Pursuing Platinum at 70... years that is

  • Thread starter RReed43
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My brother and I would talk about how the vettel challenge would be impossible for someone lacking the reflexes of a young man

Cheers for proving us wrong
 
I have completed two more blocks of ten at Suzuka. Gold 2:10 Silver 2:11.5

3rd block-- Average 2:16.567-- Fastest Lap 2:15.296
4th block-- Average 2:15.569-- Fastest Lap 2:14.638

Clearly Suzuka is harder than Monza. I got Gold at Monza after 43 laps. It took over 400 laps at Nurburgring.

I have no idea about how many laps it wil take at Suzuka but my concentration is on improving my average lap time with each ten block set.
 
seanneedscar
My brother and I would talk about how the vettel challenge would be impossible for someone lacking the reflexes of a young man
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I believed this also but when I was able to be competative in the Academy and win Gold in all the Seasonals incuding the hard ones like the Lambo on the Nordshliefe I felt like why not give it a go.

Certainly reflexes are important but practice makes it possible to overcome some deficencies in reflexes.

In addition it has been shown in scientific studies that playing video games improves the brain function in older people. The truth is I don't feel older in my mind. I work out on a tread mill every day so my body is in pretty good shape also.

I share this to encourage everyone that you can get better if you work at it.
 
Props to your approach and dedication. Especially with understanding the fact that you're going to have to improve your laptime progressively. Driving is more of a practice of perception and prediction rather than outright reaction/reflexes anyway. Besides, if you get into a situation in the Vettel challenges where you have to use your reflexes (catching an error), you've lost the gold anyway.

The 10-lap set per block is also a good idea, one that I've failed to do. I've gone on for much longer and I have to say that spending too long in one sitting gets counterproductive as you get tired and frustrated (while the voice inside you says "one more run!"). Sometimes it is wise to put the wheel/controller down for the day even if you feel that you can still do some more runs.

Expect to take a slightly longer time in Suzuka than in Nurburgring. Your 43 laps on Monza and 400 on the Ring are very close to mine, although I was using the controller.
 
yarrmateys
The 10-lap set per block is also a good idea, one that I've failed to do. I've gone on for much longer and I have to say that spending too long in one sitting gets counterproductive as you get tired and frustrated (while the voice inside you says "one more run!"). Sometimes it is wise to put the wheel/controller down for the day even if you feel that you can still do some more runs.
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Producing high level concentration for more than a ten lap block is difficult for me. The way I actually run a session is to first start with warm up laps. I don't start recording laps until I'm in the ball park of my previous set. It takes a few laps to get up to speed. Once I record my first lap i keep recording until I complete 10. I frequently get "disqualified" for running off course, these laps aren't counted as anything. Occassional I will restart a lap if I screw up really bad. If my time is slow I try to catch up by going faster than normal. Often times I go off track but occassional I will learn how to go faster.

Typically my fastest laps are in the middle of a ten block set.

Bock 5-- Average 2:15.009 Fastest 2:14.389
Block 6--Average 2:14.157 Fastest 2:13.510

I'm just a 2 seconds a lap from silver.
 
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Two more blocks of ten completed. This is when concentrating on improving my average time helps me continue to presse on. My best time so far is 2:12.600 and that is 2.600 seconds from gold. It is hard to imagine where I can find 2.6 seconds when I feel like I am driving flat out. The fact is that my average time is continuing to drop consistently and times that seemed fast a few blocks back are easy to achieve.

I'm beginning to see the Vettel ghost out on the course and it will help me get faster when I can close enough to see where I'm losing the most time.

Block 7-- Average 2:13.696 Fastest 2:12.978
Block 8-- Average 2:13.303 Fastest 2:12.600
 
Looking at your progress, you will probably achieve the 2:10 needed when you get your average down to 2:10.5.

Just keep at it, although it may be the last few seconds/tenths that take the most for you to find. I easily got to 2:15.000 within a few tries, 2:12.000 after a few days, stuck at the 2:10.800 - 2:11.500 range for more than a week, then at the 2:10.200 - 2:10.800 for another week
 
yarrmateys
Looking at your progress, you will probably achieve the 2:10 needed when you get your average down to 2:10.5.

