Just my two cents. 👍
I would like to see the following 2012 seasons of endurance racing series return to Gran Turismo 6...
24 Hours of Le Mans
24 Hours of Nürburgring
American Le Mans Series
Autobacs Super GT Series
Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters
Indianapolis 500
...along with some newcomers...
Blancpain Endurance Series
British Touring Car Championship
Dubai 24 Hour Race
European Le Mans Series
FIA GT1 World Championship
FIA GT3 European Championship
FIA World Endurance Championship
Formula 1
Karting World Championship
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
World Rally Championship
...the word "endurance" completely thrown out and rewritten, now requires a true driver's mind and skill.
Whenever I play endurance races in GT5, I just don't get that sense of realism. I keep wondering to myself, "Where are the other 50+ racers on the grid? Why are there so little spectators? Aren't events like this supposed to have big hype?"and my answer to this is always; I think that the idea of endurance events that PD has created is fine; I just want to see more realism.
I would prefer if they actually made an endurance series feel like an actual series; for instance, the goal of endurance races is changed to achieving pole position in your racing class (best in GT300, GT500 etc) instead of just the ol' "get in 1st place for 1 lap and stay there for another 171" mindset that we're all forced to adapt and play with.
Having an endurance series with individual rounds would be pretty nifty, not only adding up for the challenge, it would completely throw away the useless "if you ain't 1st, you're last" concept that makes up all the events in GT. Using a point system is a much better option; teams can then tally their marks while tactfully grinding for points, heightening the skill level.
It would be pretty cool if all of the cars present for the endurance series round(s) were on the grid.
During the 24 Hours of Nürburgring in real life, all drivers in each class start at different intervals. So if you were, lets say, in the highest class available to the event, then you would be notified of other classes starting.
Tracks utilizing the weather / time models for all endurance races is a MUST. You can't do a 12 hour-long race and it's still sunny, unless you live on another planet. This is GT5, not ET5: C-Spec Racing, where you can control time and space
.
I'm just the guy who just likes singing in the rain; I stop in the pits, switch to wet racing slicks, zoom off with my pit limiter active, set it off and watch dew drops crash through the windshield. It just doesn't feel right not see any weather or time change in certain endurance series in GT5. I just don't like it one bit. If I'm going to have to do a 9 hour-long endurance event at Tsukuba, or any event in that category, I better have the elements of nature beat and club away at my RM'd Corvette Z06, 'cause endurance's are supposed to be challenging, not easy.
At the date and time that the specific endurance race happened IRL, the weather and time model should simulate what happened on that day. Would be a pretty neat feature.
For karting, if there are track configurations made for karting, then they would have to be made just for such an occasion.
The final aspect of competition is, and always will be, the opposition appearing alongside the grid. The A.I. has to be aware of what they're doing, how there doing it, and why. They always must be on a team, given directions by the director. They need to know their strategies, their opposition, the track; everything. This is vital for surviving endurance races. PP is not a factor for this. I believe GT5's works of A.I. is completely out of whack; just look at the Nürburgring 4 Hours event; you see cars that ranging from 560-610 PP, and they're just scattered all over in Green Hell; they think like trains (If I would see a drag race between The Little Engine That Could, Thomas the Tank Engine and B-Spec Bob, all Hell would break loose), they just keep following the tracks and they have no brakes.
Practice and qualification rounds should be included, but the driver/player should had the free option to skip this. If they want to know the track more, let them practice. If they want to get a higher grid position at the start, let them qualify. If they choose not to, that's cool too.
Pit sessions should be more in-depth; I mean like, drivers and the pit crew can do so much more; part checks, drivers switching back and forth, making changes to your settings (aerodynamics, LSD etc). Racing drivers, I would assume, would not just come and pit just for tires only.
💡 10/11/2012: So instead of wasting money on grippier tires or waiting until the tires warm up, usually both, why not just bring in the addition of tire warmers? When I use a specific hardness of tires, I don't want to rely on hard braking and pulling out of corners full throttle just to get them to heat up.
Full rules and regulations that are sanctioned in the event used in real life should be used in future Endurance Series. I'm feeling a weird vibe on this, debatable.
Safety cars should be used. No series is complete without one. What if your car had an accident that was red-flag worthy? It wouldn't be fair to the victim if they did not receive guidance, counting the others on the track. If there was a red flag, you need a safety car. Or all Hell would break loose. No more restarting over that one mistake anymore.
Opponents can be punished with flags.
Real teams and team members including fully modeled drivers should be used. But you still need you buy your own car; for the team you wish to use for the series, you can just buy the car for the team it represents for and the team is auto-selected for that class.
If the car that you are driving has been totaled, you can switch to your next available driver and car on your team.
More constrictive requirements; for the series you're playing in, the rules and regulations should allow only the cars that are allowed to participate in that specific series. No more easy grinding with that X2010 Prototype that's been catching some dust in your Premium Cars garage on Grand Valley 300KM.
PD needs to see this and everybody else's posts and give them a chance. I want them to at least consider this, so I'll be mailing this in a big, brown box all the way to their headquarters and stamp on it in big, bold letters: From your friends :@:
.
Give me your most honest feedback and opinions.
Again, this is just my two cents.