The perfect racing environment

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JohnBM01

JohnBM01

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Hello, GT Planet.

This is a chance to let your creative juices flow again. This time, you can think about what environment you'd like to race through. I'm looking at Darin's avatar... and here are two ideas I have for environments I don't mind racing under:

(1) I'm more of a city person. I'd like a race through the suburbs where trees line up the sides of the street. But these are like, small trees. You know, little trees, usually without leaves and covered in Christmas lights when dark. All the while, I am admiring the evening air. The skies are looking like sunset, but it is still late afternoon, heading into evening. I'd love to race in an environment where I can get an impressive view of the commercial district, more like the Galleria here in Houston, Texas, USA.

(2) If I wanted a race track, I'd have to choose a track that is BEAUTIFUL to race through. I can imagine that a wicked snowstorm raged through the night. As the snowstorm ended a little past midnight, the skies clear up, and I am racing at 8 or 9 AM through it all. After snowplows make the road usable (not to mention the pit road and some escape routes), the track has green grass, but covered with little flakes of snow. Skies are beautifully clear, the sun is in the morning sky and even thought it is blinding, the skies have a deep blue hue. For added effects, I can see some of the stars still in the sky that aren't as bright as the sun. It is so lovely of a sight as I see.

What would you want to see? Imagine an environment, regardless of which it is. Just picture a certain environment and do whatever you like.
 
i would like to race on the sea side, point to point type racing not circuit. NFS 1 had a track like that.
dont get me wrong i love circuits but i would like to see some point to point racing
 
Originally posted by VIPERGTSR01
i would like to race on the sea side, point to point type racing not circuit. NFS 1 had a track like that.
dont get me wrong i love circuits but i would like to see some point to point racing
Click to expand...

Well, the rally races are circuit too... I'd like to see them point to point...

My favourite track should be:

A track close to the sea, running through the mountains with many sharp corners and much difference in height. And some tunnels an da passage through water, like in nfs 6, but they wouldn't do that in gt4, that's for sure.
 
From what I've seen of the Capri track,it looks very much like a seaside location...just bring it.
 
I would like allot of nature tracks.
Seaside with blue water, white sand and black cliffs, forests with autumn leaves, mountains with high sky and an occasional snowstorm, desserts with sun in zenith, green hills in a thunderstorm. Yep, everything with a beautiful scenery and then added some stunning light of dawn, dusk, moving leaves etc... :)
 
i would like to see the best road i have ever been down a run from Kahului Bay down Hana HWY to Hana in Maui Hawaii

i swear that the road is so curvy in some places that i passed myself going down it :lol:
 
edit: not sure how this happened :confused:
 
I've heard on ign.com that Pikes Peak Hillclimb is back. Imagine the graphis for that: Beautifully detailed mountain sides, Racing throught the clouds in the Escudo!!!
 
Originally posted by VIPERGTSR01
i would like to race on the sea side, point to point type racing not circuit. NFS 1 had a track like that.
dont get me wrong i love circuits but i would like to see some point to point racing
Click to expand...

Yeah, that coastal track was ace, as was the Alpine track.

Personally I prefer countryside style roads & race circuits to city tracks. Although the real race circuits in GT : P seem a bit sparse/dull visually when playing them, I guess its down to the longer view distance needed on real circuits.
 
I'd agree on some point-to-point racing. Especially if you could tell a pit crew where to be along the way so the race could be longer. I got 108 miles on my T2s in a 787B on Tokyo. I'd want to be racing a lot farther than that.
 
personally i'd like a track to go straight through DC and go through my neighborhood. I love it in a game when I can recognize the buildings and stuff. Nothing would be cooler to have my house be in a game. But I guess Ill have to wait for GT5 or see if its in midtown madness 3 cause its got DC in it
 
Another good thread, JohnBM01 :)

I let my mind wander and this is what I came up with...

Track Effect

Dawn Mist: When ever you see spy-shots of F1 cars they're almost always taken at some test track early in the morning on a fresh winter's day with the mist hanging in the air at about waist height. The effect is kind of mysterious and the mist adds an interesting lonely, haunting effect to the sounds created by engine and exhaust. So, there's a track effect I'd like. Now for the location...

Location

Well I guess for the mist to look good it needs to have something rising out of it in the distance. I'm thinking tall tightly packed fir trees. So I guess Northern Europe would be a good place to start. Now what country in Europe most conjures up thoughts of cars and motor-racing heritage? Well it has to be Italy doesn't it? So, somewhere in Italy that has fir forests, but no mountains. Mountains are too imposing and over-powering for this track. You need a feeling of space to add to the lonliness created by the mist. Is there anywhere like that in Italy?

Track Type

For this track to work it needs to be uncluttered, so no grandstands or cheering spectators. Just the track the mist and the distant trees. Oh and a deserted pit lane. The track doesn't need to be too complex or big. Just a good balance of different corner types and a bit of undulation for disappearing and reappearing in the mist.

