I like GT5 , but PD is completely disorganized. We have to hold our breath and hope that KAZ tweets something? why don't they have a point man to answer questions on Forums?!
Because they would be eaten alive for the fifteen minutes it would take mods to realize it was hopeless and close the forum.
Polyphony not having PR people isn't a sign of disorganization,
GT5 is. Some of you have a death grip on naysaying. We've had two updates in the three weeks since release. I don't know if ADD is rampant among the Earth's population, but something is very wrong with people when they act as if nothing is going on, when obvious work IS being done and delivered to us periodically.
The real question is why we're in this fix to start with. I'm in agreement with those who insist that SONY is to blame for a lot of it. Forcing work on 3D effects and the production of
an entirely different game in the middle of GT5 production had to be a headache for everyone on the team.
Think of it this way. Say Peter Gabriel or Sting are hard at work on their magnum opus album. Everyone on Earth is excited. But then their production company tells him that they have to do a film soundtrack on a film that's a guaranteed blockbuster - actually is kind of a lame flick, but their name will help with public interest. This drags on for untold months.
Then when they finally get back to work on their album, their company insists that a bunch of it be rewritten so the arrangement and instrument placement works with a 7.1 surround mix. What can they do, except try their best to accommodate?
Obviously, the hypothetical album has a good chance of not being their best work. Kaz had to cobble some kind of content for GT5, because more of us were hollering that we didn't want a GT5 that was a repeat of GT3, a small game with little to do and very few cars, than were shouting about damage. He did what he could in that regard, and I'm content with that.
But the rest, I'm baffled over. The evidence is that the game designers were being yanked around by SONY execs and couldn't finalize an overall game scheme. And to me, it looks like they wanted to go in a bold direction for GT5 but didn't have the time to build that version right, and so they scrambled to come up with a quick replacement. I've been saying for a couple of weeks that the online game was the one they wanted to turn into a playground as big as GT4 and with lots of stuff to do, along with user generated events. But the server system SONY has now couldn't even handle the basic GT5 we got at launch, and so we were told to unplug our PS3s from the net if we were having trouble with performance. This online playground just can't happen until SONY funds a massive expansion of the PSN to handle it. But this left them with a VERY small GT5, and also a very crippled GT5 economy since the online stuff was hobbled. The experience point system looks to be wedgied in at the last hour as a gimmick to prolong gameplay. But why they didn't expand A-Spec mode with more events still bothers me. Creating racing events are the easy thing. But then, there's also the tuning implementation. Transmission settings... heck we don't even have brake upgrades! This game is an enigma wrapped in a 1080p package...
As a matter of fact I think that he's getting old..and one thing about old people they get very pig/hard headed in there ways.That's why I think we have this slow to implement Livery/paint editor in GT5 i.e ... select your own racing car numbers/more paint solid color variations.
A younger modern developer would have realized that more body kits and Livery paint options is very good for the car racing genre.It sure isn't a negative.
A younger Kaz of todays generation would have giving us Tunning Mods out the Butt. And still would be the best racing physics in a console game.
I don't think age has anything to do with it. GT5 was getting loaded up with features as it was, and it's hurting the graphic performance. On top of that, the game is stressing older PS3s to the point of failure sometimes, just like GT4 did on PS2. I'd love a Forza 2-like Livery Editor as much as the average car artist, but the game engine will have to be tweaked to support it. Look at Forza 3. Most backgrounds look better in FM2. The same 8 car races as FM1. It looks like unless there's a serious optimization effort, FM4 won't be any bigger or better.
The reason shadows look iffy in GT5 is because the PS3 is running out of resources, so rather than drop the framerate to 30fps or sap physics calculations, shadows get the short sheet. Prologue has 16 cars on track, better shadows and much better looking replays, most likely because it isn't having to deal with 3D and a time of day implementation. I think liveries could have made it in if SONY had left PD alone to make GT5 the way they wanted.
GT5 is going to grow over the coming months as features are added and things tweaked. I have high hopes, and I think most of them will be realized. But as with all things GT, we'll see.
