We all know that GT has been delayed massively since the initial 'estimated' launch dates. (i dont want to get into, well there was never an official launch date. we all KNOW this title has been delayed, delayed and then delayed again).
one of the major contributors to this delay has been the work required to add a 'damage' model into the game, both aesthetically and mechanically.
this change to the direction of the game will have sucked up huge resources in terms of planning and development time to physically alter the excisting physics code to allow for crashes, as well as creative/artworker deployment to model the different degrees of damage to an individual panel to an individual car.
The delays caused by this implementation have then caused other delays, such as the desire to go 3D, the whim to throw in go karting. not to mention the last minute delay re the firmware SDK etc.
For me, the damage implementation is horrid. it is either non existant for the majority of the gamers experience - or that tame when it is employed that it had zero impact upon the game experience itself anyway.
So, the crux of my point is this: Could GT5 have been releaed, 18-24 months earlier had damage remained on the drawing board as part of the plan for GT6? would PD have had more respurces to 'Premiumise' more standard cars if they had not been micromoddeling crash damage on individual panels?
Would the overall GT5 experience have been hampered without crash damage? personally i say no. The Crash damage is so limited in how it appears and on the cars that it appears on, that it might as well not even be there.
would i have benefitted from a game that came out 2 years ago with the core elements intact without a hodge podge of thrown in last minute new fanlged ideas that werent even on the horizon back then? 3d, go karts, experience points, 800 standard cars with ZERO interior at all?
I say yes. PD could have given me the game i wanted 2 years ago and then developed GT6 to be released in maybe even 2 years from now. However long it takes to 'perfect' damage so that it is usable and meaning part of the game that actually makes a worthwhile difference.
Thoughts?
one of the major contributors to this delay has been the work required to add a 'damage' model into the game, both aesthetically and mechanically.
this change to the direction of the game will have sucked up huge resources in terms of planning and development time to physically alter the excisting physics code to allow for crashes, as well as creative/artworker deployment to model the different degrees of damage to an individual panel to an individual car.
The delays caused by this implementation have then caused other delays, such as the desire to go 3D, the whim to throw in go karting. not to mention the last minute delay re the firmware SDK etc.
For me, the damage implementation is horrid. it is either non existant for the majority of the gamers experience - or that tame when it is employed that it had zero impact upon the game experience itself anyway.
So, the crux of my point is this: Could GT5 have been releaed, 18-24 months earlier had damage remained on the drawing board as part of the plan for GT6? would PD have had more respurces to 'Premiumise' more standard cars if they had not been micromoddeling crash damage on individual panels?
Would the overall GT5 experience have been hampered without crash damage? personally i say no. The Crash damage is so limited in how it appears and on the cars that it appears on, that it might as well not even be there.
would i have benefitted from a game that came out 2 years ago with the core elements intact without a hodge podge of thrown in last minute new fanlged ideas that werent even on the horizon back then? 3d, go karts, experience points, 800 standard cars with ZERO interior at all?
I say yes. PD could have given me the game i wanted 2 years ago and then developed GT6 to be released in maybe even 2 years from now. However long it takes to 'perfect' damage so that it is usable and meaning part of the game that actually makes a worthwhile difference.
Thoughts?
