Myths and Misconceptions about Gran Turismo

Internet is the best thing to spread rumor, regardless it's true or not. Here, I'll address some common misconceptions about Gran Turismo. (Of course it is possible that what I wrote is wrong. Judge by yourself!)

How many cars in the game?

Many reviews on the Net seem to quote different numbers regarding how many cars in the game. Sony's official word for Japanese version is "100 models, 146 grades," as you can see at the back of Gran Turismo CD package. If you have a Japanese-language capable WWW browser, you can find how they counted at Sony Computer Entertainment Inc (Japan) Gran Turismo page. (For example, in their list, Supra 95 SZ-R and Supra 95 RZ are considered a different grades of same model, whereas MA70 Supra and JZA70 Supra are considered as different models.)

Of course the above number does not include the hidden bonus cars.

Is the graphics different between in-game and in-replay?

Some people seem to be believing that there's no light-reflection (environment mapping) on the car body when playing game. Judging from my observation, it's wrong. There's reflection in in-game graphic, it's just not very noticeable. Try running very close to other cars and observe. The reason it's not noticeable compared to replay is because the view position is limited to driver's eye, and the reflection used in Gran Turismo is drawn only in accordance with the angle between sight line and car body surface. If it is a true environment mapping, it would have become more noticeable since the objects nearby will be reflected, and they are moving fast. Unfortunately the environment mapping used in Gran Turismo is something more simpler, using some static environment graphics, which doesn't move unless the view point moves.

Name of the Game

It's Gran Turismo. Not "Grand Turismo", not "Gran Tourismo".

(More to follow, if there are any.)

FUKUMOTO Atsushi
fukumoto@imasy.or.jp