GT World Oddity/Annoyance

ktaylor57 · May 9, 2005

Right now I'm doing the GT World Championship with my stock 787B. I'm having no trouble, having won the first five races all by reasonable margins. The annoyance is this - the field consists of the two Pescarolos, the Audi R8, the Minolta, and the R92CP. In three of the first five races (Tokyo, the Motegi Oval, and El Capitan), the R92CP and the Minolta, the two fastest cars besides me were the only cars that pitted (along with me at El Capitan), while the three modern LMP cars did not. Thus, this puts the Minolta and R92CP in 5th and 6th. This is slightly irritating because is spreads the points around, so much to the point that it takes most of the challenge out of many of the races considering I end up 20-30 seconds ahead of the second place Pescarolo when it doesn't pit. 👎

Anyone having this problem with GTWC, or other races - the AI's pitting schedules unbalancing the race?

Toshi · May 12, 2005

I've found GT4 to be much less infuriating about this than GT3, in which the AI cars all seemed to pit on the 2nd to last lap...

Zardoz · May 12, 2005

ktaylor57
Right now I'm doing the GT World Championship with my stock 787B. I'm having no trouble, having won the first five races all by reasonable margins...

...irritating because is spreads the points around, so much to the point that it takes most of the challenge out of many of the races...

Gran Turismo 4: Fantastic eye candy, lousy racing.

A lot of us are very disappointed with this game. Who cares how good it looks if the racing is a pushover? Yes, we can make it tougher by spending a lot of time figuring out which out-classed car to choose so the so-called AI has a chance against us, but we shouldn't have to. The game should provide the challenge, and it doesn't.

snypa · May 12, 2005

Zardoz
Gran Turismo 4: Fantastic eye candy, lousy racing.

A lot of us are very disappointed with this game. Who cares how good it looks if the racing is a pushover? Yes, we can make it tougher by spending a lot of time figuring out which out-classed car to choose so the so-called AI has a chance against us, but we shouldn't have to. The game should provide the challenge, and it doesn't.

Yes, it's right to say that the most part of the game isn't very challenging. As for me, I play often in Arcade mode, where you can set the AI difficulty from -10 to +10. This is the best way I found to have interesting races, while having the choice of the car, track, and number of laps. And Arcade mode isn't very different from GT mode on the driving aspect, in my opinion.
Did you try it Zardoz ?

Zardoz · May 12, 2005

snypa
...And Arcade mode isn't very different from GT mode on the driving aspect, in my opinion.
Did you try it Zardoz ?

A couple of times, early on, at the +10 setting. One race was good, the other a disappointing runaway for me. Haven't tried it since. I will again, though.

Question: If they could put the difficulty scale in Arcade mode, what kept them from doing it in Gran Turismo mode?

snypa · May 12, 2005

Zardoz
A couple of times, early on, at the +10 setting. One race was good, the other a disappointing runaway for me. Haven't tried it since. I will again, though.

Question: If they could put the difficulty scale in Arcade mode, what kept them from doing it in Gran Turismo mode?

It depends a lot on the car you choose. With an LMP it's still quite easy. Try a jgtc first class (cusco subaru, asprtadrink rx7). you will face jgtc class 2 (supra, nsx, nissan ...). It's quite tough on some tracks.

I agree with you, they really could inlude an AI level option in GT mode.

ktaylor57 · May 13, 2005

The AI difficulty option in GT Mode would be an awesome addition. We shouldn't have to spend an hour finding a car that presents a suitable challenge, and even then we have almost no way of telling how hard the race would be. We've all run in 8-10 point races that we ended up losing badly, we've also won easy 150-200 point races too (Like The Wind, anyone?). It's been said before many times - A-Spec points mean absolutely nothing.

It gets extremely irritating entering and exiting a race five times just to make it fun.

gumpy · May 13, 2005

Zardoz
Gran Turismo 4: Fantastic eye candy, lousy racing.

A lot of us are very disappointed with this game. Who cares how good it looks if the racing is a pushover? Yes, we can make it tougher by spending a lot of time figuring out which out-classed car to choose so the so-called AI has a chance against us, but we shouldn't have to. The game should provide the challenge, and it doesn't.

I would like to have some middle distance races at Le Sarthe with the LMP cars. But one of the reasons is I like watching these cars whether it be following them or seeing them battle with each other, passing them, them passing me etc

Even if they did have a 20 lap race at Le Sarthe I would find it difficult to find a LMP car that I enjoyed driving that resulted in the close racing necessary for my desire. Presumably the game has been dulled down to make it accessible and the family cup is where we can ramp up the AI but why not for 20 laps ?

VXSSII · May 13, 2005

I certainly want to win racers, so I don;t care if the AI isn't so great, I have fun winning and racing cars that I don;t see everyday. If it's fun, who cares how easy the racing is?
'
To make the game harder, simply choose cars that are slower than the opposition, or select the same cars you're racing against and don't tune it at all, don't change the oil for it (& of course turn off ALL racing aids). Polphony has allowed the 'player' to decide how hard the game will be, this is, in my opinion the best way to appease the gaming public.

Though, I do prefer Forza......

Bilgewater · May 13, 2005

It's not just a question of choosing an underpowered car to make the racing closer. For example, I tried starting the world championship driving a stock nissan 300Z LM. It was turning out to be a great race between me, a GT-one race car, and an Audi R8. First it was just me and the Audi trading places, then the GT-one caught up to us and it tooth and nail the whole way.

The only problem was that we were all battling for second place. The first place car was a Minolta race car that was about half a lap ahead of us after five laps and pulling away faster every lap.

