GT5 worth getting just for spectating?

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isamu

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Hello and Happy 4th of July everyone :)

I am someone that enjoys spectating people race in online racing games. Love doing it in Ridge Racer 7 and love doing it in Trackmania.

A few questions:

1)Is GT5 a game you'd recommend buying if all I want to do 90% of the time is go online watch people race? How well did Polyphony Digital deliver the spectating feature?

2)When watching a race, do the cars lag all over the place? Or does everything run nice and smooth?

3)How many cameras can you have and where exactly can you place them? Can you rotate the cameras in realtime?

4)I usually engage in watching races online during late night/early morning hours Pacific Standard Time here in the U.S. So I assuming the majority of drivers I'd spectate would probably be from Japan/Asia. Are there a lot of folks from those regions still playing GT5 online?

Please let me know, thanks :)
 
I don't think I understand this....:confused:
why only watch when you can play 💡?
 
Were you a spectator in WC3? :)
 
GTVirtuoso
I don't think I understand this....:confused:
why only watch when you can play 💡?
Click to expand...

What do you need to understand?The guy has clearly stated that he enjoys watching online races. Whats hard to get there? Anyway I enjoy watching online races too and i must say i have found it hit and miss. If most people on there got good broadband then cars appear more stable however if not, it is unwatchable as they will constantly flicker in and out. The idea is great but i dont think gts online is the best executed. Watching replays of your own races remains solid though.
 
If you want to watch some good online racing, random rooms are not recommended.
I'd look for an online racing series and go watch them.
Racing tends to be much closer, and much cleaner.
 
isamu
Hello and Happy 4th of July everyone :)

I am someone that enjoys spectating people race in online racing games. Love doing it in Ridge Racer 7 and love doing it in Trackmania.

A few questions:
Click to expand...

Hey Isamu, here are your answers:

1) You will enjoy Spectating feature, replays looks great and there are also live-timing screens during race to spectate everything in real-time. During live-timing you can also change both drivers/views and enjoy both approaches to the action.

2) Lagging is all up to your own upload speed and other players ping. Notice that all racing in GT5 is done via P2P connections, where PD's servers - located in Japan - are only doing matchmaking and post-race data-distribution. In order to find smooth races to watch, you should choose the territory of your preference in Lobby menus and enjoy the smoothness since GT5 network code is really good as long as you do not want to watch/participate in all-Japanese players race from South Africa.

3) Cameras are strictly fixed and you're left with position-choices and movable-cameras dynamic designed by PD. However, every track has multiple camera positions on the similar spots in order to make replays/spectating interesting as race develops. Notice you can't change views in real-time for in-game cameras in Spectator mode, but if you save a Online Replay you can replay the action from in-game cameras in regular Replay mode.

4) There are really lot of Asian/US players outthere and most of all-Japanese rooms are often very interesting to watch since there are many extremely fare and fast Japanese drivers.

You should also take into note that B-Spec mode of regular game have been vastly improved through last 6 months, now resulting with almost perfect AI experience. Besides regular B-Spec races, you can also engage your own B-SPec drivers to drive online against other people (from your Friends list) BSpec drivers in Remote Races mode.

See you around, regards 👍
 
amar212
Hey Isamu, here are your answers:

1) You will enjoy Spectating feature, replays looks great and there are also live-timing screens during race to spectate everything in real-time. During live-timing you can also change both drivers/views and enjoy both approaches to the action.

2) Lagging is all up to your own upload speed and other players ping. Notice that all racing in GT5 is done via P2P connections, where PD's servers - located in Japan - are only doing matchmaking and post-race data-distribution. In order to find smooth races to watch, you should choose the territory of your preference in Lobby menus and enjoy the smoothness since GT5 network code is really good as long as you do not want to watch/participate in all-Japanese players race from South Africa.

3) Cameras are strictly fixed and you're left with position-choices and movable-cameras dynamic designed by PD. However, every track has multiple camera positions on the similar spots in order to make replays/spectating interesting as race develops. Notice you can't change views in real-time for in-game cameras in Spectator mode, but if you save a Online Replay you can replay the action from in-game cameras in regular Replay mode.

4) There are really lot of Asian/US players outthere and most of all-Japanese rooms are often very interesting to watch since there are many extremely fare and fast Japanese drivers.

You should also take into note that B-Spec mode of regular game have been vastly improved through last 6 months, now resulting with almost perfect AI experience. Besides regular B-Spec races, you can also engage your own B-SPec drivers to drive online against other people (from your Friends list) BSpec drivers in Remote Races mode.

See you around, regards 👍
Click to expand...

Wow thanks Amar! That was helpful :)

Appreciate all the replies, guys :)
 
gogatrs
if you want to watch some good online racing, random rooms are not recommended.
I'd look for an online racing series and go watch them.
Racing tends to be much closer, and much cleaner.
Click to expand...

+1
 
Only to watch???? Ow man ow man... Why not play...? You are missing the fun here!

But I don't think GT5 is worth buying if you only intent to watch others race 90% of the time...
 
Not worth it if you're not racing. if you go into random online lobbies, it would be a serious waste of time. Probably spectating your racing buddies or as gogatrs said racing series would be much better.
 
