very much. As for not getting it to "work", there seems to quite a few people with the same intellectual deficiency as me. Its true that no one is pointing a gun at me and forcing me to play, same way no one is pointing a gun at you forcing you to defend an obviously ill thought out, flawed and pointless game mode.

 

[theewar]

The problem is that there are posts from plenty of people on this forum that report level 20 b-spec drivers require as much management as level 4 or 5.
Theres no path for leveling up, no one knows how exactly the driver gets better, a green bar labeled "cornering" moves up a fraction, its too vague.
If B-Spec is intended to simulate managing a racing team they boiled it down to:
1)

Pick a random person that can barely drive

2) Pick the color of his clothes
3) Issue 1 of 4 vague commands, that you can't cancel once given
4)

Sit and wait and hope

It doesn't paint motor sport in an exactly thrilling light, the fact that it makes up half the content of the game is staggering.
As the title of the thread says: infinitely broken, not fun and not racing

Replace the word(Random) with (someone who a team have been watching for awhile) in perhaps Karting or some other formula and its about right..ok the clothes one is bang on if you think about it,you wont see L.Hamilton <the name of one of my B-spec drivers,who drives for Maclaren,walking around in a yellow racing suit,nor will you see F Alonso walking around in a grey outfit(it just didnt work out first time round)..Number 3>1 of 4 commands,come on we all know about the team orders fiasco,we should be glad we only have 4 orders to give.Number 4.......sit and wait and hope,I dont see much of a difference with this compared to Real life races and teams.on any weekend there is a racing team somewhere doing just that and hoping they have done enough so the wheels dont fall off the car or theres enough fuel to make it to the end of a race.


I should point out that while we where having this chat, 3 of my drivers have been doing the Indy 500 race,200 laps,they have just brought it home now as I type, in 2hours 41mins and apart from the odd increase pace command,about 10 in all,I have had very little to do with them other than enjoy the race from the pit wall so to speak.

 

[thechosenwonton]

I like B-Spec - just started it, but the driver seems to be just fine to me - you have to be careful in not getting him too frustrated, but otherwise, if you direct him well, he'll win in an equal or slightly superior car.

It's also good if I've had too much to drink to drive effectively - I think the B stands for "beer". So just let Bob take over, and it's fun to watch him drive around.

 

[dominic280378]

Replace the word(Random) with (someone who a team have been watching for awhile) in perhaps Karting or some other formula and its about right..ok the clothes one is bang on if you think about it,you wont see L.Hamilton <the name of one of my B-spec drivers,who drives for Maclaren,walking around in a yellow racing suit,nor will you see F Alonso walking around in a grey outfit(it just didnt work out first time round)..Number 3>1 of 4 commands,come on we all know about the team orders fiasco,we should be glad we only have 4 orders to give.Number 4.......sit and wait and hope,I dont see much of a difference with this compared to Real life races and teams.on any weekend there is a racing team somewhere doing just that and hoping they have done enough so the wheels dont fall off the car or theres enough fuel to make it to the end of a race.

we should be glad theres only 4 commands? why not have 2? "go fast" or "go slow"? why not have 1? simply "drive"
The game can't claim to be a simulator and then include a wildly over simplified (and fatally flawed and dull IMO) management mode, that staggeringly makes up half the games content.

 

[porkyw0]

is there any way to make your driver drive a race all day and night without you having to rejoin a race every time he wins??

 

[Str|ke]

B Spec is very complicated, it does take trial and error. I started with one B Spec bonehead who would not take the obvious passes on the inside or out outside, not even on the straights with an overpowered vehicle. He's now level 14. I could not beat the Lamborghini only race with him, kept coming in second every single time. This was infuriating, I got a new driver, who was a little off to the left of the middle personality marker. I ranked him up, and this guy was level 9 and came in 1st on the second lap of the Lamborghini only race with a fully tuned Lamborghini Gallardo, which I also gave to my level 14 guy.

So with that said, the frustration people may get out of B Spec may be due to the fact the driver they consistently use just isn't that good. And their stats are very close in comparison in terms of speed/cornering etc. Level 14 Bob is only a hair above my other guy who's level 11 now. So mix it up with different personality styles. I have 4 people on my team, pretty cool, middle cool, middle hot, and pretty hot.

Methinks name may have something to do with it as well. My level 14 guy is S[olid].Stone, who drives like one, and my other guy is F.Justice. Drives like a pro, just watched him overtake some cars on the Nurburgring, and on London, even attempt to take an inside turn and barely miss a barrier just to pass another racer. Some drivers won't even pass on thin roads.

B Spec takes time, but once you get a good driver, you'll like it a lot more I think. I sure do now.

 

[thechosenwonton]

we should be glad theres only 4 commands? why not have 2? "go fast" or "go slow"? why not have 1? simply "drive"
The game can't claim to be a simulator and then include a wildly over simplified (and fatally flawed and dull IMO) management mode, that staggeringly makes up half the games content.

