Forza Motorsport 2

By Dave McCarthy Published 3 May, 2007

Bodyshop Pro.

The night before going to see Forza Motorsport 2 I ran nine miles. It was fairly tough. But not, as I was to discover, as tough as the all-over body and cardio-vascular workout you get from driving for 20 minutes round the UK's biggest indoor karting track, which is where Microsoft decided to show off the game to a bunch of games journalists. Fortunately, Forza 2 is rather more forgiving, in spite of its hardcore simulation credentials. In fact, speaking in one of the raceway's swanky corporate-hospitality meeting rooms, Game Director Dan Greenawalt declares: "The goal of this game is to really turn gamers into car lovers and turn car lovers into gamers and create a really big community that gets excited about games and excited about cars."

That community aspect cuts right to the core of most of the game's new features and improvements, but the most obvious area where Forza 2 excels is in its physics model. Indeed, in the bid to scale next-generation heights of simulation accuracy, the team put in three months on the tyre system alone. That's the amount of time it took to accurately model the effects of pressure, wear and heat (on the inside and outside of the tyre), as well as looking into load sensitivity - which is, apparently, the efficiency of the tyre under an increasing load. It's not something you'd usually expect in a motor racing videogame, and it required the use of proprietary real-world data from the likes of Yokohama, Toyo, Michelin and Bridgestone.

All of the tracks have also had a suitably next-gen, high-definition makeover, with the development team using GPS and aerial satellite data and some 3,000 photos to recreate each track. They even recorded air pressure and temperature to make sure their simulation will be rigorously accurate. But the fruits of these labours are best illustrated in some of the new tracks, like Sebring, which is an ex-airfield constructed out of mismatched slabs of concrete. In the real world, this surface puts considerable stress on a car (and a driver's kidneys, apparently). And in the game, too, thanks to an underlying physics model that runs its calculations at 360 per second (in contrast with most other racing games: they employ a model that runs at 60 per second, which wouldn't pick up the closely-spaced bumps at high speeds).

'Forza Motorsport 2' Screenshot 1

There are over 300 different car models in the game.

The physics also get a workout if you crash. Bowing to pressure from fans of the original game, Forza 2 will, unlike the original, feature full simulation damage - so if you drive into a wall, the chances are you won't be driving anywhere afterwards. And the game's AI Drivatar system has also been improved, with other drivers exhibiting a more pronounced sense of personality (and the top driver, M. Rossi, regularly frustrating testers with his check-braking, bumping, blocking and just general skulduggery).

What all this advanced physics modelling means is that there is plenty of opportunity to play around with real-world cars in ways they weren't meant to be played with. "What this game is in many ways is a motor sports sandbox where you can go and play with things and trust that we've done the math, that we've done the research to say this is really possible," says Greenawalt. Which leads, of course, into playing with the game's performance upgrade options.

As Greenawalt puts it, "your first car is kind of like your first love." And so while Forza 2 will obviously include plenty of scope for the automotive equivalent of getting off with a superhot model, there's also plenty of scope for a more long-term romance if you're looking for personality. Which is a laboured way of saying that the cars in the game range from the likes of the Honda Civic Type-R to custom-built race cars. And while most motor racing games these days allow you to customise your vehicle to some extent, what sets Forza 2 apart is the scale and range of its upgrade options. In the original Forza there were 20 different types of upgrades, each with their own sub-categories. Forza 2, however, boasts 50 per cent more, including ten different types of upgrade devoted to the engine alone.

'Forza Motorsport 2' Screenshot 2

It's possible to customise your vehicle with various branded parts, from tyres to decals.

Greenawalt proceeded to demonstrate these upgrades by taking the aforementioned Honda Civic Type-R and adding a new intake to push it from class D to C, before adding cams and valves to push it into class B, the natural habitat of the likes of the Audi RS 4. "If you had a Honda Civic Type R and you were to weight-reduce it down to say 900kilos and put it up to 600 horsepower with racing slicks for the downforce, it should be able to compete against Enzos and things like that," he says. And of course you can do all that because they've done the math. Or maths, as we like to call it over here.

One upshot of this extensive upgrade system is that it will turn gamers into car lovers by educating them about different aspects of car design ("What does a conical air filter do?" asks Greenawalt. "Provides isolation from hot air to improve engine performance," says the Internet). Sunday drivers/mere mortals will also be helped out by a full complement of driving assists, from a visible racing line, through ABS to being able to set the level of car damage. And the game's achievements should be in reach of even learner drivers, since a lot of them will reward players for collecting new cars and so on.

'Forza Motorsport 2' Screenshot 3

Above and beyond the performance upgrades, petrolheads can also fine-tune cars for extra performance.

Gamers who aren't already car lovers are most likely to be converted, though, by an extensive suite of cosmetic customisation options. As anyone who's played the original Forza online will recognise, it's an important aspect of the game - so much so that some people went to the trouble of painting the likes of the Mona Lisa on the side of their car using the first game's limited paint job options. The new system expands them to allow you to create different layers and manipulate them with some fairly sophisticated tools. Whereas there were 600 layers in the original, that's been increased to 4,000 for the sequel, for example, and they can be grouped so you can manipulate multiple layers and create even more detailed renaissance masterpieces. If you're so inclined.

If you are so inclined, you'll also welcome the new photo feature. Whereas, previously, budding Leonardos were restricted to taking photographs of their TV screens and uploading them to the internet in a blurry bid to show off their handiwork, this new function makes it much easier. Now it's possible to take an in-game picture of your car at pretty much any point in the game, and it'll be uploaded to forzamotorsport.net automatically (and while that's impressive enough, it's also pretty neat just to be able to zoom around to check the fine detail on the textures).

