GT3 definitely allows cars to come off the pavement (but not flip), and I know what you mean about the physics of making turns with not enough downforce to keep traction: the uphill section of Seattle and the hump right before the corkscrew at Leguna Seca are two examples in GT3 of spots where you can get going waaaay too fast and launch yourself just as you should be turning.
The lack of damage in GT3 sucks though. I can understand it though, because a realistic damage model would require AI that didn’t ram into you as if you weren’t there or smash you into the wall. It would just be more aggravation to have damage without computer drivers smart enough to try to avoid crashing into you.
But anyway, I didn’t really mind the Kudos system (in PGR, MSR was rough). I thought that it was kind of a nice alternative to the “well just do this race over and over till you’ve got the money” because it was “Just do this race over and over until you’re better at the game.”
The Kudos system adds a much-needed level of complexity to the mechanics of racing gameplay. Otherwise you’re stuck in the rut of bettering your lap times over and over. Which is fun, but can be unforgivingly difficult… and brutal in multiplayer as it hugely magnifies skill differences.
Anyway I prefer that to the “fake” racing in something like Mario Kart 64 or whatever, where the 2nd place guy keeps consistently getting “kill the 1st place guy” powerups.
I was on the hard series of races in arcade mode in PGR and I managed to get the lead and hold it a number of times (you need all golds to get the car) but on this one particular hairpin turn the computer cars would invariably ram into my car and spin me making me have to restart the race. While the AI in PGR is better than GT3 it still does annoying things like slam into you sometimes at the most inopportune times.
