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

[A1an]

SIE sets the price and takes the money, not PD.

Okay, well I think what I said still applies, they are waiting to see the reaction of players before the announce the price, the more people that say they will buy it means they are more likely to set a lower price as more buyers means they will sell more for less thus getting the same final profit.

Everyone seems hyped for this, which is good surely, I don't think they will want to rinse us like the corpos at Xbox would do for example.

 

[Voodoovaj]

Any more info on the sophy races,as in can we race against standard ai instead?

No. As per the website "a new paid content for 'Gran Turismo 7' on PlayStation®5". The events will be Sophy events, at least that is the indication.

I'll be honest, for me personally, qualifying is neat but I've never felt a single-player racing game has ever actually been improved by adding dedicated practice sessions.

I get the mimicking reality aspect but it always just boils down to becoming an extra menu and loading screen you skip through.

Can I assume that you have not raced in a Sophy custom race yet? With the boost setting, if you start last, you'll be lucky to make it to mid pack. If you want to win, you need to set your starting position near the front. Ergo, qualifying will be a necessity for the more challenging races going forward.

 

[jonoholland29]

Soo… how do I get a free PS5? My son hogs mine.

I’m kidding - enjoy it @jrbabbitt, I hope it’s everything you expect it to be and more…. Just like I’m hoping this PowerPack is

 

[A1an]

Indeed, I don't think the opinion of @jrbabbitt or PS4 users is necessarily wrong, just that we kinda need to look at this realistically. We definitely are in a different age with all this cross generation software and long life cycles, but man.. Imagine how much better or farther along GT7 would be if they weren't told to go back and support the PS4.

It'd be great if more people could get PS5s and enjoy the game. Even better if you get a PS5 Pro because it can look even better. Unfortunately, systems have become a high $$$ expenditure, not exactly because of their high price tag but, at least here in the US, it feels like income has not increased alongside the inflation. I'm just an idiot with poor spending habits who likes to have the new cool thing as soon as I can.

*I'll also note here that I'm okay with spending some money on things I know I am going to use a lot and enjoy, like a PlayStation or the TV. It helps distract from the misery that is life. Contrast that with an Xbox or Nintendo, where I used to buy them all back in the day, but now I don't even bother cause I know I would barely use them and it's a waste. I've been around the whole proverbial hardware-cycle-block enough times.

Then again, if you don't like what GT7 is or the experience it provides, or maybe you think there are 0 good games available for PS5, then you don't need to get one and can save yourself a chunk of money

The PS4 likely doesn't have the resources Sophy 3.0 requires.

 

[05XR8]

I have to disagree, it was either project cars 1 or 2 where you’d qualify say 1st or 2nd and it was battle for 1st, 2nd or 3rd maybe even 4th or 5th, when you had the AI difficulty set correctly for yourself. I’d much rather start up front and race holding AI off or trying to claw back positions than chase them down. The way GT7 is right now, qualifying wouldn’t work since that’s pretty much how the game works… the race has started before you even get started. And it’s lame. So if they have grid starts and this Sophy 3.0 is something else, then qualifying at least makes sense. The fact we can tune cars and add and take away parts their AI AI competition is always going to be all over since so many cars can be tuned to be ridiculously fast.

I think this is where the Sport Mode Route X and the World Tour races with pre-Tuned sports cars would come into play. I wouldn’t mind using a “rental” car to do the new events if PD have tuned the engines, transmissions and set up proper race suspensions and somewhat stickier tyre compounds than standard.
If the rally Porsche and Beetle are what we could expect to be used, I’m for it. Selecting any of the five Group C cars(hopefully with an optional livery choice) with BOP rather than from my garage, would be good, 8n my opinion, as well. Besides, many players, especially players just picking up the game and buying the DLC, might not have bought certain cars for many of the races.

 

[Seikenfreak]

The PS4 likely doesn't have the resources Sophy 3.0 requires.

Yea, I know that much. It would be great if everyone could try even Sophy 2.0 out. I wonder if it would be possible for PD to make like a tiny tech demo (like the secret Hi-Res mode back on PS1) or feature on the PS4 version where it was like 1v1 against a Sophy car on 1 track. Something very trimmed back so maybe the CPU could actually handle it. Then again, it may be less about computational bandwidth but actual speed.

But also it would've made more sense to do that back when Sophy was initially launched and not so much now as they wouldn't want to invest to resources.

