Real Tracks VS GT4 versions...

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atteiros

atteiros

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I searched if this topic has been discussed but came out empty...

I wanted to start a discussion on how the virtual tracks stack up to the real world ones. Feel free to join in specially if you have actually driven on one of the real world tracks (even the city courses). If you have links to lap videos on the real tracks, it would help the discussion a lot.

To start... I've been drifting on Infineon lately, and I watch NASCAR a lot, so even though I haven't really driven at Infineon, I've seen it a lot.

The layout itself is accurate, down to the glare on the uphill section. The scenery including the surrounding lands are accurate. Some textures were inaccurate, like the corner stripes (yellow and blue vs red and white) but I guess PD was conserving on disc sapce. Another thing I did notice is that the dirt gets kicked onto the track a lot throughout a race. GT4 doesn't simulate this though, but some sections usually have some dirt spilling in a la El Capitan. Here's a link to a site which offers lap videos for infineon....
http://www.opentracking.com/track_video.htm
 
I think generally they seem to be quite accurate. I remember being in a pub last summer (I think) and some motor bike racing was on. I was able to recognise and name the track, having only seen it on GT4. From what I recall it was Twin Ring Motegi. :)
 
I never went to Suzuka, but I saw a video with one lap made by Senna in 1992. For a moment, I wasn't sure it was the GT4 game or the reality...
Congrats to PD!

And I see a lot of real races on Infineon: same thing here, it is not far from reality when you enjoy the virtual one...
 
The Nurburgring Nordscheife is disturbingly accurate to the real thing, except for minor tree and sign placement. this is problably the only console game to get the 'Ring right.

La Sarthe is problably the most accurate track in the game, I watched the 24hr race this year and I couldn't belive my eyes! PD really has an attention to detail when it comes to tracks. 👍

Monaco is also very well done although the track layout is a little bit dated (since it was carried over from GT3) I'd love to go to Monte Carlo one day to watch the F1 race from my hotel balcony.

Times Square is almost indistinguishable fromt the real thing, and truly a graphic marvel. Too bad the track itself is so bland. :(
 
nurburgring
I never went to Suzuka, but I saw a video with one lap made by Senna in 1992. For a moment, I wasn't sure it was the GT4 game or the reality...
Congrats to PD!

And I see a lot of real races on Infineon: same thing here, it is not far from reality when you enjoy the virtual one...
Click to expand...

Ah yes... Senna (God rest his soul) on an NSX... That was a cool video. Overall suzuka translated well onto the game.

The Nurburgring Nordscheife is disturbingly accurate to the real thing, except for minor tree and sign placement. this is problably the only console game to get the 'Ring right.

La Sarthe is problably the most accurate track in the game, I watched the 24hr race this year and I couldn't belive my eyes! PD really has an attention to detail when it comes to tracks.

Monaco is also very well done although the track layout is a little bit dated (since it was carried over from GT3) I'd love to go to Monte Carlo one day to watch the F1 race from my hotel balcony.

Times Square is almost indistinguishable fromt the real thing, and truly a graphic marvel. Too bad the track itself is so bland.
Click to expand...

The ring was done accurately. I talked to someone from the Ringers group and he said the bumps were very accurate, down to the placement on the track. I read a pdf file from the Enthusia website with comments from Japanese drivers that the track translated well in that game too. I played both versions and have to say that the track itself is represented better in GT4 👍 . The way you drive it though is more accurately done in Enthusia due to the difference in physics engines.
 
well, with technology getting better and better [ie gps/software/hardware] things are only going to get better......

i just with they'd dump the 'fantasy' stuf and replace them with more real life tracks.....
 
The Tokyo R246 is almost the same in the game compared to the real life version. I found that some buildings are missing and several trees were put there instead. The major problem is that elevation changes are not very noticeable in the game. IE. The S-curve on the back of the circuit is very inclined in real life. And some buildings on both sides are replaced by trees. The real life version is also more bumpy.

http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=_Z0et6EgBC4
 
its amusing to see how the shops in the HK track are exactly the ones in real life! Like the Silvercord mall, page one, the Tsim Sha Tsui MTR station. Wow!

Even the Mcdonald's and TGI Fridays in Times square/Broadway was there!
 
The scenery including the surrounding lands are accurate
Click to expand...

However, you couldn't see the surroundings in real life because of all that lovely California smog!:D I know this because I used to live an hour or so away from Sears Point. I also didn't like how it was so green in GT4.
 
Dave^
well, with technology getting better and better [ie gps/software/hardware] things are only going to get better......

i just with they'd dump the 'fantasy' stuf and replace them with more real life tracks.....
Click to expand...


Fantasy tracks are a must in GT, sorry but they are based on real life locales and they are very well done in their own rights, right down to the different traction or rock, hard tarmac, roads and cobblestones. Keep em, they are a beneficial part of the whole game.
 
The New York track is surprisingly accurate when I was hanging out at Times Square. At another time when I was driving through there I recognized many of the routes that are in the GT4 version. However, even if the entire street was closed off, I would never in my life go that fast in the real version. I'll hit a pot hole or a manhole cover and head straight into one of the buildings.

As for the fantasy tracks, those are some of my favorite in the game. We should definitely keep them.
 
Shadow Fox
... I'll hit a pot hole or a manhole cover and head straight into one of the buildings...
Click to expand...


