Here are a few ideas I have had about things to revive Gran Turismo to it's once dominant state.
o Point to Point races. I'm not one to say we need a million of them, but for some maufacturer races, these would be golden. Point to Point races can best be utilized because you can focus on portions of tracks that exploit the strengths of certain cars. It also will teach players and drivers alike how to play in a bind. It will force the player to learn to drive agressively while maintaining a safe distance and speed and undertaking proper passing prodecures.
o More race limitations. Sure, it's fun to max out your car, but it takes nearly all of the excitement of GT away. The game simply put, needs to be more challenging. The ability to surpass your opponents off of the line within seconds simply kills a lot of the "fun factor". If they were to add a bit more off the line excitement by implementing some more limitations, such as power, turbo vs. N/A, more tire limitations, weight, and possibly drive train, then I think it would greatly improve a lot of the races more than AI ever could, which brings me to my next point.
o AI. Can it be improved? Yes. But how sould it be improved? Simple. The main thing that the AI lacks right now is awarness. This hinders it greatly. If the AI were aware of it's surroundings, meaning it would avoid hitting other cars, then it would improve significantly. However, it is not. It may fool you into thinking that it is aware during the starting grid, since the cars to not hit eachother, however, this is simply due to pre-programmed race lines that the cars follow. Also, the AI needs to be toned down for higher powered cars, reason being, the AI does not manage high powered cars well at all, it simply follows a raceline and the extra power hinders it because they AI has no idea how to control grip.
o Reward System. Sure, getting money and buying cars is fun, however, other than the goal of a percentage, there is little to gain from GT. I think a few things are in place here, and I will discuss them in sub topics.
o Leader Boards. GT is in DIRE need of a leader board. It would have been the easiest way to give the game some "online" interactivity. Just post up lap times with restrictions on certain corses on a server provided by PD, and BAM, you have people nation wide competing to be the fastest without having to race each other, you now have GOALS.
o Aside from trophy cars and money, GT, in my opinion, should offer videos to those who win certain races. Footage of rare cars, information on certain cars, and so forth, could be provided. Something like Top Gear (only not full of idiots). Just a man telling us about the history of the car, something similar to what you would see in Best Motoring videos.
o Now, take this with a grain of salt, as it's just an idea. But car shows, or competitions and such, would be fun. For example, imagine gathering up onilne in a lobby, and having an entry fee for said car show. From here, spectators and on lookers could look at the cars and vote on them, and the winner could take home the pot. Other events could be equally exciting, such as a gamble mode or something, where you can bet on certain racers during an event as a spectator if the room is full, etc. Also, I completely understand that this system is flawed, lol, but it's an idea.
o Banks. If GT had a bank, it would be awesome. The ability to take out loans, make deposit's, gain interest, and loan others money (with the intent to get paid back w/interest) would be great. I think this would give a bit more variety to the game rather than the "race and earn" side of the coin.
o More weather conditions. It's completely understandable that no motorsport takes place during rain, or snow, however, for novelty, it would be enjoyable.
o Wider variety of "time of day" tracks. I want to race some tracks during the day, btu can't, like wise with racing during the day. This would not offer a significant amount of replay, but it would still be ineteresting. Especailly if your field of vision was slightly limited to your headlights etc (while in cabin or bumper cam, for example).
These are just a few of the ideas I had, that were *slightly* out of the obvious additions and ideas.
Discuss
OH...and of course, who could forget reverse lights...sooo important.
o Point to Point races. I'm not one to say we need a million of them, but for some maufacturer races, these would be golden. Point to Point races can best be utilized because you can focus on portions of tracks that exploit the strengths of certain cars. It also will teach players and drivers alike how to play in a bind. It will force the player to learn to drive agressively while maintaining a safe distance and speed and undertaking proper passing prodecures.
o More race limitations. Sure, it's fun to max out your car, but it takes nearly all of the excitement of GT away. The game simply put, needs to be more challenging. The ability to surpass your opponents off of the line within seconds simply kills a lot of the "fun factor". If they were to add a bit more off the line excitement by implementing some more limitations, such as power, turbo vs. N/A, more tire limitations, weight, and possibly drive train, then I think it would greatly improve a lot of the races more than AI ever could, which brings me to my next point.
o AI. Can it be improved? Yes. But how sould it be improved? Simple. The main thing that the AI lacks right now is awarness. This hinders it greatly. If the AI were aware of it's surroundings, meaning it would avoid hitting other cars, then it would improve significantly. However, it is not. It may fool you into thinking that it is aware during the starting grid, since the cars to not hit eachother, however, this is simply due to pre-programmed race lines that the cars follow. Also, the AI needs to be toned down for higher powered cars, reason being, the AI does not manage high powered cars well at all, it simply follows a raceline and the extra power hinders it because they AI has no idea how to control grip.
o Reward System. Sure, getting money and buying cars is fun, however, other than the goal of a percentage, there is little to gain from GT. I think a few things are in place here, and I will discuss them in sub topics.
o Leader Boards. GT is in DIRE need of a leader board. It would have been the easiest way to give the game some "online" interactivity. Just post up lap times with restrictions on certain corses on a server provided by PD, and BAM, you have people nation wide competing to be the fastest without having to race each other, you now have GOALS.
o Aside from trophy cars and money, GT, in my opinion, should offer videos to those who win certain races. Footage of rare cars, information on certain cars, and so forth, could be provided. Something like Top Gear (only not full of idiots). Just a man telling us about the history of the car, something similar to what you would see in Best Motoring videos.
o Now, take this with a grain of salt, as it's just an idea. But car shows, or competitions and such, would be fun. For example, imagine gathering up onilne in a lobby, and having an entry fee for said car show. From here, spectators and on lookers could look at the cars and vote on them, and the winner could take home the pot. Other events could be equally exciting, such as a gamble mode or something, where you can bet on certain racers during an event as a spectator if the room is full, etc. Also, I completely understand that this system is flawed, lol, but it's an idea.
o Banks. If GT had a bank, it would be awesome. The ability to take out loans, make deposit's, gain interest, and loan others money (with the intent to get paid back w/interest) would be great. I think this would give a bit more variety to the game rather than the "race and earn" side of the coin.
o More weather conditions. It's completely understandable that no motorsport takes place during rain, or snow, however, for novelty, it would be enjoyable.
o Wider variety of "time of day" tracks. I want to race some tracks during the day, btu can't, like wise with racing during the day. This would not offer a significant amount of replay, but it would still be ineteresting. Especailly if your field of vision was slightly limited to your headlights etc (while in cabin or bumper cam, for example).
These are just a few of the ideas I had, that were *slightly* out of the obvious additions and ideas.
Discuss
OH...and of course, who could forget reverse lights...sooo important.
. I think GT would benefit greatly from all of that. What I'd like to see is the team aspect improved too, to actually have a team of people around you in the game when your in your garage ect, to be able to hire faster pit crew members ect.
