whats with the strange gear changes?

  • Thread starter Thread starter MadEpicBadger
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MadEpicBadger

MadEpicBadger

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madepicbadger
i don't know about anyone else but sometimes the gear changes bug me. for instance the cars actually change gears before your driver even touches the gear stick and sometimes his hand clips through the steering wheel, and with flappy paddles the driver looks too chilled when he does it and does so strangely with his hand coming off the wheel but keeping his thumb in front of it (find it hard to explain). the one car I think looks some what normal with flappy paddles is the vw n24 sirocco where the driver only moves his fingers to change gear and not his entire arm.

just something I don't think has been mentioned before
 
MadEpicBadger
i don't know about anyone else but sometimes the gear changes bug me. for instance the cars actually change gears before your driver even touches the gear stick
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It's because the animations are triggered by the player shifting gear. So the gear change has already happened when the animation begins. Until the game can read your mind and know when you're about to shift, there's no other way of doing it.

Edit: Actually, there is one other way, namely to let the game wait with the gear change until the animation is complete. But that also means that you'd have to wait for the gear change to begin, instead of getting it instantly. The animation would be prettier but it would probably make the gameplay worse.
 
eran0004
It's because the animations are triggered by the player shifting gear. So the gear change has already happened when the animation begins. Until the game can read your mind and know when you're about to shift, there's no other way of doing it.

Edit: Actually, there is one other way, namely to let the game wait with the gear change until the animation is complete. But that also means that you'd have to wait for the gear change to begin, instead of getting it instantly. The animation would be prettier but it would probably make the gameplay worse.
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They could refine the algorithm that anticipates when you are about to make a gear change and could make it a learning algorithm as well. Even something as simple as a hand moving to the shifter when you get within say x00 rpm and make it adjustable. It's the delay in reaching for the stick that makes it wonky. Of course it's potentially a lot of work for little return. I'd like to see an option to remove all driver animations completely, including the wheel itself, as it is in PC sims.
 
Johnnypenso
They could refine the algorithm that anticipates when you are about to make a gear change and could make it a learning algorithm as well. Even something as simple as a hand moving to the shifter when you get within say x00 rpm and make it adjustable. It's the delay in reaching for the stick that makes it wonky. Of course it's potentially a lot of work for little return. I'd like to see an option to remove all driver animations completely, including the wheel itself, as it is in PC sims.
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Out of curiosity, why would you like for there to be an option to have driver animations removed?
 
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I wouldn't mind if they removed the animation, but I think a better solution is have the driver's hand at standby mode (happens now when approaching the redline) all the time.
 
SCER
Out of curiosity, why would you like to have driver animations removed?
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Think he said an option to remove ( like lots of other pc sims ). But i can't play like that, Rfactor 1 freaked me out like that lol
 
ryzno
And that brings up the subject of unrealistic gear change speeds...
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yeah its strange when you realise a kubelwagon from ww2 can shift as fast as a modern f1 car. also speaking of the kubel, when you turn right sharply your arms clip through you and you see through them. just little things that bug me
 
iCyCo
Actually the drivers hand start to move when approaching red line in anticipation of a gear change. It either reaches for the paddle or move towards the stick
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that works ok with flappy paddles as its a simple tap but for sticks, the car changes gear before the gear stick has fully moved. also the driver looks strangely robotic when doing it which looks slightly strange imo.
 
If gear changes are too fast then just buy a wheel with a H-Box shifter and clutch. That slows the changes down as you're manually changing the gears (putting in clutch, moving the stick, releasing clutch) like in a real car... Funny how using the right gear solves a completely unimportant problem. ;)

As for the animations. You'll never fix that without having mind-reading software (as someone said). Project CARS does a weird steering wheel thing where it anticipates the wheel turning further than 120 degrees and takes a hand off to carry on the turn. Most of the time it just looks silly because you'd never drive like that and it just seems to have a hover-hand mid-corner in the cockpit. It's something that may never be emulated correctly as a predetermined animation will never be able to predict the human mind accurately. Even humans can't do that...
 
SCER
Out of curiosity, why would you like for there to be an option to have driver animations removed?
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Couple of reasons. One it's freaky and distracting because the steering and shifting animations never quite line up with what I'm doing, especially the shifting of course.
Two, immersion. My screen and FOV are setup on the PC so that what I'm looking at in front of me is 1:1 (or close enough) with real life, and I can place my wheel in front of me exactly where it would be if I was in the cockpit. So essentially I become part of the game to some degree, replacing the animation with my own movements. Sounds silly but I really enjoy it in Assetto Corsa and I'd like to see it come to GT, along with adjustable FOV so we can alter our view to suit our screen size and distance from the screen if we want to.
 
ColouredBadger
If gear changes are too fast then just buy a wheel with a H-Box shifter and clutch. That slows the changes down as you're manually changing the gears (putting in clutch, moving the stick, releasing clutch) like in a real car... Funny how using the right gear solves a completely unimportant problem. ;)
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Except it doesn't because all this does is giving you a huge disadvantage. Even if you're only racing with wheel users, anyone can use their paddles at any time.
 
@ColouredBadger Not everyone can afford to run out and buy a new toy cause of a games flaw. Shoot i Racing had a auto clutch assist for us less fortunate, to still simulate a real shift.
 
MadEpicBadger
that works ok with flappy paddles as its a simple tap but for sticks, the car changes gear before the gear stick has fully moved. also the driver looks strangely robotic when doing it which looks slightly strange imo.
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It does look weird, more so the paddles than the stick, never understood why the paddles required so much movement to engage when it's a just a flick of the fingers.

But if you have time to notice that you are not racing right. My opinion is you should be focused out the windscreen at the apexes and lines.
 
iCyCo
It does look weird, more so the paddles than the stick, never understood why the paddles required so much movement to engage when it's a just a flick of the fingers.

But if you have time to notice that you are not racing right. My opinion is you should be focused out the windscreen at the apexes and lines.
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If I'm racing seriously I drive in bonnet view so obviously I wouldn't notice but its when you cruise/drive and try to immerse yourself it stands out, or when your on a straight part of the track and you want to admire the scenery or look inside your car.
But I know what you mean, driving something like a fxx or pagani around the 'ring and taking your eyes off the track and you end up in a barrier
 
MadEpicBadger
If I'm racing seriously I drive in bonnet view so obviously I wouldn't notice but its when you cruise/drive and try to immerse yourself it stands out, or when your on a straight part of the track and you want to admire the scenery or look inside your car.
But I know what you mean, driving something like a fxx or pagani around the 'ring and taking your eyes off the track and you end up in a barrier
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Same here, seasonal time trials and Wet races are done bumper cam, Offline races are cockpit view, so it's like 97% cockpit view for me
 
I'd like a 'look ahead algorithm' for replays, so that at least when watching them the animations will be perfectly in sync.


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I feel like the animations could look a bit more natural because at the moment the animations are really smooth and precise like a robot, doing the same thing over and over with extreme accuracy. so maybe for gt7 they could add slightly different animations, I mean PD has kaz as their producer who's actually raced so maybe they could base the animations off how he does it?

obviously though this is just nit-picking
 
SCER
Out of curiosity, why would you like for there to be an option to have driver animations removed?
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I'd go an additional step and remove the steering wheel. One's eyes' position in the environment when driving in real life is a dynamic one, but because the game camera is stationary (for the most part), the wheel and/or hands often block view of original gauges. Even worse, I had a fuel gauge added to a car (I don't remember which one) and driving in a straight line rendered it useless due to the "driver's" forearm.
 

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