10 reasons why Ferrari Challenge is better than GT5P

  • Thread starter Biggles
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FC would have been as good as GT5P had the publisher not rushed the product and instead what we are given is something with such a low production value that I would even go as far as saying what Biggles find outstanding about FC was not the intention on the part of the developer but purely accidental.

Tracks- None o the tracks in FC stands out. I rememeber Monza form the days when I used to play Crammond's GP3 and 4 to GP Legends. In FC, it's just another track. Had the graphics been better I would hesitate more in deciding between the number of tracks in FC and the quality of tracks in GT5P. As it stands, the numbers just don't make up for the poor job done at recreating the environments and the atmosphere.

Physics- In order for a game that celebrates a specfic make of car to succeed, it has to dutifully recreate the feeling that you encounter when you drive its car. In GC you start with a $300,000 F430. Gestalt, palpable, discernible- I get none of this when I drive (with my Logitech G25) the F430 in FC. What I get is a car with a heavy steering (and deadzone to boot) with no precision in the steering department. I can't deny that the driving physics of the game does equate to that of driving a car- but just not a Ferrari. Some mid priced sedan but hardly a supercar. In GT5P, though not perfect but any means, the F430 is fun to drive. If it fails miserably at least it conveys the very nature of driving a Ferrari- fun enough that you'd cream your pants. In FC, not even close enough to earn a mention of the cigar.

The graphics certainly takes you back to the purgatory between the next gen and that of the PS2 and the early xbox. While there's the now required in car view (cockpit view), the view is set too far back and it precetibly slows down the game. The best is probably the bonnet view but you don't get proper engine sound with that. Like I said the game suffers innumerably simply because it seems no one care too much. It's almsot the complete opposite of Kazunori Yamauchi's unatainable perfection.
Eutechynx (FC game developer) has just announced that they're developing another (not ferrari) sim.racer for the PS3. If anything, look forward to this and if you haven't purchase FC, I would advice that you do enough research before you buy the game.
 
FC would have been as good as GT5P had the publisher not rushed the product and instead what we are given is something with such a low production value that I would even go as far as saying what Biggles find outstanding about FC was not the intention on the part of the developer but purely accidental.
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I disagree. I don't think the publisher had the resources to create a game like GT5P or Forza - flagship titles for their respective systems. I do think the unique physics they created was intentional.

Tracks- None o the tracks in FC stands out. I rememeber Monza form the days when I used to play Crammond's GP3 and 4 to GP Legends. In FC, it's just another track. Had the graphics been better I would hesitate more in deciding between the number of tracks in FC and the quality of tracks in GT5P. As it stands, the numbers just don't make up for the poor job done at recreating the environments and the atmosphere.
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No question, FC tracks do not look "realistic", but they are great tracks & they are fun to race on.

Physics- In order for a game that celebrates a specfic make of car to succeed, it has to dutifully recreate the feeling that you encounter when you drive its car. In GC you start with a $300,000 F430. Gestalt, palpable, discernible- I get none of this when I drive (with my Logitech G25) the F430 in FC. What I get is a car with a heavy steering (and deadzone to boot) with no precision in the steering department. I can't deny that the driving physics of the game does equate to that of driving a car- but just not a Ferrari. Some mid priced sedan but hardly a supercar. In GT5P, though not perfect but any means, the F430 is fun to drive. If it fails miserably at least it conveys the very nature of driving a Ferrari- fun enough that you'd cream your pants. In FC, not even close enough to earn a mention of the cigar.
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You need to try the physics since the FFB update. I really wonder if you've played the game much, or recently. I admit that when I first got the game I was unimpressed, because I was conditioned to playing GT5P. I can't comment on the accuracy of the Ferraris, but I just finished driving the FXX online & it definitely doesn't drive like a "mid-priced sedan"!

Again, FC isn't a "GT5 killer": it's a fun & challenging racing alternative to GT5P with its very limited & very played-out content, while we're waiting for the fabled arrival of the full GT5.
 
Biggles
2) No tuning options – if you like to tinker around with your car, you’re out of luck. Personally, I don’t have much interest in this & it makes the racing dependent entirely on driver skill.
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It's been a while since I played it, but if I remember correctly, there are in fact tuning options when you play through career mode.
 
