The 'tape over your brake indicator' experiment

[ploopsy]

I like the suggested gear pop up but I honestly never noticed the brake light.

When Im messing with different tracks and cars I use the suggested gear to give me an idea of what the turn is going to be like. Its handy when I am to focused to look at the map.

Using the driving line is just silly (like all the people playing demos of gtm and gt5 at tech shows).

 

[GTveteran]

How do you turn it off in GT4? I've been looking for that option since forever. I don't like to use it at all, so I pretty much ignore it. I don't think you need tape use braking references or anything, I've been doing fine just not paying attention to it (though it sometimes does cause a distraction).

In the options for race screen/display you have normal and simple. Put it on simple.

It annoys the pants off of me. I completely agree with the OP. You subconsiously use it as an indicator. Not for all corners just for some. I do hope there is the option to turn it off in the proper game.

The ideal scenario would be just to turn the HUD off completely and use the car's actual dash, although this would be difficult in some cases as you can't see all of the dashes clearly and folk with small tvs would be stuffed.

 

[devildog666]

 

[humpus]

The ideal scenario would be just to turn the HUD off completely and use the car's actual dash, although this would be difficult in some cases as you can't see all of the dashes clearly and folk with small tvs would be stuffed.

Exactly what I mean, thank you. So let's just pray the simple hud will still be there in the final game...

 

[devildog666]

As a result, professional mode get's the difficulty level it deserves and online races will be more difficult. Or more chaotic with inexperienced drivers, but that's why I vote to turn it off in pro mode.

The difficulty level increase would only be temporary. Once you learn the tracks, you won't even remember how much the indicator "helped" you. What's the point in that? Inexperienced drivers cause enough chaos already, why would you want more?

 

[humpus]

The difficulty level increase would only be temporary.

Think about being next to someone approaching the first corner of Fuji. Who will brake later? Wouldn't it be nice if exitement / close racing actually led to missing a braking point or forcing your opponent into a mistake?

Once you learn the tracks, you won't even remember how much the indicator "helped" you. What's the point in that?

I sure will, I simply can't ignore it.

Inexperienced drivers cause enough chaos already, why would you want more?

If it was forced off in pro mode, everyone would simply have to learn the track like in real life.
Besides, can you name me any other game which helps you spot your braking point in the most dificult mode you can set the game up? I surely can't.
Think about LFS, GTR, SC, ...

No matter how many arguements are brought up: It is a driving aid. It's a useful tool to help you learn a track, like using the racing line.
But it shouldn't be used in a full racing experience. And it doesn't exist in real life, so I say let's get rid of it.

 

[MeAgainstYou]

I can honestly say I never even notice the flashing gear indicator thing.

@humpus: i dont use it... trust me!

 

[humpus]

Well I'm glad for those who can ignore it, I simply can't

 

[Jack]

Think about being next to someone approaching the first corner of Fuji. Who will brake later? Wouldn't it be nice if exitement / close racing actually led to missing a braking point or forcing your opponent into a mistake?

This happens pretty much everytime somebody makes a move under brakes at any track. Even with the driving aid turn on the situation will still occur of who will brake later and many mistakes still occur.

Personally I dont use the braking aid. It makes you brake far to early, espically when out braking somebody. Using markings on the track or at the side of the track gives a far more accurate measure.

 

[McLaren]

No...trust me, I'm not. Yes I'm aware of it, but I always brake much later than what is recommended (my driving style) and I have never let it affect my brake points or gears.

This. As you said, I find the brake indicator comes on quite a bit too early most of the time, or some in cars, a tad late.

I usually just try to find what point works for me & work with it til' I get more comfortable.

 

[lucag120]

i think the main point i want to make is gt5 prologue is what PD had at the time. So they wouldn't have bothered with small details of the game so much. But gt5 will be a completely different story, they probably could of released it months ago but are still playing with it, i bet Kaz will still make changes the day the game is set to its final version and confirmed to be sold.

But the flashing indicator does help you learn braking points faster as it gives you a rough idea when and where to brake. Fine tuning your braking is a different story but i still use the flashing lights as a reference of how long after the light starts flashing i do brake. I'd rather see it off my screen and get rid of HUD all together as everyone else has been mentioning.

 

[devildog666]

Think about being next to someone approaching the first corner of Fuji. Who will brake later? Wouldn't it be nice if exitement / close racing actually led to missing a braking point or forcing your opponent into a mistake?

I sure will, I simply can't ignore it.


If it was forced off in pro mode, everyone would simply have to learn the track like in real life.
Besides, can you name me any other game which helps you spot your braking point in the most dificult mode you can set the game up? I surely can't.
Think about LFS, GTR, SC, ...

No matter how many arguements are brought up: It is a driving aid. It's a useful tool to help you learn a track, like using the racing line.
But it shouldn't be used in a full racing experience. And it doesn't exist in real life, so I say let's get rid of it.

