The fact is to me it's more fun to direct the driver while he makes the basic moves you only worry about directing him in a more detailed aspect. If you haven't tried it don't knock it because after a while driving your own car gets about as monotonous as anything else in the game. Long live B-Spec!!! And thank God GT7 has that option.
B-Spec?
- Thread starter Peter.
- 99 comments
- 11,346 views
Does it?
French interview
When asked on the idea of B-Spec returning, "At the moment of speaking, no" with a smile. Possibly hinting at a later surprise?
Gran Turismo 7 : Kazunori Yamauchi, créateur de la série, nous dit tout ce qu'il faut savoir sur le jeu de course PS4 PS5
Attraction du dernier PlayStation Showcase, Gran Turismo 7 s'annonce comme le retour aux sources tant attendu par les fans de la simulation de course made in Sony. Kazunori Yamauchi, le célèbre président du studio Polyphony Digital et créateur de la saga s'est exprimé en exclusivité à JV s...www.jeuxvideo.com
Also mentions a "meeting point" as a new addition to the online modes where players can meet with details to be revealed later.
- 35,357
- Addison,Texas
- GTP_RACECAR
Yeah, not seeing where that confirms it and I really hope people aren't taking him saying no "with a smile" as some sort of confirmation. That is biblical amounts of optimism just from reading into nothing.
- 3,035
- Kingston, Jamaica
- pj-gm
- PJwasHere876
A big bump, I know, but it is very surprising how little discourse there has been about this given how much of a staple feature it has been since GT4. The very likely omission of it from GT7 altogether is very surprising and a little bit of a letdown.
I think most saw GT4's B-Spec as little more than a gateway to grinding and cutting down the time on endurance races. And aside from the mostly invisible progression of your driver getting better as he accumulated more points (still don't know how this even worked) it really didn't show the true potential of the mode.
That is, until GT5 expanded on the mode immensely. B-Spec was essentially a game inside of a game. Being able to raise a set of drivers with varying styles and skill levels, from cradle to grave (retirement) had immense playability, and even more potential, especially for endurance racing. For a first dip of the toes into the waters of what is effectively team management, it was fantastic of a base to build on and they actually began to do that too, allowing you to run background races against your friends list's drivers for some extra cash. The biggest problems were the carbon copy of the A-Spec races, which was troublesome from a balance perspective, and the AI generally being awful, a GT staple. Things that overall hold the series back in general that could make it way more enjyable if fixed.
The less said about GT6's B-Spec, the better. And now there's none at all, despite all of what they built on in its predecessor. It's a barebones, but fun form of an experience you only get otherwise (and since) from Motorsport Manager. A return to this mode, combined with a more fleshed out series of events and a big improvement in AI, on its own would be a massive addition to GT7.
I think most saw GT4's B-Spec as little more than a gateway to grinding and cutting down the time on endurance races. And aside from the mostly invisible progression of your driver getting better as he accumulated more points (still don't know how this even worked) it really didn't show the true potential of the mode.
That is, until GT5 expanded on the mode immensely. B-Spec was essentially a game inside of a game. Being able to raise a set of drivers with varying styles and skill levels, from cradle to grave (retirement) had immense playability, and even more potential, especially for endurance racing. For a first dip of the toes into the waters of what is effectively team management, it was fantastic of a base to build on and they actually began to do that too, allowing you to run background races against your friends list's drivers for some extra cash. The biggest problems were the carbon copy of the A-Spec races, which was troublesome from a balance perspective, and the AI generally being awful, a GT staple. Things that overall hold the series back in general that could make it way more enjyable if fixed.
The less said about GT6's B-Spec, the better. And now there's none at all, despite all of what they built on in its predecessor. It's a barebones, but fun form of an experience you only get otherwise (and since) from Motorsport Manager. A return to this mode, combined with a more fleshed out series of events and a big improvement in AI, on its own would be a massive addition to GT7.