I'm getting this game for christmas. I wasn't sure whether it would be a good game or not, but this forum says lots of good things about it so now I can't wait until I get it.
 
While I am not a pro driver, most peoeple here would smoke me easy. but my saying is that FC is kinda a brilliant game. So maybe I am not the best person to compare the physiscs to GT5 P.

But in contrast to what some other users felt, I enjoyed the tracks in FC a lot more than those in GT5 P. The only two tracks that are interesting for me in GT5 P is Suzuka, and Fuji, where in FC there are many really good tracks. While the graphics in FC is not upto GT5 standards, the tracks are a lot more lively looking, compared with GT5 tracks that have some sort of sterile look.

The main problem with FC is the marketing. The game was released way to early, with a lot of bugs, and disfunctional online, game dident have the number of cars, that was written in the manual. It was promised DLC, but none has been seen, and I dont think anyone know if any DLC will ever come. I doubt very much we will see all Ferarri ever produced as DLC as it was originaly marketed. Also I have doubt we will ever see the US patch in EU.

With that being sayd, I still think FC is a very good game, or rather it is the only alternative to GT5 on the PS3 system, we dont have the luxux of Forza. So for people who only own a PS3 and loves Sim races, FC is a must buy.

Its a litle sadining that FC could esentialy been a killer game, if it had been better taking care of, because the core game ( The driving physcis ) is on par with GT5, but it was ruined by a mess of early realease and patches not ariving in month and so on.

I would rate the game as this.

Graphics. They are ok, but nothing outstanding 8/10.
Sound. Its ok but nothing outstanding. 7,5/10.
Gameplay. If you like sim racers it is a must buy. 9/10.
 
Biggles
Yes, I understood that was what you were referring to.

Hmm... I just realized I forgot to mention:

11) Drafting - in FC the drafting is "realistic": in FC if you manage to fight your way close to the car in front coming out of a turn, you are able to draft it on the straight. Unlike GT5P drafting doesn't take effect when you are 200 metres behind the car in front. :rolleyes: I really have no idea why GT5P is like this. Like "Collisions" in GT5P it really makes no sense.
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I believe the premature drafting (or overzealous drafting) on GT5P has been fixed with Spec III.

Less you forget that GT5P is a technical demo- with a price to reflect that it barely scrapes the surface of what the final game is going to be. On the other hand I paid over $60 for FC and the glaring omission in FC is as startling as that in GT5P. Take for example the cockpit view- like you said it doesn't come close to that of GT5P. Actually even an Arcade game like Midnight Club: Los Angeles got the view so much better than FC. And any die-hard sim racer would agree that none of the view is as immersive as the cockpit view. In FC the view is totally constraint by the fact that it's set too far back and the low quality track rendering only makes it worse. On top of that the frame rate takes a hit and there's a perceptible stutter and slowdown. It's thing like this, that may not be important to some but for me and I'm sure a few others, it's enough to make the driving less enjoyable.

I've downloaded the patch while there's a improvement in the steering, it still doesn't fix what is to me a basically flawed driving physics: when you steer the wheel of a car you should feel a gradual inncrease in resistance. In FC the resistance is the same throughout. And I still find the steering somewhat vague and detached.
 
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Well, it looks interesting as something else to play while we wait for GT5. A question though.

Is the European version any good with a DFP wheel? Are there dead-zones?

PS. I think the OP has got a good point. It's not about whether we should compare a demo with a final game, it's about what we can buy now and whether FC is worth buying for a different experience.
 
NLxAROSA
It's been a while since I played it, but if I remember correctly, there are in fact tuning options when you play through career mode.
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There’s a reasonable amount of tinkering of the 430 challenge car when you’re in the Italian, Euro or American race series. Settings can make a difference if you’ve tuned it for a dry race, and don’t notice that the next race is a wet one. And vice versa.