The other kinda bummer part to think about is that we may end up in the same or similar situation with the PS5 and PS6. I say similar because PD would probably be designing/coding it from the start with both platforms in mind. Scalability is far more important these days. PS5 may be limited to Sophy 3.0 and then PS6 will pick up with Sophy 4.0 and on. But I'd imagine that game would be built in a way that they could separate them and still add new events etc.

 

[PSN offapple]

Curious if it really will be 50 bucks.

Very much doubt it. The image that was doing the rounds in the other thread was debunked.

Sony would be unfathomably stupid to charge 70% of the game's price for a DLC, even if it was a far more expansive one with something like 3 tracks & 20 cars included.

 

[GTvsForza]

I'd say the pack would go for somewhere between $20-$30.

 

[benjoi84]

The most important aspect of single player qualifying, as per my post in another thread, is that it provides us with a benchmark of how fast we should be going in order to keep up with the fastest AI. Especially Sophy.

 

[Theufcveteran]

On the PS4 debate, I think they could've done 20 cars / regular AI as long as they stick the boost on weak - it would be serviceable for most players.

Yes, they rubberband if you're ahead, a little bit if you're behind (not to the same extent as the main GT7 campaign events), but they are, in the context of GT's history, really quite quick in this setup. But I don't have much faith that PD would've done this, because except for chilli events, they never set the AI up like this.

And yes, you would probably eventually be out in front by a way. But people still enjoy GT4 and the same thing happens there. GT7's AI with the right setup (boost set to weak) is quicker than every other GT game's AI from the PS2 era onwards in non-modded format except GT3 and that's only because GT3 has crazy rubberbanding.

The more I think about it, the more I don't really understand why PD didn't do a PS4 version, it would've been fine and enjoyable for the majority without Sophy - I know because as a DR C/DR B pace driver in time trials, I still enjoy regular AI races in custom race.

But - PD never seem to use this optimal state of AI, pace wise, except in specific chilli events.

 

[Lux Klonoa]

So how many event races (except those in Missions) does the game have now if you add in this DLC? Should be close to GT3's event list, no?

 

[BigSarj]

I've read through most of the thread post Famine's article and will continue to go through what remains but I'd like to offer some predictions no one asked for.

-Sophy 3.0 will just be Sophy 2.0 but scripted.

-There will be little to no prize money from the race series but we will get prize cars, some of which won't be sellable.

-The races won't be all that fast so if you're one of those A+ drivers, the races won't be all that challenging (outside of any physical challenges one might have from completing an endurance race.

I've noticed a bunch of you have already decided to purchase the DLC. I think I will too, as I need a reason to come back to this game - but I plan on looking at reviews first, just in case.

 

[hawkeyez]

I've read through most of the thread post Famine's article and will continue to go through what remains but I'd like to offer some predictions no one asked for.

-Sophy 3.0 will just be Sophy 2.0 but scripted.

-There will be little to no prize money from the race series but we will get prize cars, some of which won't be sellable.

-The races won't be all that fast so if you're one of those A+ drivers, the races won't be all that challenging (outside of any physical challenges one might have from completing an endurance race.

I've noticed a bunch of you have already decided to purchase the DLC. I think I will too, as I need a reason to come back to this game - but I plan on looking at reviews first, just in case.

Interesting take on Sophy 3.0 being 2.0 but scripted. Hopefully it’s not a noticeable scripting like the regular AI is, sometimes they just take a line whether you’re there or not.

 

[H1s6n]

I assume the DLC is just an extra career mode and will cost approx. 12-19 USD.
I noticed the cars have numbers when you enter a race, just like GT Sport career mode, even back then from the Yas Marina trailer.


I'm excited about these features the most, which I presume will come as a free update too
- I'd say extra custom parts for most road cars seem to be difficult to implement. I reckon RM upgrades are more reasonable. maybe only 16 cars as advertised in the Power Pack rewards, since the modified AE86 is one of the rewards, and we know three cars for now: 930, Beetle, and AE86.

-(maybe 24 Cars in a session ?)

 

[Vic Reign93]

I’d guess around £20-£30 at most, the 5 million credits being a one-off deal and not like the current credit packs which are repeatable to buy is why I think it’ll be on the lower side.

 

[BigSarj]

Interesting take on Sophy 3.0 being 2.0 but scripted. Hopefully it’s not a noticeable scripting like the regular AI is, sometimes they just take a line whether you’re there or not.

