Gran Turismo 7 “Power Pack” Paid DLC Now Available: New Races Including Endurance Events, Qualifying, and “Sophy 3.0”

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What do you expect the Power Pack DLC will cost?

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slthree
It's clear to me that I'm the worst sim racer on this site

I started with the Hondas at Tokyo. I didn't know how to pick a starting branch

2 peppers impossible
1 pepper impossible
0 peppers still VERY hard for me. I think I qualified 8th and finished the race 8th

You are all very impressive for finding the PP to be easy
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You are not the worst, I am right there with you, did great on 1st race and went downhill from there..
19b03d6fa0d52-screenshotUrl.webp


Gomario JSP
, I accidentely ( seriously by accident though ) did a "Pursuit Immobilization Technique" and tailswept him into the shadow realm at the start
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Sometimes not your fault, I had in my 1st three races (so far) one of the AI pass me but not clean enough and start crossing in front of me causing me to PIT maneuver them...
 
Voodoovaj
Your suggestion is that the player maintain the same car and the AI changes. What the implemented was a consistent AI (which is better, because then you know what your goal is), while you get less capable cars.

Remember, some tester (not one of the world's best) beat each of these events on 2 pepper.
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Given the Power Pack is meant to deliver "real racing", then yes the AI should change. This is how it works in Sport mode, you don't suddenly have less power as an A driver than you would at C—it's the skill of the opponents that change, not the car's output. I don't see why that would be a controversial perspective to have.
 
I am loving the DLC. I have completed 15 races so far all on one chili and won 13 of them. Typically qualify on pole or in 2nd place. The only races I have not won I would say are my worst tracks (Big Willow and Tokyo Expressway). I have just over 800hrs in GT7 and I have been playing it since the day it came out. I do single player, custom races, and the weekly time trials. In the time trials I usually can get gold by a few tenths. I am also a controller user. That hopefully adds some perspective of my skill level.

While far from perfect, I am an optimist and enjoying what it has brought. It is the best racing I've experienced in GT7. The events are well done, the tuned cars are extremely rewarding and fun to drive, and the racing is close. Again, not perfect as the AI still does funny things, too fast off the line in most races, crashes into you relentlessly in turn 1 at Monza, and etc...but that can all be improved and I feel this is overall a step in the right direction.

I am really enjoying the weekend format and spending time in practice and qualifying. There is a realism and intenseness that is present in the events that I love. More immersive IMO that any other part of the game including custom races with AI. I've enjoyed having real competition in the race weekend where i can chip away at lap times or set a flyer and be done. I've def improved at some tracks because now there is real reason in the weekend to maximize my laptime which isn't something you can do outside of the DLC because you just show up and race. I've also really enjoyed being forced to use race craft. I just did the Tuner 300 race this morning at Autopolis. I started 2nd to the MR2. Got the lead at the end of the first lap after a multi car battle through the first few turns and had a close battle the entire race that ranged from bumper to bumper to a second gap. I had the straight line speed and he had better cornering speed. I really had to carefully take defensive lines into and through corners to not leave a door open. It was intense and I knew if I made one mistake I would lose the race. This was awesome and exactly what I wanted. I play this game everyday for 20-40min and want to be able to sit on the couch, with a controller, and enjoy a really challenging race or two and be done. This gives me exactly that.

It was money well spent and for a single player user, gives me something to look forward to and I already have some favorite events that I will race more than once. My plan is to continue completing the 50 events (hopefully there is a real save function added by the time i get to the enduros) all on one chili, then circle back to the ones I did not win and win them, and then lastly move on to the two chili difficulty. I think this will provide me with a lot to do and enjoy!

In conclusion, lots of areas to improve as its not perfect, but I think its a GREAT step in a new direction for the game and I hope we see more content added, another DLC, or more of this in GT8.
 
I'm going clockwise, already finished the Japan-Asia and Tuning branches. Won all but 2 races, but I at least finished podium. Already halfway done with the Historic branch. I'm saving the Enduros for last.
 
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I was wondering why there weren't any penalty spots, cause I'm pretty sure I had some sketchy cuts in my races.
 
