Is the series spreading itself too thin?

[MIE1992]

I’m worried that the series is trying to do too many things at once:

-eMotorSports & the FIA

-Tuners and drifting

-Rally, with driving on dirt & snow

-Vintage cars (e.g. Pebble Beach)

-Motorcycles (potentially)

And trying to get all of this in a single game make me worry that it’s why the time between releases seems longer than other racing game IPs, and that it’s causing the series to seem like it’s losing a focus.

I’m wondering if a more modular apporach would be better. It would allow for more frequent releases, and each title could delve deeper into its respective realm.

It also would buy PD more time to improve certain features, mechanics, and models/animations. I’m feeling very inspired by the recent change in production by GameFreak and Pokemon Sword/Shield - a change that I think will best for addressing a lot of concerns regarding animations, models, and balancing. In that case, it’s not like all the species, forms, items, and other mechanics (e.g. mega-evos and Z-moves) are being permanently removed from the series, but simply being given more time in development before being reintroduced as a “compatible” species.

Honestly, I think GT has a lot in common with Pokemon - potentially including the production side of things - and I think the two IPs could learn from each other in this regard. It also could prove to be economical, too, saving money on production. I’ve overall had a lot of ideas for both of these IPs (among many others) for both the player side of things, and the side of the developes/producers.

Tbh, if motorcycles truly return, I think it’d be best for PD to do so in the context of a Tourist Trophy successor, rather than as part of a broader GT installment. For marketing purposes, I don’t think it needs to even be called “Tourist Trophy 2,” but something that could use the same title, perhaps with a subtitle pertaining to bikes. Sorta like how GTS isn’t called GT7.

 

[Downhill Dino]

This is the most focused the series has been since probably GT2. If you think this is spread thin I wonder how you felt about GT6 or maybe even more so GT5?

 

[Satomiblood]

The series has been expanding its reach and trying to appeal to fans of different disciplines all the way back to GT2 (when they added rally racing), which was released nearly 20 years ago. While not perfect, I like that GTS has something different for everyone. It appeals to car collectors, racers, tuners, drifters, photographers, designers, etc.

 

[Famine]

-eMotorSports & the FIA

-Tuners and drifting

-Rally, with driving on dirt & snow

-Vintage cars (e.g. Pebble Beach)

GT5 did this in 2010, except the "eMotorSports" was GT Academy (which started in GT5 Prologue).

-Motorcycles (potentially)

No GT game has done this.

 

[Nielsen]

Like mentioned in another post, GT has never been more focused than it is nowadays.

 

[MIE1992]

GT5 did this in 2010, except the "eMotorSports" was GT Academy (which started in GT5 Prologue).

But isn’t it still a potential concern, even if prior games were doing it?

No GT game has done this.

I thought that Kaz was thinking of having bikes return to the series, which is why I added “potentially.”

 

[bil coz]

But isn’t it still a potential concern, even if prior games were doing it?



I thought that Kaz was thinking of having bikes return to the series, which is why I added “potentially.”

they can't "return" if they never been in a GT game.
I don't know what youre on about, GT has been like that forever. If anything, it went in the opposite direction with GT Sport.

 

[VincentVendetta]

I thought that Kaz was thinking of having bikes return to the series, which is why I added “potentially.”

Except that Tourist Trophy was very much a product of how big Gran Turismo and the PS2 were back in the day, as well as development times of the era. They could just turn around after GT4, model a bunch of motorcycles and only one new circuit (Valencia) on top of many other GT4 tracks and release it like that. Don't get me wrong, it's not a bad game, but it is a curiosity in the Polyphony Digital catalog, only remembered by GT fans, and I doubt we're gonna see TT return at this time.

 

[MIE1992]

Except that Tourist Trophy was very much a product of how big Gran Turismo and the PS2 were back in the day, as well as development times of the era. They could just turn around after GT4, model a bunch of motorcycles and only one new circuit (Valencia) on top of many other GT4 tracks and release it like that. Don't get me wrong, it's not a bad game, but it is a curiosity in the Polyphony Digital catalog, only remembered by GT fans, and I doubt we're gonna see TT return at this time.

