How to take it to the next level in GT7?
- Thread starter Lightpilgrim
- 73 comments
- 3,435 views
- 285
- Poland
Thanks a lot!
You are for sure very good if you do Spa on a controller:-) Gold I mean:-)
First, I will do my homework and will practice until I not longer know where to improve. I will record my laps, share here and will ask for clues that you guys see and I do not.
Overall, I am enjoying it! Contrary to what some folks want, I would not make it easier because when you achieve it, the satisfaction is great.
What matters to me is that it can be done. So I will do my hard work:-)
You are for sure very good if you do Spa on a controller:-) Gold I mean:-)
First, I will do my homework and will practice until I not longer know where to improve. I will record my laps, share here and will ask for clues that you guys see and I do not.
Overall, I am enjoying it! Contrary to what some folks want, I would not make it easier because when you achieve it, the satisfaction is great.
What matters to me is that it can be done. So I will do my hard work:-)
- 3,682
- PNW
- cowabungacorey
I want to mention that I had accomplished the 81 gold, and 40 silver time trials on a controller. It's very possible but you just have to learn the nuisances of the controller. Smooth acceleration (I have turned off the resistance on the trigger to help smooth inputs) and steering should be gradual. Being so new you just need some time to form good habits, but you're on the right track.
- 285
- Poland
First of all: Spa is an amazing track! Apart from the iconic nature and layout, I also like the car GT7 gives you to drive and I also love how light touches the track in Sector 4. Beautiful!
So passion-wise, I have every intention to master the track.
Today, I went to try all sectors, one by one again.
Sector 1. Most of the time I was 0.2 sec slower than Gold. I was going through Eau Rouge flat out. I had relatively good exit off the slow corner, but perfection is needed. I did Gold again:
Sector 2. This was the most difficult sector for me yesterday and I did 30-50 attempts before I got Gold. Today, all my attempts were 0.1-0.3 sec off Gold, but after 4-5 attempts I got Gold and improved my time from yesterday.
Sector 3. Again, most attempts are 0.1-0.3 sec off Gold and after several I got Gold again.
Sector 4. I got the breaking point wrong 2 times today, but after a few attempts I got Gold and improved on my time from yesterday.
Then I did a full lap a couple of time and was always 3 sec slower than Gold. I managed to improve and got to 2.6 sec off Gold. I know I can find another 0.6 as I see where I made mistakes. But I have no ideas how to improve more and where to find another 2 seconds.
Here is the lap with data:
Now, how can I improve? Where to start? What to do next?
My ideas:
What are the suggestions? Thank you!
So passion-wise, I have every intention to master the track.
Today, I went to try all sectors, one by one again.
Sector 1. Most of the time I was 0.2 sec slower than Gold. I was going through Eau Rouge flat out. I had relatively good exit off the slow corner, but perfection is needed. I did Gold again:
Sector 2. This was the most difficult sector for me yesterday and I did 30-50 attempts before I got Gold. Today, all my attempts were 0.1-0.3 sec off Gold, but after 4-5 attempts I got Gold and improved my time from yesterday.
Sector 3. Again, most attempts are 0.1-0.3 sec off Gold and after several I got Gold again.
Sector 4. I got the breaking point wrong 2 times today, but after a few attempts I got Gold and improved on my time from yesterday.
Then I did a full lap a couple of time and was always 3 sec slower than Gold. I managed to improve and got to 2.6 sec off Gold. I know I can find another 0.6 as I see where I made mistakes. But I have no ideas how to improve more and where to find another 2 seconds.
Here is the lap with data:
Now, how can I improve? Where to start? What to do next?
My ideas:
- try to reduce TC to 2 from 3. Can it make me go faster?
- I shall probably try each sector many more times until I get Gold every time and will beat the required time comfortably so that I could feel I have a margin
- shall I also get the same car that is offered in CE and do lots of laps in TT? This was I will see lap after lap where I am improving or not.
What are the suggestions? Thank you!
- 3,876
- London, Ontario
- voodoovaj
Maybe I missed it, but are you using a controller or a wheel?
