Day 7 - Weather, Damage, Day & Night

abhi90 · November 16, 2010

Day 7: Weather, Damage, Day & Night

Weather System

Gran Turismo 5 will also have real time weather changes(snow and rain) on some tracks.

From factors like temperature, pressure and humidity, the system will simulate a weather condition that will change dynamically.Surface conditions also change at will, and nothing more than forecasts can be used to prepare for races. Sometimes it will rain just a little bit, or fog will set in. Yamauchi says this adds to the realism and challenge of racing, and is something even he still has trouble dealing with. Even in custom track mode, all a player can do is set weather tendencies, making for a truly unpredictable system. The rainfall will alter the course scenery and race conditions, and combined with visual effects of time transitions and tire smoke, a richer visual expression was made possible.

As the picturesque description from the official site goes -

Just imagine racing as the early evening sky turns purple. You start to see sprinkles of rain hit your windshield. Rain drops are lit by headlights ahead of you, and mist from the tires of the car in front of you blankets your windshield. You hit the wipers to clear your view of the road and get back to the task at hand: finishing the race and hopefully coming in first.

The same scene in different weather conditions :

A Ferrari f430 in suzuka in rain :

A Nissan GT-R in Eiger-Norwand in rain :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OVKD1WUCqpQ&feature=player_embedded

Now, a trailer highlighting the weather effects in the game -

Day & Night

Gran Turismo 5 also offers a complete Day-Night cycle on some tracks, and the results are quite fantabulous.

Gran Turismo 5 now realistically recreates the passage of time.

What starts as a clear afternoon with the sun high in the sky, turns to a red sky as dusk approaches and the sun gets closer to the horizon, and eventually turns to the enveloping darkness of night. This passage of time within a single location changes the mood and dynamics of the race.

During Night-time not only does the scenery light up realistically with the light from the headlights, the dust clouds that follow the cars light up with head and taillights.

Day_Night_Transition_Twilight_Toscana_Subaru_IMPREZA_WRC_08-640x360Custom.jpg

Same scene during different times -

Here's a niftyvideo of a mano-a-mano off-road race involving two WRC cars in

GT5's Toscana track which brilliantly showcases the game's day and night transitions

Damage

Gran Turismo 5 is the first game in the Gran Turismo franchise to include both mechanical and external damage modeling, including a real-time deformation engine that will process model deformation according to the speed and angle of impact,it will also be possible to overturn your cars for the first time in the series. Standard vehicles will feature a basic damage model with dirt, scratches and dents appearing on the car in the event of an accident as well as internal, mechanical damage. The more detailed "premium" vehicles will feature the full damage model with more accurate damage such as panels being ripped off. Gran Turismo 2 previously included damage, but was limited to mechanical damage only.

As the Official Description Goes :

Gran Turismo 5 will feature realistic vehicle damage that lives up to its driving simulator name.

Not only do the looks of the car change when damaged, an advanced physics simulation helps faithfully recreate how damage is taken and its resulting effect. By doing so, Gran Turismo 5 successfully recreates real-life added tension and challenge that comes from driving on the edge.

Damage in Gran Turismo 5 shows up in three different levels, with specific differences in damage between Premium cars and Standard cars.

Damage is expressed mainly on three levels

1. Physics-Affecting Damage :

Performance damage affects how the car performs based on calculating the physical effects of collisions and damage on various parameters. It affects vehicle stability and control, depending on the amount of damage taken. This level of damage affects both premium and standard cars.

2. Dirt, Scratches, and Dents :

This is damage that can be visually seen, and involves the vehicle collecting dirt, scratches and dents. This level of damage affects both premium and standard cars.

3. Separation (dislocation) of Body Panels :

This third level of damage causes body panels to come loose or to deform from their original shapes. This level of damage affects premium cars only.