How to make A-spec enjoyable

[Vegard]

The driving experience of stock cars is only right with one specific compound tire, and in most cases that compound is one or two notches down from the stock ones.
As a result, stock cars with stock tires have less than desirable driving dynamics and 'on the limit handling (in my opinion).


A few weeks ago i formatted my PS3 and started GT5 from scratch.
After doing the license tests and getting my level up i decided to bore myself to death by doing all the A-spec events (for the prize cars).

I would choose a car from the "typical opponents list", or pick something from my garage in the PP range.
I decided to equip my cars with "realistic" tires and racing them in stock form.
The results were close fought battles with the AI.

The combination of equal straight line speed, and a little more grip for the AI has eliminated some of the problems with A-spec racing.

Before i would race on the tires the car came with, resulting in me picking a car with lower PP than the AI (in order to get close racing).

This resulted in races where I would struggle to keep up on the straights, but drive around the outside of the AI in the twisty bits, leading to dive bombing, ramming, rear ending etc etc.

With lower grip tires the match is much better.
The battles become much more balanced as both cornering speed and straight line speed are close.


Most cars i equip with Comfort medium. Everything from Kei cars (performance versions), hot hatches, and sports cars should be driven on these tyres.

Comfort softs are for high performance sports cars, Supercars, some high performance low-power cars (Honda Type-R models, low power tuner cars) etc.

Sport hard tyres are for high-power tuner cars (Amuse GT1) and special cases (M3 CSL)

Race cars gets anything from sport hard to racing medium depending on the car, the opposition, and the track.

I hope some of you try it out (i'm sure some of you already have)
and have a better experience with A-spec as a result.

I have.

 

[amar212]

And just add ABS OFF and you have the ultimate recipe.

So glad everytime I find people that think alike 👍

 

[sumbrownkid]

I usually see the highest pp opponent on the list and then subtract 25 pp from that on my ride.

This made LMP racing became fun again.

 

[Vol Jbolaz]

When you get close to an AI, he slows down. You can't follow him for a moment because you lose too much time on the cars ahead of him. He isn't trying to win the race himself, he is just puddling along.

To make A-Spec better, play online. Sorry.

 

[Vegard]

And just add ABS OFF and you have the ultimate recipe.

So glad everytime I find people that think alike 👍

Hard for me with the DS3.

I think ABS 1 is ok with most cars on the right tires, and with the right brake sensitivity.

Are you by any chance Amar from Redcaf ?

 

[Vegard]

You can't follow him for a moment because you lose too much time on the cars ahead of him. He isn't trying to win the race himself, he is just puddling along.

To make A-Spec better, play online. Sorry.

In my experience this problem is less of an issue with A-spec than Seasonal events. Maybe it's the reduced difference in cornering speed?
I might bee wrong though.

 

[Ryk]

Woah - Everything is possible.

ABS off just means you need to enjoy the car, you may need to step back on the power brakes... 5/5 may be a bit strong for you at first.

Go to set up and move the brake bias to a safe. 3/1

This will make the brakes a bit more gentle. And when they do lock it is the fronts... which means the car will slide from the front... in a straight understeering line, and you can recover from it pretty easily... if you lock the rear brakes then the rears lose grip and that end of the car will over take the front... not the easiest thing to recover from.

It isn't easy but to paraphrase Joe Paterno, "What counts in sports is not the victory, but the magnificence of the struggle."

Mincing about the track with ABS is giving up on one of the best aspects of the game.

 

[Vegard]

Woah - Everything is possible.

ABS off just means you need to enjoy the car, you may need to step back on the power brakes... 5/5 may be a bit strong for you at first.

Go to set up and move the brake bias to a safe. 3/1

This will make the brakes a bit more gentle. And when they do lock it is the fronts... which means the car will slide from the front... in a straight understeering line, and you can recover from it pretty easily... if you lock the rear brakes then the rears lose grip and that end of the car will over take the front... not the easiest thing to recover from.

It isn't easy but to paraphrase Joe Paterno, "What counts in sports is not the victory, but the magnificence of the struggle."

Mincing about the track with ABS is giving up on oe of the best aspects of the game.

Now i just have to try it.

I guess i need to brake a bit earlier than i'm used to with ABS?

What are the pros and cons of ABS-less driving?

