Gran Turismo 7's New Deep Forest Layout Revealed in 4K Cockpit Video

[Monkey Man]

It was certainly a bit out-there.

 

[Grand Prix]

I do wonder if the people who designed the GT1-4 tracks are still with PD, and they just got told to take a different direction, or they've all left now. I suppose if I weren't lazy I could look at the credits, but ah well.

I did some digging, here is what I found:

Bolded red are employees who were involved in the original Gran Turismo. Bolded blue are employees who worked on GT4, and returned for GT Sport.

Spoiler: GT1 Credits

GT1 Course and Movie Design

Masaaki Goto
Kazumichi Otsubo
Sanae Ebihara
Miho Kato (never returns)

GT1 Art Design

Masaaki Goto

Spoiler: GT2 Credits

GT2 Course Design Staff

Masaaki Goto
Kazumichi Otsubo
Sanae Ebihara
Michiko "North River" Kusaba
Hiroshi Samatsu
Shinobu Sawamura
Takako Hirato
Junichiro Kurata

Spoiler: GT3 Credits

GT3 Course Design Director

Hiroshi Samatsu
Shinobu Sawamura
Takamasa Shichisawa

GT3 Course Design Staff

Youichi Takahashi
Tsubasa Yokoyama
Sanae Ebihara
Takafumi Kagaya
Michiko Kusaba (not the "North River" anymore)
Tomi Kambe
Junichiro Kurata
Kouji Miyata
Takeshi Ikegami
Satoru Takasugi
Akiko Yamazaki
Hiroshi Takeuchi
Kazumichi Otsubo

Note the absence of Masaaki Goto in GT3.

Spoiler: GT4 Credits

GT4 Landscape Design Director

Hiroshi Samatsu
Takamasa Shichisawa
Junichiro Kurata
Shinobu Sawamura

GT4 Landscape Design

Tsubasa Yokoyama
Sanae Ebihara
Michiko Kusaba
Masaaki Goto
Youichi Matsumoto
Tomi Kambe
Koji Miyata
Takeshi Ikegami
Satoru Takasugi
Nodoka Kinsho
Madhab Ghose
Akiko Yamazaki
Akira Saito
Kaori Takahashi
Nobuo Minegishi
Yoshimasa Tsuchiya

Kazumichi Otsubo is missing here.

Skipping to GT Sport.

Spoiler: GT Sport Credits

GT Sport Landscape Design

Hiroshi Samatsu
Junichiro Kurata
Satoru Takasugi
Akira Saito
Tomonari Kai
Takaya Naito
Kenichiro Yasutomi
Mizuki Kitajima
Umito Koga

GT Sport Stage Design

Kojiro Ishii
Tsubasa Yokoyama
Takeshi Otani
Yukari Sekizawa
Masaaki Goto
Shinsuke Ito
Mihoko Suzuki
Yoko Onagi
Hiroshi Kashiwagi
Yuhei Noda

GT Sport Landscape Design Artist

Tomi Kambe
Sanae Ebihara
Youichi Matsumoto
Koji Miyata
Shinobu Sawamura
Takeshi Ikegami
Nodoka Kinsho
Madhab Ghose
Kaori Takahashi
Nobuo Minegishi
Koichiro Maeda
Satoshi Hitomi
Shota Inui
Kotaro Tamura
Hitomi Hatasawa
Hirokazu Ichii
Tatsuhide Tanaka
Reiko Shimada
Koki Ishibashi
Takafumi Maja
Hiroyuki Yamamoto
Momoko Furugori
Chikako Koga
Eriko Saita
Yoshika Torii
Eriko Nagatomo
Yuka Yoshida
Yuji Kondo
Yoshifumi Kurokawa
Miho Tanaka
Sayaka Iwasaki
Raji Hattori
Reiko Jotaki
Naoko Onomae
Rumiko Asada
Takuma Nakagaki
Mie Irokawa
Seiichi Dekura
Guo Lu

Of the four original track designers of GT1, only two worked on GT Sport.

 

[Samus]

Interesting, so certainly there hasn't been a wholesale change, but maybe we'd need to dig deeper to see who specifically designed each track. But given that the same names have remained throughout, albeit on and off, it seems that it was more a direction from higher ups to change their approach, and maybe the limitations of the PS3 was what led to some of those bland tracks.

 

[LegendofGT]

So if the trailer lines were done because Deep Forest is going to be in the game.....does that mean Apricot Hill is back too?

 

[BrunusCL82]

So far I'm wondering why this revolutionary and modernist spirit of changing what was going right. The PD (Kaz) were supposed to keep what was needed to keep, and change only what needed to be changed.

How difficult is it to keep the original track as an option, called the Clubman Circuit, and just add extensive sections to name the GP Circuit?

Anyway, that's it.

 

[AlexWilmot]

So if the trailer lines were done because Deep Forest is going to be in the game.....does that mean Apricot Hill is back too?

