B-Spec is infinitely broken, not fun, and isn't racing

[Killa Aaron]

I like B-Spec it's like that old paid programing commercial, Set It And Forget It i'm currently at level 31 trying to get that X1.

 

[dominic280378]

You're a funny bloke. Are the races too long for you or are they too short? Why would you want to pause a short race and why would you want to make a long race longer by pausing?

I don't hear Christian Horner complaining about 2 hour GPs.

"Hold it! I need a leak, can everyone on the track just stop for one minute while I take a slash?! I'll be right back, I promise!"

If they insist on giving you moronic drivers that need to be nursed around the track and the race is 4 laps long, what if someone knocks at my door? or i have to go to the bathroom? or if the phone rings? what, you just have to sit through the race again once there are no distractions? Maybe in some alternate universe not being able to pause the game is a good thing, but in this one it isn't

 

[dominic280378]

You're a funny bloke. Are the races too long for you or are they too short? Why would you want to pause a short race and why would you want to make a long race longer by pausing?

I don't hear Christian Horner complaining about 2 hour GPs.

"Hold it! I need a leak, can everyone on the track just stop for one minute while I take a slash?! I'll be right back, I promise!"

Also, saying that the pause function is removed to make B-Spec more realistic doesn't hold water at all. I'm pretty sure Christian Horner used more than 4 instructions to his drivers this year, I'm pretty sure once he gave instructions he could change his mind instantly rather than waiting for a blue bar to decrease in size.

 

[Conquerer]

No its not the driver bro its you. If i put you in a 1000hp veyron and said drive it fast without totaling it in race with other drivers that are better than you how would you do? Your B spec driver is an amateur. Slow cars are his friends up until lv 12 or so when he just start kicking some ***. And o stop trying to be in first on the first lap give him till about lap 3. And let him drive his own pace unless you see him getting hung up behind a car then you can give him instructions to pass and when hes in the lead watch him on the last lap because he will get lazy and start to let his opponents catch up to him. So if this don't help you just fire your B spec guy and hire one with better stats Because some B spec drivers have better skills than others, like my second B spec driver had the same stats at lv1 as my lv5 driver so look through the personalities. That's all i can offer to you to ease the B spec pain

What an insult. I never gave my driver a Veyron. I gave him equal or similar powered cars and he'd get destroyed. So I'd give him a better car and he still does terribly. Even with some better cars its still a joke. There is absolutely no excuse to damage control the B-spec mode in this game. It IS the driver, end of discussion. The AI in the game is already pretty horrid, but your B-spec drivers are even worse.

There are certainly moments when your driver will be pretty good and surprise you, especially once you get to around level 15 and up, but your drivers are always the same retards and do the same stupid ****. I made this topic back when I was around level 10 in B-spec and those times were extremely frustrating, but even now not much has changed. Drivers do make less mistakes and aren't constantly horrible but they still do make the exact same mistakes and never learn from anything. They will never drive like racing drivers and that is a huge flaw.

 

[RODDUZ]

I can't understand this mode at all. The frustration involved with it is so extreme. My drivers aren't even racing. They're just driving with a bunch of other cars on the track. He has the inside line? Doesn't matter, he'll let the car he's actually ahead of through. Chance to pass? No, he'll brake early. Passing on a straightaway? Nah, he'll have a look and then drive back into the rear of the car or just brake instead of trying to pass.

And the best are ovals... Yes, brake on Daytona repeatedly and watch your opponents go past you... Makes a lot of sense. And when he's 75% or more into the red he makes the exact same mistakes at each corner every single time... ramming the throttle before he's even at the apex. Nice to see he's learning anything at all.

It's such a shame. The idea of this mode is great, but it's just so so so so so so so extremely poorly implemented. I can't even believe it's possible for a team to allow it to be this bad. My drivers are up to around level 10 and there's still no improvement whatsoever. I win races handedly in bone stock cars but even when I give them 300HP+ over the competition they still pathetically manage to not even come close to winning in some races.

It's so just unbelievable. B-Spec was fine in GT4.... 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 pace speeds and an overtake button. Perfect. Oh, and your driver actually wasn't a retard with no concept of racing or competition within him. He actually raced at the pace you told him to, did it consistently, and drove like a regular driver would. In GT5 there is no such thing. This is not racing at all....

I mean seriously, am I out of line here? Please tell me how some of you have the capacity to do this... Is there anyone that disagrees with what I've said? I'd really like to hear what some of the people who are enjoying this mode have to say.

👍 Well said!