Ps: cool signature

 

[mister dog]

Think it is sad you are forced to handicap yourself in a lot of ways to be able to have a descent battle with the AI.

Like you say lowering the PP (in much cases -20 to -50), makes it better but you still drive around them and bump into them because of their damned braking as they halt to a stop almost each time they go into a corner. Then the trick would be lower grip tyres but thats struggling again in the corners wich (for me) leads to more fustration again as your car is a handfull the whole time.

For example i'm doing the latest 650PP seasonal at the ring, you start in 12th place and have to get past 10 of those moving obstacles, and as the BMW mclaren is already in the front from the start, by the time you clear the 10 you are too far behind to have a shot at him, wich makes me putting on the grippiest tyres just to be able to do so...

Who came up with this stupid formula?

The AI should be braking less like grandmothers, and adjusting themselves to your setup and your car... pray to god PD will fix this for GT6, so we can have a descent racing formula with fixed starts and ditch the whole "catchup" thing.

Good grip for everyone, and everyone at it's sharpest.

 

[Ryk]

You're controlling the car... the car isn't controlling you.

It is slower, so you have to drive harder... but harder means you are closer to the limit, but with no ABS you can step over that limit.

You get alot of on track graffiti... dirty black rubber lines that remind you of previous mistakes. (Or glorious overtaking moves !)

More frantic, you can have some buttock clenching moments when you come under pressure into a tough braking corner.

Teaches you to be much smoother.

The down side is if you ever go back to ABS or Traction control the car will feel very very numb and distant in comparison.

Ultimately you have to find the fun .

 

[Vegard]

Amar and Ryk deserve medals for convincing me to try ABS 0.

Laguna Seca in a stock Ford GT on comfort soft with all assists off and all HUD off.
Eye opener.

Thanks guys.

 

[therealgt5]

Buy a g27
nuff said

 

[m8h3r]

all HUD off.

Yes!! More people should do this, gives the game a completely different feel.

 

[G219]

laguna seca in a stock ford gt on comfort soft with all assists off and all hud off.
Eye opener.

Thanks guys.

+1

buy a g27
nuff said

+2. 2.5 With Nixim mod!

yes!! More people should do this, gives the game a completely different feel.

+3

 

[FlyinHawaiian77]

I've tried it this way. But most of my cars already have a tune with them. So I would always have to detune them just to get a decent race. Not so much of a hassle any more since you can have 3 different setups. But then whats the point of tuning then if your just going to take the tune off of them?

 

[CorvetteConquer]

While WE can make our own improvements to the experience, PD ought to take more pride into making A-Spec more enjoyable. It was VERY disappointing in GT5.

More events. More specific events. Better sense of progression. I want to struggle with credits. I want to feel desperate.

I want to have to seriously contemplate whether or not I should buy a racing exhaust or racing soft tires....

I miss you, old GT games.

 

[SUPA SUPRA]

i need an escudo is it definatly lvl 23 i thought it was 22 ticket

 

[iamjajo]

If you found the game so disappointing, wouldn't more be..more disappointing?

I found the progression to be just fine, but maybe you played the game differently than I did. With so many paths to progress in levels I chose the basics. Get a license play a spec get another license, etc, etc.

I agree there is too much money now, but before the multiplier (and seasonals) it was a different story.

 

[edawg456]

Buy a g27
nuff said

Well said

 

[Conza]

EDIT: ABS:1 FTW, for sadists, sure ABS:0 is harder, but 1 is more realistic (excluding old/cheap cars).

The driving experience of stock cars is only right with one specific compound tire, and in most cases that compound is one or two notches down from the stock ones.
As a result, stock cars with stock tires have less than desirable driving dynamics and 'on the limit handling (in my opinion).

A few weeks ago i formatted my PS3 and started GT5 from scratch.
After doing the license tests and getting my level up i decided to bore myself to death by doing all the A-spec events (for the prize cars).

I would choose a car from the "typical opponents list", or pick something from my garage in the PP range.
I decided to equip my cars with "realistic" tires and racing them in stock form.
The results were close fought battles with the AI.

The combination of equal straight line speed, and a little more grip for the AI has eliminated some of the problems with A-spec racing.

Before i would race on the tires the car came with, resulting in me picking a car with lower PP than the AI (in order to get close racing).

