Courses

This is a sub-page of Proto:Gran Turismo 2/July 29, 1999 Demo Builds.

This build of Gran Turismo 2 contains files for 16 courses, four of which do not correspond to circuits found in the final product. Certain Gran Turismo tracks notably seen in prerelease material, namely Grand Valley Speedway (circuit) and Special Stage Route 11 (outbahn), are nowhere to be seen here.

Returning Gran Turismo Courses#

Of the ten returning courses from the previous game, only Special Stage Route 5 is present in this build.

Special Stage Route 5 (highway)#

Out of all courses seen here, this is arguably the most complete of them. A.I. is functional, pit lane logic is there, cinematic replay cameras are all in working order without gamebreaking bugs. Not a whole lot is different from the final product even at this relatively early stage.

Course ID: $1
In-game label: SPECIAL STAGE R5

Cut Courses#

Four tracks found in this version of GT2 were deleted from the game's tree at a later point in development. With the exception of tahiti_d, none of them received any sort of update since the compilation of this demo, and two of them even date back to June 1999 according to their timestamps.

Côte d'Azur (monte)#

This is a street circuit based on the layout of the renowned Circuit de Monaco. It's in a barebones state cosmetically, but is surprisingly functional in terms of A.I., as it's capable of completing a lap around the course at the very least. It suffers from invisible walls around the starting grid, has no modeled pit lane and no cinematic cameras are set up.

While plans for its inclusion were revealed to gaming press in February, this course was left unfinished and the location wouldn't make its series debut until Gran Turismo 3.

Course ID: $3
In-game label: montecarlo

Old Tahiti Dirt Route 3 (tahiti_d)#

This is the original version of the dirt track known as Tahiti Dirt Route 3 in the final product. While the layout is mostly the same, terrain elevation differs significantly with fewer jumps throughout the course. A.I. and cinematic cameras are present and work as intended.

Work on this variant of TDR3 continued until September, when it was superseded by tahiti_d_new.

Course ID: $B
In-game label: Tour de tahiti (Safari crouse)^(sic)

Tahiti Test 6 (tahiti_test6)#

A similar deal to tahiti_d, except this course uses the layout of what would eventually become Smokey Mountain North. A.I. and cinematic cameras are in working order, though said cameras do not match the final product due to the different terrain elevation.

Presumably superseded by no_name_dirt, which is also present in this build.

Course ID: $D
In-game label: tahiti_test6

Tahiti Test Short (tahiti_test_short)#

Another "Tahiti test" course that would evolve into a Smokey Mountain one, this shares its basic layout with Smokey Mountain South. A.I. and cameras work as intended, with the latter not matching the final product, and the first two grid slots are placed after the starting line, resulting in its occupants effectively starting the race one lap behind the others.

Presumably superseded by nn_dirt_2, which is not present in this build.

Course ID: $F
In-game label: tahiti_test_short

New to Series#

A number of courses that would make their series debut in the released product is present here, in varying states of completion.

Grindelwald (grindel)#

Grindelwald is a quite problematic course at this point in development. Not only it lacks A.I. logic and cinematic cameras, but it also suffers from several gaps in its geometry as well as invisible walls at select points of the course. A good chunk of its scenery is missing, textures in general are significantly brighter and its pit lane is longer (and completely different aesthetically) than in the finished product.

The most curious part of it all, however, is the skybox. Its textures overwrite the cars' own, resulting in most of them appearing as blue blobs with incorrectly colored mountains on them, and the sky features red, magenta and green vertical strips, as well as a rather off-model Sun.

Using the North American version of the demo is recommended when driving on this track, as the European one may suffer from severe texture flickering.

Course ID: $0
In-game label: Grindelwald

Laguna Seca Raceway (laguna)#

Laguna Seca is already in good shape here, with a good amount of objects sitting where they do in the final game. The texture work is the biggest difference — tarmac is cleaner-looking, sponsors differ at certain points and some textures are evidently made out of photographs instead of remade from scratch. The pit lane is cosmetically different from the final product, the road leading to it is significantly longer, and no pit work logic is present at this point.

