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

[luv2drive]

Each race has a maximum of 20 stars available. If you finish and get 16 stars, there will be an additional 4 stars available. So, if you finish 3rd the second time, you'll only get a couple more. If you've won the event, you'll have all the stars. Still, if you go back to win it on 1 chili or 2 chili, there's still money to be won.

Oh, this is good, and what I was hoping for, but I thought I had seen something to the contrary.

Thanks for clarifying!

 

[timekiller001]

Sophy's been going backwards since her first iteration got scaled back because she was nearly unbeatable.

It's so obvious, too. I've seen them so often approaching a corner from the inside line instead of taking a wide line for a good entry... Very disappointed... I know as A+ I'm not the average player, it's still very disappointing though...

 

[MaxHardcr]

The latest update to GT7 with this Sophy AI (this with dumb smiles/emoticons) is dumb to the square in my opinion. But yesterday I've decided to spent my hard earned 25$ to purchase this GT7 DLC PowerPack with the new Sophy AI and guys I can fully recommend it. No dumb smiles/emoticons anymore, no unnecessary braking of the AI opponents, opponents try not to hit our car & avoid hitting situations and they are more demanding - more like real racers - so this is the great way to improve the skills now and try to race better. What's more besides standard difficult level with this new AI model there is a possibility to choose one or two more "peppers".
So my humble opinion is - if you don't have this DLC (especially noob/beginners - my level - spent a few bucks if you can to get it. This is completely new (better) way to polish your driving skills. More demanding & more real.
To me 10/10 - as for now.

 

[benjoi84]

Sophy's been going backwards since her first iteration got scaled back because she was nearly unbeatable.

It's so obvious, too. I've seen them so often approaching a corner from the inside line instead of taking a wide line for a good entry... Very disappointed... I know as A+ I'm not the average player, it's still very disappointing though...

I didn't mean it as criticism.

I was merely stating a fact in response to criticism. Sophy has needed to be scaled back because everyone and his dog could see there were some inhuman traits in version 1.0 which made her nearly unbeatable. Now, some top drivers were probably happy for the challenge, but i think where we've landed in 3.0 isn't the worst. It features all of the hallmarks of Polyphony, accessible at the start yet challenging nearer the top.

Is it as challenging as the top 1,000 drivers in Sport Mode? Almost definitely not.

Is it challenging by the means which most of us would prefer? Also no.

But i will echo the points made by @MaxHardcr that the events featuring Sophy 3.0 and the Power Pack in general will absolutely make you a better driver. The variety of vehicles, although pre-tuned and pre-selected, far outclass those mainly featured in the Daily Race tedium, in terms of driving characteristics and style. Sophy will give you a fight, until your technique surpasses her ability to do so.

There's the rub... We still have a limbo where human players can outdrive the AI, but aren't at the required ability or indeed level of patience to get to the upper echelons of Online Competition.

I count myself quite lucky in that I find most of the 2-pepper events a decent challenge, even when considering I often steamroll the 1-peppers.

I still can't keep an A rating in Sport Mode, though.

 

[timekiller001]

I didn't mean it as criticism.

I was merely stating a fact in response to criticism. Sophy has needed to be scaled back because everyone and his dog could see there were some inhuman traits in version 1.0 which made her nearly unbeatable. Now, some top drivers were probably happy for the challenge, but i think where we've landed in 3.0 isn't the worst. It features all of the hallmarks of Polyphony, accessible at the start yet challenging nearer the top.

Is it as challenging as the top 1,000 drivers in Sport Mode? Almost definitely not.

Is it challenging by the means which most of us would prefer? Also no.

But i will echo the points made by @MaxHardcr that the events featuring Sophy 3.0 and the Power Pack in general will absolutely make you a better driver. The variety of vehicles, although pre-tuned and pre-selected, far outclass those mainly featured in the Daily Race tedium, in terms of driving characteristics and style. Sophy will give you a fight, until your technique surpasses her ability to do so.

There's the rub... We still have a limbo where human players can outdrive the AI, but aren't at the required ability or indeed level of patience to get to the upper echelons of Online Competition.

I count myself quite lucky in that I find most of the 2-pepper events a decent challenge, even when considering I often steamroll the 1-peppers.

I still can't keep an A rating in Sport Mode, though.

I'm aware that I'm not the average player, given I'm mid A+, but I shouldn't be able to lap 2-5 secs faster than the AI in most races. They already have three difficulty levels, but imo they are not good. They are missing a good challenge, which could be achievable with Sophy.
In most quali sessions I'm 2secs faster, up tp 5 in the offroad ones.

