New GT3 Online Database?

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Cullyn

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Heya folks... been lurking around the forums today and finally decided to join up. Just starting to really get into GT3 and I've really enjoyed the game up to this point. I do wish I could find some information a little easier. Things like what cars require for what races, how much a win is worth, the bonus cars, information on all the cars, how much they cost, what upgrades are available, how much the upgrades cost, and what HP they provide. How to acquire the secret cars and so on and so forth. Now, I know that this site has some of this info and probably has more than I've been able to find. But, as I dabble in web design and database stuff I was thinking of undertaking. Basically I want to create a new GT3 database with all that information and as much else as I or anyone can think of. With GT4 being a long way off and the game being a mere $19.99 it'd be a great resource for people getting into the game or pros to show off what they know.

Basically, what I want to know before I undertake this probably bigger than I realize task is this... is it needed? I figured if anyone would know it is the folks that frequent this forum. Do you think another database is a good idea... and if so, what kind of information and functionallity would you like to see in it?

I appoligize in advance if I'm stepping on any toes or this thread seems out of place. But as I said, I figured I'd ask the folks most in the know.

Thanx in advance. :cheeburga
 
Welcome to GTPlanet. :thumbsup:

This site does provide access to all that information straight from the home page except:
1. which car is best for any particular track - there are threads on this topic and probably noone has built a table of it because it is a subjective topic.
1b. If you meant the physical vehicle requirements (such as aspiration, drivetrain, etc.) for a race - this info is not needed in a database because it is apparent within the 'info' for each race
2. How much a win is worth - can be viewed within the game prior to entering a race if one needs to plan just how much money they need for their next car; therefore such info isn't needed in a database
3. what upgrades available - same for each car depending on drivetrain and aspiration (ie turbo v. NA etc.); therefore, info not needed
4. Secret cars - to the best of my knowledge, this info is hearsay and anything proven to exist from any particular race is already in the car lists on the homepage of GTP. Also, some 'secret' cars not included in the released version but still written to the GT3 program can be found using SharkPort, etc. (there's a whole forum of threads about this - easy to find)

So, from the info you want to have in your database, I'd say that one is not needed for the above reasons. If you or someone were to list other important info that was not described in your first post, that info could make for a good database.

However, it couldn't hurt to build a database of all this info - more websites with generally the same info makes it easier to find that info, right? Assuming you make it easily searchable...

Well, there's my two cents :D
 
Yes, I realize that you can find most of this information within the information section of each race and that data such as this already exists in various forms. But then, pretty much all the data on any website exists somewhere else. Even a vast majority of the info on this site exists in GT3 itself, but when you are able to get that info without going into the game it provides a benifit. And I guess what I'm thinking about is more the package the content arrives in.

I probably didn't make it completely clear in my first post. I know that as a newbie I have sat down and been pretty well overwhelmed by the amount of information that GT3 has. It would have been nice for me to go to a site and say... okay... I have this much money to start with... which car should I get. So I do a search on a car under this much money (I can't remember the starting credits) and it gives me a list. I then can go into the car information and get all the races that would be available for that race. So I pick a car that allows me to run in as many beginner races as possible so that I don't have to spend money buying my second car too soon. Or so that I can plan out my racing so that I know that I will win a car that I can then use in other races... saving me the money so that I only have to buy a car when I need to or want to... not when I'm forced to.

As far as the races go, while you can check the information for each race it'd be nice to see at a couple of mouse clicks the difference in difficulty (possible cars you'd race against) and prize money between the FF race in the Beginner and Amature sections. It'd help you plan your strategy to get to that golden 100% complete.

As I said, I guess I'm going more for completeness (word?) of data in an easy to use, easily searchable format. I know that I'd need tons of help when it comes to gathering the data if I decide to do this. But, as I said, this was more of a "What'cha think of this... is it feasable? Would people actually use it?" question originally than anything else. There's no sense in putting in the many hours it would take me if no one wants it. :)

But I appreciate the feedback Voltron (cool name) and take it in the way it was intended. I just wanted to see if I could clarify a couple of ideas that have been fighting for space in my brain box. ;)
 
Cullyn,

First off, welcome to the forums. :D

Secondly, umm... I know *exactly* what you are saying. I've wondered about slappin' something like that together myself. My problem is, I can rarely find enough time to sit and play the game, let alone build a big DB. The only time I get to post on GTPlanet is while I'm working. hehehe - most of my time spent here is just reading other posts about people playin' the game - that way, I can live vicariously through them.