And there you have it. For me, the perfect track to set up my cars on!
 
As an artist, one of my specialties is night. So I believe in sparkling effects. Now when it comes to skies and environments, Ridge Racer V has beautifully blue skies coupled with a mix of country and city roads, and if anyone knows how to combine both worlds, let it be Namco and their racing franchise Ridge Racer V.

To add with that, imagine if the sky looked like nighttime. You know, the higher up in the sky you look, the more stars you can see? I mean, it's all good to be a realistic racer in every aspect, but nature has its own phenomena, like the Midnight Sun in far northern locations.

Rally will likely produce the finest effects because most rallies take place at exotic locations with almost any and every kind of natural wonders. Don't count out any rally ideas. But if there is a rally in snow, I would love to see a nighttime rally in the snow. The sun is setting, but you can see a beautiful galaxy or nebula in the night skies as you are kicking up snow.

Anyone else?
 
I would LOVE something evil and industrial - Like Zone Industrielle in NFS : PU.. That poorly lit highspeed stretch really works for me...

And I'm all for point to point sprints (However long or short they might be) !
 
Originally posted by JohnBM01
(2) If I wanted a race track, I'd have to choose a track that is BEAUTIFUL to race through.
Click to expand...

i'm with you :)
 
I'd love a night track (point to point) high on a mountian side with a combination of long, high-speed corners and tight sharp corners that follows along a coast with dense forest on one side and a wide open ocean on the other that has a full moon reflecting on it.

The track would end at the top of the mountain either looking back across the track out to the ocean or looking to other way down on to the street lights of the city below.
 
I would like a high speed city track at night. A place like New York city with big straightaways and then tough corners (kinda like the special stages and the new New York track combined). I think it would be sweet seeing all the city lights fly past you like lasers at night as you drive in a 787B
 
I have the original NFS game, but the SE edition. There are three courses that are point-to-point. I don't really like point to point races, but I think the Alpine course was the toughest.

The Coastal P2P race resembled a run down Florida's beaches near the Atlantic Ocean. To see GT4 do such a thing, it would be nice for a rally or for high-speed cars. Kazunori, PLEASE put the Pennzoil Toyota Tacoma Pikes Peak in there! I would love to tear butt on those streets!

Next off, the City P2P race. It's actually kind of boring. You don't have a great race into downtown. I was probably looking for a middle-class community, then the suburbs, and then the streets of downtown for a challenging race. NFS's rendition of that was more of a drive down a highway that leads to overpasses and tunnels. Section 3 does have a challenging set of turns that can make the difference between finishing 1st, and finishing... well, you know what I'm talking about.

Then there is the Alpine Course. You drive through the mountains as you encounter forests and huge jumps. Of course, how does it feel to race a Lamorghini Diablo like a rally car? Jumping into the air like that?

If however, you want a point-to-point race, here is my suggestion, as a city man. I'm thinking of a six-part P2P race starting from the University of Houston to MacGregor Park, on the left side of the bayou, through a few roads leading to the Texas Medical Center. From the Medical Center, you go past Rice University and run a high-speed route into Rice Village. The race finish would be at the Galleria shopping mall.

For that to happen, though, a LOT of streets would have to be blocked off, and that's not easy considering Houston traffic. This point-to-point race would be more of a high-speed road rally than a real P2P race like NFS.

Any more ideas on what kind of environment would like to race through?
 
Perfect racing enviroment is racing track located partialy in the real road, in the woods and in the downhills... so, it would be LeMans and Spa :).

And the city I live in - Zagreb - on fantasy city track located in very centre of the town.
 
Maybe I'm just dreaming, but... what's with all the point-to-point races? I'm used to closed-circuit events. You complete a lap, and do it all over again instead of having just one shot. Closed circuit tracks tend to allow you to redo the same turns so that you can better drive easily through them. But open, since there are no laps, you have to drive it as best as you can. Take it as they come, so to speak. And surely, the Crusin' series capitalized on that. Whether it was around America, around the world, or whatever Crusin' Exotica was about, they did pretty well at it. And knowing Midway, ANYTHING is possible.

A way to make things more interesting is to enhance environmental features so that racing doesn't get to be dull. Like I seen in pictures of Gran Turismo Concept (GTC is a beautiful-looking game), I seen a car rustle up leaves while off course at the Autumn Ring. Not to mention a deep, blue, beautiful sky. Maybe if you can have the sun with lens flares with nothing but desert blue skies (meaning, the higher up you look on a clear day, skies are beautifully clear and deep), that would be interesting to drive through. Imagine if you could race through a tree-lined street. Beyond the trees on either side are homes on one side, and maybe a university on the other. But the trees lose their leaves as you race a silver Mercedes in the afternoon air. How about some nighttime magic? The skies look incredibly dark with stars about to come out, and as you look to one end, the sun is still out, leaving a blue and orange hue over where the sun set. Therefore, you're racing in the city, and it is more like twilight than total darkness. Or go to the country. Imagine rally cars with their lights on with the beautiful stars at night in rural Japan, but what's that in the sky? The Moon! And galaxies and nebulae are out in the sky accompanying the moon.

