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Good thread.
Excellent site.
Great posters.
Astute points. 👍
It is really a tough assignment to start nit-picking and finding blame. "Damn PD did this," and "Damn PD did that." While it is true that on a conventional 480i TV, GT4 almost looks like a highly polished GT2 running at 60 fps, it is simultaneously a wonderment what Polyphony Digital was able to get done with the PS2 hardware. Look at Forza Motorsport, set to arrive on a much more powerful system. It's cleaner and more detailed and runs at half the frame rate of our GT4. To me, that says a lot.
Oh, and you guys REALLY have to stop with this "well, wait'll GT5 on the PS3" stuff. The future has arrived; we must learn to appreciate our lives now. Because folks, I can ASSURE you that once GT5 comes, it will fall short of people's "dream Gran Turismo." It's hard to explain, but basically it's a spiritual principle--learn to be happy now. It's all we have.
-GNJ-
Excellent site.
Great posters.
Astute points. 👍
- I swear, to this day GT2 still trumps the whole series. That game, bugs and all, was a masterpiece, and decker12 nailed it when he hit on the inexcusable absence of vehicle info. For anyone who hasn't played GT2 in a while you might forget--but one of the sublime joys of purchasing a new car and making it your own was knowing all that good stuff about its heritage.
- I don't know if anyone has mentioned it (...you'll forgive me if I can't keep up with this board
) but all the cars are STILL equipped with anti-lock brakes. Hey sure, there's more push going into corners - that's all due to the physics makeover, but make no mistake, you cannot lock up the brakes in this game. (For proof, go to an open-wheel vehicle like the Nike One or Toyota Triathlon. Use the "hood/roof" view. Get up to speed and then SLAM your brakes and watch those wheels carefully--they never lock up.) - It is an open question about whether these types games should ship with everything unlocked. Personally, I just use a cheat device once the gameplay experience has pretty much been exhausted, but there are very sound reasons for wanting all cars and tracks in a game of this size and scope immediately accessible. Certainly down to personal opinion, but if you are, say for example a guy who is working his way through school and maybe has a LIFE (unlike me ) you'll never have the time to toil through this and become an ace video gamer. So, it's open question--but I really do believe that you can have the game wide open (I do with a Codebreaker 9.0) and still enjoy some of the steepest gameplay challenges such as the Missions. Works for me.
- Perhaps the most damning yet poignant criticism one could make about this game is that it hasn't evolved a whole helluva lot beyond GT2 except for the prettier graphics--and as has been noted, marginally prettier graphics at that. Yes, New York is an absolute eyesore. And if you take GT2 on Bleemcast and just look at that next to GT4, it is incredible to note how good GT2 truly was.
- Still on GT2, depending on how you had your chase-view set in options, you could choose to see your car spin-out in full 360° if you wanted to. There is nothing close to that in GT4; the chase-view camera is affixed on your car tighter than ever.
- I didn't know the graphical quality of the environments was downgraded from Prologue, and the car models bumped up. In some ways, I really appreciate this. I love watching the replays myself, and there is nothing better than watching your sexiest favorite car flying down the track, thumb resting on the Triangle button, ready to zoom on it at any time.
- Yes there is blatant redundancy in both cars and tracks, artificially boosting the numbers for marketing. Yet as many here have observed, somehow in spite of this, it is just a humongous game. I have spent hours at one sitting buying & trying different cars. For GT veterans, the flaws and omissions stick out painfully, but it's tough not to fall in with love GT4 in spite of it all.
It is really a tough assignment to start nit-picking and finding blame. "Damn PD did this," and "Damn PD did that." While it is true that on a conventional 480i TV, GT4 almost looks like a highly polished GT2 running at 60 fps, it is simultaneously a wonderment what Polyphony Digital was able to get done with the PS2 hardware. Look at Forza Motorsport, set to arrive on a much more powerful system. It's cleaner and more detailed and runs at half the frame rate of our GT4. To me, that says a lot.
Oh, and you guys REALLY have to stop with this "well, wait'll GT5 on the PS3" stuff. The future has arrived; we must learn to appreciate our lives now. Because folks, I can ASSURE you that once GT5 comes, it will fall short of people's "dream Gran Turismo." It's hard to explain, but basically it's a spiritual principle--learn to be happy now. It's all we have.
-GNJ-
Many thanks.
Ok, thanks.