Paegentry and Promotion: Good Idea or Bad Idea?

[JohnBM01]

Before beginning, nice job to both Mexico and Ecuador (or should I say "Mexico y Ecuador") for a great game. Sadly, the game was a draw at 2-2 in Copa America 2004. Also, congratulations to Greece for defeating Portugal on the road for UEFA Euro, and congrats also to New South Wales defeating Queensland 36-14 in a nice game of rugby.

For some of the race series and endurances, would you like the idea of paegantry and promotion? Imagine being able to race in New York City in GT World Championship, but kind of have a sort of Photo Mode-style promotion deal? My Desktop has the Dodge Viper GTS-R with Brooklyn Bridge and the NYC Skyline in behind. So imagine a promotion deal like this one. Perhaps race groupies can go around on track. And I think to make things fair, let's not implement this for the race. You can just have promotion and paegantry while choosing your race options. Maybe the options for the race can be transparent, so when you're seting up the car, the race video still goes on in the background.

Do you like the idea of pre-race paegantry for the race series and endurances? Reply now.

 

[yeti]

Pageantry

Anyway... you mean like a warm up lap or parade lap?

I wouldn't mind having a parade lap cos that way you could warm up the tyres nicely... (Auto Drive could kick in on the last straight to get you all into the right positions)

Otherwise I'm not sure if I understand your Idea here?!

C.

 

[JohnBM01]

Yeah, something like that, Yeti. It speaks for itself. This wasn't like "...Seperate Cars or Skins" where almost everyone thought I didn't know what I was talking about. But anyways, yeah. Parade laps, demonstrations in the city (for example, racing a car down blocked-off city streets for the purpose of entertainment), that sort of thing.

Anyone else?

 

[Eagle]

I... like it o_O A lot of games these days are coming with the ability to configure your gaming experience. Look at things like Final Fantasy, not only can you pause most dialogue sequences (no more needing to go to the toilet for 3 hours like in FF8), in battles you can turn off animations for characters changing clothes etc. However, if you enjoy them, they're there. Why not add something realistic to the GT series like this? Don't like seeing the cars parade around? Turn them off. Love Replay Mode and the general build up to a race? This is your cup of tea. How hard can it be to control all the cars for a lap, have them running around in order, warming their brakes, swerving side to side to warm the tyres a bit? I think it'd be excellent to see.

 

[yeti]

I see... Yeah I reckon it sounds like a good idea...

Give it a bit more of a glitzy exterior and not just hard and fast racing...

Maybe other things you could do is watch replays of the other people qualifying?

You could have the start of the race with loads of pit members on the track keeping the tyres warm and tweaking the car (This could be in the background of the car setup screen - every time you select a change a bloke comes along and twiddles something as you change it - Or this could start in the pits and when you say go you see the car pull out of the pits and run round the course before the start (This could take a while at Nurburg?!)

When you start a championshop VBH does a voice over describing the championship, it's history, who's racing in what cars... In between each race she could come in and give the placings and points and a run down of the next course etc...

I agree with Eagle though... everything needs to be cancellable so you can just get on with the race!!

C.

 

[Lethalchem]

Maybe other things you could do is watch replays of the other people qualifying?
C.

THAT's what I'd like to see: You qualify first, then have the option to watch your competitors run their laps afterwards. That way you wouldn't just be slotted on the grid immediately, you could watch your time get bumped up or down on the list with each new time submitted. I can see me laughing and cussing the T.V while saying, "Damn! Had the pole till that last freaking guy made his run!". Could add to the game/entertainment if there was an additional point given for obtaining pole.

Of course, this would need to have an option to be skipped over, because I know when I get pumped up and ready to race, I'm not going to want to be FORCED to sit through all the other qualifying laps. 👍

 

[kart racer]

Great idea.I would love to see a pre race "show" in any form.And how about a flagman that waves the flag?

 

[McLaren'sAngel]

Hiya! :lol"


I think it would be a good idea to have those during that screen that displays the current standings, name of cars and points screen thingy. It's like watching races on Speed Channel when they start the program and introduce the race. Like on TV, you see those NASCAR or LeMans car doing warm-up laps in the background while the commentators talk about wut have been going on in the race series or about who they think is going to win! It would be a very good addition to add becuz it would feel more "Professional" to me

 

[JNasty4G63]

Totally would be great. Like Mc's Angel said before me, having something like Bob Varsha or David Hobbs' intros to each of the F1 races would be fun and interesting. They usually give a brief history of the race, the recent drama at the course the last few season, and the up to date championship run-down. Something like that would be great. It would make it seem MUCH more like your IN a race. Great idea, that would rock.

Hilg

 

[JohnBM01]

or Leigh Diffey. But if you want Murray Walker in GT4, reply to my "the best racing announcer is..." topic in the Drifting and Other Motorsports category.

Alternative question: how would you implement it?

