"Nothing but the rain"
So, firstly I’m ashamed of the placing in this result table from Gran Turismo 6. Sixth place is pretty shocking. I hate the Kart races, the tracks are generally tight and small and the Karts are somewhat twitchy. Anyway, I’m glad I snapped this one with the phone because I don’t think it’ll happen again.
6th Place with a time difference of 6.666 seconds.
Suck on that!
Ever since I raced this car in Gran Turismo I have always started the game with the Honda Integra Type R as my first car. I love it. Here’s my latest one from GT6 [just after a car wash]
I seem to remember one game in the series where I had to get a Civic Type R initially but soon bought my Integra.
Made a coffee earlier and also needed to get into my “race seat” [a sofa and Logitech Driving Force GT Wheel].
Placed my coffee on the steering wheel stand which is not sensible given the way the wheel calibrates itself and checks the force feedback systems!
Luckily I didn’t get covered!
When I was in hospital waiting for my first son to be born I went to the book shop to see if there was anything decent to read. I was not really expecting much but I did come across a gem.
This book has lots of pictures and diagrams but more importantly it has force diagrams and mathematics to explain the behaviour characteristics of cars. I haven’t finished reading it but I do intend to. I essentially hope it will make me a better racer in Gran Turismo.
Anyway, one paragraph has particularly stuck in my mind:
There is a strong tendency among drivers to use the steering wheel as a brace against the centrifugal force on bends and corners – a habit which prohibits any sensitivity for the steering. Instead, the driver should sit well back, and if necessary actually dig himself into the seat-back by pushing his body into it with his left foot, so as to get firm lateral support without the aid of the wheel.
So, now I am trying to change my driving habits. When I think a number of gear changes are needed in succession I tend to hover my left foot over the clutch pedal. If I am not using my left foot then I rest in on the floor.
NO MORE
I am now trying to place my left foot on the “rest” bit to the left of the clutch pedal so that I can (even if rarely needed) push my body into the seat-back so I can resist the lateral forces without hampering my steering.
Why?
Because I want to try and see if I can improve my driving technique. That’s why.
Oh, by the way, I already heel-and-toe.
Wow, wasn’t expecting this from GT6! I got to drive on the moon!
Here are some screen grabs from my replay.
And another:
Kaz has done a brilliant job.
Only one week after the release of the Playstation 4 Sony released the latest in the Gran Turismo franchise for the PS3. I understand their decision and applaud it.
I am most looking forward to the GPS tracker uploading app when it arrives so I can drive some routes around my village and then create tracks within the game. It’s just a shame that a Passat Estate isn’t in the car list. I might also upload a route to work and see how quickly I “could” drive that.
What you don’t want to see when you want to play a game. A 1GB update and rural broadband speeds!
A welcome return to the GT series: Apricot Hill circuit. I always really enjoyed this one.
And here’s the track:
And my first win:
Reno, baby. That’s where I’d like to go one day, but not for the gambling but the air races. I love the idea of P51s racing 200ft off the deck. It would be a seriously sexy sport to watch. In the mean time I will satisfy my air racing passions with this little Lego racer.
It’s a cops and robbers scene. The po-lice car is really cool. I love the way the criminals all have sneaky grins on their faces.
Here’s what my sons took to nursery to play with today.
#1
#2
I’ve been spending a little bit of time trying to complete various seasonal events in Gran Turismo. A by-product of this is my collection of cars. It has now surpassed one thousand by some way!
I might have also have been watching a little bit of Tales of the Golden Monkey. One of the stars is a Grumman Goose. Lovely.
Here’s the latest addition to our Lego City collection. A cement mixer with working mixer and small lumps of cement. Lovely.
It may have taken a while and lots of money but I finally have 1000 cars in Gran Turismo. Who needs another game (or life)?
I’m still not at level 40 in A-Spec though.
Here’s a Lego fire car kit that we just made for number 2 son.
Here’s the latest addition to our Lego City. It’s a fuel bowser.
What happens when you ask a four year old to pick a present for his seventy one year old granddad? This:
Fair enough I guess. #1 wasn’t interested in getting Granddad a book and thought he would like these diggers. Granddad took these home so that my sons can play with them when we visit.
This morning I might have been having a cheeky couple of laps on Gran Turismo 5. I was possibly attempting to win one of the seasonal events (which for some reason I find quite tricky).
While racing around the GT Original track I noticed a castle in the background. I was so fascinated by this that for a few laps I couldn’t really concentrate on the track. The castle is a rather good looking building and really adds to the atmosphere. Sometimes I wonder whether game designers have bets about the most ludicrous things they can add!
Screen #1:
Screen #2
These two screen grabs were taken using the LG remote app on my iPhone that has a capture function!
After playing for a long time I have finally got to 900 cars in my Gran Turismo 5 garage. This represents a large amount of effort and time playing. Also, the process for buying cars in the dealership is laborious and boring.
All I get for reaching nine HUNDRED cars is a bonus colour and car horn! I don’t even customise my cars with these.
Some money or game points would have been rather better!
My sons took these toys to nursery today.
#1 – a Lego fire truck
#2 – a Lego speed boat
Simulview is Sony’s buzzword for displaying two player images on a 3D television so that each player sees only their screen. Essentially the shutters on the active glasses activate at the same time rather than alternately and so P1 sees only his/her image and P2 sees their image only. This is quite cool and displays (I assume) a 1080p picture to each player.
Downside: This only works on the Playstation Monitor.
DualPlay is the technology that LG have introduced to try and allow two players to see their own picture full screen. It has taken me four days to figure out how to get this to work (which is slightly embarrassing). DualPlay uses passive glasses with P1 having a left/left combination and P2 having a right/right combination. The standard two player screen (up/down or left/right split) is then stretched over the whole screen. This will work with most games with that picture split.
Downside: Aspect ratio issues.
I haven’t yet tried this on my TV but will soon. I am quite excited about it but also worried about the aspect ratio change. Nice of LG to think of gamers though.
So, it’s been a busy time. I have bought a new TV to replace my 40″ Sony that I bought in the summer of 2006. I don’t know if six years is a good length of time for a TV. I guess so. The problem is that I am an early adopter of technology [see this post here – currently in draft form].
The old TV was HD Ready which, it turns out, is only 720 lines of beautiful picture. It looked deep and gorgeous in HD. But it was time to upgrade. There were just too many TV advances for me to ignore anymore.
I now have an LG 3D TV. I went for 3D because Gran Turismo will output 3D and I like playing that. Do I think that 3D is a good cinema format? No. But for Gran Turismo . . .
Current TV Room Set Up:
Current Equipment:
When I get the chance I also use a Logitech Driving Force Pro steering wheel.