Not confirmed by PD yet but identified in trailers

 

[Auditore]

High Speed Ring seems to have kept most of the original design.Curious to see a full lap(I'm expecting for that to be the next one or Trial Mountain)

 

[Shakengandulf]

High Speed Ring seems to have kept most of the original design.Curious to see a full lap(I'm expecting for that to be the next one or Trial Mountain)

You think they'll do another video?
Personally i think they will, they have nothing to lose. We know the tracks are coming and GT7 needs all the hype leading up to launch.

 

[Daniel55]

After watching the video a few times, I can't get over how bland the first portion of the track looks now. They should definitely add back the overhanging tress, maybe even add some variety to the overall scenery (right now there's mostly one type of tree - hardwood, while in the original there are coniferous as well). Also, some cemented portions/hills should be (re)converted in rocks/cliffs, to give the track more originality. The last portion with the tunnels looks good in my opinion, from a design point of view.

Edit: spelling

 

[666666]

I ready don’t get why people are saying that the new track look is so bad, yes the scenery has changed since deep forest was last in GT so do things change in real life tress fall or get felled. Maybe the trees have been cleared for safety’s sake. As for the course layout and feel/ look ect courses change to . I for one don’t like the modern layout of silverstone between Stowe and club and Abey,also there are other tracks that have been changed over the years, so maybe we should just try and enjoy having this track back for a new game , I look forward to give it full beans in a digital car I will never get a chance to drive in real life.

 

[Greycap]

GT3 looked so great. The color pallet, contrast, atmosphere, visual clarity, and performance are all better than GT6, IMO. A ton of the visual effects are totally contrived, but honestly I think it looks better. I always thought GT6 looked washed out and muddy.

GT3 is oversaturated, overcontrasted, and overall very much on the "art" side of the colour palette to provide eye-catching visuals. GT6 does indeed look washed out because that's how such an environment looks with realistic lighting. Probably not much of a longshot to guess that it is the reason for the style change.

 

[Daniel55]

I ready don’t get why people are saying that the new track look is so bad, yes the scenery has changed since deep forest was last in GT so do things change in real life tress fall or get felled. Maybe the trees have been cleared for safety’s sake. As for the course layout and feel/ look ect courses change to . I for one don’t like the modern layout of silverstone between Stowe and club and Abey,also there are other tracks that have been changed over the years, so maybe we should just try and enjoy having this track back for a new game , I look forward to give it full beans in a digital car I will never get a chance to drive in real life.

Because it looks bad (the first portion). You can't say that the trees were cut for safety reasons because it's a game, that aspect doesn't apply here. Also, there's no point in bringing back a track loved for how it looked and played if exactly those bits are changed. I don't have problems with the new layout, but the new design of the first part has almost 0 originality. Also, criticism sometimes is good because it lets the developers realize what the players want.

 

[CBH]

I ready don’t get why people are saying that the new track look is so bad, yes the scenery has changed since deep forest was last in GT so do things change in real life tress fall or get felled. Maybe the trees have been cleared for safety’s sake. As for the course layout and feel/ look ect courses change to . I for one don’t like the modern layout of silverstone between Stowe and club and Abey,also there are other tracks that have been changed over the years, so maybe we should just try and enjoy having this track back for a new game , I look forward to give it full beans in a digital car I will never get a chance to drive in real life.

After I saw the vid a few times Deep Forest look pretty good with the changes, I can not wait to drive on the circuit.

 

[LeGeNd-1]

After letting my initial emotions simmer down for a week, I think what really irks me the most about the changes to TM and DF is, they have full ability to include the old layouts alongside the new one, but chose not to. I can forgive the scenery changes. I don't mind having an alternate layout. But why does PD have to bulldoze the old layout and just replace it with grass/campground/trees? They do not conflict with the new layout at all.

 

[Grand Prix]

Interesting, so certainly there hasn't been a wholesale change, but maybe we'd need to dig deeper to see who specifically designed each track. But given that the same names have remained throughout, albeit on and off, it seems that it was more a direction from higher ups to change their approach, and maybe the limitations of the PS3 was what led to some of those bland tracks.

It could be because of the decision making above them, yes.

I also noticed that the GT4 guys are greatly outnumbered by newer employees, although the order they are listed in the credits suggests that they are in more senior positions. I could see this having an impact in brainstorming sessions with all the track designers, assuming they have brainstorming sessions in the planning stage.

Something else I thought about is, perhaps most of the GT1 tracks were the brainchild of Kazumichi Otsubo who is no longer there to oversee the updates being made?

Or perhaps these renditions of Deep Forest and Trial Mountain are what Yamauchi always wanted, and waited for Kazumichi Otsubo to leave the studio before applying changes?

 

[dacc10]

Wonder if/when we will get a first look at Apricot Hill, similarly to what happened with Deep Forest.

As tracks go, there's one thing that stands out: most of the fictional tracks in GTS have wide roads, and the same can be said for GT7. This might just be a design choice to accomodate Sport Mode more than anything. Similarly to what happens with other genres, like FPS games, those maps (tracks) end up being shaped more with the online/competitive modes in mind (pretty much with balance in mind) rather than "fun" or "uniqueness". Which, on one side is undestandable, on the other it's a shame, as that kind of track does not suite every car. If Alsace wasn't as wide, it would have been one of the better tracks in the game for slower cars. Instead, it's a track that doesn't really suit slow cars, nor super fast cars.

