GT4 drift review = 3/10

[hurricane_r]

heres my overall summary of GT4 drifting:


*before you flag me*

i have had sevral cars in real life that i have drifted
i am a very good drifter on LFS (physics of the year award)
i drift GT3 very often and love it,
drift any other game with a decent physics engine and genrally play only car games.

so i see my self as a car - sim - enthusiest,
and i know within 20 seconds of driving the game, if its junk or decent.

also - i understand race lines,
brake throttle and counter-steer,
weight transitions
and suspension setups / physics
so im not a noob whos simply having difficulty drifting in this game

I read alot of imformation here about setups teqniues and so forth..
so i throw on the GT4.

so i brought the s14 aero. i tune everything to max except turbo, limiting my power to 350hp but with the engine response of a modded engine, brought all of the "n" series tyres,"to test all" and went to a track and spent about 2 hours tuning and changing my setup,

i pulled off various drifts, which slowly got better once understanding the diferent ways of drifting in GT4, but was still disapointed after pulling a nice long drift. which should never be the case.

i did manage to pickup the very fake, weight transitioning controll teqnique
and noticed also that to only countersteer so much, not to full lock * and to use both analogs for precise application of both steering and throttle.

i noticed it feels very often as if the LSD is failing at lower speed and one wheel just spins, then suddenly like someone pressed a button car starts sliding?

SNAPBACK in GT4 has been applied wrongly to the physics, its almost like a spinout button, but yet in real life it can be very much so controlled with countersteer, in GT4 its overruled, in more that most situations, giving a very fustrating and un-realistic feel to the drift scene.

GT3 drift gives you that feeling of "oh that was one PHAT drift holding a nice line and giving loads and loads of throttle.

GT4 drifting does not feel correct, feels very very weird. feels like the physics arnt setup for it. feels like the game shouldnt deserve to have D1GP cars! thats for sure...

I rate this a overall 3 / 10 for drifting physics and i feel i have everyright to do so, and i am confident many other car - sim - enthusiest will agree with my score.


overall outcome

GT4 is alot harder than GT3 to drift, but its very possible, the ability isnt so much focused on the setup as it mearly assists your drift style on GT4, infact most of the setups here designed to help are genrally personal settings , which are marely useless to one-others personal style, so make your ownm, and gain a feel for your car

you can definatly pull of some decent drifts, lines and nice transfers, theres no doubt about that, please dont get me wrong.

but its lacks a certain feeling the GT3 drift gives, a feeling after drifting that makes you feel awesome, a feeling that keeps me going back to GT3,

 

[articzap]

This has been discussed before. Overall I agree with the fact the LFS is the most realistic to drift in. I don't agree completely in some of the stuff you say. For one instance snap-back. If you get the feel for your wheel, if your using one, it is not that bad, you just got to get the hang of it. I never experience it anymore. GT3 as you say gives you an awesome feeling after completeing a drift, which IMO it should because its so easy. In GT3 all you do is pull ebrake for a split second and bam perfect drift, not real. You shouldn't keep going back to GT3 just because its easier, instead play GT4 for about 4-5 months with a wheel and you'll love GT4. Now I'm not saying that GT4 is the most realistic, but I'm also not saying its worse then GT3.

I give it a 6/10.

 

[Greycap]

and to use both analogs for precise application of both steering and throttle.

This one sentence took the bottom off your review, it was a good one but there is one small thing to be considered. This game was built to be played with a steering wheel, the DFP was specifically made for GT4.

The physics engine gives the player pretty much nothing on the DS2. The front wheels can't be directly controlled, only a general direction can be given - the game calculates the steering angle. Often it fails quite miserably, but with a wheel the player car directly affect the angle of the wheels, making possible very small movements with greater finesse than the DS2 would ever allow for.

I speak from experience, many cars were nearly impossible for me to drive with the controller and I don't consider myself to be a bad player as I've completed the game with the DS2 winning everything winnable. Still, the DFP was the first thing that made the game feel like driving a car. Steering, countersteering, it all really takes more than just moving a thumb for two millimeters. Snapbacks are greatly reduced as the feeling of the rear regaining the grip is there. All the movement of the car can be felt. And only then the game gives the player all it has to give.

What do you play the LFS with? A wheel? If so, don't judge GT4 without one. Sure, it has its flaws but quite a bit of them are overcome with a proper way of controlling the game.

Just my humble opinion,

- R -

 

[hurricane_r]

have to say i agree on the wheel thing...

