- 538
- Pensacola, FL/USA
- SoCal_Senator
Hey all. I just joined GTP yesterday, but have been using the guides and tips and reading what other drivers are doing out there. Great sim, great forum. I’m not technically a “gamer”, and only ones I do play are the driving sims (which I don’t classify as “games”
. My virtual driving experience was years ago with the PC and online versions of NASCAR 2003 and its successor, N4. I’ve always driven with a wheel and pedals—that makes it a sim vs. a game, IMHO. I got GT5 this last Christmas, and didn’t play much until about a month ago. And now I can’t put it down—I’m officially addicted. “My name is Chuck, and I’m a GT5-aholic”. LOL.
Great sim overall, the graphics quality is mostly excellent, even exquisite at times. The physics mechanics are great too, for the most part. The game play is a little strange, with the A and B spec, but there is a LOT to do in the game to finish it, and only gets boring at grinding and FGT shopping time. The overall very high difficulty rating is well deserved, and the few people that have truly “platted” the game (without cheats) deserve some serious respect. I work for a living, so I can’t play 12 hours a day (but I would if I could!). I truly enjoy the game (even when it’s maddening--just think “Elise” and you know what I mean), and probably won’t put it down until I see that plat trophy.* Now on to some observations.
First, big props to “Pesico” for his race series guide—it’s worth its weight in gold--and helped me a lot in getting to where I am today (low 30s rating in both specs, game 87% complete, 30/60 license golds, $12M and counting--running the N-Ring 4 Hour as we speak while I’m at work). His guide needs a few minor updates, but otherwise should be a bible for GT5 racers, especially new folks. I hope it is well linked out there in the racing world for drivers looking for a complete guide to the racing portion.
For new players, don’t go right in and start with license tests or special events just to get money. If you don’t get that “Penniless” trophy right away, it is a pain in the you-know-where to get it. Myself, I started the game over after being in the mid twenties on both specs so I could mount a serious campaign to get all golds and trophies. And it was fun starting over in a way. For me, being an experienced racer, I found the actual racing in A spec much easier than the crazy licenses and special events.
I will be doing the Endurance Series in A-spec this weekend--at least the first 3 or 4 anyway (hope I'm still married on Monday...LOL). In the B spec, there’s no real work in the Endurance Series, it’s just grinding to get to the required level, and then setting your Minolta or FGT loose to dominate every one of them. Just for giggles, I have tried using a much weaker car in the lower endurance races, and they still rock the competition (these 30+-rated Bobs are good Son!). As far as type of B-Spec drivers, I have tried all types (hot and cool and in the middle), but eventually every one of them goes cold when leading and slows down too quickly--losing his edge (and lead). I wish PD would address this in future patches.
1. Cars that rock: The Mazda Furai Concept that you get for a prize car in the very early Amateur Series will blow away competition even up in the Expert and early Endurance series races. Buying and fully tuning the Nissan GT-R at level 11 pays big rewards. Of course, the Minolta Race Car and Formula GT (more on that one in a minute) are indispensible in the higher levels of the game. But in my mind, the unsung hero of this game is the Corvette ZR-1 C6 RM 09. Other than the high end Formula-type and true race cars (Pescarolo’s, etc.), it rocks everything it races against. (And I’ve read a lot of US-car bashing on this site, shame on you!). This car will be your workhorse when you reach those levels where grinding for $ and XP are needed. At Indy, it sticks like glue and just flies. The American Championship race, 5 laps, is perfect for getting your “Human Stopwatch” trophy too. It easily gets close to lapping the other cars, but that final lap they are just far enough away to not give you a draft and speed you up. Plus, the engine overhaul is MUCH cheaper than the higher cars. These cars are all MONEY. (Pesico noted the GT-R and Vette as special in his guide).
2. Infuriating things: I’m not sure if it’s due to a recent patch, but that FGT is a bugger to find in the UCD now. I have done the “open 5 license tests” trick about 30 times, with no luck. The inventory does change, but the FGT just refuses to show up. It’ll get it eventually, and I have raced it before with great success. (With the PSN being down now for its 7th day, it has kept me from getting it in the OLUCD).
3. Infuriating things II: Level of difficulty in golding some license tests and special events. There is too much luck involved, and these tests should be more based on actual racing skills, not just getting lucky on your 268th try at some tricky time trial. Some people are ready to throw their console through the window for the NASCAR events (special events and in the Extreme Series)—I golded all of them fairly easily—but I would give my kingdom for the Elise Challenge gold. LOL. I have read tip after tip, and tried every imaginable setting, but folks I just can’t win that challenge with a car that behaves like it has smooth glass tires driving on wet ice--OMG. I’ll get it done eventually. By the way, us complaining about it won’t get these tricky challenges done, but here’s to hoping that PD may address this in the future. PS: The kid in here somewhere that made the tip about bashing the car coming out of the pits on NASCAR Advanced is right, you can get in line quickly and make contact without being DQ’ed. But Why-Oh-Why do you have to sit thru the 1.5 minute intro on that challenge anyway?
