GT Academy USA Round 2 Tracks Reset – Again

It’s been a rough week for GT Academy USA. After corner-cutting at the Indy Road Course prompted SCEA to replace the track, most assumed the debacle was behind us. However, a few noted that on the new course, “Eifel 102A”, the grass could still be used as a runoff area without in-game penalty. This wasn’t particularly alarming to most participants, as many of top drivers used the grass to run wide at a notorious corner on Cape Ring in Round 1 (and nothing was done about that).

SCEA, however, is apparently being much more vigilant in this round, having just cleared the leader boards and replaced not one, but both tracks – check out the official announcement here.

The new Round 2 car/track combinations are the GT-R V-Spec II Nür (R34) on Madrid Reverse and the XANAVI NISMO GT-R at Rome Reverse. The round will still end at midnight, this Sunday, February 6th. Presumably, they’ve now chosen city tracks to reduce the chance of run-offs and corner cutting as much as possible.

Check out the GT Academy forum for more reactions. Thanks to Rachael for the early tip!

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Comments (93)

  1. LR-Diesel

    If there was only 10-15 laps allowed for these events then people who spend hundreds of hours wouldnt be at the top.

    It would show true driving skill with only being allowed to drive 10-15 laps.. Not thousands
    Also dont allow people to load ghost replays to mimick the top drivers

  2. Praggia

    I bet Sony wud sit up and notice if less and less people logged onto the online servers in protest….
    But then again the Americans are used to mediocrity

    1. Master Lee

      I’d say the mediocrity is more evident in whoever is responsible for making cheating possible in the first place. Why blame Americans (again?). Cheers.

    2. I like cheese

      They arn’t going to care one bit if less people log in, they allready have our money. By reducing the load on the servers, in turn reducing the operrating costs due to less maintenance and power usage, it would just make it a bonus for Sony’s profits report.

  3. McClarenDesign

    This is why we can’t have nice things. Hopefully things like this won’t ruin any chances of other competitions in the future. Let’s not forget that it’s not just PD and SCEA’s butt/reputation on the line in this. Isn’t SPEED Channel covering this too? I’d assume they’d also have sponsors for this program/competition as well.

    Based on the capitalization of the word “FAIR”, I think it’s safe to say PD/SCEA are just as annoyed with this as the rest of us.

    Till then, everyone take a moment to find your zen. Damn.

  4. Foxiol

    Nobody said this…GT is a game and has errors as almost all games…if we think not as Kaz and think as in reality (maybe sounds stupid i know) when a real driver is driving at the track normally he DOES NOT cut the corners…at least he lost the car but of course that lap not count and normally when this happens he makes bad times…Now…as a Simulation GAME!…GT is really good with the feeling of driving a car and realism of the tracks…but we miss the part when it says “Simulation” cause maybe sometimes we don´t simulate how real driving is in the game and play it just like it is. I don´t like to cut corners and if it happens i restart the lap or practice for the other.
    This is a contest in a game and people cheat cause the game let them cheat …we all are agree with that but for the other part we are the cheaters (people who do that) and do this cause this is a game and thats all.
    I could imagine if they (PD)let this happen and then take those “cheaters” in a real competition in real tracks and cars…haha….poor guys…and for sure poor KIDS.
    People has the fault here and the game has its errors as usually happens in this world.
    Some people like cheating…

  5. manphibian

    This is what happens when Americans get a game.

    I wish you had your own separate online region so you could only ruin each others games ¬.¬

  6. ArmyPilot

    Hell, they outta just scrap the whole Academy fiasco. We all know that there was a lot of lawn mowing in the first round, but that was OK? Second round they reset the course every other day until everyone just leaves. Third round they should make everyone race on flat tires and if you go off course your car blows up because it’s a minefield. Fourth round they line the “survivors” up against the wall, drain their bank accounts, and delete your PSN account.
    Nice driving simulator we have after waiting 6 years. Can’t even run a simple contest on it.

  7. viejaloca

    Maybe they should patch the penalties? That would also be useful to all online players for clean races. Like when you get a penalty, the car should brake instead pf just deaccelerating maybe?