 

[speedy_2]

Agreed 100%. I did not touch B-Spec for awhile. Just special events and A-Spec. The more I get into B-Spec the more mad I get.

The driver is way too robotic. A lot of erratic actions that would wreck a real car. There is no "smooth" to the driving. I feel like I'm watching an AI car on GT1. And sometimes, GT1 isn't that bad.

Stopping in the stupidest areas or way too early.

Not accelerating until late in the exit of a turn.

Slowing down for traffic when there is room to pass or when nowhere near close enough to warrant that much braking.

The commands seems to do very little. And, most of the time, the overtake command doesn't change the drivers behavior at all.

I'm only doing B-Spec for the prize cars, XP, and percentage increase. There is no enjoyment in this mode for me. Add to that, it's the same exact races as A-Spec drives me nuts too.

They could have added another section of A-Spec races. Maybe more restricted. Anything, but B-Spec. I feel like the last half of the game for me is a complete waste of time.

 

[deftonesmx17]

Hate the mode, but free cars and money while I spend time chatting with my wife; heck yeah 👍
Plus, I'll put up with just about anything after playing that which was A-Spec...

 

[RikkiGT-R]

I would struggle to find fault with anything you've said.
B-Spec is like some sort of "comedy mode". Imagine, for a second, someone who has never played a GT game... they come along and watch a race on B-Spec mode. What do you honestly think their reaction would be?

Something like: "Gaaaahahahahahaaa!.... wtf???"

That's the problem though, and it proves how awful b-spec is. I'd like to enter him into races with a car of equal power and have him put some bloody effort into it, but it's not gonna happen.

Sorry, but this is wrong as well. You should read my thread on the SuperGT series. They can and do have good, close races. When the one directing them isn't a moron who just mashes the commands, or expects to AFK all the time and use it like a cash cow.

Sorry, but I'm RIGHT. We're told to "take on the role of race team manager!" in this new GT5 B-spec mode. But, seriously, where in any motorsport in all of the world would budding drivers behave on-track like a 'new bob' does (or even an experienced one)?

Bob seems to intentionally make mistakes. Like braking too late, braking too early, accelerating far too early, not accelerating at all, BRAKING HARD ON SPEEDWAYS FFS! (yeah, we 'scared him' by asking him to try and win), stopping half way through an overtaking manoeuvre, refusing to overtake when it was by far the easiest option, building up a lead and then just switching off, and on and on and on....

B-Spec has absolutely no redeeming features. It is dull, irritating, frustrating, poorly designed, unambitious, twice the size of A-spec and totally unnecessary.

 

[TB]

If it pisses you off, don't play it.

If you want the Platinum trophy and it pisses you off, suck it up.

If you want the cars that it has to offer and it pisses you off, suck it up.

If you've done 3 races and decided that Bob's an idiot and because of that you hate B-Spec, you haven't given it enough of a chance.

Sure, some of the races suck. Alright - most of my early races sucked. But B-Spec is hands down the easiest money maker in the game. For a total of 6 minutes per hour and a half I can make 1M? And I can be washing clothes, taking care of the kids and eating lunch? Sign me up. Do a few races and score a Furai (for example). Yes, please.

Did I enjoy my climb to level 40? No. Not especially. But I still think it was worth it.

 

[birksy82]

B-spec's broken, I keep hitting increase pace repeatedly and bob keeps spinning out and crashing into walls.

Not really of course I actually know how to use it and it works rather well. I can't quite figure out why people can't work a simple game with four command buttons. The tamagochi was more complicated 💡, if you don't like it don't play it it's pretty simple really. A bit like B-Spec.

 

[RikkiGT-R]

If it pisses you off, don't play it.

If you want the Platinum trophy and it pisses you off, suck it up.

If you want the cars that it has to offer and it pisses you off, suck it up.

If you've done 3 races and decided that Bob's an idiot and because of that you hate B-Spec, you haven't given it enough of a chance.

Sure, some of the races suck. Alright - most of my early races sucked. But B-Spec is hands down the easiest money maker in the game. For a total of 6 minutes per hour and a half I can make 1M? And I can be washing clothes, taking care of the kids and eating lunch? Sign me up. Do a few races and score a Furai (for example). Yes, please.

Did I enjoy my climb to level 40? No. Not especially. But I still think it was worth it.

Well I have a few Bobs that I got up to the mid-teens, but couldn't bare it any more. It's advertised as an exciting part of GT5, but as you say yourself; you just start races and go do something else. Which is my point. I've never in all my life known any other game on any format where we would do that (leave the game to 'play' itself).

The concept is great, but PD missed a trick.