Be creative. Be poetic. What would be a great racing environment?
 
I'm not so good at being 'poetic', so here are a few piccies to help me

00121x.jpg

Imagine a winding road on a crisp mid-winter's day surrounded by pine forest and placid lakes

road-2.jpg

The track should be very narrow, a nice fun track for the more 'accessible' cars that will be represented in GT4, particularly sports saloons/hatchbacks... the tarmac rough and crumbling at the edges

The%20Open%20Road.JPG

Views like this might be difficult to achieve, but the general effect should be possible... smooth altitude changes with flowing sections on smooth wider tarmac interspersed with tight twisty narrow bits (like pic 2)

Driving2.JPG

OK, so not quite pine, but this is kinda how it might look away from the lake... yes, very deep forest-like, but it is far narrower and the surface of the road should be very irregular to catch you out (just like the real thing) with off camber and non-symmetrical bumps in the road that do not cover its entire width... makes line choice crucial

Overall a track like this would be for sheer exhilaration, possibly frustrating for some people, but hey... THis is where the new wheel would be in its element, fine tuned precision for seat of the pants driving on demanding european roads.
Very much a personal thing here, I need to feel the excitement of having to constantly cover the brakes and gear lever whilst battling with the road surface and demanding curves; total immersion and 100% brain usage on keeping the car on the dark stuff...
Now imagine a duel (too narrow for 6 cars, methinks) with a human opponent on this course.. it'd all be about balls and braking points, you'd be sweating adreneline...
 
Maybe you should give Kazunori Yamauchi that idea, Griffith... that was damn good.

Maybe a nice drive while the sun is rising and you're on country roads (too risky for city life) driving around trying to test your car. If you have an already good car, you're driving it like Alain de Cadenet with "Victory by Design." I do like a nighttime race while the skies are dark, but the little bit of sunlight is left at one side. You know, it's dark in the skies, but you could still see one area that looks like the sun hasn't completely gone down, giving way to night. By the way, have it in the city.
 
Narrow mountain roads with lots and lots of trees, a lake, lots of ambient noise.. and no spectators..

crowded city with ckyscrapers, lots of lights, plenty of signs and road markings with multiple lane roads with a large series of tight corners.

There are so many cool tracks and places to race.. its hard to think of just one. Maybe a mountain that starts off like a hard core touge and leads down to a valley with a large urban center.
 
Now, I'm more of a city guy, as I said. I do like natural settings. I think the view from Limerock is lovely. A little mountain with trees in the background. I dare Sweden or Alaska to come up with a road race track and have a race on a snowy evening. While studded tires on GT racers is horribly impossible, of course, the track has to be plowed to show the asphalt. But the most impressive characteristic will be maybe past Intermediate 2 or 3, where you can see the setting sun, and a beautiful view of the water.

If you want a clearer imagination, imagine Deep Forest. By the time you head up track to the rocky-lined wall ,guardrail-protected, high-speed section. But instead of the view under, imagine it replaced with a fairly high river, so to your left, you see water, glistened by the sun. And might I add, snowy trees and mountains. I think snow is so pure and lovely. Usually, when you are at the peak of a lot of snow, it is because you see the sun, plus the view below makes for a spectacular sight.

Now, if coastal is your style, imagine a street race course that overlooks a large body of water. Here in Houston, we have a small town called Kemah, that overlooks Galveston Bay (or the Gulf of Mexico, I'm not sure). If road racing cars were to embark on the course overlooking the bay, it would be too dangerous, so this is for the rally stars. Maybe the Kemah Boardwalk and some of its routes can be closed for rally racing. You go from the main attractions of the Boardwalk, to the Boardwalk (where a seagull almost dumped bird droppings on my head (no kidding) damn sea gull...), then outside of the main attractions. After leaving, you can race on the asphalt roads with coastal houses and a few restaurants around. This sampling of Kemah would make for a nice rally race in a coastal town. And on a sunny day, it's beautiful. It isn't like a beachland, but my parents normally go there on some Saturdays to pick up some fish and drive nearly an hour or two back.

Any more suggestions? There's tropical environments, snowy environments, urban landscapes, even desert settings.
 
What is your idea of an astounding racing environment?

