A-Spec points - Two schools of thought.

Track_Veteran · Feb 25, 2005

Since it has yet to be confirmed what these points are for, let's discuss them AGAIN. Only this time, decide which of the two is more of an accomplishment?

#1 Obtaining 100% complete with a high amount of A-Spec points. It seems that this is the popular vote. It shows that a player with a higher number has been a better driver throughout the game. This reasoning is good only if the amount of days passed is very low. Doing races over and over continuously add to your A-spec points. So somebody 5 years from now could have a million A-Spec points with 100% complete but it doesn't tell the whole story. Having a low amount of days is key.

#2 Obtaining 100% complete with as few A-spec points as possible. As in real racing, the object is to try and outclass your opponents as much as possible within the guidelines of the rulebook. Eventually, people catch on and new rules have to be put in place (ie GT-One, 787B). Right from the beginning of the game, you should be trying to have as much of an advantage against the field as possible. Using this philosophy, the number of days passed should be low as long as you are smart with purchasing/not purchasing cars, knowing which mods will give you the best results and putting the right vehicles in the right races. The flaw with this is the ability to import 100,000 credits from GT3.

Try to keep it on topic and let's hear what you think is the better accomplishment and why.

100% complete with as many A-spec points as possible. 👍 👎
or
100% complete with as few A-spec points as possible. 👍 👎

ZoomZoom · Feb 25, 2005

Neither.

jimihemmy · Feb 25, 2005

Maybe I'm not the best driver or I'm still on the GT4 learning curve, but there are times when I have a challenging time with the race/competition with very few a-spec points being offered.

To me, I don't really care about the points.....just win, baby!

In essence I guess 100% w/ low points works for me.........

Messiah · Feb 25, 2005

100% with as many A-Spec points as possible.

But I agree with the comment that it should be related to number of races competed in. In this respect, there should be an "Average Points per Race" statistic in the same way as there is a win ratio.

Smoke_U_24/7 · Feb 25, 2005

100% with as many A-Spec points as possible. I tend to be a bit of a show-off some times.

syclone538 · Feb 25, 2005

I was under the impression that if you do a race again with a slower car then you raced with the first time you only get the additional points, and if you raced again with the same car (or a faster car) you wouldn't get any.

Wisper · Feb 25, 2005

I agree with #1, yet there is only one problem with that idea.

Licenses! I still have yet to race a car on the track. With my limited time playing GT4, I have accomplished beating License B with all Golds except for a silver in the Coffee Break and Two Bronzes for the Infineon track and Graduation.

Interms of the racing, I don't sweat that part since I can get 1st place without losing.

Maybe after I beat the game the first time and am waiting for GT5 will I start doing insane things like winning all licenses and races on first try. However currently I am just interested in playing the game and learning the new controls and feel so that I can post up some respectable times when my friends and I race.

Max_DC · Feb 25, 2005

I think that A-spec points are useless, that's why I don't care how many I have; A-spec points are not as good as a strict PS class system would have been (compare Gt2).... The motivation to play through the whole game went down rapidly after I completeed 35 % or so.... I don't want to make life hard MYSELF, I want to be forced to have a hard race... that's not the case, because PD thought the Apsec points would be fine for beginners as well as for pros... that is not the case I think, and I hope I will not see that system again in GT5....*waiting for my japanese copy of Enthusia"....

Gorilladf · Feb 25, 2005

Smoke_U_24/7
100% with as many A-Spec points as possible. I tend to be a bit of a show-off some times.

Yup! I went out and purchased a lower hp car to enter a race just so I could get MORE a-spec points.

You have to take everything into consideration. I think you will see a LOT of people posting screenshots of their status screens. It tells the whole story by looking at it all.

Maven · Feb 25, 2005

Gorilladf
You have to take everything into consideration. I think you will see a LOT of people posting screenshots of their status screens. It tells the whole story by looking at it all.

I actually quite like the A-spec points. After I win a race, I often run it again several times, slowly tweaking my car to try to get more and more points from the race. Since it appears that 200 is the maximum for races, I'm interested in trying to go for that maximum in as many races as possible.