Just keep at it, although it may be the last few seconds/tenths that take the most for you to find. I easily got to 2:15.000 within a few tries, 2:12.000 after a few days, stuck at the 2:10.800 - 2:11.500 range for more than a week, then at the 2:10.200 - 2:10.800 for another week
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I agree with your comment that when I can average 2:10.5 I will get Gold on an individual lap. That infact has been my experience with the two previous Vettel Challenges as well as the Eiger Grand Tour.

I expect that the going will get slower as I get closer to the target it certainly was that way with the Vettel Ring and the Eiger Grand Tour. The Monza Vettel Challenge was actually pretty easy, my progress was fast and before I knew it I had gotten Gold. Suzuka is much more challenging but I can't say yet which I think is harder Suzuka or the Ring. I will know when I get to Gold at Suzuka.

Block 9-- Average 2:13.089 Fastest 2:12.671
Block 10-- Average 2:12.702 Fastest 2:12.289
 
I surprised myself with my 2nd block of ten today and put up a time good enough to win the Silver Medal at Suzuka. I was running laps in the low 2:12's and suddenly put up a 2:11.443.

It wasn't a total fluke as a couple of laps later I recorded another Silver time of 2:11.465

It was 106 laps to Silver at Suzuka versus 193 laps to Silver on the Ring. I don't think this is due to Suzuka being easier than Nurburgring but rather that I have improved significantly on driving the X2010 as well as having a more focused approach to improving my times.


Block 11-- Average 2:12.160 Fastet 2:11.443
 
Not surprisingly after my break through performance in Block 11, I experienced my first uptick in average and fastest lap with Block 12. I expect the last 1 1/2 second between the Silver and Gold time to come very slowly as it did at the Ring. I am now up against the true challenge of achieving the Gold time.

I was able to improve my Average time in Block 13, improving on Block 12 and also by a slim margin on Block 11. I am now putting up laps of 2:11.xxx and I need to work on increasing the number in each block from here on. I also look for Silver times. Before I finally got Gold at the Ring I was consistently producing Silver times often having all ten times in Silver.

Block 12-- Average 2:12.327 Fastest 2:11.730
Block 13-- Average 2:12.148 Fastest 2:11.652
 
Rotorist
Very nice! And I most admire your persistence in achieving your target!
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This is the last major challenge for me in GT5 and I enjoy developing my driving skills and playing the game... it really is a fun pursuit and I will have mixed feeling when I reach the Gold.

I watched some Suzuka Gold runs on you.tube. I find that watching runs doesn't really help me until I'm totally familiar with the course and am producing fast laps. I can then appreciate where the Gold laps are deviating from my lines. There were two areas where I saw I could improve and I made a significant step forward in these next two blocks of runs.

Block 14-- Average 2:11.493 Fastest 2:10.753 Six Silver Medal Times
Block 15-- Average 2:11.152 Fastest 2:10.414 Nine Silver Medal Times

My best time is only 0.414 sec from Gold and I am closely pursuing the Vettel ghost on my best laps.
 
Kudos & respect, Mr. Reed. I know you'll get there. 👍 I simply don't have the patience to do this, so I stopped at bronze... :(
 
I continue to make progress. My best first lap 1:05.8xx time combined with my best second lap 1:04.0xx would give me Gold. It is now a matter of putting two outstanding laps together. It is harder for me to have a great 2nd lap when I had a great 1st lap because the tension of the looming Gold takes away from my performance.

A 2nd encouraging factor is that I can close on the Vettel ghost through all the turns... IF I execute the turn perfectly. Practice and constantly striving to make each ten lap block faster than the last is how I approach it.

I finally dropped my average time in to the 2:10's in the last block. As discussed earlier the probability of Gold gets very high when I can average 2:10.500 or better. My fastest lap dropped to 2:10.228 getting very close to Gold

Block 16-- Average 2:11.038 Fastest 2:10.485
Block 17-- Average 2:10.916 Fastest 2:10.228
 
You're progressing well, and fast. In only a week you've almost got it. I might as well congratulate you for the 3x Vettel gold in advance, since at this point it's just a matter of time. When you already have the theoretical first and second laps done it's just about stringing them together.
 
