GT4 "Prologue"

[Balou]

Now that Gran Turismo 4 "Prologue" is out in Pal countries, what do think of it?

Did it meet your expactations? Or if not, what do you dislike about it?


After playing it for an evening I?m very satisfied with GT4 "Prologue".
I only played it with the Logitech Driving Force Pro steering wheel, so most of my impressions are based on playing it with this wheel.

First of all, the graphics are really good. (as expected)
The backgrounds and track design has greatly improved from GT3.
Driving through the small Italian village, while seeing wide fields in the distance or parts of a castle is a great experience.
But then again, these kinds of improvements is what everyone expects from a sequel.

The sound, music and interface is of very high quality as well.
There is even some spoken training sessions in the game, which is also very well done.
(ironically it is a women who gives you advice on how to improve your driving , at least that?s the case in the German version)

Now on to the most important part, the handling of the cars:
With the 900? mode switched on (only available to Driving Force Pro), the handling feels a little slow and unresponsive at first when compared to the other driving video games.
However, after adjusting to turning the wheel like you do in a real car it just gives you a much better driving experience and feeling for the car.
It really feels like the real deal. (at least in terms of car handling)

The difference between the cars is also vey well noticeable when driving on one of the tracks.
If the full version really has more than 500 cars included there will definitely be a lot to uncover and experience. (and from the "behind the scenes" movies it seems to me that they are going to include Ferrari as well as Porsche vehicles)

Another improvement over GT3 is the braking, which now requires a little bit more attention and skill.

The A.I., however, still seems very similar to GT3. I have the feeling that they don?t ram into your car as much as they did in GT3 and they are not so keen to drive the absolut best line anymore, but they still seem a little dull nonetheless.

What?s also improved greatly is the offroad driving. The one offroad track included is ten times better than all the offroad tracks in GT3.
Overall, it is just a lot more fun than in Gt3, no matter how fast you drive.

The one thing that?s not so good about GT4 "Prologue", is that the responsivness of the gas pedal does not really represent that of a real car.
But I can?t really tell since the pedals of my Driving Force Pro don?t give 100% throttle at all times, so it might as well just be my half-broken pedals. (will get an replacement soon, I hope)

Another thing that?s a little annoying is that the Driving Force Pro doesn?t turn as smooth as a real steering wheel (at least with servo) and you are always a bit afraid of braking it. (thus hesitating to make strong changes in direction with the wheel)


In conclusion, I?m really satisfied with the "Prologue" version and hope that the full version will be even better. (with tons of cars, tracks and hopefully tuning options)


If you have any questions about GT4 "Prologue" or the Driving Force Pro steering wheel I?d be pleased to answer them.

[Standing On The Roof]

Please tell me the McLaren F1 is in the game.

[Kubrick]

Yes, the McLaren F1 GTR is in it, or at least it was in the Japanese version.

I think I'll give that 900 degree wheel a miss by the sound of it.

[Wools]

Absloutly love this.

I played GT3 earlier last week as I was getting hyped about the demo and the diffrence is quite noticable but underneath it is still a Gran Turismo game.

One of my major concerns about Gran Turismo is the handeling model that seems to force understeer onto all of the cars, luckly this sems to have been addressed as the cars feel more placed onto the road than in previous instalments.

Although this is a pricey "demo" at nearly the price of a platimum game, I reccomened this to fans of the series as it's a good indicator of the possible uality of GT4.

And above all, it's bloody good fun!

[Tom Salter]

I've recently got the JPN version of this, and I'm loving it.

Transmission differences have improved noticably, the feel of low-end torque has improved, noticable in cars like the Toyota Prius, where you go accelerate quicker by changing gear far before the red-line, as the maximum torque is at about 3000 revs. I'd love to see some Diesels in the final version, such as the Volkswagen Phaeton or Golf GT TDI.

Or just lots of beasty v12's will do fine

[Darwock]

The Driving Force Pro is the best wheel the world has ever seen! It's awesome, early versions of Jpn Prologue had a bug with the throttle (common to all wheels).. .I really hope they've not left that in for PAL.

