Anyone think the red number on gauge cluster makes the game too easy?

When I first noticed the "red number" which is right next to the # gear you're in while you're driving, it was in GT3. In GT3 it's purpose was quite vague and wasn't able to affirm its purpose until GT4 came around. When I played GT4 I saw that it became more clear about its purpose, its purpose is to let you know what gear you should be in when you hit a turn on the map while racing. If you're going too fast, it'll say +4 when you're in 5th gear lit on and will blink rapidly as you approach the turn.

Now, first of all I would like to know if anyone was even aware of this little red number beside the gear #? Two I would like to know if information pertaining to this is even mentioned on this site.

And finally, the most important part, does anyone feel that this addition makes the game too easy? Now that I'm aware of its purpose, I feel it makes racing too easy because it lets me know when I should slow down and how much to slow down since it'll disappear when going adequate speed for given turn intensity, car weight, and tire performance. Is there discussion of any sort on this subject?
 
You can turn it off in the options, under "racing." I think you can turn one of the options to "simple" which can make the game more difficult if you choose.
 
It's not always right. Sometimes you need to brake before it flashes, sometimes afterwards. I just ignore it.
 
Yeah I know it's there, and even though I drive an auto I find that sometimes it thinks you should be going too slow, I just keep my eyes on the road and race the way I know I should. Learn every track, know your own limts.
 
It's not always right. Sometimes you need to brake before it flashes, sometimes afterwards. I just ignore it.

I find its quite hard to ignore, best thing is to just get rid of it. The game looks a lot better and cleaner in 'simple' layout. The only thing i miss is the timer.
 
I leave it on, it annoys me though because I know I can go through corners much faster than it says so.
 
I wouldn't say it makes it easier. It's more of a teaching aid. About how fast you should be going, but thats all it really tells you. It doesn't show you the apex of the turn, where you should enter at or exit.

It only gives you part of the equation for running a good lap, the rest is up to you to figure out, or screw up. :)
 
I find it occasionally distracts me, but usually I'd ignore it. I wouldn't say it makes the game easier. It should in some part make up for the perception and feeling of speed that the game lacks compared to reality, which tends to make many people approach corners far too quickly in a computer game when on an unfamiliar road / track, but I find in that sense it doesn't really help. It's not prominent enough for that, but then when I sometimes catch it blinking at me out of the corner of my eye it makes me double check my entry speed, and screws up my corner.
 
It's not always right. Sometimes you need to brake before it flashes, sometimes afterwards. I just ignore it.

Yep, for example Fuji Speedway 05. Take a really fast car (I.E. 970hp Zonda) and give it the beans down the straight, and only brake when it flashes. You'll eat about a metric butt-ton of dirt.
 
I wouldn't say it makes it easier. It's more of a teaching aid. About how fast you should be going, but thats all it really tells you. It doesn't show you the apex of the turn, where you should enter at or exit.

It only gives you part of the equation for running a good lap, the rest is up to you to figure out, or screw up. :)

Yeah but the speed thing seems to be the most difficult part, aside from that the rest is easy. (I think)
 
Definatly makes the game easier, and at some point, you should be able to do without it... Although, its great for learning...
 
I found it just annoyed me so I turned it off. I never used it anyway, not even to learn new tracks. The one on GT3 annoys me and you can't turn it off.
 
I use it as a starting point but rarely take any notice of it after the first 2 laps.

I can't see how it makes the game easier, it neither brakes for you or gives you the perfect gear for every corner.
 
I use it as a starting point but rarely take any notice of it after the first 2 laps.

I can't see how it makes the game easier, it neither brakes for you or gives you the perfect gear for every corner.

But it does let you know when you're going too fast for the conditions. You can choose to ignore it but I've found that following it a lot of the time can make driving wayy too easy, or at least a lot easier than in previous GTs.
 
You say easy but in what way? Easier to stay on the track or easier to get a faster time?

I certainly wouldn't say it helps get a faster time, unless you count the fact it keeps you on the track in the first place.
 