BradleyLove
Given the Power Pack is meant to deliver "real racing", then yes the AI should change. This is how it works in Sport mode, you don't suddenly have less power as an A driver than you would at C—it's the skill of the opponents that change, not the car's output. I don't see why that would be a controversial perspective to have.
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Depends on how far up the chain you go. In the A+ rooms, it's common to see the best players handicap themselves with a slower car. Race against any of the guys from "Dstinct" and you'll see.

Also, like I said, Sophy is consistent so you have a target time to shoot for in practice. If you do it the other way around, where would Sophy stop? What target time are you shooting for? Making Sophy faster changes the goal posts rather than changing the difficulty for you.
 
I’m far from a mental giant, and know exactly zero about coding, but I’ve got a question that maybe a nerd can chime in on.

The rain physics In the power pack are extremely dumbed down at best, and just a graphical formality at worst. Assuming that Sophy CAN drive in the rain on inters or wets, would it be possible to program Sophy where she would ALWAYS be on the best tires no matter what? As in, Sophy would be able to “be on” the best tires for the given conditions in real time without theoretically having to pit for tires. If the moisture bar got past the 1st tick, coding would then just put Sophy on inters in real time. Then if the moisture got to the 2nd tick, she’d swap to wets in real time - thus always being on the correct tire (with the reverse order being true as well wets —> inters —> RH as the track dries out)

Obviously this would lead to trouble being
that she’d never have to pit, and we would.



….but then in the coding, you could assign each tire a “color” that corresponds to each moisture level hash - which would cause her to “pit for tires”, but in reality Sophy is just passing through the pits, only taking fuel if needed - not actually putting for tires per say.

Does this make sense from a coding perspective?
 
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Yard_Sale
I’m far from a mental giant, and know exactly zero about coding, but I’ve got a question that maybe a nerd can chime in on.

The rain physics In the power pack are extremely dumbed down at best, and just a graphical formality at worst. Assuming that Sophy CAN drive in the rain on inters or wets, would it be possible to program Sophy where she would ALWAYS be on the best tires no matter what? As in, Sophy would be able to “be on” the best tires for the given conditions in real time without theoretically having to pit for tires. If the moisture bar got past the 1st tick, coding would then just put Sophy on inters in real time. Then if the moisture got to the 2nd tick, she’d swap to wets in real time - thus always being on the correct tire (with the reverse order being true as well wets —> inters —> RH as the track dries out)

Obviously this would lead to trouble being
that she’d never have to pit, and we would.



….but then in the coding, you could assign each tire a “color” that corresponds to each moisture level hash - which would cause her to “pit for tires”, but in reality Sophy is just passing through the pits, only taking fuel if needed - not actually putting for tires per say.

Does this make sense from a coding perspective?
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This is very confusing, to say the least. What are you asking, exactly?
 
GlamFM
Yeah, exactly. I’m not looking to win all the time - I just want good racing without the stress that online racing puts me through. :D
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Just a reminder to everyone, the custom Sophy races set to weak boost does all this. JUST IN CASE people didn't know. I spend most of my GT time in the Sophy custom races now.
 
For some reason when using the manual shifter, there is no need to use the clutch to change gears in the Power Pack races. At least with the logitech shifter i'm using. It's like all the cars are semi-automatic (well i just tried the Abarth and the Porsche '73)
 
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Met Entso
For some reason when using the manual shifter, there is no need to use the clutch to change gears in the Power Pack races. At least with the logitech shifter i'm using. It's like all the cars are semi-automatic (well i just tried the Abarth and the Porsche '73)
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I can't tell you why, but the Civics do have working clutch.
 
Yard_Sale
I’m far from a mental giant, and know exactly zero about coding, but I’ve got a question that maybe a nerd can chime in on.

The rain physics In the power pack are extremely dumbed down at best, and just a graphical formality at worst. Assuming that Sophy CAN drive in the rain on inters or wets, would it be possible to program Sophy where she would ALWAYS be on the best tires no matter what? As in, Sophy would be able to “be on” the best tires for the given conditions in real time without theoretically having to pit for tires. If the moisture bar got past the 1st tick, coding would then just put Sophy on inters in real time. Then if the moisture got to the 2nd tick, she’d swap to wets in real time - thus always being on the correct tire (with the reverse order being true as well wets —> inters —> RH as the track dries out)

Obviously this would lead to trouble being
that she’d never have to pit, and we would.



