GT5: Weather and Damage Included

Gran Turismo 5 features according to Kaz, instead of being whispered on the winds.
Published 11/05/2009 at 10:40 by Watchful

Providing yet more proof that all we do every day is watch our twitter feeds, here is some news that was recently tweeted by OPM.

GT Planet have picked up on an interview between Audi and GT’s head honcho, Kazunori Yamauchi.  It seems Audi have produced some marketing material where they talk in detail about the inclusion of the R8 in the game.  A sidebar on the final page of Audi’s PDF contains the interview with Kaz.

The interview is printed in German and GT Planet have only an automated translation up on their page.  So if any of our readers fluent in German can take a look and provide a better translation of the more interesting parts of what Kaz had to say, in the comments below, we would be grateful.

The key points that come straight from Kaz himself, rather than someone waxing lyrical about winds, are that GT5 will include changing weather, night racing and car damage.  There is also a mention of features for the online community, but no specifics on what they might be.

With those inclusions GT5 will be catching up with the the other car sims that pack the grid.  Whether it can put a strong enough package together to regain its place at the front of the field, instead of just being the prettiest one, is something that perhaps we will discover during E3.

Comments

Please note that all comments are the opinion of the individual author and not TheSixthAxis.


  1. Without damage the franchise is dead & unrealistic.


    • The series had always appealed to the car enthusiasts not the gamers just looking to have fun. Still it will sell well due to looking pretty, and would sell really well due to looking pretty while cars crash sending bits and pieces flying in all directions.


  2. Yeah, but still very pretty.

    And i’m sure with the way Polyphony Digital are, they want to make their damage as pretty as possible… like burnout, but with real-life cars. Maybe that’s why they haven’t previously included it, the technology wasn’t quite there with the damage, and you know what thesse people are like with accuracy.


    • But yet the static 2D crowd still exists.

      The realism of the cars is amazing and unrivalled, but the rest is just on a par with 16 Bit racers, and I think looks a joke.


      • Yeah, but then again, GT was never about backgrounds, simply the cars, and that’s what it wants you to concentrate on.

        But I agree, you can’t have detailed cars and 2d crowds.


      • Crowds will be 3D.


  3. Unfortunatly the site is blocked at work but if noone confirms the translation before i get home i’ll have a look at it :-)


  4. I think thats a big mistake. Often for the hardest races you need to push your way through cars to win. They’ll probably have to make the AI easier otherwise most peeps will just give up. How annoying would it be to find that towards the end of an endurance race, your car is written off due to a driving mistake! I dont believe in ‘banging off the walls to get round the corners’ but i do bump around with other cars.
    Still this game will be legendary!


    • But isn’t that the point. You’ve just got to get better instead of “cheating” by bumping round?!


  5. I wasn’t going to bother getting gt5, because apart from looking pretty gt5 prologue didn’t impress me, but now there will be weather and damage, this is back on my list :)


    • Yeah, me too. I’ve never been overly enamoured with the series, but these features might just make me invest.


  6. I think also that a good damage model is really necessary.
    The rain and night races is also a good enhancement.


  7. I can;t wait for GT5! Will the best racing game ever!


  8. As I am german, i just read the original PDF, and can say that the translation is correct. One interesting tidbit: Yamauchi not only talks about simulating weather, but also about changing weather conditions during a race which could have an impact on the outcome of the race.

    Here is an additional link from the pdf with a video containing some in-game footage of the “Nordschleife”: http://www.audi.de/gb2008/hingabe


  9. I don’t think this game can dare to be released without a realistic damage model, especially with all the other racers out there now. Realtime weather would be nice, but the only way they are going to get money out of me is if they up the A.I. cars’ skill level and not have them wondering around like drones for me to just bounce off!

    Without updated gameplay this game will flop, damage or no damage!

    disclamier: I havent actually played GT5:P, so im not sure about the skill of the A.I. drivers in that game.


    • Hm, i can’t see fantastic A.I and realistic car damage mixing well together…


      • I’m thinking Race Driver:Grid on very narrow street circuits, with very fast cars = absolute carnage. The A.I. in that game is savage sometimes. Although in that game you can soak up plenty of hits before the car gives up the ghost!


    • Outrun doesnt do damage…


  10. my favourite racing game(burnout 2nd) has just got even better. 600+ cars and real tracks(top gear track). Well what can I say. Forza3 is also going to be made, on 2 disks, well that just shows their desperation. there will also be less cars and i think forza 2 was pathetic. GT3 was comparable.
    ps3 is the future and gt5 is a step forward for ps3. UNLEASH THE POWER!


    • Sorry, go to disagree. Forza 2 is the best version of Gran Turismo to date.


      • I do like the online bidding. but its only gt5 prologue. I dont like forza much in any way.I dont like the fact you have to level up which restricts you alot, gt has licenses but its not as restricted. Im not sure if im a gt fanboy, but i do love it.


  11. Yeah I would be of the opinion that the game ‘needs’ realistic damage modeling in order to be regarded as a the best driving sim.

    If it doesn’t many people may just see it as another GT game with prettier graphics and they may not see the appeal of the new game. I could be wrong, I have been, but it defnetly would make sense to have this feature in. It could explain why it has taking an extra ordinary time in development.


  12. nah, well i recon gt5 will suprise alot of people. Ive seen the cockpit view and it looks very well made. The damage now should be really fun, especially ramming a couple of your mates. looks like my favourite racing game just got better. forza 3 should also be comming out end of this year aswell. On 2 disks though and theres less cars. Well im trusting my good old GT.


  13. If they include this (and maybe the rumoured 3d) it would be great, but weren’t the previous Gran Turismo games great without car damage? However, they HAVE to include split-screen racing. However good online gaming is, and it is brilliant, nothing beats playing against someone in the same room. Unless you lose, that is…


  14. I think MLB 09 really raised the bar with the whole crowd thing. The crowd is incredible on that damn game.


  15. yes, but the thing with sports games, is that most of the fields are similar, so it doesnt take up much space making a new/differnt one, wheres tracks are miles ling and take a lot more space for one location.
    But a good point non-th-less.