 

[DRIFT4EVA]

Pageantry

Anyway... you mean like a warm up lap or parade lap?

I wouldn't mind having a parade lap cos that way you could warm up the tyres nicely... (Auto Drive could kick in on the last straight to get you all into the right positions)

Otherwise I'm not sure if I understand your Idea here?!

C.

I want parade laps.

I want KY to get rid of that ridiculous tyre gauge. I reckon it should be based on tyre Temps, and you should rely on your feel of the car, to know when you need to pit. The colour coding sux.

Yeah parade laps to warm your tyres and show off, would be cool.

 

[JNasty4G63]

If we're only talking about the enduros, then I think a little 1-2 minute intro movie would be pretty easy to get in there. They could have some good Photo Mode shots of the track, some video of cars actually racing the track (either in-game or live action), and maybe a real-time shot of the cars in your actual race taking a warm-up lap toward the end of the intro to lead into the race. I don't know about how to implement dialogue directly related to the actual race since every time you race, it could be different. But some dialogue about the race and the track in general would be sweet.

Hilg

 

[Uncle Harry]

Too showy for my tastes John.
I would prefer the space taken up by a Holden Commodore SS and a Ford Falcon GT and a Bathurst track.
Nice idea though.

John there are 2 forms of Rugby played.
What you watched yesterday was Rugby League which is a completely different game to what you watched last week which was Rugby Union. Do you understand the differences in both games? Nice that you are taking an interst in Australian things.

 

[JohnBM01]

The reason why I mentioned race series and endurances is because they are more appropriate to have. I mean, who'd want to have foxy race groupies and on-street demonstrations in a Pro-level FF (front engine/front drive) Cup? With all the lovely graphical touches GT4 is getting, why not have this? I mean, what if you raced the JGTC in GT4, and with your Xanavi Skyline or Yellow Corn McLaren (granted that the downtuned JGTC F1 makes it into GT4), you get a cute race queen parading around the front stretch. You know, like maybe you have Toshimi Horiguchi or Yuuki Nishino parading around your car before a race begin? Or what if you like "Initial D" and you raced an all black R32 Skyline like the Night Kids leader? So what? Would you want our resident GTP angel McLaren to dress up in a black dress, umbrella in hand, gracing the car and smiling at the camera? I'm not hitting on her. I mean, she's the most active lady of today, so why not use a more realistic feminine example?

I think it would be most fun to have this like if you raced an amateur-level GT World Championship at a race in Tokyo. I mean, your Mercedes-Benz DTM racer will parade Tokyo's Ginza district as the sun goes down. Think of it as... Hot Tokyo Nights (kind of like Hot Reno Nights with all the muscle cars, I'm referring to the correct American event).

I mean, some say that Photo Mode might not be very functional, so even if you can't get all cars on a track at one time in Photo Mode, why not have these wonderful demonstrations and exhibitions of speed. What about a small drag race between your LMP racer... and an F/094h? I mean, this is another "have fun" topic from your boy in Houston, TX, USA- John!

 

[wyndairn]

First, I'm definitely one of those who think Photo Mode is not going to be very functional Fun, yes, but somewhat limited.

Second...I don't really mean to hijack this thread, but to take the idea one step further. *turn on speculation* At what point do we want to draw the line in the "realism" of a life of racing? One of the major things everyone loves about GT is feeling like you actually own the cars and are living this race life. How about you actually have a character that exists somewhere in the GT Universe, and certain race locales are farther away, and you have to move between them, which takes some time off your clock. Maybe you have to buy a truck to move your cars. Maybe you have to drive that truck, drive your cars on and off it. You can drive to anywhere in the GT Universe and challenge the racers there (thereby "entering" a race.) Is this taking the concept of really simulating a racing lifestyle too far? Are you only concerned about the racing physics itself? Am I a newbie out of line with rampant speculation? I was just sort of curious to what extent people would want a FULL simulation.

 

[Eagle]

Uh, no thanks, I know Madden does it, but I doubt the proportion of people likely to enjoy the fiscal fun of running a team and the logistical nightmares of it is going to justify it's inclusion.

Commentaries? Nah. Unless you try to vary the dialogue considerably, they're going to get real stale real fast. If we assume voice is recorded at 16kb/s (it'd be a lot higher) and an average warm up lap takes 2 minutes, for 60 tracks that's about 28MB of voice already. That's a very minimal value, the real figure if employed would easily go into hundreds of meg.

That's why the idea of the warmup lap by itself is good - it doesn't really require anything to be added. Just put the penalty system in place for every car for a lap and you're done.

 

[JohnBM01]

You play Madden? You using my Texans to win the Super Bowl? (j/k)

But yeah, not a lot of people will like voice overs. Maybe we can do things like in old-school RPGs like Chrono Trigger and my favorite Final Fantasy, FF6 (FF3 to America). We can just have four lines of text scroll up as you show off your muscle. Sample text would read:

"...and there you see this Japanese powerhouse fully-modified for racing, the Toyota Supra. This car packs xxx brake horsepower and weighs xxxx lbs/kg. I'm sure people will enjoy watching this car race around Fuji. it should be a thrill to watch this car. But for now, the fans admire this machine. Look at those fans cheer on this car and this great driver!"

