Gran Turismo Sophy Demonstration Reveals a Potential Return of B-Spec

[NTGSruler]

Putting my (1/3) tinfoil/critical thinking/Marty McFly hat on....



This game from the beginning always felt like a long term release from the second known delay. At least to me.

my hypothesis was further conceptualized from that first major Fubar update when Kaz came out and asked the community to view GT7 from a longer view perspective... or something like that*. Not sure if it was the same Fubar update or not, but I know he also responded to the criticism of no endurance races - and he said something more or less to the extent of... "They're coming".


Me thinks that the aforementioned thesis of Jordan's article is what Kaz had in mind at the time of his comment; but like most things in videgameland....it gets delayed a few times, and was a tad overzealous to begin with.


Reflecting back on preceding recent events in post-modern Gran Truismo. IIRC, the first online Gran Turismo Sport even was before the actual release of GTS. Next, the launch of Sophy was before the release of GT7 (which no doubt means that PD had been working on Sophy for a long time before that).

Endurance races in GT7 could be very easily implemented if PD wanted to pursue that route. But my hunch is that was never Kai's vision. And if GT7 is in fact the long release that Kaz said it would be, a Sophy/B-spec/🌶AI/single player manifestation is probably what GT7 Endurance Races would look like...in Kaz's vision. What remains to be seen however, is if past history once again proves itself - and a Sophy/B-Spec GTWS showcase, is just a precursor for the franchise's next iteration.... or if we'll see it in the near future.

The only thing that comes to mind is this: If Kaz is saving all of this for the next iteration in the franchise, then what is left for the coming years for GT7? A couple new cars and maybe a track or 2 for the rest of GT7's lifecycle? That prospect doesn't sound too promising.
They could perfectly implement endurance races if they wanted. Without a B-Spec mode.
Reading the article it sounds that B-Spec indeed is not going to be for GT7, although.. You never know.

 

[furryboy96]

This is the discussion thread for an article on GTPlanet:

Gran Turismo Sophy Learns Tire Management and Fuel Consumption, Surprising the Sony AI Team​

A new, experimental version of the Gran Turismo Sophy AI system was just revealed at the GT World Series finals in Amsterdam, and we had the chance to sit down with the Sony AI research team to learn more about what’s new and how it works...

One step closer to the AI revolution lol

 

[Eggstor]

I hope we get to enjoy Sophy before she is recruited by Scuderia Ferrari.

Or Penske (take your pick on the IndyCar, NASCAR or IMSA operation).

 

[ruestchiva]

Custom races with Sophy embeded in them would be incredibly good for this game. I feel that it could help create so much awesome content. Hopefully they'll allow it one day.

 

[snowgt]

There's certainly a lot of possibility for using Sophy to grow GT as a game.

On the other hand, the biggest short-term improvement for Sophy would be, if she wouldn't think the other cars were the size of a Fiat 500 and side-swipe you on every occasion.

 

[crooky369]

Or Penske (take your pick on the IndyCar, NASCAR or IMSA operation).

Does it know how to use Push to Pass then?

 

[suomi1]

That's all well and good. But in my opinion they should concentrate on fixing the main game AI first.

Fix the rubber banding on custom races, the pre race gaps between cars when choosing rolling status is bugged if you try to change it from the default and reverts to 5 metres, the erratic pitstop behaviour with changing weather etc.

I couldn't agree more with this.

Probably an impopular opinion, but here is my take on AI Sophy. It wasn't developed by Polyphony Digital for GT7 to start with, sometimes it feels when I read some posts that Sophy is treated as a due. No it isn't, that is just a bonus feature to please players who asked for it.

An IMO, Sophy is actually holding back GT7's potential and a lot of QOL elements that GT7 could benefit from. Like the ones quoted above. I wouldn't be surprised too if B-Spec mode and endurance races are greatly delayed precisely because of this.

Pepper races already shows that Polyphony's AI can be effective when they want it to be.

 

[kilesa4568]

For one reason or another, I stopped playing GT and even deleted the game when I needed space. Poignant moment given the time spent on it...

What I'm really missing right now is GT's gorgeous good looks but hearing that there's a version of Sophy for B spec has got me drooling! I'll finally get to scratch my racing itch again.

 

[Auditore]

The progress is slow but it is happening and it's impressive how far the AI has progressed in these last few years.Hopefully there is another limited Sophy dlc next year with more scenarios

 

[TheGhostOf94]

Revolutionary jump in customization, too, as in the Livery Editor after GT spends a long time as a racing game without it.

One thing is for sure, PD has addressed the majority of our concerns from the previous entries in the series, starting with GTS.

I am looking forward to the A.I. improvements. I believe we will be able to experience the improvement with this generation of PS.

 

[Eggstor]

Does it know how to use Push to Pass then?

One can't spell "abuse" without "use".

 

[JTB10000]

Custom races with Sophy embeded in them would be incredibly good for this game. I feel that it could help create so much awesome content. Hopefully they'll allow it one day.

I'm confused about why they can't do this now. They can just disable fuel and tire wear and disallow customized cars until Sophy is able to handle those things. No reason really to limit how long they can race for other than PD really wanting to stick to the script they set up for these races.

 

[Jump_Ace]

All I want to know is: 1) if we can have Sophy train us like trophy.ai to be faster and 2) will it eventually replace all the AI for offline races (with selectable difficulty).


Jerome

 

[the Interceptor]

Sophy AI learns and surprises Sony AI team. So this is how Skynet starts.

