Cockpit view confirmed for Gran Turismo 5

by Peter Vrabel { May 21st 2007 at 7:00AM }

Simulation fans will have yet another reason to look forward to Gran Turismo 5. According to an special episode of Jeuxvideo.TV, a ~~Saleen~~ cockpit view will be included in the game. Fans may recall the previous reiterations included a cockpit view that was more outside the car than in, allowing you to seemingly smell the fresh air and swallow bugs while strapped to the hood. Well now, the cockpit view will actually show the components inside the car as well, giving fans a chance to check out the things one would see inside a car, like a dashboard with all the cool dials and buttons, and maybe even a few air fresheners dangling from the rear-view!

Tags: cockpit, gran turismo 5, GranTurismo5, jeuxvideo.tv, polyphony digital, PolyphonyDigital

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

DolphGB @ May 21st 2007 7:41AM

It's about time!

Only two things have ever held GT back as far as I'm concerned:

1. A proper cockpit view where I can see my 'hands' moving (just like in Colin McRae's Rally series)

2. Damage to the cars (just like in the Burnout series)

I know the developers at Polyphonic were saying they'd have to do damage 'properly' to do it justice and so that's why they haven't, but frankly I think that is a bit of a poor excuse when you see just how well other racing series have managed damage...

Khaliel @ May 21st 2007 8:32AM

To be more precise, jeuxvideo.tv is just reporting a video of a documentary made by the french tv channel M6, in the show "Turbo" (a show about cars), where they made a special part on Gran Turismo and interviewed the creator, who said himself "i give you a scoop : we are at the moment modelising cockpits for the first time in the GT series".

alienclay @ May 21st 2007 8:38AM

they're perfectionists. and that's a good thing.

i'm sure they would want to be as detailed with crash damage and how each type of crash would affect each car in kind to that particular model and not some generic type in any way. that and with an exacting sim already it would ad a new gameplay dynamic that i feel would be more appropiate for GT6. with he amount of time they have to spend reproducing just the exterior models in HD vs the time needed in GT4 would lead me to bleave that if they want this puppy out in the ps3s early lifetime than it would be best to do it next time when most of the primary model work can be already finnished freeing time for that kind of add on. (GT6 rolls off the tounge might nicely don't cha think?)

shase @ May 21st 2007 11:02AM

does forza2 do these things too? anything GT is doing forza2 isnt?

mccomber @ May 21st 2007 11:16AM

"does forza2 do these things too? anything GT is doing forza2 isnt?"

Coming out on the ps3?

I doubt it will be enough to sell systems with a $600 tag, but I knew plenty of people that bought a ps2, steering wheel and GT3 who never would have bought a console otherwise, and didn't buy any other games. Forza may be awesome, but Gran Turismo is still the choice series amongst a lot of hardcore car guys.

WebMaster @ May 21st 2007 11:32AM

@ Shase

To actually answer your question, without fanboy spin, no, GT isn't doing =anything= Forza 2 doesn't already do.

Was that so hard mccomber?

shase @ May 21st 2007 11:45AM

@WebMaster

I am not a huge racing fan so i dont know all the details about the games. But as a "gamer" what would compel me to get GT over Forza2? I think at least from the videos of both it seems GT's cars are more realistic? I dont own a 360 so if i buy any new racing game(have RR) it will probably be GT. So which racing game(forza2/gt) is more for normal gamers and which is more for hardcore gamers?
Thanks

massive_98 @ May 21st 2007 12:06PM

I have played Forza 1 and it was pretty good...a really good racing game.

For the longest time I thought Grand Turismo and Grand Theft Auto were the same game. I absolutly love the GT:HD demo on the store though.

But keep this in mind: they will both have similar online features but the PSN is free.

ShadowHawk01 @ May 21st 2007 1:22PM

Whew! It is good to see you did not use a PGR3 picture for the article. :)

I play racing games on occasion, but they are not my preferred game type. I have played the Forza 2 demo, and the demo did not offer an in-car (cockpit) camera angle. However, that may be one of the limitations in the demo.

WebMaster @ May 21st 2007 2:44PM

@ Shase

Personally, I've always like the GT series on Playstation the best. However, with that said, Forza 2 looks pretty amazing and I'll have to try both to see which one actually comes out on top. With that said, I think both GT & Forza would be considered a hard core racing sim. If you don't have a 360, I wouldn't hesitate to just get GT, Personally, I don't think one will be any better then the other, so you shouldn't be missing anything by just getting GT. But, as I said, I'm a little biased towards GT.

Castor @ May 21st 2007 5:27PM

Never played Forza but there's just something about the vast amount of upgrades you can perform and realism of tht GT series that I haven't seen in anything else. I just wish we didn't have to wait so long to get some more tracks in HD. The demo is starting to get a little old without all of the options from the full version.

sam @ May 21st 2007 6:33PM

Hey.. Forza 2 is currently the most realistic driving simulator (physics wise) graphically I think GT HD looks better but all that has had to do currently is render one car on a track with no damage modelling etc. I think the makers of Gran Turismo are more graphically talented though and will expect GT to look better. It may be the reason I buy a ps3. Time will tell.

Vincent060 @ May 22nd 2007 12:13AM

@shase

Actually, I think GT has a ton of features that Forza didn't have. GT4 had rally races, Photo-mode, ALOT more cars, pick-ups, the ability to let the AI driver learn to drive by himself. Just alot of stuff that GT4 had that Forza didn't. I'm sure they will still have more features in GT5 then Forza2, but we will see.

John @ May 22nd 2007 1:26AM

I would like to "like" Forza, but the physics model they offer is absolutely ridiculous.