 

[Voodoovaj]

I'm aware that I'm not the average player, given I'm mid A+, but I shouldn't be able to lap 2-5 secs faster than the AI in most races. They already have three difficulty levels, but imo they are not good. They are missing a good challenge, which could be achievable with Sophy.
In most quali sessions I'm 2secs faster, up tp 5 in the offroad ones.

You're confusing the Power Pack with the outright ability of Sophy.

I can give you a custom set up that will kick your butt 100% of the time, but that's not acceptable to most.

The Power Pack is an improved single player. If I sit down to do a quick race, I am choosing Power Pack events because they are hands down better than the regular single player. Pick 1 or 2 peppers, start from the back, and see how it goes.

 

[jrbabbitt]

In consideration, I am an average to almost above average GT7 player, i have a low B rating in Sport Mode, and I do find that Sophy 3.0 is a hard opponent to beat. I am having to do the PP races 2-3 times just to get p2 or better and im using the 🚫🌶 cars.
I am finding these races a tough way to go but I'm doing my best.
I personally believe it was the best💰 spent as it is upping my game and making me better on track.

 

[vcx]

Just drive with Fuelmap 1 the whole time and put your foot down. You should be able to do 11 Laps with 100% Fuel. If you can average times of 8:23, you can win the race quite comfortably. Don't be put off by qualifying, they are 30 seconds faster than in the race.

Tyre should be mid tyres right? What about rain? Thanks for your advice🙏

 

[MGR]

I'm aware that I'm not the average player, given I'm mid A+, but I shouldn't be able to lap 2-5 secs faster than the AI in most races. They already have three difficulty levels, but imo they are not good. They are missing a good challenge, which could be achievable with Sophy.
In most quali sessions I'm 2secs faster, up tp 5 in the offroad ones.

There are definatley some difficulty balancing issues in some events, but if you're an A+ driver why are you doing the Hachiroku race with the fastest car and slowest Sophy AI then posting it as evidence of the game not being challenging enough?

 

[Paiky]

Tyre should be mid tyres right? What about rain? Thanks for your advice🙏

Yep, always mid tyres when the track is dry. For me, it rained an hour after the race started and the track was wet for about three hours. So I drove with intermediates the whole time. After that, it didn't rain anymore. The AI is a bit faster when the track is wet.

 

[snowgt]

I'm aware that I'm not the average player, given I'm mid A+, but I shouldn't be able to lap 2-5 secs faster than the AI in most races. They already have three difficulty levels, but imo they are not good. They are missing a good challenge, which could be achievable with Sophy.
In most quali sessions I'm 2secs faster, up tp 5 in the offroad ones.

Why are you posting a screenshot of a race in which you're driving the fastest car then? How much in front were you in the same Fuji race with the 2-chili car?

 

[Lomic]

if you're an A+ driver why are you doing the Hachiroku race with the fastest car and slowest Sophy AI

what do you mean with "slowest Sophy AI" ?

Why are you posting a screenshot of a race in which you're driving the fastest car then?

I was about to ask the same, far from a A+ driver myself I also dominated most races, in particular those with that D-Tuned car

 

[timekiller001]

There are definatley some difficulty balancing issues in some events, but if you're an A+ driver why are you doing the Hachiroku race with the fastest car and slowest Sophy AI then posting it as evidence of the game not being challenging enough?

Why are you posting a screenshot of a race in which you're driving the fastest car then? How much in front were you in the same Fuji race with the 2-chili car?

Fair point. I took that screenshot because of the timing glitch (look at the gap of P2 and P3) several days ago. When I found it again for this post, I didn't notice it. So yeah, my mistake.

With the 2 chili car, if I remember correctly, that race was pretty difficult because of how underpowered it is. But it just shows the balancing issues, as the difficulty has nothing to do with Sophy but just with the car choice.

 

[MGR]

what do you mean with "slowest Sophy AI" ?

The performance of the Sophy AI cars are nerfed (scaled) across the board if you chose a 1-chill or 0-chill race.
You're not just getting a slower car by selecting the 2-chill option, the AI cars are also higher performance.

Admittedly I have only checked this with the Hachiroku races at Tsukuba and Fuji, but it's likely a similar theme in the other events too.

