My "great but not really" GT7 experience so far

[hornet_burnout]

Background:

I've played GT from the first iteration.
I got a G25 on the PS3 and grew up to love and worship the franchise.
I only played GT Sport as a coping device, while waiting to get the "real" GT experience with GT7
I got a G29 and used it a bit in the last weeks with Sport prior to getting GT7
I've been away from the forum (as an active poster) but I still read through it frequently.

Day one of GT7:
I was unsurprisingly pleased with it. All I wanted and expected was and is there.
Great visual experience, loads of events and progression to look for, and good drivability with the wheel to start off at least.

Digging deep:
After a while I found I could actually leave the game alone and go... do normal and "more important things". Food, family, wife, sleep, work. Guess I'm just more mature now. Never happened to me before. But I was recently hooked on other games. Hum...
After a day of playing I felt under and over steer was really exaggerated (for a GT game) and was a bit suspicious, but hey. Still enjoying a new GT! Two gold licenses and a hand full of events done, car collection growing.
48h in I decided, nah... I don't care that much for this curated experience and progression. I got a Subaru BRZ, I'm gonna just drive and enjoy "the real driving simulator" and then it started to sink in.

Current state:
I can't drive a FWD car in this game franchise, it was never its strong point. But regardless, preliminary testing says it is worst than ever. I know FWD cars suck to be raced or pushed. I've been driving them for 30 years. I own a pretty good and surprisingly rewarding FWD that should never handle this good. And all cars in GT7 so far, like in previous releases, feel worst than an MPV. Even the "sporty" ones. They just throw lift off over steer at you to somehow compensate the fact they can't turn in realistically.
Worst part is that I now loath how RWD cars handle in this game. This was one of the series strong points. You could push. And depending on how you pushed it, just like in real life, you'd get understeer, oversteer, and if you had a good car and knew how to sling it around, a delicious rolling around the corner neutral balance you could modulate with wheel and throttle. A hard and fine art to master but a treat to do. And I could do it with a "pressure sensitive controller X button" for throttle back in the day! Just like you can IRL. This was less doable with the triggers in the PS4. And there was really a lot less of this in GT Sport. And I honestly was hopping GT7 would bring it back, and steer away from the "curated" handling of the latter.
I have 3 RWD cars, 2 with open diffs that can be thrown a bit but will eventually fall short (in wet conditions, otherwise they're not that powerful) and leave you grabbing a slide with a slap or letting it go to far and spin, and 1 soft heavy one (again it shouldn't handle like this) with a30% LSD that will drift controllably around (wet) roundabouts. I for the love of God can't feel a RWD car in GT7 handle realistically in any way.
Additional note: The offroad. Well let's just not even dare to go down that "path" shall we?

The BRZ experience:
Going back to the BRZ, I found the thing power slides out of the box like no car does. I may be wrong but the 86/BRZ duo is a sling-able rwd car than can do some easy to catch limited drifts that either end up straight or doing the "one wheel peel" (like mine).
So I went on to settings and it had a standard 80% LSD. OK then... not what I expected and yeah... hard tyres... almost a welded diff... lets fix this.
I got a fully customisable diff and set it to all open (minimum 5 in all setting). The same if not worst. Touch the gas and oversteer, tankslappers etc at any speed and gear.
Let's do the opposite then... can't get any worst. 60 max on all 3 settings (remember, original was 80 on gas) and lo and behold it works better. It should handle like a tetris brick. Either going straight on and not turning, or spinning when it decides to "turn" after you turn the wheel. I'm baffled. Maybe it's a tuning system problem.

Conclusion:
So in a - very preliminary conclusion - I really am NOT enjoying the new "real driving experience" part of GT7. Which is the most important to me.
I will continue to play it, and probably it's just me that's not fully adapted to the new physics. But hell, I can adapt to any physics IRL, on 2, 4 or 10 wheels, in the dry, in the dirt or in the wet. Pretty sure this shouldn't be so hard to get a handle on for an experienced GT fan (and driver).
It IS great, especially while you're lost in the eye candy and the awe of a real new GT, but once you start to get serious, it's really a game for the market, to please all 13 year olds all over the world that where banging on forza, lately turned 15 or 16, and are looking for something supposedly more serious and mature.
But for ME, if it's curated events and unrealist handling this has to offer to ME, then I may just go play FH5 with a controller. And stop wasting long annoying and irritating hours complaining how it sucks as I try to push this "SIM" with a wheel. Hey, maybe the problem is really ME.