Very interesting. I never thought about that.

I suppose that what I'm more so trying to ask with my initial question, is whether GTS will be the beginning of GT games having more focus on certain realms featured in the series thus far, or if GTS' approach will be more of an exception within the series. And if GTS (and its focus) is indeed an oddity, if returning to the generalized approach seen in prior GT games will be most beneficial to the direction & production of future GT installments.

I also wonder if GTS is maybe more of a beginning of a divergence; rather than fully focusing on a subject, it still feels like it's trying to split away from what we've seen in the main series so far, by still including drifting, driving on dirt/snow, and experimenting with introducing new features like the livery editor, the in-game social media aspect, or the new companion app. If I were directing a GTS successor, I'd facilitate the creation of racing clubs and teams, and the livery editor would help in that. We already see players making teams with various tags, like FT and Turismo, so I think much like real motorsport, the livery editor in a GTS successor should build off why liveries are used in real life, with IDing cars driven by a certain team being one function.

Perhaps one player could design a team's livery for a variety of cars, and if a player is racing in Sport Mode, as part of their team, using that car, the livery will be applied, and the scoring systems (and indeed, the overall championship structure, or at least for some series) could also include these teams.

 

[Skygrasper550]

I’m worried that the series is trying to do too many things at once:

-eMotorSports & the FIA

-Tuners and drifting

-Rally, with driving on dirt & snow

-Vintage cars (e.g. Pebble Beach)

-Motorcycles (potentially)

And trying to get all of this in a single game

GT4 has already done this, with the obvious exception of eSports and bikes.

make me worry that it’s why the time between releases seems longer than other racing game IPs, and that it’s causing the series to seem like it’s losing a focus.

Are we really going through this again? Has Forza really spoiled players this much? The "waaaah why can't GT be more like Forza" complaint just needs to stop. First of all, the reason why we get a Forza game every year is because there are 2 different studios working on the franchise. Turn 10 and Playground alternate their releases, and both studios each employ more people than PD. And PD is just one studio with about 200 employees.

Also, if anything, GTS is THE MOST focused entry I have seen since GT4. I honestly could care less about the 1000+ car selection of GT5 and GT6 because of the Premium-Standard garbage fest. Those Standard models really should have been trimmed off when GT6 was released. Sorry, you can't have all 1200+ cars rendered in glorious 8k resolution (yes, eight k) and have the game be shipped in 4-5 years with just about 200 people. Game development isn't magic (who knew?). People will either complain about the laziness due to lack of cars, or the laziness due to cars having tiny blips in textures. That's how spoiled they are.

I’m wondering if a more modular apporach would be better. It would allow for more frequent releases, and each title could delve deeper into its respective realm.

Modular as in how?

It also would buy PD more time to improve certain features, mechanics, and models/animations.

The 3D car models in GTS don't need any more refining. If you're going to point out the jagged headlights of the Porsche 930 911, that is either a bug or a performance compromise, because the headlights textures are fine in Scapes, and you're forgetting that the PS4 is running on 7yr old hardware.

 

[MIE1992]

The 3D car models in GTS don't need any more refining. If you're going to point out the jagged headlights of the Porsche 930 911, that is either a bug or a performance compromise, because the headlights textures are fine in Scapes, and you're forgetting that the PS4 is running on 7yr old hardware.

No, I think the models added to GTS so far are great, but what I mean is that with my potential structural idea, PD may have less pressure on themselves to make so many well-done models at the same time for an installment. But come to think of it, I think they've already found a solution by using a modeling contractor instead of forcing themselves to do it all in-house. Not to mention the relatively recent office expansions.

 

[Skygrasper550]

No, I think the models added to GTS so far are great, but what I mean is that with my potential structural idea, PD may have less pressure on themselves to make so many well-done models at the same time for an installment. But come to think of it, I think they've already found a solution by using a modeling contractor instead of forcing themselves to do it all in-house. Not to mention the relatively recent office expansions.

