My thoughts on GT5...

[skylinefx]

So I've completed the Historic Racing Cup a while ago with the Countach. And I must say, that is the only race that I have enjoyed in GT5. It was difficult to overtake, had to block, got overtaken etc etc, and this is what racing should be like. This is what the whole game should be like. Competitive, intense and close racing!
Thats what I was expecting to get from the Extreme Series... But no... You still race against 400BHP cars and you can enter with a 1000BHP car... Isn't the game meant to get harder as you progress?

Another thing - I HATE the xp system. With the XP system, the game gets more boring around the Extreme series because you have to grind. And if you grind, you're obviously going to enter a race with an overpowered car so you can get the XP quicker. XP totally ruins the game for me. When I enter a championship, I don't give a damn about the points, where my competitors are - I just want to finish it so I can get the XP and money.
In other games like F1 2010, I actually care about winning the race and getting on the podium, I want to win that championship.

At first I thought GT5 is a brilliant game. The best racing game that I've ever played. But as I progressed, the game got much easier and got boring more quickly.

I only have one request for GT6. A story. Like ToCa Race Driver 1. That you actually feel like you're in the race, things that happen after the race etc.

 

[Bluez_Freak]

That's bad event design not the game's fault.

I think most events should have max power limitation in order to avoid this 1000 BHP vs 300 HP races...

Maybe it's the japanese way of thinking versus the Western people. Maybe Kaz thinks it's a disgrace to race against an inferior opponent and could not even imagine that a 'max power' limitation would be necessary.

In any case a custom event editor (which I would assume is very simple to make) could make much better events/championships by us the users.

Another bad design of events is that you play 3-4 tracks (grand valley, trial mountain etc) so many times during A+B spec while other tracks you only see once during the career.

The A+B spec event desgin is really the weakest point of this game IMHO. Probably they did it in 1-2 days time or so...

 

[SS_1182]

Another one of these? You're late to the party M8.

Try the search function.

 

[BigYoSpeck]

One thing I like about GT4 was the A-Spec points. Yes you could hammer it with an overpowered car but the A-Spec points reflected how easy it was. It gave you some level of reward for entering with a competitive car other than your own pride.

I've not hit the point where I need to grind yet. There are still events and challenges I haven't golded at my xp level. If the point comes that there aren't I've no interest in grinding so it'll be a case of multiplayer and time trials from then on.

 

[minihulkster]

You are one of many people complaining about the lack of challenge in A-spec mode. If you want a challenge all you have to do is exercise something called "self control" and use a car with similar performance capabilities as the competition. There, problem solved.

 

[Bluez_Freak]

You are one of many people complaining about the lack of challenge in A-spec mode. If you want a challenge all you have to do is exercise something called "self control" and use a car with similar performance capabilities as the competition. There problem solved.

Or even better "game control" restricting hilarious entrances, as it should be.

It's the game designer's responsibility to make your gaming experience better not your choice for self-control, though I do understand your point - most users simply want the easy gold/xp myself inclusive

 

[minihulkster]

Or even better "game control" restricting hilarious entrances, as it should be.

It's the game designer's responsibility to make your gaming experience better not your choice for self-control, though I do understand your point - most users simply want the easy gold/xp myself inclusive

There is a benefit to the game's design and that is that the game can be as challenging or non-challenging as the gamer desires and I am all about giving gamers the choice on how they want to play.

 

[Bluez_Freak]

There is a benefit to the game's design and that is that the game can be as challenging or non-challenging as the gamer desires and I am all about giving gamers the choice on how they want to play.

That's good for you and the few others who can control themselves.

Most gamers won't do that though. They just want to get through with each event as quickly and as painlessly as possible to "see what's next" in the game.

It's like playing a shootem up game and the game gives you from the beginning all the weapons to walkthough the enemies like Rambo. Will you stick with that small pistol to make it challenging? NO.

All games have (and need) restrictions which make them fun/challenging to play. The proof to this is that special events and licenses are much much more fun to play because you are restricted.

 

[ItsHim]

It's like playing a shootem up game

It's most certainly not.

I'm not going to defend the weakness in gameplay design, but you can't "beat" GT5. Surely you can reach the top level and do all races once. But then there's another 900 odd cars just waiting to be bought, driven, raced, tuned, painted, photographed.

GT5 is, again, odd in the way it gives you some freedom how you win the races, yet isn't a fully blown sandbox game.

But that's the GT way and unless they stop selling copies in the millions they won't change that because they don't have to.

And, sorry to say, maybe it's an important lesson taught to challenge yourself for the sake of the challenge. After all, that's how one can improve both skill and character.

 

[Bluez_Freak]

And, sorry to say, maybe it's an important lesson taught to challenge yourself for the sake of the challenge. After all, that's how one can improve both skill and character.

For god's sake it's a game - not kung-fu philosophy!!

Skill development? Maybe.
Character? NO WAY a game develops my character at 34 years of age..

