Do you use the ghost car? (and some other thoughts)

  • Thread starter Thread starter fasj6418
  • 28 comments
  • 3,467 views

Do you use the ghost car?

  • Never, it gets in my way

    Votes: 17 22.1%
  • Sometimes, to learn the lines

    Votes: 20 26.0%
  • If i use, i only use my own ghost

    Votes: 18 23.4%
  • I always download the fastest ghosts and try to chase them

    Votes: 22 28.6%

  • Total voters
    77
  • Poll closed .
Messages
2,342
Brazil
Camboriu - Braz
Messages
FASJ6418
Decided to post this thread because i found in this demo that i'm very attatched to the ghost car. I can't get faster without it, at least on this demo.

I've always used ghost cars in the past, but after prologue, with the option of downloading the best laps, i've became addicted to it.

However, most of my friends say the ghost actually bother them.

How do you guys feel about it? Do you use it? Does it really help you?

I believe there's a bit of truth in saying that a fast ghost will help you. Since i have japanese, australian, european, and american PSN accounts, i'm able to see different ghosts, and to my surprise i have a better record in the account i use to train (japenha2007, on japanese PSN, chasing Takeuchi01) than what i have on my GTP_FASJ6418 american one.

I feel that some countries have a group of 5 or 6 guys benefiting from "alien" replays... don't know how you guys feel about this.

Also, i couldn't find a better place to discuss this, but even after watching those replays a dozen times, i still don't know what i'm doing wrong with the tuned car in turns 10 and 11. I keep getting T2's of 48'1 or 48'2 but my best lap is still 1'36'177. I know the splits should be from a 35'8-35'9 lap, but i keep missing the turn where you have to shift to 3rd and the one after where you need to decide if you shift to 4th.

Since the replays don't have slow motion, i still don't know if i should brake, then turn, then shfit to third on turn 10, or if i should shift, brake and turn, or turn, then brake then shift... i mean, what's the secret on this turn?
 
I mainly only use my own ghost to chase, as I can see when I've done a section faster than my previous best. Of course, I watch replays of the fastest laps to see what they're doing differently that I should be, but I'm enough slower than them that I just find it demoralising to be chasing a 1"35.5XX lap.

I am thinking about downloading a lap that's ~0.2 faster than me and trying to chase that though. Replays go down to 250th in the demo, which is very nice.
 
Yep always, load dHolland before starting a time trial.

I actually have the ghost off for the first 2 corners as it is annoying in the start as I am fairly level with him at that point.
I then turn it on for turn 3, and from there just fall behind.

I find I mainly need it for braking points, find them hard to see on a 19inch screen.
When I drive my MX5 on a real track I have no problem working out where the braking points are, but you just don't have that field of view on a 19inch screen in a game.
 
Always......... loading and watching a replay is fine, but for me in particular i can't really see where they are braking and positioning the car in the watched replay vs the ghost.

I find i can just "look past" the ghost if you will........ i've never had a problem with it being distracting, unless it's a banzai lap and i get an attack of the nerves from being up time wise over my PB!
 
I Always download the fastest ghost and chase it. Just helps me drive faster I think.
 
I wonder how many other people out there are cursing DHolland as much as I am as he pulls away... but I have to say I have the utmost respect for those guys at the top, best of luck at Silverstone, and I hope to be able to say one day when I see one of you on TV... hey that's the guy whose ghost I chased in Gran Turismo and posts I read on GT Planet.
 
I've used Timppaqs ghost in the TT. I normally get distracted by the ghost when it's close but in this case he is so much faster than I am so there's never any conflict.
 
Generally just chase my own ghost - I find it too frustrating & not very helpful chasing the "aliens". :indiff:
 
I always load the fastest ghost and chase him down, hot pursuit style...lol
Only problem is, when I get ahead of the ghost, I get too excited, and then brake too early or late at the next bend. It's very hard to maintain concentration in that position.
 
I used ghosts in the beginning, but at this point I've run so many laps in the normal car that I know which sections I've taken faster or slower than before, so I can estimate my splits nearly to the tenth.

Leaving the ghost off is definitely what helped me get into mid 1'48s. Helps me focus much more on the track rather than watching a ghost ahead or putting my eyes on the rear view mirror and hoping to keep it behind me. The +/- splits are enough for me now.
 
In the beginning it blocked my breaking points, so I turned it off.

I now know the breaking points so well that I see them through the ghost.
For me it helps to see if I'm taking the right lines or if what I accidentally did is fast or not, what are my current weak points, ... (I do not look in the rear mirror)

On the other hand I regularly drive without ghost in the beginning, if I'm fast, no ghost needed, when I'm slower then usual, it helps to determine why.

I use one of my own ghosts where I did a fast first sector and reasonable rest or one of a person near my target time, very seldom top times, since I'm not near enough to notice the difference with my driving.
 
I toggle the ghost on during straights, I dont upload a ghost before a session. Cheers

It would be hard to download a ghost for you since you are always on the top leader board. Haha! just kidding. Nice piece of driving there Kudo's to you buddy. So are you a real proffesional race car driver?

Yeah I have used yours and others to follow and It would depend on who's I have upload as a ghost since they differ in driving style. But when I do find someone with the same driving stlye it helps. They need to be at least a second and a half ahead of me or else it gets to be distracting rahter then helpful. I guess that's why our own weekly race series here in GTPlanet only wants our time trials offline with only the sector times posted until after the finals.
 
Great question, fasj6418. Up until yesterdasy, I would turn on my best ghost lap during certain points of the race.

Point 1: Right when the timer begins. I want to know if I am at least caught up with my best lap at the start of the time trial.

Point 2: The straight-a-way in the middle of the course. I like to know where I am at in the middle of the time trial.

Point 3: The last major turn coming into the home stretch. I can't help it!


Now I do it differently. I turn it once at the very start and then I take it away. Then I turn it on just before the middle straight-a-way and it lasts until the time trial is over; it helps a lot. When I see my ghost, I am forced to push myself to new limits. It's working well. I nearly cracked my best time last night, but I was too tired.
 
Chasing a faster ghost is the only way i can get a faster lap! By myself i like run into a wall, but with a faster ghost i can usually better my times.
 
I only use the ghost as reference. I normally race time trials on my own and whenever I get off of a turn or get on a straight, I tap the UP button on my wheel quickly twice -- just to see if I see my ghost. If I don't see it, then I'm doing better than my previous best lap. To me, it is useful for this kind of reference as leaving it on makes me nervious, I keep thinking I'm going to send it on a little trip to the sandbox. :lol:
 
Used other people's ghosts when working out the track, but now I've got the track right in my head I never use the ghost and I also turn off the minimap. The less distractions on screen the better for me. Given the opportunity I'd disable everything except the tacho and speedo on screen and only see the final lap time when I cross the finish line... The split times don't matter to me only the final time.
 
I can't deny that downloading the fastest ghosts helped me at the start to learn how the fastest attacked the track and it made me push the car closer to its limits.

However, I'm at the point in which I don't have much else to give since I'm using a DS3.
 
I use my own fastest ghost to see where I need to improve and where I'm doing well. I toggle it on and off at certain points to see how I'm doing, eg between Turn 3 and 4, on the back straight, just after the hairpin and along the final run.

I also use Dholland's ghosts to see the lines. At a Normal best of 1.49.6 I am not going to keep up, but keeping up isn't the point; his ghost shows me the lines to take and that is what I need. I can keep the ghost in sight all the way to the end so it's great. Following the replay I found to be more helpful than just watching it. The key for me is not to try and beat the top ghost but to simply follow it learning as I go. Then comes the speed.

This technique is used in RL driver training too -- I've done a couple of BMW courses and you follow an instructor, using his lines, and he goes faster and faster until you start looking ragged or missing apexes, at which point he slows down until you smooth out again. The GT replays serve much the same function for me except that you aren't getting helpful commentary over the radio and the replay is at a fixed rate. Also, everything I learned on those courses is directly applicable on GT.
 
I watch the fastest drivers lap and then just go for it without uploading any ghost, i find using a faster ghost just puts me off.
 
The only ghost I use is my own, and even then it gets in the way, if my ghost has a good first sector, I get rid of it.
 
Usually chase DHolland, have it off in first sequence of corners and then flick it on to watch him zoom off into the distance!!!
 
Damn double post (iPhones fault)

however, I do think the ghost should be invisible untill at least 2-3 meters ahead, really gets in the way sometimes
 
I believe there's a bit of truth in saying that a fast ghost will help you. Since i have japanese, australian, european, and american PSN accounts, i'm able to see different ghosts, and to my surprise i have a better record in the account i use to train (japenha2007, on japanese PSN, chasing Takeuchi01) than what i have on my GTP_FASJ6418 american one.

I feel that some countries have a group of 5 or 6 guys benefiting from "alien" replays... don't know how you guys feel about this.

Is it possible to download an alien ghost and be able to use it?
I live in the USA and all I can use is Americaninskis ghosts... I would like to watch the top ghost in the world.

I think I can open a different PSN account with a different nationality but I wont be able to use it in my original American account 👎
 
Ahhh, the ghost car, and all the mental exercises I've been through wondering if following it helps or hurts. I think the answer is both-some days it helps, and some days it doesn't.

I typically start without one, but if I just can't seem to find the line I'll turn one on, usually someone in the top 10. There are times when I don't use it at all, maybe once a week when, from the moment I sit down, I'm within .2 or so of my best lap, and I can just 'feel' the car and see the track very clearly. I don't know why this is, maybe sleep, maybe diet, I don't know.

At some point, when following a ghost, I stop driving the track, and start driving 'against' the ghost car. I might still be fast, but all I'm really doing is following, and not really learning anything. Shutting the ghost off, I'm lost for awhile, because I've been basing my braking points and turning motions on the ghost.

If you always use the ghost, I suggest turning it off regularly and practicing braking and turning without it. You will learn the track for all cars, not just the one you are currently driving.
 
As of late I usually have R1600Turbo or outlaw's Ghost loaded (both pad users with good times). I have them set to the square button so I can flip them off if they get too far ahead of me and start to piss me off :grumpy:

I dislike using my own ghost now (even though that is the option I picked at first) because the times are usually so close that I just end up inside of the ghost car.
 
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