It's a well-known fact that each car model takes about 6 months to make and is only done by one programmer. This is to maintain quality across the board. You can't exactly hire hundreds of exceptionally-skilled modelers (if you can ever find them) so that a lot of cars can be pushed out at release, only to sack them immediately if said game fails commercially. People aren't machines.

As for the outsourcing, this is something that fans have wanted for a long time so that more superbly-detailed cars can come out the door. But of course, said contractor should also be subjected to the same rigorous and strict quality standards that PD goes by. I was honestly shocked that the model for the Honda S660 was outsourced; it was that good that couldn't tell the difference whether it was made in-house or not.

 

[MIE1992]

It's a well-known fact that each car model takes about 6 months to make and is only done by one programmer. This is to maintain quality across the board. You can't exactly hire hundreds of exceptionally-skilled modelers (if you can ever find them) so that a lot of cars can be pushed out at release, only to sack them immediately if said game fails commercially. People aren't machines.

As for the outsourcing, this is something that fans have wanted for a long time so that more superbly-detailed cars can come out the door. But of course, said contractor should also be subjected to the same rigorous and strict quality standards that PD goes by. I was honestly shocked that the model for the Honda S660 was outsourced; it was that good that couldn't tell the difference whether it was made in-house or not.

Right, and it's because that these models take time is why I'm wondering if it may be better if future games diverged from the "generalized" approach seen in prior games, and had more specialized features, car listings, etc. based around one of the realms that've been usually together in prior GT games, like tuner cars & drifting, or the more competitive aspects like we see in GTS. Hypothetically, there'd be a separate GT game focused on the rallying and off-tarmac driving, rather than have it be part of a broader GT game's feature listing. Essentially, groupings of cars get swapped in/out to be featured within a given installment, while the rest may get polished up (alongside stuff like tracks, game design elements, gameplay modes, etc.) for a different installment.

 

[twitcher]

I don’t really see how PD or GT are at all tailored towards Tuning, or “Tuner Culture”. GT games are the least tuning oriented car games out right now. There is zero customizing in terms of changing or adding parts aside from wheels, and the number of settings you can adjust is amongst the lowest of all the major racing games (no tire pressure, no brake cooling/radiator opening, no caster, no bump stops, no separate control of fast and slow bound/rebound, and more). GT’s tuning options are amongst the simplest of all the racing games. At one point, the series was a leader in the genre in this regard. It has since been overtaken by almost all the competition, and has failed to stay current in this regard.

 

[MIE1992]

I don’t really see how PD or GT are at all tailored towards Tuning, or “Tuner Culture”. GT games are the least tuning oriented car games out right now. There is zero customizing in terms of changing or adding parts aside from wheels, and the number of settings you can adjust is amongst the lowest of all the major racing games (no tire pressure, no brake cooling/radiator opening, no caster, no bump stops, no separate control of fast and slow bound/rebound, and more). GT’s tuning options are amongst the simplest of all the racing games. At one point, the series was a leader in the genre in this regard. It has since been overtaken by almost all the competition, and has failed to stay current in this regard.

GT6 had some good stuff, between the many rear wings and aero kits, and even stuff like some suits/helms we haven't seen in GTS yet. GTS is an oddity in its more reserved approach to tuning. That's before we get into all the tuner cars that've appeared in the series, such as from SEMA or the Tokyo Auto Salon, plus the non-insignificant number of drift-spec cars.

I think having a similar amount of adjustable settings as prior GT games would be fine, as it'd give more literate players a variety of stuff to do, but it wouldn't scare away relatively novice players. It's already pretty hectic with all the stuff you can do in GTS, tbh, such as the suspension alone, and I think it should be relatively simple enough that you can still discover great tunes by yourself, rather than just copy/paste what you read as being recommended online. (On a side note, I think sharing settings and equipped internal parts should be an option, perhaps being fused with sharing liveries - it'd be more like sharing a blueprint altogether, now that I think of it.)