If you are using a controller, turn off all the aids except ABS. They will all slow you down. with the F3500, it's a good tool to help you practice your throttle control. It is at its fastest without TC. All cars are, IMHO, when using a controller. The stability control and oversteer control will slow you down. Not to mention, the will cover up your mistake, so you won't learn anything.
Turn it all off. You will be faster within about 30 minutes.
- 285
- Poland
Lomic
Premium
- 4,699
- Concarneau
- Lomic2
Watching your lap and commenting along :
T1 : you are too fast or too deep, slow more to cut the corner and get earlier on throttle.
Eau-rouge : 👌
Malmedy (T7) : you missed the apex but you probably have noted it already.
T9 : missed the apex again -> delayed throttle
T12 : too wide, apex missed again.
T15 : you should throttle earlier, try to work this turn, tricky but there are tenths to gain there too, very important as you have a long flat out section after that
T17 : use the green on the right to widen your turn
T18 : maybe brake a tiny bit later, you seem to have lost a bit too much speed and nearly cut too much the curb on the right as a result
T19 : too wide, resist the temptation to put too much throttle between T18-19, you should get on the throttle gently but earlier by making a tighter turn.
I tend to do this kind of mistakes too : being a bit too hot on turn entrances and thus having to delay or lower throttle on exit, which cost a lot of time.
Plus you need to make the apexes too.
T1 : you are too fast or too deep, slow more to cut the corner and get earlier on throttle.
Eau-rouge : 👌
Malmedy (T7) : you missed the apex but you probably have noted it already.
T9 : missed the apex again -> delayed throttle
T12 : too wide, apex missed again.
T15 : you should throttle earlier, try to work this turn, tricky but there are tenths to gain there too, very important as you have a long flat out section after that
T17 : use the green on the right to widen your turn
T18 : maybe brake a tiny bit later, you seem to have lost a bit too much speed and nearly cut too much the curb on the right as a result
T19 : too wide, resist the temptation to put too much throttle between T18-19, you should get on the throttle gently but earlier by making a tighter turn.
I tend to do this kind of mistakes too : being a bit too hot on turn entrances and thus having to delay or lower throttle on exit, which cost a lot of time.
Plus you need to make the apexes too.
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These are my suggestions although I can't see them making up all 2.6 seconds.
TC 1 max.
Remove Active Stability Management (ASM). Look at your throttle guage and you will see it fluctuating with red flickering at the top which means the power is being automatically reduced. This can really add up on a course like Spa. You thought you were going through Eau Rouge flat out, but look at how much the power is being reduced!
Use manual transmission which will allows proper gear selection for better performance especially in the corners.
I believe the settings for the car and the track in CE is different than you would get in TT.
Good luck.
Edit: Don't turn off ABS.
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- 3,970
- United Kingdom
Just get consistent first.
Pick the game up don't touch anything and do what you are doing. Just get consistent, that means you have control, then start to worry about things.
The first things to go need to be CSA and ASM, these are massive pace killers if you don't understand them. They mask is new players a lot of clumsiness and that's fine to a point, but the goal is to master car control.
I rarely use TC unless it's odd combos or very very early in the day for me for dailies but if you can work down to none or 1 that would be good be never be afraid to use it. Good racing is the aim not hyper controller control.
The one thing I will say about TC is you'll see a lot of YT vids of A+ drivers saying it doesn't slow them down, that is because they aren't triggering it as much so basically it's a safety net at that level. For you it's masking some less than optimum acceleration angles.
Manual will be something you really need in the long run, it's more fun and engaging and mostly (always) faster it does become second nature and at that point you'll already be buying a wheel and Playseat on eBay
Edit:
Watching the lap.
1. Turn the music off.
2. Watch a ghost to see how you take turn 1
I'll be honest I'm not going to critique your lap. You need to really dial in to nailing corners. Fix on brake markers and make them conservative that gives your race options.
Honestly mate, you got to feel the car a little more, drop your shoulder into turn 1 at spa, it's banked (and off camber on exit)
Break, drop your shoulder, look and gooooo way tighter this is just T1
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- 2,573
- Glasgow
- stpatty
As far as driving aids go, the best way to describe the effect they have is something I saw someone else say when talking about WipEout. If you have things like steering assist enabled, you're not actually learning to drive the car. You're not responsible for everything your car is doing, the game is partly controlling your car. If you're new to racing games, you're not going to know how the car should feel, so you won't know why the car is behaving the way it is.
