It looks like many of us are in some sort of agreement. If not on the same page, then in the same chapter. Get out your reading glasses, another wall of text is coming.
This is one of those times a lot of this stuff is true at once, even if it seems a little contradictory. We all know that Gran Turismo is aimed at everyone, from the casuals to the hardcore. It tries to do this tricky balance of content to both extremes, and over the course of the last two games, kind of faltered. Many of us agree that GT needs to grow up a little - or a lot - more, which means a certain amount of racing sim DNA needs to be spliced in. This hasn't worked out all that well so far.
I'm still high on this team, because the pedigree is still very good. While a lot of things about GT5 and 6 are messed up, other aspects are stellar - and of course this is depends on personal opinion, but an unjaundiced eye would see a few commendable things in both games. And I see that they have been paying attention to us, and trying to give us what we want, even if it hasn't been all that full of win. GT5 had some much improved sounds all along the board in Spec II. We got a small taste of Race Mod returning, with the merest hint of a livery system. Damage was attempted and mostly dropped, but it was tried. B-Spec returned. Some requested online features were installed. And there are other things, so saying that PD doesn't listen and doesn't care is patently untrue. Could they do more, could they do better? Sure, but that's another layer of paint.
I suppose it's time for my obligatory remarks about other racers. Invariably I just don't click with them the way others do. And it's not like I don't give them a shot. If you spend several hours with a racing game, and have any serious experience at all in the genre, by that point you'll have a pretty good sense of the essence of the game. I know there are usually four or five high points people will glom onto about their pet games. Career, sounds, damage, A.I. and online features. I'll have to say though that PC sims leave me cold with their dry, overly clinical feel and up to now, lackluster graphics. Sim careers son't excite me because of the sterile atmosphere, emphasized by the old gen graphics and the cars I usually don't care for and often I feel no ties to. It also doesn't help that some of them like rFactor have an uninvolving driving experience, or a downright poor one. Sounds are decent, but I often wonder if some of you don't race just to listen to those sounds. Damage is a very mixed bag, and honestly, no sim until now has had much of a damage build other than the mechanical aspect, smoked by Forza 1 and the Codemasters' stuff. Bot A.I. has never impressed me. I know Johnnypenso lauds Project CARS, but then he shows off a video in which the gamer begins by passing seven or eight cars early in a race around a sweeping turn. Online is one aspect which is often better on PC, but then again, you're faced with the challenge of finding a good room to race in, coupled with the fact that you often find yourself pitted against much more accomplished racers, which gets old quickly. Much like the complaints against Gran Turismo.
Most importantly though is the essence of the game, the soul, and I know it gives some of you fits if I or amar212 remarks that there's just something different about Gran Turismo. Maybe it's the wealth of cars, and the physics which is very close to a PC sim in quality in GT6. Maybe it's the ability to tinker with our cars endlessly, and feel a real sense of ownership of them. I'm sure some wonder why we don't migrate to Forza, which offers much more as far as customization and a fantastic Livery Editor, but Forza has its own issues, not the least is the bot behavior which is anything but simlike. In fact they often have a very bratty attitude, much like a room we'd just as soon quit as do another lap in. The spirit of Forza is rather like Need For Speed but a bit more grown up, but that just isn't appetizing to many of us, and I say is reflected in their sales. And then there are the pitfalls of dealing with a Microsoft company, as evidenced in Forza 5's net riots. We've been through all this before, few are satisfied on either side of the divide, but if it wasn't there, we wouldn't be so adamant about it. Anyway, to the subject.
PD can do great things. They have done something in several areas we've asked for in the past. They hint or even state that they're doing some awesome things for us now, and will be down the road. How much for GT6, how much for 7, no one knows, but I'm happy that they're still working. amar212 alludes to some fascinating things, and I'll be very pleased to see whatever it is. And whichever game it's for.
This is probably a good time to be making these kinds of demands on PD, while GT7 is in the gestation stage, so they can have a good long time to see how viable their versions of our notions are. I don't see anything as mutually exclusive. It can all, or most of it, coexist comfortably, at least as I envision it. My concept might be the most ambitious, but likewise, the most feasible for those wanting to keep those old school simcade elements that casuals can't get enough of, while also getting those grown up sim racing things some of us are clamoring for.
My concept offers the best of all worlds. Casual friendly content in Arcade Mode and about half of GT Mode, where things are more fun and easy to play, kind of the kiddie playground area. Then at some point, the gate opens to more serious, more challenging racing, like the later stages in the previous games. Tough challenges are to be found here, such as endurance races.
But then, there is also this area fenced off called "GT Pro Mode," which offers some serious racing, and more simulation oriented events, with restrictions and rules. Hopefully this will be a pretty big area.
We all want something more from the upcoming Gran Turismos, and this is what I want.
- More of everything, including legacy tracks from previous Gran Turismos.
- Weather and time of day transitions on all tracks, or at least as many as possible.
- Competitive, humanlike A.I.
- Better physics, sound, graphics, environments, damage... lots of things.
- Race Mod for all (or most) cars, and a good expressive Livery Editor, powerful enough to let us make our own decals and racing league number plaques.
- A much enhanced Course Maker, and a powerful Event Maker useful off- or online.
- Club and league builder tools which work hand in hand online with the Event Maker.
- An online build that takes into account the gamer's racing history and clean/dirty rating, culled both from single player racing and online ratings.
Some will say this is starry eyed dreaming, but much of this stuff is in the foundation of GT6, or has been done before. GT2 has an Event Maker, and building one can't be that hard because it's basically a modified tool PD themselves use to build races. GT2 and 5 have Race Mod. GT5 also has a pretty darn good Course Maker, good enough that many of us are hankering for the successor. The A.I. in GT6 has some very nice qualities buried in the shackles PD placed on it, and the bots have individual performance levels and some behavioral traits. Damage, sound, the Livery Editor, online club and league features... yes, those will require some work, but with the work already done to make GT5 and 6 more lively environments, the coding team can focus on new goals such as these. And they aren't impossible to achieve.
Having a Gran Turismo in which racing leagues represented, either real world or fantasy, should be entirely doable, including long series to the extent of mini-seasons in either GT6 or 7. Right now it looks more likely in GT7, but I think the only thing keeping PD from making it for GT6 is the need to heap goodies in GT7 to make people ravenous for the game, and a PS4 and compatible wheel to race it with.
Kaz is going to submit to a small pile of questions from us soon, and E3 is just around the corner, so we'll be learning something in these regards soon enough.
But yeah, I think all of us want what you want, but honestly, I think that's asking way too much from PD in the leap from PS3 to PS4. I'm no programmer but it sure sounds like a lot of work for a couple of years, on top of producing VGT cars, new tracks, new cars, new PS4 interface and delivering all the promised content for GT6 and more. You're basically asking for a whole new game from the ground up, while copying and pasting the best HD assets from GT5/6. Just sounds like too much work for such a small team and I'm not saying that as a critique but from a realism point of view. So while I'd be ecstatic with all of that I'd probably settle for the following with a promise to complete the rest over the life of GT7 or with the release of GT8:
