Gran Turismo 5 - V.H.D.P. [Version History Documentation Project]

[elston87]

What is this about, and why are you doing it?

When I finally got my hands on Gran Turismo 5, I was a little bit late to get the game than probably most players (Christmas of 2010), but I was blown away. Never did another game leave my console again for almost three years straight (literally!), and over time, the game received updates, some being small, others bursting out with new content for the rest of us to get our hands on. However, with every update, there came a change, a small change at the very least...

I was mostly unaware of Gran Turismo 5 Prologue at the time, and I felt as if I did not need to associate myself with it due to the game being "just a prologue", but it was another stepping stone in the history of developing Gran Turismo 5 as a whole. I decided to do some research as of late, and digging deeper revealed that another title, Gran Turismo HD Concept, was also linked with the development of Gran Turismo 5. I started digging and digging for more information relating to the game's development and release, and I was digging up goldmines of information, lots of content changes, pre-release screenshots, what could have possibly been...

This unofficial Version History Documentation Project was created because Gran Turismo 5's wild and spanning development cycle basically sparked the flame for my interest in content changes during game development. Inspired by the "Undocumented Changes" threads initially started by @Johnnypenso for Gran Turismo 6, this project goes into much greater depth, aiming to cover every little change of content and code that occurred with each version of Gran Turismo 5. Similar projects are underway for both Gran Turismo 5 Prologue and Gran Turismo HD Concept.


Can I help contribute to the Project? How?

Absolutely! As a matter of fact, I would have not decided to create this project if I did not plan on reaching out to the GTPlanet community to help make this project as complete as possible! There are members here who have (perhaps) been more involved with the game's community than I have, so any contributions are beyond just welcomed, they're encouraged!

If you want to make a contribution, simply post into this thread with details such as the version number of the game, the appropriate section of the document the contribution goes to, and the details. Do make sure that you include proof of your research! Proof can be an image, audio, or video sample, and any Internet resources you find require a URL or image capture.

Any contributors will be credited for their work in the appropriate version document. Any sources found will also be added appropriately.


What needs to be done?

There is still a LOT left to do for this project. Apart from getting the documents' formatting organized, getting more references and resources and many more things done, there's a VAST amount of information relating to the changes of the game within these forums alone! There are some [TODO] tags scattered throughout each document of things that need to be done, but that's only the beginning!

As aforementioned, a lot of undocumented changes for the game have been posted on these forums, but are scattered throughout. An example is the "Toyota-7 Race Car having its sound changed", but what version did the car get its sound changed? Another example or two is "certain Standard cars got updated with new visuals" and "the online physics got changed", but what version did these changes happen? Is there documented proof? These are the things that need to be looked for and researched!

Searching for threads like the ones below are good places to start:

• UPDATE 1.06 is now LIVE.. New features are in OP
• Update 1.10 Thread! (Check 1st post for Update Details)
• Un-Official list of unannounced Spec II features
• Community built 2.0.5 changelog and bugtracker
• 2.06 Live

...among the copious amount of other threads here!

Urgent Request

Below is a topic that I am completely missing information about. If anyone can find any bits of information on it, extra kudos to you!

GT Academy 2012: This PS3 standalone title is (obviously) a special build of Gran Turismo 5, with most of its changes being carried over to version 2.06 of GT5 before it was released. It has very unique features, such as unique graphics, its own build number (the only video I could find that has it displayed!), its own challenges, and some special features (inviting friends to play the demo), along with many more features.

V.H.D.P. Document Links

Below you can find the links to each individual document for the Project. Each document has been created in a specific format. If you need help reading the documents, need more clues on what to research for contributions, or any other reason it may be, a handy outline has been created here.

Project documents:

• Version 1.00
• Version 1.01 - Added on 9/22/17
• Version 1.02 - Added on 9/22/17
• Version 1.03 - Added on 9/22/17
• Version 1.05
• Version 1.06
• Version 1.07
• Version 1.08
• Version 1.09
• Version 1.10
• Version 1.11
• Version 1.12
• Version 1.13

• Version 2.00
  
• Version 2.01
  
• Version 2.02
  
• Version 2.03
  
• Version 2.04
  
• Version 2.05
  
• Version 2.06
  
• Version 2.07
  
• Version 2.08
  
• Version 2.09
  
• Version 2.10
  
• Version 2.11
  
• Version 2.12
  
• Version 2.13
  
• Version 2.14
  
• Version 2.15
  
• Version 2.16
  
• Version 2.17

Will this project stay updated with new contributions being added?

