Why is it that Gran Turismo 4...

[AE5150]

...seems to have you spend more time waiting for menus to load than you do actually frickin' racing?!?

Drives me crazy!

What would otherwise be a great game suffers from menus that take forever to load (an average of 5-10 seconds for EVERY menu) and AI that is anything but realistic (real racers do NOT hold their line no matter what like they do in GT4). I can deal with cars bouncing around since the game is meant to be somewhat accessible for casual gamers, though an option to turn on real damage would be nice.

Don't get me wrong, I've learned a bit about video game racing from it. My road course skills have improved drastically, and I can usually destroy my friends at Watkins Glen when they insist on playing their NASCAR games, rather than engaging in some real racing. But I wonder why they just decided to crap out on this game after putting so much detail and work into it? Why stop when you get to AI and load time? It doesn't make sense.

[Township Rebellion]

Ok.

I quite like GT4. Thing is, the loading times for the menu screens are perfectly acceptable for a game of this nature. It's true some do take longer than they ought to but honestly, you either must be very impatient or you aren't spending alot of time driving.

Yes, the AI is unrealistic. Yep, no damage. You are naming a couple of the handful of flaws this game was discovered to have many years ago. I suppose you weren't aware that Polyphony has Gran Turismo 5 in the works, and that every game is always improved at least fairly significantly? For example, GT2 had literaly 5 or 6 times the number of cars GT1 did, as well as improved physics and a bunch of sweet new tracks. GT4 does the same thing over GT3, and includes a wider variety of modes, tracks and B-spec mode which allows you to tackle the endurance races. And now GT5 has a fully detailed in-car view, further improved physics, better control due to a new dual shock with analogue triggers, and a large number of cars on the track at once.

Basically, keep waiting. By the 10th game, Polyphony will have over 1000 of the greatest cars imaginable, perfect physics, full damage, and slightly quicker load times ;)

[Σnigma]

I never had a problem with the menus.

As for the gameplay itself, fuck the Nurburgring 24-Hour. Those developers were assholes. You beat the 24-Hour, unlock the GT World Championship ... which is like a whole week of fucking races that have to be done without stopping.

But the F1 car was SO worth it.

[slm33d]

its just to piss you off nothing else to it.

[Revvy]

B-Spec sucked major cock.

Endurance races should be there to be endured, not left on overnight so you can get the quick-$$$. If anything they should do something like you have to drive for 2 hours, pit in and let computer take over, then drive for the final 2 hours when he's finished his shift or something; trying to re-create the format for real long distance races.

Devalues the end stages of the game when you can get through it so easily.

I know you can do either, etc but when you're racing mates through the game and betting money on it (the way games should be played), it ruins the fun.

[AE5150]

I suppose my main complaint about the menus is that in the beginning, as you're racing 2-5 lap races (which, in terms of real-world reality, is barely time to get your tires up to temperature). You're turning 1-2 minute lap times, do that three times, spend a whole 5 minutes on track through the majority of the races in the Professional Hall, and then spend 3 more minutes waiting on the damn menus to load so you can actually get into the race. It seems clunky and bothersome, considering that my F1 (2001 and 2002 Career Challenge) games and my copy of NASCAR '05 (both made by EA) are far more intuitive in their menu use, and one menu leads to another instantly rather than having to load every damn menu. It seems needlessly complicated. If you're wanting to keep a casual gamer (like myself) interested enough to get to the more challenging stuff, it shouldn't involve spending almost two fifths of the time waiting on menus.

Insofar as the rest of my complaints go, I suppose I've been a bit more critical than many, since my dad used to build race cars and I've been around racing my whole life. Watching the AI hold their line regardless of whether you've moved inside them going into the apex of a turn...well, let's just say that if they're billing a game as a "real driving simulator," it definitely takes away some of the credibility in that statement.

Oh well. Until the guy who is a friend of our family gets his SCCA machine rebuilt and on the track in 2010, I'm stuck with watching racing on TV and/or playing racing video games, so I suppose I shouldn't bitch too much.

As far as GT5 goes, I doubt I'll be purchasing a PS3 anytime soon. New video game systems are hardly a priority for me (just not my gig), and the only game I'd be interested in the next generation is Ghostbusters at present.

[reject]

What would otherwise be a great game suffers from menus that take forever to load (an average of 5-10 seconds for EVERY menu)

What sort of ADHD riddled retard are you that you can't wait 5 to 10 seconds for a menu to load?

[AE5150]

What sort of ADHD riddled retard are you that you can't wait 5 to 10 seconds for a menu to load?

One that doesn't think a three lap race (totaling roughly six minutes on track) should be followed by two minutes of waiting on menus to load when it's readily apparent by other franchises that menus can be intuitive and quick.

5 to 10 seconds wasn't nearly as long as it is in reality. I just threw that out there, but last night while I was playing, I was getting agitated and grabbed a stopwatch. The average wait from going from the map to a hall is around 15 seconds, from hall to race somewhere in the neighborhood of 20 seconds. Pick the venue for the race, and that works out for another 15 seconds or so. If you want to make any changes to your car, you're adding time. Already we're pushing up to a minute of waiting on crap, and then you get on track to do what? 2 laps? 3 laps in professional hall? A total of usually 4-5 minutes on track after a minute to a minute and a half waiting, followed by more of the same lengthy waits to get out of that race and into the next.

It's okay, though, I've been hearing from another board that the GT series has traditionally been sub-par when it comes to load times and intuition. I suppose I might look into an X-Box at some point for Forza, since it apparently has better AI, damage, and is just as good in other aspects at GT4.

[Township Rebellion]

The original Forza, compared to GT4, is technically better. I don't remember the menus loading any quicker, though. I do remember that you can tune the car while driving; pause it and you can bring up the setup screen.

Now that I think about it, I like Gran Turismos' slower setup, it gives it more of a methodical feel, I guess I like to take my time. When setting up a car, for example, I spend way too much time tuning my car just so, I hardly just jump into any race.

[NamelessNom4d]

Try waiting like a minute+ for the loading menu in Midnight Club 3 for PSP (off the UMD of course...). :facepalm: I remember when I first got that game... it drove me fucking nuts.

But yeah, back to GT4. I really like that game, the load times don't bother me that much. It's actually really good considering it's only a PS2 game. Rather annoying the full GT5 isn't out yet.... but I don't mind, I don't have a PS3. I just play GRID on my PC. :D