The problems that Voltron point out, (especially #1) is a very valid point though. Trying to decide which is the best car always brings up very heated discussion.

What you would *likely* be best doing is, stating the pros/cons for each of the sub 18k cars and let the viewer make an educated guess based on that.

As for, what cars are eligible for the most races, and therefore, what is the quickest way to make money early on (which is the hard part) great idea. However, one thing to keep in mind is... that's a HUGE undertaking. For example - the Vitz is probably one of the best cars to start off with, in theory, since it is eligible for one of the "manufacturer" races - which normally pay out the best. However... it is still a Vitz... Blah :p

But hey... if you've got the time, and want the practice in throwin together a DB, I'd be happy to toss in my 2 cents (if it's even worth that) giving both what info I have gleaned from GT3 as well as, suggestions on DB "ease of use"...

<shrug>

Kudos to you for even entertaining the thought of taking on a project like this.
 
well one u must consider all of this. Where are you going to get a free website. I am aware of geocities angelfire and what not but those free websites only provide so much bandwith. The site would run terribly slow if you used one of those. So the cost of a server is needed to be realized. Anywho i do believe that a new Data Base would be helpful. Also there use to be a site which had a list of all the cars organized by their "make" (i.e. toyota, honda...) It listed the stock hp and the max hp, where you win them, how much to buy them for, how much to sell, and if u win or cant win. But to our mis fortune that web site closed down so we gt3 fans are in need of a good (not the gtp is bad, but could be improved) good good data base.
 
Well, if it really came down to it, if we were stuck, I could throw the DB up on our servers here. 'cept, then we'd have to put up with a bunch of annoying advertisements and stuff, 'cause I'm not footin' the bandwidth bills.

hehehe

Oh, I work for a Webhosting company btw.
 
Okay, yeah, I see what your saying. Overall, I think that such a database would be benificial to many people who may be intimidated by the game or sites like GTP or who simply prefer to finish the game in the quickest time possible. There are only a few cars worth buying first and we could give timeline for these cars concerning what to do upgrade after each race (and which races to run with it first, for that matter). Then the next set of cars will become available after a few races and so on... So it would be a database directing those to the most efficient way to play GT3! Well, people should be creative when playing video games... but this would be pretty cool to do! :D

I think organizing such a database could be a challenge and would be happy to lend a hand if you ever decide to do it!
 
Thanx to everyone who has responsed thus far and I thank everyone for their ideas. Good idea about the bandwidth, but I have that handled already. I would be able to host the site myself and it would basically concentrate on the database aspect only. We already have a good place for discussions in GTPlanet.

Yep, I certainly realize that I'm really setting myself up for an awful lot of work, but that's where everyone else comes in. :) I don't think I'll have a problem making the framework for the thing at all, but all the information that I want to put into it will require more than I can put in. That's one reason I posted this in the first place. :) I wanted to see if I could count on some folks in the GT3 community for help with the data because there'd be no way I'd do it on my own. And I do have a longer term goal in mind, considering the fact that GT4 probably won't be here till 2004 (considering its late 2003 release in Japan) it'd be great to have everything in place for a GT4 database except the info. So this is a rather long term endevor I'm suggesting.

I'm not so concerned with giving the "best" car for any situation because that's always going to be a matter of opinion in my opinion. I know of folks who went out of their way to get their favorite car even if it wasn't the "best" for the situation. I know I started with the Miata and was able to complete quite a few different races before I had to actually buy my next car. What I want to give folks is the ability to pour over some easy to lay out info and make their own decisions.

To be honest, this whole idea came from the continued frustration I get from the guide for GT3 that was put out by Versus books. I gives some good ideas but the further I've gotten in the game the more errors I find in the book and that's just frustrating when you figure how many credits you havta save to get a certain car and then find that it's actually another 10K more.

Okay, I'm gonna put some more thought into this and make sure that I spend the amount of time this project will take and in the meantime anyone who wants to help getting the data please post or email me or PM me or whatever. I'm gonna need a ton of help if I decide on to go forward on this.

