B-Spec?

[Rexracer702]

I went from GT4 and a PS2 directly to a PS4 and GTS, but I would like Bspec. Good ideas about training Bob and swapping seats. Maybe even multiple B spec drivers and training. Train one smooth and steady, and another fast and agressive and choose your Bob based on conditions. I did use B spec to finish endurance races, though the 24 hours at the Nord was done real time with 2 friends and some common mind altering substances. . Proud to have had the fastest lap that day.

 

[dimassa19]

I went from GT4 and a PS2 directly to a PS4 and GTS, but I would like Bspec. Good ideas about training Bob and swapping seats. Maybe even multiple B spec drivers and training. Train one smooth and steady, and another fast and agressive and choose your Bob based on conditions. I did use B spec to finish endurance races, though the 24 hours at the Nord was done real time with 2 friends and some common mind altering substances. . Proud to have had the fastest lap that day.

There was a kind of Bobs training in GT5. I remember that the more you put a certain Bob to run, the more he gained experience and mental strength.

 

[ShiftingGears]

I'd much rather all their AI efforts get focused on making the AI good before B-spec is considered. Lets not put the cart before the horse here.

 

[NotFujiwara48]

Please noooo

All fair mate lol legit did not know that was a Forza thing!

 

[Rob192005]

Past B-specs were a bit too thin and basic really, give me a more in depth team manager mode and that could be cool.

I agree with this,but make it an option rather than something required to complete the game.

 

[SVPSkins]

It's a must add. I Enjoyed using it in GT4. The newer version in GT6 was good but didn't like the fact A & B Spec was separated. GT6 version allowed players to get a little lazy and use it all the time and complete the game with out turning a wheel so to speak.

 

[RandomCarGuy17]

I never ever want to be back to the GT5 style of B-Spec mode again, making it it's own mode imo was stupid.

I picked an evolution on GT4's B-Spec mode, where you have the option to speed up the races by 3x.

 

[zandvoort]

my b spec drivers won the 24h off Lemans ingt5 it was great fun

 

[Rexracer702]

I agree with this,but make it an option rather than something required to complete the game.

I really don't get this. GT is a racing game. I like to drive, I like to race. It's not a shooter or mystery. I've never worried about completing the game. I've tried to improve my lap times, my finishes, my lines, but "finishing"? Even if I did "finish", you are never done improving. I would never do anything in a driving game just to "finish the game". Personally, I couldn't care less.

 

[Rob192005]

I really don't get this. GT is a racing game. I like to drive, I like to race. It's not a shooter or mystery. I've never worried about completing the game. I've tried to improve my lap times, my finishes, my lines, but "finishing"? Even if I did "finish", you are never done improving. I would never do anything in a driving game just to "finish the game". Personally, I couldn't care less.

I just meant you should be able to choose whether you drive the events yourself or let the bots do it for you and have the same prizes,but yes I guess I did kind of sound like a completionist,not my intention,by all means implement it,but it should be a choice.

 

[GTveteran]

Yeah I agree with a few of the suggestions for an expanded B-spec mode.

I think I would enjoy it quite a lot if it worked like so; Once you as a driver have reached a certain XP level, you can employ an AI driver to train and enter into races. As you and your driver progress up the levels, you can employ and train more drivers and for certain championships, you can enter more than one car and driver and reap the rewards having multiple finishers awards.

The implementation of training by example would be brilliant and if the AI could expand on the players teachings would be amazing but based in fantasy at the moment I think. It does need to learn better/faster and react quicker than in previous games though.

Trading drivers is a good idea too but not an essential. All of this would best be optional not essential for completion of the game, that way the anti B-spec snobs (j/k I know it's not for everyone) don't have to bother with it.

 

[gtone339]

B-Spec mode is a MUST, if Gran Turismo 7 is to include 24-hour races (I can't see why it won't). And the B-Spec driver needs to be much more competent and reliable, than they were before.

This. There's no way we can just drive 24hrs in front of a TV screen and if they reuse GT4's fast-forward feature then its golden!

 

[Lord Protector]

GT4. Best for 24h races where we could switch to B-spec in pits, BUT without the ability to fast-forward time, and it would be nice to have some sort of limit, like 4hrs max per stint, for B-spec at least.