It also seems like it's easier or more difficult to get more A-spec points with different cars, so it encourages you to try more cars. I also find that it's easier to used a low-powered car with a lot of tuning than to use a basically stock higher-powered car.

It also encourages you to buy more of the upgrades. Previously, it was pretty pointless to buy NA upgrades because Turbo upgrades were always better when they were available. But now, you can try to get more points by using a weaker NA upgrade.

Just my thoughts, but I like the A-spec points because it'll give me more replay value for the game.

f1king · Feb 25, 2005

Smoke_U_24/7
100% with as many A-Spec points as possible. I tend to be a bit of a show-off some times.

Im with you on this one,.

Do you guys know that if you enter a truck in a car race for some reason you get a bunch of spec points. I guess the computer thinks it cant be done or something.

subarurallyfan · Feb 25, 2005

I am still a bit confused with A-spec points. What's a good number to shoot for/average number of a-spec points in a competetive race? Also, is there a reward at the end of the game if you have a high number points? Or is it just bragging rights?

I'm not sure which strategy I'll go for. Right now I just want to get as many cars as possible and get used to the game, and if there's no reward for a-spec points then I'll probably ignore them.

dawtcalm · Feb 25, 2005

subarurallyfan
I am still a bit confused with A-spec points. What's a good number to shoot for/average number of a-spec points in a competetive race?

Yeah what's everybody's average and best??

To be competitive I try and make my avg around 80pts, my best *I think* was 127 but I could be off. So is that good, or am I lame? :crazy:

skyazen · Feb 25, 2005

Why the hell everyone try to get more points, maybe im just lost here BUT WAT ARE THE POINTS FOR? are they for buying more cars or you save enough point so you can buy other mods in game ???

Gorilladf · Feb 25, 2005

They are nothing more then braggin rights. You may be at 10% done with 2000 a-spec points. But I could be at 7% done with 2800 points. Who is the better driver?

2o · Feb 25, 2005

Well I'd like to understand what the points are for and if there is any advantage in collecting the B-Spec points. Do either of spec points do anything or are they just a stat thing?

MCX · Feb 25, 2005

Well, you shoulda put a poll at the top so we would know what the results are... but I favor option #2 I say beat the game as quick as possible because if you were racing for money you would take every advantage possible.

#2- Beat it quick. (and go back through it)

1twojay · Feb 25, 2005

Max_DC
I think that A-spec points are useless, that's why I don't care how many I have; A-spec points are not as good as a strict PS class system would have been (compare Gt2).... The motivation to play through the whole game went down rapidly after I completeed 35 % or so.... I don't want to make life hard MYSELF, I want to be forced to have a hard race... that's not the case, because PD thought the Apsec points would be fine for beginners as well as for pros... that is not the case I think, and I hope I will not see that system again in GT5....*waiting for my japanese copy of Enthusia"....

I agree here.

It would've been better off if gt4 straight up restricted car power on top of car models. First of all sometimes its very hard to judge how many points you will be getting upon entering a race, so it becomes a trial and error thing. You have to keep entering and exiting, and its hard to tell if the race is winnable without actually racing through. Therefore I think it's better that gt force us with maximum HP limit, but no minimum HP limit. Because with A-spec points we can still blast thru sunday cups in with supercars.

woodstock827 · Feb 25, 2005

the a-spec point system is just to let you know how competitive your opponents are....
while i think they should show the a-spec point before you enter the race, you can always get a slightly tuned car and de-tune / up-tune it when u need to...
i try to aim for as high points as i can.. without re-entering any races.... so i mite have enter a race a over-powered car and get like 2 points no matter how i de-tune my car...

i think it's a good system.. but it can be improved and ppl need to discipline themselves in order for it to work....

also your a-spec points don't accumulate... you only get your highest a-spec point for the race.... ie. if you race the same race 3 times with 34, 140, 80 and win all three times, you only get 140 points instead of 34+140+80... that way you can really brag about ur skill...

p.s. B-spec point is how well your a.i. driver drives... along with the 3 category numbers you see in statue page... the higher it is, the better your a.i. will drive...

