GT Sport Polyphony is on a hiring spree

[Alex Franchini]

Looks like Polyphony Digital is trying to shift development for Gran Turismo 7 into the next gear as the Japanese studio is in fact looking for personnel to fill 13 new work positions, and judging from these job postings, we could, at long last, see an improvement in the AI - which is the series' infamous weakness.

The postings are available at the official Polyphony website (and have been translated by Dualshockers) and are for the following positions: "AI Engineer, Online Engineer, Graphics Engineer, Game Engine Development Engineers, Game Script Engineers, Sound Development Engineer, Data Engineer, Test Build Engineer, Pipeline Tool Development Engineer, Mobile Application Engineer, In-House Tool Development Engineer, Vehicle Simulation Development Engineer and Physics Engine Development Engineer".

According to the translated content, the studio wants to improve the "positional awareness of AI drivers", "giving them a more human-like behavior". Surely good news for GT fans, but Polyphony is also looking to implement specific racing rules for each series and "missions" (no idea as to what they could entail). The Playstation 4 GPU is going to be used for physics calculations, too, but once again there's no further details on this.

This hiring spree might mean that the game is at an advanced development phase, and that Polyphony might announce something at the Tokyo Game Show, which is taking place 17-19 September.

Are you looking forward to Gran Turismo 7? Do you think it's going to be a fearsome rival for Assetto Corsa and Project Cars on Playstation 4? Let us know in the comments!

 

[quicksilver384]

ive had 5 and 6 and although it sais g27 support you cant use H shifter. this is no good. I dont have a ps now anyways so I wont be getting it.

 

[SwaggerJacker]

It will be more of the same. Squealy tires, extremely shiny cars and all.
I have two PS3's gathering dust. I don't need a PS4.

 

[theravenousbeast]

Even the way that the poll's question is phrased is so loaded. PCars will descend into obscurity and AC will probably be fairly light on features. GT7, like it or not, will be THE racing game for the PS4.

 

[Will Mazeo]

Even the way that the poll's question is phrased is so loaded. PCars will descend into obscurity and AC will probably be fairly light on features. GT7, like it or not, will be THE racing game for the PS4.

Exactly!
onedoesnotsimplycompetewithGT7onthePS4.jpg

 

[El-ahrairah]

Firstly the poll is somewhat irrelevant... GT should never be compared to the likes of AC, rF2, GSCE etc. It's not in the same "realism" league. GT7's primary target has to be Project CARS.

Aside from the big AI deficiency which has plagued GT since probably GT3/4... Poly has had such an obsession with the car number that needs to stop. If Kaz maintains the goal of having 1000+ cars in the game, we face the prospect of having GT4 models from the Playstation 2 recycled yet again! No one wants 6 different (sometimes identical) versions of the MX-5.

GT cant afford to have another GT6-esque flop. It's positive they are getting some new talent on board.

 

[LacSlyer]

Firstly the poll is somewhat irrelevant... GT should never be compared to the likes of AC, rF2, GSCE etc. It's not in the same "realism" league. GT7's primary target has to be Project CARS.

Aside from the big AI deficiency which has plagued GT since probably GT3/4... Poly has had such an obsession with the car number that needs to stop. If Kaz maintains the goal of having 1000+ cars in the game, we face the prospect of having GT4 models from the Playstation 2 recycled yet again! No one wants 6 different (sometimes identical) versions of the MX-5.

GT cant afford to have another GT6-esque flop. It's positive they are getting some new talent on board.

In its defense, GT6 was obviously limited by the hardware of the PS3, and in some ways - specifically graphically - it was impressive what they pulled off despite this. It's likely the reason why SMS dropped the old consoles for pCARS. I'm fairly confident they'll come back strong with GT7. They likely won't reinvent the wheel (pardon the pun) but get back on track to being the premier racing game on PS4. I do agree that it's only real competition is pCARS though, if you can even call it competition due to the overwhelming fanbase the GT series has.

 

[Matheus Machado]

It is impossible to compare GT to any other title in the PS4, as its purpose only gets half matched by forza. As long as they can continue providing interest on sim racing, releasing the spark some people need to get in to it (as it was for me) I'm fine.