This. There's no way we can just drive 24hrs in front of a TV screen and if they reuse GT4's fast-forward feature then its golden!

No way we can, you say? Should I show you my GT5 progress?

 

[Samus]

24hr races are stupid anyway without damage and mechanical wear. That's part of what endurance racing is all about, not just driving flat out for 24hr with no concerns.

 

[Imari]

No way we can, you say? Should I show you my GT5 progress?

Where you definitely didn't use pause or save features? Did you pee in a bottle or just go on the floor?

Races where a single driver is expected to race for 24 hours straight are daft. This isn't to say that one couldn't design an event around a 24 hour race that was respectful of the player's time and bodily needs, but just that the traditional Gran Turismo way of running 24 hour races is more about how much pain are you willing to endure for an electric participation reward rather than something that's actually designed to be enjoyable and engaging.

 

[Samus]

Another problem with the long races, nobody entering them wants to lose. In real life ~40 teams turn up to race Le Mans, many of them knowing they have a very small, or zero chance, of winning their category. But they turn up for the experience and the challenge that endurance racing brings.

But in a video game, most of that is missing. Who is going to want to spend 24 hours in a video game with potentially zero reward at the end? Nobody except perhaps an absolutely tiny minority. "Oh I came 9th in the virtual 24Hr race, I got enough credits to buy a Ford Focus RS".

So everyone, myself included, always enter the race with a car they know will win, and probably easily.

So in short, what is the point, B-Spec or otherwise?

 

[Lord Protector]

Another problem with the long races, nobody entering them wants to lose. In real life ~40 teams turn up to race Le Mans, many of them knowing they have a very small, or zero chance, of winning their category. But they turn up for the experience and the challenge that endurance racing brings.

But in a video game, most of that is missing. Who is going to want to spend 24 hours in a video game with potentially zero reward at the end? Nobody except perhaps an absolutely tiny minority. "Oh I came 9th in the virtual 24Hr race, I got enough credits to buy a Ford Focus RS".

So everyone, myself included, always enter the race with a car they know will win, and probably easily.

So in short, what is the point, B-Spec or otherwise?

Well, the could just give us a huge amount of experience then so we don’t have to wallride blue moon speedway to get max level.

Where you definitely didn't use pause or save features? Did you pee in a bottle or just go on the floor?

Sorry, I must have misunderstood. Of course I paused the game.

 

[QTheRacer_31]

24hr races are stupid anyway without damage and mechanical wear. That's part of what endurance racing is all about, not just driving flat out for 24hr with no concerns.

I like to have the option to do it even without damage and mechanical wear. It’s not stupid but suboptimal to say the least. If I wanted a full simlike game, I’d go somewhere else for sure as I wouldn’t expect it from GT7.

B-Spec swaps sound good!

 

[Samus]

I like to have the option to do it even without damage and mechanical wear. It’s not stupid but suboptimal to say the least. If I wanted a full simlike game, I’d go somewhere else for sure as I wouldn’t expect it from GT7.

B-Spec swaps sound good!

There is a huge difference between full sim and what previous GT games offered with 24-hour races though, there is surely something in the middle ground possible. What enjoyment do you truly get from driving for 24 hours in a race you probably make sure you can't lose competitively and have no jeopardy in the endurance aspect? Are you just pushing yourself through for the sake of the prize?

 

[QTheRacer_31]

There is a huge difference between full sim and what previous GT games offered with 24-hour races though, there is surely something in the middle ground possible. What enjoyment do you truly get from driving for 24 hours in a race you probably make sure you can't lose competitively and have no jeopardy in the endurance aspect? Are you just pushing yourself through for the sake of the prize?

I take it as a long time trial session haha But yeah with B-Spec swaps it would make more sense and I do agree there’s a reasonable middle ground. Either give the option to shorten races with less credits at the end or make it more realistic with wear etc. However, I’d hate it if it got too real and you retired after 23h30m haha GT has to let you win otherwise the grinding will be madness

 

[GTveteran]

It's definitely a balancing act they have to perform and not everyone will be happy with the outcome.

