What do you expect from GT5 in terms of weather

[Stevisiov]

Reading through the GT5 forum, I have noticed that many people have said they want variable weather systems and even day night transitions. This got me thinking, what exactly would you like to see in terms of weather in GT5. It seems that people want to see the weather be different for each series and even change during the race on some endurance races. Hopefully this thread could bring together some of the ideas scattered around the GT5 forum.

Let's have an example, lets say in GT5 we still have the Sunday Cup and the event is at Autumn Ring Mini, would you like Autumn Ring to have a preset weather and time of day e.g Morning, cloudy or would you prefare a weather system which will randomly generate any weather condition possible in the game?

What extent would you like the weather to change to; Sun, cloud, rain, fog, snow? If this is the case then I think it would be fitting for tires to be more selective rather than just, Racing, sport, Economy, it would have to be more specific e.g Wet, intermediate, slick etc. Do you think snow should be included as a possible track condition? if so should spiked tires be allowed on track? I would imagine they would not be as this may damage a track in real life, so perhaps other snow tires would be needed.

Perhaps you want a specific series to take place at night would be a good idea, I certainly feel that 24 hour races should feature a day night transition. If there were events designed to take place at certain parts of the day, does that mean you could expect to see the day version of SS route 5, perhaps a picturesque sunset at El Capitan.

Another possible variation could be of the season, Summer, Winter Autumn, Spring. Perhaps different weather scenario's could be effected by what season you are in, for example, in winter the leaves would be off the tree's and there is a 15% chance of snow, 10%, chance of fog, etc. Perhaps even some could be combined, e.g snow with fog, which would resemble a white out. Conditions like this would surely close a race, but it may work for less extreme combinations. This would be incredibly hard to implement especially if you consider that the seasons and weather patterns vary tremendously throughout the world and there for the position of each track would take a great deal of consideration, for me this would be far to complicated but, there could always be a simplified system to add a bit more variety to events.

I have always found some tracks lack atmosphere, very few spectators, with a cloudy slightly overcast sky. With no weather some of the tracks feel a little lifeless. Its hard to tell a hot day from a cold day, its just a day. Perhaps heat hazes could make the track appear lively. The track always seem to shimmer at F1 races, this seldom happens in GT it appears very dull at most races.

A few ideas would be much appreciated. Many of the idea's here are very much over the top and would be very difficult to include, however I put them to help hear some interesting replies and discussion. Before posting please give a good thought to whether you think it is reasonable to include this in the game. Please do not post 'I want the weather to be as accurate to real life as possible' since this is a car game and while I would like a good weather system it is hardly something that is fundamental to the game. So please lets hear your views on what you would like in terms of weather

 

[Noremac55]

I like the idea of weather changing through out a race, and a nice addition in the endurance races and other races would be the choice of different compounds of wet weather and intermediate tires

 

[TopHat]

Dynamic weather would be pretty damn good I say.

 

[FoolKiller]

I think weather change is a very reasonable thing to want. Le Mans 24 Hours did it.

Now in the example of the Sunday Cup, having snow be an option may be a bit much, as you rarely (if ever) see a race not intended to be on snow get snowed on. Having snow be a possible option would seem a bit out of place. Now, on a snow rally track you could have any of the possible options.

Before going into a race you would need to have a foirecast so that you could tune your car appropriately. Just randomly having weather change without knowing you had a 20% chance, or even entering a race in the middle of a downpour without warning would be a bit too random. I should be forewarned that I need wet tires.

Another possible idea that I will steal from the Wii: Use actual weather from the region the track is in to determine the in-game weather. This is how Madden '07 supposedly works, but since the Wii's Forecast Channel is anywhere from 2-12 hours behind, depeding on the city, I can't verify that it works. It is possible with online capabilities.

Endurance races should definitely have weather changes sometimes. Not always, because it doesn't happen more than it does, so having every race have a weather change the way Le Mans 24 Hours did could get old. But if it can update online in real time as you race then that would be awesome.

 

[Stevisiov]

I have to say I agree with you on the snow one, I would imagine a normal race would be canceled if a track is covered in snow. I just added it to make people think about what degree of weather they would want to see.

I also think wind could be a new thing to introduce, the occasional race with strong wind conditions could make the race feel that little bit more realistic.

It would be nice to see the major series to have something special about them, in terms of weather all the races in a series could take place at night. This isn't particularly realistic but it would bring a certain level of personality to the event. E.g the Dream car championship could be known for its night-time racing. Things like this could make an event stand out. In the 24hours there are planes going over head, this is another way of personalizing a series, it doesn't have to be weather related.

