Gran Turismo 5 Countdown

[stuart thompson]

It's having the N24 and LeMans with real time that do it for me. I also have Forza and apart from the variety of cars I much prefer GT 5.

[m1fcf]

My bug-bear with GT5 is the length of time it takes to get from one place in the menu to another.

If I find I have 20 minutes to spare, I'll give it a go, and then spend 10 minutes booting and navigating to the place where I left off, then another 5 minutes in the car showroom buying the right car for the race I am supposed to do next, and then 5 minutes cursing the machine for being so slow. and then I turn it off in disgust....

[BertMk2]

Originally Posted by Steven Humphrey

A good way to build up points & cash is to do the seasonal events (which are updated every few weeks).

I did a couple of the seasonal events last night - I see what you mean about the cash! You get far more for doing those events than something similar in the normal A-spec events. I need to save up some cash so I can buy something half sensible for the world championship event - looks to be full of Le Mans style stuff so I'll need something similar. They do appear to crop up in the used car dealership though so that's good.

Has anyone downloaded any of the car and/or track packs? If so is it worth it? Does it just make the cars available to buy in game or does it add them to your garage? Is the rendtion of Spa any good?

[stuart thompson]

The downloads are pretty good. You can use the cars in any event, but the circuits are only for free race and some seasonals. Spa is just as you would expect.

[Beetle]

Originally Posted by BertMk2

I did a couple of the seasonal events last night - I see what you mean about the cash! You get far more for doing those events than something similar in the normal A-spec events. I need to save up some cash so I can buy something half sensible for the world championship event - looks to be full of Le Mans style stuff so I'll need something similar. They do appear to crop up in the used car dealership though so that's good.

Has anyone downloaded any of the car and/or track packs? If so is it worth it? Does it just make the cars available to buy in game or does it add them to your garage? Is the rendtion of Spa any good?

Spa's very good but challenging.

[BertMk2]

Originally Posted by Beetle

Spa's very good but challenging.

I don't mind a challenge - I was just wondering how much it resembles Spa. I might just have to buy it

[Beetle]

Originally Posted by BertMk2

I don't mind a challenge - I was just wondering how much it resembles Spa. I might just have to buy it

It resembles Spa remarkably for GT5. Best track on the game.

[Mac K]

Originally Posted by Beetle

It resembles Spa remarkably for GT5. Best track on the game.

Nope, the Nurburgring in GT5 looks spectacular Been playing GT5 since release, sure it isn't on the same "level" as Iracing, but who cares? Its fun and realistic enough to keep me entertained when I play it.

[BertMk2]

Originally Posted by Mac K

Nope, the Nurburgring in GT5 looks spectacular Been playing GT5 since release, sure it isn't on the same "level" as Iracing, but who cares? Its fun and realistic enough to keep me entertained when I play it.

The Nurburgring looks great but I don't find it that good to race on - too long for my tastes, I prefer shorter busier circuits. The Nurburgring is good for time trial type events but wheel to wheel racing is better on the Nurburgring GP circuit as far as I'm concerned. I still think GT5 needs bigger grids - what's the most you get in GT5? The events I've done so far I think have had 12 at most.

My other bugbear with GT at the moment is the rolling starts - why does it start you so far back from the car in front? On a rolling start you'd be right up their trumpet but the AI controls your car until the line and hangs back - on some of the races at the first split time you're 25 seconds behind the leader! The pack should be much more bunched up than that.

[Mac K]

Originally Posted by BertMk2

The Nurburgring looks great but I don't find it that good to race on - too long for my tastes, I prefer shorter busier circuits. The Nurburgring is good for time trial type events but wheel to wheel racing is better on the Nurburgring GP circuit as far as I'm concerned. I still think GT5 needs bigger grids - what's the most you get in GT5? The events I've done so far I think have had 12 at most.

My other bugbear with GT at the moment is the rolling starts - why does it start you so far back from the car in front? On a rolling start you'd be right up their trumpet but the AI controls your car until the line and hangs back - on some of the races at the first split time you're 25 seconds behind the leader! The pack should be much more bunched up than that.

