Gran Turismo - Open World Freeroam? (Read OP)

[Wall_Rider]

Interesting, because I liked the feature in Test Drive Unlimited, but I don't know how big and detailed the 'world' would have to be to satisfy everyone, and if the PS3 can handle it...TDU for PS2 was fun to explore, but all of Hawaii's natural beauty was whittled down to 5-6 generic scenes/backgrounds...

Then there is the debate over which real place to model the world after, if any (SoCal? Japan? Paris?) no matter what is chosen, someone will complain...

 

[JBanton]

OK so basically if you haven't heard the concept yet, Gran Turismo World is an open city/ land where drivers can take their cars to cruise, meet and whatnot. This feature would feature in GT Mode and be an online diversion to A-spec and B-spec. As in the freeroam would be an oline mode which you can use if you're not in the A-spec or B-spec events.
Now I know this feature will not be incuded in GT5 because it will simply be too time consuming but what do you people here at GTPlanet think of an online freeroam in Gran Turismo?
Please can we avoid flaming within this topic, I just want to see what others think of a freeroam in Gran Turismo, there are no wrong answers .

Basic framework;

1. An island created by and only for Gran Turismo players, featuring multiple terrains and driving experiences. Purposely created for GT players, to test their cars to their limits, cruise or just hang out.
2. Various environments that players can not only enjoy their cars, but take beautiful photos or scope out impressive scenery.
3. Enforcers; elected players who keep the trolls at bay
4. The ability for your avatar to leave their car and have a 1st person view of cars. (Be it their own or someone else's)
5. Special point to point spot-races, touge challenges or drift events initiated by players when and where they want.

If you support this idea, don't forget to vote for it; http://feedback.gtplanet.net/forums/96709-gt5-feedback/suggestions/2751188-additional-free-roam

Due to recent misconceptions, I would like to make it clear that we are not, I repeat, not aiming for street racing here. I wad fairly upset to hear this is what people think we are proposing, the original concept was for an island specifically created for Gran Turismo players; no traffic or anything, just an island that caters to the wide variety of driving styles that the Gran Turismo community utilises and enjoys.

It is also a reasonable idea that a Gran Turismo open world free-roam could be released as a separate title, I'll leave this debate with you, the Gran Turismo community.

 

[Rob-F1-Fan]

A bit like Red Dead Redemption's free roam mode , except you cant kill people.
It would be great to cruise around cities or scenic roads through the countryside with your mates.
To an extent , you can do this anyway on the normal races...

Another idea, would be that you could park your car and get into your friends cars. The cars should be all the same as the cars you race with.

 

[dhandeh]

Done right, it would work. Taking Test Drive Unlimited 2 as an example, that had hundreds of miles of roads, a good selection of cars, with a livery editor. If GT Roam had this, plus the attention to detail that GT games normally get, while dropping the attention to detail that isn't needed (B-Spec etc) it would be a winner.

 

[JBanton]

Being able to control your "avatar"? Sounds like a cool idea, assuming all cars become premuim this could work quite well. Also if we were able to leave our cars and take photos and chat to other players Gran Turismo could be looking at a social experience that would rival some of the best out there (like TDU, Midnight Club LA etc)

 

[dhandeh]

I think 200-300 premium cars would be fine, especially as more work would need to be put into the scenery, as that would be one of the main features.

 

[Callum B]

Would it be restricted to one city though? I'd love variation, Tokyo, London, Hawaii (as in TDU) etc. It's the only reason I still play TDU2 now, on mountain roads at sunset in a California Bliss

 

[Samus]

I would rather they focus on getting what they have (competitive driving/racing) done properly before they branch out into other gameplay areas. That's half the problem with GT5, jack of all trades, master at none.

 

[JBanton]

Would it be restricted to one city though? I'd love variation, Tokyo, London, Hawaii (as in TDU) etc. It's the only reason I still play TDU2 now, on mountain roads at sunset in a California Bliss

I'd love the variety as well, the only issue I could see with that may be disk space. Yes the BD-ROM has loads of space but I'm not sure if it could capacitate for a full GT5-like GT-Mode and still have a good freeroam as well.

I just had this funny image of Skyline GT-R pace cars on patrol of the streets and then acting as police for online speeders .

 

[counter345]

The reason I would enjoy it because it would be the arcadey thrill of Need for Speed, with the fantastic physics of GT5, and that combination alone would be awesome. However, I can see gran turismo getting a lot of stick for it, especially trying out an area it hasn't tried before (just like online- and that is pretty poor in my opinion). I also agree with SimonK. Right now, they need to do what GT5 was promised to be as well as GT6 stuff before they start branching out uncontrollably.

 

[Nielsen]

This thread gave me some food for thought. Since we already can drive together on the race tracks, I think this would work best without the crusing aspect. Instead, the Photomode locations could act as lobbies similar to those we race in. They should be transformed to places where players can meet, chat with and talk to each other. Once you're in, you could for example take photos of your cars and avatars together. It would be nice to go online in the GT universe with the sole purpose of admiring cars in a social context.

 

[JBanton]

If we were to be given a "GT World" then hopefully it would include some beautiful or fun scenery like beaches, multi storey car parks, or even something as simple as a nice park with a pond. Beautiful settings could definitely make for good meeting places, car admiring or just photoshoots.

To sort out environment issues, dirt areas could be resticted to only road/ rally cars from the GT-mode .

I do however agree, PD do need to focus on making a good GT-mode beforehand although I'm fine with the current one, the visual customisation systems aren't all that.

 

[Eric W]

I'd rather have a free roam dealership where I could check out and test drive the cars I like before I decide to buy. You could walk through the outside lot to check out the used cars or inside the dealership to see the new cars.