 

[Steve William]

I got all GT games from 1 to 6.
will not be getting this one, i do not like the fact that they NEVER listen to what WE want.

 

[Richard Eriksson]

Of course this will destroy any other racing title sim or not on PS4. The amount of cash going into this hype train (first GT on new Sony hardware...) is going to be massive.

Having tried the recent Forzas on 360/One i can also say that as Turn10 seem unwilling to switch out the "this racecar will feel like a truck, cause you know it's realistic to lean in the corners"-physics, this will break down the new Forza as well.

AC on consoles is a misstep for Kunos, as it will cost a lot but be crushed by titles like this. That money will be diverted from development on the PC side.

Also, the consoles of this generation are so massively underpowered it is sad. Real sad. 25 frames per second does not make for fluid racing, especially as the physics tick rates has to be therearound as well as the systems can not handle anything else. ACs AI calculations can use up to 80% of a core, on a modern I7 CPU for instance. This will not play nice on the consoles's 5 year old or more PC mid-level tech. My biggest disappointment this console generation actually is that both MS and Sony went for casual players and thus "maximum money-save mode".

As for listening to the fans... This is a Japan developer. That won't happen. The hierarchy is strong, and you will not see any western like "early release" and petitions. Kaz is the lead... You will buy his vision or none at all. For good and bad, as Kaz is very talented...

It's such a shame actually that Kaz is forced to work on PS4, given that the studio and himself has some real potential to do great stuff given some real hardware. Polyphony breaking away from Sony and going PC, pulling out the stops, is a dream... Won't ever happen, but it would be glorious.

The ad shows, by the way, the actual size of the budget... Look at all those separate engineering roles to be filled. As opposed to smaller studios with more sane budgets having like what, two or three engineers TOTAL?

 

[Homicidium]

Great to see PD making an effort to expand their staff to (hopefully) improve the overall quality of the game and make Gran Turismo into something great again, because every since they've released GT5, they've lost their way in my opinion!

GT6 was merely a GT5 2.0 and could've easily been a bigger patch for GT5 and I was incredibly disappointed by the overall features or rather the lack thereof of GT6, so much so that I stopped playing it after just 2 weeks and sold it after 3 weeks.

Overall PD has to focus on a few things to make the game appealing once again, the main thing being the decluttering of the car list. Although the number of like 900+ cars seems impressive at first, you quickly realize that only about 200 cars are actually premium cars with a full cockpit, and about 300+ cars (at least it seems like this) seem to be a duplicate of the actual "standard" car. PD should take the same approach as Turn 10 has done with their Forza franchise and offer a very good variety of cars and offer all of them as a premium car with a full cockpit, proper sound and everything, despite this meaing that you may only have about 400 or 500 cars, but at least they're proper cars that offer the best possible experience.

That being said brings me to the actual question of this poll and that is if GT will be a competitor of AC and pCARS and the answer is a clear no, which has multiple reasons. Number one being that GT is the most successful (racing) game on the PlayStation and it has to this day a large following and will continue to maintain (at least somewhat) the popularity on the PlayStation. AC and pCARS as well are serving a different crowd, AC even more than pCARS. GT always has been the title for the more casual gamer/simmer and pCARS and AC take the overall skill level to a different level, that would require a lot of people to climb a very steep learning curve, which casual gamers mostly are willing to do. So no, AC and pCARS (2) will most likely not rattle on GT's throne of being the prominent racing game on the PlayStation.

 

[Thomas Alderton]

GT7 will be the game to go to on PS4. AC I think will be dumbed down and has terrible bouncy crash physics in the PC so who knows what it will be like on a console.
I've had all the GT's 1-6. Probably won't be getting the next for a few reasons;
Don't need a PS4, GT7 will be another let down like when GT5 came to PS3, I will guarantee that the sounds will be awful, and I highly doubt any realistic physics model or crash model but they still will try to call it the "real driving simulator".
Console racing is done for me, especially now they don't decide to support important stuff like controllers that were £200 plus like a wheel.

