Forza Motorsport on Xbox

Richard Casto · **Posted:** Thu May 05, 2005 9:58 am

Game was released yesterday. I played for only about 2 hrs and I have not even scratched the surface as to what you can do in the game. First thoughts…

* It has autocross courses, but they are VERY tight. Lots of 180 degree 1st gear turns. Not many people had set Xbox Live times on them, but for the ones I had run, I was either 1st or 2nd! That probably didn’t last through the night as more people played.
* I don’t play GT4, so I can’t comment on how it compares. Online reviews tend to think it is as good as or better than GT4. Pluses over GT4 are Xbox Live quality online racing, damage modeling and better physics. Down side is that GT4 probably looks a bit better and has more cars and more tracks. I think MS decided to reduce some of the visual effect so they could spend more CPU time on the physics engine.
* Track details look to be better than PGR2. Nurburgring in Forza is MUCH nicer than in PGR2. IN PGR2, you would think that 100% of the course is in the middle of nowhere with no buildings, etc. nearby. The Forza model is probably more accurately modeled as there is tons of stuff off course (buildings, parked cars, etc). More like what you would see from watching real in-car videos. The track also feels narrower than in PRG2 and some of the elevation changes in places are different. Some turns don’t seem as tight, others seem tighter. “Same but Different” is the best way to describe it.
* I am finding it easier to drive without the driving aids than I thought it would be. However, this is more of a simulation, so you have to actually brake early in turns verses the “toss it into a turn and drift” style of PGR2 (which is fun, but not totally realistic). Screw up and you are in the sand or in the tires.
* Manual talks about the ability to review “Telemetry”. I have not tried it yet, but it looks like you have the ability to review friction circles on all four corners, dynamic ride height info, G-circle and other stuff. You can also have the computer do simulated runs after you make changes. So you can do a benchmark and see if your setup changes helped or hurt.
* I noticed some bugs in the Xbox Live part. Mostly just in the UI and getting connected. I tried to join a race and received a message that someone was already connected with my account. I retried and did get connected. I only raced once online, but everyone else mentioned getting that same error message. Also some of the screens had some weird UI issues. I am surprised that stuff like that wasn’t fixed before it was released, but they seem to be non-critical bugs. Once racing, I didn’t notice any problems. This probably will be fixed with a download later on.

You can create online “Clubs” that people can join. Some of the online rankings are tracked at the club level. I went ahead and created a “THSCC” club. If anyone wants to join, just let me know. I think you need at least four members before it starts to track statistics.

So anyone else playing this yet?

Ryan Holton · **Posted:** Thu May 05, 2005 10:25 am

Damn you, I guess I am going to the mall at lunch to buy it!

Glad to hear that its not like the PGR2 "dorifito" style of driving. When I first started PGR2, I tried to drive like your supposed to in real life and realize QUICK that it was SLOW on that game.

Do you have to work your way up to the nice fast cars like in PGR2? I hear they have a CRX SiR in Forza as well :twisted:

Kevin Allen · **Joined:** Thu Aug 28, 2003 6:42 pm **Posts:** 3479

Quote:

* It has autocross courses, but they are VERY tight. Lots of 180 degree 1st gear turns.

Sounds like an RBC night event that a certain MR2 driver chaired...

:lol:

Richard Casto · **Posted:** Thu May 05, 2005 10:56 am

Quote:

* It has autocross courses, but they are VERY tight. Lots of 180 degree 1st gear turns.

And what is bad about this is that I always play racing games in "first person view". So, you go into a 180 and you can't "look ahead". You just have to blindly do the turn and hope you don't track out and hit a cone on the exit. It's like autocrossing with blinders on. You can hit a button to look out the left/right window. I may have to give that a try.

MikeWhitney · **Joined:** Wed Aug 20, 2003 9:15 pm **Posts:** 4724

I wonder some times if I'm the only person in the world who doesn't much care for racing video games. Racing video games are like phone sex - The real thing is so much better, why waste your time?

When I play video games, I want to do things that I can't do in real life. Like killing aliens and shooting at my friends! That's what games are for!

I understand why y'all like it. Honestly I wish I had more time to get into it

Ryan Holton · **Posted:** Thu May 05, 2005 11:06 am

MikeWhitney wrote:

Honestly I wish I had more time to get into it

Me too

My Xbox hasnt been cut on in a month or so.

Richard Casto · **Posted:** Thu May 05, 2005 11:07 am

Ryan Holton wrote:

Damn you, I guess I am going to the mall at lunch to buy it!