Would you like to see major series be 'personalized' by PD to make them stand out?

 

[Francesthemute]

not nessisarily, most times when the weather gets nasty, they put treaded tires on cars to continue the race.

 

[TheCracker]

What do you expect from GT5 in terms of weather?

Light drizzle clearing later in the day to patchy sunshine and a westerly breeze.

 

[RacingFreak2k3]

Well, if we get weather effects at all....PD has a lot of work to do after I saw the video of the rain effects for PGR4. The rain on the cars looks crazy real, and we can only hope for something similar in GT5. I'm really getting anxious to see what direction PD is going with GT5. So far, we really don't know anything except for the fact that the cars look amazing, the physics are pretty good, the tracks are amazing to look at, and the sounds aren't great....just based on GTHD. Cmon PD, give us some info please!

 

[FoolKiller]

Would you like to see major series be 'personalized' by PD to make them stand out?

Well, maybe if they had a series that was specified in that way, kind of as a way to show off their new weather. I would let the regular race series stay the same as whatever the setup is, but have like a Monsoon Cup or Foggy Night Cup as a way to point out the change, much like the Sport Truck and Formula GT World races were added to point out those additions. It's a slightly unnecessary addition, but it points it out. I really like the idea of an all-night series. Of course, that would be added once they make the headlights project on the road properly.

not nessisarily, most times when the weather gets nasty, they put treaded tires on cars to continue the race.

In rain, yes, but we were talking about snow and I have never seen a sports car race where snow and ice came up on them during a race, so I have no clue how they handle that. The only racing I have seen on snow and ice is where the initial intention was to race on snow and ice and the car was designed for that purpose. I'm trying to picture an Audi R10 on snow and my mental image isn't pretty.

 

[Stevisiov]

I'm trying to picture an Audi R10 on snow and my mental image isn't pretty.

haha

 

[RedOak]

Well, if we get weather effects at all....PD has a lot of work to do after I saw the video of the rain effects for PGR4. The rain on the cars looks crazy real, and we can only hope for something similar in GT5.

No offence, but marketing hits again. That video doesn't really show anything that moves... a model with normal mapping in the shape of drops of water ain't really hard to do.

Until i see water splash and frizzel on the car, i won't be convinced.

 

[Stevisiov]

Your right there, car stills are easy to render, putting that into a full moving model will be much harder.

 

[Hun200kmh]

In Endurance races I just want from GT5 what Le Mans 24 Hours offered in the PS2 since 2001:
a) Day to night to day in a 24 hour race;
b) Changeable weather.

I have run several 24 hour races in that old game (I'm currently doing just another one, please remenber that we can save while in the pits) and I already got a full dry race, a race with rain most of the time (20 out of 24 hours) and several races mostly dry but with a few hours of wet.

I want just that, but of course with the superior graphics that PD and the PS3 can provide.

About short races, I don't think changeable weather is an issue.

 

[Stevisiov]

I think it is important to have a bit of variety in the weather on some of the the medium difficulty races would be in order. I would have the Beginner league with mainly dry races, maybe one or two should have a light drizzle. When things get to the expert league I would like to see more variation. Some races sunny, some rainy but the occasional fog would make for some harder races. Of course I would still like the majority to be sunny but a few 'harsh' conditions for the harder series would make for some interesting racing.

 

[TuneRVisioN]

Yeah fog is a great idea! That is what I want most from the GT series, other than snow on any track where it snowed before IRL.

 

[sbursi]

That all sounds good except for the snow, which I think should only be on rallies (and maybe light snow at the 'Ring for fun)

Its pathetic that GT hasn't even attempted to match what Le Mans 24 Hours did back in 2001

 

[Wildchildpr]

I remembered a dreamcast game, I think called lemans; that has excellent weather variable selection options...

 

[bjb]

Fog or in the case of new york and other city races smog would be a lot of fun. For the shorter races you would think that PD would have a time of day and weather randomiser with a what you see is what you get approach, as in once get to the start meun the weather does not change, but with races that go for more then half an hour it should change, from wet to dry or dry to wet and so on. With snow it happen with the V8 Supercars at Bathurst once so if it's in the right time as in winter and right place as in somewhere it snows I have no problem with it. Weeee fun. the ring with black ice that is just going to be one hell of a race.

 

[RacingFreak2k3]

Real-time weather would be sweet, but probably impossible. What i mean is that if it were raining in a place like New York in real life at a specific time, if you went to play GT at the New York track, it would be raining or something of that sort. Like I said, I can dream, and this probably won't happen, but it would be pretty sweet IMO. Oh well, if we get weather effects at all in GT, i'll be happy.