The other aids I can't speak for since I don't use any besides traction control and ABS. TCS should be at 1 max in a Gr.3 car.
The other bits of advice people have given you are great too. You're starting out, so you're not going to be perfect. You're not going to be fast. If I or many other people on here give you advice about how to drive then it's going to be based on having years of experience of multiple different racing games on different platforms. The best bit advice you can give anyone trying to do any kind of repetitive task like this is - practice. Don't focus on the time, don't overcomplicate things by worrying about the individual sectors, just run the full lap again and again until you start properly memorising the track and everything you're supposed to be doing. That goes for aids, for auto/manual transmission, whatever else.
I can usually get a gold time on the weekly time trials. I never get a gold time on my first lap. Because there's a good range of cars and tracks featured it's always a different challenge, and I need to start out slowly with each car, gradually building up after each lap as I learn how the car will react to what I do, where I can and should brake, steer, accelerate, what gear I should be in. Don't go in with a mindset of "I will definitely hit my target time this lap", start slow and gradually build up your confidence each time. There's no rush.
You're going about trying to improve in the right way, so keep at it. Just know that the more time you spend, the better you'll get.
The other aids I can't speak for since I don't use any besides traction control and ABS. TCS should be at 1 max in a Gr.3 car.
The other bits of advice people have given you are great too. You're starting out, so you're not going to be perfect. You're not going to be fast. If I or many other people on here give you advice about how to drive then it's going to be based on having years of experience of multiple different racing games on different platforms. The best bit advice you can give anyone trying to do any kind of repetitive task like this is - practice. Don't focus on the time, don't overcomplicate things by worrying about the individual sectors, just run the full lap again and again until you start properly memorising the track and everything you're supposed to be doing. That goes for aids, for auto/manual transmission, whatever else.
I can usually get a gold time on the weekly time trials. I never get a gold time on my first lap. Because there's a good range of cars and tracks featured it's always a different challenge, and I need to start out slowly with each car, gradually building up after each lap as I learn how the car will react to what I do, where I can and should brake, steer, accelerate, what gear I should be in. Don't go in with a mindset of "I will definitely hit my target time this lap", start slow and gradually build up your confidence each time. There's no rush.
You're going about trying to improve in the right way, so keep at it. Just know that the more time you spend, the better you'll get.
- 3,876
- London, Ontario
- voodoovaj
No, leave the ABS on. Turn everything else off. Do it all at once and get used to how the car feels.
- 285
- Poland
THANK YOU ALL for suggestions, the time you took to share your opinion. I am going to carefully analyze and practice based on what you suggested.
STEP 1: I turn all assists off (except for ABS and a bit TC) and tried all sectors. I managed to do all GOLD
STEP 2. Did a full lap and was 2 sec off GOLD.
STEP 3: I turned TC off (only ABS is on, rest is off) and did a lap. I was sliding a lot in some places! Made many mistakes, but surprisingly I was still faster?!
So that lap was 1.5 sec off GOLD, but many mistakes. Now I started to believe that I can learn:-))) And maybe achieve GOLD at Spa:-))
This is no assists lap:
STEP 1: I turn all assists off (except for ABS and a bit TC) and tried all sectors. I managed to do all GOLD
STEP 2. Did a full lap and was 2 sec off GOLD.
STEP 3: I turned TC off (only ABS is on, rest is off) and did a lap. I was sliding a lot in some places! Made many mistakes, but surprisingly I was still faster?!
So that lap was 1.5 sec off GOLD, but many mistakes. Now I started to believe that I can learn:-))) And maybe achieve GOLD at Spa:-))
This is no assists lap:
- 3,970
- United Kingdom
That was not a bad lap at all.
Some polishing and that is gold mate. Just a couple of corners your can carry more speed and run a bit wider but just work up to that. Let the car flow a little more. The controller is really direct so that's always a challenge as well at Spa.
