Ok...Haven't find any thread like this.

[Da_lurker]

But let's face it....My newly revived PS2 can't read Gran Turismo 4. It's even more sad to know I'm not alone in this.

But the thread wasn't mean to be an Read-Disk-Error topic. Nope.

It's about a desperate guy that's a big fan of Gran Turismo 4 and want's to emulate it give Gran Turismo 3 a try.

So, why aren't you posting in the GT3 section then?? you could say. Because it's a thread made by a guy that have played Gran Turismo 4 first and wants to know some aspects that could be different or remained the same from GT3 to GT4.

So, for starters.....

Edit: Yeah, I want to hear your opinions. There's no ultimately answer, and I don't want to start a GT3 Vs GT4 battle thread here.

GT4 has a lovely physics, in the sense the cars have weight. It doesn't feel arcadish at all....is it the same on GT3??? I've played a random match on GT2 once and welll.....the cars were as heavy as flies

Does the GT3 rally races punish you when the other car is the one that crashed onto you???

GT4 graphics kick ass. And for the videos GT3 seems to be a weird mix, the courses seem a lot fuglier and simpler, but the cars are pretty much like GT4. RIght/wrong??

Does GT3 has extremely long endurance races like in GT4???

Does GT3 has car optimization like GT4?? I mean, updates like engines, turbos, etc and also tire types??

Can you buy used cars?

How does the soundtrack compares to GT4?? GT4's soundtrack was pretty cool for racing, one can just feel the wind within the themes

And all in all, GRan Turismo 3 would feel like an older and incomplete version of Gran Turismo 4 or it's more like a different game by its own?

So, that's basically it.

 

[GT_Prologue5]

Um, that's a lot of questions. You can't really get answers, you'll get opinions. You should play the game yourself, it'll feel better. Most of the questions would be answered yes, but I'm not going to say anything.

 

[dylansan]

All I can say is that many people love this game, and even consider the physics more realistic, at least in some ways. Some major turn-offs for me:
Severely less cars than GT4. You will probably miss some.
No used car dealership.
Actually, other than that, I think I really should pick this game back up. There's plenty I remember that I loved:
The soundtrack was awesome to me, especially the menu music. I plan to get it on my ipod somehow.
Interesting Arcade mode. From what I remember there are three levels of difficulty for each track plus a preset-car-and-track time trial mode. Not to mention a class system and using cars from your garage in all arcade mode races.
I always loved the rally, though it seemed too easy to me compared to GT4, which some say is too hard.
Graphics are pretty good, though there's no photomode to show it off. The replay mode's sync/dive feature is similar to GT4, but in my opinion better.

That's all I can think of for now. Honestly there's probably a way to fix your console/disc so you can play GT4, but a stint of GT3 couldn't hurt.

 

[Rotary Junkie]

GT4 has a lovely physics, in the sense the cars have weight. It doesn't feel arcadish at all....is it the same on GT3??? I've played a random match on GT2 once and welll.....the cars were as heavy as flies

Mhm, in fact some prefer GT3's physics due to less understeer.

Does the GT3 rally races punish you when the other car is the one that crashed onto you???

There are no penalties as far as I remember.

GT4 graphics kick ass. And for the videos GT3 seems to be a weird mix, the courses seem a lot fuglier and simpler, but the cars are pretty much like GT4. RIght/wrong??

GT3's cars are pretty close but not quiiiiite GT4 level.

Does GT3 has extremely long endurance races like in GT4???

I can't recall exactly what the longest was, but I think it was around 8 hours.

Does GT3 has car optimization like GT4?? I mean, updates like engines, turbos, etc and also tire types??

Has everything GT4 does except for aftermarket wings.

Can you buy used cars?

How does the soundtrack compares to GT4?? GT4's soundtrack was pretty cool for racing, one can just feel the wind within the themes

I prefer it but this is more of an opinion thing.

And all in all, GRan Turismo 3 would feel like an older and incomplete version of Gran Turismo 4 or it's more like a different game by its own?

It feels like a rather different game but much the same. GT3 was three steps forward and two back versus GT2, and GT4 was more like 3 forward and 1 back versus GT3.

 

[PF]

Have you cleaned the lens on your PS2? Search YouTube for it. I think the first hit is some monkey who manages to spill rubbing alcohol (isopropyl) over the inside of his PS2 box. Still tells you how to do it and it's bloody simple; even I was able to do it.

Can't answer the next dozen questions, have only played GT and GT4

 

[Tonystew42]

GT4 has a lovely physics, in the sense the cars have weight. It doesn't feel arcadish at all....is it the same on GT3??? I've played a random match on GT2 once and welll.....the cars were as heavy as flies

Mhm, in fact some prefer GT3's physics due to less understeer.

Does the GT3 rally races punish you when the other car is the one that crashed onto you???

There are no penalties.

GT4 graphics kick ass. And for the videos GT3 seems to be a weird mix, the courses seem a lot fuglier and simpler, but the cars are pretty much like GT4. RIght/wrong??

