– Williams FW31 at Silverstone Grand Prix Circuit, June 30th, 2015, courtesy of Arixant.
We’re hot on the heels of the British Grand Prix and I’m not full of the typical vigor when talking about an F1 weekend. Fernando Alonso, who is evidently plagued with decision-makings that appear bright but are ultimately regrettable in hindsight, is quite frankly being wasted away at McLaren as they’re struggling to stay in a race let alone be competitive. Jenson Button is yet another superb talent that’s being wasted; both of these men are driver’s champions and have now been relegated to a team in a more complex stupor than even Ferrari – the only difference being that Button has been in this stupor for longer.
It is truly unfortunate that both men aren’t being used to the best of what their talents would permit as neither one has much time left behind the wheel where they can still capitalize before a pair of fresher faces emerge. Of course neither Alonso or Button are prepared to sing their swan songs just yet but that doesn’t make the situation any less difficult to grasp a hold of.
With all of that said, we’re still coming off of the E3 high here so there’s still going to be plenty of coverage of things over the next couple of weeks so without any further delay I have but one question: who’s ready for the Spotlight?
GTPlanet Picture of the Week
This week’s featured image comes to us courtesy of 35mm and features the Alfa Romeo 4C at Circuito do Estoril.
If you like what you’re seeing and have a suggestion for next week’s featured image, start a conversation with me, entitle it “GTPlanet Picture of the Week” and fill it to your heart’s content with suggestions and they’ll be featured in upcoming Community Spotlight articles. NOTE: You cannot elect your own work.
GTPlanet Gallery of the Week
This week’s featured gallery is Frizbe’s new photos! and was recommended by dice1998 and is courtesy of none other than Frizbe. Opened on the 25th of October in 2012 the gallery began as a celebration of all things Forza Horizon, and on the 2nd of Ocotber in 2014 (notice a trend?) the gallery began anew – this time celebrating the second iteration in the series, Forza Horizon 2.
The gallery approaches Forzatography in a way that makes the most of the given environment, the lighting, and most importantly the weather effects. You can find Frizbe’s gallery here in all of its splendor if you want to look through an entire catalog that offers something a little bit different than the rest. The latest update being Thursday, June 18th.
– Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione, October 7th, 2014.
If you like what you’re seeing and have a suggestion for next week’s featured gallery, start a conversation with me, entitle it “GTPlanet Gallery of the Week” and fill it to your heart’s content with suggestions and they’ll be featured in upcoming Community Spotlight articles. NOTE: You cannot elect your own gallery.
GTPlanet Thread of the Week – Virtual Crash, Real Injury
– SRT Tomahawk X Vision Gran Turismo at Special Stage Route X, June 29th, 2015, courtesy of Speedracer8218.
What happens when you combine the SRT Tomahawk X, Suzuka Circuit, a Logitech G27, and quicker-than-normal reflexes? An overstretched ligament in your right wrist when trying to correct the path of oversteer while doing 350 mph through Suzuka’s ‘S’ Curves as our very own MoGnoM will detail:
“Hello dear community!
This week’s most discussed topic probably are the new Vision Gran Turismo cars by SRT, the Tomahawks. I’m testing all the VGT cars on Suzuka and on the Nordschleife, but the Tomahawks will not be possible for me to drive them on the Nordschleife.
Anyway, i was testing the SRT Tomahawk X VGT at Suzuka. I’m using a Logitech G27 wheel mounted on a playseat, and a big flatscreen!
So, let’s go for a hotlap (and my injury)… Main straight, so fast, i didn’t want to check the speed of it. Probable over 500 km/h. Then slight braking into turn one and a little bit heavier braking into turn two, but still in 4th gear…”
Many of us will be familiar with a situation closely resembling this when the Red Bull X2010 was first introduced in Gran Turismo 5, resulting in the FFB having to be tuned in a later patch as the would almost violent ratchet left and right, but this is certainly an interesting story. Should you want to bare the entire tale then you’ll definitely want to stop the thread here.
PURE’s Roadster & Spec Miata Mod for Assetto Corsa – Now Available!
If you’ve been playing Assetto Corsa on the PC for the duration of time it’s been available there’s little doubt that you’ve come across PURE’s ambitions for a Miata mod back in 2013 lead in-part by our very own Wardez, and you were probably intrigued right off the bat as the Miata is synonymous with track-time fun.
After more than a year of rigorous testing the mod is finally available and you can pick it up (if you haven’t already) right this very second by heading over to the thread now!
Posting on GTP Too Much…
– Nissan 370Z Nismo, July 2nd, 2015, courtesy of Nazarov_AV.
This thread, put together by our own W3HS, is a lighthearted one intended to poke fun at the irregular amount of time some (all) of us spend on GTPlanet and the tendencies developed as a result. Such as the following:
“When your kids see you with the iPad and assume that you are on GTPlanet instead of playing a game.”
“You know you post on GTPlanet too much when . . .
. . . your post count in 3 months equals the post count of someone here for 3 years.
. . . you vist this particular internet playground first and never go away to play at other sites.”“When the first thing you do after your PC boots is to visit GTP.”
“…When you start scavenging locked threads out of boredom and start laughing at the reason they got locked.”
For the entire thread and even more hilarious reasons for posting as much as we do, you’ll certainly want to stop by the thread here and share your own reasons.
GTPlanet Vehicle of the Week
Driveclub RPM Expansion Pack – Now Available!
