Some whizzkids have been poking around in the code for the rather old Gran Turismo 5 and have discovered that the game includes a huge number of tracks from previous games including Gran Turismo PSP, Gran Turismo 3, and even the original Gran Turismo.
The tracks are unfinished and use the graphics from the older games but they are playable if you hack in to the code. Over to GTPlanet for an explanation on how this was achieved.
The method to experience these tracks is what we’ll call… “unofficial”. To boil it down, it involves tricking the game into thinking it’s loading one track, when it’s actually loading one of the hidden circuits. With the GT5 online servers switching off years ago, this doesn’t hurt any players, but does allow for fans to experience old tracks with cars they’ve never been able to before.
Tracks uncovered including Pikes Peak, Complex String, and Seattle Circuit, a video of a drive round that track can be found below.
Alongside the tracks another discovery has been made and it is very odd – wedding cars. The GT5 cars decked out with ribbons and flowers, ready to take the bride to church.
Also pictured is the DB9 Volante which has been found in the code but was never released as part of the game.
There does seem to be a logical reason for the old tracks; Gran Turismo 5 originally started life as Gran Turismo 4 HD, making it one of the very first HD remakes. However, at some point it was decided to make a ‘new’ game but they kept a lot of the old data by splitting the cars in to two tiers, Premium and Standard. Premium cars were made for the new game, Standard vehicles were upgrades from previous games.
It seems the plan was to do something similar with the tracks but in the end Polyphony Digital abandoned that idea but left the code in the game.
You can read our review of Gran Turismo 5 and the 174 comments (!) here.
Source: GT Planet