Happens all the time now. The only time you "miss" the brake is when you are trying to outbreak your opponent.

It doesn't make a difference, you'd just be exchanging the indicator inside the car for one outside. The change in difficulty would only be temporary. Most above average to good drivers are doing that anyway, it's not that difficult.

 

[Jay]

I would have loved a option to turn it off in GT5P, just hope GT5 has the option.

 

[Nicko]

I never see the flashy brake and gear indicator, I'm too busy watching the road ahead.

 

[Rusty*]

I see it displayed quite clearly.
What I don't understand is why you guys talk about the use of it as an assistant for breaking as if that is cheating or in some way not realistic?
Apart from a driving rythym that can help you judge when to turn-in or brake, driver's use engine revs, shift lights, car speed etc to the same effect.
So why would it be suggested that the action of using the gear indicator on GT as being the method of a cheater?
R*

 

[SH1FT3R]

I see it displayed quite clearly.
What I don't understand is why you guys talk about the use of it as an assistant for breaking as if that is cheating or in some way not realistic?
Apart from a driving rythym that can help you judge when to turn-in or brake, driver's use engine revs, shift lights, car speed etc to the same effect.
So why would it be suggested that the action of using the gear indicator on GT as being the method of a cheater?
R*

Another important point is real life drivers don't change cars and tracks every five minutes, and they don't jump straight into a race without a warm-up.

Anyone relying solely on the break indicator isn't going to do very well anyway, at best, it gives you a very rough idea of when you need to break, at worst it's completely wrong. I doubt anyone needs it a this stage having done literally thousands of laps of each track, but when GT5 come along and there's more variety of cars and tracks I'll certainly be grateful for it when I'm doing a new car-track combo, for the first few laps, at least.

I remember GT1 and GT2 didn't have a break indicator, It took a few laps to relearn the track and get up to speed every time you changed cars, and plenty of first-corners where botched completely(hell, that still happens enough as it is), personally, I don't want to go back to that.

 

[NoTC]

In GT4 you're able to turn off the suggested gear indicator / brake indicator. Unfortunately this feature is locked in GT5.

Now I know not many people turned this feature off (or even knew it could be turned off), so here's what I did:

I simply put a piece of ducktape over the place where the suggested gear pops up.
I marked the spot in yellow on the following picture:

What almost everybody is doing right now in GT5 is just waiting for that red flashing number to pop up and start braking... Trust me, you are.

So go and give this a try, you'll notice you (almost) never picked any braking points by surrounding signs or other track elements. As a result this does take some getting used to, but I find it much more rewarding in the end.

Personally, I think this feature should always be disabled in pro mode. If you're someone like me, who turnes TC and ASM off, why would you need help spotting your braking points?
Ofcourse, a lot of you aren't going to agree with me on this one. Maybe it's an option we'll be able to select for private online races

Btw: If you own an expensive TV, I wouldn't use ducktape ofcourse.
Doesn't matter how you do it, just make sure no light comes through that spot.

So go and give it a try, and post your thoughts!

I'd say thats a very very big assumption of you. I can tell you now for a fact. Anyone who is braking when the light shows up is doing a slow lap compared to others. You NEED to ignore that from day one if you want to be fast. Based on that I'm pretty sure an aweful lot of players are picking their own braking points...I know I always do.

 

[phillookswasted]

I've always ignored that from the days of GT2>..

You're going to be WAAAAY off the pace if you use this for a braking indicator.

 

[sejtur]

I have to admit that I alot of times refer my braking point to when it starts to blip. At the busstop chicane on Daytona, when the indicator blips, I wait a second and then brake. The thing is not accurate, but I still use it. Not all times though, I'd say 1/3rd time. At alot of corners I have references from the environment, like brake distances. The first corner at fuji I brake at the 2nd to last marker, for example.

If you see it clearly or not depends on your vision ofcourse, but also on your perspective. In-car view sometimes makes it harder to see, even when blipping.

I won't tape it because I would eff up the screen. I only have my TV for a year now, and I want to keep enjoying te picture quality for more years.

 

[Zmann42087]

Honestly? I never even noticed it.

 

[phillookswasted]

At fuji, (car and tyres depending of course) I'm looking for little lighter patches in the grass that are maybe 20-30 yards back from the start of the kerbing.

 

[mr_VOLCANO]

I have no problem admiting that I use red flashing light as a brake indicator, but of course I dont brake straight away when I see light. When using bumper cam I find it impossible to ignore red light, so I wish you can turn it of in gt5. If I could I would have turned it off in gt5p, but since I cant I use it to my advantage.

 

[Tetradic]

Driving in NFS: Shift with the HUD totally turned off for only a few hours has shown me much I subconsciously relied on the little light in Prologue. I would say I never paid attention to it and would be quick to say it bugged me but when I last night I noticed how I had to adjust in NFS: Shift to pick my brake points, even on known tracks (for me) like Laguna Seca.

