I posted this on the "El Capitan, i miss it" topic. Hope it's not a problem to post the same text here:
From the first Vision Gran Turismo trailer till Gran Turismo HD on TGS 2006, these tracks were avaiable in HD (upscaled that is):
- Twin Ring Motegi
- Grand Canyon
- Tahiti Maze / Circuit
- Costa Di Amalfi
- Citta Di Aria
You can see pictures of those here: http://www.giantbomb.com/gran-turism...-21297/images/
And of course, El Capitan in one of the GT5 trailers.
I might understand that Motegi and Infineon were dropped because the license ended or something like that. But everything else, including Seattle, Midfield, have no reasonable excuse.
All GT4 tracks could be ported and with some work on textures and overall geometry, would look decent and help the game feel more complete. For example, Trial Mountain doesn't look like it had a lot of rework done, still it's on the game.
To complete, i honestly don't know why they haven't upgrade all GT4 tracks to be on GT5. They had 5 years for this. A small "team" could have done that improving some of the geometry and 3d details on the track, and also replacing the textures for higher resolution ones.
This post ^ is even more apt at this point in time - after several iterations of GT have since been spawned - and yet PD doesn't seem to know where the money really is.
I really enjoyed setting times in a Ginetta G4 with my friends on GT4 days, also some of the first pics I printed out from GT4 were of a Lancia Delta (S4?) rally car roaring around the streets.
I often confuse Citta di Aria with Costa di Amilfi which was my favourite place to drift the Caterham Fireblade. Lord I wish they'd make a reappearance!
The Citta was City to me and Costa took me to the coast - so that's how I kept them apart.
They were, however, while sounding similar were twins that were worlds apart. 2 great courses - and we can still only sample them in GT4.
Stumbling back into GT4 by accident recently, I'm thoroughly enjoying exploring all those old and 'missed' tracks again - Cathedral Rocks, Grand Canyon, New York, Seattle, Opera Paris, Infineon, El Capitan, Hong Kong . . . took a WRX to Tahiti Maze a night ago and so enjoyed thrashing it around for almost an hour.
And this was after being seated in Bob's cockpit for awhile, watching his lines as he thrashed the rest of the AI at Infineon.
Yes I miss Citta di Aria too, it offered a unique experience and was enormous fun and very rewarding when you set a fast lap without touching anything.
It also proves the relevance of scenery and backdrop to a track, even if you were theoretically able to create something very similar in lay-out with the Course Maker (narrow twisty turns and uphill sections) the experience wouldn't be the same without the stunning old Italian architecture looming dangerously close at either ends of the road.
Not just providing eye-candy but I reckon it affects the way you drive too, at least for the fact it obscured a lot of the corners....
👍 👍
It's a traveshamockery that Citta di Aria hasn't been brought back. That is the track that made me truly fall in love with Gran Turismo. Some friends and I had a running spreadsheet with car/track combos for time attacks. The Citta tab was by far the most visited. Rally cars... hot french hatches... hot french rally hatches! And the Lancia Stratos on this course?!! Forget about it.. that's a combo that will teach you how to drive. That made for some intense laps. You are pushing the limit and truly mastering those turns over and over to shave MAYBE a couple thousandths of a second off your time to set the new benchmark.
PD, Even if it was offered as DLC for GT6 I would pay at least $20 for this one track. You could completely rake me over the coals and I would hand you my money with a smile.
As I was saying, PD . . . you missed where the money really was.
Throwing away what the players already loved, was throwing away the game.