 

[twitcher]

GT6 had some good stuff, between the many rear wings and aero kits, and even stuff like some suits/helms we haven't seen in GTS yet. GTS is an oddity in its more reserved approach to tuning. That's before we get into all the tuner cars that've appeared in the series, such as from SEMA or the Tokyo Auto Salon.

I think having a similar amount of adjustable settings as prior GT games would be fine, as it'd give more literate players a variety of stuff to do, but it wouldn't scare away relatively novice players. It's already pretty hectic with all the stuff you can do in GTS, tbh, such as the suspension alone, and I think it should be relatively simple enough that you can still discover great tunes by yourself, rather than just copy/paste what you read as being recommended online. (On a side note, I think sharing settings and equipped internal parts should be an option, perhaps being fused with sharing liveries - it'd be more like sharing a blueprint altogether, now that I think of it.)

I think PD could do a better job of explaining to novice players how the various suspension settings work, but I don’t think it’s wise cater to novice players by over simplifying the tuning options. At the end of the day, suspension tuning is an art form. It takes years to start linking all the pieces together, there’s no easy mode way around it. For the most part, novice drivers are not good enough or consistent enough with their driving to even start coming up with “great tunes”.

I have yet to play a racing game where suspension and differential settings were explained in a clear, concise, accurate, and understandable way, so that’s definitely something PD could work on to help out novice players. Like I said though, dumbing down the tuning options to appeal to novice players is not the correct route to take, at least imo.

 

[MIE1992]

I think PD could do a better job of explaining to novice players how the various suspension settings work, but I don’t think it’s wise cater to novice players by over simplifying the tuning options. At the end of the day, suspension tuning is an art form. It takes years to start linking all the pieces together, there’s no easy mode way around it. For the most part, novice drivers are not good enough or consistent enough with their driving to even start coming up with “great tunes”.

I have yet to play a racing game where suspension and differential settings were explained in a clear, concise, accurate, and understandable way, so that’s definitely something PD could work on to help out novice players. Like I said though, dumbing down the tuning options to appeal to novice players is not the correct route to take, at least imo.

No, I mean that they're fine as they are, and that additional stuff like the stuff you mentioned earlier may not be entirely necessary. But I agree the setting options could be better-explained. I personally had the idea of them being part of license tests, where you have to make an AI driver set a specific type by tuning a specific metric, and the harder tests will make you adjust more options. I mean, I personally hate almost everything about B-Spec, but the concept of watching an AI drive for you would potentially be great for learning about tuning, as this would factor out your own driving skill, or lack thereof.

 

[bil coz]

No, I mean that they're fine as they are, and that additional stuff like the stuff you mentioned earlier may not be entirely necessary. But I agree the setting options could be better-explained. I personally had the idea of them being part of license tests, where you have to make an AI driver set a specific type by tuning a specific metric, and the harder tests will make you adjust more options. I mean, I personally hate almost everything about B-Spec, but the concept of watching an AI drive for you would potentially be great for learning about tuning, as this would factor out your own driving skill, or lack thereof.

It doesn't work like that. You need to feel the car for yourself. There is not 1 definitive tune that the AI could determine to be best and try to get you to get closer to.

I think PD could do a better job of explaining to novice players how the various suspension settings work, but I don’t think it’s wise cater to novice players by over simplifying the tuning options. At the end of the day, suspension tuning is an art form. It takes years to start linking all the pieces together, there’s no easy mode way around it. For the most part, novice drivers are not good enough or consistent enough with their driving to even start coming up with “great tunes”.

I have yet to play a racing game where suspension and differential settings were explained in a clear, concise, accurate, and understandable way, so that’s definitely something PD could work on to help out novice players. Like I said though, dumbing down the tuning options to appeal to novice players is not the correct route to take, at least imo.

They could explain all they want, but beginners will always be frustrated because they expect too much from the settings, they can't drive in the first place and think there's a magical setup that will drive the car for them. They don't understand that it can only make a difference when you run the same lap every lap.
If you are really interested you can learn things by yourself, but even once you'll know everything there is to know the best way to tune the car will be to make adjustments one by one and drive the car.
I agree with your previous post that there is a lot more to adjust in other sims, but I think Kaz's vision has always been to spread his love of cars to everybody, and when you've really mastered the art of tuning in GT and you're still hungry, you can look into PC simulators, and in some way it would feel like mission accomplished to Kaz.