 

[Stevisiov]

Fog or in the case of new york and other city races smog would be a lot of fun. For the shorter races you would think that PD would have a time of day and weather randomiser with a what you see is what you get approach, as in once get to the start meun the weather does not change, but with races that go for more then half an hour it should change, from wet to dry or dry to wet and so on. With snow it happen with the V8 Supercars at Bathurst once so if it's in the right time as in winter and right place as in somewhere it snows I have no problem with it. Weeee fun. the ring with black ice that is just going to be one hell of a race.

Interesting, I would have to agree with the majority of that post, however instead of a weather Randomiser, I would prefare it if the races had a preset weather condition which doesn't change throughout the race. E.g. for the sunday cup at the highspeed ring it will always be a cold day with a an overcast sky, but for spider/roadster cup at the high speed ring the weather will always be wet and drizzly for that event.

Only for the endurance and expert leagues would I like to see entirely random weather, which could change at anytime. E.g. The weather could be any condition at the start of the race and have the potential to change during the race.

 

[FoolKiller]

the ring with black ice that is just going to be one hell of a race.

You are one sick and twisted man.

Real-time weather would be sweet, but probably impossible. What i mean is that if it were raining in a place like New York in real life at a specific time, if you went to play GT at the New York track, it would be raining or something of that sort. Like I said, I can dream, and this probably won't happen, but it would be pretty sweet IMO.

I have to believe that if EA can do it on the Nintendo Wii then PD should be able to do this on the PS3. Otherwise PD is in a very sorry state of affairs.

Interesting, I would have to agree with the majority of that post, however instead of a weather Randomiser, I would prefare it if the races had a preset weather condition which doesn't change throughout the race. E.g. for the sunday cup at the highspeed ring it will always be a cold day with a an overcast sky, but for spider/roadster cup at the high speed ring the weather will always be wet and drizzly for that event.

You may have a point, as it woudl just be too easy to go into a race, see horrible weather conditions, and exit back out. If bad weather is always bad weather or good is always good for that race, then it would work. Maybe different coinditions under each race during a series, but it remains the same for that individual race. I hope that makes sense.

Only for the endurance and expert leagues would I like to see entirely random weather, which could change at anytime. E.g. The weather could be any condition at the start of the race and have the potential to change during the race.

Maybe have possibly different conditions from qualifying to race day, like real life, so that it just creates a tad bit more complication in the setup. All I ask is that I get to see what the weather is before I am actually driving and it not change too erratically fast. Basically not so drastic that it upsets my pit strategy too much.

 

[bjb]

Interesting, I would have to agree with the majority of that post, however instead of a weather Randomiser, I would prefare it if the races had a preset weather condition which doesn't change throughout the race. E.g. for the sunday cup at the highspeed ring it will always be a cold day with a an overcast sky, but for spider/roadster cup at the high speed ring the weather will always be wet and drizzly for that event.

Only for the endurance and expert leagues would I like to see entirely random weather, which could change at anytime. E.g. The weather could be any condition at the start of the race and have the potential to change during the race.

That sounds go but the same weather over and over would get so boring after a year or so, but with random weather you don't know what you get till the click on that race and it always changing, and with the races that go for half an hour to 1 lap the weather should not change mid race which is what I think you mean anyway.
Oh and if it's real weather will we have freak weather like tornados.

 

[Mr P510]

As far as weather is concerned I expect nothing short of FULL customisability.
Random generated full dynamic time and weather.
Fully customisable time and weather.
The ability to set time and weather to whatever condition in whatever race or time trial.

PS3 could easily be capable of this.With the amount of time and the amount of staff at PD AND the amount of time they have already put into development I think they have no excuse if this sourght of thing is not included.

 

[Stevisiov]

FoolKiller
Maybe have possibly different conditions from qualifying to race day, like real life, so that it just creates a tad bit more complication in the setup. All I ask is that I get to see what the weather is before I am actually driving and it not change too erratically fast. Basically not so drastic that it upsets my pit strategy too much.

I would have to agree with you on that one, it couldn't be to hard for qualifying to have different conditions to the race, since most major series have qualifying the day before the event.