Now you're just bitching.

If you THINK about it, 4 commands are the minimum. Go faster, go slower, maintain pace, and overtake, is the minimum. Go slower to chill the guy out. Faster to try and get away from the pack, or push your driver to learn more. Overtake to, well, overtake - and maintain pace when you know he's pushing it, don't want him to slow down, but don't want him to freak out and wreck.

Sorry you hate bspec. It DOESN'T make up half the content, at all. Every single race you can do in bspec, you can do in aspec, so that doesn't fly any better than a rock with some wings glued to it.

Some people will just cry and moan about everything - if you don't like bspec, it's really simple - don't play it, you won't miss a thing.

 

[JackC8]

I'm noticing that some B spec guys are putrid, but others aren't terribly bad. My first guy, with the moderate personality, is awful. Second guy, with a cool personality, is fair. Third guy, with the ice cold personality, is actually not bad. I raced him in the Lamborghini Challenge last night (I think it's in Advanced?). First I had him in a Gallardo, which has 90 hp less than the Murciélago, and with a lot of coaching, he managed to finish 3rd. Then I put him in the Murciélago SV, again with a lot of coaching, and he was able to take the win. I notice that the AI cars...whatever. Cars with vastly less horsepower are able to accelerate down the straights and keep up with cars that should leave them well behind.

At the beginning of the race the mood meter gets up in the red pretty quickly, so I usually don't give them any commands. They're very stressed out and probably going as fast as they can already. If you feel confident in the guy, you can tell him to speed up or overtake and he may do it. But a bad driver may just make a huge mess out of it.

After the cars get strung out a bit, the mood meter goes down, and the driver is more calm. I believe he should drive his best when the meter is in the middle, and at that point it's safe to tell him to overtake or speed up - he shouldn't screw it up. If he's driving well with the meter in the red, you can tell him to maintain pace when it's in the red. If he's doing bad, wait for it to go down or tell him to slow down.

You don't want the meter to get into the blue, as he'll start going slow. When it's all the way to the left, he may idle around corners and let everybody catch up to him. Once my guy is in the lead, I usually tell him to maintain pace when the meter is in the middle, or else let it get slightly below the center and then tell him to speed up.

 

[dominic280378]

you're proving my points for me.
4 commands is the minimum and its all we got!
Also, "Every single race you can do in bspec, you can do in aspec", which you think about it, means its half the game!
Look, I gave up on B-Spec, I refuse to go through the frustration of watching my level 7 driver constantly forgetting how to steer a car every time he gets slightly flustered. As for people saying that the drivers get better after level 20, thats like saying that getting kicked in the groin gets less painful after the 20th time it happens, it might be true but I don't really want to find out.

 

[SS_1182]

As for people saying that the drivers get better after level 20, thats like saying that getting kicked in the groin gets less painful after the 20th time it happens, it might be true but I don't really want to find out.

Sorry, that made me lol. B-Spec is a bit astonishing to me in terms of how it is presented for this being a next gen. console game, but it's easy cash after some work. I'm okay with it.

 

[TsLeng]

you're proving my points for me.
4 commands is the minimum and its all we got!
Also, "Every single race you can do in bspec, you can do in aspec", which you think about it, means its half the game!
Look, I gave up on B-Spec, I refuse to go through the frustration of watching my level 7 driver constantly forgetting how to steer a car every time he gets slightly flustered. As for people saying that the drivers get better after level 20, thats like saying that getting kicked in the groin gets less painful after the 20th time it happens, it might be true but I don't really want to find out.

Oh dear, such negativity.

Level 7 is amateur. A new driver paired with an experienced one entering a level 22 race (example is the Extreme European Race) will immediately become level 9(or maybe 7) after one race. Yes, one race. And all he needs is to get on track even if it was just one lap.

The first driver is always going to be a pain. I too was not happy about bob at the Historic car race at Monaco. Few more levels higher and a properly set up car saw him win it by some margin.

Level him up and watch him get better. Just use a faster car than needed for bob when his level is low. That will cancel out his slow cornering/braking etc.

 

[sam_i_am]

To each his/her own I guess. I for one am enjoying it. My B-spc level is 28 now and I'm only 18 in A-spec. The reason is that most of the time, I just want to rest a bit after work and rather than watching some junk TV show (or while watching some junk TV), I let my team bob race. My latest addition (6th, D.Oh) is lvl 14 with 11 wins from 11 races. It is a good money maker when you don't want to race.

 

[ape_ck]

I can't understand this mode at all. The frustration involved with it is so extreme. My drivers aren't even racing. They're just driving with a bunch of other cars on the track. He has the inside line? Doesn't matter, he'll let the car he's actually ahead of through. Chance to pass? No, he'll brake early. Passing on a straightaway? Nah, he'll have a look and then drive back into the rear of the car or just brake instead of trying to pass.