Ryan Holton wrote:

Do you have to work your way up to the nice fast cars like in PGR2? I hear they have a CRX SiR in Forza as well :twisted:

I only did one race in the "Career" mode. In that mode you start out by buying a single car, get cash for wins, etc. In non-career modes you have a bunch of cars to pick from, but some of the really fast or rare cars have to be unlocked (win or purchase in Career mode I assume)

There is a number of Hondas in the game. They do have a JDM 1991 CRX SiR. Other interesting smaller Hondas are a 1994 Civic Si, 1995 Civic Del Sol VTEC, 1999 Civic Si. Of course there is a bunch of faster Honda, JDM versions, and tuner versions and full on race versions.

Of course I will have to buy the 1999 Civic Si as it is the closest thing to my daily ride. :twisted:

Hey Kevin. Don't know if you have Xbox/Xbox Live or not, but they also have 1999 2.5 RS Coupe, 2004 WRX Sti, 2004 WRX Sti Spec-C and other Subarus.

Ryan Holton · **Posted:** Thu May 05, 2005 11:12 am

The Hotttness:

Richard Casto · **Posted:** Thu May 05, 2005 11:17 am

MikeWhitney wrote:

I wonder some times if I'm the only person in the world who doesn't much care for racing video games. Racing video games are like phone sex - The real thing is so much better, why waste your time?

Mike, I totally understand what you are saying. But for me it is the cost and time. I do as much of the "Real Thing" as my money and time allows me. Stuff like Xbox fills the void. I also find myself watching less and less Racing on TV these days as I don't have to live my dream via watching someone else race.

I think that the "killer app" part of this is online racing (in this case Xbox Live which is pretty damn good). The online part is an order of magnitude more fun than a regular video game. It really is competative. You may not get the physical sensation or rush (oh my god I am going to die), but the mental part is all there.

Also, other than Patrice doing it for real occasionally I probably drive the Nurburgring more than most club members.

Vincent Keene · **Posted:** Thu May 05, 2005 11:43 am

MikeWhitney wrote:

I wonder some times if I'm the only person in the world who doesn't much care for racing video games.

I don't play ANY video games. For me getting a few fingers to do what my two hands and two feet do in a real car is too frustrating.

Richard Casto · **Posted:** Thu May 05, 2005 11:52 am

Vincent Keene wrote:

MikeWhitney wrote:

I wonder some times if I'm the only person in the world who doesn't much care for racing video games.

I don't play ANY video games. For me getting a few fingers to do what my two hands and two feet do in a real car is too frustrating.

Unfortunatly, I am better at left foot (left trigger finger) braking in video games than I am in real life. :cry:

But steering a car with a video game controller sucks!

Kevin Allen · **Joined:** Thu Aug 28, 2003 6:42 pm **Posts:** 3479

I've actually learned some car control techniques from Colin McRae Rally 04 that I've applied to rallycross. The controls are different, but what you're doing with the car is the same. You just have to do it enough to make the controlling come naturally, then you just execute.

I prefer the handheld controller to the steering wheel & pedals, though - wheel/pedals is too hard to control because they're too slow to react to inputs & don't really feel like a real car. I'd rather use something totally different than use something that's supposed to feel the same & doesn't work well. I sit on the couch with my legs extended in front of me in the air like I was in a car (it's a wide seating area) - if you watch me play, you'll see that when I'm hitting the gas trigger, my right foot is moving; when I'm tapping the brake trigger, my left foot is moving; when I'm steering with the tiny little joystick I'm usually "turning a steering wheel" with my hands. :lol:

Haven't played it much lately, but I usually play a little before rallycrosses to get pumped.

Kevin Allen · **Joined:** Thu Aug 28, 2003 6:42 pm **Posts:** 3479

Quote:

But steering a car with a video game controller sucks!

It sucks if you're not "driving" a rally car.

In a rally car you'd just give it a quick input with steering while tapping (or nailing) the brake, hit the throttle again, and start making minor corrections with steering while tapping brake & gas through the corner until you can go full throttle.

MikeWhitney · **Joined:** Wed Aug 20, 2003 9:15 pm **Posts:** 4724

Ryan Holton wrote:

The Hotttness:

Does it run?

Graham Jagger · **Joined:** Fri Aug 29, 2003 12:53 am **Posts:** 1718

I like the opposite Kevin. I wouldn't even touch GT3 or GT4 with a paddle/joystick. I have a Logitech feedback steering wheel with pedals. Unfortunately it doesn't have or really simulate a clutch pedal. I have a chair and small table setup so I jump into the virtual car. I sit about 10-15ft away from a 50" TV right inline with it.

Now if they made a feedback seat tied into it at a reasonable price. Then you could get the buttometer feel while running the course that would be cool.

I use it mainly in winter when we aren't autoxing for a fix when I need it. It ain't the real thing Mike, but it is a ittle better than the 2 things you were comparing. Now on that analogy I agree with you a 100% :wink:

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