Released just this past Tuesday, the RPM Expansion Pack is now available for Driveclub and includes 11 new Tour events, 5 new trophies, and five brand-new vehicles which are as follows:
- Nissan MY15 GT-R
- 2015 Chevrolet Corvette Z06
- Nissan 370Z Nismo
- McLaren 570S
- Dodge Challenger SRT8 392
As mentioned previously, the pack is available now and at no additional cost to Season Pass holders, and $5.99 for those without.
GTPlanet Tune of the Week
– Plymouth AAR Cuda 340 Six Barrel at Willow Springs, May 9th, 2014, courtesy of RaY29rus.
Once every month we showcase the community’s efforts to tame/tune the Car of the Week, and this month is no different, so let’s get right down to business.
“Another month, and another recommendation received. This time from the Birthday Boy, @DaBomm4!
So as we get ready to celebrate our nations independence here state side, we shall have a go with some old school American Muscle. Rivalries are big in American Sorts and Motorsports alike, Yankees/Red Sox, Packers/Bears, Lakers/Celtics, Duke/UNC, and Ford vs. Chevy. But each has another sitting on the sidelines waiting for their turn, which brings us to Hemi Powered Mopars! Plymouth’s Muscle Car answer to Ford and Chevy. What can you do with them and how will you tune them? That is up to you, so strap in and hang on because these brothers are ready to fight back!”
A unique challenge for the month of July is what you’re looking at here; how do you intend to tame not one but two Plymouth Cuda’s? If you’re up for the challenge then have a look at this month’s thread and have at it!
XCAR: Ford GT40, GT70, and Ford GT: Five Decades of Awesome
The Last Lap
So, Batman: Arkham Knight. Terrible on the PC. How terrible you ask? Physical and digital sales have been ceased until the problems, of which there are plenty, have been resolved. Whether it be stuttering, unattractive textures, crashing, or the broken supposedly “advanced” features exclusive to the PC, chances are if you can name it the PC port suffers from it. It’s a shame too considering this isn’t the first time a PC port of the Batman Arkham titles have been less than satisfactory for PC-goers, and combined with the fact that WB apparently knew of the port’s shortcomings before release just snowballs the issue even further.
The biggest takeaway from this is they’ve taken it off physical and digital shelves and it will be fixed. Why it was released in that state to begin with would simply be running circles around a never-ending well of issues so let’s just wait and see what happens.
The Spotlight will continue to evolve over the next couple weeks as I’m continually trying to strike the right chord with everything that’s being balanced now, and speaking of balance the Member of the Week feature returns next week with a slight alteration: it will no longer be a weekly feature and will instead take up a bi-weekly role. You can read more on that in the official Member of the Week thread here.
Did I mention how much I want this?
It may have a steep asking price of $149.99 but I really can’t think of a single reason (other than the price) to not snatch this up the second I have the opportunity to. What stands out the most are the paddles as I’m simply not going to pick up another wheel meant entirely for one game, and this controller closes that gap to the point where I no longer have to wonder to myself “What if?”.
That’s about all for this week’s ramblings and with so much ground left to cover we have to leave something for next week’s issue.
Until the next one, keep racing!
See more articles on GTPlanet Community Spotlight and GTPlanet Member of the Week.
which game is that
with the f1 williams
Assetto Corsa.
The amount of uncanny valley in the main picture for this article..is too damn high.
How come there hasn’t been a member of the week in a while?
Lots of turmoil in the forums with the fans getting restless over several games. Perhaps now one was deserving…lol.
Really happy to see the release of the Miata in AC. Been waiting for this since I first tried the game almost a year ago. Been a long journey but congratulations to the PURE team for a highly anticipated launch.
Thanks a bunch Johnny. Really glad it’s finally out there.
I like that the E30 just gets a video. Enough said! ;)
It’s as fun to drive in game as it looks. I had never driven it in a game and didn’t know what all the hype was about but once I tried it in Assetto Corsa it all made sense. A beautiful engine sound and such a superbly balanced chassis you can literally make it do anything you want. At times it’s almost like the car knows what you want it to do and sets itself up to do it a split second before you make it happen. A car you can drive for hours and hours and still be just beginning to discover it.
It is becomming a pleasure to read! Diverse, well written and giving a great overview what keeps the forum busy. Well done and I really hope it will continue this way!
“When the first thing you do after your PC boots is to visit GTP.”
True story :)
It’s not all bad for all PC players. I successfully played mine with only One fatal error crash encountered throughout the whole experience!
Also, a couple of split-second frame drops but it’s nothing to write home about.
Relegated to an uncompetitive team? Not sure that I would use the word “relegated” to describe either Button or Alonso’s current position, nor do I think you understand Mclaren’s position as a team on the bigger picture…
And I’d hazard a guess that you missed the point of that entirely. Button has been at McLaren since, what, 2010, and within that six year timeframe, on his best day, he hasn’t been in a position better than second overall because the chassis wasn’t up to it.
He watched McLaren’s own poster boy move on from the team in a move not really understood until it leant to Mercedes’ outright domination and ultimately his second drivers championship, which if he had stayed with McLaren and everything played out exactly as it did, would be nothing more than a distant pipedream.
Finally, you’re reading too much into the way I used ‘relegated’. Button, originally coming from the only team with a 100% success ratio as the defending champion at the time to a team that, while competitive, would in the long run fall below his expectations or at least you would believe so. At this point you can see the dismay and frustration both in his body language and tone during interviews.
Alonso, well, I mean there’s no need to even illustrate what he’s going through as I believe I’ve done so rather succinctly in the opening paragraph.