I have always wanted crash physics in a racer, so that if I, like a numbnuts, somehow careen into a wall (and it will happen) then I explode and die.

Or if I'm too assertive (or arrogant, or god forbid, too stupid) enough to hit someone else's car too hard, I take the respectable damage.

But when the guy was demoing xbox360's lauded Forza, he ran into a wall, with an Acura, at over 40 mph (I'm being conservative-- I actually think it was over 60 mph), and you know what happened?

His bumper crunched a little. In fact, he kept running into things, trying to show us the damage.

And sure enough, there was damage.

A little bit to the front bumper, a little bit to the suspension and the transmission, understandably.

Ever seen a car run into something head-on (like he did) at even 35 mph?

This is a DeLorean crash test at 35 mph:

So the Forza "physics" are fake, which we all knew anyway, since even our beloved modern consoles do not have the power to re-create real crash physics.

Still, someone mentioned Burnout.

Burnout has reduced the basics to a series of simple algorithms, and they work.

But Forza didn't do this, and I'm quite sure that Polyphony digital won't.

So Forza people will go on and on about how they have crash physics (even though they don't) and we will go on and on about why we don't (even though, simplistically, ala Burnout, we COULD).

The good thing about Forza is that it's out already. It samples the "physics" at something like 300+/second... the bad thing is, the crashes and damage are all fake, so it becomes essentially an arcade game.

I would be much more interested in Forza if they had done one of two things:

Taken the stance of Polyphony Digital and said, "We can't do it realistically this generation, so we won't" or

Taken the stance of Burnout and said, "We can sort of do it and it's not quite right but it's... a lot better than an Acura running into a wall at +40mph with hardly any damage, so we'll do that."

Instead, they built a false damage model, and no one wins.

You can run into a wall at 40mph and still drive your car: completely ludicrous by any real-world physics.

So suddenly, Forza is an arcade game. It has defied the very thing it set out to be: a realistic game with realistic physics.

If Forza took OUT the fake damage, it would be more realistic.

Yes, all of us bumping into each other doesn't render any real damage, and yes, running into a wall doesn't kill us or the car (as it should).

But with the interaction of real things, like cars, you have to do it well (and, even though it was simplistic, Burnout did it well), or you shouldn't do it at all.

Watch the video again.

Go play Forza 2, and run into a wall.

It's not realistic damage, is it?

Now, when Gran Turismo comes out, with NO damage, the only thing you have to remember is this:

If I post something to the web, I have to remember not to lie, like Bill Gates. I have to couch it in proper and truthful terms, like this:

"But Gran Turismo 5 doesn't have fake damage, like Forza!"

See? What's a little truth among friends?

John @ May 22nd 2007 1:26AM

Okay, maybe...

HERE's the DeLorean:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GkRq_hR4W0I

John @ May 22nd 2007 1:31AM

Let me see, massive98, you thought...

Gran Turismo (a first-person racing game for Playstation 1) and Grand Theft Auto (a top-down arcade game for Playstation 1) were the same game?

I'm not sure what you're telling us. But it's not looking too good for you.

Okay, I'll admit.

I thought Donkey Kong and Frogger were the same game at first.

I mean, they both had graphics, right?

And they both had an animated character trying to get to a goal, right?

So yeah, they're pretty much the same game.

I don't think you meant to start the sentence with "I thought--"

I'm not sure any "thought" was involved.

ShadowHawk01 @ May 22nd 2007 11:44AM

@John

Many people have different opinions when it comes to a game. The developers will never make a game to satisfy everyone. Racing games are probably the most criticized of all genre.

When it comes to damage modeling. I prefer to see damage when I hit something. However, I also have to remember that this is a game first and foremost. This means that it would suck if the game ended EVERYTIME some idiot blasted into the lead car in the first turn. If you think this does not happen, then you have not played a racing game online. People will use other cars as brakes when turning instead of using proper braking and watching for the racing line.

If a developer were to implement a damage model as you describe there would be petitions the moment the game is released to ask the developers to allow the damage to be turned off.

I like to see racing games where scratchs occur on the car when I rub the wall from taking a corner too hard. If a crash were to occur it is nice to see: the hood popped up a little, some broken lights, missing bumper that I may run into on the next lap, etc. I want to play a game first and foremost where I can enjoy some cars I may never own. I hate racing games where you see sparks flying when rubbing the wall or taking a hit, but the car still looks like you just waxed it.

By Real Damage they are referring to the fact that the damage will occur where the hit occurred, and the impact will be based on gaming rules. To compare the damage from Burnout to a racer would be crazy since in Burnout you simply 'Respawn' when too damaged. I DON'T want to see Respawns in Forza or GT, do you? I would also hate to wait for a tow truck to come cleanup all of the cars in the first turn.

(my two cents on Damage)

Vincent060 @ May 22nd 2007 5:56PM

@14

Actually, John, I believe she meant she was confused about the name. Gran Turismo and Grand Theft Auto both sort of sound the same, at least in the beginning. I get confused to when I start to say Grand Theft Auto when I meant to say Gran Turismo.

TCO @ Jun 6th 2007 9:13PM

Forza 2 does not have a cockpit view, and secondly it's rumoured GT5 will have weather effects, FM2 does not have that.

John's complaints are unfounded as the car manufacturers originally didn't allow for realistic damage to their cars.

Most importantly, most demos of FM2 thus far have been with medium damage applied, and not sim levels. Drive into the wall at 40mph at sim level damage and your car may be undrivable.

Secondly, with the lack of damage, GT plays more like the arcade game. I use to play 6 player GT3 regularily, and races usually became bumper car races as we'd bump off each other with no penalty.