LoudMusic · Feb 25, 2005

Has anyone tried looking in the book? I'm told it's quite informative.

eLEGAL_M3 · Feb 25, 2005

is it me or do you get more a spec points for one race if you use a weaker class car, cause i joined a race with a stock car and i ran it again with the same car but with upgrades and seems like i received less points during the last race. hmm. did you guys notice that?

LordDeimos · Feb 25, 2005

I'm going for as many A-Spec points as possible. As for averages, I've found that the A-Spec points don't take into account the fact that the AI is worse at slower technical tracks than at high-speed circuits. I've already won a couple of 130+ point races in the FR Cup with a slightly modified RX-7, and in FF with a chipped and lightened Sunfire concept, on tracks like Suzuka and Autumn Ring which have a lot of medium-speed corners. On the other hand, I've been beaten handily by the AI opponents in 85-point races at faster tracks like Laguna Seca. Generally, it seems that 50+ points on fast tracks and 100+ points on slow/technical tracks makes for a good race (for me) so far, but I've only run a few series, so that may change when racing more powerful cars.

LordDeimos · Feb 25, 2005

eLEGAL_M3
is it me or do you get more a spec points for one race if you use a weaker class car, cause i joined a race with a stock car and i ran it again with the same car but with upgrades and seems like i received less points during the last race. hmm. did you guys notice that?

Yeah, that's how the A-Spec points work. The faster or better-tuned your car is compared to the rest of the field, the fewer A-Spec points you get. If your car can leave the AI in the dust, you'll probably only get half a dozen points or so. I think the max per race is 200.

JParker · Feb 25, 2005

I found the link to this site from the Polyphony D's GT4 site, regarding A-spec points. It answers the ongoing question quite well.

http://mxmbers.com/mxm_forums/index.php?showtopic=3185&st=0&#entry34534

Gabkicks · Feb 25, 2005

the a spec pt system is pretty accurate sometimes.. but on a few instances its not.

On the Special Events Amalfi Tarmac battle, i used a 214HP trueno and only got 14 aspec pts for the 2nd race. gap was 7

I tried it again with the Cappuccino tuned to 124HP and got 200 A-spec pts. I know the car's weak and i had trouble on the uphill... but i caught up and passed him once we hit the downhill section.

the gap was 10 seconds by the time i crossed the finnish line

For both cars I only used n2 tires. I guess it depends on power to weight ratio?

redfury · Feb 26, 2005

As far as I'm concerned, the A spec points just tell me whether or not I'm going to have an easy or a hard time beating/winning the race.

Gabkicks · Feb 26, 2005

is it just me, or do they only tell you right before the race (as the race is starting)? so.. if you want to make the race more fair, you have to restart.....

GILLET · Feb 26, 2005

ZzZzZzZzZzZ.. boring haha.. no j.k .. I don't have an idea I just know I want all the cars in GT4 and that's it other than having 100% complete.

jmX · Feb 26, 2005

LoudMusic
Has anyone tried looking in the book? I'm told it's quite informative.

Are you joking? You've been told wrong. The book that comes with GT4 is absolutely useless. Have *you* tried looking in the book?

BadBatsuMaru · Feb 26, 2005

A-spec points have their problems, but they're a nice addition to the game. You can't expect them to be a perfect gauge of how difficult a race was.

The biggest challenge would be to get 100% complete, all golds, spending the least amount of money in the least amount of days. All other things being equal, though, your A-spec points are a nice comparison. In GT3 you could run the F094/S in every race it could enter and still get 100% in the minimum number of days. A-spec points help give you a little better perspective.

Going for the minimum number of A-spec points is an interesting idea, but you'd also have to have some specific rules before it was a real competition. For example, if you didn't transfer any credits from GT3 and didn't sell any cars, getting the lowest number of A-spec points might be interesting, although that would really just encourage you to use the most ridiculously overpowered prize car for everything.