GT4 License Tests: I Give Up

[chinko]

i cheated in GT1, GT2 and GT3. it ruined them. in GT4 i havent cheated once. sure its hard as hell, but the satisfaction of winning with style is great. i loved the elise races as i had to push harder than ever to win.

 

[Flerbizky]

Well - You all know this I'm sure - but I'm typing it out once more for Prince Charles.. Not just doing, but actually MASTERING the licenses will make you GT4 life a lot easier later on..

Back in the days when I got my Chn version of GT4, I just bronzed through the licenses, which isn't all that difficult.. Sure, there was a glitch somewhere which made me get a Silver, but that was is.. Bronze all the way baby.. And when I came to Mission 34 in mission hall, I was stuck. I was sure I would NEVER beat that one.. I came as close as 12 seconds, but that was it... Then a snowboarding vacation came in the way and I came home to a PAL GT4.. - Where I'd previously decided to Gold each and every license and finish off Mission Hall before doing anything else...

So after I've golded each and every license in the PAL version, and spending quite some time on S16 (190 Evo II at Nurb), and finally getting gold, my attention was turned to M34.. And guess what - it wasn't a breeze, but far far far easier than my previous attempts. Why ?.. I don't know, but what I think is - in License S16, you get to push the 190 Evo as far as it'll go, with no room for errors.. It's on race tires, it sticks to te track like a hungry baby to a tit, but you can't fail - one off and you're back to start.. In M34, you're in, basically a racecar, on street tires, but what I've learned from Mastering S16, and not just breezing it, made all the difference.. - so stick to your Licenses - They WILL pay off !...

 

[YuRiPa]

I'm trying to get all golds now. But can't seem to get gold at A-13, the one with the Skyline from 1994 at Trial Mountain. The time for gold is 44.600, closest I was is 44.615. So, I'm close, but just can't manage to do all turns right in one try. It's frustrating, but I won't stop before I get my gold medal there. And the Trial Mountain guided lap run (test A-15), with the Mazda 6, have to get 2m05, had 2m05.700 today, but can't see where I should win those 0.7 secs... But with this one also, won't stop before I have my gold medal. But some tips for these tests are welcome.

 

[Flerbizky]

I'm trying to get all golds now. But can't seem to get gold at A-13, the one with the Skyline from 1994 at Trial Mountain. The time for gold is 44.600, closest I was is 44.615. So, I'm close, but just can't manage to do all turns right in one try. It's frustrating, but I won't stop before I get my gold medal there. And the Trial Mountain guided lap run, have to get 2m05, had 2m05.700 today, but can't see where I should win those 0.7 secs... But with this one also, won't stop before I have my gold medal. But some tips for these tests are welcome.

I had a signature not too long ago saying something really awful about Skylines.. I was stuck in the same test, and I probably did it a hundred times before I finally beat it by 0.3 seconds....

And yes, I'm a slow learner

Just hang in there, you'll get it !...

 

[JohnBM01]

First things first. The more you worry about 100% completion, the more frustrated you're going to be. If you started your own business, do you worry about being the best in your country, if not the world? Start slow, then gradually increase the pace until you are ready for the major leauges. Even Audi struggled in Le Mans 1999 before the VW/Audi group has won every Le Mans since 2000 (Bentley is part of the group as well, 2003 LM winner). Let the game come to you. Race as hard as you can without making too many mistakes or pit at a bad time. In GT, if you're going to be a bigtime success, you'll have to evolve. How you get to that level includes getting used to any new tracks, game engine changes, new features, and such. That 100% completion will come eventually. You'll get there as you get better with each race. Exercise patience and concentrate. It's the only way you go from Sunday Cup all the way up to Gran Turismo World Championship. Most important, have faith in yourself. One other recommendation I'd suggest is for you to look up a kart racing track. Why so? Read below.

I used to race at Houston Indoor Kartzone here locally (formerly "Davy Jones Kartzone," from the 1996 24 Hours of Le Mans winner Davy Jones). When I raced that go-kart around the tight course, it really reminded me of how important car control and driving skill matters. Some of those skills came back to haunt me when I first played Gran Turismo 4. I think as I got to understand control from a racing machine without a suspension setup, without a transmission setup. Now I'm a bit more confident in racing cars correctly around courses whether in real life or in video games. So if you can, find a go-kart track near you, go do some races, learn about control, and try to apply your learnings to GT4. It's recommended, but it can help.