As an update to this topic I created long ago, Amalfi should provide a wonderful experience. I mean, you, some somewhat tight roads, and the roar of your road rocket going to work. Oh, and not to mention people looking on over you. If you ask me, the Amalfi race seems more like WRC coverage on SPEED Channel, rather than a regular GT4 race. Hong Kong is an interesting situation. The track looks pretty sweet, but I don't know. The sun is going down, the city kind of glitters in the background, but I still tend to think it is not as illuminative as Tokyo or Osaka (at night, at least). The neon lights and stuff still make for a nice city. Of course, New York is still a treat. New York City is one of my favorite cities in the world. I haven't heard a lot about the Grand Canyon between the time interval from my last post, but that should be fun (if not scary). To me, racing alongside the Grand Canyon has me thinking, "please... don't fall down the Canyon!" Fuji should be lovely. Beautiful Mt. Fuji in the background and some good weather. Tsukuba will make for a true Japanese proving ground. I wonder how some of my non-Japanese cars would do there. Citta di' Aria. Nice city track, but you have to be skilled. To say the least, Citta di' Aria is nothing more but an Autocross track blocked off by sidewalks and buildings, rather than cones and chalk lines (not that I've auto crossed before).

Other than that, I don't know much else. I do hope to see some snow rallies (possible). Some more Japanese courses in my long-gone "More Japanese Cities?" thread, or something like that. I would say to include Sebring and Road Atlanta, and maybe even Road America, which is possibly one of the longest course in America. I say one of, because I think Summit Hill or something is 7-something miles.

What's your environment of choice? Here's your chance to take a hit at this topic if you haven't in the past.
 
The way i see it, its a "damned if you do, damned if you don't" situation on whether point-to-point should be included. If they include point-to-point, they may be seen as giving up to the "FnF" generation of fans, whereas by not including it they may been seen to be stubborn and unwilling to open the appeal of the game somewhat.

My personal preference would be to see some point-to-point races, just to have the chance to blast across a particular piece of countryside or from one side of a city to another...

A major portion of Grand Touring in Europe is done point-to-point basis.(cross many countries mind you. My assumption is based from reading a mag titled Porsche World, where most of the journos seem to love talking bout their "grand touring" adventures in all sorts of beautiful, crazily tuned Porsches)

Seeing as this a "Grand Touring" game, it would make some sense to include a mode which pays homage to this.

Don't get me wrong, i love the idea of blasting around circuits in modified sports cars, but i think it would be quite appropriate for some sort of point-to-point "touring" (if you can call hammering a 1000+BHP R-34 GTR across the Italian countryside touring) to further add to the appeal of this fantastic motoring simulation.

In the end though, i'll still buy the game no matter what it includes. The team have some far done enough with GT3 and GTC to have my vote of confidence.

My preferred area to drive... Probably in the Alps somewhere, lots of up/down/up/down would be great.
 
By the time I'm done with this post, I'll be only 100 posts away from hitting 1,000.

TinMan, you are right about the grand touring thing. In fact, here is some text I found from the User Manual from Gran Turismo 2:

(from: Gran Turismo 2 User Manual)
"The term 'Gran Turismo' is a direct Italian translation of 'Grand Touring.' Although it is applied to a class of automobiles today, it predates the automobile by a consdierable amount of time. In England, as far back as the 17th Century, Peers of the Realm and members of wealthy families would go on long trips to travel the European continent. The journey was called the 'Grand Tour,' and it was expected part of a young gentleman's education. The Grand Tour could last for several years, and was made by horse-drawn coach. Major Continental cities, including Paris, and historic landmarks were stops on the route. The very final destination was always Rome, the center for European art and culture since the Renaissance. There participants would socialize with their peers and scholoars, and enroll in courses of academic study to pursue a classical education. The carriages used for the Grand Tour acquired the name 'Gran Turismo' in Italian. When automobiles replaced horse-drawn carriages as the conveyance of choice for Grand Tour participants in the early Twentieth Century, a certain type became popular. It was a fast and light two-seater, but more comfortable and well-appointed than a pure sports car. The genre reached its peak after World War II, when limited-production and specially-constructed two-seaters became popular with members of royalty, wealthy sportsmen, and movie stars. Many of these cars were raced, and the production car category in European racing became known as Gran Turismo, Grand Touring, or just plain GT. Regulations required two-seat interiors, spare tires, and luggage capacity, and, in the 1950s at least, GT-class racers could be and were driven to the track, raced, and driven home. Production-based racing classes are still known as 'GT' classes in many racing series today."

So, despite all this I typed ver batum, yeah, in the old times, the GT race was pretty long.

Anyhow, I hit 900 posts and await my new title. Take care, everybody!
 
While on the subject of racing environments, would it be safe to say that GT4 will offer as many environments as possible to interest any racer?
 
Judging by the courses we've already seen in GT games and the addition of snowy environments, NYC, Italian mountain roads and so on, I'd say it's a pretty safe bet they're putting in as much diversity as they can conjure up.
 
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