Or how about this for an endurance race:

"Take a look at this stunning Pescarolo LMP race car. With xxx horsepower and weighing at xxxx lbs/kg, this car should be a very viable contender for the race win this evening in Hong Kong. The only remaining question for it is, how will the driver able to take this wonderful machine to Victory Lane? We'll find out as this demonstration continues."

Easy as pie, right? Next?

 

[Eagle]

That would be far more plausible, given the info is likely already stored in the game code somewhere for the description in your garage/car dealer.

I have a friend who's an absolute Madden addict from Minnesota, I've learned a bit by osmosis. I don't watch every sport on Earth like you do

 

[Lethalchem]

You play Madden? You using my Texans to win the Super Bowl? (j/k)

But yeah, not a lot of people will like voice overs. Maybe we can do things like in old-school RPGs like Chrono Trigger and my favorite Final Fantasy, FF6 (FF3 to America). We can just have four lines of text scroll up as you show off your muscle. Sample text would read:

"...and there you see this Japanese powerhouse fully-modified for racing, the Toyota Supra. This car packs xxx brake horsepower and weighs xxxx lbs/kg. I'm sure people will enjoy watching this car race around Fuji. it should be a thrill to watch this car. But for now, the fans admire this machine. Look at those fans cheer on this car and this great driver!"

Or how about this for an endurance race:

"Take a look at this stunning Pescarolo LMP race car. With xxx horsepower and weighing at xxxx lbs/kg, this car should be a very viable contender for the race win this evening in Hong Kong. The only remaining question for it is, how will the driver able to take this wonderful machine to Victory Lane? We'll find out as this demonstration continues."

Easy as pie, right? Next?

As stated by others, I think it might get a bit old in time. I remember playing a F1 game (I think) that had commentaries. It gave a blurb about the upcoming track, and what the weather was like. It even said things like, "And the new contender driving for the (whichever team I had chosen) continues to move up the rankings after taking first in the last race at (wherever it was). After the novelty wore off, I found myself hitting the X to shut him up and move on to the race.

 

[Dave A]

Commentaries should be a no no, showng the race build up behind a transparent pre-race menu is a great idea and would add to the games atmosphere.

And Eagle, my avatar is smiling at post 4.

 

[Eagle]

And Eagle, my avatar is smiling at post 4.

w00t for me then eh?

I too played F1 '97 and endured Murray Walker's repetitive pre-recorded commentary. It was novel for a while, but it got old pretty quick, and when you consider how much more is in GT (16 circuits x 24 cars for F1 = 384 vs 60 tracks x 500 cars = 30,000), to maintain some level of originality in GT4 would require a huge amount of dialogue.

 

[JohnBM01]

I'd like to thank everyone for their commentary so far.

So maybe you can use this bit of pageantry and promotion to make pre-race action fun. I'm not trying to bring back my "GT4... Storyline?" topic of many moons ago, but imagine if GT World Championship had a sort of storyline. I mean, while you show your car off to screaming, excited fans, that a vertical-scrolling text kin of gives a prelude of things to come. So for example, for a Nissan R390 GT1 qualifying 4th, had the lead, booted off track, and finished 2nd, check this demo:

"The NISSAN R390 GT1 ended up with 2ND PLACE. A very tough break for the team, when they were all out to win. But in racing, it wasn't meant to be. At least, not this time. Well, a wonderful event here at FUJI. The teams will fix up their cars and head out to NEW YORK for the next round of racing action. The fans there will love to see this battle continue as..."

I put some words in capital letters so that you don't see a caption scrolling up for you winning a race in a Mini Cooper at Nurburgring Nords (imagine that!) when the text says "...Viper GTS-R at Paris..." So in place of the capitalized words in the demo, is the car you raced, the final placing, the track raced, and the next round.

So that's more of paegantry in ways. So tell me. What do you think about taking your car and competiting in demonstrations for the fans? I mean, imagine burning out a Corvette C5R on the streets of Paris before you race the course there. You like?

 

[JohnBM01]

Also, what about being able to participate in non-points races, and even racing in special support races before the big race event? For example, before a JGTC event on one track, you race the track in a specially-prepared Honda S2000? On a plus side, you can earn extra money, for if you need it. And if you lose, you can still compete in the big race.

 

[Dave A]

I think maybe choosing to enter a support series or the main event would be good but not both at the same time. I like the idea of being able to join in the build up and use your car to entertain the fans watching but it would have to be optional and skipable because it would probably get old quick. But keep all the other action before a race running in view behind the menu screen. After a race you could have to medals being handed out behind a transparent post race screen too which would be a nice touch.