Hello everyone I'm Broughy1322 and in this
video we're going to be exploring something
that I haven't investigated properly despite
it being in the game since 2013. Namely, Catchup.
I've not talked about it before mainly because
we just never use it when racing. I spoke
about it in my first ever racing video for
GTA 5 back in 2013, where I couldn't believe
Rockstar made this a thing, and quickly discounted
it as something we wouldn't be using if we
wanted to race properly. But I've never actually
tested it, so I took the opportunity of a
bit of downtime between DLCs to run some tests.
This video will show how it works, what effect
it has, and debunk some myths along the way.
So basically when catchup is turned on in
the race lobby (which it is by default for
all random lobbies that aren't set to non-contact),
it reduces straight line speed for the person
in first place in the race. It doesn't affect
cornering or braking ability, just top speed
and, to a lesser degree, acceleration. The
main issue is with top speed though, as you
can see in this comparison. On the left is
the Krieger from my top speed testing when
alone, and on the right is when catchup is
turned on in a race lobby and you're in first
place. Under normal circumstances the Krieger
has a top speed of around 127mph, but with
catchup turned on that top speed drops to
around 108mph. That's an almost 20mph difference,
which is huge. If the Krieger had that top
speed under normal circumstances it would
actually be in 2nd last place for the entire
Supercars class, only quicker than the Voltic.
Catchup only affects the person in first place
in the race. You're not slowed down by a little
less in 2nd, or sped up if you're at the back.
If you're in first you're slower. If you're
anywhere else, you're going at normal speed
without any external effects, which is also
the same speed that first place would be going
if catchup was turned off. In addition, if
first place finishes the race the catchup
slowdown effect doesn't get transferred to
2nd place and so on, and the effect is always
the same. It doesn't get any stronger or weaker
depending on how far in front you are for
example.
Now while I said the slowdown effect is always
the same, that only applies to any race with
4 or more people. If there are 2 or 3 people
in a race, the person in first place isn't
slowed down by quite as much (as you can see
from these examples). The Krieger drops about
4mph when there's only 1 other person, and
by around 11mph when there's 2 other people.
4 people seems to be the limit here, with
the same decrease in speed experienced if
you're in first place of a 4 player race,
a 16 player race, a 30 player race, or anything
in between.
So how does this translate to lap time? Well
here's a comparison again with the Krieger
from my lap time testing on the left, and
with catch-up on in first place on the right.
And the difference is a fairly substantial
2 seconds per lap. The Kriger goes from basically
being the joint fastest car in the supercars
class, to only being able to achieve a lap
time that would put it in 6th place. Basically
the same pace as an RE-7B. And it only gets
this level of lap time because it's a corner
heavy track and the Kriger is already incredible
in that situation. If anything this is a testament
to how little top speed matters when the rest
of the car is so good on a normal circuit.
Any car that relies more on its top speed
to be quick, for example a Deveste Eight in
the Supercars class or a Pariah in the Sports
class, will be much more negatively affected.
Now obviously every car will be affected differently
and not every car is going to lose the same
amount of speed. For example the Cyclone drops
to around 105mph for its top speed with catch-up
on in comparison to 116mph under normal circumstances.
A drop of just over 10mph in comparison to
the 20mph drop we saw with the Krieger. But
one thing is for certain. If you're in a race
with catch-up turned on and you're in first
place, you're going a hell of a lot slower
than normal. You're basically punished for
doing well.
Unless you're in a Tezeract. For some bizzare
reason (and it's not because it's an electric
car as I just showed with the Cyclone) the
Tezeract is basically unaffected by catchup.
The main theory so far is its really small
drag coefficient value, combined with its
low engine power, mean the Tezeract is punished
much less by the effects of catchup which
likely plays on both these aspects. Basically
if you're in a supercars race with catchup
turned on, the Tezeract will be the best pick
if there's any chance you'll be in the lead
at any point and have a chance to pull away.
Now there's plenty of faster cars for both
lap time and top speed than the Tezeract,
so you might get caught by quicker cars with
a good driver behind the wheel like you normally
would with catchup turned off in the same
situation, but you'll be going a lot quicker
in first place than you would in any other
car when catchup is turned on. Maybe that's
where the myth of the Tezeract being the fastest
car in the game comes from given catchup is
turned on by default in public lobbies.
But that's it for this one. I've done as much
as I'm willing to do to test the effects of
what is quite frankly a pretty awful feature
for racing that should be turned off by default,
not on. Outside of Panto Catchup racing of
course, that's just good fun.
I hope you all enjoyed and this video shed
some light on a much maligned feature. As
always, thank you so much for watching, and
I'll see you next time.