4. XP things to consider. Check the amount you need to go up a level before starting a race or challenge, especially in the higher series where you get more points. Your points don’t carry over to the next level, so be mindful of wasting XP won. It’s best to level up with just enough points than go over by thousands. If you only need a few thousand or so, go and re-do an earlier short race, or a license test if you are real close. Be extra mindful when doing the “Championships” as you can’t leave them. And here’s an LOL that cost me a lot of time. I used to go into the events with championships, and do the individual races, and THEN the “championship” (where all 3 or 5 races are back to back), but you don’t have to. Just do the first one, and you get the appropriate trophy for each individual race. Also remember you don’t have to win every single race in the championship the first time—just win it overall, then you can go into the individual races and win them to get all golds.
5. $ things to consider. If you’re going for the all golds, don’t sell cars early to get money. Just do more events and licenses, or re-race those boring Sunday Cup races. First off you get shafted when selling your cars, and secondly you have to get 1000 in your garage, so you need everyone.*Sure, you can sell them, but then it’s just more work to fill your garage later, and I don’t know about you, but I want the “Colorful” trophy, and don’t want to have to sit and buy 850 PDI Racing Karts that only have a few paint chips to add. Also with regards to money, after you get the Multi-Millionaire trophy ($10M) and the FGT, money matters less--it’s all about the XP. I guess some of you want the prestige of getting to the max of $20M--perhaps to buy the X1 instead of just getting to B-Spec level 35 where you get it for free! I suppose once you near level 40, you can just go on a shopping spree and buy as many different cheap cars as you can. Note to PD: there should be a trophy for getting to $20M, too (maybe call it the “Mega Millionaire” trophy or something). That will come naturally, even though it takes a long time.
6. Tranny settings. Once you get up in the Expert and Extreme series, it’s good to check your top speed settings--especially in any race where you will draft at all, or don’t have a clearly superior car that can’t be touched. I find it best to have it just start “pinging” red at my highest possible speed. If you set it too high, the car will be a bit boggy and not accelerate as quickly as possible, but if it’s too low you will red-line early on the fast areas and the AI can gain ground on you. Also, for the longer endurance races it’s a good idea to not have your engine red-lining all the time--especially if you use damage settings.
That’s all for now, good luck to everyone out there, and remember to not be too hard on the n00bs--you were all one at one time, too… I’m glad to answer questions in areas that I know about, and will probably be a regular contributor on here--especially to help out the rookies where I can.
Peace!
. My virtual driving experience was years ago with the PC and online versions of NASCAR 2003 and its successor, N4. I’ve always driven with a wheel and pedals—that makes it a sim vs. a game, IMHO. I got GT5 this last Christmas, and didn’t play much until about a month ago. And now I can’t put it down—I’m officially addicted. “My name is Chuck, and I’m a GT5-aholic”. LOL.Great sim overall, the graphics quality is mostly excellent, even exquisite at times. The physics mechanics are great too, for the most part. The game play is a little strange, with the A and B spec, but there is a LOT to do in the game to finish it, and only gets boring at grinding and FGT shopping time. The overall very high difficulty rating is well deserved, and the few people that have truly “platted” the game (without cheats) deserve some serious respect. I work for a living, so I can’t play 12 hours a day (but I would if I could!). I truly enjoy the game (even when it’s maddening--just think “Elise” and you know what I mean), and probably won’t put it down until I see that plat trophy.* Now on to some observations.
First, big props to “Pesico” for his race series guide—it’s worth its weight in gold--and helped me a lot in getting to where I am today (low 30s rating in both specs, game 87% complete, 30/60 license golds, $12M and counting--running the N-Ring 4 Hour as we speak while I’m at work). His guide needs a few minor updates, but otherwise should be a bible for GT5 racers, especially new folks. I hope it is well linked out there in the racing world for drivers looking for a complete guide to the racing portion.
For new players, don’t go right in and start with license tests or special events just to get money. If you don’t get that “Penniless” trophy right away, it is a pain in the you-know-where to get it. Myself, I started the game over after being in the mid twenties on both specs so I could mount a serious campaign to get all golds and trophies. And it was fun starting over in a way. For me, being an experienced racer, I found the actual racing in A spec much easier than the crazy licenses and special events.
I will be doing the Endurance Series in A-spec this weekend--at least the first 3 or 4 anyway (hope I'm still married on Monday...LOL). In the B spec, there’s no real work in the Endurance Series, it’s just grinding to get to the required level, and then setting your Minolta or FGT loose to dominate every one of them. Just for giggles, I have tried using a much weaker car in the lower endurance races, and they still rock the competition (these 30+-rated Bobs are good Son!). As far as type of B-Spec drivers, I have tried all types (hot and cool and in the middle), but eventually every one of them goes cold when leading and slows down too quickly--losing his edge (and lead). I wish PD would address this in future patches.