 

[Veinz]

This feels like the most focused GT game that I’ve seen yet. I hope they keep updating it for many years like iRacing does.

 

[05XR8]

I don't know if it's focused. Some on here say not many people play Sport Mode, which is the core of GT Sport.

Yes, we have race tracks to race on, which is the purpose of every GT game. That's sporting. So, I don't see how GT Sport is even more focused than any other GT game before this.

GT was about the single player experience. With a two-player option. Then, expanded to a LAN party option. Then, a full on internet option. Now, to what we have today.

If the majority of players aren't biting the GT SPORT portion, Is it that PD are just focusing on the smaller GT Sport community? Is that why GT Sport is a more focused game, in some people's opinions?

 

[Veinz]

If the majority of players aren't biting the GT SPORT portion, Is it that PD are just focusing on the smaller GT Sport community? Is that why GT Sport is a more focused game, in some people's opinions?

Yes, GTS is very focused on online racing. Imo, it’s the best one out right now when it comes to online racing on consoles. But let’s be honest, single player sucks.

 

[bil coz]

Yes, GTS is very focused on online racing. Imo, it’s the best one out right now when it comes to online racing on consoles. But let’s be honest, single player sucks.

Does it suck more than it used to?

 

[MIE1992]

It doesn't work like that. You need to feel the car for yourself. There is not 1 definitive tune that the AI could determine to be best and try to get you to get closer to.


They could explain all they want, but beginners will always be frustrated because they expect too much from the settings, they can't drive in the first place and think there's a magical setup that will drive the car for them. They don't understand that it can only make a difference when you run the same lap every lap.
If you are really interested you can learn things by yourself, but even once you'll know everything there is to know the best way to tune the car will be to make adjustments one by one and drive the car.
I agree with your previous post that there is a lot more to adjust in other sims, but I think Kaz's vision has always been to spread his love of cars to everybody, and when you've really mastered the art of tuning in GT and you're still hungry, you can look into PC simulators, and in some way it would feel like mission accomplished to Kaz.

That sounds really hard, and even then, it sounds like it’d be for one specific combination of car/track. To do that for a near-infinite amount of combinations sounds nuts. That is, unless you only really need to change most of the settings to accomodate the car’s characteristsics to your driving style (or the inverse), and then when tuning for a specific course layout, there’s less that’d need to be changed. For example, I could see downforce and gear ratio being more dependent on the track.

 

[Silver Arrows]

Does it suck more than it used to?

Yes, especially considering the competition *has* changed, and has offered half way decent AI that doesn't slavishly follow the driving line and turn the single player portion into Chase The Rabbit simulator 2K19. Granted, the vast majority of GT's single player from GT3 onward sucked for that reason, and their were games even during GT's true reign over the marketplace that offered half decent AI that made you work for positions and fight it out for first. God knows I've had better races on PGR 2 on Gold and Platinum difficulties then anything that GT has ever thrown at me that was considered it's hardest.

If the majority of players aren't biting the GT SPORT portion, Is it that PD are just focusing on the smaller GT Sport community? Is that why GT Sport is a more focused game, in some people's opinions?

Yes, and the ultimate irony is that Polyphony, in their infinite wisdom, can't even really put their foot on the ground and focus on said online racing. Considering that they burned not a few bridges with the overall community over really forcing online racing into the game (and making the game online only, in a sense, as well) but now that people weren't biting with said online racing, they pretty much shoved a single player component when in reality, it all could have been avoided if they had actually learned something from other developers and made a single player experience that wasn't the same thing most people have been playing since 2005, and now their one track mind has basically allowed the Sport Mode to flounder, a pretty bad thing in a game ostensibly about LMP1/GT3/GT4 racing.

