tha_con
Well you tell me with. With Great AI, and online features, but poor physics, is the game a good driving simulator? No.
While AI is good, it is limited to the hardware it runs on, if you want a total package, you have to make sacrifices in certain areas. Honestly people would not have been satisfied with a Gran Turismo game that was not this pretty and ran at 30fps, and the sales would drop significantly because it would mainly appeal to the hardcore fanbase, and eventually the series would not continue to flourish.
In order for PD to make profit, and maintain interest in the game, they have to kick things up a notch, which they have done, significantly. However, if they would have kept the visuals the same, as well as physics from GT3, in order to create better AI, then people would be much more dissappointed than the other way around. Fact remains that PD knows how to be successful, and they know what needs to be done, if you think they do not think about car damage at all, or do not think about all the little details, you're wrong, however you have to make decisions and choose which will be the bigger part of the game, and go with that, otherwise you end up with a poor product.
The Poor AI has almost nothing to do with the PS2 limitations, its been the same since GT1 on PS, it has all to do with the lack of effort on PDs part to improve it fundamentally some of the AI routine is already good, it just needs some adjustments.
I couldnt give a monkeys about realistic damages effects, and yes the game would be stale if they kept the same physics engine, however for graphics, the improvement is not that great and would have been happy to play it had it looked the same as Gt3 aslong as they upped the sensation of speed, and it had the Physics and AI improved.
There is no need for PD in 4 years of developement to sacrifice AI improvements for Physics and Graphics.
AI has been a problem for PD for ages, they know it, and your not seriously telling me they couldnt get a team together to work on this alongside everything else thats been developed in 4 years.
let me also tell you, my interest in GT3 didnt extend nearly as much as it did with 1 and 2, (and im not the only one who felt like that about it)why? because apart from the new look it didnt offer anything new, so this time we get the new physics engine, but that will be second nature in no time, so what will be left.
Lets see race, win easily, collect new car, race, win easily, collect new car, and so on.
Not much new in that, not much challenge in that, and when you become bored of filling your garage what is left.
In fact I got to 50%+ in GT3 only using about 10 cars, all those that i won were made pointless by the fact that to get any kind of challenge with them I had to use them underclass and really couldnt be bothered to do that, thats how uninspiring the racing element was in GT3.
Although after a two year break i did put my self through the arduous task of getting to about 80% so I had the right cars to take to OLR.
I know adding new cars and tracks will help for a while, but at the end of the day the fundamental elements of GT are designed towards winning new cars and tuning them to race, although with lacklustre AI tuning becomes almost irrelevant.
If GT4 turns out to be more of the same, I cant see myself anticipating part 5.
Im sure somone is going to step in and fill the gap in between GTs this time around.
If Sony or PD need some advice on making a huge profit, make a driving game that actually has a racing element in it thats challenging, make it adjustable if you have to to suit all comers, TRD1 managed it with its adjustable scale for free races!
Good graphics loads of cars and tracks and new physics engine With the same old AI = A poor product IMHO.
Although every time I play it I will probably think 'Well wouldn't playing against my mates & GTP members online be fun'. Hey you know what? I've been thinking that since GT1 💡
