GT 5 Prologue is here!
 

Today Mr UPS delivered my very own shiny copy of GT 5 Prologue Japanese Edition.

Sccchuweeet!

It is busy installing as you read this - yes, Installing - after you insert the BD and click ok through 3 Japanese screens (the only english letters are HDD) I guess you are being told the game needs HDD space, then it says you have enough HDD space then it tells you its about to use the HDD space.

After the install is done, and after I play around with it for a while, I will report back.

Later :P

Excellent! Now you can tell us whether or not we should all go out and buy PS3s! :mrgreen:

Nice !! Have fun RC :-)

Daaaaaamn. My inner video game nerd feels trumped.

I already need a PS3. This could make things worse.

Quick Update:

Oh My Gawd!!!!

bbl..

Ok - first impressions?

Japanese is a lot harder to read than one might believe - even with a World War 2 GI phrase book ;)

Visually - this game is stunning.... absobloodylutely stunning.

How good looking? I all they did was redo GT4 to look this good they woul dsell every copy tomorrow - thats without making any other changes to GT4.

This is the new benchmark for HD 1080p driving graphics - bar none. Every other driving game from this day forward will be judge against this standard - it is that good.

Features - who are we kidding here? This is a Prologue to the real game so not all the features are modeled yet - but the essentials are here. The game has a career mode, an "arcade mode" that is not really an "arcade" but merely a way to access and use your car in a time trial or quick 16 car faceoff.

The career mode progresses similar to other generations of GT. Nothing new or unique here, and is actually mildly refreshing - oh, and no license tests in this version.

No photo mode either, but - and this is the MOST important bit that EVERY other console driving game team has fucked up royally - there are stunning and fantastic and aweseom and wonderful and unbelievably great REPLAY CAMERAS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You can see a review of your race/event in classic GT style - the car modeling is show cased, the stunning tracks are showcased and more importantly, your driving is showcased.

The entire Forza Team sould be FORCED to sit down and actually watch a GT3/GT4/GT5 replay to learn what it is that works FOR THE END USER ;)

G25 is supported 95% - clutch does not work at the moment, but the H-Gate does and 900 degree rotation i supported.

And the crown jewel so far?

GT5 class Interiors. Now you cant glance around like you can in PGR3/4, but they are modelled and fully funtional - complete with gloves drivers hands that leave the wheel to shift as you do.

Sounds: My first objective was to earn enough money to bu a C6 Z06 and take it round the Daytona road course - to see if the GT team had redeemed themslves from their one environmental flaw...

My God did they ever... sound is glorious and accurate... the muffled yet destinctive sound of the stock LS7 is spine chillingly duplicated. No whistling hairdryer sound here.. just a gloriously deep throated V8 snarl - forceful, yet muffled just like the stock car when heard from inside at speed.

Now they would score 100% in sound area, if they didnt have such screechy/scrapy tyre sounds - but I think it may be down to what types of tyre feedback some people like to hear.

I notice different tyres squeal differently on different surfaces - some howl, some scree, some screech and some scuff.

In GT5, they all scree like econo car tyres over concrete in the Walmart parking lot - not a deal breaker for me.

(although I do have a little issue with the lack of front end grip with the stock tyres in the Z06 - but now I am looking for flaws)

AI Drivers: Seems they have spent the last 2 years in driving school, and it has paid off - they are 100% better than the old AI drivers. But dont try brake check them or you will get rammed.. ;)

While there is no damage modelled, you do get time penalties if you try use the other cars as bumper stops :P - no more cheating ;) And if you get off track into the gravel - you are in trouble.

Physics: apperas to be spot on... very predicatable and "life like' and when you review the replays, the car behaves so life-like it is mind boggling.

Summary:
This is going to be another benchmark driving game. It is fantastically engrossing and fun.

I will say it again - if Forza2 had G25 steering wheel, H-Gate support and GT3/4 style replays it would have been the "perfect" driving title - but it doesnt and as such it isn't.

Now, if GT5 final version includes some kind of car painting utility, car modification options and the ability to create custom racelineups and includes the The Nurburgring it will pretty much be "the utlimate driving game" ;)

Now all I have to do is figure how to capture then 1080p replays for you guys to enjoy. ;)

RC, I know maybe you are excited with the new game, LOL we all do when getting a new one, but can you PLEASEEEEE SWEAR ON GOD that the sounds on the cars are accurate?? I mean every single car featured in it, including the Ferraris? believe me, I cant believe it, what about AI, is it really 100% better, or a 50% to 60%? I know graphically this game will kick everyones ass, but the rest of the game, is it really that improved???? I cant believe my eyes....:?:

RC are usually quite critical on his comments, especially when it comes to driving games. I will take his words.

