• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Weird shaking motion in GT4...(and A-spec points?)

HAOHMARU

Member
I've been playing GT4 and have noticed that sometimes during the game the screen starts to shake. I only remember it happening in 3rd person view behind the car. (I usually drive in 1st person and haven't noticed it at all in that view)

Anyway, is this a graphic glich? I'm not talking about when you hit a wall really hard and the screen gets blurry for a few seconds. Its a weird shuttering effect...very annoying. Has anybody else noticed this?

Also, do the A-Spec points earn you anything? As far as I can tell only the ammount of days totaled up unlock certain courses. I haven't found anything about A-Spec points giving you anything...
 

Musashi Wins!

FLAWLESS VICTOLY!
I'm pretty sure the A-Spec points are pretty useless.

And the glitch is very well known. It's pretty bad. I'm pretty sure it's linked to high polygon cars on the screen during certain playbacks.
 

Shinobi

Member
Heh, I noticed this for the first time earlier...kinda disjointing, but thankfully it only looks to be a rear view thing.
 

Wario64

works for Gamestop (lol)
Shaking thing is annoying. It doesn't occur during the race though, only at the beginning (whenever there's a 'rolling start' at the beginning of the race)

A-Spec points just show you how weaksauce or challenging you are (the more points it gives, the more challenging the race)
 

Pallaris

Member
Not true actually - I get the shaking thing at specific points throughout the race. First person and 3rd person view. Almost always during the starting straight at the Hong Kong track (not rolling start). I think it does depend on how many cars are on screen. There are also some V-sync issues (along with the screen shaking) during some rolling starts.

I am playing in interlaced however and apparently this problem isnt there in progressive.
 

Ranger X

Member
Pallaris said:
Not true actually - I get the shaking thing at specific points throughout the race. First person and 3rd person view. Almost always during the starting straight at the Hong Kong track (not rolling start). I think it does depend on how many cars are on screen. There are also some V-sync issues (along with the screen shaking) during some rolling starts.

I am playing in interlaced however and apparently this problem isnt there in progressive.

Same here. In interlaced mode, it's happening pretty much anywhere anytime.
It's actually unnaceptable for AAA game like this to have this bug. Poly = noob!
 

dark10x

Digital Foundry pixel pusher
What shaking thing? I've played a lot of GT4 over the past couple weeks and I haven't seen anything like that. :\

There are also some V-sync issues (along with the screen shaking) during some rolling starts.

Now THAT I've seen. When all cars are on the screen during a complex track, the screen does tear a bit. What does the shaking really look like, though? I would have noticed something like that...but I KNOW it hasn't occured.
 

Wario64

works for Gamestop (lol)
I never noticed the shaking thing during the race...odd. But it ALWAYS happens at the beginning of the race, very annoying
 

Bog

Junior Ace
Occasionally it'll happen during a rolling start, and last a few seconds into the start of the race. It only seems to happen on certain tracks, though.
 

mrkgoo

Member
What I don't get is teh randomness of the A-spec points. Supposedly, the more points awarded, the more challenging the race. I think it may simply be based on BHP of your vehicle vs. the pack. Anyway, the whole system is a little off whack, because on some races, I'm close to even, only able to earn a few points, and they can be pretty challenging - some are worth just as much, but as soon as it starts, the other cars burn off, leaving me absolutely no chance of catching up in my car. THen there's the race with the pickups - Supposedly, the A-spec race was worth 190 points, and I'm not even that good a player, yet I finished them with ease. It's like the whole game hasn't even got a difficulty curve. There I was, playing fairly average-ly, upgrading my car a bit, feeling the difference, then I play teh Second Rally challenge, totally annihilate the other car, ten minutes later, I have a prize vehicle worth $260,000. Anytime, I can replay that race, get antoher $260,000 and never have to worry about money again. Why do they do this? Yes, it's good to have money, but more careful design can make a game progress at a proper rate witht he player, to minimise repeat playings and keep the interest high.

See Pilotwings 64 - the game with nearly the perfect difficulty curve - you start a mission, and think it's impossible, but as you play through them, your skill improves at a rate that matches the difficulty. Sublime.
 

Zeenbor

Member
In short, the game uses a 640x224 frame buffer instead of a 640x448 frame buffer to save VRAM. The only downside to this technique is that the game must run at 60 fps. If it doesn't, you will get the jittering effect that you're seeing in GT4.
 

Pallaris

Member
Basically the 'shaking' looks like a resolution drop. Exactly the same effect can be seen in VF4/Evolution when loading/kitting out different items for your character in the customisation mode...
 

dark10x

Digital Foundry pixel pusher
Zeenbor said:
In short, the game uses a 640x224 frame buffer instead of a 640x448 frame buffer to save VRAM. The only downside to this technique is that the game must run at 60 fps. If it doesn't, you will get the jittering effect that you're seeing in GT4.

Yeah, I just saw it today. I thought that might be it...

I shifted down to 480i and, sure enough, it was present (though it doesn't shake so much as pixelate due to the line doubler). I've NEVER seen that in 480p and 1080i (which is the resolution I play the game at), though. They all seem to have minor tearing at points, though. I wonder why the 480i mode uses field rendering? That doesn't make any sense.

In short, the game uses a 640x224 frame buffer instead of a 640x448 frame buffer to save VRAM.

WHY would it need to do that when it can run in progressive scan and 1080i? It's as if they simply used the old renderer or something.
 

dark10x

Digital Foundry pixel pusher
TTP said:
Indeed, but in the European version they solved that issue. No shaking at all. Never.

Well, like I said, it isn't a problem in the US version if you play in 480p or 1080i...and I believe those were cut from the European version. :D
 
Top Bottom