GT7 single player? Absolutely not. Other single player racing games? For me, yes.
I and everyone else who prefers single player gaming knows what multiplayer can offer. We know that AI will never (at least in our lifetime, probably) be able to replicate human opponents, and everything that comes with them. We accept that, but for us, the negatives of online gaming outweigh the positives.
So since GT7 is terrible, I'll use Project CARS 2 to finish illustrating my position.
Ok, but this is the Gran Turismo 7 sub forum of the Gran Turismo forum. Sorry to state the obvious. But if the answer is to go play other games, that's not really part of the discussion.
I could go play FIFA as well. So, let's stick to GT (really, I'm not being a dick, let's keep it on topic)
When I play single player, the following is true:
- I can play any race, with any permutations, any car, any track etc at ANY time. There will always be a full grid of cars for me to race against, no matter what time it is.
Sure, but in GT, this is custom race and it's terrible
- I can set the AI to race at or about my skill level, all the time. Every AI car on the grid, within a few percentage points as they vary performance like I do.
Again, not in GT though...but, oddly enough, totally possible given that the game tracks your skill level via the license tests.
- I know the AI will all behave fairly. They will make mistakes, but they won't ram me on purpose without braking. They won't swerve into me on a straight.
But in GT, they do - on the regular

- I absolutely hate this about playing single player.
- The AI will never quit because they're losing.
But really, who cares? Like, seriously, who cares? If the race starts with 20 people, and 5 people rage quit, it doesn't impact me at all.
- I don't have to worry about connection issues, either mine, or the game/servers.
But the game can crash
- There is no risk of hearing annoying noises/voices from other players.
Same as multiplayer, at least in Sport Mode.
- With the AI driven game there is a career mode I can work through, zero to hero, making logical step ups.
Well....that's arguable. GT kind of has this. Still it could be much better for little effort. GTSport was actually better at this because of the handicap bonus.
And in turn, the following is true of online multiplayer:
Again, I'll stick to GT because that's what we are discussing
- You are regularly dictated what you can play, and when.
Other than the time of day, Isn't that the same as a single player event? Custom race = Lobby host, so that's the same. Single player events are predetermined for you, so you are "dictated what you can play".
- If you play the game at 5am you're likely going to end up with a race of 7 cars.
Not sure what you're playing. I have never seen an empty Sport Mode room. If you are talking about Lobbies, then this is a fair point, but only within a region. Given that the game is global, someone is always playing somewhere.
But again, I hear you, and relying solely on the P2P lobby system is a GT failing that I have been against since GT5. Sony should host servers that regularly cycle through preset events. It can randomly choose PP Levels, car class (street vs racing, etc.)2-3 tire choices, and randomize tracks. This should be a feature. Kind of like Sport Mode now, but with more variety. In fact, that's what I thought they would evolve Sport Mode into, but they've done nothing
- The skill level of players in any race can be wildly different. Some races you may be the fastest, some races it may be you vs one other person with the rest romping away. Even with matchmaking, the chances of you being paired with 16 people at or about your skill level is low.
I guess that depends on how low your skill level is. I always face fairly consistent skill levels. But, surprisingly, when someone (or a group) is MUCH better than I am, I accept that they are better and I do my best.
Besides, with GT's pepper races, this is also the case. The Lago Mission had me on my toes lapping in the 1:57's...that's a pretty decent pace. Not for the beginner, that's for sure, but if it adjusted to a player's level of play, woudl there be any achievement in winning it? On this point, I actually don't mind if the difficulty is fixed.
- Humans can be assholes. They will ram you on purpose. They will swerve into you and whatever else. They can ruin the fun.
Well, yes, this does happen, but it's far less frequent that people make it out to be, and it could be a byproduct of where you are playing.
The AI in GT does this and it's more frustrating. I hear what you are saying, and we've all been there, but to state this like it happens every race is a bit extreme.
- I have to worry about connection issues. A race can be ended midway through, or 29 minutes into a 30 minute race.
Again, and your PS can crash. It happens. Now, of course, the big issue with GT7 is that the lobbies are less stable, and even Sport has been a little less stable. Coulda, woulda, shoulda, Sony should HOST some of their own servers.
Heck, they can even get sponsors to host servers. EA used to do that (I don't know if they still do). But, as an example, Nissan can host a server and all the races feature Nissan cars. That's be sweet. Same for all the manufacturers. It's not THAT expensive for servers. Advertisers can totally do it.
"The Monster Energy 550pp series" "Redbull presents the Redbull Junior series"...etc. It's fairly trivial to make this happen. It just takes a desire to do it.
- Unless you can turn it off (can't always), you might have to put up with annoying people on mics.
Again, GT7, I have not experienced this. When it happens, I mute the person. It's a minor annoyance at worst.
- There is no progression, it's just a series of random races in random cars.
There's progression in Sport Mode, which is why it continues to be popular. It's also nonlinear progression. If you do poorly, you regress. It's BETTER than progression because it's endless.
I get why some people don't mind all those negatives because of the positives, but we're all different. I greatly prefer the positives of single player, just accepting that the AI won't be quite so human in behaviour.
But again, we're talking GT here.
Heck, Melbourne House did 24hours of LeMans for PS2 and it was GREAT!!! But it's not Gran Turismo. We all know that good single player CAN be done. IMHO, based on the evidence of execution, I wholeheartedly belive PD is a skeleton staff of developers with no game designers. It's probably 90% artists with a team of a dozen coders. They are so low on the spectrum of possibilities, even with the features they currently have, that the only answer is minimal effort.
in another thread, maybe even this one, I said that if they had a grid start, 5 chili pepper, single player race, it would be a quick fix. It might be the best GT single player race in 2 decades.
But no, not in GT. GT single player hasn't appealed to me since GT4, really. I played through 5, got bored and didn't finish 6 or S. Mostly because it hasn't changed or got better and I have, I'm not 15 any more, I have higher standards.
Well, yes, precisely this. I mean PRECISELY this. I agree 100%. The only saving grace of GT, from a competition stand point, is multiplayer. Beyond that, it's just you vs you.
And, You vs You is OK, IF it's actually used as a direction in the game design. In GTSport, it was better, because you received a bonus for handicapping yourself. Also, I can race my ghost.
Want to know another fairly doable feature to make the AI better? Have the game take your sector times (which it saved in GTSport) and have that blended with the AI's pace. The game can even save your inputs for that best lap and blend that input timing with the AI's input timing. It would be You vs You on a more grand scale, and as you get better, the AI would evolve.
And this is my big beef with GT7....I can sit here, while taking a break from real work, and rattle off a myriad of simple solutions to GT's problems, and I KNOW that they are reasonable, simple, solutions. I mean, if they started this at the beginning of the pandemic, and all worked remotely, I could still provide solutions that would have been better than what they have done, which is essentially nothing.
Has it still not dawned on you that not everyone plays games to be competitive and sporting? I play games to relax and have fun, that's it. I don't care if I'm not racing and beating the elite drivers. You can't seem to fathom that we're all wired differently. You just laugh and sarcastically tell us to enjoy the AI racing/participation trophies, not understanding that we actually will.
Oh, I get it. It's the fact that this is not enjoyable that irks me so. Not that playing versus AI is a fool's errand, it's that they have left it to be so tedious, and all because of inaction. I don't want to have to commit to an hour long play session in one race to have a decent experience.