And the best are ovals... Yes, brake on Daytona repeatedly and watch your opponents go past you... Makes a lot of sense. And when he's 75% or more into the red he makes the exact same mistakes at each corner every single time... ramming the throttle before he's even at the apex. Nice to see he's learning anything at all.

It's such a shame. The idea of this mode is great, but it's just so so so so so so so extremely poorly implemented. I can't even believe it's possible for a team to allow it to be this bad. My drivers are up to around level 10 and there's still no improvement whatsoever. I win races handedly in bone stock cars but even when I give them 300HP+ over the competition they still pathetically manage to not even come close to winning in some races.

It's so just unbelievable. B-Spec was fine in GT4.... 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 pace speeds and an overtake button. Perfect. Oh, and your driver actually wasn't a retard with no concept of racing or competition within him. He actually raced at the pace you told him to, did it consistently, and drove like a regular driver would. In GT5 there is no such thing. This is not racing at all....

I mean seriously, am I out of line here? Please tell me how some of you have the capacity to do this... Is there anyone that disagrees with what I've said? I'd really like to hear what some of the people who are enjoying this mode have to say.

What levels are your drivers?

 

[dominic280378]

Oh dear, such negativity.

Level 7 is amateur. A new driver paired with an experienced one entering a level 22 race (example is the Extreme European Race) will immediately become level 9(or maybe 7) after one race. Yes, one race. And all he needs is to get on track even if it was just one lap.

The first driver is always going to be a pain. I too was not happy about bob at the Historic car race at Monaco. Few more levels higher and a properly set up car saw him win it by some margin.

Level him up and watch him get better. Just use a faster car than needed for bob when his level is low. That will cancel out his slow cornering/braking etc.

I'm not being negative, I genuinely don't care about this mode and just pointing out my experience with it. I'm just amazed that its in the game in its current form, you can't even pause it and its over simplified and impossible at the same time.

Its not an accurate simulation of managing a race team (unless managing a race team is telling your driver 1 of 4 things), you can't monitor accurately how your driver is improving (surely if its meant to be a simulation you would work on your drivers weaknesses on a test track before a race, not in the race itself?). If I have to give my driver over powered cars for him to win races then whats the point in leveling up at all?
For a series of games that prides itself on its realism, B-Spec in its current form has no place in the GT series. Its only function is to artificially extend the length of the game.

 

[Instrumental]

My class 26 driver still isn't competent enough to win the cote d'azur historic race. I've tried the Jaguar XJ13 and the Toyota 7 which I used in A-Spec to complete that race and he fails miserably and drives like a moron. I took both cars around the practice track and my b-spec driver runs laps 20+seconds slower than I do. Pathetic.

 

[theewar]

you're proving my points for me.
4 commands is the minimum and its all we got!
Also, "Every single race you can do in bspec, you can do in aspec", which you think about it, means its half the game!
Look, I gave up on B-Spec, I refuse to go through the frustration of watching my level 7 driver constantly forgetting how to steer a car every time he gets slightly flustered. As for people saying that the drivers get better after level 20, thats like saying that getting kicked in the groin gets less painful after the 20th time it happens, it might be true but I don't really want to find out.

Yes your right in the fact that every race you do A-spec is also in B-spec,but are you forgetting the License tests and the Special events?.they make up a good part of the game also.

I understand your Frustration with B-spec when having a low lvl driver,I didnt just jump from lvl 0 to lvl 30.I had to work at it and sometimes felt like my driver would Prefer to get out of the car and walk rather than win the dam race,he made lots of mistakes and I didnt help matters by thinking he just needed more power,although its a smart idea to give him some help in the engine departmemt.

I am not trying to change your mind on the B-spec element of the game,I Personally would like the Ability to keep front tyres and only change rear tyres on some cars,but thats not to be so I just get on and enjoy what I can do.

For anyone who is on the low lvl B-spec at the moment and feeling like its broken or flawed in some way,I can tell you I felt the same way,but stick at it and it will reward you,its not meant to be easy.

 

[B Quiet N Drive]

Given my history in A-Spec mode and in previous GT games, I know the tracks pretty well, as well as how the AI tend to drive them. I'm assuming most people who read this are in the same boat. That being said, put Bob in a car that has slightly more HP than that of the highest "typical opponent", and set him free. I tell him to pace up when he needs to catch a car, and then to overtake when they approach a corner where I know the AI Is a little weak. Once he's out front he's good to go, except sometimes I have to tell him to Pace Up once or twice if they start to close on him in the closing laps.

Sometimes I also put him in a slower car on purpose, just cuz I love watching him drive his asz off for 5th place. EARN THAT MONEY BIT#H.