 

[Toyinster]

As you get more experience/credits you could buy larger and better transporters for your cars and drive them along scenic roads between circuits.

 

[JBanton]

I'd rather have a free roam dealership where I could check out and test drive the cars I like before I decide to buy. You could walk through the outside lot to check out the used cars or inside the dealership to see the new cars.

Though I doubt its workability I do quite like the idea of having our garage and then being able to walk through it and see all of our cars. If we get door animations later on in the series I reckon it could make way for interactions between players and their cars.

 

[grog]

You guys might not have noticed this before but in the middle of the GT Life screen is says "Welcome To Gran Turismo World", so that title is taken.

But honestly I think this type of game play (street racing) is better suited to "arcade type games".


I also imagine that the idea of promoting street racing isn't one that PD wants to spread.

 

[JBanton]

You guys might not have noticed this before but in the middle of the GT Life screen is says "Welcome To Gran Turismo World", so that title is taken.

But honestly I think this type of game play (street racing) is better suited to "arcade type games".

Let me make this abundantly clear, we are not discussing street racing. We are discussing a social freeroam mode.

 

[Nielsen]

But honestly I think this type of game play (street racing) is better suited to "arcade type games".

I also imagine that the idea of promoting street racing isn't one that PD wants to spread.

Please read the thread carefully. Our ideas are perfectly in line with the image that Gran Turismo is likely to be associated with. In addition to that, racing is almost a secondary aspect of the game and its one of the few racing games which welcomes a bit of everything which is car related.

 

[JBanton]

Indeed vehicle ownerhip is supposed to be a key element in the more recent Gran Turismo titles, so I think the idea for a garage or dealerships that you can walk through would promote the ownership and vehicle focus.

As for an open city, this aspect would promote the social element of the game if done correctly. Speaking for myself I could probably just pull out one of my favourite cars, put on some R&B from the custom BGM, and cruise along a beach with some friends.

I would like hear from Famine on this topic because he would be better at justifying a freeroam.

 

[HuskyGT]

Nice idea. I see this working better with the future gen of consoles, but it could work in this gen as well. A comparison with TDU2 is really spot on and just imagineing a massive city like that with the finess and physics of Gran Turismo makes me want to have something like this.

But being a little bit realistic, and although Mr. Yamauchi comented on that C-Spec thing once, I highly doubt Gran Turismo would see something like this in the near future. But who knows...

 

[Enzo_Guy]

Midnight Club Los Angeles had something similar but it proved very problematic (high lag and lots of bugs) online. Although with that game I think the high level of car customization was really what caused so many problems in the online play.

I would like to have something similar in Gran Turismo but after seeing how many problems it can cause I'd rather not have it than have it done poorly.

 

[JBanton]

Midnight Club Los Angeles had something similar but it proved very problematic (high lag and lots of bugs) online. Although with that game I think the high level of car customization was really what caused so many problems in the online play.

I would like to have something similar in Gran Turismo but after seeing how many problems it can cause I'd rather not have it than have it done poorly.

My experience with Midnight Club LA was very pleasant actually, the online issues I encountered were with people on dodgy internet connections. But I do think PD need to step up the visual customisation if they are to make a freeroam successful.

If they made it so that cars have door animations and a player's avatar could enter/ leave their car then it could open the possibilty for players to test drive cars that others have (with their permission of course)

Edit; my 444th post

 

[Callum B]

Maybe we could add a little bit of The Sims element to this. Decorating your various garages, customizing you avatars features etc. Damn if only I knew how to program games!

 

[PinaKillada]

I doubt they will ever do this but if I could add anything to the above ideas it would be petrol stations.
I mean I assume we would carry over tire wear and fuel usage so maybe places to fill up and tuning groups could rent *virtual currency* garages where you could go get oil changes, tyre changes or you could have a tune applied to your car again adding to in game economy.
And if they decided to add a livery editor,
Paint shops.
I know I'm only dreaming but it would be quite an experience.

 

[Watt2159]

I'd definitely love to see this, it seems as if freeroaming in racing games is slowly starting to die off.

 

[BMWRobertL93]

With the popularity of "road rules" lobby's on GT5, the planned C-Spec and Turn10's upcoming title; This theme has a good potential!

About 6 months before TDU2 came out, there were over 5000 daily online gamer's playing TDU..

 

[McClarenDesign]

Having thought about it, I've decided that I would not like this in GT6.

I'm sorry, it feels too Driver's Ed-ish. Perhaps if it were it's own title, I'd buy it, but for GT6 I want it to remain racing focused.

Being said, were it offered seperately, I would like to see awesome drives, like Stelvio Pass or Yungas Road.

 

[TheeFrogmanlego]

A MMo granturismo... I say this game would be a GREAT freebie with Granturismo 6..
You make cash in gt6 and hang out in GT world
or it could be a stand alone item But how would you make money? * mini games!* tune my car. wash my car ETC ? The whole concept sounds amazing but think about it.. without racing it will get quite boring and stale.

 

[masterrawad]

An open city free roam with AI city cars would be great for learning techniques. But, again, there's always that one troll ruining traffic and the unspeakable lag.

 

[daus26]

Well I'll tell you what, this would be the first time a simulation is fused with a free-roaming world in a city. The possibilities of having drag races, sprints, and lap races online with friends or A.I. even, to your choice of route would be amazing with GT's physics!! I've also always wanted to properly drift in cities with GT5's physics. I can only imagine what the replays will be like too.

But yes, the core part of GT like racing leagues and career certainly needs to be polished first.

So far, the Midnight club series is the only one in my opinion that has grasped this concept well. But still, there needs to be one with simulation physics. Not sure if GT can pull it off, so I can only dream now.