OK, back to business. This update will tackle many small things and bits I've came across, as well as many questions made in this thread.
But first, I'd like to explain the issue encountered yesterday, when I realized that
BGM sounds/music for winning a license-trophy (bronze, silver or gold) are being muted if you have Race BGM muted.
I presume it will not be an issue for 95% of future GT5 players, but all Legacy Players (respect
) and all other players that tend to race with Race BGM set to OFF (as everybody should, but hey - De gustibus non disputandum est
) will probably find it annoying. For solving of that problem you'll need an empty MP3 or VAW file (GT5 will only accept 48, 42 and 20.05 bitrate files) uploaded to your PS3 music Library, in separate folder. Once uploaded, you go to GT5 Options/Sound menu and then choose User BGM (for Race BGM). You then choose the empty file and make it play random in loop and then set the Race BGM to 100. Voila! License-winning music is there and our favorite Japan Guitar-Rock tunes will play happily in the rhythm of spinning awarded Trophy
After you're done with Licenses, you just turn off User BGM and disable Race BGM in order to save precious RAM streaming-bandwith. And trust me, GT5 needs it.
One of the most repeated questions is about changing rims on Standard cars. No, Standard cars can't have their rims changed. Period. Forever. Sorry guys, but there are more than 200 Premiums waiting to have their rims changed, and I guess it is lots of dirty hands to be washed after only that number. Imagine 1031, no hands can sustain so much degreaser and soap
And no, really no, Standards do not have interiors too.
Another important issue - particularly to all members of GTP Registry League, as Sjaak asked me - is that
save files are really copy-protected, period. You can't copy them to memory stick and that is it.
Interesting thing regarding save file is that it actually tracks Days of your GT Life career - which is nowhere else to be found in GT Life. Number of days spent in Career Mode - as one of the foundations of RPG-esque GT system of all previous games - is now gone from display. But, those interested in Old School Values will still be able to find it by pressing a triangle in XMB section of Game Save Data for GT5 save file.
Although I have
PSEye camera and I went through set-up procedure in Options menu, I couldn't get it to work during my License/Arcade races sessions. I have no idea where is the problem, I'll try to mess with the options tomorrow. Interesting thing is noted in Online Manual (notice that paper manual that comes with the game is nothing but informational - everything you need to know about the Sea of Options is available in in-game Help Manual) regarding Headtracking - it will not be available in races with pit-stop enabled. And no, I still haven't race almost any race in GT Life career mode (only 1st Lv. of Kart Challenge) because I'm still golding Licenses.
Drift mode (in GT Life mode only to be found in Practice section at this moment) can be executed as Section or Full-Lap drift. I can't wait for first serious drift videos of all great drifters there, it will be a treat.
Unfortunately, I just didn't have time to make further exploration of the physics, except during License tests. But, everything I said in previous updates is still valid, rally is a real treat, while overall feel of racing on dry surfaces is great. I will just expand my thoughts regarding execution of the physics/vehicle characteristics/tire modeling, by saying that GT5 provides unprecedented variety of feels for different cars, as never before. Racing 512BB on Rome Track (and Rome track is great I must admit) is totally different experience than racing new Infinity. I know it is logical to say "it is totally different" - they're totally different cars in any mean after all - by it is also not easily explainable by words. Everything we know about feel of the cars from previous games has been rewritten, so to say - torque, weight, lateral movement, way of braking, accelerating - everything is so unique to each car, as never before. Exploring the whole universe of different types of cars will now have a whole new meaning.
At this point,
no Network functions has been made available yet, so I still don't know anything related to online, multiplayer, community, GT Anywhere options, Museum (it is part of Network options, as stated in Online Manual section of the game), YouTube upload, Item Sharing or Car Exchange (and yes, we all have to wonder what "Car Exchange" will be
).
And in the end of impressions, I have to admit that graphics will occasionally slow down in large-field races, but it is nothing that can ruin anyones experience. Please, do not jump to this now, it is very rare, it lasts very short and it is just not so important with everything in scale
Also, some shadow-cast could be strange, but with level of overall details and everything it is expected. After all, it is only 256 RAM of dedicated graphics CPU, our mobile phones probably have better graphic CPU these days
So, nothing to be rally picky about in my book.
And now onto questions, I apologize to all whose questions will be left unanswered, I will try to anwser them in some future updates.
G25 wheel related
- clutch works (I presume it will work with G27 too, but I have no idea will the paddles work on G27)
- no steering lock in any option I have found so far
- I have no idea yet about Tuning-Menu allowing to adjust Steering Degree (as in QTS of Prologue)
JumpAce asked about
all tire and compound types. There are Comfort (N), Sports (S) and Racing (R) tires, and with porchasing Racing tires you're given both Intermediate and Rain compounds. Additionaly, there are Dirt and Snow tires for rally races.
Quick rundown for various:
- Karts can be raced on any road track
- no new diesel cars found (except 120d and Pegueot LM)
- no Stunt Arenas yet (probably never in GT5 by my opinion, but you never know with Kaz
)
- brand of the Mercedes SLS model is surprisingly - Mercedes-Benz
I found Jay Leno's name in Credits. Hm. Any thoughts?
Oh, and one very important thing for the very end - almost forgotten in lights of news -
there is no Rewind :lol: Thank you Kazunori-san, ありがとうございました.
This concludes my fifth update, more updates tomorrow evening. Thank you for reading!
***ENDS