1. Cars that rock: The Mazda Furai Concept that you get for a prize car in the very early Amateur Series will blow away competition even up in the Expert and early Endurance series races. Buying and fully tuning the Nissan GT-R at level 11 pays big rewards. Of course, the Minolta Race Car and Formula GT (more on that one in a minute) are indispensible in the higher levels of the game. But in my mind, the unsung hero of this game is the Corvette ZR-1 C6 RM 09. Other than the high end Formula-type and true race cars (Pescarolo’s, etc.), it rocks everything it races against. (And I’ve read a lot of US-car bashing on this site, shame on you!). This car will be your workhorse when you reach those levels where grinding for $ and XP are needed. At Indy, it sticks like glue and just flies. The American Championship race, 5 laps, is perfect for getting your “Human Stopwatch” trophy too. It easily gets close to lapping the other cars, but that final lap they are just far enough away to not give you a draft and speed you up. Plus, the engine overhaul is MUCH cheaper than the higher cars. These cars are all MONEY. (Pesico noted the GT-R and Vette as special in his guide).
2. Infuriating things: I’m not sure if it’s due to a recent patch, but that FGT is a bugger to find in the UCD now. I have done the “open 5 license tests” trick about 30 times, with no luck. The inventory does change, but the FGT just refuses to show up. It’ll get it eventually, and I have raced it before with great success. (With the PSN being down now for its 7th day, it has kept me from getting it in the OLUCD).
3. Infuriating things II: Level of difficulty in golding some license tests and special events. There is too much luck involved, and these tests should be more based on actual racing skills, not just getting lucky on your 268th try at some tricky time trial. Some people are ready to throw their console through the window for the NASCAR events (special events and in the Extreme Series)—I golded all of them fairly easily—but I would give my kingdom for the Elise Challenge gold. LOL. I have read tip after tip, and tried every imaginable setting, but folks I just can’t win that challenge with a car that behaves like it has smooth glass tires driving on wet ice--OMG. I’ll get it done eventually. By the way, us complaining about it won’t get these tricky challenges done, but here’s to hoping that PD may address this in the future. PS: The kid in here somewhere that made the tip about bashing the car coming out of the pits on NASCAR Advanced is right, you can get in line quickly and make contact without being DQ’ed. But Why-Oh-Why do you have to sit thru the 1.5 minute intro on that challenge anyway?
4. XP things to consider. Check the amount you need to go up a level before starting a race or challenge, especially in the higher series where you get more points. Your points don’t carry over to the next level, so be mindful of wasting XP won. It’s best to level up with just enough points than go over by thousands. If you only need a few thousand or so, go and re-do an earlier short race, or a license test if you are real close. Be extra mindful when doing the “Championships” as you can’t leave them. And here’s an LOL that cost me a lot of time. I used to go into the events with championships, and do the individual races, and THEN the “championship” (where all 3 or 5 races are back to back), but you don’t have to. Just do the first one, and you get the appropriate trophy for each individual race. Also remember you don’t have to win every single race in the championship the first time—just win it overall, then you can go into the individual races and win them to get all golds.
5. $ things to consider. If you’re going for the all golds, don’t sell cars early to get money. Just do more events and licenses, or re-race those boring Sunday Cup races. First off you get shafted when selling your cars, and secondly you have to get 1000 in your garage, so you need everyone.*Sure, you can sell them, but then it’s just more work to fill your garage later, and I don’t know about you, but I want the “Colorful” trophy, and don’t want to have to sit and buy 850 PDI Racing Karts that only have a few paint chips to add. Also with regards to money, after you get the Multi-Millionaire trophy ($10M) and the FGT, money matters less--it’s all about the XP. I guess some of you want the prestige of getting to the max of $20M--perhaps to buy the X1 instead of just getting to B-Spec level 35 where you get it for free! I suppose once you near level 40, you can just go on a shopping spree and buy as many different cheap cars as you can. Note to PD: there should be a trophy for getting to $20M, too (maybe call it the “Mega Millionaire” trophy or something). That will come naturally, even though it takes a long time.
6. Tranny settings. Once you get up in the Expert and Extreme series, it’s good to check your top speed settings--especially in any race where you will draft at all, or don’t have a clearly superior car that can’t be touched. I find it best to have it just start “pinging” red at my highest possible speed. If you set it too high, the car will be a bit boggy and not accelerate as quickly as possible, but if it’s too low you will red-line early on the fast areas and the AI can gain ground on you. Also, for the longer endurance races it’s a good idea to not have your engine red-lining all the time--especially if you use damage settings.
That’s all for now, good luck to everyone out there, and remember to not be too hard on the n00bs--you were all one at one time, too… I’m glad to answer questions in areas that I know about, and will probably be a regular contributor on here--especially to help out the rookies where I can.
Peace!
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