I mean more that each car may have a script to follow as far as when to pit or perhaps even when to save tires and/or fuel.

But I can see myself being totally wrong. I think the Sophy people have been working hard on this and maybe it really can strategize on its own.

 

[DS13_supergt]

I’d guess around £20-£30 at most, the 5 million credits being a one-off deal and not like the current credit packs which are repeatable to buy is why I think it’ll be on the lower side.

i really hope you're right man, 20 would be the correct price for me.

 

[05XR8]

SOPHY 2.1 is fascinating when remembering it has to learn to drive cars I set up. There are a few of my cars that SOPHY will wobble about with, but a couple tweaks and SOPHY drives the cars smoother.

Another thing, maybe prizes are cars and progression moves along regardless of finishing position because trying to farm these races for credits may be more difficult than World Circuits GT SOPHY races. Just looks like, for show purposes, less winning in those screen shots and more about just finishing.

 

[Giz WCR-666]

SOPHY 2.1 is fascinating when remembering it has to learn to drive cars I set up. There are a few of my cars that SOPHY will wobble about with, but a couple tweaks and SOPHY drives the cars smoother.

i agree with this, ive set up a Sophy race at the Nord & been racing it for a few months now.. im in a 600pp car & i have her in 19 cars of mine ranging from 630-650pp. i have noticed her slowly improving over the weeks with the races slowly getting harder & harder.
some of the best single player fun ive had on GT7

 

[suomi1]

I've read through most of the thread post Famine's article and will continue to go through what remains but I'd like to offer some predictions no one asked for.

-Sophy 3.0 will just be Sophy 2.0 but scripted.

Sophy 2.0 is already scripted. You probably meant scripted in a way it keeps a steady pace regardless of player's rhythm and position.

By the way, they can name it whatever they want. Sophy 2.2, Sophy 2.11, Sophy 3.141592, or even the real Sophy : catfish Hans 1.0, 65yo, Germany, with a strong bavarian accent (sorry if you had already started a romantic relationship). The first Sophy was the ultimate one.

3.0 tells nothing about what it really does outside of being "more real", we can only guess it drives on the wet. Same goes for the whole Power Pack tbh, we ultimately don't know much about these races and more informations are needed.

 

[05XR8]

we can only guess it drives on the wet

This is what I was thinking. Can’t have real scenarios in certain locations if there isn’t a chance of rain each time entered.

The WTC800 at Spa weather conditions are toooooo scripted. At least WTC700 at La Sarthe have more probabilities.

 

[bduddy]

You can get 20 cars on track offline anyway.
The real curiosity is the player being #24.

I wonder if you can pick your own number? There are no AIs shown above number 19. Of course, given that the player is 0 on the map, it's probably best not to consider this as final. That being said, I believe every number from 1-19 is accounted for either in the top 16 or on the map. Does that mean we still only have 20 cars on track, even on the Nurburgring? A bit disappointing, IMO. What happened to the 30-car race from Sport....?

Is this the first time racing numbers have been part of the GT UI, though? I do enjoy having them around.

I hope they add a historic Lemans endurance with pre-1970 cars. I really want to see what would come out of race like that.​

One of the eight colored categories seems to be prototypes, I would be surprised if there weren't a few LM races in there.


As for the PS4 thing - I own the game on a PS4 which I pretty much brought just to play GT7. It stings to see them finally add substantial content I can't play, for sure. But I get it. The game barely came out on PS4 in the first place, and probably shouldn't have. It's been getting held back for years by having to support a decade-old console. Either it's release content which doesn't support the PS4 entirely, or release a new game which definitely won't support the PS4. But hey, at the rate they're going the next GT game will probably be either all PS5 or (ugh) cross-gen again, so maybe I should make the plunge...

 

[ScottPuss20]

So are we not going to talk about the potential endurance events that could show up? I thought of a few:
-Suzuka 1000
-6 Hours Of The Glen
-Bathurst 12 Hour
-Grand Valley 300
-Roadster Endurance
-6 Hours Of Fuji
-6 Hours Of Spa
-Spa 24
-Daytona 24
-24 Hours Of Le Mans
-4 Hours Of Nurburgring
-24 Hours Of Nurburgring
-6 Hours Of Monza

 

[bduddy]

(deleted)

 

[05XR8]

So are we not going to talk about the potential endurance events that could show up? I thought of a few:
-Suzuka 1000
-6 Hours Of The Glen
-Bathurst 12 Hour
-Grand Valley 300
-Roadster Endurance
-6 Hours Of Fuji
-6 Hours Of Spa
-Spa 24
-Daytona 24
-24 Hours Of Le Mans
-4 Hours Of Nurburgring
-24 Hours Of Nurburgring
-6 Hours Of Monza

From what Kaz said in the video, with Closed Captions, he said a 24 hour race. If there’s only one, I’d guess 24H of Nurburgring.

