Spa Franchorchamps - a matter of when, not if.

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machschnel
Spa Franchorchamps is one of the most widely respected, and loved track's on Earth. Hosting the Spa 24 Hour, Formula 1 Belgian Gran Prix and the DTM Spa 1000 in recent history, it's racing pedigree is among the elite.

So when news started to spread that Gran Turismo 5, arguably the closest a console owner will get to a PC-level sim, would include Spa, a audible sigh of relief could be heard among GT enthusiast's. It stemmed from the following article -

https://www.gtplanet.net/video-reveals-polyphony-digital-visitedstudied-spa-francorchamps/

The above article shows at the very least, Polyphony have worked to some degree on Spa. As to the actual amount completed, one cannot say. But with the surprising omission of Spa from GT5, questions have been raised as to when, or even if Spa will grace the track list of Gran Turismo 5. The aforementioned article is near proof that Spa will in fact eventually come to the game.

In late December, a surprising Red Bull gaff, seen below, only added validity to the claim. Pikes Peak, the famed hill climb run, is said to be in GT5, but, for the moment at least, it's not. It's omission from GT5 isn't the only thing it holds in common with Spa however - it is also one of the tracks listed in the above article. Two famous tracks, both left out, both appear on what seems to be a beta track list and in both cases, some circumstantial evidence can be found that supports the theory that they are in fact in GT5.

https://www.gtplanet.net/red-bull-says-pikes-peak-is-in-gran-turismo-5/

So when?

The best time would appear to be late July, to coincide with the real life running of the Spa 24 Hour. Also, it's not too early that people will question why it wasn't included in the game originally and it would be the optimum time to release a "refresher" like Spa to what by then may well be the slightly bored masses.

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Because of the crude way that pd tie the physics specifically to the track, just the moddelling isn't the only time consuming part sadly. Hence there are so few tracks in gt5.
 
nickg07
Because of the crude way that pd tie the physics specifically to the track
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What do you mean by this? When it comes to physics, I'm in a little over my head.
 
Wild assumptions, eh? Fun stuff.

My guess is that they studied the tracks to get ideas for the track creator. Spa looks very reminiscent of the Eiffel layout, and I'm sure you can create some "Pikes Peak-esque" tracks on the hillier rally layouts.
 
Hope it does come, its my favourite track. this is me.

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I fairly sure DLC will be coming along with something to please the lot of us.

Its gonna be a long while till GT6 so in the mean time small cash injections from DLC sounds pretty good.

I personally love Spa and hope it'll make its way to GT5.
 
I remembered this article:

Famitsu asked Yamauchi is we can expect new cars, courses and photo mode locations as download content. Cars and courses are difficult to make, explained Yamauchi, and thus can't be added in the same amount of time it takes to do a bug fix or event update. "They may be added as expansion content, or we may leave it until the next title.
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So I believe in GT6, which should ask less time then GT5 to see the light.
 
oldboy74
Hope it does come, its my favourite track. this is me.
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I agree, would be an excellent addition to GT, I only ever practice on the real tracks, 95% on the 'Ring. I'd love Brands GP, Goodwood and Bedford Autodrome too (my favourite three UK tracks I have driven on) but that will never happen.

Spa is such an important track historically, and some great corners too.

You're from Worthing, I grew up there, well I lived there from 1 to 25 anyway, not really grown up yet.
 
MiseryStreak
I agree, would be an excellent addition to GT, I only ever practice on the real tracks, 95% on the 'Ring. I'd love Brands GP, Goodwood and Bedford Autodrome too (my favourite three UK tracks I have driven on) but that will never happen.

Spa is such an important track historically, and some great corners too.

You're from Worthing, I grew up there, well I lived there from 1 to 25 anyway, not really grown up yet.
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Where abouts in worthing? i live 2 mins from the station, only been here for 8yrs, am a littlehampton boy (although i keep that one quiet). Brands would be excelent with the elevation changes and i'd also like to see the old Brooklands track as well, i went to Mercedes world a couple of years ago and while following the signs to the car park i got to race on a large part of the banking thats still there, it almost made me cry.
 
JTSnooks
Wild assumptions, eh? Fun stuff.

My guess is that they studied the tracks to get ideas for the track creator. Spa looks very reminiscent of the Eiffel layout, and I'm sure you can create some "Pikes Peak-esque" tracks on the hillier rally layouts.
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But Spa is not in the Eiffel 💡
 
JTSnooks
Wild assumptions, eh? Fun stuff.

My guess is that they studied the tracks to get ideas for the track creator. Spa looks very reminiscent of the Eiffel layout, and I'm sure you can create some "Pikes Peak-esque" tracks on the hillier rally layouts.
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A wild assumption would be me claiming Sebring is coming to Gran Turismo 5 in March. I have no evidence to support it. You gave a fine example yourself. A "Pikes Peak-esque" track in track creator? Wild assumptions indeed.