Dizzy K · May 13, 2005

Bilgewater
I tried starting the world championship driving a stock nissan 300Z LM. It was turning out to be a great race between me, a GT-one race car, and an Audi R8. First it was just me and the Audi trading places, then the GT-one caught up to us and it tooth and nail the whole way.

The only problem was that we were all battling for second place. The first place car was a Minolta race car that was about half a lap ahead of us after five laps and pulling away faster every lap.

Mate, you're doing well enough entering the 300Z LM. You must be brave or stupid.

Am i the only one irritated when, at the garage screen, all the power outputs stay in horsepower, even though you've selected kilowatt? To make it worse, they actually change the units to kW. I shouldn't be picky, but it just gives me the irrits. DAMN YOU IMPERIAL SYSTEM!!! :crazy:

ZeratulSG · May 13, 2005

snypa
I agree with you, they really could inlude an AI level option in GT mode.

I think it's kinda automatic, in that depending on which race you're entering, the AI difficulty is adjusted (beginner easy, professional moderate, extreme hard, etc. as a simplified example), so there's no real need for a user-selectable option.

But I do agree that they should've done grid matching of some kind to make the races closer across the board (like all 6 cars duking it out for most of the race). Most GT4 races end up like modern Formula 1...a couple of isolated battles in the middle/back of the pack (can 6 cars legally be called a "pack"?

) while one guy tromps off into the distance on his own.

ZeratulSG · May 13, 2005

Dizzy K
Am i the only one irritated when, at the garage screen, all the power outputs stay in horsepower, even though you've selected kilowatt? To make it worse, they actually change the units to kW. I shouldn't be picky, but it just gives me the irrits. DAMN YOU IMPERIAL SYSTEM!!!

That really bugs me too, but the units shown are not BHP but PS. Accurate ratings are shown in the valuation screen, and the enlarged power/torque graph in the settings screen, but nowhere else. BHP is around 98-99% PS so I find using BHP to be the most comfortable for me (what the hell is a "PS" anyway?)

So don't blame the imperial system, blame the Japanese!

yeti · May 13, 2005

ZeratulSG
That really bugs me too, but the units shown are not BHP but PS. Accurate ratings are shown in the valuation screen, and the enlarged power/torque graph in the settings screen, but nowhere else. BHP is around 98-99% PS so I find using BHP to be the most comfortable for me (what the hell is a "PS" anyway?)

So don't blame the imperial system, blame the Japanese!

PS is a European "equivalent" of BHP and is very similar but is slightly out.

This is due to the creator of BHP (James Watt) using English horses who are stronger than European horses and can therefore lift more. Thus making BHP have an ever so slightly different amount.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhp

C.

alech · May 13, 2005

snypa
It depends a lot on the car you choose. With an LMP it's still quite easy. Try a jgtc first class (cusco subaru, asprtadrink rx7). you will face jgtc class 2 (supra, nsx, nissan ...). It's quite tough on some tracks.

I agree with you, they really could inlude an AI level option in GT mode.

Well, the Family Run level option is something like that , don't you think ?

ZeratulSG · May 13, 2005

yeti
PS is a European "equivalent" of BHP and is very similar but is slightly out.

This is due to the creator of BHP (James Watt) using English horses who are stronger than European horses and can therefore lift more. Thus making BHP have an ever so slightly different amount.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhp

C.

Well I'm pretty sure Mr. Watt did not invent BHP but rather HP, seeing at they didn't have dynos in his day (let alone cars).

So what did Europe use before there was PS (or metric kW)? Did they not use BHP? And what the hell is a "PS" anyway? I can't find any definitions or conversions on the web.

snypa · May 13, 2005

alech
Well, the Family Run level option is something like that , don't you think ?

Well, I don't know, to be honest, I never tried it. But I will, thanks. Is it possible to adjust the level of AI there?

Zardoz · May 13, 2005

snypa
Well, I don't know, to be honest, I never tried it. But I will, thanks. Is it possible to adjust the level of AI there?

Yes, it is, and that's my point. If they could do it there and in Arcade, why not Gran Turismo mode?

What, did they think it might be too tough for us? Were they afraid we might get all frustrated or something?

Good discussion about this here:

http://www.granturismobynumbers.com/ubb/Forum46/HTML/000348.html

yeti · May 13, 2005

ZeratulSG
Well I'm pretty sure Mr. Watt did not invent BHP but rather HP, seeing at they didn't have dynos in his day (let alone cars).

So what did Europe use before there was PS (or metric kW)? Did they not use BHP? And what the hell is a "PS" anyway? I can't find any definitions or conversions on the web.

Did you click the link I gave you?

C.

ZeratulSG · May 16, 2005

yeti
Did you click the link I gave you?

Yeah it wasn't working last week, seems to work now. Okay, so now I know what PS stands for, but interestingly it claims it to be an "unlawful unit of measurement", whatever that means.

Does the NA version of GT4 have the same units available for selection as PAL?

Abdul69 · May 26, 2005

No, you are not the only person that got annoyed with the units issue. To be honest its almost the first dang thing I noticed in the game. :-( Notice if you actually view a car it does show the correct power in kW, just not in the garage summary. Kind of confusing. Seems they basically forget to do any units conversion on the garage screen (and other places in the game). DOH!

Dizzy K
Mate, you're doing well enough entering the 300Z LM. You must be brave or stupid.

Am i the only one irritated when, at the garage screen, all the power outputs stay in horsepower, even though you've selected kilowatt? To make it worse, they actually change the units to kW. I shouldn't be picky, but it just gives me the irrits. DAMN YOU IMPERIAL SYSTEM!!!