 

[SirAlanClive]

There are some obvious signs. Noone else seems to notice:

1. PD has decided to give away a very expensive car to one of the winners of a B-spec TIME TRIAL. This only applies to non-US versions of the game. There is no B-spec time trial in the game. It's a completely new way to play B-spec.

2. There are subtle differences in the US and non-US versions of the game. Only in B-spec as far as I can see. Non-US has Career while US has Experience. US users report 'pace-up' seeming to increase the frame rate of the game (the video speeds up), while I certainly don't see this in my European version. There may be sight variations in the code. We may be testing something for PD without knowing it.

This leads me to believe that B-spec is destined for much greater things (the Time Trials are fantastic...real skill-testers and imagine us competing against each other with our drivers online).

I certainly agree that the B-spec races ingame are no challenge. They are simply a way to become familiar with the controls and to 'educate' the drivers.

I predict new B-spec challenges in the seasonal events, once we're finished with the SLS Challenge (1. february), and an online b-spec racing option.

The truth is that B-spec is way more than what you get from doing the ingame races.

*Enters Bunker....preparing for retaliation strike...only 'clean' nukes please ;-)*

It's different, THAT seems to be the biggest challenge.

I'd give any idea Kaz showed me a solid chance (or film/book/wine/other activity).

He has given me some fantastic entertainment/insight over the past few years.

He is a man who realizes his dreams to an almost pedantic level of perfection and shares them with us (it has never been 'only about the money' with him).

If I didn't like the wine he suggested or the book he was reading or the angle he gave the driving game he made, I'd write it down to me and him being different....not his taste being bad or his game being broken.

I think most of you 'disbelievers' are pretty short sighted and rude (the ones who publish these 'this is broken' posts). Have a little respect for the MAN.

 

[TB]

It's advertised as an exciting part of GT5

If you can hit that sweet spot between losing catastrophically and overwhelmingly winning obliterating the competition, it is fairly exciting. I actually would like it more if they buttoned the restrictions down (vehicle, HP, weight, etc.) a bit tighter to make it more exciting, though. Allowing me to take the X2010 into the Sunday Cup?

I've never in all my life known any other game on any format where we would do that (leave the game to 'play' itself).

Just because something is different doesn't necessarily make it bad or wrong.

@ SirAlanClive - Are you having a discussion with yourself? Might want to schedule that doctors appointments soon.

 

[DreamersParady]

Why are people moaning so much about b-spec?

Gave driver decent car, trained him up. Now my best driver is level 23 and with the correct tweaks on the car set ups (plenty of hints and tips out there on the interweb to help point you in the right direction) and he presto, my driver did NASCAR in no time (the trick with that one is to set the break balance on it to nil, stops bob braking for no reason)

Currently got my driver doing the Formula GT Championship, won every single race so far with only a bit of watching. Just finished a pit stop and he is still a min ahead of the competition. The only reason for this is the car set up and the tyre selection.

Get the car set up properly and bob can decimate all. But remember, low level bobs will make mistakes!

 

[SirAlanClive]

@ SirAlanClive - Are you having a discussion with yourself? Might want to schedule that doctors appointments soon.

He's driving A-spec.....if only he'd realized the joys of B-spec I might have got to him in time ;-)

I quoted myself from a thread I made called "the 'truth' about b-spec" rather than write it all again. But I think my point is valid....I think things will change after the end of this month.

 

[RikkiGT-R]

If you can hit that sweet spot between losing catastrophically and overwhelmingly winning obliterating the competition, it is fairly exciting

I never gave any of my bobs ridiculously over-powered cars 'just to win'. I would look at the list of opponents and put Bob in a car towards the top end of this list. He would lose every single time in a car equal to his opponents, so I would upgrade slightly. Then try again. Then he would lose, then I would upgrade slightly more and try again.

I kept doing this until he just about won, but by then the car WAS overpowered (but not X2010 vs Fiat 500 overpowered). So out of curiosity, I would take the car he just about won in and enter the same event in A-spec only to find that I would be in first place by the first corner and basically annihilate the field.

The gulf between B-spec 'racing' and what I perceive to be proper racing is huge.

 

[speedy_2]

Why are people moaning so much about b-spec?

Gave driver decent car, trained him up. Now my best driver is level 23 and with the correct tweaks on the car set ups (plenty of hints and tips out there on the interweb to help point you in the right direction) and he presto, my driver did NASCAR in no time (the trick with that one is to set the break balance on it to nil, stops bob braking for no reason)

Currently got my driver doing the Formula GT Championship, won every single race so far with only a bit of watching. Just finished a pit stop and he is still a min ahead of the competition. The only reason for this is the car set up and the tyre selection.