This whole thread is full of win. What a wonderful thread to read through.

Thank you for sharing Reed, all the best in your future GT endeavors!
 
I've been investing sometime in completiting the few trophies I didn't have. I just completed the "Age of Experience" for one of my B Spec drivers. I received the trophy with 365 races. It was sort of a pain in the a** but fortunately I had concentrated a lot of my B spec driving with one driver. I only had to grind about 50 laps to get the trophy.
 
I'm pleased to announce that I have gotten the Gold medal on the final Vettel Challenge at Suzuka.

I was very close on Block 18, I averaged 2:10.545 which means my best time had to be very close to the Gold time. In fact my best time was 2:10.163. My average and best time were continuing to drop and I felt like I would accomplish my goal in Block 19.

I did but it was a nerve racking series of runs. My best first lap time were below below 1:06 and I often started the 2nd lap right on the Vettel ghost. I would get tight and then the tension of the race would lead to mistakes. On two runs I went in the gravel on the final chicane where a clean line would have given me gold. Then I posted a 2:10.030 frustratingly close but still just silver.

On the 8th lap (the 198 timed lap in my quest) I posted a 1:06.086 on the first lap. A little slower than ideal but I really had a great 2nd lap posting a 1:03.753 for a total of 2:09.839, comfortably below the gold time.

I received another Redbull and more importanltly the Gold Trophy as I have now gotten gold on all the races.

I am left with four hidden trophies to complete. The most difficult one seems to be to get something to fall off a car. It must take some doing because I have done lots of driving and nothing has ever fallen off....
 
Awesome job on the Vettel challenges. I have been watching this thread for some time and am glad you finally accomplished the hardest part of Gt5. Now you have all the hard stuff done, the platinum is well within reach.

As for the part falling off the car trophy, just go do an arcade time trial like i did with a premium rally car and wreck it a lot. Those cars have the best damage modeling and are the easiest to get doors to fall off.

I imagine the other hidden ones are the ones that require you to take pics of certain cars on certain courses. I don't remember them all, so you may have to look them up. I know one of them is driving by a building at the start/finish line on Tokyo r246 in an nsx and take a photo.

The determination and drive to do this especially at your age(no offense), is really inspiring me to give the platinum another go. I have a long road ahead if I decide to try again though....need to do 15 amg challenges, eiger grand tour, toscana grand tour, vettel from bronze to gold and the air of experience trophy.

I am tempted though, hmmm....
 
I finished the last four trophies and now am the proud owner of the Platinum Trophy.

I hope sharing my approach to the Eiger Tour and the Vettel Challenge events will encourage others to go for the Platinum.

I think Suzuka is a little easier than Nurburgring. I got the gold in less than half the timed runs and about half the time. That is half of February as opossed to all of January. I do think that learning how to drive at Nurburgring made Monza and Suzuka a lot easier.

I sincerely believe learning how to drive the X2010 has made me a better overall driver. Certainly everything else that happens in GT5 happens slower than it happens with the X2010. It was a real challenge to develop a feeling of "driving" so that I could break, steer and accelerate in a purposeful way.

The ultimate in driving feel in the Vettel Challenge occured for me in the series of "S" curves at Suzuka. Winning the gold requires precise throttle control, coupled with precise steering through this series of turns. It truly is remarkable that I was finally able to maneuver the X2010 through these curves with no breaking and only letting off the throttle lightly to adjust the balance and setup the next turn. It gives me a lot of confidence in my ability.

Bring on GT6.
 
Awesome to hear you got it! 👍 Maybe some day I can get gold on the Vettel Challenges myself. Seeing this thread gives me hope.
 
Congratulations on the Platinum Reed!

tumblr_lp7sg8r3qB1qi4lrno4_1280.jpg
 
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Congratulations! From henceforth you shall be know as; Grandad Turismo. ;)


👍
 
VBR
Congratulations! From henceforth you shall be know as; Grandad Turismo. ;)


👍
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:tup:That has a good ring to it.
Congrats on achieving Platinum, Mr.Reed
 

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