Other minute details such as grid positions and start/finish line locations differ to some extent, with no visual cues. A.I. and cinematic cameras are implemented — the latter differ radically from the final product.

Course ID: $2
In-game label: Laguna seca

Smokey Mountain North (no_name_dirt)#

This iteration of SMN matches the final one in terms of terrain elevation better than tahiti_test6, but is full of differences elsewhere. The dirt surface contains severe mapping issues, certain tree sprites have broken transparency (courtesy of the track's skybox), and the scenery is completely different from the final product, looking fairly barebones in comparison. A.I. and cinematic cameras are implemented.

mskyX is used as the course's skybox at this stage — mskyX_2 is used in the finished product.

Course ID: $4
In-game label: no name dirt

Midfield Raceway (parma)#

Midfield is similar to Grindelwald in terms of texture work here, but far less dodgy. Object placement and scenery are close to the final product, but still contain noticeable differences such as a narrow pit lane and hot air balloons.

Grid positions and start/finish line locations differ a tad bit, like Laguna Seca. A.I. is implemented, but pit work logic is absent and so are cinematic cameras.

Course ID: $5
In-game label: Parmanent

Pikes Peak Hill Climb (pikes)#

Pikes Peak is complete layout-wise at this point, but trackside decorations such as sponsor signs and spectator sprites are nowhere to be seen. The tire barriers found at each end of the course are missing, rock textures are tinted green where grass is normally seen in the finished product, and the surface of the tarmac section is actually set to behave like tarmac instead of dirt. A.I. and cinematic cameras are not set up.

Work on this course did not continue until after the available demo builds.

Course ID: $6
In-game label: Pikes peak hill climb

Rome Circuit Full Course (roma)#

The default course in all public demo builds, Rome Circuit is very close to the final product aesthetically, with few discrepancies in terms of sponsor banner placement and texture work. Cinematic cameras are implemented for the first two laps only, matching the finished version for the most part.

Course ID: $7
In-game label: Roma

Seattle Circuit Full Course (seattle)#

Seattle is in a mostly complete state like Rome, but with more noticeable differences to the finished product. Trackside sponsor, signage and building placement differs to some extent, texture work is visibly early at some points and wheel arch cameras are absent during replays. A.I. is implemented, but pit lane logic isn't.

sea_hare is defined as Seattle's skybox here, being the earliest of four versions left unused in the retail game's data.

Course ID: $8
In-game label: Seattle

Super Speedway (speed)#

The game's unlicensed rendition of Twin Ring Motegi Super Speedway is barely recognizable at this stage, consisting of a bunch of road pieces glued together to form an egg-shaped circuit and using Laguna Seca textures. Sector markers are placed backwards, meaning the race starts with the grid driving the "wrong way," and no A.I. or cinematic cameras are implemented.

Course ID: $9
In-game label: Super speedway

Red Rock Valley Speedway (sprint2)#

RRV looks close to the final product, but contains minor differences in terms of trackside objects (such as sponsor signs and background buildings) and texture work. The pit lane is noticeably narrower and is blocked off, despite pit work logic being implemented to some extent already. Cinematic cameras are set up, matching the finished product for the most part.

This course is paired with skybox tl_skyG here, whereas later demo builds and the final game use cloudtest.

Course ID: $A
In-game label: sprint2

Tahiti Road (tahiti_t)#

The tarmac course of Tahiti is in an interesting state at this point: it lacks most of the trackside decoration and signage found in the final product, no pit lane is modeled at all and the A.I. is only partially functional, being able to complete the first few turns before kissing the walls indefinitely. Cinematic cameras are present, but most angles don't match the final's and two points towards the end of the lap have the potential of either crashing the game or sending the highlighted car flying out of control. Like Tahiti Test Short, the first grid slot is placed after the start/finish line, forcing that car to complete one extra lap during the race.

Course ID: $C
In-game label: Tour de tahiti (Beach side)

Tahiti Maze (tahiti_test7)#

The more technical Tahiti dirt route in the game is in a presentable state, but still lacks most of the trackside decoration such as spectators. A.I. and cinematic cameras are implemented, but the latter have nothing in common with the final setup.

Course ID: $E
In-game label: tahiti_test7