GT3's cars aren't GT4 level, but you'll get used to them by the end of the first day. The tracks also are a little darker.

Does GT3 has extremely long endurance races like in GT4???

The longest race was Roadster Endurance, which was a 4 hour time-limited race. The rest should take around 2 hours. Nothing near the GT4 endurances.

Does GT3 has car optimization like GT4?? I mean, updates like engines, turbos, etc and also tire types??

Has everything GT4 does except for aftermarket wings.

Can you buy used cars?

Unfortunately, no. But if you get your first cars by golding licences, it means you get an extra $8K from GT4.

How does the soundtrack compares to GT4?? GT4's soundtrack was pretty cool for racing, one can just feel the wind within the themes

I prefer GT3, but that's probably because I grew up on the songs.

And all in all, Gran Turismo 3 would feel like an older and incomplete version of Gran Turismo 4 or it's more like a different game by its own?

It will feel like a different game. Many of the cars you used and loved on GT4 will be gone. However, with the limited cars, you will learn the abilities of cars you never touched. Most other aspects are different. The screen when you win a car, the home screen, the map, the races, even the oil price. But you will have unlocked a huge step in GT history (plus it's got, like, ten Formula 1 cars. )

This wasn't my objecting to Rotary Junkie's answers, I'm just too lazy to copy and bold all his questions.

 

[Rocker]

I have decided to take advantage of the time left until November 2, to finish my 100% gold licenses on GT3.

... and revisit my hacked XJ220/F094s/Escudo hybrid LOL.

 

[Da_lurker]

Ok. Time for some answers!

Thank you people for your support!! As the newbie I am, I'm glad to see there're nice guys around who can use a little of their time to share their GT3/GT4 impressions with me. THank you guys!

Um, that's a lot of questions. You can't really get answers, you'll get opinions. You should play the game yourself, it'll feel better. Most of the questions would be answered yes, but I'm not going to say anything.

Hehe, well. I'd rather like to know some stuff beforehand. Considering that getting a copy of GT3 would be hard enough these days, I'm not wasting my money on something that I could ultimately don't like. But from what I'm hearing, it seems GT3 is a great game by its own.

All I can say is that many people love this game, and even consider the physics more realistic, at least in some ways. Some major turn-offs for me:
Severely less cars than GT4. You will probably miss some.
No used car dealership.
Actually, other than that, I think I really should pick this game back up. There's plenty I remember that I loved:
The soundtrack was awesome to me, especially the menu music. I plan to get it on my ipod somehow.
Interesting Arcade mode. From what I remember there are three levels of difficulty for each track plus a preset-car-and-track time trial mode. Not to mention a class system and using cars from your garage in all arcade mode races.
I always loved the rally, though it seemed too easy to me compared to GT4, which some say is too hard.
Graphics are pretty good, though there's no photomode to show it off. The replay mode's sync/dive feature is similar to GT4, but in my opinion better.

That's all I can think of for now. Honestly there's probably a way to fix your console/disc so you can play GT4, but a stint of GT3 couldn't hurt.

Thanks for your answers!!!

Mhm, in fact some prefer GT3's physics due to less understeer.

There are no penalties as far as I remember.

GT3's cars are pretty close but not quiiiiite GT4 level.

I can't recall exactly what the longest was, but I think it was around 8 hours.

Has everything GT4 does except for aftermarket wings.

I prefer it but this is more of an opinion thing.

It feels like a rather different game but much the same. GT3 was three steps forward and two back versus GT2, and GT4 was more like 3 forward and 1 back versus GT3.

^^ Thanks for your answer as well!!! What do you mean by GT3 being two steps back from GT2?

Have you cleaned the lens on your PS2? Search YouTube for it. I think the first hit is some monkey who manages to spill rubbing alcohol (isopropyl) over the inside of his PS2 box. Still tells you how to do it and it's bloody simple; even I was able to do it.

Can't answer the next dozen questions, have only played GT and GT4

Thanks for the suggestion. But I forgot to explain it better.

My PS2 was getting old and it started to fail reading any game, GT4 included. So, I repaired it and now it reads all the games again, it's like a brand new PS2. Except for GT4 The laser is ok, and even my GT4 copy is ok (maybe not as good as day one, but it's certainly without mayor scratches). It's very sad but it won't work in the long term, it loads the tracks when it wants, but sometimes the "red loading clock of death" appears. And then my gaming goes to waste.

This wasn't my objecting to Rotary Junkie's answers, I'm just too lazy to copy and bold all his questions.

Thank you so much for your answer!! Specially the endurance question. I love to hear that. 24 Hs tracks without saving are just too much for me. It seems I would be able to play GT3 endurances just like that.

I have decided to take advantage of the time left until November 2, to finish my 100% gold licenses on GT3.

... and revisit my hacked XJ220/F094s/Escudo hybrid LOL.

^^ Hehe.

----------

I forgot the biggest question.....DOES GT3 has read-disk error problems like GT4?? I think it's a single layer DVD instead of the Dual Layer one for GT4.