Anyway, long story short, guess this was a "never meet your heroes kind of moment".

If you have felt the same and "fixed it" or have any tips for me, just drop them on a comment, I really would appreciate it.
(note: both basic hate and fanboyish comms will be ignored, please be constructive and polite)

 

[z19930612]

I am a vehicle dynamics engineer and test driver in a car manufacturer, doing chassis tuning and having evaluated hundreds of development tires with Michelin, Bridgestone and Pirelli.I have to say I am totally with you. I stop playing GT7 until this wired tire behavior is fixed, but luckily GT5, GT6 and GT Sport all had physics updates, let’s just wish same improvement happen for GT7 ASAP.

 

[Chris30]

I hear ya brother! Well thank you for telling us this, now I'm going to wait a few months until i'm fully ready for gt7!

 

[Conza]

So I'm here on the forum right now, looking for pretty much exactly these takes, looks like you have a PS4 Pro (just like me) and similarly enjoyed PS3 GT5/GT6. I am just a guy who's driven FWD/RWD/4WD cars in real life, not an engineer or anything like that, however to me that's what hooked me to get GT5, first time I played it - with a controller, I drove a Ferrari F40 and it was just EXACTLY how my expectations of how I'd want that car to drive, would be, I felt the heavy steering and it was balanced but could bite you if you weren't careful, sounds exactly right.

I have since driven 130,000kms in GT5 and GT6, GT Sport didn't have the same driving feel to me and I never really got into it sadly, it was the main reason I got a PS4 Pro, but I didn't give it much of a chance and haven't driven it since most of the physics updates most likely.

So if it doesn't feel similar to GT5 or GT6, then yeah I might get it, I like the RPG and collection side of the game, but as you say it has to be backed up with a really really nice semi-realistic "feeling" experience, and if that isn't there, that is such a shame.

I might wait until it's much cheaper, they also go super super cheap these games, they might even do a special edition version of the game with DLC and at that stage it'll be fine tuned.

From the sounds of things OP, the PS4 Pro experience is still solid though, I'm more interested in frame rate and stuttering than resolution, I saw another post where there isn't a mode to toggle between say performance vs visual quality, that's unfortunate, but if on the PS4 Pro at least it's playing fairly smoothly that's a positive sign.

 

[hornet_burnout]

I am a vehicle dynamics engineer and test driver in a car manufacturer, doing chassis tuning and having evaluated hundreds of development tires with Michelin, Bridgestone and Pirelli.I have to say I am totally with you. I stop playing GT7 until this wired tire behavior is fixed, but luckily GT5, GT6 and GT Sport all had physics updates, let’s just wish same improvement happen for GT7 ASAP.

You may be absolutely right. What feels wonky is the grip. And the way it's communicated, and how you can/can't control it on the limit.

I'm gonna compare to GT Sport next with as much as possible the same car and tyres and also test with other tyres to see if I can get a handle on it.

Also gonna try the controller. Probably gonna do a lot of challenges "chores" with it in the end.

I hear ya brother! Well thank you for telling us this, now I'm going to wait a few months until i'm fully ready for gt7!

From the sounds of things OP, the PS4 Pro experience is still solid though, I'm more interested in frame rate and stuttering than resolution, I saw another post where there isn't a mode to toggle between say performance vs visual quality, that's unfortunate, but if on the PS4 Pro at least it's playing fairly smoothly that's a positive sign.

Yes, I have a PS4 Pro and I swapped the TV I had (43' 4K) for the older but bigger (55') from the living room, where I played since GT5, so it's the same "experience". But it's only 1080p, so no excuses for lagging here.

It would be the smarter move to wait before you buy it, maybe get a PS5 bundle (not likely) at least a price drop and an update on the physics.

 

[hornet_burnout]

UPDATE

It's easier with a controller.
Tweaking the force feedback up helps, but slightly.
Traction control also helps, but even turned up to eleven, in a simple BRZ and with Sports Softs, it will under and oversteer exaggeratedly.

As a challenge I guess it becomes interesting and, well, challenging.

But generally it's like getting in your econobox hatch back IRL to get groceries, and it tries to kill you 10 times, succeeding in throwing you off the road twice. Even at 2000 rpm and just by looking at the gas pedal.

 

[Factor41]

This is disappointing. Some of the cars you can throw around quite happily with the controller, but switch to the wheel (G29), even during the same race, and it's hard to keep them on track. Why such a huge difference in handling? What's gone wrong?