Thanx for the responses folks.
 
I like your style, Scott. :cool: It's ambitious people like yourself who make the Internet the haven for information that it is. You have my support on the GT3 project, and I think it would make a great addition to GTPlanet. I've got a dedicated Linux box with plenty of power and space, and the amounts of visitors and resourceful members here would help boost your endeavor to integrate and organize all the information into one spot. If you're interested, please let me know at jordan@gtplanet.net and we'll discuss it further. :)
 
Well, I've decided to go ahead with the project here... especially after getting some high level support. ;)

I'm starting work on the nuts and bolts of the database layout now and will be emailing you shortly Jordan to see what'cha got setup as far as that Linux box.

I'm excited and looking forward to meeting with and working with (for fun of course) a ton of new folks on this project.

Anyone who wants to help out or has ideas for me can feel free to email me at cullyn@attbi.com. I'll get back to you as soon as I can and I'm going to try to make some forms or some such up so that the folks helping me will have some idea... and credit. :D
 
Congrats, Cullyn. (Hint: You can get TONS of info off of this link: GT3 GameFAQs)

Make sure you respect the copyrighted information though! ;) --^
 
nah man your safe here as long you don't do somethin we don't like. I think that an online database would be ok just I wouldn't see myself using it that much
 
well cullyn, ive got a hp faq with dealer hp, oil change hp, and then completely tuned hp. however it is two separate list one for cars you can buy and one for cars that you win they are both posted here in gt planet and you are welcome to use them for your database. a few people have put them into excel format also and i now have them on a spreadsheet myself. for the upgrade prices i would be more than happy to figure out the cost. just let me know :)
 
Thanx for the offer klandrader, any and all information I can get for this project is more than welcome. I already have a ton of info but that was one section that I was missing. One more question for folks is this, and I want some answers to this before I get too deeply involved with this section.

I plan on having a car listing with all the cars listed that are available in the game either by purchase or by prize. I plan on having all the stock information available as well as all the races that car can run in. I plan on having race information as well which will include the prize money available, the license and tracks that you race on, series or single, and prize car at the end. Eligible cars will also be listed here.

The upgrade section is something that I've been pondering. I will definately have a Max HP section that klandrader's FAQ will help fill out nicely with the costs of upgrading a car to that point. My question is this: Would you use a worksheet that would allow you to choose specific available upgrades for a car and it would return the HP of the car with those upgrades and the cost of those upgrades. For example (and I'm pulling these number out of thin air), I have a car and I want Turbo 1, a Racing Muffler, and Sport Tires... I check those three things on the webpage and click Submit... and I'm returned with a window saying something like "These upgrades would cost you 14,500 Cr. and would improve your HP to 234."

The reason I ask is that there are 10s of thousands of combinations available depending on what parts a car can use concerning the HP. :eek: And I've found that the HP a part will give you can change depending on what other parts are already installed, which rules out a simple "This part always gives this HP boost" type of formula. That doesn't mean that a formula doesn't exist, just that I haven't had the time to sit down and try to figure it out yet.

If people would use this kind of functionality in this database I'll be happy to pursue it and get some folks to help me out. But if people basically only want the Stock settings and Max HP of a car and don't really care about all the space between, then I'll stick with that.

Let me know what you think folks... this database is as much for you as anyone else. :D
 
Originally posted by Cullyn


The upgrade section is something that I've been pondering. I will definately have a Max HP section that klandrader's FAQ will help fill out nicely with the costs of upgrading a car to that point. My question is this: Would you use a worksheet that would allow you to choose specific available upgrades for a car and it would return the HP of the car with those upgrades and the cost of those upgrades. For example (and I'm pulling these number out of thin air), I have a car and I want Turbo 1, a Racing Muffler, and Sport Tires... I check those three things on the webpage and click Submit... and I'm returned with a window saying something like "These upgrades would cost you 14,500 Cr. and would improve your HP to 234."

The reason I ask is that there are 10s of thousands of combinations available depending on what parts a car can use concerning the HP. :eek: And I've found that the HP a part will give you can change depending on what other parts are already installed, which rules out a simple "This part always gives this HP boost" type of formula. That doesn't mean that a formula doesn't exist, just that I haven't had the time to sit down and try to figure it out yet.