  8. Thomas

    Honestly though, why can’t they bring in the license rules into these events, running off on grass, hard wall hits etc?

  9. GmrElite

    I did Play IT. and was real disapointed. it needs to be fixed and or, make GT5 the last game in the series. releasing a game in the state that GT5 was, is a slap in the face to the GT fans. I am a Fan of the series. just not a FANBOY!!!

    1. Chris

      Ok, but if you don’t play it from now on, you won’t know when your satisfied with the fixes, and that means you won’t ever be able to play it again even if they fix it.

    2. Murcie

      Deja vu in my opinion. Although unlike the other game I’m thinking of, GT5 isn’t a “slap in the face” to the fans considering it was actually playable when they released.

  10. GmrElite

    $49.99 GT5:Prologue. 59.99/$99.99 GT5/GT5 Collectors Ed.

    I Shelfed my copy Colectors Ed, and will not play it untill i am satisfied with fixes.

    1. Matt p.

      Ummm, is this supposed to be some kind of threat to Sony/PD?
      They allready have your money. One less person playing just means, ummm, well, nothing really.

    2. It's Spelled Mr.

      Uh, yes, his grammar is light years ahead of yours, and allthough not hilarious, funnier than yours has well. Fail.

    3. GTTP

      You know a troll post failed when it turns into a independent (and pointless) grammar fight within 4 posts……lol, better get the update out soon, or we’ll be reduced to going over each letter to make sure the proper number of pixels are being used. sheesh.

  11. marchy

    How hard is it to add the strict on-track parameter similar to the ones in the licence test? Step onto the grass and you`re DQ`ed ….

  12. Praggia

    Why is this even newsworthy? Surely there are more pressing issues that we the money splurging public need to have sorted!!!!!!!!
    Who cares about GT academy??? fix GT5 please how about that?

    1. Reality bites

      How are things at the center of the universe these days? Gotta be pretty lonely since the rest of the universe has been moving has far away has it can get since the begining of time……

    2. Lmbo

      Yah, cause Jordan has two folders on his desk. One marked “Everything everyone wants to know the awnsers to, that i’ve pulled from my butt by magic, and nobody else knows.”, and the other marked “Stuff nobody cares about, but will bug the heck out of Praggia if I post it”, and every morning Jordan flips a coin…..
      Jeez some people are thick. If Jordan didn’t post this, you’d still not be seeing news about “more pressing issues” BECAUSE THERE ISN’T ANY. And if nobody cared about GT academy, nobody would be reading this and commenting on it, not to mention bugging sony to the point they needed to act on it.
      Deal with it.

  13. Magic Ayrton

    Erm.. I seem to remember that us “Europeans” never had a problem with cheating.. so why all this fuss when America has a go?? tut tut

    1. Rios

      Well we bailed you guys out of two wars you couldn’t handle so we figure we earned the right to cheat in a video game.

    2. Madman Apex

      @Rios bailed them out in two wars?? one part of europe was fighting another part of europe. you might be thinking that the US “bailed” out a specific country; because europe was not being attacked by africa or south america or antartica.

    3. Magic Ayrton

      Re comment below, I’m glad we were helped out by America, that way you don’t have you drive around in 4 ton Yank tanks that handle like a melted blancmange.

    4. grfgh

      Yes, because if the allies had lost, there wouldn’t be any Porsche, Ferrari, Lamborgini, BMW, Audi, Volkswagon,…….oh, wait, nevermind,….
      Btw, Milton Bradly just called. He says some of you need to get a life.

  14. NBH

    I don’t get how prologue and the time trial demo at Indy had penalty systems but now they seem to be gone. I notice a lot in GT5 you can hit cars and drive wherever you want and nothing really happens. If I was getting mechanical damage from hitting things and going off track then fair enough but it just all feels a bit arcadey at the moment.

  15. CorporateHammer

    Were there problems with the last GT Academy ? I understand that people are going to do whatever to win but this really does make us look bad. Kinda like the whole book burning thing, you can do it but is it the right thing to do ? Kinda sad if you ask me. People can make up all the excuses they want and place the blame where ever they want but at the end of the day it’s just sad.