Get the car set up properly and bob can decimate all. But remember, low level bobs will make mistakes!

This was never about not being able to beat B-Spec races.

 

[Irishracer4]

I have NO PROBLEM with the nascar series. Listen its simple....You are the coach/crew chief if u will. YOU have to pick the right driver for the right race! EXAMPLE: Daytona track pick one of your drivers with a good level of experience and SPEED. When u create your driver look at their stats! I have drivers that have a higher speed rating than others. Some of my drivers are better at cornering and braking. Did any of my drivers constantly keep braking at daytona? YES. I failed as a coach by NOT SELECTING THE RIGHT DRIVER FOR THE RIGHT KINDA RACE! Also, their natural temperment means alot! If a driver is "hotheaded" naturally (in the red) he will race more comfortably in that zone for a longer amount of time! I have a driver who is at level 18 and I can easily take him into ANY RACE. And with the RIGHT CAR SET UP AND "COACHING" i can win fairly easy! I figured this stuff out...why can"t ya"ll?

 

[RikkiGT-R]

I have NO PROBLEM with the nascar series. Listen its simple....You are the coach/crew chief if u will. YOU have to pick the right driver for the right race! EXAMPLE: Daytona track pick one of your drivers with a good level of experience and SPEED. When u create your driver look at their stats! I have drivers that have a higher speed rating than others. Some of my drivers are better at cornering and braking. Did any of my drivers constantly keep braking at daytona? YES. I failed as a coach by NOT SELECTING THE RIGHT DRIVER FOR THE RIGHT KINDA RACE! Also, their natural temperment means alot! If a driver is "hotheaded" naturally (in the red) he will race more comfortably in that zone for a longer amount of time! I have a driver who is at level 18 and I can easily take him into ANY RACE. And with the RIGHT CAR SET UP AND "COACHING" i can win fairly easy! I figured this stuff out...why can"t ya"ll?

I figured it out right from the off.

The problem is; B-Spec is the biggest load of horse crap in GT5.

 

[WRECKU]

Well the game has plenty of different aspects to it. Guess I'm one of the lucky ones that enjoys them all, including B spec.

 

[shade71]

I have had no problems with B-Spec. My driver won the Nascar Series first try. You probably aren't guiding him properly. Instead of just mashing the pace up and overtake buttons try timing the use of them for when it is appropriate. For example when he actually has a good opportunity to overtake.



Sorry, but this is wrong as well. You should read my thread on the SuperGT series. They can and do have good, close races. When the one directing them isn't a moron who just mashes the commands, or expects to AFK all the time and use it like a cash cow.

This

 

[xAmilli0n]

You have got to remember, you driver has 40 levels, you can't expect him to drive like an F1 veteran early on. The farther you get, the better he becomes.

Also your drivers personality plays a big role. "Cool" drivers are just terrible at passing at early levels...another thing to consider.

 

[Wall_Rider]

Off the top of my head, ways to improve B-Spec:
1) let me pause it
2) let me fast forward it
3) give us a command to tell driver to block other drivers i.e drive defensively
4) give us a command to tell the driver to harass the car in front i.e pressure them into making a mistake
5) give us a test track where we can work on the drivers basic skills i.e over taking, cornering etc
6) give us the ability to cancel commands immediately if they are not working

I could go on and on, there's a ton of obvious ways it could be improved

7. Like in GT4 (which actually did b-spec much better), get rid of ALL the b-spec events, double the number of a-spec events and just let me switch between a-spec and b-spec while the car is in the pits...

8. Let me fast forward it (repeated for emphasis -- How they didn't include that in the game I will never know)...

 

[E90SLAM]

Bobs are now my ATM machine....

 

[Scryli]

LOL! I B-specc while studying... This mode is way too boring especially when you get to races that have 30 laps instead of 5 or 6 on A-specc. Not only are you not playing, you have to watch the whole race sometimes so your guy doesn't screw up... Soooooo lame ,but at least it's easy money when you have the Formula Gran Turismo.

 

[ToyGTone]

If i am correct, my drivers is in level 32 and 29. The B-spec races i didn't beat it so far (in extreme) nascar, formula and latest 4 endurance races (4h and 24h Nürburgring, 9h tsukuba and 24h Circuit de la Sarthe.
They should mix a-spec with b-spec just like gt4 and fast forward in b-spec like in gt4. In gt4 I finished 24h Nurburgring in 8 real life hours because of Fast forward of b-spec.