….but then in the coding, you could assign each tire a “color” that corresponds to each moisture level hash - which would cause her to “pit for tires”, but in reality Sophy is just passing through the pits, only taking fuel if needed - not actually putting for tires per say.

Does this make sense from a coding perspective?
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I'm a programmer just not video games.
Each thing my application does is called a Method or Object. So in GT7 "Tires" would be an Object that would be created through multiple Methods/Threads/Calls to various parts of the program.

When it does this its fairly seamless as long as there aren't any bugs/errors. I can't imagine that the Tire object in GT7 would behave any differently. So yes the AI method/object for that car could call the weather method/object, read the values, read the track modifier values that the weather method is applying to the physics engine, and "be on" the perfect compound to maximize traction for the conditions.

Pitting absolutely is nothing more than refreshing/resetting the tire wear object and fuel consumption object so there's no reason that the tire difference can't be visual either. The image of the tire is an object called by the tire method, yeah?

In a nutshell yes, it is fairly straightforward to implement something like what you've suggested. Whether or not it is straightforward to implement that in the existing GT7 I have no idea. Could be built on miles of spaghetti code that nobody really understands all that well or it could be incredibly clean modular implementations that are virtually plug and play.

From scratch this is easy as pie. For GT7 it could be pie or it could be 3.1415926535...........
 
I did a few races with no practice and qualifying. Definitely noticed I walked away from the field after the second lap.
Using the M3, I kkipped both for the Old Timers at Autopolis and couldn't grab the two Alfas.
At Catalunya I skipped practice and did qualifying. Got pole and at the start, got swamped by the top five. Passed them all before end of the lap and drove away. Weird.
 
Met Entso
For some reason when using the manual shifter, there is no need to use the clutch to change gears in the Power Pack races. At least with the logitech shifter i'm using. It's like all the cars are semi-automatic (well i just tried the Abarth and the Porsche '73)
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Most are.

Also, clutch was never required to be used...it's completely optional.
 
art3mis
I'm a programmer just not video games.
Each thing my application does is called a Method or Object. So in GT7 "Tires" would be an Object that would be created through multiple Methods/Threads/Calls to various parts of the program.

When it does this its fairly seamless as long as there aren't any bugs/errors. I can't imagine that the Tire object in GT7 would behave any differently. So yes the AI method/object for that car could call the weather method/object, read the values, read the track modifier values that the weather method is applying to the physics engine, and "be on" the perfect compound to maximize traction for the conditions.

Pitting absolutely is nothing more than refreshing/resetting the tire wear object and fuel consumption object so there's no reason that the tire difference can't be visual either. The image of the tire is an object called by the tire method, yeah?

In a nutshell yes, it is fairly straightforward to implement something like what you've suggested. Whether or not it is straightforward to implement that in the existing GT7 I have no idea. Could be built on miles of spaghetti code that nobody really understands all that well or it could be incredibly clean modular implementations that are virtually plug and play.

From scratch this is easy as pie. For GT7 it could be pie or it could be 3.1415926535...........
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Awesome! Thanks for taking the time to respond, that was the exact kind of explanation and insight I was looking for. It’s clear that Sophy in GT7 is R&D for GT8. I was just thinking about it last night, and though I know nothing about the nuts and bolts of this stuff, it seemed like there has to be an easier way to give the illusion of the AI having to strategize, albeit just fudging things a little. I’m curious to how other titles accomplish building an AI agent that is able to strategize seemingly better than Sophy is able to
 
Team THRT Drift




Right. Let's talk about Polyphony's incessant need to fabricate difficulty instead of just making their AI drivers actually give you a close contest.

After about the third time of having to do this tedious qualifier because the AI spins themselves and me out and absolutely panic when you try and bump draft them, I decided to see what is actually going on because Inostroza is getting the exact same lap times in that Mazda VGT which is slow in a straight line to begin with.


So I decided to get my quickest lap in by forcing Bonelli to the front of the pack and basically using him as my personal shopping cart to the front of the line. After that I skipped the session til we had just over 1 min left and sure enough Inostroza comes out.

So I hang back and we have the following video, just click the image and it should start playing it.

19b01b22b277-master_playlist by Automotive Buff, on Flickr


Alternate YouTube link because it's more intuitive:






Oh would you look at that, the qualifier session countdown ends and we are now on our final lap and it just so happens that that Mazda gained 300 hp and shed 600 lbs.