I made the point before, but Polyphony really, desperately wants to separate itself from the past way too much (If the fact that the entire lead up to GT Sport wasn't anything to go by, and how they basically pushed away a fair bit of old GT fans) but they also want to continue clinging onto nostalgia too hard (Again, trying to make a rather patchwork single player campaign that falls too hard on many of the stuff that the GT games before it did, and weren't good then, certainly not now) and now we're at this point. It's to the point where Polyphony's gonna have to pick a side, and whether they want to continue trying to mold GT Sport into something that former players can have warm, fuzzy feelings of nostalgia with, or if they're going to continue with the original idea of the game and make iRacing for consoles.

 

[Veinz]

Does it suck more than it used to?

For me yeah, at least the previous games had more depth to single player. But as soon as online racing became a “thing” in racing games, I pretty much lost interest in single player anyway. So my perspective is different from most GTS players.

 

[bil coz]

Yes, especially considering the competition *has* changed, and has offered half way decent AI that doesn't slavishly follow the driving line and turn the single player portion into Chase The Rabbit simulator 2K19. Granted, the vast majority of GT's single player from GT3 onward sucked for that reason, and their were games even during GT's true reign over the marketplace that offered half decent AI that made you work for positions and fight it out for first. God knows I've had better races on PGR 2 on Gold and Platinum difficulties then anything that GT has ever thrown at me that was considered it's hardest.



Yes, and the ultimate irony is that Polyphony, in their infinite wisdom, can't even really put their foot on the ground and focus on said online racing. Considering that they burned not a few bridges with the overall community over really forcing online racing into the game (and making the game online only, in a sense, as well) but now that people weren't biting with said online racing, they pretty much shoved a single player component when in reality, it all could have been avoided if they had actually learned something from other developers and made a single player experience that wasn't the same thing most people have been playing since 2005, and now their one track mind has basically allowed the Sport Mode to flounder, a pretty bad thing in a game ostensibly about LMP1/GT3/GT4 racing.

I made the point before, but Polyphony really, desperately wants to separate itself from the past way too much (If the fact that the entire lead up to GT Sport wasn't anything to go by, and how they basically pushed away a fair bit of old GT fans) but they also want to continue clinging onto nostalgia too hard (Again, trying to make a rather patchwork single player campaign that falls too hard on many of the stuff that the GT games before it did, and weren't good then, certainly not now) and now we're at this point. It's to the point where Polyphony's gonna have to pick a side, and whether they want to continue trying to mold GT Sport into something that former players can have warm, fuzzy feelings of nostalgia with, or if they're going to continue with the original idea of the game and make iRacing for consoles.

Honestly I have no idea what you're on about. I'm a long time fan, I'm still super happy. Single player races have always been for noobs, at the time of GT1 we were all noobs, but if you try to play it now you won't believe how lame the races were, craziest rubber banding felt approximately like a mario kart race, until you really tuned your car to a level that left them behind for good.

 

[bil coz]

For me yeah, at least the previous games had more depth to single player. But as soon as online racing became a “thing” in racing games, I pretty much lost interest in single player anyway. So my perspective is different from most GTS players.

Can you give examples of said depth? I struggle to see what you're talking about.

 

[05XR8]

Yes, especially considering the competition *has* changed, and has offered half way decent AI that doesn't slavishly follow the driving line and turn the single player portion into Chase The Rabbit simulator 2K19. Granted, the vast majority of GT's single player from GT3 onward sucked for that reason, and their were games even during GT's true reign over the marketplace that offered half decent AI that made you work for positions and fight it out for first. God knows I've had better races on PGR 2 on Gold and Platinum difficulties then anything that GT has ever thrown at me that was considered it's hardest.



Yes, and the ultimate irony is that Polyphony, in their infinite wisdom, can't even really put their foot on the ground and focus on said online racing. Considering that they burned not a few bridges with the overall community over really forcing online racing into the game (and making the game online only, in a sense, as well) but now that people weren't biting with said online racing, they pretty much shoved a single player component when in reality, it all could have been avoided if they had actually learned something from other developers and made a single player experience that wasn't the same thing most people have been playing since 2005, and now their one track mind has basically allowed the Sport Mode to flounder, a pretty bad thing in a game ostensibly about LMP1/GT3/GT4 racing.