 

[Yuri]

For console games I think GT7 is going to revolutionise things to the extend GT5 did. GT6 was a big let down mainly because they take ages to develop a game and the PS3 was on its last legs. They had plenty of time to develop the game already, and after it's announced it's going to take quite some time still before it gets released. Sure they physics won't be rF2 like, and the sounds won't be like raceroom but it will be hands down the best and biggest racing game for consoles. I personally don't think pCars or AC can get close to a huge game like that, even if GT might lack some physics and or sound (the sound isn't exactly great on AC or pCars either)

 

[Tobbe Bergman]

The GT franchise is a perfect example that people get seduced by pretty graphics rather than awesome physics and great FFB.

It's going to be yet another graphic galore with the usual awful physics, ffb, sounds, damage etc etc.

Comparing AC to GT is like comparing Apples with Pizza

 

[Yuri]

The GT franchise is a perfect example that people get seduced by pretty graphics rather than awesome physics and great FFB.

It's going to be yet another graphic galore with the usual awful physics, ffb, sounds, damage etc etc.

Comparing AC to GT is like comparing Apples with Pizza

comparing to AC here, damage won't be too diffrent in both, the sound in AC isn't that good either so it doesn't gain much there. Sure if you think the AC ffb is great that's a whole diffrent argument, but for a console racer what GT7 will be the ffb is good enough. What I think makes GT7 much better as a console game is the huge carreer mode, track builder and online racing with the many options you have on it.
So as I said, I'd like to argue you about AC and pCars and the 'awesome physics and great FFB' but I don't think it's the most important thing for a console racer.
we all know it won't be the real driving simulator

 

[Tobbe Bergman]

comparing to AC here, damage won't be too diffrent in both, the sound in AC isn't that good either so it doesn't gain much there. Sure if you think the AC ffb is great that's a whole diffrent argument, but for a console racer what GT7 will be the ffb is good enough. What I think makes GT7 much better as a console game is the huge carreer mode, track builder and online racing with the many options you have on it.
So as I said, I'd like to argue you about AC and pCars and the 'awesome physics and great FFB' but I don't think it's the most important thing for a console racer.
we all know it won't be the real driving simulator

I bought my first Wheel and pedals when I have purchased NFS Shift on PS3.

Then I found out what sim racing was all about and from that moment I just looked at consoles as toys that you played platform games on.

My PS3 is the last console I will ever own.

 

[DrKruntz]

Go... go... Polyphony, decide for PC conversion!
Would be great!

 

[Juliusz Baczynski]

Firstly the poll is somewhat irrelevant... GT should never be compared to the likes of AC, rF2, GSCE etc. It's not in the same "realism" league. GT7's primary target has to be Project CARS.

Aside from the big AI deficiency which has plagued GT since probably GT3/4... Poly has had such an obsession with the car number that needs to stop. If Kaz maintains the goal of having 1000+ cars in the game, we face the prospect of having GT4 models from the Playstation 2 recycled yet again! No one wants 6 different (sometimes identical) versions of the MX-5.

GT cant afford to have another GT6-esque flop. It's positive they are getting some new talent on board.

Kaz told that the things that couldn't be made in gt5 or gt6 is now being implemented in gt7 because of hardware limitations. Only that tells that this next gen gran turismo will bring something very ambitious I believe. And also it is likely that It can compare to some of the famous simulators, I can feel it

 

[Tobbe Bergman]

Reading some of the comments here I feel the console community has got to be the most gullible of all crowds.

Just hype a product long enough and they will buy it with no questions asked !

 

[Richard Eriksson]

Kaz told that the things that couldn't be made in gt5 or gt6 is now being implemented in gt7 because of hardware limitations. Only that tells that this next gen gran turismo will bring something very ambitious I believe. And also it is likely that It can compare to some of the famous simulators, I can feel it

He will be even more limited on PS4 than on PS3. At least PS3 had the cell cpu to harness...

As for PS4 compare it to a 2009 mid to low range PC. Thats your performance. Will that run a full grid of good AI and good simulated cars in a framerate above 15-20? Answer is no.

This console generation is actually LESS powerful than the one before but people have missed that point so far... they are a lot more efficient however.