Dear Mr. Yamauchi - A question on features removed from the game.

[Johnnypenso]

Dear Mr. Yamauchi,

Each new Gran Turismo brings a wealth of new features we all enjoy, but it also brings the removal of some small, but to some of us very important features. Some examples:

• The ability to scale the mini-map when driving was invaluable as a way to know who was around you at all times with a quick glance, without having to use the "look back" function.
• The "reset" feature in the car tuning menu that allowed you to reset things back to default settings.
• The availability of a the top speed in the transmission tuning menu when adjusting gear ratios.
• The elimination of the RA menu popup when driving online, allowing tuning adjustments on the fly.
• The elimination of the testing function at the Route X track.

Can you give us some insight into the reasoning behind the removal of some of these features?.

 

[VBR]

It’s always difficult to answer a question about why we chose to do something. When we design Gran Turismo, a lot of it is just based on what we feel is the right decision at the time... I don’t know what will feel right in future games...Every Gran Turismo version is actually very different and made from scratch; we really go back to the drawing board for a lot of things. GT5 isn’t necessarily a continuation of GT4, and the next game won’t necessarily be a continuation of GT5.

Source. 5th question down.

 

[gtone339]

Seems to be a continuation to me...

 

[VBR]

Seems to be a continuation to me...

Tell that to all the Shuffle heads out there!

 

[gtone339]

Tell that to all the Shuffle heads out there!

I would not want to start a war of words with them.

 

[VBR]

I would not want to start a war of words with them.

You sir are a very wise man.

 

[Johnnypenso]

Source. 5th question down.

Good find but I'm thinking he's talking about major features not minor ones that are already in the game and take up no space and require no maintenance or design or anything else. I can't see a reason for losing the ability to scale the mini-map or eliminating the testing facilities at Route X when they were designed and in the game already.

 

[VBR]

@Johnnypenso - He's answer was very general, it could apply to anything regarding GT. I think PD are not very thoughtful, I don't think they consider whether certain features are useful or not, whether their customers like them/rely on them. When he said that "Every Gran Turismo version is actually very different and made from scratch..." I think he is referring to all those little things as well.

It seems as if someone different is assigned to do the HUD for each game, & that's why it's always slightly different. There's no thought as to what made the last HUD good or bad, how it could be made more flexible, or how it can be honed or perfected etc. It's like they're always making their first game over & over again, which makes GT games very hit & miss.

I'm guessing it didn't "feel right" to have Shuffle in GT6 either!

I could be wrong, but that's how it seems to me based on what he said.

 

[chzsln485]

It's like they're always making their first game over & over again, which makes GT games very hit & miss.

That is a really quite incredibly good way of putting it. It explains why, when I played GT2 the other day, it felt so similar, in a weird way. It's like there's no logical sense of progression from one game to the next - they take exactly the same base elements for each game, and remake them, just by adding more cars, more tracks, better graphics, and better physics. I'm not trying to do down the efforts and achievements of PDI (I still think they're great games), but in a way, there's nothing hugely revolutionary about the games after GT1, they just deliver the same ideas but a bit better each time.

I wonder, if you could scratch off the surface of GT6 would you find GT1 hiding underneath? I mean, the same sort of issues that existed back in the PS1 days still exist now (AI and sound, chiefly). It's like trying to endlessly facelift an old car - there's only so much new stuff you can build upon the old base elements of the car to keep it competitive, before you have to eventually rebuild those outdated base elements.

In a way, it's the worst of both worlds - the continuous remaking from scratch means you lose the sense of building on what was right and repairing what was wrong, but at the same time, they seem to rebuild it from scratch on the same underlying premise, as it were - that's maybe why the games have a continuous thread of issues from the first to the last - no proper damage, ropey AI, poor sounds, lack of qualifying and proper race rules, among others.

 

[Johnnypenso]

@Johnnypenso - He's answer was very general, it could apply to anything regarding GT. I think PD are not very thoughtful, I don't think they consider whether certain features are useful or not, whether their customers like them/rely on them. When he said that "Every Gran Turismo version is actually very different and made from scratch..." I think he is referring to all those little things as well.

It seems as if someone different is assigned to do the HUD for each game, & that's why it's always slightly different. There's no thought as to what made the last HUD good or bad, how it could be made more flexible, or how it can be honed or perfected etc. It's like they're always making their first game over & over again, which makes GT games very hit & miss.

I'm guessing it didn't "feel right" to have Shuffle in GT6 either!

I could be wrong, but that's how it seems to me based on what he said.

Sounds great in theory but most of the nuts and bolts of the game are copy and paste from the previous version even if the graphical representation is altered, what's behind it usually isn't. It just seems like stuff gets randomly dropped. Tuning is essentially the same with different graphics yet they drop the "reset" feature. The HUD is the same except for the added tire wear scale, yet they make the mini-map not scalable for some reason. Tuning a transmission is identical, yet they drop the top speed adjustment and forget to alter the speed with which the slider moves in the upper gears.

 

[VBR]

It if were just a case of 'copy & paste', then it wouldn't explain why all those little things go missing, as they'd be copied & pasted along with the rest. If however, they were being written again from scratch, it would explain why some of the elements are now missing.

It just seems like stuff gets randomly dropped.

Yes indeed! Maybe they have a "Random Game Maker" program, they just push a button & out pops the blueprint for the next game & then they go make it. Maybe they have a random update generator too. That would explain a few things!

 

[IfAndOr]

Lordy, I do miss the scalable mini map. I came to rely on it in GT5. There's been a few accidents since it's removal. 👎

It's such a simple feature too, as are the others mentioned in the OP. Why indeed do useful things go missing?

 

[Harsk100]

Sounds great in theory but most of the nuts and bolts of the game are copy and paste from the previous version even if the graphical representation is altered, what's behind it usually isn't. It just seems like stuff gets randomly dropped. Tuning is essentially the same with different graphics yet they drop the "reset" feature. The HUD is the same except for the added tire wear scale, yet they make the mini-map not scalable for some reason. Tuning a transmission is identical, yet they drop the top speed adjustment and forget to alter the speed with which the slider moves in the upper gears.

Also why did they remove the trade option? Can you put that question on OP, please?

 

[Johnnypenso]

Also why did they remove the trade option? Can you put that question on OP, please?

Trading is unnecessary without a Used Car Dealership and with all cars available for sale.

 

[Le_Manuz]

Dear Kazunori Yamauchi san,
from version 1.02 the ability to make changes to brakes or traction control have been disabled in online race
as a real driver, you know that modern racing cars have such adjustments
It's nearly impossible to make an online race with weather changes if those adjustments are not possible
as it would be in real life
please, ask your team to work on that