I think, for the likes of the 24 hour races or anything over four hours as suggested previously then should the player choose to run the race with mechanical wear it will never be enough to be race ending, I.e. damage will be the way it is in GT Sport now if you switch it on in Arcade mode or an evolution of that system. So you'll always manage to get back to the pits and get it repaired. It would be good if the repairs took a realistic amount of time to do as well, so you could lose an hour or more for certain issues. As mentioned before, PD won't let the player have the utter dejection of a retirement in the last half an hour.

As for the rewards, I completely agree that most of the teams go just to take part and this has been a draw to Sport Mode for a lot of people too. But it has never been the focus of a solo career in a Gran Turismo thus far. The emphasis has always been to win and that you can win. So to try and angle the whole game towards the "It's the taking part that counts" ethos would be of great benefit but I don't see it happening. The reward for winning needs to be lower from the get go or there needs to be more incentive for not winning.

Also to get back towards topic, driver changes in the pits will need to be modeled and shown in the pit animations. That will be good to see if it comes.

 

[Imari]

Sorry, I must have misunderstood. Of course I paused the game.

Right, because not doing so would be insane. So really, since any normal player is going to have to pause and take breaks simply because they're a human and they need to eat, sleep and poop, surely it would make sense to include allowances for that in the actual game systems.

If you're going to make a single player do all 24 hours, then at least break it into stints. GT5's save system was a start, but the inability to do ANYTHING else with the game while the race was ongoing was pretty user unfriendly.

Personally, I think that the only reason the 24 hour races even moderately work in GT is that they're so stupid easy. I did a 2.4 Hours of Daytona once, and even trying to drive at 8/10ths for that long with other real people around and multiple classes was incredibly exhausting. Having to actually be precise and concentrate and make no major mistakes for 2+ hours is already a massive challenge for the vast majority of gamers, there's no need to do 24 hours just because it sounds cool.

I think GT would get much more mileage out of 1 to 3 hour races that actually posed some sort of real challenge. If we want to relate it back to the RPG idea, they would be the optional end bosses for the hardcore to grind against. Tune them to be hard and make them events that actually say something about player skill rather than just how long they were willing to put up with being bored. Introduce a new one each month or so. Have leaderboards. Maybe some unique rewards. You know, something to make it an achievement in the real sense of the word rather than the Politically Correct everyone's-a-winner sense.

Casuals aren't going to want to do long races anyway, so it seems like a perfect format to use to appeal to the simracer dedicated to improving themselves.

 

[SlimSlidey]

This. There's no way we can just drive 24hrs in front of a TV screen and if they reuse GT4's fast-forward feature then its golden!

I thought so as well - until @o000o posted this...

In GT5 there was a save feature for endurance races that lets you save the progress and continue later, This is a lifesaver for endurance races.

Honestly as long as GT7 gets either a B-Spec feature, or the ability to save in the middle of long races, I will be a happy camper.

 

[Cayit]

B-Spec...I always liked it.

 

[05XR8]

I like to watch the car go around, while the Bot is "driving". That's the point of B-Spec for me. Live camera action. Also, what's Gran Turismo without watching the replays?

 

[o000o]

This right here. Was acceptable in GT5 at time as no other game on console (That I remember anyway) did swapping out with the AI (Nor allowed swapping out one AI driver for another). Now however, I would much prefer something more evolved. Less GT5 style (Apart from names) and more Motorsport Manager style in terms of stats and strategy. I know, "Eww, a Mobile Game" (Which has a PC version mind you) but you try naming a more recent console game with something similar.

Just asking, in track, was Motorsport Manager also run by pace choice? Albeit also having Engine pace.

 

[RACECAR]

Just asking, in track, was Motorsport Manager also run by pace choice? Albeit also having Engine pace.

You can set the pace of both driver and engine (Both before AND during the race depending on what you are doing), but you don't need to keep selecting which one over and over.

 

[o000o]

You can set the pace of both driver and engine (Both before AND during the race depending on what you are doing), but you don't need to keep selecting which one over and over.

Oh yeah, but GT4 also can keep the pace and not selecting which one over and over unlike other GTs.

 

[MIE1992]

I think B-Spec could return as a way to test how much time is gained/lost with a certain tune, so that you don't have to factor in your own driving line/style when testing a new setting, like if you're fooling around with the gear ratios.

 

[MroczMR]

I have an idea. How about custom race maker which i was talking about in other threads. With option to share races and selecting B-Specs drivers (yours and friends and others) as opponents?