I´ve noticed that it´s not very helpful most of the time. It seldom shows the proper brakingpoint, and some of the time, not even the correct gear. It also flashes at strange places, where you wouldn´t want to either brake, or change gears!
 
i've grown accustom to it that i rely on it a lot now.. that's probably why i was so disappointed in myself when i played a quick game of gt1, i never know exaclt when i should begin braking.

also, If you haven't noticed, games nowadays are easier simply because there are consumers that are not able to pick up on what is to be done sometimes. I've noticed this when i decided to whip out my NES Emulator one day and played games like donkey kong. there are no instructions, hints or anything that tells you what to do. you could jump in one direction, but you weren't able to stop moving (in mid-air and decide to move back). Nowadays, You can do that. the game teaches you how to play as you begin your first mission. You were also magically able to double air-jump, i'd like to see someone try to do that in real life. Yes it's off topic from Gran Turismo, but i'm making an analogy to this.
 
It's not always right. Sometimes you need to brake before it flashes, sometimes afterwards. I just ignore it.
I actually use it as a brake marker, since many of the tracks (particularly the major, real-life Japanese tracks) are utterly devoid of landmarks that you can use.

I don't often brake when it tells me too, but I use when it starts flashing as a distance sign. I'll wait for it to start flashing and then hold out that extra 2 tenths of a second before braking, or if it starts flashing on some turns, I know that I've waited too late and some heroics will be necesssary.

On the other hand, I completely ignore the suggested gears, since they are almost universally wrong - either too high or too low.
 
i sometimes use but, for some of my cars it is wrong, because it says change down but when i do it bounces off the limiter, or it is too low in the rpm range and i get no power.
 
Sometimes it helps out, but I learned to ignore it. I usually use the trial and error method. I look at the turn, I guess which gear I need to be in, then I try to drift it!! If you can drift it, then making it in grip would be pie!
 
i drift using it, heh.

i have no clue why but it isn't always wrong for me.

it's "universally" inaccurate becasue they set it by means of how the AI is programed as well. You all noticed how the A.I this round of GT all brake hard way before the corner, then roll into the corner then stab the brake one more time. You'll know what i mean when you watch the a.i drive during replay, study their accel and braking methods..
 
i drift using it, heh.

i have no clue why but it isn't always wrong for me.

it's "universally" inaccurate becasue they set it by means of how the AI is programed as well. You all noticed how the A.I this round of GT all brake hard way before the corner, then roll into the corner then stab the brake one more time. You'll know what i mean when you watch the a.i drive during replay, study their accel and braking methods..

Usually the AI uses my rear bumper to slow down. They barrel into me!!!
 
The gear display is not for the gear you should be in when it starts flashing... it's the gear you should be in when you exit the corner.

In other words, red light, start slowing down. At the apex, downshift into the gear it's telling you to downshift into... not when the light starts blinking.

It's universally conservative. It always tells you to brake too early and the gear display is often off a bit, depending on your driving style.

If you can't slow the car effectively from the point where the red light starts flashing, then you're not braking properly (i.e.: you're just mashing the brakes, not cadence-braking or threshold braking, and you're not braking in a straight line).

I generally brake, like Duke, about 2/10ths after the light starts flashing, and mix in some trail-braking or drift depending on the car and the corner... but I was starting to become reliant on the red light, so I stopped using it altogether. Makes relearning a track in an unfamiliar car more of a challenge.

Just started GT4 again (fresh save)... damn, the driving missions and licenses (trying to get all gold... except for the 1 lap trials, am having a hard time) are a pain without that little red idiot light... :D ...damn I'm rusty... :lol:
 
wow, hahahaah!! I never knew what that was for. Years of playing GT and I've never known what the red number was. I feel a little goofy now that I couldn't figure it out, but eh, I guess it's all good if I can race well without it.
 
Red light is very distracting & not very accurate. It distracts you from getting a good "feel" for the car & the course & it does not always represent the best braking points or gears to select. I always turn it off by using the "simple" display, the only problem with that, is that it turns off some of the information I would like to have - most notably the lap indicator.
 
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