You may be pleasantly surprised to know that you can play the entire career mode in GT5 as a spectator on B-spec mode.
 
Simple answer : NO

GT5's online is bad, really bad, it's worst if you're only watching.
 
No, not at all. I would stick to watching real races instead.
 
tonderai
What do you need to understand?The guy has clearly stated that he enjoys watching online races. Whats hard to get there? Anyway I enjoy watching online races too and i must say i have found it hit and miss. If most people on there got good broadband then cars appear more stable however if not, it is unwatchable as they will constantly flicker in and out. The idea is great but i dont think gts online is the best executed. Watching replays of your own races remains solid though.
Click to expand...

Why would someone buy a $60 video game to sit and watch others play it? Does that make sense to you tonderai? That's what live motorsports on the television are for. Hmmm....💡
 
GTVirtuoso
Why would someone buy a $60 video game to sit and watch others play it? Does that make sense to you tonderai? That's what live motorsports on the television are for. Hmmm....💡
Click to expand...

Because that's what he likes to do. Who are you to say otherwise?
 
gogatrs
If you want to watch some good online racing, random rooms are not recommended.
I'd look for an online racing series and go watch them.
Racing tends to be much closer, and much cleaner.
Click to expand...

Very true, but than he should say why he is in room otherwise he would be kicked really fast.
 
Well its wery good camera angle for spectating , i think if you only want this game for spectating , its good ;)
 
Answering your questions

1)Spectating on online races is pretty much the same as when spectating on career mode replays. You also are allowed a B-spec mode in which you can build up a team racing driver's skills from the ground up. This awards you prize cars and credits in the game to help buy more cars (powerful ones).

2) The lag occurs when you join a lobby with high latency issues. Usually the host is the main contributor for decent real time feed and if you look for ones that have a full "bar icon" you won't suffer the lag as much like others with little or no bar strength.

3)There are up to four camera views; first person view, third person view, "over the hood" view and lastly if spectating this "dynamic" camera view allowing you to see the oncoming car from several angled positions on the track. The fifth is reserved for cockpit view and only if your car is a "premium" model of the GT5 game.

If you were to play B-spec mode, you can have all this plus a "live time monitor" view allowing you see the race in PIP format while keeping track of you and other driver's track times.

They also offer this feature called "Gran Turismo TV" which can feature anything from the making of cars to actual racing events.
 
Its fun to be an spectator sometimes, after all the online feature is relatively new in the GT franchise so, watching human driving is a brand new feeling wich means no more robotic dull IA racing.
Anyway, you HAVE! to race online aswell once in a while (at least i would say).
 
GeneralJesh
Simple answer : NO

GT5's online is bad, really bad, it's worst if you're only watching.
Click to expand...

This, I just cant understand why you would just want to watch instead of play.
 
Sounds extremely boring so why not get the best out of a game? However, if you're only going to spectate then I'd recommend watching some real motorsports because you would waste your money on GT5.
 
GTVirtuoso
I don't think I understand this....:confused:
why only watch when you can play 💡?
Click to expand...

tonderai
What do you need to understand?The guy has clearly stated that he enjoys watching online races. Whats hard to get there? Anyway I enjoy watching online races too and i must say i have found it hit and miss. If most people on there got good broadband then cars appear more stable however if not, it is unwatchable as they will constantly flicker in and out. The idea is great but i dont think gts online is the best executed. Watching replays of your own races remains solid though.
Click to expand...

GTVirtuoso
Why would someone buy a $60 video game to sit and watch others play it? Does that make sense to you tonderai? That's what live motorsports on the television are for. Hmmm....💡
Click to expand...

Goshin2568
Because that's what he likes to do. Who are you to say otherwise?
Click to expand...

I'm not saying he can't or shouldn't...if that's what he likes to do then so be it. I was just saying I didn't understand the appeal of sitting and watching others play. That's all...I guess I shouldn't have said anything at all. My apologies.
 
In GT5 online racing you can't switch cam views when you are spectating, you can only switch cars but not camera which is dumb.
 
If you want to watch good online racing why not watch livestreams from some racing series? They even feature commentary in some.

Checkout http://simsport.tv/ for example.

For in game watching I would not recommed GT5.

Best would be LFS i guess. It even has reserved slots for spectators on the servers. Also it has free view (with extra settings for the cam) and its half the price of GT5.
 
I say YES.

The game is beautiful and you have multiple options for spectating.
B-spec, remote racing and Online racing (if you know where to go)

Even the demos playing are fun to watch imho:)
 
Mr. Green
Only to watch???? Ow man ow man... Why not play...? You are missing the fun here!
Click to expand...

This seems to be a question many of you would like an answer to, so I will give you an answer. The reason is because this:

7000clamp21sm.jpg



....is hard mounted to my racing frame, and does not work on any home console, only PC. :indiff:

Believe me guys, I'd love to play GT5 with that beast, but I'm restricted to PC for the time being. Not much of a loss mind you, since the grass is indeed greener on this side. :dopey:

That said, I'm intrigued by the idea of enjoying watching some cool drivers battle it out in GT5 whilst kicking back sipping on a brew :)
 
Never choose "recommended" on the tick box.
Choose rooms where you get maximum or near full white bars of connection speed.
 
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