  16. Nope

    Wasn’t an issue in Europe for 2010 because they actually had the time to debug the time trial demo.

    2008 was a different story though. They used GT5:Prologue around Eiger Nordwand and some people were hitting the walls sideways because you could gain plenty of time doing it and there weren’t any penalties if you did it right.

  17. Sigmaviper11

    I think the penalties system should be maxed out for GT Academy. And yes, I’m American. Any wall contact, Penalty. 4 Tires off the track, penalty. I would say two, but in reality many series have been known to drop side tires off the track when cornering hard. if you can’t keep your car on the track or off the wall, your time won’t get posted. That’ll sort them out.

  18. XTRGT

    The American guys can’t drive fast they need to cut the corners and wall riding to be fast i don’t need that to be fast and when i play online they kick me because i’m to fast for them without cheating :)

    XTRGT Rules for Ever :)

  19. GmrElite

    They are an embarrassment to U.S. drivers. If you don’t want to drive then don’t compete, you freaking lamers.

    damn, I should have signed up.

  20. Yakapo

    This is what happens when you try bring an arcade racer into a serious competition where it comes down to fractions of a second. I’ll never forget losing races in prologue to my buddy who would ride the wall or just downshift and keep the gas down and bounce off the wall on certain tight corners. Btw, drifting will always be slower in a corner on pavement in real life. Otherwise NASCAR and f1 would drift through corners.

  21. kanjifreak

    This is PD’s fault in first place, they should have considered a penalty system. Also, my warmest congratulations to GTPlanet, without their pressure to “modify for fairness” the GT Academy event, this would never have happened. Now everybody will enjoy 2 days to post their best times (if, the geniuses at PD do not discover something else, with or without the invaluable influence of the GT Planet.)

    1. rottenbaton

      It is clearly not GTPlanet’s fault! Get your facts straight. All GTPlanet did was tried to stop cheaters and make everything fair for everybody. Good thing you got banned!

    2. gta_bird

      Its clearly not what he said either rotten. Get your facts straight and you will plainly see he said “without their pressure to “modify for fairness” the GT Academy event, this would never have happened.” MODIFY FOR FAIRNESS would imply getting the events fixed/changed. Some of you people really need to pay attention to what people write and quit glancing over stuff and coming off looking like a dumba$$

    3. Spiral

      @gta_bird
      We could easily -assume- that kanjifreak wrote that sentence in a sarcastic manner, but it’s only fair to ignore sarcasm in writing since it’s too easy to misinterpret the real meaning, and assuming is just plain wrong.
      Surely doesn’t make rotten look like a “dumba$$” if he felt like sarcasm was included, though.

  22. Sum1s2pid

    After some wishing and whining, we finally get GT Academy in the US, and a handful of people have to go and screw it up for everyone. Good job.

  23. nocdevon

    Its amazing what FULL damage could and would do to this game. I would LOVE to have the abbreviations DNF in this game. Go through the grass and risk getting stuck in the dirt’ hit the rail and break an axle. Last but not least hit another car and knock yourself and possibly even the other driver out of the race. Then have to spend money to fix your car…. wow that would weed out all the d bags faster than lights bieng turned on on a group of roaches. Ahh to dream of a driving simulator.

  24. JoJoDotCom

    This is really funny and sad at the same time. Everytime PD tries to fix something, there will always be someone that complains…

    1. nasanu

      They have had over a decade to fix this and have never come near to getting it right. I think we are justified in our complaints.

  25. guidance is internal

    SCEA to busy counting money to pay much attention to those damned Yankees.
    “What do you want now?..Well than, change it to some city track. Now, SHUT the door on your way OUT”!

  26. GregTheStig

    The least they could do is extend the deadline. 3 days to get used to and post your fastest lap with 2 different tracks. FAIL

  27. CCJ

    So what happened to the Penalties and detection system in the last GT Academy? GT5 can’t be running on different code can it…?