First and foremost, I agree completely with the thread’s creator in that Ferrari Challenge is a game that some will be missing out on because of its well documented shortfalls. However, those who are die hard race game fans and omit to have FC in their collection are teetering on the brink of being as daft as a bucket…

FC and all its foibles should be embraced as a watershed moment in racing sim games. In no way should that statement be taken that I am slamming GT5P or indeed the entire GT series having been a stalwart supporter since my first imported GT1, back in the day…

One of the big fun factors of GT5P was the inclusion of online events. This turned a bit sour when all the 3 year old loons turned up with their amusing antics of going round the wrong way, or consistent unsportsmanlike bumping, or wall riding etc. The fun factor was lost after too many repeats of the aforementioned antics taking place and my copy of GT5P remains on the shelf for the time being waiting for the next update which will arrive long before GT5 sees the light of day.

The AI in FC is at times so good, it almost feels that you are racing online with the caveat that the plonker who’s just slammed his brakes on in front of you will not try and spend the rest of the race in a Neolithic rage in sworn vengeance after you nudged him (due to his braking) and punt you off. No. Instead, you need to build up your race craft and be on the ball at all times. When you start wining races by lapping half the field you can adjust the difficulty level accordingly. The amusingly entitled ‘dynamic’ setting is currently a mode of choice for me.

Here’s the nub. FC is a game that does what it says on the tin. You get a stack of Ferraris to go racing with, and it is a challenge to complete the game on the tougher difficulty levels. Spending an hour or so taking tenths off your time on Ferrari’s own test circuit (Fiorano) is a surprisingly enjoyable way to spend an hour or so. I have yet to come across a racing game where the sixaxis gives you so much control. Holding a line after an over ambitious stab on the throttle is not only doable, it’s actually quite fun.

FC is not a punter’s game. It takes a while to get track knowledge, on the tracks you don’t already know, and the cars handle so differently that your style of driving needs to be altered to suit the peculiarities of the Ferrari you’ve picked for a particular race track/event. In other words, if you expect to be flying round at full tilt in the F512-S at Mont Tremblant on first go, this isn’t the game for you.

If however you’re willing to put in some time to get up to speed, FC will reward you with a fun factor not seen since Complex String graced GT3. If you can balance the game play against the not-so-great graphics, the lamentable interior view, the artistic license given to track realization, the apparently fixed/not fixed dead-zone wheel issue (taking on board that the sixaxis is sublime), then you’ll have a racing game you’ll look back on with nothing but fond memories for a game that could have been (but isn’t, by quite some way) Sony’s elusive killer app.

I’ll stick my neck out here and say that there is no real reason to compare GT5P with FC. As Biggles has repeated a few times, as a game to fill in the gap until GT5 slides into all our PS3s, FC is waiting to be snapped up and enjoyed for what it is.
 
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NK
Spending an hour or so taking tenths off your time on Ferrari’s own test circuit (Fiorano) is a surprisingly enjoyable way to spend an hour or so.
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[JOKING]
It is, apart from the fact that after an hour you want to kill Tiff Needell :)
[/JOKING]

Great post 👍
 
Biggles
11) Drafting - in FC the drafting is "realistic": in FC if you manage to fight your way close to the car in front coming out of a turn, you are able to draft it on the straight. Unlike GT5P drafting doesn't take effect when you are 200 metres behind the car in front. :rolleyes: I really have no idea why GT5P is like this. Like "Collisions" in GT5P it really makes no sense.
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Yes, I tried drafting in real life, at 160 km/h there is a very little bit of wind calming and at 220 and more km/h there is really a positive effect on aerodynamics. But it counts in single meters behind a car, not tens of meters like in a GT5p now.
 
Bought this game and was hughly put off. GT feels better i find, returns more info. Also damage was also not that wow ... rather do it good or not. Overal it was a "nice" game but not close to GT5 for me. Havent tried online since it was not working when i was still playing it.

But its an okay game just a very big shame they had to make it a DLC Scam game... 50 cars .... 25 cars + 25 cars in diffenrent colors ... yeah .... and then release DLC like in an instance with all the cars you really wanted to be in the game, let me put that differently, that should have been in the game...

Big waste of 60 euro ...

everyone saying GT5p is a big demo then what was this... 1/3 of the cars but more tracks ... for full price.
 