As for weather not changing too quickly, again I would have to agree I don't want to pit in throw on some new slicks get out the pit lane and hear a crack of thunder and see rain lashing it down before the end of the lap. Weather rarely changes from sun to rain in less than 15 minutes, and by this time you will have easily seen the dark clouds moving in, overcast days may make the weather slightly more unpredictable since it can start raining in a matter of seconds. Perhaps a weather forecast system should be in place for races that have dynamic weather changes, not 100% accurate of course, because when is meteorology an exact science, just something which will tell you to expect drizzle approxemetly 1 hour 30 minutes into the race. This way after 1 hour 20 I will consider going in to change to intermediates if the black clouds are looming.

bjb
That sounds go but the same weather over and over would get so boring after a year or so, but with random weather you don't know what you get till the click on that race and it always changing, and with the races that go for half an hour to 1 lap the weather should not change mid race which is what I think you mean anyway.
Oh and if it's real weather will we have freak weather like tornados.

Unfortunately it would get boring after a year, but this is only the amature and beginner league perhaps probably the one make races as well. Despite this I would still only like to see dynamic weather changes in Extreme league and endurance races, it give these events there own unique style and therefore make these races more fun and memorable. Think of it as a reward for unlocking endurance and expert league!

Of course in arcade mode you should be able to have a fully custom weather system, perhaps unlocking more features of it by completing GT mode, perhaps not.

As for tornadoes, well no, although the occasional freak weather, e.g. Monsoon style rain, gale force winds, just as long as they are not too extreme.

Mr P510
As far as weather is concerned I expect nothing short of FULL customisability.
Random generated full dynamic time and weather.
Fully customisable time and weather.
The ability to set time and weather to whatever condition in whatever race or time trial.

PS3 could easily be capable of this.With the amount of time and the amount of staff at PD AND the amount of time they have already put into development I think they have no excuse if this sourght of thing is not included.

Easily satisfied then.

 

[FoolKiller]

As far as weather is concerned I expect nothing short of FULL customisability.
Random generated full dynamic time and weather.
Fully customisable time and weather.
The ability to set time and weather to whatever condition in whatever race or time trial.

PS3 could easily be capable of this.With the amount of time and the amount of staff at PD AND the amount of time they have already put into development I think they have no excuse if this sourght of thing is not included.

You may as well expect to be disappointed then. What can be done and what may actually happen are two totally different things. As much as I love the GT series and think that PD does an excellent job, despite some unexcusable glitches in GT4, I never set my expectations too high. All I ever expect is a racing game that draws me in more than any other and makes me want to keep coming back, and maybe even be distracted so much that I never get 100% completion. I want weather and think it would be cool, but expecting PD to do it exactly how I think it should be done is foolhardy. It isn't as if they can read my mind.

I also think they focus so much on car and driving realism that they forget details elsewhere, which is why I don't have too much hope for proper weather changes..

As for weather not changing too quickly, again I would have to agree I don't want to pit in throw on some new slicks get out the pit lane and hear a crack of thunder and see rain lashing it down before the end of the lap. Weather rarely changes from sun to rain in less than 15 minutes, and by this time you will have easily seen the dark clouds moving in, overcast days may make the weather slightly more unpredictable since it can start raining in a matter of seconds. Perhaps a weather forecast system should be in place for races that have dynamic weather changes, not 100% accurate of course, because when is meteorology an exact science, just something which will tell you to expect drizzle approxemetly 1 hour 30 minutes into the race. This way after 1 hour 20 I will consider going in to change to intermediates if the black clouds are looming.

One thing that I can imagine is a very, very light sprinkle. It would create such a level of strategy that it would be crazy. Imagine, it starts but the roads/course is still drivable for a long time as the cars manage to keep the driving "groove" mostly dry. So switching tires too soon would increase tire wear, shortening stints. Of course, after a while if you step out of your racing line it becomes slippery on the slicks. Then eventually the track becomes completely wet and as it happened slowly you have slightly adapted, but you are now turining slower laps, or you eventually spin out (a major problem if we have crash damage). So if you get caught up in driving you might not notice when the balance shifts and you need your intermediate/wet tires.

Unfortunately it would get boring after a year, but this is only the amature and beginner league perhaps probably the one make races as well. Despite this I would still only like to see dynamic weather changes in Extreme league and endurance races, it give these events there own unique style and therefore make these races more fun and memorable. Think of it as a reward for unlocking endurance and expert league!

Maybe not fully dynamic, but having the conditions being different each time you do the race will mix things up a bit.

Or for the Beginners Hall or any A or B license race have it just be sunny so that the dynamic of purchasing proper tires doesn't come into play when you are still low on money (assuming we can't make millions in five easy steps this time).

Of course in arcade mode you should be able to have a fully custom weather system, perhaps unlocking more features of it by completing GT mode, perhaps not.