By the way, I don't cheat. I'm clean.

 

[YuRiPa]

Finally got my gold medal for test A-13 with the Skyline at Trial Mountain Blind Cornering. Had 44.576s or so. I just had it, but I'm happy. After some 5 hours or so, finally a gold medal. Thereafter, I tried A-15, the guided lap at Trial Mountain with the Mazda 6. After a while, I had a time of 2m05.045s, where I needed 2m05 for the gold medal. Then I got a 2m05.013s, and some time later, I got a 2m05.001s. Missed the gold medal by 0.001s... Never was so close. Still don't understand how I can get a time like that, missing the gold by 0.001s... That's rather good actually... But I went on, and eventually I got 2m04.975s or so, and I got my gold medal there too. Me is happy.

 

[chug-a-bug]

Well, after barely passing my iB licenses I'm pretty much stuck on most of the iA licenses, let alone any of the S licenses. I've decided to just plain give up and load a cheat save game as it's no longer fun to try to hone my driving ability past a certain point to continue on with the game.

When the game came out, I went nuts with my gameplay time and eventually I have completed and gotten silver or higher in all the B and A licenses. Recently, I just spent hours trying to get halfway through iA license after spending hours squeaking through with bronze in the iB license.

I admit that I'm obviously not as good as a driver as everyone else who has gotten gold or silver or whatever on all the licenses. I don't have a problem with that pecking order. I'm just tired of trying over and over again to get those licenses instead of doing what I really enjoy - racing and buying cars and tuning them.

I'm about 55% complete with the game and my only obstacles are the races that require licenses I don't have. I love the racing aspect but have truly grown to hate the licensing portion. For years and with all the other GT games I used to preach "license tests teach you how to drive!" but to me, it's clear that in GT4 this is not the case.

I will have a TON of fun racing and winning a challenging course with my ASM and TCM-off car for 100 aspec points but when it comes license time on the same course, I can't even score bronze. That's frustrating and really, not fun to me anymore. I feel no pride anymore from squeaking through a license with all bronze, only the sadness of wasting hours and hours doing routine busywork instead of racing like I want to.

Once I had a pride level with GT2 and GT3, thinking I could muscle and sweat and strain my way through all the races and through all the licenses. Get all the cars and all the colors for my garage, and whatnot.

I just can't do it with GT4. Maybe I'm just getting older and I covet my spare time more than I used to when I played those older GT games and run those license tests 1000 times to get Gold. Maybe my skill level has decreased. Maybe my TV is bigger or my wheel is more sensitive. Whatever the case is, I'm tired of fighting with it.

Sadly this means I gotta wipe my save and load up a downloaded Xport save with all licenses and a trillion credits, and start over. Cheating yes, but to me, it means getting more from the game and increasing it's value.

Dude I feel your pain, really I do. Yeah, I'm getting old too (hit 40 this year) but it is possible. It ain't easy, but it is possible.

Yep I've played all the GT games too right from the 1st one and I've got to say that the licence tests have got harder over time, GT 3's were the hardest IMO. GT4's are very difficult to get gold, but bronze is a whole lot easier with over 10 seconds between silver an bronze in some races they've definately made it easier to pass, if not to Gold.

I've just got a copy of the game and before I've raced a single race I decided to go in for the licences. I spent a day going at 'em all and passed 'em all (mostly bronze, a few silver and the odd gold) up to the last 2 on the I-A but while I may not have many silver, and even less gold, I did at least manage to pass most of them fairly quickly, even the I-A licences. The only 2 that are holding me up are the last 2 - yup, you've guessed it, the Nurburgring.

Theres always something that holds you up, in GT 1 it was Grand Valley Speedway in the TVR Griffith in the International licence - man I was stuck on that for an eternity. I almost used a cheat in desperation myself it was that bad. But after an awful lot - and I mean a lot - of practise passed it eventually. Man I can still remember watching the replay over and over I was that chuffed.