 

[Rotary Junkie]

GT3 generally does not have DRE issues unless the PS2 is royally screwed anyway.

Also, I remember seeing GT3 at GameStop for about $5 used and they had more than a few copies.

As for being "two steps back" I mean purely in the comparative lack of car choice and lack of used car lots.

 

[Anathema]

The replay mode's sync/dive feature is similar to GT4, but in my opinion better.

Try setting the song to only "Turbo Lover" by Judas Priest. Then go into Free Run (Free Time Trial) and go do a few laps.
The dive/sync replay will actually match it to the song's beats, such as near the ending when the drums kick in.
It works for almost all the songs.
Try it.
Also, I choose GT4 over GT3 because there are a lot more cars & options than GT3. I like both games, but GT4 is better.

 

[Borna12345]

About your problems with GT4, I have them too. I had shut off the music, and wipe the CD every time a red clock appears. It works now.

 

[SaberFire]

Actually, I hold the opinion that the car models in GT3 were actually better quality than the vast majority of GT4 ones. I dunno, I just think they look much better.

 

[Tornado]

GT4 has a lovely physics, in the sense the cars have weight. It doesn't feel arcadish at all....is it the same on GT3??? I've played a random match on GT2 once and welll.....the cars were as heavy as flies

Cars have noticeable weight to them, nothing like the floatiness that they had in GT2. They control similar to GT2, but with a lot more emphasis on weight transfer and a much better tire model. I'd say that GT4 might be slightly better overall, but GT3 still does several things better in spite of that. Keep in mind that GT3 doesn't model fuel consumption at all, and it doesn't start modeling tire wear until somewhat late in the GT Mode.

Does the GT3 rally races punish you when the other car is the one that crashed onto you???

The AI in GT3 is better than that of GT4 9 times out of 10, so it isn't usually a problem in the first place. There is also no penalty system.

GT4 graphics kick ass. And for the videos GT3 seems to be a weird mix, the courses seem a lot fuglier and simpler, but the cars are pretty much like GT4. RIght/wrong??

GT3 Pros:
Slightly better framerate.

GT3 Cons:
The game has pop up. Most tracks it is unnoticeable. Some tracks it is very jarring.
First person view has freaky things happen when you make your car create sparks.

GT4 Pros:
Much better lighting engine.
The (new) tracks are much more detailed.
No real pop up to speak of.
The new to GT4 cars (and some of the GT3 cars) are more detailed than the GT3 cars.
More "little" details (backfiring, for example).

GT4 Cons:
Most of the cars returning from GT3 look worse than they did in GT3.
Some of the cars made for GT4 have inconsistent texture quality, by which I mean some of them look awful compared to the other ones.
Occasional screen jitter.
Occasional framerate dips.

I'd say GT4 in general looks notably better most of the time, but GT3 is much more consistent.

Does GT3 has extremely long endurance races like in GT4???

Endurance races are basically set up the same way as they were in GT2.

Does GT3 has car optimization like GT4?? I mean, updates like engines, turbos, etc and also tire types??

Basically the same. It is less advanced in some areas (no supercharger, stage 5 turbo or wing parts) and more advanced in others (you can adjust downforce and suspension settings for several stock road cars that had adjustable settings in real life. This wasn't an option in GT4).
You can also save car settings to your memory card, so you can transfer settings between vehicles. I'm also of the opinion that the GT3 settings menu was much more intuitive than the messy pulldown menus that GT4 had. It also doesn't have the silly "Parts being equipped" loading bar that GT4 had.

Can you buy used cars?

No, but the starting credit limit was increased to 15,000 to try to offset this.

How does the soundtrack compares to GT4?? GT4's soundtrack was pretty cool for racing, one can just feel the wind within the themes

There are some tracks that I like in GT3, but I generally find it to be lacking, and I eventually ended up just turning it off altogether. There also isn't nearly as much music as in GT4, nor is there as much variety in the tracks.

And all in all, GRan Turismo 3 would feel like an older and incomplete version of Gran Turismo 4 or it's more like a different game by its own?

Different game. It has less content, but at times it seems to have a lot more polish. It does things right (the general menu system, Arcade Mode) that GT4 did very, very wrong; and in general the single player mode is more fun because the AI is more competitive. Worth playing for sure, but most of the time doesn't compare favorably to GT4 simply due to lack of content.

 

[Parnelli Bone]

Actually, I hold the opinion that the car models in GT3 were actually better quality than the vast majority of GT4 ones. I dunno, I just think they look much better.

I would agree. GT3's graphics are slightly better than GT4's. The scenery is also definitely more involved in GT3. GT3 also has much better replay mode options (random as well as fixed cameras).

 

[Da_lurker]

Ok...Thanks for all the recommendations!

I'm a Gran Turismo 3 player from now on! Whahah

The beginning is a little rough, and the licenses are a bit hard but I'm enjoying the game so far. Nice graphics for cars. I thought they could have been a lot worse. =D

See you in the other section, then!

 

[Nero9]

The only thing GT4 has over GT3 is a better lighting engine, a photo mode, more tracks and cars. That's it.