Gran Turismo 5 Prologue Chat Transcript - Monday, April 14 at 4:00 PM PST

Our Chat guests today were...

The US GT5: Prologue Producer: Taku Imaski with a community handle of "skebe".

The Associate US GT5: Prologue Producer: Christian Hinojosa-Miranda with a community handle of "chjmp".

Deltan: Welcome everyone. Registered users will be able to ask questions in approximately 5 minutes. Guests can only watch. If you'd like to ask a question please register and login to the community.

Garconis: Will we see the regular McLaren F1 road car in GT5, or just the "LM" version?

skebe: You want to see that car in the game? We want too!! Definitely on the list, but there are licensing issues we have to work thru.

RocketPunch: Will NA version owner be able to play online with people with other region of GT5P?
chjmp: NA will be playing against other NA players; however, the overall ranking (time trial, drift) will be global.

Surda: What are the differences between the Blu-Ray and the PSN Store versions of the game?
skebe: All the movies are taken out of the PSN version, to minimize the download time. You can always download those separately afterwards, except for the "Beyond the Apex" piece, which is a BD exclusive.

mattgt777: what is your favorite car in the the game
skebe: That expensive red car that is extremely fast

chjmp: too many to name right now (i can't type that fast, only drive)... but every day I'm discovering new favorites. Just yesterday I went from an all out BMW 135 marathon to the Ford Focus ST... which is now my favorite... until i jump into another car for a good while.

gamer_21: question - will GT5P use the G-25 clutch pedal?
skebe: We don't officially support that wheel, but I hear rumors that it works with the game

Aslam08: when is the regular gtr 5 coming out
skebe: If you mean Gran Turismo 5, it comes out no earlier than Summer 2009.

XxSlimDoggxX: Just to get the ball rolling. . How many cars are officially in GT5 Prologue ?
skebe: 70, including the crazy tuner cars that Polyphony designed

Rianor: Is there any plans on having a damage model for the cars in GT5: Prologue?
skebe: We've been working on damage for sometime... when and how we introduce it is still to be discussed. We just want to make sure it is done right.

Tropic: Will we be able to have our own private password protected games online with custom race and track settings?
skebe: Unfortunately not from day one, but we hope we can improve to meet your requests at a later date

rusty jonze: I have a logitech MOMO steering wheel. In both the HD demo and Prologue demo I was able to get it to work. Is this still in the full version and are there any major differences that I would be missing out on from not getting the gt Logitech steering wheel that just came out?
skebe: The new Logitech wheel has a "realtime adjustment dial" which allows you to adjust brake/torque balance on the fly.

MasterGT: Videos of the Prologue home page show moving cars, so will the Prologue Photo Mode also have some sort of movie mode that we can control?
chjmp: Hey MasterGT, glad to see you around these parts... and to answer your question, as of right now, we did not include Photo Mode into GT5P, so in short... no there will not be a movie mode; however, the automated replay is really stunning and it really amazing.

Addy711: Will the North American version ship with ability to have private racing rooms and voice chat, if not do you have any idea when we can expect it?
skebe: Hi Addy, not on day one, but we plan to implement more online features thru future releases.

IronSheff: How many credits do we start out with?
chjmp: you'll get 35k off the bat to pick out your new ride. From there its all skill and determination.

Big_Nes: I was wondering what new features can we expect from GT5 that we havent gotten from past version?
skebe: There are several new features. One feature you'll def like is that GT5 Prologue has an in-game automotive enthusiast channel called GT-TV, where we plan to flood with a combination of licensed content (BBC's Top Gear, Best Motoring) and our own unique contents.

J-Rad14: What big things did you guys do to take advantage of the PlayStation3's Cell Processor?
skebe: For example, a headlight on a car uses up all the polygons we used for an entire car for our PS2 games... and we even added 10 extra cars on the racetrack!

TouristTrophy82: Will more tracks eventually be available for download in GT5 Prologue?
chjmp: Really? You want more? If you could pick one... what track would it be? But in all seriousness, as far as official downloads go, we're not really ready to release news on that yet.

Garconis: Anything going on with Bugatti? You guys seriously need to be the first to get the Veyron in the game too. And of course some of their older classics.
skebe: I know, isn't that car sick?! It's looks like a extremely fast furniture (whatever that means). We'll work on it!

f1seb: I've read that a lot of work went into implementing F12007 Ferrari in Prologue, and I was just wondering if we can expect more Formula 1 cars in the future.
skebe: Many on the team have passion for the sport of F1. I think if we can sort out the business side of things, you'll only see the roster of F1 cars expand in the franchise.

CZPS3: Do you have a timeline of when additional features will be added to Prologue
chjmp: We do have a roadmap set in place, and I think a lot of fans will be pleasantly surprised. As always, you can expect that PDI will not pull punches, so every update will be quite memorable. More to come on updates in due time.