I made the point before, but Polyphony really, desperately wants to separate itself from the past way too much (If the fact that the entire lead up to GT Sport wasn't anything to go by, and how they basically pushed away a fair bit of old GT fans) but they also want to continue clinging onto nostalgia too hard (Again, trying to make a rather patchwork single player campaign that falls too hard on many of the stuff that the GT games before it did, and weren't good then, certainly not now) and now we're at this point. It's to the point where Polyphony's gonna have to pick a side, and whether they want to continue trying to mold GT Sport into something that former players can have warm, fuzzy feelings of nostalgia with, or if they're going to continue with the original idea of the game and make iRacing for consoles.

No doubt. I agree they should have stick to the plan. That's the pill I was going to have to decide to swallow.

 

[GTV0819]

When did GT start involving motorcycles? When it had go-karts for the very first time?

 

[twitcher]

For me yeah, at least the previous games had more depth to single player. But as soon as online racing became a “thing” in racing games, I pretty much lost interest in single player anyway. So my perspective is different from most GTS players.

I was the exact same way...started playing 1P, then discovered online, and never looked back...

...until recently. I’ve basically just followed the same path as you, just a few steps further.

I’ve grown tired of the headache of online racing. Sport Mode is ok, but constantly having to worry about SR and DR, while welcome for competitive events, is frustrating and stressful for quick, fun races (especially when there are so many ways to abuse and subvert the penalty system). Random online lobbies are just that, very random, completely hit or miss, and for the most part, don’t offer too much variety in terms of the cars/category being raced. Leagues and Series are great when they’re well organized, but typically only take place once per week. On top of that, most leagues are quite competitive, and require a significant amount of time in regards to practice and tuning in order to be competitive (for me at least). Additionally, racing as a whole is a very subjective enterprise, with each person having their own personal definition of what is “clean”, “fair”, “fun”, “casual”, “competitive”, etc. My point here is that even if I open a “Fun Race Lobby”, my chances of 15 other people who have the same interpretation of “fun racing” as I do is pretty slim.

I consider myself still a “gamer”, not a “sim racer”. I’d like to go into the deep end, but don’t have room for a rig right now. So while I’m happy to see legit competitions grow and evolve, they’re really not for me. At this point in my gaming, I just want to have fun races, as well as role play different scenarios with different cars from different eras. I’ve found it’s really tough to do online, and nearly impossible to get anywhere close to full grids.

With all that in mind, I would LOVE to see a game come out that focused on the single player aspect. A structured career mode, I can take it or leave it...but what I’d really like is custom races, custom championships, and complete control over all aspects of setting up events.


So maybe that’s the major splitting point. Do you want to see the developer focus on making the perfect online experience, or the perfect single player/co-op experience? Obviously it would be ideal to have both in the same game, but it doesn’t seem like that’s really possible at the current time.

Is the single player in GT better or worse than it used to be? Yes and no. Is it objectively worse than almost every other game out right now, and that’s been out for the better part of the last 10 years? Yup.

I mean, in most car related gaming communities I’ve been part of, the general consensus is that the ideal game would be Project Turismo Corsa...you take the UI, online lobbies, and match making from GT, combine with the tracks, Livetrack 2.0, and dynamic weather from Project Cars, and then the handling and physics model from AC, then you’d have the perfect racing game on console.

At the end of the day, I think PD does have a choice to make, as I don’t think they have what it takes to do it all. That’s not a dig at them, I just don’t see it happening. I think continuing to try to be a little bit of everything to everyone is going to cost them in the long run, instead of picking one area to really excel at. If PD does make that choice, I have a feeling they will choose to focus on online multiplayer, as that’s where the potential revenue lies (as long as online racing isn’t just a passing fad like the slinky or bell bottoms). The unfortunate part of that is that the online racing market is already nearly saturated, and there’s almost no one focusing on a compelling and immersive single player experience in the racing genre (pCARS is probably closest, but comes up short in a few areas).