I realise a lot of the thing's i'm going to mention will have been mentioned about a thousand times, but i can't read all 175 pages. Sorry in advance if this has been said over and over...
Anyway, what i would like to see (bear with me, it could be a long list) first of all would be dynamic weather conditions.
Everything from sunny weather to (almost) monsoon conditions. With puddles of standing water (that affect the car and aren't just a visual effect) to lighting changes.
The ability to fully customise these effects (in arcade mode at least). So you could set the rain to one corner of the track and a lap for the rain to start/stop. Also accelerated time, so you could start a race during the day and end at night etc.
More competitive AI. The one AI car racing away at the front in gt5p is getting annoying.
Wildcard AI. For example, some AI drivers may be unusually aggressive and hard to overtake. They could even unfairly move from side to side, blocking you on the straights (although, hopefully they'll stop short of knocking you off the track). At the other end of the spectrum, some opponents may move over and let you pass if you have a good speed advantage over them. This should be consistant through a championship. For example, the aggressive opponent will be aggressive throughout the championship and vice versa.
The ability to set the level of damage specific to each race (as hinted at). I personally would prefer the whole "one big crash and you're out" but that's not to everyone's tastes.
However, i would always like the ability to crawl back to the pits without the game ending the race for you. I'm a huge motorsport fan (and i presume 99% of the users here are too) and i have countless memory's of classic races, where a driver had a big slam, crawled back to the pits and continued the race. Imagine how exciting the 24 hours raceswould be if you pitted for repairs, emerged 10 laps down, and were able to turn it around and win the race. You're AI opponents should also be able to do this too.
Just imagine crawling down the long straight of the nordschleife with a flat tyre and constantly staring at the car position indicator, trying to figure out how many cars will pass you before you emerge from the pits. Better still, taking chances by driving faster than you should be (considering the damage to your car) and emerging from the pits just in front of the second place car and retaining your lead. Having a nice, exciting battle with the AI car, as you struggle to get your tyres up to temperature, only to see him dive into the pits at the end of the lap.
Modify the tyre wear. I love the fact that you're tyres wear down and the speed of wear is different per tyre type and is effected by you're driving style, but i would prefer it if they didn't wear down so fast...
Name one real life endurance race where the lead cars had to pit every 6 or 7 laps for new tyres... This really spoiled the endurance races in gt3 and 4 for me.
I'm fine with some sort of accelerated wear during shorter races, but it can be a real pain during the endurance races... I know it was partly down to my driving style, but it's still unrealistic.
Errors during pitstops. I think we should have some element of control over the pitstops. Very few games allow this but as a hardcore racing fan, I would love to see this in more games. There should be an option of auto pitstops to satisfy newcomers, but i would love control of the car during pitstops. This could easily be implemented, and an incentive to taking control of pitstops could be as simple as being able to gain roughly 1 second over an auto pitstop. You would still be subject to an automatic speed limiter, but would (otherwise)have full controlOf course the disadvantages would be as follows (in my perfect game anyway)
1. Drive into your pit box too fast and the engineers will either wave you on and tell you to come in 1 lap later. Alternatively, if you're out of fuel and stop the car within a meter or so, they will fuel your car, but it will take a good few seconds longer. They won't be able to change your tyres though, so if you want to change the tyres, you will need to return.
2. Too early on the throttle while in the pitbox? Your fuel hose breaks, and you must stop at the end of the pitlane and wait for someone to come and disconnect the fuel hose.
3. Hit one or more of your pit crew? There will be a delay as they scramble to their feet.
I know being in control of pitstops is being a bit unrealistic(in terms of what to expect), but I can dream. Plus, posting it here would mean there's a very slight chance of it happening (providing PD read this post... unlikely I know).
Qualifying is a must. I know it's extremely unlikely that PD will ditch qualifying in favour of the random grid place that a lot of recent racing games have favoured, but I can't stress how important the qualifying session is (especially now that the car count has moved up to 16). Instead of spending the first few laps overtaking the cars in front, you could be spending that time building up a lead to ensure you are still in the lead after the first round of pitstops.
I know that qualifying is almost certain for gt5, but still thought it was important enough to mention.
Real racing rules. By that I mean penalties (which you should be able to turn off for the shorter and lower level races) safety cars etc.
I didn't like the engine rev limit penalty's in gt5p. Especially considering the majority of the time, the accident was not my fault. I think that these should be replaced by some sort of warning system. Cut a certain corner too severely, and you get a warning. 3 Times and you get a drive through penalty. Another 3 times, and you get a Stop go penalty. If you blatantly cut a corner (like across the grass at the end of the start finish straight at fuji) and gain a considerable advantage, you should get an instant drive through, no matter how many times it’s happened.
And, of course, in an ideal world, you wouldn’t get a penalty for cutting corners if you had to avoid a crash or were forced off the track by the AI.
Blue flags to order you to let a lapping car pass you, black and orange to order you to pit for repairs etc etc. These could possibly be options. Turn them on and you get a bonus in credits etc at the end of the race with deductions for disobeying flags, penalties etc.
As for the safety cars, these are self explanatory, to make these easier for newcomers, anyone you overtake (that you shouldn't under the safety car) will overtake you. Perhaps, during these periods, your car could be limited to a certain speed. This would be exciting, as you could lose out or gain time if you (or your opponents) are slow to react to the restart.
Changes to the collision mechanics. I'm hoping car damage will automatically fix this, but I would like to see car's roll after a big collision (providing the collision was big enough to make the car roll in the first place) No more cars slamming into each other and merely boosting the speed of the car in front. To make GT the ultimate thrill, there has to be consequences for driving unnessecarily. This would also make for thrilling victories, where you hold your nerve during difficult conditions. Who's not going to remember a race at the nurburgring, where a lot of cars where taken out in a big accident, the rain's pouring down, your car is damaged and you survive a thrilling last lap battle against an opponent who tried too hard and ended up in the barrier?
Circuits. I'll keep this brief, as i'm aware this post has gone on for ages. I would love to see spa francochamps in the game. It's one of the best circuits in the world. Another track I would love to see is the singapore street circuit (the one that holds the singapore gp). I'm aware that it's not a classic track, but I still think it would make a great track in gran turismo. And it has only been in one game so far (F1 2009 for the wii) so it still has the novelty of being a new track and if you ask me, it's the best of the recent new f1 tracks.
I’d also love to see Bathurst in there. I’ve read comments on these boards and agree that Australians aren’t getting enough recognition in gt. Bathurst is one of the greatest circuits in the world, and the Bathurst 24 hours would make a great addition to GT.
I would also like PD to modify their Monaco track to look more life the modern f1 track… A.K.A update the pitlane and it’s entry/exit. Update the first corner (it’s now a lot wider to accommodate the pit exit).
Last but not (in any way) least, the nurburgring. I know the nordschleife is already in there, but I would like to see the extended version, which also features roughly 80-85% of the current f1 circuit. A big ask, I know.
There are a lot of other things i would like to see in GT5, but I think i'll leave it there for now. Thanks for your patience, I am new to these forums and would welcome any comments you may have about my post.
Craig.
or braking haha