Read the Red Bull article. Pikes Peak is discussed in such detail, I really can't see they were talking about anything other than the real track.

What's easier to believe? Polyphony studied two of the most famous and popular race tracks in the world for "ideas", or they are going to actually use them in the game?
 
The most playable track in video games. I was amazed PD lft it out of GT5.
 
Don't hold your breath for Spa. Just because they have pictures and some data from it, doesn't mean it will be finished and added. Who says that track list isn't work for GT6 as well? Based on what we got form the final build, in relation to all the announced features and stuff, expect less than what we had seen prior to release day.
 
Spa is a nice track.

I reckon there are still many things in GT5 that will be "unlocked".
 
machschnel
A wild assumption would be me claiming Sebring is coming to Gran Turismo 5 in March. I have no evidence to support it. You gave a fine example yourself. A "Pikes Peak-esque" track in track creator? Wild assumptions indeed.

Read the Red Bull article. Pikes Peak is discussed in such detail, I really can't see they were talking about anything other than the real track.

What's easier to believe? Polyphony studied two of the most famous and popular race tracks in the world for "ideas", or they are going to actually use them in the game?
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Neither. The easiest thing to believe is that neither will ever appear in the game. You can pretty much count on that.
 
machschnel
A wild assumption would be me claiming Sebring is coming to Gran Turismo 5 in March. I have no evidence to support it. You gave a fine example yourself. A "Pikes Peak-esque" track in track creator? Wild assumptions indeed.

Read the Red Bull article. Pikes Peak is discussed in such detail, I really can't see they were talking about anything other than the real track.

What's easier to believe? Polyphony studied two of the most famous and popular race tracks in the world for "ideas", or they are going to actually use them in the game?
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I was going to respond, but Falango summed it up perfectly.

Falango
Don't hold your breath for Spa. Just because they have pictures and some data from it, doesn't mean it will be finished and added. Who says that track list isn't work for GT6 as well? Based on what we got form the final build, in relation to all the announced features and stuff, expect less than what we had seen prior to release day.
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Exactly. I don't see any reason for PD to release more tracks for GT5, certainly not in the near future and absolutely not for free. Spa they may be working on for GT6, or maybe they just visited and took pictures for ideas. Mapping out that entire course would be a significant undertaking, and I don't think they'd put in enough effort just to release it as free DLC a couple months after the game comes out. Pikes Peak is much more likely to actually have been worked on due to the Red Bull article, but considering when Kaz was asked about the article he basically said they were off their rocker and he had no idea where they got the information from.

My point is, if they end up releasing new cars/tracks/themes/whatever else, that's awesome. But I'm not expecting or anticipating that they'll spontaneously release my favorite track anytime soon if it's not already in the game. Nothing Kaz has said has made it sound like DLC tracks will be coming in the near future (or possibly ever), so I'm not getting my hopes up only to complain when nothing happens.
 
I don't understand why the model of 'make a great game, then just add to it with more tracks and cars' isn't the predominantly successful model in racing games.

The cost of scanning new cars and tracks, although high, isn't even CLOSE to the effort to code an entire game. With games costing $60, and people happy to pay $20 for DLC (or expansion discs) with just a few more cars and a track or two, if they are as iconic as Spa, it seems that the game developer could get three packs out in a year, and make as much as if they had coded an entirely new game.

I happily payed $20 for the Exotic DLC in Shift, and as it had some great cars (- Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione - BMW M1 Procar - Gumpert Apollo - Honda NSX - McLaren MP4-12C - Maserati GranTurismo S - Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren Stirling Moss) and a Monaco clone with four variants, felt I got my money's worth. If the basic game hadn't been so flawed (mostly physics, DFGT FFB and online lack of booting), I would have been happy to continue to play the game and buy semi-regular DLC. Loads of money for EA, loads of fun for me...

Mind you, I guess it's all kind of moot while GT5 remains such a 'work in progress'. If properly patched, PD could quite easily milk the DLC for another three or four years while they work on getting something amazing for the PS4 out, but in it's current incarnation, to be honest, if PD don't address all the problems, you might as well wait for GT6. BUT.... I am not sure how well GT6 is going to sell if PD DON'T patch GT5 into something better balanced and more fun. I for one will probably not return to the franchise if they leave it in its current abysmal state. However, SpaGP, Brands Hatch (BOTH layouts), Sao Paulo, Sebring, Road Atlanta/America and many other great tracks as DLC might make me see it differently.
 
This has been covered before. Several times. Please use the search function - that's what it's for.
 
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