And the flat cacophony of the 2002 Viper GTS engine note is also pretty well done - I don't have enough credits to buy one of the Ferraris yet, but I think people in general will be dissapointed with the bland ounds of a modern street V8 Ferrari anyway - I know when I hear them in real life they sound more like racing 4 cylinder sallon cars than V8's ;)

As long as the Vette and Viper have good sounds I am ok with it :P hehe

thanks for the writeup. your enthusiasm made me go on ebay myself :D

Did you get the game off ebay........Tell me NOW....I must GET IT!! HELP

And whats with this G25 steering wheel. Is it the best from logitech?? I will have to get it as well....Ima beast with dualshock...LMAO...

PS3 has no regional lockout correct?

HELP :)

RC, you better be right about the sounds. That has always been a serious flaw of the GT series.

What you gonna do if I am lieing? Arrest me?

Oh - wwait.. bad example :P hehe

I am making a Video to let you guys decide for yourselves..

Overall I am very satisfied with my early Christmas present :)

Is it perfect? No... is it great - YouBetcha.. :)

Am I 100% satisified with the sounds? No.. 90%.. the constant single skree sound of the tyres is no twhat I would like to hear, I woul dprefer a tyre sound that changed with surface, tyre type and driving aggresison, but hey - maybe that will be in GT6 - which I hear will ship in March 2014 hehe

A pretty good in car vid I found

Not to steal your thunder RC, but I managed to dig up a video with in-car footage of the F430 for those particularly interested in how the Fezza's sound. I will admit that it sounds miles better than the cars in GT-GT4 did, and even better than the GT5 Prologue Demo, but you can still detect that undercurrent of sort of monotonous droning that was the basic sound of every car in the older titles.

- F430
- Integra Type R (otherwise known as the Acura RSX - S in the states)
- Lotus Elise S1 (not sure if it's the 190 or 111S or not)

I wonder what PD's fascination with that one specific screech sound is that has them using it since the GT1 days?

That video of the 430 sounds nothing like a 430.

Are the in-car cameras going to be modeled for every car in the game?

From the F430 video, I think I know what RC is talking about on the tyres squeal

Actually guys - those sounds you hear are what it sounds like in many of these cars... remember everyone hears cars from the outside in all the TG and 5G videos... they cut to the "nice" outside sound - incar, when wearing a helmet (and in some cars even without one) the true engine note is muffled and what you record or hear is nto what you expect ;)

So far, the F-Cars and P-Cars I have been in have sounded nothing like their driveby equivalents - and the F430 doesn't really sound like much in real life anyway - as I say, the only cars I am interested in are the US ones :P

Also remember that the encoded audio may account for some lost frequency as well.

Functionality Update:

100%$ G25 support - Press the green triangle to turn on/off Auto Clutch at the start of each race.

:)

And auto cutch off menas you cannot shift (up or down) without using the clutch in a manual transmission car ;)

And use directional pad to glance left and right as in PRG3/4 and look back when in the incar view.

:)

So - in car views, manual clutch, advanced physics, pretty good sounds - the full GT5 is going to be a blast. :)

^So this is not the full GT5?

No - this GT5 Prologue... the prequal to the full game.

Like the prequals to GT3 and GT4. The full game should be out at the end of 2008.

I see. Thats a long wait then...

Which is why they keep the interest with the Prologues :)

Or hit delays until Q1 of 2010

Motorworld Unique Video Uploaded:

http://www.motorworld.net/videovault/index.php?cat=17

http://www.motorworld.net/videovault...humbs/2019.jpg http://www.motorworld.net/videovault...humbs/2020.jpg

I'll check them out. Make me proud.

There is so much stunning eye candy between the cars, the photomode videos (fly arounds of you rgarage cars in the future photomode locations - complete with swaying grass and butterflies hehe), videos o fthe race tracks, HD download movies on GT TV, the driving is just one facet - so replay videos don't impart the entire ambiance and environment ....

And I think it does help I am doing the GT5 thing with the Playseat racing seat, G25, home theatre surround sound with visuals being handled by a 60" 1080p Sony Bravia TV.

If Forza looked half as good with these replay cameras and G25 support then Polyphony would have a challenge on their hand ;)

Good stuff. The visuals truly are stunning. There is so much detail on the cars. The sound though, ugh. It completely takes you away from the feeling that you are really behind the wheel. You mentioned that the sound of the tires never changes and you weren't kidding. The pitch never even fluctuates. Not even just a little. I also noticed that the tire smoke hasn't improved through the years either. It is pretty non-existent.

Ah well, I still look forward to GT5.