LMAO, hey that's not funny, that section of Times Square has no potholes at all, in fact the street there is pretty new, really dark tarmac now, very clean. GT4 should have had a night time version, that would have been sweet, anyone who has been at Times Square during the night knows how awesome a sight it is.

Pretty much all the courses in GT4 were rendered with painstaking detail, so much so, that I bet that they will be using the data from GT4 to build GT5's courses, hopefully that gives them time to render new never before sen in GT series courses, like Spa Francor and Bathurst, A1GP and many others. They also need more F1 type races too, just not as ridiculously long as the GT4 ones.
 
Huh, is that so? I guess I'm too used to the idea that most of New York's streets have horrible pavement, around my neighborhood anyway. I don't think the PS2 would have enough power in order to accomplish Times Square at night though. A time option slider thing should be implemented in GT5 though.

I downloaded videos of WRC races from the past year and I'd have to say that I want those mountain passes in GT5. They should also have factors in career mode where the weather affects the the track. In Monte Carlo for example, the choice of tire seemed to be very important in whether or not the driver will use racing slicks or snow tires.
 
Seeing as one of the later posts on the forum had to do with real tracks vs gt4 tracks... I decided to post one of the videos I edited for comparison... 👍

 
I've been "lucky" enough to ride in a cab (driven in "anger" by a slightly crazy Frenchman) from Monte Carlo to VilleFranche, and have traveled over some portions of Cote D' Azur.

I was the last one in, so I ended up in the front passenger seat.

I recognised portions of the track from the races I used to watch on TV.

GT3 & 4 are fairly faithful to what I remember.
The only thing missing is the fear of going over the side and into the ocean.
 
I went to Paris last summer. Immediatly upon return, I drove Opera Paris just because. All I can remember is trying to find the Operah house and having difficulty finding it. That does not prove that the track is not badly done. I cannot remember how similar the rest of the track was compared to real life. Other than that, I remember traffic going the "reverse" direction around the concorde.
 
I'd have to say GT4 is king of track replication for this generation.
The Ring, Laguna, Tsukuba, Infineon, Suzuka, Motegi, etc etc... All of the real world track in GT are acceptional.
Even many of the tracks we don't see in "real world circuits" are amazing, Seattle, Tokyo, Cote... They are all amazing and it's what keeps me from switching over to Forza.

Track replication is one of GT's greatest strong points. 👍
 
Its been mentioned already but the 'ring is unbelievably accurate, in a special edition of Hyper magazine, they covered GT4 in detail (when it was first released) and they featured side-by-side pictures, a photo and a screenshot taken from the same angle and it was near impossible to distingush the two, obviously at close inspection you could see one picture's trees were a little more pixelated than the other!
 
Its been mentioned already but the 'ring is unbelievably accurate, in a special edition of Hyper magazine, they covered GT4 in detail (when it was first released) and they featured side-by-side pictures, a photo and a screenshot taken from the same angle and it was near impossible to distingush the two, obviously at close inspection you could see one picture's trees were a little more pixelated than the other!
Click to expand...

Ah... now that's something we can post... Comparative pics on the tracks! Contest anyone? But I think that might fall under the photo gallery forums...
 
Tha's true. I recently recorded a show on TiVo called, "Born on Neurburgring". It was basically a commercial for BMW, since they test all their cars there. But they had a lot of the history of the track. I was amazed at how accurately rendered it is in the game, right down to the graffiti on the tarmac!
 
I remember reading that particular magazine in a bookstore as well. There are a few comparison pictures in (which are unbelievably close btw) in the book called 'Gran Turismo 4 : Driving The Game' written by Leo Hartas and published by Prima Games.
 
RICHARDO
The Nurburgring Nordscheife is disturbingly accurate to the real thing, except for minor tree and sign placement. this is problably the only console game to get the 'Ring right.

La Sarthe is problably the most accurate track in the game, I watched the 24hr race this year and I couldn't belive my eyes! PD really has an attention to detail when it comes to tracks. 👍


Times Square is almost indistinguishable fromt the real thing, and truly a graphic marvel. Too bad the track itself is so bland. :(
Click to expand...



Yea, I agree.

As I watched the 24Hr Lemans race on Speed TV, (aka NASCAR TV) I payed attention to the detail and layout of the track, and they are very accurate, even the real life average Lmp lap time (around 3:35??). Playing LeSarthe in GT4 is probably as close as you can get to the real thing, add that with the DFP.

PD has done a great job on laying out the Le Sarthe and Nurburgring tracks.

Now the only thing we need now is real daytime//night time effects lol, but that isn't vehemently neccessary
 
I dont know if you guys watch Topgear or not but Gt4 was featured in a comparison race on it at Laguna Seca and immediatley on the game they went wrong click here to see clip Just thought I would have a say
 
Yeah. Saw that one. Very cool... It is clear that the main difference in the lap times is due to the driver holding back at certain areas due to fear of crashing. I think it might've been better if they compared a lap time of someone's first try at Laguna Seca, then have him learn it on a PS2, before comparing lap times again. That way, even if the driver still has fears of crashing, the improvement on the lap time would still be evident. And now with the G25 or even the DFP available, it would have been extremely informative.

Still it's a must see for GT4 fans...

 

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