For what I can tell:

• the Sophy AI agents all appear to be the same capability (as in, they all have the same 'skill' and are always trying to drive the car they have as fast as they can)
• Sophy 3.0 agents are obviously trained differently to Sophy 2.1 and in simplistic terms are 'rewarded' more for keeping/gaining track position now (hence they are far more aggressive)
• Each Sophy AI agent is given a car with different baseline performance levels (as seen in the times above)
• The power output of the Sophy AI cars during qualifying or races seems to vary randomly slightly up or down (to try and simulate human errors or variances in lap time instead of being so metronomic)
• This is why for the most part, the field qualifies or finishes in the same order with only some minor variations depending on the randomised boost applied during the race

I also feel like there's some shenanigans going on with the grip levels available to Sophy. I've seen her do some dive bombs that feel like they shouldn't be possible to pull off, and other times where she simply runs out of grip and flies off the track.

 

[Lomic]

The performance of the Sophy AI cars are nerfed (scaled) across the board if you chose a 1-chill or 0-chill race.
You're not just getting a slower car by selecting the 2-chill option, the AI cars are also higher performance.

View attachment 1501411

Admittedly I have only checked this with the Hachiroku races at Tsukuba and Fuji, but it's likely a similar theme in the other events too.

For what I can tell:

• the Sophy AI agents all appear to be the same capability (as in, they all have the same 'skill' and are always trying to drive the car they have as fast as they can)
• Sophy 3.0 agents are obviously trained differently to Sophy 2.1 and in simplistic terms are 'rewarded' more for keeping/gaining track position now (hence they are far more aggressive)
• Each Sophy AI agent is given a car with different baseline performance levels (as seen in the times above)
• The power output of the Sophy AI cars during qualifying or races seems to vary randomly slightly up or down (to try and simulate human errors or variances in lap time instead of being so metronomic)
• This is why for the most part, the field qualifies or finishes in the same order with only some minor variations depending on the randomised boost applied during the race

I also feel like there's some shenanigans going on with the grip levels available to Sophy. I've seen her do some dive bombs that feel like they shouldn't be possible to pull off, and other times where she simply runs out of grip and flies off the track.

I thought the only difference was the car you use. But I didn't tested it myself.

 

[timekiller001]

The performance of the Sophy AI cars are nerfed (scaled) across the board if you chose a 1-chill or 0-chill race.
You're not just getting a slower car by selecting the 2-chill option, the AI cars are also higher performance.

View attachment 1501411

Admittedly I have only checked this with the Hachiroku races at Tsukuba and Fuji, but it's likely a similar theme in the other events too.

For what I can tell:

• the Sophy AI agents all appear to be the same capability (as in, they all have the same 'skill' and are always trying to drive the car they have as fast as they can)
• Sophy 3.0 agents are obviously trained differently to Sophy 2.1 and in simplistic terms are 'rewarded' more for keeping/gaining track position now (hence they are far more aggressive)
• Each Sophy AI agent is given a car with different baseline performance levels (as seen in the times above)
• The power output of the Sophy AI cars during qualifying or races seems to vary randomly slightly up or down (to try and simulate human errors or variances in lap time instead of being so metronomic)
• This is why for the most part, the field qualifies or finishes in the same order with only some minor variations depending on the randomised boost applied during the race

I also feel like there's some shenanigans going on with the grip levels available to Sophy. I've seen her do some dive bombs that feel like they shouldn't be possible to pull off, and other times where she simply runs out of grip and flies off the track.

I thought it was only me but I also thought they can hold lines that shouldn't be possible with normal grip levels... Not to forget the big advantage they often seem to hold on standing starts.

 

[bigfax]

You're confusing the Power Pack with the outright ability of Sophy.

I can give you a custom set up that will kick your butt 100% of the time, but that's not acceptable to most.

The Power Pack is an improved single player. If I sit down to do a quick race, I am choosing Power Pack events because they are hands down better than the regular single player. Pick 1 or 2 peppers, start from the back, and see how it goes.

Facts.

Is it better than the original single player? Is it tougher? Then thats game.

I bet it has the level of the hardest Clubman Cup + races when you don't use op cars... Haven't bought it just yet

 

[art3mis]

Having spent the better part of 24 hours running at Le Mans this week (only 5 left to go) I can safely say that at Le Mans specifically the AI is flat garbage. The only reason it's faster than you is because it cheats like hell on acceleration and top speed.

For example, with the right line I can enter the Porsche Curves at about 135 mph and accelerate all the way through to the second right hander up to 170 mph. Quick dab of the brakes to drop to about 140 and coast through that second right. Another quick dab and then blast the throttle coming out of the last curve onto the short straight.

The AI dive bombs me into the first curve entry but then brakes down to under 120, holds between 120-140 through the first part of the complex, then holds between 110-115 through the last part.

