Rome-Night

Rome-Night in Gran Turismo 2 is the ultimate example of a perfectly fine track not being utilized. In no way is this track sacred. Its problem lies in just not being utilized in GT2. You know you have to use this course in a Gran Turismo 2 Super License test. Other than that, there are very little ways this track is utilized in-game. So get ready to read this post about this under-utilized course.

--- Rome-Night ---

^ Rome-Night is one of the most seldom-used race tracks in Gran Turismo history. Because you don't use this track consistently, it is perfectly fine not to know the first thing about tackling this track.

For reasons I am unsure of, this course is seldom utilized in Gran Turismo 2. I thought the point of including certain tracks was for them to be utilized and raced on competitively. You could argue about Motor Sport Land not being used much for anything. However, nothing about Rome-Night suggests this course is sacred or special.

One-Lap Description.

Your tour of Rome-Night begins on the front straight with a river to your left. Two smooth right corners await you as you enter the city after going below a bridge. Keep to the inside through this section. After going under another bridge, a sharp left kink awaits you. That's followed by another left kink and then a right-hand kink. A brief straight follows into a somewhat sharp right-hand kink. After this final kink, a long and smooth right-hand corner leads to the backstretch. As you go down the backstretch, there is an uphill progression. Be ready to start braking hard as the cross under the Texaco sign at the top of the hill. This is because the road goes downhill into a sharp right-left complex. Brake somewhat hard at the sharp right-hand kink to set yourself up for the sharp left-hand kink that follows. Go too far inside the left-hand kink, and your car will tag the inside barrier hard. So be careful here! A series of three right-hand corners await you next. The first of these three rights is the sharpest. The other two just require minimal braking while establishing a solid racing line. You're going uphill again as you head into a blind, yet smooth left-hand corner. A trip downhill leads to an uphill right-hand corner. You start to go uphill as the road smoothly shifts to the right. Then as you head beyond the crest of the hill, a left-hand hairpin awaits. Heavy braking is required here. Try to go far inside while staying in-bounds. Graze some curbing on the inside if you can. The road after the hairpin shifts to the right and is followed by a left-hand corner that requires some moderate braking. Be careful trying not to tag the outside wall as you try to clear this corner. A fairly long straight leads to the entrance to Pit Road and the final two corners- both right-hand corners. The first one could be taken without lifting off the throttle. You may enter the pits after this smooth right, or you could take on the final corner. You'd better brake hard in the final corner because it comes up incredibly sharp. Floor the gas as you exit the final corner to complete one lap of Rome-Night.

Video Lap.

Here is one video lap of this course I just described:


^ "Thurzo_FTO LM Race Car @Rome Night"

--- Commentary on Rome-Night ---

(taken from a "John's Blog Space" entry)

This is one of the most underutilized tracks in Gran Turismo history simply because a perfectly-fine track simply isn't being used much. When you put a track in a racing game, you expect to be able to utilize that course fully (or at least to a great degree). Gran Turismo 2 did very little with the exception of using this in a license test. And it isn't like this course is Circuit de la Sarthe or Indianapolis. It's a city street course that looks perfectly fine as a racing venue. Trouble is, it was never used or utilized in a favorable manner. It's actually quite depressing considering this is a perfectly fine and pretty challenging race course. It was just never utilized to where it can be respected. Hell, even Rome's SHORT course got more attention than Rome-Night. It makes you wonder, why would Polyphony Digital include a perfectly-fine racing course, but not put a series of races together to race this course? It's a shortcoming that I'm sure PD has learned in putting tracks in games.

If you're going to have a track in the game, make sure to utilize it fully. Gran Turismo 2 has too many shortcomings that really make it my least favorite of the GT games. People are likely going to disagree with me all because I didn't praise GT2 well enough. Fact is- too much failed execution to really make me love this game more than Gran Turismo 1. I even went back and enjoyed GT1 even while GT2 could have been MUCH better. I'm saying all of this as a Gran Turismo fan. I'm not some Microsoft "fanboy" who works for Microsoft hating on Gran Turismo any chance I get.

If you're going to market a game with a series of tracks, make sure to utilze all of them and give them the loving attention they deserve. Not utilizing Rome-Night is like not giving a plant abundant sunshine or water. You know what happens when plants lack sunshine or water? They die, and Rome-Night is just that dead plant in the pot. And it isn't likely any water or sunshine will revive this dead plant of a track for the upcoming Gran Turismo 5. So enjoy this track while it remotely lasts in Gran Turismo history...





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