There might be some exceptions, but for the most part, my progress can be split up into different phases. My philosophy on that comes from my desire to have several different gamesave backups, so that I can have something to fall back on if I make a mistake/planning error or make an unexpected discovery (the latter being much more unlikely than the former).
I prefer to do as much as I can without getting into a car, and to do as much as I can before buying a new car and/or using a prize car. I prefer to take care of the most challenging and painful tasks up front, and coast into victory when the line is in sight. I'll be doing the championships before I do any single-race events, to make my schedule more flexible later in the game.
Generally, here are the Phases of my gamesave, based on certain landmarks or patterned behavior. I won't include purchases or prizes, as those activities will take place throughout the game.
Phase 1a: B, A, IB, IA Licenses
Phase 2: Missions 1, 2, ..., 34
Phase 1b: S License
Phase 3: Finish Beginner and Professional events
Phase 4: Unlock and complete the Endurance Event Hall (get to 25% complete)
Phase 5: Complete the Extreme Event Hall, starting with FGTWC.
Phase 6: Finish all other races, collecting cars along the way.
There's one car I need to buy during Phase 1a, the Daihatsu Midget II D-type. The lowest mileage one (non-6.2) appears during Week 6, and having only $10000 makes it one of the few cars in my fleet that I can buy early. The OMR for this car is a single race. I guess "One Make Race does not a One Race Make".
Ok. That was completely lame. But it just goes to show [something that I don't want shown].
Until Week 75, I'll be deferring the purchase of many of the used cars that I won't be using. This will help make sure that I have enough money to start collecting, as well as have enough to buy the new cars of my fleet and mod them as needed.
For Phase 2, I must mention: There is a glitch in some versions of GT4 that could make it impossible to get 100%. I'm not exactly sure what causes the glitch, which versions, or how to verify whether it's in effect or not, but as long as Mission 1 (The Pass @ Deep Forest, Fiat 500R) is the first Mission you clear, then you're OK. For emphasis, If you clear any Mission OTHER THAN Mission 1 for your first cleared Mission, your % Complete stat in the Game Status page will never reach 100%. Anyway, I'll be doing #s 1-4, then #s 30-34, buy some cars, then back to #s 5-29.
Here is a link to find out more on the glitch:
http://www.gtplanet.net/forum/showthread.php?t=67785&highlight=mission+1
I prefer to win the prize cars I'll need as soon as possible. This is so that I won't have to defer running any races longer than I have to. Other than that, I'll need enough $ to buy the Abt TT-R and the Shelby Cobra. These are some key cars I'll need, and they are the most expensive ones of my fleet.
The rest of the game will be a natural progression. All of the Beg. & Pro. events add up to around 14 or 15 %, with another 5.7% coming from the Missions. From there, I'll have to race for another 30 or so events/championships, to have unlocked all of the race halls. I need the Nissan Motul Pitwork Z ASAP! It'll be my early-game workhorse, and it'll be needed to win the CdlS I 24h Enduro.
So the first 143 Days will be spent on the Licenses & Missions, with 8 of those days for Used Car buying. I'll give all of the details in the Diary Blog, so you can follow the day-by-day there.
Have A Great Drive!
RoadHazard
http://www.mygt4diary.com/