Nice vids. Not like there really is a game out there that sets a great example. I suppose Forza 2 is one of the better ones.... But the AI is still pretty "botty" Por ejemplo, in the first video, Corvette segment, the Merc SL that hit you looked to be clearly turning on a "track" and didn't recognize that you clearly had the advantage into the corner.

So like I said, it would just be cool if they could come up with a killer AI system for the actual game. Then it would be G-O-L-D. And I'll call that 800 number and get $100 for it (US people probably only have seen that commercial - sorry for the regionalism.)

wow the game sounds like a blast... now i need to find the money fora PS3, a G25 and a proper television :tard:

could you post some high def screenshots please? :)

Woohoo! Just orded it off ebay yesterday.

1080p goodness here I come!

RC:

How do you have your G25 setup. I want to get one, but I'm curious about how people placing everything in a sturdy position. Gotta picture of your driving setup?

Ok this is my review from the videos RC uploaded:

Visuals: you have to see them to believe them, theres no racing game in this world that matches those visuals, they are superb, they are perfect, they are stunning.. What did you expect from Polyphony and Kazunori??

Sound: The Viper and Vette sound really good, not perfect, but very very similar to the real life ones. The tire sounds are the same from GT1 they are trully annoying and you would expect some good tire sounds, I mean the visuals are what you expected from PS3 and Polyphony, so I dont get why the sounds are not any good. In general they can do much much better in the sound department for GT5, but I bet they wont change them.

A.I.: I can see like a 20% to 30% of A.I. improvement, but it looks like the same chunky stupid A.I. that crashes you if you get on its way, its disappointing comparing it to the A.I. found in Forza 2 for example, you expected again a much much better A.I. responsiveness in this GT but then again, its Prologue, I hope they get it 70% to 80% better in the final game.

In-car view: Looks great, all the small details look superb, the gloves, instrument panels everything looks pretty good, but you dont see a hand movement to the gear shift when you change gears, and I think thats a very important detail I hope PD doesnt forget, lets see if in the final game is fixed.

Details: I loved the way grass and dust fly by when you get off the track it looks excellent much much better than Forza 2, the tires look very very real I liked that, but then again you dont have tire marks or good real life tire smoke, is the same non existent disappearing tire smoke from GT1 which I hate. The main menu with the car in a photomode location, the intro before racing with your car on the pits, its superb, it makes the game feel real, it makes the game experience turn from good and fun to real and interesting. Replays then again, you have to see them to believe them, you have Top Gear camera views in those replays, they are stunning.

In general, theres much that PD and Kazunori have to work to get fixed, this demo can give you an intro of what you can expect from PD in GT5.

Yeah - that is a detail that has been modelled in real time, but not in the replays.

So while you are driving with in car view on, you see the driver shift - in fact, if you hold the revs to top of the RPM range, he even takes his hand off the wheel, and puts it on the shifter in anticipaiton of the upcoming shift... the same way I do in when I drive so as to be sure not to mess up/rush the red line shift hehe.

But in the replay - he leaves his hands on the wheel.

Strange.

And just in case anyone missed the technical update a few pages back - hte G25 clutch is supported 100% - with the clutch mode on, you cannot shft without using the clutch :)

I think the AI in GT3/4 was so bad, that this improved AI is 100% better - but it is not 100% complete, I will agree with the "30% complete" assesment... but they do try and most of the time won't ram you.

And if you ram them, you get a time penalty where you become a ghost and your throttle does not work.

Now thats very very strange, how does it look when you see it RC, does it look real, or does it look like PGR3 or PGR4 where the guy just move the hand to nothing and not even at the same time you are changing gears, how does the man behind the wheel in GT5 responds when you change gears???

A very important question, can GT5P do a proper donut?

The animation of the drivers hands does look pretty real and seemed to be well timed from what I recall - I will make some real-time captures as soon as my 1080p HDMI capture card arrives.

Yes... I do seem to recall doing donuts... I'll check when I get home later this evening.

looks pretty good - a real sim should have rudimentary damage and better music imo ... but what do i know, i just decide with my wallet

Well, having now lived through Forza2's "rudimentary" damage, it may as well not be there and just give you a time penalty, because the real damage - mainly to the engine - complete failure, never happens so its really just eye candy - and any "real" driver would be trying their best to avoid damage ;)

You don't like soothing relaxing fake elevator jazz? Music while driving on track is for the birds anyway :)

If only the morons who created Forza could have at least played ONE game of GT3/GT4 to see what a great steering wheel does to enhance the experience, and see that great replay cameras helps with the replay value - especially since they let youcustomize your ride so much.

If Forza had G25 support and GT style replays, then no amoutn of eye candy from GT5/GT6 or even GT7 could take away from Forza2 being one of the best driving games ever created... but they didn't so in the final analysis FM2 is really just a cool game to kick back on the sofa with a drive by controller between real world gigs - when it could have been the hardcore driving experience that GT5 will hopefully be.

