GT5P physics vs Enthusia

  • Thread starter Biggles
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I just played some Enthusia, went around Tsukuba race track with the NSX using my G25.
Graphics were really blurry but the physics were quite awesome and felt very drift friendly.
Put in GT5p and ran around Suzuka in the NSX 91, it was more difficult to drive and braking late was a killer, but in a way you could predict the cars movements in both games by controlling weight shift. Overall great feel and even on the G25, the horrible elastic like feeling I had with the Driving Force Pro was no longer a problem with the G25.
 
Now I've experienced a bunch of sims recently, I decided to go back to Enthusia and see how it felt, and I must say, time hasn't been kind to it.

It seems to have this really loose and laggy feel with the DFGT wheel :(
Forced feedback overall is terrible. GT4 is quite a lot better.

GT5 Time trial even more so

On Tsukuba, trying to get the steering right on those 2 sharp turns is a pain due to the field of view and laggy steering
 
Interesting to hear your thoughts. I've also recently come back to Enthusia as my brother has my copy of GT4 and Prologue has too few cars and tracks to really enjoy at the moment.

I found EPR quite frustrating to go back to. It's equally as slow-witted as I remember it - none of the relatively quick responses you get from any road car, even unimpressive ones, and certainly not as responsive as the GT games. This means that there's very little to be gained from small steering inputs, as most longer corners need you to be metaphorically on the lock-stops, which feels wrong, even on a pad.

Likewise, I find the steering and throttle hard to modulate. I can be nowhere near as consistant on EPR as I can on any GT game, nor a real car again. Coupled with the steering and then the unforgiving physics this can limit the amount of enjoyment you get from the game. It's certainly one that improves with playing time, and I do still enjoy it to an extent, but impressive though it is I think that it's too compromised in some areas to be a truly enjoyable game. I think this is where GT5 will succeed, especially having sampled the physics from the GT5 time trial demo, where the cars finally have a sense of weight, realistic grip and a realistic connection with the road. EPR's controls are too muddy to give you that sensation.

I only hope now that GT5 has a car selection that'll at least be the match of EPR and GT4, plus interior views on all cars, so that I'll finally have the driving game I've been after!
 
I will say, one thing Enthusia does, that no game has even come close, even LFS, and least of all iRacing and the GT5 Time Trial, is the power over steer feel and mechanics.

It really feels like your planted on the ground, and there are air filled rubber tyres that are progressively slipping sideways when your in a power over steer situation. Something that you can catch and control just like in real life. All other games make it feel weird and a lot harder than in real life.
Turn in hard, plant the gas, car swings out, ease off the gas, let go of the wheel and catch it as it unwinds - superb.
This also includes downshifting and lift off over steer etc

Even a humble S15 Silvia feels alive in such a situation, just like it does in real life.
Now in the GT5 Time trial, the stock 370z responds just as well to the throttle, but it feels odd, and a bit too abrupt. This is the only thing that GT5 lacks so far.

If you marry this aspect of Enthusia with the GT5 Time trial and better force feedback and you would have my perfect game physics :)
I've played all the major games, except the Forza series, so I can't say how Forza feels in this regard.
 
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I will say, one thing Enthusia does, that no game has even come close, even LFS, and least of all iRacing and the GT5 Time Trial, is the power over steer feel and mechanics.

It really feels like your planted on the ground, and there are air filled rubber tyres that are progressively slipping sideways when your in a power over steer situation. Something that you can catch and control just like in real life. All other games make it feel weird and a lot harder than in real life.
Turn in hard, plant the gas, car swings out, ease off the gas, let go of the wheel and catch it as it unwinds - superb.
This also includes downshifting and lift off over steer etc

I completely agree. It feels fantastic when your sideways, you can feel the car and I love how it just unwinds just like in real life, feels spot on.

Damn I miss this game, I want Enthusia 2!
 
I've just re-bought this as I've played a lot of driving games recently. I agree it's too slow-witted and there's little in the way of adjustment that I feel when playing FM3 or my own car, but you sense that were it to be given a sequel, Konami could actually do something good with it. If they made the way of acquiring new cars like the Tourist Trophy system and these were available in all modes, it'd feel like a more enjoyable game.

What the physics model does seem to have is the feeling of dread when the car goes beyond the limit of adhesion, but that's possibly because it is slow witted.

I have to give a shout-out for its graphical quality, though. GT4 and TT look quite jagged and the textures appear crass, but for some reason, this game comes out quite smooth, especially when set to 4:3 mode on my 1080p TV.
 
You can consider GT5 as Enthusia 2 in some ways as far as physics go. The guy who did the physics engine for Enthusia now works for Polyphony Digital :)
 

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