This resulted in races where I would struggle to keep up on the straights, but drive around the outside of the AI in the twisty bits, leading to dive bombing, ramming, rear ending etc etc.

With lower grip tires the match is much better.
The battles become much more balanced as both cornering speed and straight line speed are close.

Most cars i equip with Comfort medium. Everything from Kei cars (performance versions), hot hatches, and sports cars should be driven on these tyres.

I was with you right up till CM, I would say SS/M instead of RS/M. But in general I agree.

Comfort softs are for high performance sports cars, Supercars, some high performance low-power cars (Honda Type-R models, low power tuner cars) etc.

Ok, those would be 'minimum' SH, no way they'd be comfort, how would you rank Pirelli P Zeros?

Sport hard tyres are for high-power tuner cars (Amuse GT1) and special cases (M3 CSL)

Race cars gets anything from sport hard to racing medium depending on the car, the opposition, and the track.

RH-RS

I hope some of you try it out (i'm sure some of you already have)
and have a better experience with A-spec as a result.

I have.

Will try out the general idea, but instead use the lower end of the typical PP bracket with what I consider more reasonable section of tires.

 

[Ryk]

One of the good things of GT is you have alot of options open to you.

Yes it is far too easy but, you can elect to spice things up.

Get a Harold the Hoopty car and make some Iron Man rules for the car.
You will only spend a small amount of "winnings" on the car.
Rather than chucking a bucket o'Cash at the car and letting the speed win it for you. Make it harder.
(Now I've got to think of a way to make it harder)

Perhaps a bit like the seasonals. If you win you can get a level 3 item, 2nd a level 2 and 3rd a level 1.


Maybe you can only used certain items a few times (SO if you buy a Turbo3, you can only use it once in a 5 race series or something...

An online league could really play up to this.

Ballast and Restictor plates can handicap the "Fast" drivers for the next running of the race. A win could earn you a part that you can use... but only for a few races.

The seasonals I find to be a hoto if I use Sport Soft tyres first... then use the same grid but drop down tyre grades one step at a time.
It is a bit 1980's arcade game - and eventually you hit a limit of your own talent... But you will have to push yourself with each step.

I guess you could do this in ASpec mode.

You will always remember those ultra hard events that you either scrape a win by or lose by a fraction. If t is a hard struggle it makes the victory sweeter.

You just have to remember (Write it down!) any close races/car combos... and make it harder the next time.

I'd be interested to hear others suggestions of what they do to spice things up.

 

[mu22stang]

...I was with you right up till CM, I would say SS/M instead of RS/M. But in general I agree...

...Ok, those would be 'minimum' SH, no way they'd be comfort, how would you rank Pirelli P Zeros?

Try not to think of it in terms of brand/model tire X equals Sports hards, Comfort mediums, etc. It doesn't work like that with the GT tire model.

Look at the data and lap times. Most often, a player will get used to a tire range that is too high in grip. When they see that realistic tire choices don't "feel" correct, they express disbelief. The experience isn't better with comfort tires, it's just more realistic.

 

[Conza]

Try not to think of it in terms of brand/model tire X equals Sports hards, Comfort mediums, etc. It doesn't work like that with the GT tire model.

Look at the data and lap times. Most often, a player will get used to a tire range that is too high in grip. When they see that realistic tire choices don't "feel" correct, they express disbelief. The experience isn't better with comfort tires, it's just more realistic.

On what basis do you know that the comfort tires, include performance tires?

 

[mu22stang]

On what basis do you know that the comfort tires, include performance tires?

Lap times.

If we assume that the game can, to a reasonable degree, produce similar lap times to a real car-track combo, there's absolutely no way GT5 Sports tires are street tires - even "performance tires."

For instance, it takes no time at all, sometimes a cold tire out lap, to destroy a fast lap time from Best Motoring at Tsukuba using Sport tires. I'm a quick learner, I open track my own car, and I've played GT games for years... but I ain't that good.

 

[XEPEGTP]

I hope some of you try it out (i'm sure some of you already have)
and have a better experience with A-spec as a result.

I have.

Oh for sure, since the GT4 days, comfort tires on 80% of cars. Too bad they arent free anymore!

FR on the way!

Ballast and Restictor plates can handicap the "Fast" drivers for the next running of the race.

They actually employ this in real SuperGT, to keep things interesting.