Eric1018: Is prologue going to have better graphics than Gran Turismo HD concept? I noticed on my 1080p tv that in the game there are sometimes banding, flickering, or bad anti-alaising. Thanks for answering!
skebe: Eric, thanks for being on the forum! You should notice some improvements from GTHD right away... especially with that 1080p TV... The Polyphony factory doesn't stop working to improve the engine... it's being improved while we speak.

MasterGT: What is the main middleware used to build GT5 and did PD have to write any of their own tools because none were already avilable to do the job?
chjmp: PDI has actually custom built a lot of the tools they use to create the graphics in Gran Turismo. Its been that way since the birth of the series, that's why you'll never see a third party logo prior to load/start. This is also a reason why the team takes so much pride in their work, and all of that passion gets translated into the game you have before you. Beauty and perfection is the only goal.

Euphrates: How was the development process of the game like? I have always wanted to know how game developers create ideas to implement them in their game.
skebe: Euphrates, it is hard to explain here, but a lot of stuff goes into a game of this scale. With the super-high performance of PS3, there is so much asset we need to collect, when modeling cars and tracks. Since our franchise is know for its beauty and realism, we want to keep on proving that we're #1, and therefore the amount of time & effort that goes into modeling are almost ridiculous. A lot of ideas that we discuss are how to make that asset-collection process more effective. And again, we producers read through a lot of blogs and forums to see what fans (and haters) are saying.

FooMasta: what are the different modes when playing online?
skebe: You get to rank your lap time and drifting points against worldwide (yes worldwide) fans. You can also race against up to 15 other players in race mode. You can download the fastest players' replay videos to practice and improve your skills. Then there's GT-TV, where you can view automotive video content... and more features will be added thru future updates!

PSPFREAKERAJD: Do you guys plan on supporting GT5 Prologue up until GT5's release? Can we expect new updates/features/patches until then?
skebe: Absolutely!!

Cobra Girl: I really enjoyed fully tuning cars in the previous GT games. Can we expect full tuning to come, or will Polyphony Digital stay with the "quick tune" feature that is in GTHD?
chjmp: Hey Cobra Girl! Glad to hear that you're a volunteer mod on the forums... so, as far as tuning goes for GT5... that'll be a feature we discuss as we get closer to launch. Right now, we're heavily focused on GT5 Prologue and creating an experience that is easy to digest but also carries a lot of potential, and Quick Tune does just that.

polishpride212: Will there be the ability to transfer credits/cars from GT5 Prologue to GT5 like there was for Gran Turismo 4?
skebe: There has to be, right?! I'm sure we'll find a way to not waste your effort.

FDPfrankie: How long is the Beyond The Apex Documentary?
skebe: Approximately 20 minutes!

Major Johnson: How many different camera views are there?
skebe: We don't want you to count... so we'll just say MANY. Including the new intertior view that shows the drivers' hands and the car's guages working in real-time. The views are of our strengths that we're proud of.

Patriot: Alright everyone. We're going to leave the queue open for just a few more minutes, so get your questions in!

kickasspats: Im guessing there rumble support in GT5?
skebe: Yes there is! It's great. I also recommend the Logitech wheel to get the best experience.

GoHerd35: How does the new Racing AI work? Also, what sets Gran Turismo 5/Prolouge apart from other racers from previous years?
skebe: With the increase of opponents (5 to 15) in Prologue, the experience is closer to real life, and challenging. Lots of thinking required on the track. Every time we come out with a new version, we try to introduce innovative features. GT-TV is a new idea you can't find in other games, if you're connected you'll be flooded with interesting stuff like historical pieces on cars, new announcements from car manufacturers, etc. We're trying to take Gran Turismo beyond just being a video game.

Mark_Monteagudo: Will you be planning to include the 'Beyond the Apex' documentary into the PSN download version of Gran Turismo 5 Prologue?
skebe: Mark, no... that video was made exclusively for the BD version.

Patriot: Thanks for your questions everyone! The devs are working hard to answer as many as possible. Hang in there! :-)

davethestalker: Could you please completely overhaul the Performance Points system for online races, or just eliminate it? It's not fun taking a "race car" to a race and getting beat badly by ordinary cars because we had to severely detune our race cars so they could qualify.
skebe: Davethestalker, looks like you've been playing the foreign versions. We have updated the calculation methods for PP in the latest version... check it out and let us know how you feel!