I guess what I'm trying to say is - keep at it and it will come. Eventually. The Nurburgring will probably stump me for many hours yet but I'll pass it eventually. I may not get a gold, in fact I'm sure I won't because I've never managed a gold at international level in any of the GT games, ever, but hey, I don't give a crap. I'm just not that anal to want to spend hours trying to shave a 100th/second off my best time. Anyone who says "if you can't get gold you shouldn't be playing" can kiss my arse! I simply can't do it, not get all golds anyhow. Not even in the national B licence tests. And you know what? I don't give a ****! It's just entertainment. It's not for real. Would I want to be a real racing driver and drive the Nurburgring at 200+ for a living? No way! I just don't have the talent for it. My talents lie elsewhere. And I don't have a problem with that. It's other people who do.

All the best.

 

[YuRiPa]

Actually, the Nurburgring tests are some of the easiest tests in the game. When I first saw these tests, I thought they were gonna be tough, but the time limit you have to make for bronze is very easy.

The trick to pass both Nurburgring tests:
Just drive carefully, don't go off the track, brake wherever the Pace Car brakes, if you think you won't make the turn, just brake.. I did it that way the first time and immediately got bronze, with 9m32. Now I have gold with 8m50 or so. So, that one is easy, and for all licence tests bronze is pretty easy to get. Just don't give up. Have just got a gold medal at test A-13 and A-15, was trying A-13 for in total 6 hours or so, eventually you'll get what you want, and it is learning how to drive the right lines, it helps you, definately. I'm happy the licence tests are still in the game, they're fun to do, and it adds to the realism. If you wanna race is real life you need licences in order to be able to race, that's with GT4 too. That's good.

 

[shedao]

Even though this thread has been posted to death I think i'll chime in to add my two cents:

Quick lap times are more than just hitting the gas and steering. It's about going slowly through every track building up slowly until you are at the limits of the car. By the end of a lesson or practice session you should know everything about the track you are racing: Landmarks, corner entry and exit speeds, the limits of your car on that track, etc. You'll know how to win on that section of track against equal opponents.


There are times in the game when you can use simple brute force approach and win, such as when you enter a race with a car that easily outperforms the others. But this is not always going to be the case. These license tests teach you how to out race other drivers that are in equal cars using solid proven techniques, how to recover from mistakes without costing you a race, and how to learn a track using landmarks. Very important stuff if you want to win.

 

[Neutralgamer01]

The license tests are far easier than GT3, i was expecting a real daunting task but i was suprised to discover that the licesnes are not hard to pass, to get gold though takes some time

 

[hispeed]

Here I've been using half a day trying to get silver on National-A coffee break test. Got exactly .001 behind and finally went on in raw frustration, just to discover that you get the price car for silver/gold without passing silver/gold in the coffee breaks.......

 

[YuRiPa]

Yup, the Coffee breaks aren't necessary to get the prize cars. But count the number of medals you can get by your status. That's 80, (5 x 16). So, with coffee breaks in it, it would be 5 x 17 = 85. So, no need to get golds or silvers at the coffee breaks.

 

[JohnBM01]

The Coffee Breaks don't count for Gold. As the descriptions goes for the first Coffee Break, "It's time to take a break and recharge your energy. We call these fun, relaxing stages 'coffee breaks.'" My thing is, I don't know if I'd race through a series of license tests and drink coffee afterwards . But these are here to provide a little break from the License Tests. The best thing about these is that you don't have to be at a very slow pace in order to pass. You can spend 2 minutes on the National B-License Coffee Break and still pass. They are there for fun. Now, the Super License Coffee Break is a pretty fresh idea, but may tick you off trying to knock over all 50 cones.

I've improved my Silver Count from 30-something to 66, but only have 4 Golds. Just take it from me. These tests are basically in the manner of "easy to learn, difficult to master." I tell no lies on this.

 

[Flerbizky]

The Coffee Breaks don't count for Gold. As the descriptions goes for the first Coffee Break, "It's time to take a break and recharge your energy. We call these fun, relaxing stages 'coffee breaks.'"

Which is exactly why I haven't gotten a single Bronze in the Coffee breaks.. Knocking over cones doesn't really do it for me so I haven't even tried once...

 

[Killg0re]

Played teh S-License yesterday, found it a bit harder to complete.
Now i have the ring left, but that will have to wait till this weekend.