  28. Panjandrum

    As this problem becomes more evident, maybe PD will finally realize they have a long-standing major problem that they need to fix. Funny thing is that this really can’t be all that difficult a technical issue. They already have a penalty system and penalty zones. All they have to do is issue an update where the zones actually cover the appropriate areas and they are done… Well, personally I think the penalty should be longer also, but both of those should be almost trivial to fix.

  29. Jump_Ace

    Wow…just, wow. I don’t have time for this this week with the Super Bowl and other stuff this weekend. WE ALREADY DID ROME REVERSE. Oh, and it’s FRIDAY. This is unacceptable and I won’t stress about it nor waste my time on this.

    Jerome

  30. Devedander

    This is truly highlighting exactly GT’s greatest fault… the fact they are unwilling to address significant known issues becuase they don’t feel they are important…

    Kaz has dismissed issues in the apst as not being important or a significant part of racing… well sorry Kaz… just becuase you don’t feel they are doesn’t mean they aren’t.

  31. Big Ron

    I can´t get, why they do not use the practice mode get lap times. In my memory, the practice mode always punishes you hard for corner cutting.

    1. Hortus

      yeh it does. if you cut a corner (even slightly) the lap is invalidated. if you continue to cut corners the next lap also becomes invalidated.
      this would work, in theory.

    2. Hortus

      alternatively, they could use the same system code which the practice mode employs and implement it in the GT Academy downloads…?
      ‘copy and paste’ isn’t that difficult, is it XD

  32. Hunter

    This annoyed me since Prologue. You can blatantly cut some of the corners without penalty, but others you accidentally put your wheels over and you get a nice slap-in-the-face penalty. Furthermore, PD doesn’t seem to worry about it. How hard can it be to just add in a rule on every corner?

  33. Drogahnus

    A good racing game, but messy and unorganized as well, it seems. If this was really planned ahead of time, why not just implement a penalty system?

  34. Buttocks

    I really feel for the people who invested the time to post a good, CLEAN lap at Indy, then learn that excuse for a track which replaced it briefly, and are now left with nothing to show for it but another set of moved goalposts. Such a farce. Where is the apology to those players?

    1. TakeshiSkunk

      “We truly apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused all of you who are participating in Round 2. We hope you continue to enjoy GT Academy. “

    2. Razor

      Here:

      “We truly apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused all of you who are participating in Round 2. We hope you continue to enjoy GT Academy. “

  35. type2red

    At the end of the day this turn of events just re-enforces that GT5 is just a racing game (a really good one) but nothing more. *sigh*

  36. deep_sky

    I like how they say that they’ve just discovered you can gain extra time by driving against the rails.

    Yeah, because that’s never been a problem in GT before, has it….

    1. Obli

      If they have just discovered the rail ride exploit, where the hell have they been? I was doing this in GT1, shamefully!

      Come on PD – wake up!

    2. Stune

      Wouldn’t be surprised if there are some wallrides in these tracks. Perhaps they should look at looking at fixing the anti cheating system itself instead of avoiding the core issue and just changing the track

    3. tyl0r_r

      @ most of you:

      this is related to SCEA. PD doesn’t have much, if anything, to do with it. They make the game, SCEA runs a contest with it the way SCEA wants to.

    4. Reality bites

      @tyl0r_r
      PD has little or nothing to do with it?
      It’s run with PD’s tracks that are full of ways to cheat, and PD’s anti-cheat system that practically doesn’t exsist, so saying it’s mainly SCEA’s fault is laughable at best, and bordering on fanboy delusional horsecrap to boot.
      SCEA is having to run this contest using PD’s bad design decisions. They can only work with what Kaz gave them. The only other option they’d have is to have cancelled alltogether, and that would mean admitting their golden boy messed up. So we get this mess instead. The lesser of two PR nightmares, has provided by PD…….

    5. tw99

      This whole thing is a big joke. Another hype campaign. Non of these drivers will ever see the light of a real race.

    6. Spiral

      And why don’t we just open our eyes and realize that there’s is no singular facet in particular who’s to be blamed here. SCEA, PD and the gamers are all at fault for these incidents. So stop pointing fingers so foolishly.

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