PSPX_02: I know this is going to see like a very radical question but can you please explain to me why I should download/buy GT5P when I can just wait and buy GT5 later this year? Will GT5 be that significantly bigger than GT5P?
skebe: With how much effort it takes to build the cars and tracks for PS3, GT5 full version will not come out later this year. You will be able to enjoy GT5P for a while, along with the planned updates.

sk8erdh36: What would you say is your favorite NEW feature of the GT5P?
skebe: I like logging on and taking that Corvette out on Daytona... but being smoked by the diehard fans.

marioisdead: Will the game include any classic cars from the 50's, 60's, and 70's.
skebe: I'm personally a big fan of American muscle cars... check out the Art Morrison '60 Corvette in GT5 Prologue. It won Best of Show at the Gran Turismo Awards at SEMA in 2006 and is now in the game!!

Tenshi-San: How accurate do the cars handle compared to their Real-life counterparts ?
skebe: Every time we release a new version of the game we are TRYING to get it one (or two) steps closer to reality. We do a great job getting access to the reallife counterparts when we model them, and drive them to make sure the game stays accurate.

chjmp: hauntingly close. We had a Press Event with Nissan for the GT-R launch, and some of the engineers got behind the wheel and started to beat our own times in both drift and time trial. That alone goes to prove if the real guys that work on the physical car can just pick up and drive withouth batting an eye: we've come close to the real thing.

ChampFantana: Will the progress gamers make in Prologue be somehow incorporated into the final version of Gran Turismo 5?
skebe: So many people ask this question... i have to say, DON'T WORRY!

TurboIIFC: Are any of you guys even real life car enthusiasts or do you just work on the game as a job? I personally have a highly tuned 400hp Mazda RX7. What about you guys, what do you drive?
skebe: Nice RX7! send a photo! I'm a proud owner of an M3 with a Japanese titanium exhaust.

chjmp: personally, I drove a honda Civic to the ground and now I'm working on an 3.0L 04. The game brings us to be so close to the manufacturers that we're constantly behind the wheel of cars that are new to the market or custom jobs, etc. Just recently we had an EvoX in the garage and the G37s, 350Z, etc... yeah we love cars, both to look at and drive (fast).

Shocker: Will GT5P support the sixaxis motion?
skebe: It's still hard to implement sixaxis into such a realistic driving experience like Gran Turismo... but we will fully support the DualShock3.

DNAgent: Will there be a sound text mode to listen to the GT5P music (and will there be songs from the Japanese soundtrack in there too)?
skebe: Sound text mode... You mean a playlist? Unfortunately we don't have that feature this time, and the songs will play randomly. And YES, the Japanese soundtrack is in there as well.

InfamousM: What audio format(s) does the game support? 5.1, 7.1, Dolby, DTS, etc...?
skebe: Hi InfamousM, Dolby Digital 5.1, Linear PCM 2ch, 5.1ch, 7.1ch.

nekon: What can you tell us about car customization? We've all seen the great trailers showing tuned versions of some of our favorite rides, but what will we be able to do if anything? I remember reading a quote that sounded like the cars were modeled modularly. I think it was said that this was done for the possibility of both damage and or future customization. Thank you, and thank every at Polyphony for bringing us GT5P and the upcoming GT5.
chjmp: For GT5P you'll get a chance to drive plenty of custom tuned cars by PDI. As far as custom tuning your own car - that's where quick tune comes into play and you'll be able to fiddle with suspension, gear rations, weight, power, and alignment (plust a few more). You can unlock this feature by successfully completing the offline race events. It's a gearhead's dream!

Cobra Girl: We know it takes about 6 months to model a car for GT5; how long did it take for each track in GT5 Prologue and what was done differently than in GT4?
skebe: Cobra Girl, a track takes at least 6 months to build. You should come to one of our photoshoots... it's like Spielberg's set.. with choppers and everything. The PS3 shows MORE, so we have to build MORE. We have new camera angles also, so it requires us to shoot the track from 800 different places!

MasterGT: How much scripting of races will remain in GT5 and, based on what you know of it, just how "intelligent" is its artificial intelligence now and what can you say about AI things that we can't "see"?
chjmp: The PS3 is a serious machine to mess with, and PDI is a team that is constantly pushing its boundaries, this is in graphics and AI - - and that of course, is gauged by how "smart" the other drivers on the course are. You'll see that GT5P has really evolved in terms of 'smart' opponents and the AI engine. But of course it's always important to note that where we are now with the AI engnine is not where we'll be once we get the GT5 - - that's just the nature of evolution.
 

skebe: MAN, my fingers are starting to hurt... thanks for logging on folks, and excuse us for some of our 'blunt' responses... we're trying to go thru as many questions as possible within the time limit. Check out the game in stores (or PSN) tomorrow. And to those who get a copy, we'll see you online!

skebe: Sorry, the PSN version releases Thursday... =)

chjmp: Thank you everybody, its been great hearing your thoughts. Look out for me on the road and on the track!

Patriot: Big thanks to our guests today for taking time out of their busy schedule to chat with you all! Thanks everyone! :-)

Patriot: Bye all! Happy Racing!