 

[another_jakhole]

Try not to think of it in terms of brand/model tire X equals Sports hards, Comfort mediums, etc. It doesn't work like that with the GT tire model.

Look at the data and lap times. Most often, a player will get used to a tire range that is too high in grip. When they see that realistic tire choices don't "feel" correct, they express disbelief. The experience isn't better with comfort tires, it's just more realistic.

Obviously, but how can someone dare drive an F40 ON TIRES THAT RESEMBLE Comfort Soft tires. The F40 doesn't have any driver aids so that makes it a good example. This can't be the only exception, either. Supercars need sports tires.

 

[XEPEGTP]

Obviously, but how can someone dare drive an F40 ON TIRES THAT RESEMBLE Comfort Soft tires. The F40 doesn't have any driver aids so that makes it a good example. This can't be the only exception, either. Supercars need sports tires.

While many are fixated with what a car comes with stock, many times for testing or short battles they fit sport tires even on Civics and small Japanese cars, see BMI, all the Tsukuba or Fuji battles are with S tires.

So this is indicating that to push a street\sports car to its performance limit Sport tires are needed, to minimize brake distance, maximize grip and acceleration and to simply take the car to its limits, or very close to them.

But to get that 'fresh from the lot' feel, Comfort tires are the way to go for most.

 

[another_jakhole]

While many are fixated with what a car comes with stock, many times for testing or short battles they fit sport tires even on Civics and small Japanese cars, see BMI, all the Tsukuba or Fuji battles are with S tires.

So this is indicating that to push a street\sports car to its performance limit Sport tires are needed, to minimize brake distance, maximize grip and acceleration and to simply take the car to its limits, or very close to them.

But to get that 'fresh from the lot' feel, Comfort tires are the way to go for most.

NOOOO doubt. Most cars that come with Comfort Soft tires in GT5 I switch to Comfort Medium for that fresh off the loft feel. Comfort Hard tires are needed for the technologically inferior and '80s and below cars; not simply those kind of cars but generally speaking. I don't even like to use Comfort Soft tires, because of the quick tire wear even when the Tire Wear is off. It feels corrupt in a way I can't really explain.

 

[gtnoobie]

I used to think comfort tires were too slippery compared to real life.

But with David coulthard at the wheels of Mercedes sls Amg turning in similar time to top gt5 players in comfort soft on tgtt (despite cutting corners) plus evidence from lap times record plus an editor driving r8 in laguna seca in gt5 and real life, it is clear comfort soft are top of the line street performance tires or street legal semi slicks. I would equate for eg. a conti csc3 to be comfort medium. I do take my csc3 or fk452 to limit and speedo seems to suggest low speed before some slip occurs.
As such, driving non race cars in comfort medium or soft is spot on.
A lower grade tire also helps to give Ai a chance to match our cornering better. A lower pp car on similar tires allows more excitement by being overtaken on straights and
overtaking AI on corners. I am redoing most of the a spec now in either lower pp car or poorer tires just to have some re experience what is intended.
Almost a year ago, I had trouble winning in race soft tires in cars way superior to Ai. So I 'cheated' my way thru a spec (all aids on, race soft, 100-200 hp higher).
So far, it's been great.
Also,

 

[mister dog]

I used to think comfort tires were too slippery compared to real life.

But with David coulthard at the wheels of Mercedes sls Amg turning in similar time to top gt5 players in comfort soft on tgtt (despite cutting corners) plus evidence from lap times record plus an editor driving r8 in laguna seca in gt5 and real life, it is clear comfort soft are top of the line street performance tires or street legal semi slicks. I would equate for eg. a conti csc3 to be comfort medium. I do take my csc3 or fk452 to limit and speedo seems to suggest low speed before some slip occurs.
As such, driving non race cars in comfort medium or soft is spot on.
A lower grade tire also helps to give Ai a chance to match our cornering better. A lower pp car on similar tires allows more excitement by being overtaken on straights and
overtaking AI on corners. I am redoing most of the a spec now in either lower pp car or poorer tires just to have some re experience what is intended.
Almost a year ago, I had trouble winning in race soft tires in cars way superior to Ai. So I 'cheated' my way thru a spec (all aids on, race soft, 100-200 hp higher).
So far, it's been great.
Also,

Comfort hards are used tyres that you can buy for 5€ at the local car graveyard, and that come of a 82' Ford Taunus.