I will try to update any documents with new contributions on a bi-daily basis. My schedule has been rather busy for the past few months, but I've wanted to do this project for the longest time! The most I could expect myself to be absent from adding updates is, at the most, a week. I will do the best I can to keep up with any new progress!


...whew! I'm grateful you've made it this far! Hopefully you'll enjoy what this project can hope to document and preserve for all readers about the history and development of Gran Turismo 5. Hopefully with enough information added, a page could be finally started for The Cutting Room Floor!

Thanks for reading about and contributing to the project!

 

[Adamodell]

I forgot I had an account here, and then you linked to this.
Good work. I wish I cared about something that much, haha.

 

[JakeMR2]

hhmm, interesting. I'll help if you want. I have the Gran Turismo: HD Concept demo, but I have yet to do something to my PS3 to alter the bindings of the game to do what I want it to do. I have the regular GT5 and GT5: XL Edition, so. I wonder where all the update packages go since GT5 has a total of 23 updates. I think someone on GTP found some hidden Course Maker data tracks in one of the updates, but I forgot what post it was.

I am pretty sure GT Academy 2012 didn't have anything special in it, but I really want to extract the menu music from there. It was basically a detuned GT5, so nothing much to really dig up on there.

Also, good luck. You got a lot of digging to do in GTP and in GT5 itself. GT5 spent 5 to 6 years in development hell.
======================================================

Edit: My website findings of such updates such as 1.01 - 1.03

1.01- The online was finally working, in version 1.00 it was not even able to connect due to maintenance with the servers that PD had up at the time. Some glitches still occurred like not joining the track properly if I remember correctly.

1.02- Fixed some online issues, and some basic online essentials were added, also. 1.01 and 1.02 released nearly together as a full update or close to each in terms of days.

1.03- brings a kind of kin feature of GT2, mechanical damage, it was a feature during the PS1 era of consoles, but was never brought in GT5 until this point.

Some of these versions may have a Undocumented Changes Thread lying around somewhere, but I would have to dig deep into GTP to find it.

That's all I have, I may have to find some stuff on GT Academy 2012 tomorrow if I can.

This link: https://www.gtplanet.net/gran-turismo-5s-my-home-online-features-discussed-at-tgs/

Is a different build than the one we got, it has A-Spec and later on has B-Spec mode for the players drivers. So, the code was nearly done, but not quite.

 

[elston87]

A small (but rather big, at least for me personally) update: Documents for versions 1.01, 1.02, and 1.03 have been added! Extra special thanks to the user (who has requested to remain anonymous) who managed to find the update package files and extract the build numbers from them!

 

[VBR]

I was wondering the other day when they made all career races rolling starts, now I know! Thanks for all the hard work, it's great to have something so comprehensive.

 

[tankuroded]

The standard Ferrari F2007 had Martini logos removed in version 2.15:

Also, in earlier versions (not sure where this was fixed), the same car had bugged driver position resulting in exposed seatbelt:

 

[2_FAST_4_U]

Interesting and cool find on that Martini logo livery... Wish I could see it on my GT5, but I am keeping my version 2.11 and won't upgrade for well known reasons.

 

[Mattw]

Hey I'm just wondering if theres more knowledge available about what physics changes happen at specific updates. I know it was changed at least a few times. The real reason I want to know is the wheelie glitch, at some point it was patched out. I'm currently on version 1.13, and it still works, toyota minolta(88CV) up at 273mph, redbull up at 370+(engine sound cut off), both on ssr7. It would be great if I could still have the glitch with the speed test stuff available, but I'm assuming it's gone at 2.00

 

[elston87]

Hey I'm just wondering if theres more knowledge available about what physics changes happen at specific updates. I know it was changed at least a few times. The real reason I want to know is the wheelie glitch, at some point it was patched out. I'm currently on version 1.13, and it still works, toyota minolta(88CV) up at 273mph, redbull up at 370+(engine sound cut off), both on ssr7. It would be great if I could still have the glitch with the speed test stuff available, but I'm assuming it's gone at 2.00

The database format for GT5 (and every game based off of GT4) has yet to be reverse-engineered. If those physics changes are from within the game executable itself, then they'd be impossible to document (without extensive knowledge), but if they occur within the databases, then it's simply a means of comparing the data between versions to see what got changed.

...speaking of this thread, this project is long overdue for an update since much of the game has been dissected at this point.

 

[Mattw]

I figured it wasnt easy to decipher, I'll get a few more high powered, high down force cars to play with the wheelie glitch, then when I move on to the newer updates I'll go one at a time and see when the wheelies no longer happen, I'll repost what I find on this thread.