Thats very true, most people I've encountered online tend to be way to over aggressive and end up either taking themselves or me out.. which is frustrating. They do it on every track, but it seems it happens on the Ring the most. 16 cars is the most you can have.

[IceMan_PJN]

Originally Posted by m1fcf

My bug-bear with GT5 is the length of time it takes to get from one place in the menu to another.

If I find I have 20 minutes to spare, I'll give it a go, and then spend 10 minutes booting and navigating to the place where I left off, then another 5 minutes in the car showroom buying the right car for the race I am supposed to do next, and then 5 minutes cursing the machine for being so slow. and then I turn it off in disgust....

The game was of sloppy design, lacked inspiration (basically just went through the checklist of racing game requirements and ticked off cars and tracks and called it a day), and is a mixed bag of sparkling diamonds, dull pearls, and lumps of coal.

[BertMk2]

Originally Posted by IceMan_PJN

The game was of sloppy design, lacked inspiration (basically just went through the checklist of racing game requirements and ticked off cars and tracks and called it a day), and is a mixed bag of sparkling diamonds, dull pearls, and lumps of coal.

Given the length of time it was in development it's a disappointment - as you say there's not really any inspiration there. The UI is pretty crap as well - am I the only one that has to use the 'zoom' function to be able to read the damn menus? Is there a way of speeding up the B spec races? In GT4 you could put the race on x3 speed - I haven't founda way of doing that in GT5 yet (could be hidden in a menu somewhere that I haven't found).

Whinges aside I have been enjoying some of the racing, certain combinations of car and circuit just seem to click - although as with the previous versions of GT I tend to get out of the 'standard' car races as soon as possible and get into the pure racing car stuff as soon as possible.

[medius]

Is it me, or when you get tucked up under the rear bumper of an opponent, his engine noise drowns yours out (or yours disappears)? And when you pull out and pass, your engine noise doesn't return for a few seconds?

[beau1]

Originally Posted by BertMk2

The UI is pretty crap as well - am I the only one that has to use the 'zoom' function to be able to read the damn menus? Is there a way of speeding up the B spec races? In GT4 you could put the race on x3 speed - I haven't founda way of doing that in GT5 yet (could be hidden in a menu somewhere that I haven't found).

Are you using a non-HDtv or have your setup without a HDMI Cable? I've never had the option to zoom on the menus and the text looks fine. A friend of mine does have the option and that was because he was viewing the game in non-HD.

B-Spec is soooooo tedious though, I don't think there is an option anywhere to speed up or quick simulate races. They really should have included an option like that in the updates.

[BertMk2]

Originally Posted by beau1

Are you using a non-HDtv or have your setup without a HDMI Cable? I've never had the option to zoom on the menus and the text looks fine. A friend of mine does have the option and that was because he was viewing the game in non-HD.

It's an HD tv but it's connected via a scart cable at the moment (need to move everything about to connect via hdmi as I want to run an optical output to my surround sound amp as well - but before that happens I need to get re-decorate the room so it's dragging on a bit ).

[beau1]

Originally Posted by BertMk2

It's an HD tv but it's connected via a scart cable at the moment (need to move everything about to connect via hdmi as I want to run an optical output to my surround sound amp as well - but before that happens I need to get re-decorate the room so it's dragging on a bit ).

Ah - Yes, that sounds like the same setup as my friend. Its on the menus of games when I can notice the biggest difference of non-HD signals with the texts going very blurry or too small, it was actuallly a really move by PP to include the zoom function for this specific reason.

When you get around to connecting it with a HDMI cable the menu's become a lot clearer and you don't have to use the zoom (actually, the option is taken away from you, even if you wanted to try it!)

Good luck with the decoration when you get around to it! I find it almost impossible to play games in non-HD now, especially on a HD ready screens.

[FAS33]

can't wait for Forza 5

[stuart thompson]

Give me 24 hr races, endurance races, light and weather then I'd agree until then it's GT for me.