What an absolute joy this week has been. I spent the majority of it feverishly looking forward to this past Friday so I could go out and see Avengers: Age of Ultron, however, that would not go as planned as I wound going the night before for an advance screening, and it was well worth the time. If you haven’t seen it already and are into comic books, superheroes, or just love a good movie, you should definitely go and see this.
If you’ve seen the movie already then I implore you to stop by the Avengers: Age of Ultron thread in our Movies & TV forum and discuss away with the rest of us. If you haven’t seen the movie, don’t worry too much as spoiler tags are used where and when necessary. I’m still on a high that’s unlikely to improve as I’m going to see it again next week Monday or Tuesday.
There’s some great stuff to talk about this week and I have but one question: Who’s ready for the Spotlight?
GTPlanet Picture of the Week
This week’s featured image, coming to us courtesy of Crs_D, features the Lancia Delta HF Integrale going around Circuit de Madrid.
If you like what you’re seeing and have a suggestion for next week’s featured image, start a conversation with me, entitle it “GTPlanet Picture of the Week” and fill it to your heart’s content with suggestions and they’ll be featured in upcoming Community Spotlight articles. NOTE: You cannot elect your own work.
GTPlanet Gallery of the Week
This week’s featured gallery, once again recommended to us by Safoo, is Moon_k’s gallery courtesy of, you guessed it, Moon_k. Opened on the 21st of February of this year, the gallery is still in its infancy but approaches GTPhotography with a focus on presenting things in their purest form – that is, exactly from the game. You’ll find some post-processing witchery here and there but you’ll mostly find carefully crafted pieces coming straight from the game with no further editing done.
You can find Moon’s gallery here in all of its splendor if you want to look through an entire catalog of photos, with the latest update being today.
– Ford Mustang GT350 at Special Stage Route X, March 18th, 2015.
If you like what you’re seeing and have a suggestion for next week’s featured gallery, start a conversation with me, entitle it “GTPlanet Gallery of the Week” and fill it to your heart’s content with suggestions and they’ll be featured in upcoming Community Spotlight articles. NOTE: You cannot elect your own gallery.
GTPlanet Thread of the Week – Gran Turismo 7 User Interface Fan Art
This week’s thread, started by our own Scuderia Paul, is as simple and to-the-point as any: a showcase of community-created user interfaces for the upcoming Gran Turismo 7. If you have the artistic touch and creativity you are more than welcomed to stop by and show off what you think the UI should look like in the upcoming game.
The thread is full of great ideas that really cater to the visual styles used within Gran Turismo and I’m interested in seeing where things can go from here, so don’t hesitate to stop by the thread here and share away!
Better Audio in GT7?
The much-debated topic has been talked about at considerable length in a previous installment of the Spotlight, and now it would appear things are being set in motion as Polyphony Digital has recently acquired the talents of former Turn 10 Audio Lead, Mike Caviezel who will now be one of the Senior Audio Leads at Polyphony Digital.
Are the tides preparing to turn? You can discuss this fantastic news to your hearts content right here.
GTPlanet Vehicle of the Week
Originally unveiled at the Tokyo Motor Show in 2011, the production version of the CCS-R was made to compete at the 2012 Pikes Peak International Hillclimb and is based on the production IS-F road car.
Powered by a 2UR-GSE 5.0L V8 that outputs 416 horsepower, the CCS-R sends this power to the rear wheels via an 8-speed Sport Direct Shift automatic transmission. The car employs improved aerodynamics by way of a carbon fiber hood, door handles, front fender, front splitter, front canards, rear spoiler, and ventilator – all the while shedding an impressive 693 pounds in the process, adding further to its performance.
Assetto Corsa Bonus Pack Details and Dream Pack 2
In a recent interview with Red Bull Games, Marco Massarutto revealed details on the upcoming Bonus Pack for Assetto Corsa that will include five new cars to the game, and Zandvoort as a new track location, all for the incredible price of nothing – that’s right, it’ll be free.
That isn’t all though, as Marco also revealed that Kunos is already hard at work on the next paid DLC, Dream Pack 2, that will include new cars from Audi and Lamborghini.
You can read more about this and the games future on the Red Bull Games page here, and be sure to stop by our Assetto Corsa forum for even more in-depth analysis and discussion.
GTPlanet Tune of the Week
Once every month we showcase the community’s efforts to tame/tune the Car of the Week, and this month is no different, so let’s get right down to business.
This month we will follow the latest FITT theme, Then and Now or Old and New!
As suggested by @shaunm80, the first generation Camaro and the fifth. Each generation is featured in GT6 but only the ’69 Z28 and the 2010 Camaro SS will be used this month, and ONLY the Street Car versions. The ’69 Camaro SS is a standard and does not match the Z28. Each can be a beast in different pp levels and can surprise you.As always, feel free to tune as you wish, but please list tire choice and if possible a track choice for those who may want to test.
So sit down, strap in and hang on as we enjoy American Muscle from yesterday and today.
A unique challenge for the month of April is what you’re looking at here; how will you mate these two similar yet completely different vehicles for the tasks at hand? If you’re up for the challenge then have a look at this month’s thread and have at it!
Project CARS – Full Car List Reveal!
With just a little more than one week to go until the release of Project CARS, the full list of available cars at launch has been made available.