I have always wanted them to keep Arcade Mode and GT Mode completely separate so that I have a desire to actually beat Arcade Mode's time trials instead of knowing that everything will be unlocked by just doing GT mode.

I do agree with fully customizable weather in arcade though, possibly unlocking certain conditions by completing certain weather-based races.

[/quote]As for tornadoes, well no, although the occasional freak weather, e.g. Monsoon style rain, gale force winds, just as long as they are not too extreme.[/QUOTE]
I do believe that disaster style conditions cause, at a minimum, red flag, full stop, pull into the paddock events. Of course, if they did implement a flag system having it to where maybe once a year or two, game time, you get a severe weather stop. You have to pull into the pits and you have a video of the crew pushing the car to the paddock, and then a fade and a "30 minutes later" caption followed by a video of the cars coming back out and lining back up as they start a hot lap.

Like I said, I have a lot of hopes, but I do not expect this kind of thing of PD. It would be a cool easter egg or hidden feature though. I know my reaction would be, "What the....? That is awesome. Let's see Forza top that."

 

[Stevisiov]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KD7lV6idHuk
When I said extreme weather, I didn't mean this bad!
My local track smashed to bits GT this year was quite an event though luckily the rain wasn't as bad this year

 

[TuneRVisioN]

Why not? That looks like FUN!

 

[Stevisiov]

Well your right, it would be fun if GT5 had damage, but perhaps to much chaos would the game really difficult, but then again if PD are striving for the 'Real Driving Simulator' then I suppose extreme weather conditions have the right to be in the game, just as long as it is a rare occurance but then it begs the question, if its going to be so rare why include it?

 

[Michael88]

What do you expect from GT5 in terms of weather

Well, most guys here pretty much covered what weather features I want in GT5, but Ill make a short repeat:

* What weather conditions I want: Fog, rain, thunderstorm and wind, and a mix of them all; for special conditions snow and ice (maybe sandstorm too?).
* A light and a heavy version of each kind of weather.
* Realistic weather change period: If the weather is very fine and sunny there should be a realistic period of changing, from sunny to cloudy then some wind and finally rain and maybe a thunderstorm.
* Rain should create heavy mist that stays for a while at speeds of more than 100 mp/h.
* If there is a cockpit view option, rain should blur the view and rain drops should have different effects at different speeds
* Wind should affect cars a little bit, like pushing the car a little bit sideways, that effect should change on very light cars with a lot of downforce creating bodywork.
* Options to set up your own weather for a specific circuit.
(Time, percentage of rain/fog, time etc. )
* Lighting should change if cloud appear
* Realistic time of drying, if the weather still is cloudy after heavy rain the track should stay wet for a long time
* Higher possibility of accidents of AI cars

I am very sure that my wishes would be very hard to do or even inpossible, but who knows, maybe PD adds one or two weather features to GT5?
It would be a major (and a very important) improvement for GT5, changing weather would make the game much more enjoyable for a long time of playing.

 

[Stevisiov]

Well, most guys here pretty much covered what weather features I want in GT5, but Ill make a short repeat:

* What weather conditions I want: Fog, rain, thunderstorm and wind, and a mix of them all; for special conditions snow and ice (maybe sandstorm too?).
* A light and a heavy version of each kind of weather.
* Realistic weather change period: If the weather is very fine and sunny there should be a realistic period of changing, from sunny to cloudy then some wind and finally rain and maybe a thunderstorm.
* Rain should create heavy mist that stays for a while at speeds of more than 100 mp/h.
* If there is a cockpit view option, rain should blur the view and rain drops should have different effects at different speeds
* Wind should affect cars a little bit, like pushing the car a little bit sideways, that effect should change on very light cars with a lot of downforce creating bodywork.
* Options to set up your own weather for a specific circuit.
(Time, percentage of rain/fog, time etc. )
* Lighting should change if cloud appear
* Realistic time of drying, if the weather still is cloudy after heavy rain the track should stay wet for a long time
* Higher possibility of accidents of AI cars

I am very sure that my wishes would be very hard to do or even inpossible, but who knows, maybe PD adds one or two weather features to GT5?
It would be a major (and a very important) improvement for GT5, changing weather would make the game much more enjoyable for a long time of playing.

A very good condensed list summed up well +rep

I was wondering about changes in seasons, since GT4 had a day count why not have changes in seasons during the GT year. It would be interesting to see some tracks during winter time, and just help create that bit of variety. The only thing is Autumn Ring, would you have to call it Seasonal Ring!?

In all seriousness do you think its a good idea, or not worth the effort?