- 13,899
- Adelaide
- Neomone
There are more motorsport management games than Motorsport Manager, but you're right that they're rare. That's probably a sign of how popular that sort of gameplay is, and probably a big part of why Polyphony hasn't really ever put that much effort into the mode as a management sim.
IMO, B-Spec should have focused first on providing a competent driver/team to support the player for longer endurance races. Anything beyond a couple of hours of real time gameplay should allow the player to tag out with a competent AI driver, one that they can trust will maintain their place in the field. Something like the Drivatar system that analyses and matches the player's performance would seem great, it means that your Bob is only as good as you are, but no worse either. That's interesting gameplay while enabling replication of the longer real world endurance races without making players pee in a cup.
The motorsport management thing either needs a complete rethink or just to be removed entirely. As it stood in GT4/5/6 it was a glorified in-game grinding tool, and that's a crutch that I don't think Polyphony should have available when designing their career modes. GT5 1.0 career mode expected far too much grinding from players to progress, and GT6 1.0 career mode was mostly so bland that even new events felt like grinding a lot of the time.
I think the ideas could be done well, but I think that they'd need such a massive overhaul that they probably shouldn't be called B-Spec any more. Just rebrand it as the Autista system or something. People will make fun of that name as being "the system for autists", but a little internet drama is probably good publicity.
- 3,035
- Kingston, Jamaica
- pj-gm
- PJwasHere876
The success or failure of motorsport manager games is probably just a matter of being a couple decades too late to the party, and an overall oversight for that aspect of motorsport. Hell, we only just got a create a team mode in an F1 game last year, and it's still fairly lacking in overall depth and balance. Also, maybe team principal isn't as glamourized or key as say, a football manager. Fair enough.
B-Spec being completely standalone was definitely one of GT5's big flaws. B-Spec was not able to support you in endurance races, or any races, in A-Spec. If you really wanted to progress and take the mode seriously, it required you to do carbon copy versions of the A-Spec events to upgrade your driver, instead of allowing him to pitch in to support you in your own progress, like a team of sorts. The events weren't suited for the mechanics, and the mechanics themself were ambiguous, all on top of an already poor AI for both driver and opponent.
If it is to remain a standalone mode, B-Spec needed longer races, where the strategy, hot/cold and fatigue mechanic that determined speed and mistakes actually mattered. Instead it was spent mostly doing the same short A-Spec races that didn't give you enough time to win reasonably without overtuning your car to all hell, given the drivers aren't very good. Overall the progression and driving styles were good ideas that needed more transparency and a more tailored mode for it, along with a reason to actually want them, to help with your own career exploits. Fix all that and you've got an all timer on your hands, for me.
GT5’s B-Spec mode Combined into GT 6’s B-Spec mode where you can use Bob for any race you want to farm some credits on, or for simply long endurance races, with some new race attributes that can help in leveling up such as clean corner entries, exits, overtakes, sector speed records, etc. Love the thread btw. Long time GT player here with GT7 anniversary edition on pre order. Playing GT3 A-Spec ATM on a 2003 Sony Trinitron CRT using component cables and it looks better than it ever did in it’s day.
Forgot hood nightmarish the license tests were compared to GT Sport as well.
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- 3,820
- London, Ontario
- voodoovaj
I think it's a HUGE missing option.
I loved the Long real time races, like the 24 hour races. Do I want to play them myself? Not really, at least not without the save function, but I really enjoyed training drivers and then letting them loose on the track.
Let's face it, 99% of the single player events are a bore. Start last and finish first every time, unless you intentionally punish yourself, and no matter what, I can't get into racing against the AI. So, I'd rather train the AI and let it race other AI
I loved the Long real time races, like the 24 hour races. Do I want to play them myself? Not really, at least not without the save function, but I really enjoyed training drivers and then letting them loose on the track.
Let's face it, 99% of the single player events are a bore. Start last and finish first every time, unless you intentionally punish yourself, and no matter what, I can't get into racing against the AI. So, I'd rather train the AI and let it race other AI
