Courses

This is a sub-page of Proto:Gran Turismo 2/September 7, 1999 Demo Build.

Data for 48 courses is present in this version of Gran Turismo 2. Some tracks have received updates while most others remained unaltered since the August 30 demo, and just one has been added — seattle2000.

Six courses — dirt_test3, Special Stage Route 5, Green Forest Roadway, Rome Circuit Full Course, Seattle Circuit Full Course and Tahiti Road — were subject to minute texture or data changes not documented here.

Cut Courses#

seattle2000#

This course, judging by the contents of its .trp (texture container) file, is supposed to be a stripped down variant of Seattle Circuit. What it actually is, however, is an unplayable mess as arbitrary pieces of VRAM are improperly applied to polygons, menu sound effects or silence play in place of engine sounds and the game crashes when it tries to load additional track chunks.

A possible reason for this behavior is the fact that 700,000 bytes are allocated in memory and available for use by a track's .tro file, and that seattle2000.tro takes up 998,168 bytes when uncompressed — this excess data destroys anything loaded after it and leads to various issues, but surprisingly does not straight up result in a crash before the race starts (it does, however, hang on the starting grid screen if four or more cars are present).

The filename suggests a connection to early development of Gran Turismo 3, but there's no solid evidence of this being the case. sea_hare is set as its skybox, even though other variants of Seattle already use the newer sea_ha_c at this point.

Course ID: $1A
In-game label: seattle2000

Old Tahiti Dirt Route 3 (tahiti_d)#

The original TDR3 received minor updates in the form of additional signage at two turns and a new graphic for its Magneti Marelli advertising. Critically, some of its data was also altered to the point where it's now possible for the game to crash during replays, similarly to Tahiti Road.

Course ID: $1E
In-game label: Tour de tahiti (Safari crouse)^(sic)

New to Series#

Grindelwald (grindel)#

Grindelwald received a couple cosmetical updates since the previous demo build. Most trackside decoration has been made even darker, fences have been added to the pit lane, power lines were placed next to the train tracks and some vegetation was moved around.

Course ID: $6
In-game label: Grindelwald

Laguna Seca Raceway (laguna)#

Laguna Seca was subject to further minor changes, with some advertisement banners being replaced, pit lane tents being altered and trees being removed from behind the grandstands near the start/finish line.

Course ID: $9
In-game label: Laguna seca

Apricot Hill Speedway (new_parmaS)#

This track is in a better state than before, with previously missing chunks of track geometry being addressed. However, an invisible barrier still is found at the area where the first hole was, and the final chicane looks fairly dodgy compared to the finished product — the A.I. still has a hard time driving through it.

Cosmetically, the course received updates in the form of new tarmac textures, new grass + dirt at points and new wall textures in place of certain tire walls.

Course ID: $F
In-game label: parma2

Midfield Raceway (parma)#

Midfield was updated to include grid spot markings and a clear start/finish line, a left turn sign before the second tunnel and minor brightness or texture changes elsewhere. Cinematic cameras were slightly changed towards the end of laps 2 and 3, and the game no longer reverts to the default camera for a split second before the finish line is crossed.

Course ID: $13
In-game label: Parmanent

Rome-Night (roma_night)#

Rome's night layout was subject to some significant cosmetical changes. Buildings and vegetation now surround the entire course, curbing and run-off areas were added around the final corner, some props like bridges had their lighting adjusted and the road leading to the pit lane was tidied up a bit. Placement of many of the buildings and some walls still differ from the final product, however.

Course ID: $16
In-game label: roma_night

Seattle Short Course (seatt_s)#

Work on Seattle Short progressed as most buildings are now in place and some of the existing ones have been altered. Several details still differ from the finished product however, such as placement and shape of certain buildings, placement of the monorail next to the final turn and, most evidently, the lack of pit lane.

Course ID: $18
In-game label: Seattle short

Super Speedway (speed)#

Super Speedway looks closer to final here, with matching pit lane garages, start/finish banner, the removal of additional grandstands and vegetation at turn 1. Certain cosmetic differences persist, such as different tree textures, and part of the grandstand model was inadvertently stretched upwards.

Course ID: $1C
In-game label: Super speedway

Tahiti Maze (tahiti_test7)#

Tahiti Maze received a substantial update as trackside decoration has been added everywhere. This decoration differs a bit from the final product, however, as all the turn signage would be removed, spectators would be dialed down and some of the buildings would be changed or removed.

A new setup of cinematic cameras has been implemented, but most angles differ from the finished iteration.

Course ID: $21
In-game label: tahiti_test7