Last month, the GTPlanet community was quick to take note of what sounded like an improvement in Gran Turismo Sport’s vehicle audio design. Sure enough, amidst all the latest conversation about image resolution, HDR, and PSVR capability, a report from Sony’s PS4 Pro event in London seemingly confirms Polyphony Digital’s progress in the audio department.
“Unlike the digital drone of past Gran Turismo games it at last feels like you’re inside a complex, noisily mechanical piece of engineering,” Eurogamer’s Martin Robinson recounts. “Elsewhere, a replay featuring a bevy of prototype cars displayed a diversity of engine notes, from the turbo diesel whine of an R18 to the throatier V8 of the Toyota TS030.”
This is all rather promising for those who have longed for better sound effects in the Gran Turismo franchise. However, Robinson shares his findings with the caveat that these improvements are not on par with other racing titles, but still better than previous GT offerings.
It was in 2014, following the release of Gran Turismo 6, that Polyphony Digital publicly announced its effort to beef up its sound team. By 2015, the Sony studio had recruited Forza Motorsport Audio Lead Mike Caviezel to step in as its Senior Audio Lead. Recent observations regarding the improved sound presentation in Gran Turismo Sport demos may indicate that the impacts of Caviezel’s contributions are just now becoming unmuted.
Robinson goes on to share that Kazunori Yamauchi, the creator of Gran Turismo, appeared especially proud of headway, as it relates to sound. At a point during a presentation, Yamauchi turned up the audio before admitting that there is “still more work to be done.”
This was not be the only curious comment Yamauchi provided at the event which, as a whole, spotlighted the future of PlayStation gaming.
“In terms of the release cycle for Gran Turismo, we’re on track as usual,” Yamauchi remarked to Robinson’s question asking what takes the team so long. Unfortunately, this case of being “on track as usual” is contradicted by a missed release date that once had Gran Turismo Sport scheduled to arrive this month.
On the other hand, fans waiting in anticipation for the release of Gran Turismo Sport may find solace in hearing from those other than Sony’s spokespeople that improvements are being made. Still, the platform afforded in London did not result in a newly announced launch date, even after a strange exchange at a South African gaming convention one month ago.
For the very latest in Gran Turismo Sport news, keep up-to-date here at GTPlanet and at our official Facebook and Twitter pages. Also, join the discussion in our Gran Turismo Sport forum.
See more articles on Audio, Eurogamer, and Kazunori Yamauchi.
The previous video was too distorted to discern any changes in the sound.
Mike Caviezel is an Audio Lead, not the Audio Lead. PD have started calling the actual head dudes directors.
Do not expect anything different from what has been heard in (undistorted) direct captures to date.
2010 era sounds of other racing games would already be a big improvement.
Why is it so looooooooooooooooooooooooong?! *wall*
I haven’t been overly dissapointed with the engine sounds in previous GT’s, for me it is the ridiculous collision ‘Clonk’ and the constant squealing tyres (tyres have gradually got better though) that annoys me, also in all games I hate it that sometimes the best sound can be in a camera view you don’t primarily use, I think the camera and sound should be selectable independently…Oh, and can I use this opportunity to ask for an off-able rear view mirror again!
Thinking about it perhaps that should be ‘Camera’ and ‘Mic’ in the options settings.
“I think the camera and sound should be selectable independently”
You can.
Seems like whenever PD improves on a certain area of the game, it is met with a lot of “not good enough” comments or “we weren’t concerned about anyways”. After listening to AMG GT video, I’m a bit more optimistic about the overall sound design of the game, and I hope other cars sound just as good. Hopefully there will be some more direct feed video soon to judge these improvements.
big improvement from GT6 does not mean being at same level of pcars or assetto…..
Pd is a very mysterious company, why is everything taking soo long, the sounds of cars in gt seems very hard for them to process… Why?
Im surprised nobody has mentioned the pic at the top of the article! If it didnt say GT Sport Id wager it was real! But yeah. So glad they are stepping it up.
I think it’s a scape, not 100% sure though. Sometimes it’s hard to tell if it is ingame or scape.
Yeah, it’s great shot and worthy of a double take. Don’t think it’s a scape though, they normally have a better stage to pose your cars on. Just lining them up in that shot would be hard work.
It is a scape, the grass is a giveaway.
Not a scape. Photomode.
Must be really hard for Kaz to part with those vacuum cleaner sounds he’s so fond of. Dearly beloved we are gathered here today…RIP vacuum cleaner sounds maybe they’ll come back in dlc…sniff, sniff
With such a long time available to develop this game combined with a car list that’s 10% of the last game, along with bringing on board a premier sound engineer, there’s simply no excuse why GT’s sounds aren’t on par with the likes of R3E and now Assetto Corsa. Even for tiny developer Reiza Studios with their Game Stock Car and Automobilista, some of the cars sound so lifelike you can’t tell them apart in a blind hearing test. “Better” or “improved” just isn’t good enough IMO. Try harder PD.
Well they need to step it up even more because better then GT6 isnt enough, when you have the sounds of AC or R3E or Driveclub out there guys like Polyphony need to step it up, the becnhmark has been set and as it currently stands GT Sport doesnt meet it imho.
Sounds good (excuse the pun!) now let’s hope they deliver….
Great, but I will not believe it until I hear all the engine sounds though.
While I’m still kinda skeptical, I did find the Mercedes sound from last month a big progression from GT6 and some of its “AES” affected cars(along with the default stand outs like the Jaguar XKR-S and the Mercedes SLS AMG). With a much smaller car roster, I find it much more believable that they can actually get the sounds to work well for all of them (though whether they will remains to be seen).
Big improvement sounds good if not really specific, but improvement on previous GT does not mean much, how worst can it really be than GT sounds?
I would prefer to read as good as AC or R3E, let’s wait and hear.
Now with vacuums in Dolby Surround 7.1
Very promising! Keep up the good work PoDdi. :)
I am glad to hear that. Gran Turismo needed sound improvements and they are headed in the right direction.