Gran Turismo 6/Courses
This is a sub-page of Gran Turismo 6.
Building off of the game's predecessor, Gran Turismo 6 recycles all (but one, and a few Course Maker templates) of the courses from Gran Turismo 5 and throws in a few new ones, some being classics remade in high-definition glory, while others making their debut appearance into the series. Since this game was forked from GT5, there's bound to be lots of leftovers, but there's also a select few courses that are hidden or completely unused.
Gran Turismo 5 Leftovers
A huge majority of (if not all of) the courses from Gran Turismo 5 have leftovers present, some even with updated assets that have been made for this game. This also extends into the leftovers from Gran Turismo 4 that were present in GT5 as well. Updated assets include new course thumbnail images resized to fit the Course Selection screen (for both Forward and Reverse layouts) and replay preview thumbnails. Course maps have been carried over as-is and are present in the same directory as the courses maps of courses in the game that are playable. The course preview assets from the previous game have all actually been carried over as-is into this game as well, located in the "course_img_01" and "course_img_02" folders.
The only exceptions to this rule are:
- The Top Gear Test Track, which has had all of its assets completely removed from the game. However, by reverse-engineering the game's file structure and databases, it is possible to "port over" the course from Gran Turismo 5 into this game, as shown by this video here.
- The off-road dirt layout of Matterhorn, whose assets have instead been replaced by and substituted for the Matterhorn Short layout. Originally, Matterhorn has been in development since Gran Turismo 5, but the course and its layouts make their first official appearance in this game, and the off-road dirt layout that was being developed for the previous game was scrapped. The old assets can still be found in the "course_img_01" and "course_img_02" folders, however.
As such, none of these courses are actually present in the game, and according to the updated assets, some of them might have been planned for inclusion at one point, but since not all of the courses have updated assets, this goes to show that work on the new assets stopped during development and the idea of bringing any of the courses forward into this game (if such an idea was planned, anyway) was canned.
Updated Assets List
Below is a list of the courses that have updated assets:
- "assisi" (Citta di Aria)
- "campo" (Piazza del Campo)
- "grandcanyon" (Grand Canyon)
- "hongkong" (Hong Kong)
- "icerace" (Ice Arena)
- "sarthe" (Circuit de la Sarthe)
- "sarthe_old" (Circuit de la Sarthe - No Chicane)
- "seattle" (Seattle Circuit)
- "smtsouth" (Swiss Alps)
- "tahiti_maze" (Tahiti Maze)
- "template01" (Liege - Gravel)
- "template05" (Eifel)
- "template06" (Toscana - Tarmac)
- "template07" (Mt. Aso)
- "template08" (Alaska - Snow)
- "template10" (Eifel - kart)
- "template11" (Tokyo Bay - kart)
- "yosemite" (El Capitan)
- "yosemite_dirt" (Cathedral Rocks Trail I)
Note that Apricot Hill Raceway is excluded from this list, as it is no longer a leftover and has since been redone for this game.
Missing Courses
"routex" (Route X)
Course logo.
Course map.
Course thumbnail.
Background image.
As with the previous game, "The Unicorn" leaves only a trail of evidence once again in this game. The course had updated assets created for it, but the files are once again missing from the game data.
"interlagos_kart" (Autódromo De Interlagos)
| Model ID | Internal Name | Label | Category | Country Flag |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| c231 | interlagos_kart | Autódromo De Interlagos | World Circuit | PDI |
An entry for this removed course was added in Version 1.06 of the game. It would appear as if the karting layout of Autódromo De Interlagos was set to make an appearance for the Ayrton Senna Tribute content update, which was Version 1.08 of the game. An entry was added to the game's database in Version 1.06, and two files for the course, an ".ad" file and an ".esp" file, were added in Version 1.07. Version 1.08 then removes the entry of this course from the game's database, probably due to the fact that the course was never finished for the game as no more files were added later on in later versions. What's interesting to note is that the course has a country flag value of "PDI", which would indicate that this is a fictional course created by the developers, but the actual course itself would be located in Brazil; this is obviously just a placeholder value.
The full racing circuit layout of Autódromo De Interlagos itself would end up skipping this game and instead makes its first appearance to the franchise in Gran Turismo Sport. This particular layout, however, did not make the cut in that title and has yet to be seen again.
Hidden Courses
While the courses featured in this section aren't necessarily "hidden", they are restricted in terms of usage throughout the game, usually restricted to a particular challenge, otherwise they are not normally playable outside of these challenge. With hacking and/or modifications, it is possible to play on these courses in any game mode.
Lunar Exploration Courses
The three "courses" featured in the Lunar Exploration Special Event are exclusive, therefore the only way to play these courses is by playing the Special Event. However, with the usage of hacking and/or modifications, you can play on these courses on any game mode, while using any car that you wish. Normally, this is restricted to the Gran Turismo Lunar Roving Vehicle LRV-001, which was obviously the only intended vehicle to drive on the moon. However, the zero gravity physics are not just limited to the lunar rover, but also apply to all vehicles that drive on the course, which can make for some interesting results; vehicles can experience zero (or rather, ultra-low) gravity physics, kick up particles from the surface and even accumulate dirt on the body from kicking up immense amounts of debris. The courses even have AI pathfinding programmed for them, so it is possible to complete a race against AI opponents on any of the three courses.
Something very interesting worthy of noting is that there are no maps for any of these courses found within the game's files. So, how does the game display maps for the courses in the Special Event? As it turns out, the courses take place on a "template", much like the Course Maker; the information used is very similar, if not outright shared, from the Course Maker code, with the only difference between each course is the path itself, the positioning of borders and/or any objects on the course, similar to any of the Course Maker layouts (excluding Eifel Flat) that were added two years after the game's launch. In essence, the game is "generating" these "courses" using pre-defined information saved in the game's data files, with each of the courses being defined a name for use with the Special Event.