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Just put the disc in the drive and fire up the game. If it tells you there's an upgrade available, just download/install it. If it doesn't that means you already have done it before.
 
myke6699
Physics- In order for a game that celebrates a specfic make of car to succeed, it has to dutifully recreate the feeling that you encounter when you drive its car. In GC you start with a $300,000 F430. Gestalt, palpable, discernible- I get none of this when I drive (with my Logitech G25) the F430 in FC. What I get is a car with a heavy steering (and deadzone to boot) with no precision in the steering department. I can't deny that the driving physics of the game does equate to that of driving a car- but just not a Ferrari. Some mid priced sedan but hardly a supercar. In GT5P, though not perfect but any means, the F430 is fun to drive. If it fails miserably at least it conveys the very nature of driving a Ferrari- fun enough that you'd cream your pants. In FC, not even close enough to earn a mention of the cigar.
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agrees with this 👍

hun200kmh: zathra5 said that europe doesnt have the lastest patch that fixes the force feedback so I was wondering which version that is....
 
Yeah, but Europe had two patches released, since I remember you from the early days of FC I guessed you could have the game still in its original form.

EDIT: And, IIRC, the EU patches made some tweaks on the force feedback. One thing I'm sure they did, and that was implementing the ability to chose the FF strengh (Low, Medium, High). You couldn't do it when the game was released.
 
JosVerstappen
agrees with this 👍

hun200kmh: zathra5 said that europe doesnt have the lastest patch that fixes the force feedback so I was wondering which version that is....
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It doesn't, but they said they we deliver patch for europe before, or around Christmas
 
Leonidae
only thing in it that is better than GT5P is Tiff Needell.. and that's it.
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Tiff? After a few tutorial tries I only wish the guy would shut up, I hate him being so patronizing (You did well, but .... ) :crazy:

But your post is so synthetic I'll also be. Maybe this way we can clear up things. So, just to make it simple, I'll write 4 short paragraphs:



1) Spa-Francorchamps

2) under heavy rain

3) in a 70's Le Mans Ferrari

4) with all assists off


... forget Tiff ... think Steve McQUeen's "Le Mans"
 
A year after the initial release of GT5P:

The drafting is not fixed in Spec III.

The RBE is "somewhat" fixed.

The collision calculations are as crazy as ever.

No W.E.s in Pro.

No new tracks.

No new online features.

GT5P was ground-breaking in terms of realism & a major & welcome step forward in terms of GT physics.

If you were new to PS3 sim racing I would suggest that you first got GT5P, then F1CE.

Then after you've played the crap out of those, like I have, give FC a try. It is not perfect by any means, but it offers something that they do not & overall after you have got beyond the ground-breaking realism of GT5P, you may come to feel that, as my deliberately provocative thread title suggests, FC might be a better game than GT5P.

OR you can continue to run Suzuka & Fuji over & over again for the next 6 - 12 months. ;)
 
AMG.
Ok, I've read all the posts & I'll bite..... what is DLC?

AMG.
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Downloadable content (more cars, more tracks). It was promised upon release (supposedly in monthly packs of 1 track and 5 cars, for a small fee, starting August) but so far no DLC has been released. The developer has several packs ready (so they say), but the publisher didn't release them because of licensing and cost-related issues. There was a full war about it in the developers (eutechnyx) forums.


EDIT: BE very welcome, jjaisli :)
 
Biggles
8) Time clock – a small, but significant feature. The game shows the difference between your time & the car in front & behind allowing you to evaluate your driving on a moment-by-moment basis. In practice, this adds interest to long races, particularly when you are a significant distance away from your rivals. BTW, no RBE! Never had it, never will!
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Yeh i miss that from Forza.
 
Hi jjaisli! Don't just lurk, help me out here! ;)

Here's another perspective:

assume GT had no history behind it. Leave the two games GT5P & FC exactly as they are in all respects, but reverse the graphics - give GT5P the graphics of FC & FC the graphics of GT5P. Now tell me which game would get the most attention?

In reality, the groundbreaking graphics of the GT series have always been one of the most significant aspects of the game. It takes a while to accept the look of FC after you have become used to GT5P, but once you do, you will find a fun & challenging racing game there. 👍
 

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