- Alpine A450
- Ariel Atom 300 Supercharged
- Ariel Atom 500 V8
- BMW Z4 GT3
- Caper Monterey Stockcar
- McLaren P1
- McLaren 12C GT3
- Radical SR8 RX
- SMS Formula A
- Ruf CTR3 SMS-R
Of course, this is only but a taste of what’s going to be available and you can read the full list on the official page here and remember to stop by our Project CARS forum to be excited with the rest of us!
The Last Lap
There was no Member of the Week featured this time around for no reason other than time; I can’t explain how often I’m caught off-guard with the intention of sending a message someone’s away and by the time I’m ready to do so it’s already Thursday evening. It’s almost maddening how fast time can fly when you’re planning something out.
That’s about all out of my face for this week, and I’ve got some interesting things in the pipeline and I’ll talk about that when they’re a little more on the ready side and not… abstract concepts. In any case, until next week, keep racing!
Photomode images by R8TEDM3, Farushi, jiovane, binbin90, taz, youtimestwo, and c172fccc.
See more articles on GTPlanet Community Spotlight.
Oh, that was unexpected, thank you for the picture of the week! :)
A Turn10 Audio Lead joining PD?? Now that’s awesome.
Also eager to Project CARS. Gonna buy it on Steam, because of the livery editor. Gonna be able to create some of ’em based on my characters… this and kitty liveries.
Gonna make some Maine Coon liveries as well :3
Anyways, Project CARS should be a game that’ll set the standards soon enough for racing games IMO. (I said IMO. My own opinion only.)
Eager to GT7 as well.
Don’t forget to share!
PD headhunting Turn 10 staff for sound design – pinch me!
;-)
*pinches you* Did that hurt?
Call me old-fashioned but there’s just something about cars from the 70’s and into the 80’s that appeal to me. Not enough front downforce? No worries, just cut a giant section out of an aluminum boat and rivet it to the front end. Body not wide enough for those gigantic tires? No worries, just take a bunch of sheet metal and we’ll extend the quarter panels out to cover the tires. Somehow it’s still more beautiful than most of todays car…lol.
Well, that’s certainly an interesting slant on beauty. ;-)
I like almost everything, but my tastes run more modern, mid-80s and upward. I really dig the look of the Super GT Supra and the 370Z, the BMW M3 and Audi R8. And I’m really looking forward to that BMW M1, which means I’d better pre-order P CARS soon if I’m going to get it!
Has the Group 5 car-package of RaceRoom Racing Experience been over-looked, or did I miss it in a earlier Rewind/Spotlight ?
Because that’s what I’ve discovered this week, while AC’s Bonus Pack/Dream Pack 2 is old news to my ears, lol.
was thinking the same thing
Here’s the thing, and it won’t be repeated again as I’m sick of doing so every time someone wants to criticize what is or is not featured here: if you want something talked about I encourage everyone, every single week, to contact me and share whatever thoughts one has for what thread, gallery, picture, vehicle, member of the week, or anything should be featured here that highlights our community. When no one contacts me I take matters into my own hands.
Point being, if you made no attempt to suggest what should be featured at any given point during the time this piece has been an active part of the weekly schedule you have no grounds, no reason, no place to complain.
Every single post that does so from hereon out will be deleted on sight, without care, with the utmost bias and prejudice.
Well, according to the pictures’ name (pCARS-Ford-Capri-Zakspeed-638×359.jpg), I would definetely say that Project Cars is a good guess. ;D
I have to say I’m pretty dissappointed that Project C.A.R.S. won’t feature Nissan. At least not from the start. I will still get it, as a way of getting myself ready for GT7 (getting a little tired of GT6, but I still play it occassionally). Strap your seatbelts on lads, and let’s have a series of GT7 readiness races in pCARS when it releases! Hahaha.
I am too, and it is rather puzzling how Simply Mad chose the cars they did. And because of that small car list, I’m not too keen to look forward to a bunch of one make races.
Still, Assetto Corsa hasn’t whet my appetite for racing like it has others, and P CARS is about it until GT7 manifests. And… carp, I didn’t expect it until the end of May! Now I have to eat grass so I can afford that new PS4 and wheel!
What I am looking forward to is racing huge fields of cars! SMS is showcasing what the PS4 is capable of, and Polyphony, always the wizards of Playstation coding, will be doing all they can to up the ante with GT7. And it sure doesn’t hurt that Kaz and the team were in on the development of PS4, so they’ll have a leg up on how to milk that not-quite cutting edge architecture.
1/10th the budget but still managed 2/3 the number of cars that GT6 had as new unique premiums. Add to that, about 80% of the car list is not in Gran Turismo, so it should actually compliment the game very well.
Well, I can see that facing all that super-fury being thrown around the big screen has knocked the wind out of your sails this week, Terr. But better late than never. ;D
The thing I’m most curious about is the uncredited pic at the top. P CARS? Assetto Corsa? An early glimpse at GT7?? ;D
Looking at it from a Graphical standpoint I’d say its more than likely Project Cars. xD Wish it was GT7 though.
All pictures are always, and have always, been accredited in the footnote following “The Last Lap”.
You should always look there for who the image belongs to if that isn’t explicitly stated underneath the image, and they’re always in order of appearance.
I’ll keep that in mind, thanks.
No problem.