 

[o000o]

An IMO, Sophy is actually holding back GT7's potential and a lot of QOL elements that GT7 could benefit from. Like the ones quoted above. I wouldn't be surprised too if B-Spec mode and endurance races are greatly delayed precisely because of this.

It's obvious, B-Spec also involves.... AI.

Sophy is for B-Spec too.

 

[Jordan]

This is the discussion thread for an article on GTPlanet:

Gran Turismo Sophy 2.1: Behind the Scenes with Sony AI​

Gran Turismo 7 Update 1.57 introduced yet another surprising upgrade to GT Sophy, the sophisticated new artificial intelligence system designed for the game. GT Sophy 2.1 is the most ambitious release yet, allowing players to use it in custom races with player-tuned cars. We had the chance to speak with Sony AI researchers Dr. Kaushik Subramanian and Dr. Takuma Seno to learn more about version 2.1 and how it works...

 

[sonnyboychris]

Great interview and some good information. The developers are obviously passionate about their work and it shows.

It's good to know that they're soliciting ideas/critique from the forums. That being said, I hope they can allow for 1+ human opponents against Sophy Agents.

 

[JTB10000]

Thanks for the interview!

I'm hoping for one with Kaz to at least bring up the confusing mess that is the AI boost system in this game, since the Sony AI team said before that it's PD's side that's causing it. It really holds Sophy back and puts the legitimacy of its speed into question since you can never have race with them based on pure pace; there's always something in the background speeding them up or slowing them down no matter what boost option you have.

 

[FGBraz]

They're genuinely passionate about Sophy's development, and so am I. But despite all of its improvements and the "weak boost" workaround, Sophy still makes terrible decisions when it comes to pit stop timing, such as changing tires on the penultimate lap and pitting again for fuel instead of saving it.

 

[05XR8]

I’m not perturbed about changing weather conditions. I figured they'd(PD&SAI) get to it when they get to it. I’m more relieved SAI are actually reading the feedback we’re all delivering.
Those of us playing with. SOPHY pretty much agree on the same points due to having same results. However, slight variations in what we each feel is fun stemming from various player skill level.

Overall, those of us playing with SOPHY agree the agent is a hit and each future version of SOPHY is only goofing to improve player race experience. Excellent insight, @Jordan. I do appreciate the communication channels you continue to keep open with developers. Good stuff!

 

[snowgt]

The progress they're making is great, but I wonder when they will address the problem of sideswiping. Basically, Sophy seems to believe its car is always the size of a Fiat 500, so when it overtakes you, it tends to drive into you, because there's still overlap. I can imagine though, that this sort of behaviour might be quite hard to get rid of.

Also, it seems to me like Sophy is only able to "see" one car ahead and one car behind, so it gets somewhat erratic when there's a lot of cars close together. This might be due to a lack of available processing power though.

 

[evldave333]

The objective is brilliant, I dont care how long it takes to refine this system. Just a shame that this level of attention was not lavished on the GT interface which is (after so many updates) a real scattergun mess overlaid on a decent game.

 

[Old_Setzer]

Is nice to see Sophy progressing constlanty.

Is really a game changer, and can't wait to see the future veresions of it.

Thanks for the interview, is really cool to see the team behind this feature talking about it.

 

[snc]

Would ask questions why there is need for weak boost hack to give Sophy any pace?

 

[Theufcveteran]

Would ask questions why there is need for weak boost hack to give Sophy any pace?

PD's hardcoded rubberbanding applies to Sophy with boost set to off. It's the same rubberbanding that hits the regular AI, boost on weak just really loosens it and also gives Sophy what seems like more pace.

 

[bliprunner]

Sophy is great.

But as others have said, let’s turn the rubber-banding off please.

 

[georgetigra]

They must fix the issue with the tires! I have sport tires on my cars but in the custom Sophie races the tires change to the stock tires of the car

 

[fardoche]

Overall it is enjoyable and I like where it is going.

My hope is that this is the precursor of a challenging single player campaign for an upcoming major updates / GT8.

They also need to incorporate some personality to each individual Sophy racers. Have you try a one make professional sophy race? It looks like a procession, like a shoal of fish, Skynet controlling the herd. With different variant of cars, it is not an issue.

 

[POWrider62]

I like sophy 2.1 custom races. But I am really looking forward to option of racing with Sophy in the rain 🌧️⛈️
Any idea if this in pipeline ??

 

[ZedNinetySix]

This is the discussion thread for an article on GTPlanet:

Gran Turismo Sophy 2.1: Behind the Scenes with Sony AI​

Gran Turismo 7 Update 1.57 introduced yet another surprising upgrade to GT Sophy, the sophisticated new artificial intelligence system designed for the game. GT Sophy 2.1 is the most ambitious release yet, allowing players to use it in custom races with player-tuned cars. We had the chance to speak with Sony AI researchers Dr. Kaushik Subramanian and Takuma Seno to learn more about version 2.1 and how it works...

Sorry, but in my experience with it, it's just not that good, and 100% overrated.

Sophy drives in a train with no difference in driving style between them, and often sand-bag themselves down the straight for you to get an easy pass... also I've had some really bone-headed divebombs happen to me taking out me and some others others a hanful of times already in hairpins.

Honestly the non-sophy standard Ai with Boost set to weak is far better to race with than what Sophy has been dumbed-down to, it's disappointing. The great potential is there inside of it, yet they choose to seemingly give it brain-damage.

It did not feel like I was racing against people.
Not anjoyable to race with, sorry.👎🏻