In GT5 the tyre sounds should either go or be tunable by volume... I can live with bad AI as I enjoy hotlapping - but the tyre sounds are the major flaw for me at the moment - everything else has improved from GT3/GT4 and the GT5 Demo.. except the tyre sounds.

Can you imagine what the final polished graphics and movement modelling of the cars on track is going to look like ? ;) -- only to be offset by the sound of a large bag of salt being dragged around the Walmart parking lot by a bicycle everytime a tyre slips. :P

Ya - Damage should be more simulated to real-life within reason ... or it should be an option so that piling into a corner at 150mph becomes less of a strategy and more of a lesson .

Nope can't say I'm a fan of the music - But I agree who needs it in the gameplay .. but just damn! :thumbdown: clearly not in the budget there

As for Forza - Send an email ... and do they publicly traded? lol

Whats been PD promising for the final game RC? I heard that they are including Top Gear track, even theres a rumor that they are including my local Fundidora Park Circuit, the first mexican circuit to be featured in a GT game, how about amount of cars etc?

+ Online racing will be much, much better without damage because it eliminates the satisfaction immature gamers feel when they take someone out of a race. That was something I HATED about FM2. It was so hard to find serious racers online. And even if you found 7 serious racers, the chances were still high to have that 8th asshole in your room...

grrr....

GT5 Online may just be the new crack. I think it is going to exceed everyones expectations.

I cant wait.

Yay! GT5P should be here in a few days! :)

Well, if we are to assume there is a little reality in the way the cars feel in GT5, then the C6 Z06 is awesome, the '05 Mitsu Evo is well behaved but a slow with only 280ps, the Mustang GT has a gloriuos sound track but moves like a lead balloon in a straight line - and the new Nissan GT-R is like Jesus come back to earth... ;)

Having a quality surround sound setup definitely helps.. I'm sure the engine noise has been improved in GT5, sad to hear about the tire screeching though.

GT4 even sounded pretty good when connected to my roommate's aluminum cone audiophile setup(minus the crap engine recordings). Best part were the rumble strips, seriously sound and felt like you were driving over them.

Not going to run out to pick up a PS3 anytime soon.. but by the time the full version of GT5 is out and the new Grand Theft Auto, the PS3 will definitely go though at least one price drop.

I also doubt they will implement damage with the full game... especially if they want to release it within the next 5 years.

+1 I saw something on TV where the creator was saying that in order to create damage in the game, they would have to create 2 models of every car. So see the game in 5 years with damage...

Well - that is the correct way to do it.

Current damage models in games like Forza are crap - steel bodies crumple and dent like CF bodies in FM.. even plastic bumbers that should tear or split, dent (and even have silver metal under neat ;))

CF shoul dshatter, steel crumple, plastic tear etc.

I can do with out cosmetic damage, its the mechanical damage I want to see modeled properly as int GT Legens and GTR on PC etc.

Clutch wear from abuse, failed intenrals, over heating, HEAT SOAK for blower equipped street cars etc.

When you tak eyour car to the track, you avoid damage at all cost - so why not the same thing in game ;)

I agree that the damage is a bit off, but it is still there. When you hit a wall, you can tell you hit the wall. When you run off-road, the car gets dirty. Like you said, you avoid damage at all costs, including tapping the car in front and crumpling your bumper.

Adding the other stuff would be more realistic, but would the game be as much fun? Part of the "fun" of a video game, is going out and running the cars flat out. It may be fun to a few people to run the car at 90% because things could break, but it would not appeal to the masses of people that want a game where they can run the cars flat out.

Again, its a game, not real life. If you want it to be real, go take the Z06 to the track (which I know you do and give you props for taking such a beast to the track, where it belongs)

Forzas damage is mediocre at best - it really is cosmetic only as the damage from htting a wall at speed is not well modelled at all - they didnt even bother to paint the damage appropriate fo the material being damaged - and their mechanical damage is a facre at best.

Since you are no longer competitive with the damage you do recieve, why not retire from the race with a broken radiator - the way it is right now, it may as well not be modelled.

I would rather have proper reply acameras in place of "damage" that is so poorly implemented.

For goodness sakes, even Need For Speed ProStreet has race ending damage with pretty much the same fully licensed cars Forza has.

And damage can be turned on or turned off, so that will allow the players to choose what they want.

First GT5 Prologue patch is here :)

Yep - I am enjoying this GT5.. maybe a little too much hehe ;)

That's my curent ranking at Daytona Infield C6 Z06 - until the 12 year olds start logging on and post 1:30s with FWD Civics... :P

http://img176.imageshack.us/img176/7...cordhu3.th.jpg