 

[nk4e]

Though I don't agree with you but, its just a game. The PS2 itself has its limits, Im sure that PD has some HD version that is hooked up with 4 different PS2's at the same time but also. Buying a Wheel for GT4 is like spending 100 dollars for the Mech controllers for a mecha game on the Xbox. It just won't work unless you have that certain controller. I bet that if GT4 did had a drift mode that we all wished for, the graphics will completely change because there is too many factors to consider( same goes for regular racing). If I will, even though I don't have a wheel. I give GT4 at least a 7. Since you made a Review of GT4, how you tried Enthusia or Forza at least? Or part 2 of Forza ? There are other simulators
like this video

 

[Wolfe]

It's true that over-correction in GT4 is a bit less of a problem with the wheel, but everything else is the same. In fact, some of the problems can become more apparent.

I pretty much agree with hurricane_r's "review," though I also agree with articzap that GT3 was a bit too easy -- the transition between grip and slip was too soft, and the whole game felt somewhat vague.

 

[Ske]

For some weird reason I keep thinking that GT4's flaws help make it challenging in a way... what you lose in real life fear factor and g-forces is compensated for with a very unforgiving physics engine. If a driving game has true to life handling, drifting could become too easy since you're not subject to the physical danger/fear of it.

That being said, some of GT4's shortcomings are just plain annoying.. One example is what you mentioned about weird LSD behaviour at low speeds, making pushing the car through a low speed high angle drift near impossible... this is also related to the donut issue, so if they could just sort that out for the next GT I'd be happy (I have a feeling that this would also make suspension tuning more predictable)

I'd love to check out Forza for a comparison, but at the moment I can't spend the cash for a new console AND a new wheel just for one game (nothing else on the Xbox has caught my eye). Now, if they could only make the DFP work on the 360... :\

 

[DG5 DRIFTER]

Really if GT4 added a clutch I think that would sum up alot of issues like low speed corners making a drift go longer and I think it would stop alot of tire burnouts and stuff so really I hope the next GT will let the g25 come in 100% use

 

[Suzuki]

just adding a clutch wont change the game physics enough for it to be more realistic. yeah it would be better, but still no ability to do donuts and whatnot.

 

[AyJay]

sorry, but what is LFS?

 

[articzap]

Live for speed. Its for the computer and deff the most realistic as far as physics go. Graphics leave something to be desired.

 

[DG5 DRIFTER]

just adding a clutch wont change the game physics enough for it to be more realistic. yeah it would be better, but still no ability to do donuts and whatnot.

your kinda right now i see your meaning the lsd.oh yeah the lsd is weak when you try dounuts it feel like its worn out but lower speed corners you can have a clutch to help on that and yeah gt4 would be sweet with a clutch.

 

[DG5 DRIFTER]

what do you mean by snapback ? any drift machine can snap back if your and amature so please explain to me what do you mean by snap back?

 

[Wolfe]

what do you mean by snapback ? any drift machine can snap back if your and amature so please explain to me what do you mean by snap back?

What he means is that the snap back is too strong/too much of a problem/too easy to run into, compared to real life.

 

[articzap]

Its not. Thats what happens when games can not emulate the caster setting.

 

[Sheron]

Drifting in GT3 was far too easy. GT4 is more realistic than GT3 but still away from the real life.

Despite the bad points, I prefer GT4 over GT3.

 

[Wolfe]

Its not.

So...you don't think it's a problem.

Thats what happens when games can not emulate the caster setting.

So...you do think it's a problem.

I don't get it.

 

[articzap]

Its not to strong. If the GT4 emulated caster properly it would feel right.

 

[AyJay]

Hey, i heard some forza 2 developers or something saying that if you run it at 50Hz the physics don't work properly. That got me to thinking, if there was some way to play GT4 in 60Hz, would these "weird drifting physics" problems be solved? Is this even possible?

 

[Stanley^Carter]

PD is definitely capable of creating one hell of a Driving simulation game out there, I'm sure they already could since GT4.

It's just that they aimed for the bigger market, that's why GT4 feels really weird in the end, its not a full out sim, and it ain't arcade as well.... simply... ewww...

I'm still looking forward to GT5. I hope they'll just go all out and make it a true sim, like what LFS and RBR has done. It'll be a wet dream come true.

 

[greg_slideways]

i agree with stanley i think they should make a full out sim and for ps2 and ps3