I'd suggest black electrical tape for your TV screen over Duct Tape. Duct tape is a bad thing as far as it's sticky'ness (which is why it's such a good thing for most applications). Vinyl electrical tape is much more gentle. Regardless, watch it stick things to your LCD, those screen get hot and can melt adhesive into the screen.

 

[humpus]

Indeed, the only way to really test how much you rely on it is covering it up.

And a lot of people say: I don't brake when it tells me to, so I'm not using it.
Yes you are.

Seeing it flash and waiting for that second or so longer will work every lap and your braking point will be exactly bang on lap after lap.

 

[IsmokeGT]

And a lot of people say: I don't brake when it tells me to, so I'm not using it.
Yes you are.

You are really letting your ignorance shine. How dare you address thousands of people like that. Where do you get the balls to tell everyone what they are doing? How you are coming across in almost unbelievable, you must want to be hated.

Since you know so much, you certainly are very fast. What is your best TT ranking in any car on any track? If you hold no top 3 spots then you are in no position to tell anyone anything. In fact, you should be the baddest guy around with your superior knowledge of what others do. I bet your head is getting ready to explode with genius. Since you can tell what every person that plays this game does then you should be able to learn from what they do, thus making you as fast, or even faster, than them.

Dude, you are freaking awesome. I wish I knew what you knew- everything.

 

[SRinc.]

In GT4 you're able to turn off the suggested gear indicator / brake indicator. Unfortunately this feature is locked in GT5.

Now I know not many people turned this feature off (or even knew it could be turned off), so here's what I did:

I simply put a piece of ducktape over the place where the suggested gear pops up.
I marked the spot in yellow on the following picture:

this beats my old way of doing it before i knew to turn off the Gear indicator, what i used to do was go to a desginated track and Pratice run it on Reverse. once im on the track i run the track in its normal direction. if you dont mind the red sign flashing indicating your driving the wrong way then it works great.

 

[ripping_silk]

Honestly? I never even noticed it.

same.

And a lot of people say: I don't brake when it tells me to, so I'm not using it.
Yes you are.

uh ...no, I'm not.

 

[diptob79]

most of the time I use that blinking number as reference (it was in the middle of the screen ). When it starts blinking, wait 2 seconds or so and the I slam on the brakes.. worked most of the time and i had a pretty good laptime.
But I agree, hiding it would be more fun because I have to notice the suroundings like distance marker and other landmark (like I should do)

 

[Vince_Fiero]

I agree with most of the people here:

1) I do not look at it, it gives wrong info and I use my own breaking points (they are crap at this moment ):, but still).
2) You can not ignore any information in your visual field. Not being conscious of it does not mean you do not use it. I type some phone numbers without issues, but can not write them down without my phones dials. This is called hand brain coordination, etc ... You do not consciously think about it, but you do use. the only way to notice is to take it away. A suggestion for PolyPhony.
3) Being quite new in racing, I do not feel comfortable without driving lines, and other indications. They guide me and help me understand why I end up in the grass. Some tracks that I did more, I do believe I can turn them off.

But one point I miss:
1) I do not have the impression that playing on a monitor gives me the same visual field as real life. I tend to turn my head 10° to get just the more info I need, but with a screen that just gives the same info. Pushing the "look on the side button" at this moment makes make head spin more then it helps me to see something useful.

My conclusion: The realism in simulators make that the transfer from simulation to reality and visa versa are easier, they do not make them the same as reality (We need to reach Star Treck DS9 simulation rooms, with gravitation simulation to come a bit near) Extra indicators do not help transfers, they help learning. So the option to turn them off should exist.

 

[humpus]

You are really letting your ignorance shine. How dare you address thousands of people like that. Where do you get the balls to tell everyone what they are doing? How you are coming across in almost unbelievable, you must want to be hated.

Since you know so much, you certainly are very fast. What is your best TT ranking in any car on any track? If you hold no top 3 spots then you are in no position to tell anyone anything. In fact, you should be the baddest guy around with your superior knowledge of what others do. I bet your head is getting ready to explode with genius. Since you can tell what every person that plays this game does then you should be able to learn from what they do, thus making you as fast, or even faster, than them.

Dude, you are freaking awesome. I wish I knew what you knew- everything.

First of all, as a forum member here you should know we don't insult people directly.

Second: if I'm fast, I can say whatever I want? That's crap.
And no, I don't hold any top 3 times. And since it does matters that much to you: I'm quite OK, but defenately not one of the fastest. Even all my geniousness can't help me beat everyone out there

If you get so worked up about this, I wonder how you cope with real problems.

This is still a forum, last time I checked. A place where people post ideas and opinions and share them with others in order to start a discussion.
Just because I made a big assumption, doesn't mean you have to go all wacko about it.