Sad to say that Sport was far more enjoyable with the wheel than this.

Edit1: As above, I tried upping the FF levels and it is a bit more manageable now, but still doesn't feel right.

Edit2: Having changed the settings and played quite a bit more, the dire handling issues I was experiencing seem to be almost exclusively related to Porsche 911s. I know the engine's in the wrong place, but they're not THAT wayward! I drove a 997 to Le Mans and back a few years ago IRL, without slicks and without a high downforce kit, and it definitely wasn't trying to kill me at every corner. I've just raced a 720bhp AMG GT Black Series at the Norschleife – on road tyres – with no problems at all, but try the same in a 440bhp 997 on soft slicks and it's all over the show. Did Kaz have a bad experience in his 911 and wants to warn us all?!

 

[hornet_burnout]

This is disappointing. Some of the cars you can throw around quite happily with the controller, but switch to the wheel (G29), even during the same race, and it's hard to keep them on track. Why such a huge difference in handling? What's gone wrong?

Sad to say that Sport was far more enjoyable with the wheel than this.

Edit1: As above, I tried upping the FF levels and it is a bit more manageable now, but still doesn't feel right.

Edit2: Having changed the settings and played quite a bit more, the dire handling issues I was experiencing seem to be almost exclusively related to Porsche 911s. I know the engine's in the wrong place, but they're not THAT wayward! I drove a 997 to Le Mans and back a few years ago IRL, without slicks and without a high downforce kit, and it definitely wasn't trying to kill me at every corner. I've just raced a 720bhp AMG GT Black Series at the Norschleife – on road tyres – with no problems at all, but try the same in a 440bhp 997 on soft slicks and it's all over the show. Did Kaz have a bad experience in his 911 and wants to warn us all?!

I got my jeep back from the shop today and drifted it everywhere I could safely home in the rain. Gt7 grip/tyre model SUCKS.

 

[Smokey Yunick]

I noticed last night playing GTS they changed the physics to what your describing I was driving a 4wd GR4 car with RSS and was getting snap oversteer it’s basically like they just took grip from the tires not changed the physics RSS are about as good as RH’s used to be I’ve never got snap oversteer on a 4wd they usually under steer like an FF, I refused to buy GT7 simply for the fact it’s GTS remastered basically PD polished a turd and sold it back to us as a new game an d the tuning aspect is so unrealistic I’ve seen an RX7 doing 300mph a GT40 doing 379MPH without engine swaps just fully tuned that’s out of the realm of reality and what makes a sim a sim is realism which GT7 doesn’t have much of you can dive into the pits at 150mph no penalty ACC players and PPl who watch F1 know what I’m talking about in GT AI pits the car for you in a sim you manually pit your car, GT7 is an arcade style racing RPG ( that’s why there’s so many MTX’s and you can buy currency in this game instead of buying the cars themselves this game is about who has the most time or money to waste on the game to be competitive which sucks since there targeting casual players ) no one will do the dailies cause of how unbalance the tuning and cars are, ppl think this weeks races are gonna be BoP I think what PD is gonna do is mirror GTS dailies till they kill GTS so you can’t go I don’t like these races on GT7 I’m gonna do GTS cause it will be the same races I bet, I am gonna buy the game but in about 5-6 months when gamestops selling used copy’s for $9.99 that’s all I will pay for the game it’s not even worth the $19.99 I paid for GTS l, I have surgery on my left foot next Thursday anyhow so I’ll suck for the next six month my heel toe isn’t great unless there’s a clutch a shifter involved and I don’t have and couldn’t use it if I wanted to I’m a left foot breaker, one of the biggest disappointments to me besides the horrid recycled track list and no contact penalty’s in sport mode still and skill based matchmaking seems to be gone they rank you by qauli time it seems now I’ve seen C,B,A,A+ players on the same race the A and A+ drivers didn’t diss well but the C B drivers did good cause they tuned a lot in GTS, I tuned the whole first year I played then I realized it was hindering my performance in daily races so from then on I set all my cars to BoP even if I was just doing a single player race to grind money I would set it to BoP weight and power and just leave all other settings stock, I remember when they first announced the game we were supposed to get all new RW tracks cars etc.. none of that happened and this new wind feature I should only be in dailies and open lobbies you can exploit it, Ive seen a headwind make someone fail the top speed mission in I believe it’s the veyron like in GTS