What about the extra DVD? Any good?

[C']

60hz option?

[Balou]

Kubrick:
Don?t get me wrong, this is a very good, if not the best steering wheel for a console. But compared to a real steering wheel it has its drawbacks, of course.
It doesn?t feel cheap at all and the force feedback it provides is also quite strong.
The main advantage to other wheels is probably the high-quality (wheel covered with rubber material), the addition of a sequential gearshift (combined with wheel pedals) and of course the 900? mode.

What?s a little annoying though, is that when turned fast it makes these screeching sounds (because of the ball-bearing inside), which sounds like a very high-pitched dynamo on a bicycle.
And that?s what I meant by "afraid of braking it".

Note that after having the wheel for about two months, only the pedals are malfunctioning, not the wheel itself.
(the area under the actual gas/brake pedal is very open so dust etc. can easily get inside)

By the way, the developers seem to be using the Driving Force Pro as well to test their game. (in the movies you can see that they have a lot of those setups: Recaro seat + Driving Force Pro and monitor)


Darwock:
On the Bonus DVD there are the following things included:
"Making a Driver" (the main part, providing a little inside in the development, as well as advice on how to drive better - interesting and entertaining stuff)
"Behind the scenes" (no commentary, shows the team working with various cars - too short)
"GT4 Trailer" - not all that interesting
Picture Gallery - same as the GT4 trailer (and too few pictures)

I have to note that the editing of the movies is really well done. (better than the "Making of" on the MG2 Bonus DVD for example)

C?:
No 60hz mode included, sadly.
There are very small borders noticeable. If the game still runs at full speed I can?t really tell.

[Kubrick]

What?s a little annoying though, is that when turned fast it makes these screeching sounds (because of the ball-bearing inside), which sounds like a very high-pitched dynamo on a bicycle.
And that?s what I meant by "afraid of braking it".

Yeah, the "normal" GT-Force wheel makes those noises too. It's not that that puts me off the new wheel, but the 900 degree stuff. I prefer quick steering.

[Darwock]

Well don't worry about that, you can toggle between 'legacy mode' and 900 degrees as you see fit. It's still a better wheel even if you don't use the full abilities... by the way did you realise that every car uses a different level of lock? Some of them will be quick steering.

[Balou]

Yes, when the 900? mode is switched off the steering will be extremely direct, so that you end up using only about -10/+10 degrees around the center. (the steering is more direct than when using the Driving Force Pro with other games without the 900? mode)

[Uli]

what about sound support? Stereo, Prologic 2, DTS?

[Balou]

They don?t say anything about sound features in manual or on the package, however, I have it running with a (low-price) 5.1 surround system and it works fine.
The review on Eurogamer.net states that it supports "Surround Sound".
Sorry, but I can?t give you any more exact information. (and my knowledge about sound systems is rather limited)

Sch?nen Gru? nach D?sseldorf!

[Uli]

They don?t say anything about sound features in manual or on the package, however, I have it running with a (low-price) 5.1 surround system and it works fine.
The review on Eurogamer.net states that it supports "Surround Sound".
Sorry, but I can?t give you any more exact information. (and my knowledge about sound systems is rather limited)

surround sound is ok, but let's hope the final game will at least feature Prologic 2 code as most PS2 games already do!

Sch?nen Gru? nach D?sseldorf!

Danke! Und viele Gr??e zur?ck - nach good old Germany! Balou, wo bist Du in Deutschland?

[-Taurus-]

Just posting to give my two cents.

I received the game yesterday from the mail, and after about two hours into the game, it is completely ruined for me. Explanation:

The only problem is the views, i don't like the first view in Gran Turismo since the first. Never did, never will, unless they put some dashboard in it. I like to have some reference to look at, not driving the television.
The behind the car view is to low, this is especially troublesome in the italian course, with it's up's and down's (i think the view in this GT is even lower than the previous GT's).
And i won't talk much about the upper view, it's crap, enough said. It's like the car is also turning with the camera, it's weird.

I like the game, like the cars, the courses are good, but the views spoil the game for me.

Back to Project Gotham Racing 2 to give a few more spins.