Treat it as a game will you??
99,99% games in gaming history from the age of pacman and space invaders have an increasing difficulty level to make them challenging (= fun) "GAMES".

Well here even at higher levels of career you can outpower and win easily if you want to. Most people will do so (just because they can) and they will end up not having fun.

 

[minihulkster]

That's good for you and the few others who can control themselves.

Most gamers won't do that though. They just want to get through with each event as quickly and as painlessly as possible to "see what's next" in the game.

It's like playing a shootem up game and the game gives you from the beginning all the weapons to walkthough the enemies like Rambo. Will you stick with that small pistol to make it challenging? NO.

All games have (and need) restrictions which make them fun/challenging to play. The proof to this is that special events and licenses are much much more fun to play because you are restricted.

I will agree. This game design aspect has both :tupros and :tdown:cons. It allows gamers to choose their own difficulty and gives the casual audience a chance to win, but at the same time provides the temptation and opportunity for a gamer to abuse the system and make it too easy.

 

[Highlandor]

Another one of these? You're late to the party M8.

Try the search function.

Very well said 👍 👍 👍

 

[Darktuna]

If there were restrictions on the races, it would be much tougher to progress, with the current design of the sale of cars. Getting the right hp/wieght, could be tough, if you can't find the car the silly race requires...

Imo, Aspec-Bspec, are just money earners to get me more cars to play online with. Online is the real racing. Who wants to race a robot, that will produce same lap times everytime you race. And even in the offline races in evenly matched cars, the ai, is easily overtaken.

 

[Bluez_Freak]

Imo, Aspec-Bspec, are just money earners to get me more cars to play online with. Online is the real racing. Who wants to race a robot, that will produce same lap times everytime you race. And even in the offline races in evenly matched cars, the ai, is easily overtaken.

Fully agreed and well said.

But the problem is A-Spec and B-Spec are the backbone of the game. And these are poorly designed/tweaked for the average gamer.

If they had focused on online more it would be much better of a game. Still it may evolve into an online game afterall with upcoming events and better options for lobby searching etc.

 

[ItsHim]

For god's sake it's a game - not kung-fu philosophy!!

Skill development? Maybe.
Character? NO WAY a game develops my character at 34 years of age..

Treat it as a game will you??
99,99% games in gaming history from the age of pacman and space invaders have an increasing difficulty level to make them challenging (= fun) "GAMES".

Well here even at higher levels of career you can outpower and win easily if you want to. Most people will do so (just because they can) and they will end up not having fun.

No need to get upset. I'm sorry to hear that you don't enjoy the game obviously, yet the more challenging seasonal events upset quite a number of people for being too hard. Can't please everybody it seems.

The cry for online leaderbords has been heard, and I guess trying to beat Davey Skills' times is another challenge that's available right now. I tried beating him with his own setups in FM2 and never came close. But I wouldn't call hotlapping racing, though it's highly popular.

Myself, like many others, I am a car enthusiast first and a gamer second. GT5, despite its quirky gameplay design, offers replay value far beyond Level 40 in A-Spec, which I treat as a rather long tutorial rather than the core of the game.

I spent a good deal in endurance races in GT4 and plan to do the same in GT5. Which should give me ample funds to collect every car I want in every colour I fancy.

If I want nail biting races, I go back to Midnight Club 3. Nobody did stage races better than Rockstar did with this title.

As for game design history, I never did beat the hidden last level of Tetris. But I wouldn't call this good gameplay design either - though it's still popular amongst hardcore gamers.

 

[NewMoon]

The Real Driving Stimulator.

 

[BigYoSpeck]

The problem with the lack of upper limit is you don't really know what car to enter in.

It's all well and good having a list of typical cars, but what tyres are they on? Have they any performance mods?

So I like many others who wants to make the game a challenge enters in something that looks fair, and I get trounced because a Miura is seemingly faster than my Gallardo.

Ok I think ECU upgrade and better tyres, maybe exhaust and air filter while I'm at it. But then it's too easy. Yes the rubber band AI keeps them close behind me, but it wasn't really a challenge to pass them. Where is the indication of the fair level?

Prologue had the solution to this with PP levels but PD seemingly forgot about those in the last 2 years.

 

[Rocket Punch]

It was difficult to overtake, had to block, got overtaken etc etc, and this is what racing should be like. This is what the whole game should be like. Competitive, intense and close racing!

Online.

[Case CLosed]

 

[tinram]

You still race against 400BHP cars and you can enter with a 1000BHP car.

hmmm, learned nothing from the historic race.

If it had HP restriction then folks would be complaining about the game being too hard.

Here's a hint, It is NOT about completing the game as fast as you can, unlike every other game.

Here is someone who actually learned how to play and enjoy the game.

https://www.gtplanet.net/forum/showthread.php?t=151393

Specifically ... "And, if you think the game is too easy, try to enter the race with a car tuned just like the others cars racing. Or, turn off all assists. Still too easy? Well, why don’t you try race with an underpowered car? This will make your game experience much richer!"