But to get through the laps, with the 1st try, drive "slow" not max, this will also give you a change of getting known with the car. When finished, you'll have a ghost replay, then try to drive harder, every lap, try to time nibble some time of the finishing time.

for me it gave me bronze the 3rd or 4th time...

 

[YuRiPa]

Played teh S-License yesterday, found it a bit harder to complete.
Now i have the ring left, but that will have to wait till this weekend.

But to get through the laps, with the 1st try, drive "slow" not max, this will also give you a change of getting known with the car. When finished, you'll have a ghost replay, then try to drive harder, every lap, try to time nibble some time of the finishing time.

for me it gave me bronze the 3rd or 4th time...

Hey fellow Dutchie.

Most tests can be done with your first try, certainly the Bronze is easy to get. And don't worry about S-16, that one ain't that difficult, just drive carefully, stay on track and you'll get the bronze. I've got gold on that one. But that was after I spend a whole afternoon trying mission 34, so I now know the Nurburgring track very well. Indeed, drive slowly the first time is a good advice, but it isn't particularly needed if you wanna get the bronze medal. In order to get the golds, it's necessary to first drive a good solid run, and then to improve it by carefully watching the demonstration run. But most tests I got the bronze medal at my first try, except some. Specially the cone slalom is not one of my best.. Wonder how to get gold on those two cone slalom tests. Any tips for those are welcome.

 

[Wiggalowile]

I just do a first try cruising, then on my second try I'l push harder in the start and more carefull halfway and from there on I just keep trying to beat the ghost.

Usually my first round puts me 20 under bronze and from there I take of 3-5 secons per try sometimes more!

I'v saved all my ghosts from when I'm done racing, only then I'l go for gold.

 

[Robin]

I seriously cant do the last Ia licence (the one with la sarthe and the nissan).....I will need to do this quite soon as ive done all the races that dont need any higher than Ib!!! I always mess up on the corners...once I got close to about 100th of a second but its not enough.......can anyone help??

 

[TruSake]

CHEATING??? CHEATING???

That's the way to go buddy! If you can't beat 'em, cheat 'em! I always say.

Besides, this license test is just crap anyways.
A lot of people say that you'll get better by using it, whatever!
All I hear in this forum is people saying you can't beat this game without using B-Spec. PLEASE! B-Spec sucks and I never used it. All I use is A-Spec and I've beaten every race. Yet I didn't even ran those licenses, they've been frustrating me since GT 2. The only races I say that you would even need B-Spec, would be Mission Hall and Special Conditions, YET is only A-Spec, wtf? The car handles like crap on Special Conditions plus 5-second penalty crap?, and the waiting time on Mission Hall is just damn frustrating (except for missions 1 thru 10 and Slipstream)
But every other race in the game is beatable just using A-Spec.
I read one guy who wrote "Whoever says they haven't used B-Spec once throughout the whole game is lying." Sure buddy! And you suck at driving.
Cuz B-Spec just takes the whole fun of driving it yourself. You don't even feel like you're racing at all!

So go ahead and cheat on licenses, cuz it's just damn useless, like car wash and oil change.

 

[Duke]

How did you beat all those races if you didn't have the licenses that you need to run them?

And are you aware that changing the oil on an undriven car gives you 5% extra horsepower for 50 credits? I wouldn't call that useless.

But I guess if Turbo 4 is your first upgrade on every car, you're right: changing the oil is pointless and you don't need to know how to drive.

[edit]

Yet I didn't even ran those licenses, they've been frustrating me since GT 2.

I can accept failure, but I can't accept not trying
- MJ #23

 

[JohnBM01]

You may have heard of the saying "cheaters never win." And if the license tests are crap, in every race, you'll feel like you're racing an Escudo around Nurburgring Nordschleife or Opera Paris. You want to enter all the races? Get all the licenses. Get bronze or better. License tests challenge your ability to properly and quickly race around circuits. If you don't learn that now, you better learn down the road. Gran Turismo 4 was the work of over three years, several delays... this isn't Gran Turismo 3 rebadged as 4. I'd rather say that the license tests are my chance to shine to get all the licenses and not have to worry about going back to the License Center everytime I want to run a tougher race. Plus, you win cars if you clear a license with all bronze, all silver, or the ultimate goal, all gold. So you get a chance to have some cars to start out with, then step up to much better machinery. You think that's worthless? I'd say it's a big help for novices and veterans alike.