Finally I can take the Ford Chicane lightyears faster than they can.
The problem comes on the Mulsanne and the road between Mulsanne and Indianapolis. Here they exit Tertre Rouge at about 115 mph and instantly accelerate to over 150 and drop me no matter how strong my exit it. I then get dragged down the Mulsanne sometimes my speed exceeding 245 mph in the tow, their top speed exceeding 235 regardless of the car they're driving, my top speed unaided is 231 if I've got a tail wind.

The AI is trash and has to cheat to win. It takes lines that are incredibly unrealistic and slow. It literally can't pass me on the Mulsanne if I stick my car directly in the middle of the road. It has a line it must take 100% of the time.

I found this to be true in both the Group C endurance and also the GT ONE path. I found this to be true at Daytona as well at the road course. The AI can't handle chicanes at all.

I'm having a good time and I've basically got Le Mans to finish, the N24, and then I'm putting it away. I don't care enough about 6 hours Suzuki or 8 hours Spa to unlock those and the grind to get there isn't worth it to me with how much I loathe Fuji as a track.

I'd have paid 15 bucks for this, 30 is not an outrage but it definitely isn't worth what I paid.

 

[Voodoovaj]

I bet it has the level of the hardest Clubman Cup + races when you don't use op cars... Haven't bought it just yet

It's different, but my point is that I can take any event in the game, recreate it with Sophy, and push the player to his/her limits.

 

[SuperSportX]

On some of the events, the 1 chilli option seems to be the better choice, such as the second Gr.3 race as the Viper handles much better than the Mustang which felt far too stiff/rigid and wasn't nearly as nimble on a circuit but is obviously the best choice for circuit racing; which is a good thing as it makes you potentially have to change your strategy for some of the races as a car that may be peak for one track might have weaknesses that one of the other options can take advantage of.

 

[Real_StiFex]

I don't know if it has been said already somewhere but there is hope for those not having the Power Pack. Today for a 4 star's ticket there was the plain White Tuned KPC Skyline as a winnable prize. It did not land on it though.
But it seems roulette algo allow for the cars of the power pack to be winnable without you owning the DLC.

Sorry I did not made a screen capture to back up my words.

 

[effenberg]

I don't know if it has been said already somewhere but there is hope for those not having the Power Pack. Today for a 4 star's ticket there was the plain White Tuned KPC Skyline as a winnable prize. It did not land on it though.
But it seems roulette algo allow for the cars of the power pack to be winnable without you owning the DLC.

Sorry I did not made a screen capture to back up my words.

Aren't all the Powerpack cars reproducible in the normal game, with the correct tunning and setup?

 

[GTvsForza]

Aren't all the Powerpack cars reproducible in the normal game, with the correct tunning and setup?

Tuning-wise, probably. Cosmetically, no.

 

[Lomic]

Aren't all the Powerpack cars reproducible in the normal game, with the correct tunning and setup?

Not sure how you would do the Porsche and Beetle rally ? (on the top of my head, but the question may be valid for other cars of the DLC).

It is great if they can be won on the roulette for everyone though !

 

[luv2drive]

Tuning-wise, probably. Cosmetically, no.

How would you know the tuning? Has this been published somewhere?

 

[GTvsForza]

No, but I'm sure someone could mimic it.

 

[Nebuc72]

I don't know if it has been said already somewhere but there is hope for those not having the Power Pack. Today for a 4 star's ticket there was the plain White Tuned KPC Skyline as a winnable prize. It did not land on it though.
But it seems roulette algo allow for the cars of the power pack to be winnable without you owning the DLC.

Sorry I did not made a screen capture to back up my words.

It doesn't come in plain white, so coupled with the fact you didn't record what you saw to confirm your memory, I would put £100 on this being something else, maybe one of the SEMA cars.

 

[Voodoovaj]

Aren't all the Powerpack cars reproducible in the normal game, with the correct tunning and setup?

In short, no. You might get close, but not exactly.

Aside from settings, there's differences in the basic car that you cannot accommodate for. The Supra is the best example.

 

[Real_StiFex]

It doesn't come in plain white, so coupled with the fact you didn't record what you saw to confirm your memory, I would put £100 on this being something else, maybe one of the SEMA cars.

I will not die on a hill over this and I can be subject to being wrong. The closest thing would be the GAC maverick but it lacks the external radiator in the front bumber.
Sadly no record yes the matter would be solved and no other reports around of people winning those cars in the roulette.
But I remain as to know myself what I saw then

 

[benjoi84]

A quick reminder that those items which aren't the winning prizes on the roulette wheel aren't actually winnable.

It could just be a tease.