 

[wowbaggerBR]

A very good point. The Missions section shows that the standard AI can race to a far higher standard than it is given credit for.

No. Those are scripted races, yes, they will turn faster laps than the brain dead AI deployed elsewhere, but that's it. There is no agency, racecraft or strategy. The one at Tsukuba, where it rains, is a cluster**** of stupid pitstop decisions by a scripted system unable to deal with changing weather.

 

[SuperSportX]

I hope the events are atleast replayable and offer rewards on the level of Sardegna, Tokyo and La Sarthe 30 mins for the Endurance races. Curious to see how much the 24 hour race pays, can't see it being any lower than $10 million but then again this is PD. Also curious to see how many other cars have special customization options as it would be pretty awesome to have proper RMs return or at the very least upgrades to turn a road car such as the 911 GT1 Strassenversion into the GT1 Evo for Gr.2 for example.

 

[bduddy]

From what Kaz said in the video, with Closed Captions, he said a 24 hour race. If there’s only one, I’d guess 24H of Nurburgring.

Japanese doesn't have the singular/plural noun distinction that English does. So I don't think you can really assume much based on this specific translation.

 

[Famine]

I have to disagree, it was either project cars 1 or 2 where you’d qualify say 1st or 2nd and it was battle for 1st, 2nd or 3rd maybe even 4th or 5th, when you had the AI difficulty set correctly for yourself. I’d much rather start up front and race holding AI off or trying to claw back positions than chase them down.

Can I assume that you have not raced in a Sophy custom race yet? With the boost setting, if you start last, you'll be lucky to make it to mid pack. If you want to win, you need to set your starting position near the front. Ergo, qualifying will be a necessity for the more challenging races going forward.

You're both talking about Qualifying. @Nakano219 was talking about Practice, before qualifying:

I'll be honest, for me personally, qualifying is neat but I've never felt a single-player racing game has ever actually been improved by adding dedicated practice sessions.

I get the mimicking reality aspect but it always just boils down to becoming an extra menu and loading screen you skip through.

 

[Seikenfreak]

So are we not going to talk about the potential endurance events that could show up? I thought of a few:
-Suzuka 1000
-6 Hours Of The Glen
-Bathurst 12 Hour
-Grand Valley 300
-Roadster Endurance
-6 Hours Of Fuji
-6 Hours Of Spa
-Spa 24
-Daytona 24
-24 Hours Of Le Mans
-4 Hours Of Nurburgring
-24 Hours Of Nurburgring
-6 Hours Of Monza

As 05XR8 points out, I've noticed they specifically said a 24hr endurance race. Only times Ive seen it changed to plural races is from other people or bad translations. As in, an obscure news site changes a bunch of the wording on the itemized list.

I would only expect one. That seems resonable to me considering hardly anyone is actually going complete the race. A bit more if they have save states for the race. They can add events gradually, maybe alongside the real world events, as a fun marketing thing. I wouldnt be surprised to see two or three 6hr events now though.

24hr Le Mans seems the most obvious, mainstream, and important. But then again I could easily see Spa 24hr or Nurburgring 24hr instead with a Daytona or Bathurst behind. There's a lot of options actually. Praying some day they add Sebring to the game.

If they are going to put more effort into endurance racing, then I'd love for them to add a visual rubber/dirt/grime layer to cars/windshield from races. I think its already there a little bit but its not very noticeable and it doesn't stay on the car. I still don't know why the Car Wash is in the game other than nostalgic novelty.

Thought I'd throw my thought in here that I think a 3hr race is probably my extreme limit. But realistically, a 1hr race is enough for me. The 1hr Spa race is my favorite and my go to money maker if I need it. 2hr race might be tolerable. 3hr is like.. I'll do it once if it's got a really good reward. I don't think I'd bother with any race beyond that. Too boring/long IMO.