I am still drafting him and getting dusted. Not that it makes a lick of a difference because this race is literally brain dead; the AI don't understand the concept of the title of the race series... bump drafting. If they actually did, it would make for some honest to God fun.


And this is the theme of this DLC. Choosing what pepper your car is doesnt make a difference. The AI cheats, drives unorthodox lines, and will divebomb you any chance it gets.


Thank you, Polyphony. At least I got 5mil credits and some new cars for the price of just 5mil credits from the PS Store, but let's not open that can of worms now 🙃.
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This does seem to be the situation unfortunately. The curated car list is just to make the racing more difficult but not necessarily change the way your opponents race. Braking every single apex is frustrating but realistically the only way it's competitive...
 
happycorey
The curated car list is just to make the racing more difficult but not necessarily change the way your opponents race. Braking every single apex is frustrating but realistically the only way it's competitive..
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If the game can boost any car whenever it wants, the fixed car list doesn’t matter. The “curated car list” becomes pointless. No?

Also, braking at apex is competitive? Like, it is the way to go faster?
 
My only real complaint about the PP so far (i haven't gone too deep yet), is that every race seems to have your allocated car on +1 grip tyres than is really necessary for the class.

Tuned or not, an Abarth 500 doesn't need to be on SH tyres in my opinion.

It only adds fuel to the fire of my perception that this DLC is the Arcade Mode of GT7.
 
I'd love an option to make this mod playable by the average player but somewhat harder. I literally needed to block P2 from overtaking to win the first GTI challenge.

Not only that, when you overtake them in slow corners, they often just zip past back you with a huge speed boost.
 
happycorey
This does seem to be the situation unfortunately. The curated car list is just to make the racing more difficult but not necessarily change the way your opponents race. Braking every single apex is frustrating but realistically the only way it's competitive...
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Yeah for sure.
Having completed about 2/3rds or so of the PP so far my experience has been that Rubberbanding is incredibly strong and common, that each race in the PP has at least one but no more than 3 designated Rabbits and they are the same across "series" that use the same car.

For example in the GTI tree you eventually get to RBR and Le Mans and at both tracks the same guy driving the same car, McLaren F1 GTR Race Car 97, is the rabbit even though that's the 1 chilli car for us.

I tested this at RBR. Qualified first, spun C Lopez coming out of T1 his exit crossed my exit and I wasn't lifting.
I was driving the McLaren F1 GTR 95 (not the long tail the short BMW) and pulled a 8 second gap to the new 2nd place driver. C Lopez was mired below where I could see him on the driver list.

By lap 7 he was in 2nd again, 6 seconds down. Lap 9 he was 2 seconds down. I caught traffic and managed to navigate it better than he did. Still finished on Lap 14 only .600 seconds ahead of him.

He was scripted to be that fast and there was literally NOTHING I could have done about it other than wreck him every time I saw him.

Yes I was in the 2 chilli car and he was in the AI 1 chilli car but still, the difference should not have been nearly that vast.

My main question on the car availability is this: If PD coded each and every car "the same" in the DLC (we know they didn't though) why not make those cars the selections? I want to drive the Viper GT1, the Corvette at Daytona, any of the Group Cs at Le Mans or Spa. If they're all purpose modified to be "fair and hard racing" then why can I only pick from one set.

Give me the full set of options and if you want to chilli them then give me the full set at -30HP for 1 chilli and -50 at 2 chilli.

It just grinds my gears that each race has exactly 3 options and there's nothing you can do to modify any of them for YOUR skillset and liking. I don't want to add parts I just want to dial in less understeer or more oversteer sheesh :D
 
I did not take part in qualifying, just watched for 16 minutes. How the heck did 1st qualify almost 5 seconds faster than 2nd if the AI is the same for all non player cars?

PD got some splainin to do
In this attachment C Lopez qualified with a 3:46 in 1st and M. Hizal did a 3:51 in 2nd.
View attachment 1498112
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This shot is at the line ending lap 2. J. Serrano is driving the Mercedes. So am i. In 2 laps I cleared him by 24 seconds.

By chicane 1 lap 3 I have increased that to 30 seconds. Ain't no way these are all running the same AI. This is 100% scripted
View attachment 1498113
7934.webp
7935.webp
 
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