Here are some Excerpts from the latest edition of Car and Drive issue magazine in which they give more details about the next GT5 game.
Excerpts :
- They talk about the whole GT series and the some technical differences between them and the latest iteration - GT5.
- They talk about the Polyphonys studio and how the developers spend their time there. Some have cots with sleeping bags under their desk to take power naps.
- They mentioned that the soonest GT5 would be released would be Spring 2008 but that it could be pushed back because Sony is giving them as much time as they need - Kaunori Yamauchi wants it done right.
- Yamauchi said for GT1, one car was one days work for one man, GT3 was one mans work for 30 days, and GT5 one car is one mans work for 180 days!
- Yamauchi mentioned to program 700 cars would take at least 5 years so GT5 will obviously have less. Players will be able to download more cars in the future. Mentioned some game upgrades will be supplied and sold online in the future.
- One of the future upgrades may be crash damage. Some reasons given as to why it doesnt have it yet are that it needs to be done realistically, the physics engine would need to be updated and that some car companies dont want their cars portrayed with crash damage - even if its just virtual.
- Realistic crash damage alone is basically double the work. The way Yamauchi wants it done would mean each body panel of each car would have to be modeled separately - intact and crumpled - with the resulting changes in light and shadow.
- Yamauchi never intended GT to appeal to a mass audience. He believed only a real otaku, or hobby fanatic, would take the time to explore its many nooks and crannies. Indeed, the first version was altered for the US market to make it more accessible. The game was tweaked by Taku Imasaki for American buyers by speeding up the game by 25%, changed the gravity so cars flew longer, and added the instant-play option. Imasakis changes didnt win him many friends at Polyphony.