If people would use this kind of functionality in this database I'll be happy to pursue it and get some folks to help me out. But if people basically only want the Stock settings and Max HP of a car and don't really care about all the space between, then I'll stick with that.

Let me know what you think folks... this database is as much for you as anyone else. :D
Click to expand...

that would be a cool feature of a site, but i don't think people would use it as much as the time and effort taken to look into it? i like the idea of the database though!!and welcome.
 
Well, after doing some research I found a much easier way to do what I was trying to do. So there will definately be a section within this database that will contain an area that will allow you to choose parts for a specific car and know how much it will cost you and the HP of the car then. I'm still going to need help getting this information eventually and folks that have a ton of cars with 0HP would be the folks that I need to talk to. This whole project may force me to buy a SharkPort just to get some of the saves...

Which reminds me... I do plan on putting some of the "removed" cars such as the Diablo into the database as long as I can get the information.

Anyone who would like to help, please let me know.
 
well Cullyn heres something youll find very useful for you site :) it contains all of the cost for the cars that you can buy in the game i tried to add the rows but it just didnt seem to work right. long story well any ways here it is : as far as a list goes of all the cars in the game ive got blank spreadsheets with the cars already typed in but nithing else interested?
 

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actually just a couple of days i luckily have my playstation and my pc beside each other so its pretty easy to work with ;) hopefully i didnt make too many mistakes :)
 
Impressive. Thanx klandrader. I was able to look into the latest version of the MK hybrid program and found that it contained both the costs for parts (though your spreadsheet is gonna be heal handy to see if that info is actually right) and the info I need for another section of the site. I'm down to only needing one area I think. And that's specific info on each race. Example of that would be... the 4WD race in Beginner area... which pays out whatever amounts for each place and consists of these tracks with this many laps run on that specific track. Only these certain cars are usuable and if you win you get this prize car. The prize car thing I pretty much have as you can find that pretty much everywhere. But the rest of that info I need compiled. Thankfully it's pretty easy to find within the game.

One more thing to anyone who is actually decent with graphic design out there. I can code pretty well but when it comes to creating a logo or something... well... I'm not so good. <Grin> I have something in mind but don't have the skill in Photoshop to make it. So if someone does have some skill in making images, buttons, logos, whatever... let me know via email (cullyn@attbi.com) or PM me and let's talk.
 
well cullyn i cant find the link but there is a faq on the net somewhere that has all of the info you are looking for i thought i had printed it out but i guess i was wrong if i find it ill let you know :)
 
Excellent! :)

There's no rush though, I have a lot of coding ahead of me and probably won't get a chance to get at it till Monday. Just found out my wife is preggers with our first child... so things are going to be kinda busy at home for awhile. :D
 
Originally posted by Cullyn
Excellent! :)

There's no rush though, I have a lot of coding ahead of me and probably won't get a chance to get at it till Monday. Just found out my wife is preggers with our first child... so things are going to be kinda busy at home for awhile. :D
Click to expand...

congratulations!!!!
 
Cool. I'll check that out probably tonight or tomorrow when I get a chance. Thanx everyone for the well wishes and I did want to let you know that I've actually started some coding and whatever for it. I don't know if Jordan wants folks to know yet as it's just being created now, but I figured I'll let ppl know what the URL will be so that they can check it out as I go along. Keep in mind that as of this post there's only the very very very VERY basic stuff up as I'm working on some of the admin side that most ppl won't see. I just wanted to get some stuff up there to fill some space. Anyway... the URL for the thing will end up being http://db.gtplanet.net and will be in the process of being created over the next few days to few weeks depending on how much over my head I bury myself. :D

As you can see, I did create a logo of sorts but my skillz as a Photoshop editor leave much to be desired. If someone can make a logo that would work out better, feel free to email me and we can talk.

Ah well... back to 'work'. Hehe.
 
looks pretty sweet so far i dont think you will bury yourself to far to many people out in this big gt world and a lot of die hards to get all the info for this game from i know im a gt die hard to just bury me with my game and ill be happy neoseeker has a lot of faqs on their site so you should be up and running real soon
 

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