Hopefully, they see the criticism, and realize that many players want something other than conventional tracks.

 

[JTB10000]

I wonder what Kaz liked about Deep Forest in the first place since the most interesting and fun parts of the track have been changed and smoothed out.

Oh well, they aren't going to make changes to their many hours of work or add a whole new layout just because some people on a forum are angry and requesting it. And we're probably going to race these tracks to death despite the disappointment anyway lol

 

[05XR8]

Well, at least with the van driving on the bridge, looks like a legit way into and out of the circuit.

 

[Monkey Man]

Oh well, they aren't going to make changes to their many hours of work or add a whole new layout just because some people on a forum are angry and requesting it. And we're probably going to race these tracks to death despite the disappointment anyway lol

True dat.

 

[dacc10]

I wonder what Kaz liked about Deep Forest in the first place since the most interesting and fun parts of the track have been changed and smoothed out.

I assume he liked the smaller corners after the main straight, as they are mostly unchanged.

 

[Samus]

This is where their silence can be frustrating. Any other studio bringing back classic content might create a blog post explaining their rationale on everything - why they chose this track over others, why they made the changes, etc. They might even make a video to do so. PD on the other hand upload a gameplay lap and....that's that. Draw your own conclusions why they did stuff as usual.

Someone might ask him in an interview at some point but it'd be nice if we got info without prompt for a change. Instead we got those "Behind the scenes" videos that were just pointless waffle.

 

[Daniel55]

I wonder what Kaz liked about Deep Forest in the first place since the most interesting and fun parts of the track have been changed and smoothed out.

Oh well, they aren't going to make changes to their many hours of work or add a whole new layout just because some people on a forum are angry and requesting it. And we're probably going to race these tracks to death despite the disappointment anyway lol

Not really. If they look for player feedback, they might make some changes. During the GT Sport beta, some props on the Nürburgring (cars, tents, trees) and many from Dragon Trail Seaside (rocks, trees and a lot of props from the last sector, including the buildings) were changed.

 

[Auditore]

This is where their silence can be frustrating. Any other studio bringing back classic content might create a blog post explaining their rationale on everything - why they chose this track over others, why they made the changes, etc. They might even make a video to do so. PD on the other hand upload a gameplay lap and....that's that. Draw your own conclusions why they did stuff as usual.

Someone might ask him in an interview at some point but it'd be nice if we got info without prompt for a change. Instead we got those "Behind the scenes" videos that were just pointless waffle.

I noticed this a few years ago but Kaz/PD and Rockstar Games have a very similar way of dealing with media and fans,i wonder if that's because both of them are old studios

 

[dacc10]

Not really. If they look for player feedback, they might make some changes. During the GT Sport beta, some props on the Nürburgring (cars, tents, trees) and many from Dragon Trail Seaside (rocks, trees and a lot of props from the last sector, including the buildings) were changed.

Those are small things that don't need that much work, as they are outside the track. On Deep Forest, many of the complaints have been directly related to either the layout of the track, or how wide it is.

 

[Destroy321]

Watching the new Deep Forest video I understand why the tree is getting smaller with the new logo 😅
But there is still no overhanging tree like the one in the logo in the new Deep Forest...

 

[Adrenaline]

Each new video or gameplay I see of GT7 is more and more disappointing. Today I watched gameplay of "Ride 4" and the graphics were mind blowing in my opinion. GT7 looks like a lazy reskin of GT6, not even Sport.

Seriously, watch this video, and compare it to anything you've seen of GT7 so far.


I pray I'm wrong. I love GT, and I don't play motorcycle games. Everything in GT7 so far, looks like it was CGI'd and shoved trhough a snapchat filter. It looks less real and more fake than Sport.

 

[Monkey Man]

Looks great but the lack of spray from rear tyres is a huge oversight and should be fixed ASAP.

Impressive.

 

[FPV MIC]

Looks great but the lack of spray from rear tyres is a huge oversight and should be fixed ASAP.

Impressive.

Also, the lack of any actual rain drops when it's raining

 

[ArR29]

Each new video or gameplay I see of GT7 is more and more disappointing. Today I watched gameplay of "Ride 4" and the graphics were mind blowing in my opinion. GT7 looks like a lazy reskin of GT6, not even Sport.

Seriously, watch this video, and compare it to anything you've seen of GT7 so far.


I pray I'm wrong. I love GT, and I don't play motorcycle games. Everything in GT7 so far, looks like it was CGI'd and shoved trhough a snapchat filter. It looks less real and more fake than Sport.

I think the combination of overcast, rain, wet road can make any game look "photorealistic'', it also hides a lot of imperfections. Ride 4 is less impressive during normal or sunny weather.



and that footage is from a replay btw. I couldn't even imagine someone driving with a camera constantly moving without getting motion sickness.

 

[CBH]

Also, the lack of any actual rain drops when it's raining

And the bike movement seems to be a bit erratic at times, and it which will cause nausea.