In regards to SSR5:
There was a way to "get behind the barriers" on SSR5 REVERSE that dates back to GT5. It continued into GT6, until it became too well known, at which point it was fixed by PD. Which was a shame, because it was a lot of fun.
It was shown to me by three fellow GTP members, so I take no credit for the discovery. We decided to keep things to ourselves, for fear of it being fixed by PD. As it seems, others found it as well, and were not as discreet
Bellow is a number of photos I took, highlighting some of the "out of bounds" areas which were possible to drive on, as well as areas that were accessable for small periods of time. I should have posted these sooner, but forgot I had these still. Many go back to GT5, but I figure here is as good a spot as any to share them.
I guess I'll start with the method to actually escape the confines of the barriers. You would simply drive down the Pit Exit (remember, this only worked on the Reverse config.), and park underneath the Clubman Route 5 Overpass. By parking for long enough, the game would take control of your car, and try to reset it to exit the Pits, and proceed back onto the track. The glitch, as it were, is that when your car was "reset", it would appear on the road surface of the Clubman Overpass located above where you were parked. After a brief pause, you would regain control of your car, on the Clubman curve.
This wasn't just a free pass to now drive anywhere you wanted though. There were a long list of "rules" which you had to follow, or you would be reset back onto the track proper.
-there were a number of areas, dubbed "safe zones", which were located behind the barriers, but near the track, where a player could remain indefinitely. In photomode, you are free to walk about behind the barriers indefinitely. The farther from the track you roam, the more glitchy things become. Can lead to being reset back on the track, or becoming unable to walk around.
-there is one area where the ground is fully modelled (car would not sink through), but if you remained in the area for too long, you would be reset back onto the track - this area being the suspended portion of the Clubman Bridge (final 2 corners of Clubman R5). On this bridge, proximity to the actual track determined the length of time you could remain there before being reset. Average time was 7-8 seconds, if I remember correctly. In photomode, you are free to walk around this area indefinitely.
-there were several areas where the ground was partially modelled (car would sink about 6 inches), but which were passable for short periods of time (3-5 seconds). These areas are not as highly detailed. In photomode, you are frozen in place where the car is at the time of the Pause, but you are free to look around with the camera.
These photos were taken to explore the possibilities of new photo locations, as well as explore new vantage points of the track. My style of photography in GT is to attempt to make the locations seem as "un-GT" as possible, if that makes sense. These photos were not take clearly illustrate what I was doing, but rather to disguise it, so apologies if some of the photos seem rather obscure.
The first is taken from the first Safe Zone, located directly behind where the car appears on the Clubman bridge.
From here, you could do one of two things. You could either drive across the Clubman bridge to where you meet up with SSR5 again, or you could drive partway across the bridge, and then drive off the side of it so you would fall down to the lower level - near the track, but still outside the barrier. If you drove all the way across, you had limited time, so a quick car with good tires was required. If you dropped off the edge, you had to be mindful of your placement, but you could chose which side of the track you would end up on.
When running Clubman R5 Reverse, after T1, there is a single lane on/off ramp on your left. This road surface was fully modelled, and possible to drive on. You would have to do a hard 180' turn into it, and could then follow it down for a short time before being reset back on the track. You could last about 6-7 seconds out there.
If you proceed all the way across the bridge, you end up here
Once you are off the elevated portion of the road (on surface which is the same level as SSR5), you are in a Safe Zone. I don't have any pictures from here, as there's not much to look at. That said, the whole clubman bridge offers some nice vantage points of SSR5.
Note the sidewalks on both sides of the track, as well as the portion of road that is inside the hairpin...if you dropped off the Clubman bridge to the track level, it was possible to drive on the sidewalks and road surfaces visible. If you roamed too far from the track, you would be reset.
Track on the left. This whole intersection was safe to drive around in, the largest Safe Zone on this track level. Note the surface change beyond the crosswalk on the right. That's the edge of the Safe Zone. The road in the right crosses back over SSR5, but the surface is not solid.
An Evo on the other street which leads away from the intersection pictured above, outside the Safe Zone. Note the lack of shadows, and overall poor quality. I snapped this shot in 2-player mode, with a second car parked in the Safe Zone just past the Clubman bridge.