"moon" (Lunar Mission I)
Course logo.
Background image.
This is the course used for the first part of the Lunar Exploration Special Event, which is a replica of the Apollo 15 expedition route. It is a straightforward point-to-point course.
However, when using hacks and/or modifications to play on this course outside of the Special Event, attempting to race on this course with more than one lap will result in a race that cannot be finished; the finish line at the end of the course only has a single trigger per every vehicle that crosses it, so the game will register that a "lap" has been completed, but any more laps cannot be completed due to this limitation. So, while the course technically is a "point-to-point" course, it is not treated as such by the game (proper examples of point-to-point courses can be seen when using the Course Maker).
"moon_02" (Lunar Mission II)
Course logo.
Background image.
Here is the course used for the second part of the Lunar Exploration Special Event, which is a downhill point-to-point course that dips into the St. George Crater. It exhibits the same properties as the course above, in that it is "technically" a "point-to-point" course, and that only a single "lap" is able to be completed, or else the race cannot be finished.
"moon_03" (Lunar Mission III)
Course logo.
Background image.
This is the course used for the third and final part of the Lunar Exploration Special Event, which (unlike the previous two courses) is a short circular circuit. Normally as part of the Special Event, there would be cones which the player would be required to knock down, but when hacking and/or modifications are used to play on this course in any other game mode, it's a normal circuit. As it is a circuit, you can complete as many laps as you possibly can. What's interesting about this course is that if racing against AI opponents in a Single Race, the player will start at least one to two entire laps behind the leader, so many laps would be required to get back in the field and (possibly) win the race.
"dynamic_sky"
 | To do: Upload a gameplay screenshot of this course since it has no assets. |
A hidden course with the model ID of c220, dynamic_sky is a tiny, textureless "course" that was probably used for testing dynamic skyboxes and time cycles. The ground is a solid, textureless flat plane colored in gray with a green sphere placed in the center of it. Vehicles cannot go out of bounds since there are invisible walls that enclose the perimeter of the area. The intended path of the "course" involves driving the sphere, going counterclockwise in a circle. There is a start/finish line trigger, a racing line, AI pathfinding and even a map of the "course" in the pre-race screen. Time of day settings can be configured here and the sun will relocate accordingly, causing shadows on the course to change position as well as intended, like all courses with a time cycle do.
As this "course" is hidden, it can be only accessed by means of hacking and/or modifications to the save data or game files.
"stadium_break" (Gran Turismo Arena - Open Layout)
Course logo.
Course map.
Background image.
Course Selection preview.
This "course" is an open lot variant of the Gran Turismo Arena, where objects would be placed into the arena and the player would be required to either navigate around them or knock them down. Normally, this course is only seen in several Coffee Break challenges throughout the game (hence its internal name), but if hacking and/or modifications are used, this course can be played on any other game mode. As it was originally intended for Coffee Break challenges usually accompanied by objects placed inside the arena, attempting to play any other game mode will result in strange events that will occur as a result:
- If playing on the course in a Single Race, the race will never start, as there is no start/finish line placed on the course to trigger the start of the race. Also, there is no AI pathfinding, and as a result the vehicles (including the opponents and the player) will meaninglessly wander around the middle of the arena, often colliding with one another, making extremely slow turns, and reversing out of random. Eventually the player will gain control of their vehicle if they wait long enough, however.
- If playing on the course in a Time Trial, sometimes the player will spawn beneath the arena's surface, where there appears to be a solid invisible horizontal flat plane that the player can drive on. If spawned down here, there is no escaping or breaking out, so the player must either restart the race in hopes of spawning properly, or exit.
- If playing on the course in a Drift Trial, there are no drift zones, so the player cannot score points. Also, it is possible to spawn beneath the arena's surface like when playing in a Time Trial.
"dynamic_sky_spa"
Added in Version 1.04 of the game, dynamic_sky_spa has a model ID of c227 and is similar to "dynamic_sky" above, but it is impossible to drive on this course due to no spawn points. There is no course map on the pre-race screen as well. This "course" might have been used to test the dynamic skybox and time cycle of the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps course. Since this "course" is hidden, it can be only accessed by means of hacking and/or modifications to the save data or game files. Unlike "dynamic_sky" above, this "course" seems to have been cleaned up for the most part, with most elements such as the course map and other data removed, but why it was left in the game's database and files as a playable course entry is unknown.
Unused Courses
"stadium_break2" (Gran Turismo Arena - "Stunt" Layout)
Course logo.
Course map.
Background image.
Course Selection preview.
Another curiosity for fans of the game would happen to be this unused course, which is a very unique layout of Gran Turismo Arena and is quite unlike anything else seen in the game. According to the course's internal name "stadium_break2", this course would have been used for another Coffee Break challenge, but the challenge and this course didn't make the cut for unknown reasons. It is a winding path with several sharp hairpin turns, with the center straights of the course having soft barriers that vehicles are required to break through to progress through the course. The final sharp hairpin has a half-pipe segment that vehicles can either follow the course on, or accelerate head-on into for some serious airtime. There are ramp jumps before and after the final turn of the course, with the second jump requiring enough speed and distance to clear, otherwise vehicles will become trapped between the two ramps; otherwise, the player can just easily drive off to the left side of the ramps and avoid them altogether, which defeats the purpose of the ramps (which was probably not intended given the original intent of the course).
As this course is not used anywhere in the game, hacking and/or modifications are required to play on it. The course does contain AI pathfinding programmed for it, so it is possible to complete a race against AI opponents.
