Not true at all as far as physics go. Play Gran Prix legends, then look at the date it was made. Hell, play rfactor or LFS, and look at how little computing power it needs.
Yes and no.
The basics of the physics don't take much computational power (suspension travel, deflection, load transfer, yaw, etc. However once you get to tyres and aero they both are capable of eating a lot of computational power unless you want to either limit the ranges you are working with, make massive assumptions or simply fudge the way it works.
Even LFS (good as it is) doesn't use real world data for its
tyre model and acknowledges its very difficult to get right.
GT5s suspension model appear to still be based on the old one and in terms of both aero and tyres they have a very basic model that both makes massive assumptions and fudges data in a huge way.
The reason GT5s physics are "diluted" is because they had to make compromises so it would work as nicely as possible with BOTH controllers, and wheels. This is something other developers have failed at miserably (Shift 2, GRid, TOCA, TDU 2, etc.). Actually, even PD wasn't very good at it back in the early days of FFB wheels.
Don't agree at all. The issues GT5 has with its physics engine (which cover tyres, aero and suspension) have nothing at all to do with input devices.
The lack of a true tyre model in GT5, very basic aero, etc is not caused by having to support multiple input devices at all. All that requires is the ability to transfer the information from the input device to the physics engine. Plenty of other sims (across various platforms and generations have managed it).
In this area PD still have issues as well, the push Primary ride into the FFB model (which doesn't happen in a car), they (and others) do it because primary ride is what we feel with our whole body and see as the car moves on the suspension. Other titles do it visually rather than via FFB. Neither is 100% correct, but a preference for how its handled does affect how one gets on with FFB. It is one of the reasons why some cars in GT5 will start to pull the steering from side to side at very high speeds.
Shift 2 is a classic example of this, as the core physics are actually very good, yet the input interface was screwed-up to appeal to a wider audience. Set the input options up right and you get a much better feel for what is going on under the hood. Even better play in on PC in patched form and its a totally different title.
If GT5 was marketed like PC sims are, to wheel users, it could easily have physics that would rival even netkar or iracing.
As the input 'smoothing' for controllers can be managed totally independently of the physics engine then PD could quite easily have improved on the physics engine without marketing being an issue.
In simple terms PD got (in my opinion) very complacent in the area of physics, yes they have moved the game on from part GT titles, but they have failed to see what the rest of the competition has done.
Of all PD's deserved criticisms, there's a few thing that they do right, and that's physics and gameplay (and graphics up until the crappy shadows).
The shadows are because of the PS3s lack of power. Physics don't actually take nearly as much processing power as people think.
For me they don't get any of these right (and they are the core values that they have always excelled in previously).
Physics - Still has issues that have existed in past titles and are now well behind the competition.
Gameplay - Arcade is pointless and limited (yet oddly is the one place you can at times find a good off-line race), A-spec is limited, seasonal events are not racing but a cash grind and the licence tests have lost all meaning. The special events are (for the most part) great yet have not been supported post go-live.
Graphics - What PD were once king of (and of that no doubt exists for me) is now so inconsistent to almost make it embarrassing. Throw a premium car on a premium track and (as long as it doesn't crash) it looks stunning. However throw a grid of standard cars on a rainy track and the framerate drops, nasty shadows and blocks from the rain look like something stuck between generations.
I love the GT series, I have been here near 10 years and have bought every title at launch from the original onwards, so little doubt exists about that. However all that GT5 has done is show how complacent PD have got. Looked at correctly (as in for when they were released) and every other GT title was either at the front or near as damn it for console sims when released. Not only that but they had legs in regards to that.
GT4 was the first to face a real set of challenges and did as a result loose ground in a number of areas. So PD took 6 years to try and overcome all of this, and the early signs (GT:HD and GT5
) looked as if things were moving in the right direction. GT5 however didn't just fail to beat the competition, but took quite a few steps backwards.