That's been the main problem with this game. Expectations too high, expecting too much for the PS2 or PD to provide. Gran Turismo has NEVER been a cheap-thrills game series. You either race your ass off and win, or complain to death and lose. There's absolutely no excuse to want to cheat in this game. Just like my current user title says, you "Play Hard or Go Home." As far as licenses go, don't be afraid to practice as much as possible to accomplish the task being asked of you. It takes time to master each test, just like it takes practice to do your best in school to eventually graduate. You're frustrated with it? Just keep trying. Bronze is pretty easy if you know what you're doing. And even though Coffee Breaks don't count, all you have to do is complete the task to move on.

Well, I typed as much as I could. It's not a game to cheat through. You want cheap thrills, play Burnout 3 and leave us hardened GT gamers alone until you're ready to get real. Can you dig that?

 

[fuktop]

Some advice to swear a little less while passing the licenses, watch the demo and put the view inside the car, and also watch those gas and brake indicators and then try to reproduce that as much as possible, it's not that hard when you know exactly where to brake and for how long. Pay attention to every detail: where the car starts turning to enter the turn, when the accelator is hit again etc. Once you have a pretty good idea of what to do, a few times at most and you'll pass each license easily. I found it to be much more doable (and enjoyable) to pass all licenses with these few tips ...

 

[Yacob]

If there really is a god, he won't let me do IB-12, IA-12 or IA-16 ever, ever, ever.

I don't even want to see the S License.

 

[JohnBM01]

You don't want the S-License? Well guess what. You're not going to complete the game. If you don't want the Super License, you won't be able to run:

Dream Car Championship
Polyphony Digital Championship
Like the Wind
Formula GT

Right there is worth upwards of 15K Cr. of winning prizes, and up to maybe 700K to 900K of Prize Cars when sold. You don't want to bask in the glory? Then be proud to complete at least 70% of the game.

As I've said before, getting bronze should be easy if you know what you're doing within the license tests. Take it from me. I've had mostly bronzes after my B-License tests, but had a few here-and-there silvers. And only once have I acheived Gold outside of the B-Licenses, and that was the IA license test with the Mitsubishi Pajero Dakar racer. It just takes time to win everything and come out on top. Practice often. I'm not hating anyone here. I think everyone has a chance to at least pass with all bronze (like me) and still be happy. When you get better, go for silver. When you get even more better, go for gold. You do want that Ford Model T (all golds - Super License), do you? You have to fight for it, man! Nothing comes free in a Gran Turismo game. Race until you can't race anymore, or stay home.

 

[simon1984]

is licence b-6 actually possible? i can do 22.61's till im sick but cant get the last bit, am i being penalised for not spendng a fortune on a steering wheel?

 

[simon1984]

did it! remembered someone saying if you steer hard left it slows you down quicker!!!

 

[BobStinkfulla]

That's exactly right. I'm not a huge fan of the tests either(IA 15 was the bain of my existance!)

Damn straight. Even the nurburgring tests from AI and S were easier than that one XO

 

[YuRiPa]

You don't want the S-License? Well guess what. You're not going to complete the game. If you don't want the Super License, you won't be able to run:

Dream Car Championship
Polyphony Digital Championship
Like the Wind
Formula GT

Those can be done in B-spec, if you don't have S-licence. So, getting 100% without S-licence is perfectly possible.

Damn straight. Even the nurburgring tests from AI and S were easier than that one XO

You're saying the Nurburgring test on iA is easier than iA 15? Dunno how you do that, but iA-15 is the guided lap run on the Nurburgring.

 

[EBP2K2]

I try to do them in moderation... I'm working on gold for iA right now, and I realized if I dont get gold in first 4-5 tries, then I wont get it in the next 20 tries due to mounting frustration... so I'd turn it off and try it the next day...

 

[neilX]

Those can be done in B-spec, if you don't have S-licence. So, getting 100% without S-licence is perfectly possible

What? Can you do races in B-Spec for a category that you're not licenced for?

Not that I've ever used B-Spec, I'm just curious...