Good work, keep going and a solid time mate
- 285
- Poland
Thanks a lot:-)
It is a lot more difficult to drive without assists, but it is possible to learn indeed and progressively get faster.
I am now less that 1 sec from GOLD. But time if up and I will get back to it tomorrow. But…there is progress. Also I will learn to drive without assists, which will be a good foundation for future.
It is a lot more difficult to drive without assists, but it is possible to learn indeed and progressively get faster.
I am now less that 1 sec from GOLD. But time if up and I will get back to it tomorrow. But…there is progress. Also I will learn to drive without assists, which will be a good foundation for future.
- 285
- Poland
I have read it a few times. Thanks a lot. I think it is wise. I need to openly say that I like Spa. I was not able to master Sector 2, but I feel better now. This feeling of understanding how to drive properly is a great feeling.
I was very positively surprised that I was able to do a lap that was 1 sec off GOLD with all assists completely off (except for ABS). And I made mistakes. This tells me that if I practice more, polish driving, eliminate mistakes - I will get GOLD on my fav track.
I was very positively surprised that I was able to do a lap that was 1 sec off GOLD with all assists completely off (except for ABS). And I made mistakes. This tells me that if I practice more, polish driving, eliminate mistakes - I will get GOLD on my fav track.
- 107
- Sweden
Time Trials with very fast cars such as the F3500 are usually challenging to get gold with controller, but they're not impossible by any stretch. For example, I got gold with a time of 1:24.493 using a Dualshock 4. I believe you have the capability to gold all circuit experiences and most time trials if you put your mind to it and focus on improving. It's all about having the right mentality, no one is blistering fast when first starting out (I certainly wasn't).
In most Tidgney videos I've watched he's around 0.5 to 1 seconds slower on his controller lap. In the F3500 TT his controller lap was 1.2 seconds slower.
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330_D
Premium
- 1,191
- Upstate NY
I know everyone has different opinions about the aids, and I generally run without any except CSA. I feel like CSA weak makes most cars in this game oversteer more like a real car. I am certain it is because of my more aggressive early throttle driving style but still.
I'm far from an alien but I definitely can be quick at times and I do mess around as needed with CSA to help find time.
Your progression has been pretty stellar @Lightpilgrim 🍻
I'm far from an alien but I definitely can be quick at times and I do mess around as needed with CSA to help find time.
Your progression has been pretty stellar @Lightpilgrim 🍻
Lomic
Premium
- 4,699
- Concarneau
- Lomic2
- 2,573
- Glasgow
- stpatty
This is all you can do. Keep playing, and you'll keep learning. Even if it doesn't feel like it, you're still getting better and gaining knowledge and experience.
- 285
- Poland
I tried 5 full laps now. 1 was cancelled and 4 of them were within 1 second off GOLD. I also improved my time and now need 0.7 sec to GOLD. I do not make big obvious mistakes, but do drive a bit to cautiously in some parts of the track. But 0.7 is not miles away and I think I will nail it with practice.
Also, I wanted to ask. The 911 that is a default car for Spa CE is the 911 RSR (911) ‚17? Just the stock car, no modifications? Reason I ask is because I can use one and practice in Spa TT.
- 3,970
- United Kingdom
Great progress mate.
Yes it is the same car, but make sure the tires are the same if you want to compare them
- 285
- Poland
Here is an interesting one:
As I said before, I am almost sure that the car and track settings are different in CE than you get with the stock settings for the TT. You would need to know what changes you would need to make to make them equal. Have you tried it to see how your lap time compares?
- 285
- Poland
- 3,970
- United Kingdom
The starting time, track temperature and starting tire temperatures are different.
You also have brake balance adjustment available in the TT, the only difference would be if BoP is enabled for the CE or not.
If it isn't then you'll get a slightly lighter car with more power. I don't know how fuel is treated in CE vs TT I'd assume it's the same but you can't be sure as far as I know.
- 107
- Sweden
Tidgney's controller lap was 1:24.946 and the gold cutoff time was 1:25.163 so yes. (Image credit: @half_sourly)
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- 3,970
- United Kingdom
- 107
- Sweden
Perhaps. I'm just posting empirical evidence, whatever conclusions you draw from that is up to you 🙂