From the large Safe Zone above, if you drove parallel with the track where it goes down into the bright tunnel, you would leave the safe area, sinking into then ground slightly as the elevation rose (bridge over the tunnel). If you proceeded with enough speed, you could drive through the terrain, and appear in another Safe Zone beside the triple S-bend. Both of the intersections on the outside of the track were safe to drive and park in. The side roads were possible to drive on, but not fully detailed, and would reset you back onto the track after one or two seconds.
Triple S-curve to the left out of frame. Note the surface change behind the rear wheels. I'm right on the threshold of the zone.
A few more from the same location
From the zone above, you could proceed beside the track slightly farther to the second intersection. Some of the sidewalk, and a small section of the "park" were safe to drive on.
Note the cranes and shipping containers in the back...very much in the position the would be if SSR5 is located in the city visible over the water to the left when you cross the bridge on SSRX. You can also see these cranes from the end of the main straight, and I believe there is a sign which says either Port, Airport, or both.
Looking across the water, aiming more left than the photo above
Once...ONCE!!! I managed to reach the safe zone located on the other side of the track from this final intersection. It's the road that goes between all the glass buildings. The reason I only managed it once, is that the run up to it is much shorter, and the braking zone so you don't squirt back out onto the track is much much shorter. I managed it once in an X1, but not during a photo run of any sort
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Ok, so now off to a different portion of the track. From the safe zone located after the Clubman curves, you could proceed CAREFULLY through the tires piled on the outside of the corner. Sneaking through these tires, you could make it all the where there is an on/off ramp located on your right. This was another Safe Zone, and while rather small compared to others, opened up a world of exploring
Here are some pics of a car near the top of the ramp. Evo on the track proper, STi behind the barriers.
R33 further down the ramp than the STi. This ramp continues down, all the way under the track, all safe to drive on. At the bottom is a small areas, barely big enough to turn around in.
Just out of frame to the right is a "wall" which ends the safe zone. The modelling detail down under the track (this photo is actually taken partially under the track) is very poor. Massive blocks of greys and black.
But, what's through that wall???
Well, even though it is horribly modelled, there is a road through that wall!! If you proceed through the wall, you end up on this road. The pic below is actually taken from farther down the road, looking back at the location where you "pop through the wall" - the specific location being just past the Orange bricks on the right. The bridge which is crossing over the road is the actual SSR5 track (just after Turn 5, before the S-curve)
Same direction, further back. Note the road surface with the white striping on the left. This is the bottom of the ramp which is located between turns 4 and 5. It's on the right side, and does a very drastic (almost unrealistic) 180, before going down in elevation. In GT5, it was not possible to make it to this ramp. In GT6 however, it was possible. It was tricky as hell, but it was possible. Sadly, I have no photos from this ramp (probably best photo spot too, with the water in the background).
Lastly, these are some exploritory pics I took of different things I could see / reach from this large 3 lane road. I would basically drive a car as far as I could before being reset, and then watch the replay. Pause the replay just before reset, and then have a look around. These pics were taken a couple of years ago now, so Im a little fuzzy on exactly which way im looking and whatnot.
Well, that's all I can find in my old photobucket account for now. I think I have a few more in some places, I'll throw them up if I find them.
I a huge fan of the idea of a free roam mode, and Special Stage City and all that....but after all the exploring I did, I'm not convinced PD has any real plans for this. Most of the modelling detail I came across was the bare minimum necessary in order to make everything seem ordinary from the track. But as soon as you get beind the barriers, things look very very different.
And it's not just the modelling and texturing itself, it's the layout of the entire track and "city" itself. There are many areas that are just not realistically possible (like the insanely tight off-ramp). Other places, there are streets which go no where...other weird things like that.
I'm not writing off a free roam mode all together...and I'm not writing off PD being able to place a track which is very similar to SSR5 into a city which is very similar to the current home of SSR5....but in order for the streets of SSR5 to be part of a realistic, functioning city core, a lot would have to change.
And my guess is, it would be easier to design a new street course in a new, properly laid out, fictional city; than it would be to try to design a city around a race course.
It is PD though...