'Forza Motorsport 2' Screenshot 4

As in the original Forza it'll be possible to unlock every aspect of the game in multiplayer as well as single-player.

Budding Michelangelos will also be able to sell their masterpieces online for in-game credits in one of the game's other new features: the auction house. Indeed the online component of the game is another area that the development team has focused on at length. One improvement, for example, will see the end of the dominance of supercars like the F355 or CRX. That dominance arose because the original game used a linear car classification formula. For the sequel, one of the game's AI programmers created a neural net to test the performance of all the game's different permutations and combinations of car components - taking 48 hours to run. Consequently, the car classification system should be much less open to the dominance of any particular car model - and if the system doesn't work as well as expected, the programmers have left a back door to continue tweaking after release.

As for how the game actually plays, well your humble correspondent was too terrified by the quality of the competition to check out the three-screen setup in the corner of the room (one chap had even bought his own helmet for the karting). Even playing the game with the Xbox 360's wireless steering wheel initially proved a bit tricky, though obviously this will be the long-term choice of any serious Forza fans. Ultimately though, this is the sort of driving realism that fans of the first game will find familiar. Which means it'll take a little while to adjust to if you've been busy smashing your opponents off the road in Burnout, or powersliding around Ridge Racer. But it also means that it'll have the depth to sustain your interest right the way through the 70-hour single-player career.

And then it was time to put everything that I'd learned in the game into practice on the UK's largest indoor kart track. Where, after blistering my hands and losing about 90 per cent of my bodyweight in sweat I came a rather undignified 9th. I'd blame it on a dodgy kart, but all the other drivers seemed to be doing that. Maybe I'll stick to painting.

Picture of Dave.

About Dave McCarthy

Read more articles from Dave by visiting the Dave McCarthy archive page.

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Comments (90) Latest comment 5 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • SpacemanX #1 5 years ago

    What is the frame rate?

  • captbirdseye #2 5 years ago

    I hate racing games, but this game has me frothing at the mouth.

    /Any updates this minute?

  • NthSimulachum #3 5 years ago

    9 miles? Good grief.

  • krudster #4 5 years ago

    They gave us code to take away, so we'll post a detailed hands-on next week. Frame rate is claimed to be solid 60fps.

  • Dizzy #5 5 years ago

    I don't remember my first car. Guess this game is not for me ;)

    That being said.. it all sounds incredibly impressive.
    Edited by 1 at 03/05/07 @ 11:34

  • morriss #6 5 years ago

    Sounds promising.

  • bonker #7 5 years ago

    I love racing games but this has me, er, pretty meh'd out - think it's all the talk of uber-options and 12 million cars etc. I just wanna pick something up and race for fun - Mario Kart FTW!

  • Guff-Pipe #8 5 years ago

    Sounds Top!

  • krudster #9 5 years ago

    MMUK - presumably it's the order things were presented, and the terminology used.

  • Lukree #10 5 years ago

    I just bought an Xbox360 and wheel, hopefully this will play nicely.

  • Pooley #11 5 years ago

    They really seem to be putting a lot of effort into Forza 2, presumably to try and topple Gran Turismo's crown.

    I'd really like to get this game, but I'd rather not have to buy another steering wheel. Though the wireless wheel is tempting, purely because of the wireless aspect (apart from the power lead to the wheel).

    Is it possible to get any other steering wheels working on the 360, or is it the wireless 360 wheel only?

  • Caimbeul #12 5 years ago

    1) You didnt play it?
    2) You have playable code and are going to make us wait!!????? - till next week!!!??

  • rashes #13 5 years ago

    @Sofalover

    They've plenty of non-super cars...

    Focus ST
    Civic Type-R,
    RX-7 RX8, Saab 9-3
    207 sports, Clio Sports,
    Toyata Celica, VW Beetle.. etc.

    Those are cars you see every day.

  • #14 5 years ago

    We could be playing the demo by next week, get that baby in the DVD drive and get racing, I expect to see impressions posted by erm........ 4pm at the latest.

    What's that you say?

    No need to swear :(

  • Pooley #15 5 years ago

    This looks like a useful gadget;

    [link url=http://www.amazon.co.uk/ Supido-Hyper-Drive-Portable-Racing/dp/B000NT8IDO/ref=sr_1_12 /026-2517542-1162800?ie=UTF8&s=videogames&qid=1178189508&sr= 1-12
    ]http://ww w.amazon.co.uk/Supido-Hyper-Dri...[/link]

    I'd try to explain how to use it, but it's simpler to just look at the pictures on the Amazon page!

    Has anyone got something like this, and is it any good? At least it'll save fixing the wheel to the coffee table.

  • rashes #16 5 years ago

    @Manic

    I see .. true..
    But then it might become one of those jack of all trades racing games... and that's not really what this series is about.
    Thats for that codemaster game.. what was it called?

  • lambtron #17 5 years ago

    Oh god no!

    The worst thing about GT4 was being forced to use crap everyday cars or even worse 70s cars for races.

    510 laps of the nurburgring in a 70s saloon... Thanks guys.

    I drive an everyday car every day of my life thanks I don't want to do it in games too.

  • Carlo #18 5 years ago

    Krud ¨They gave us code to take away, so we'll post a detailed hands-on next week. Frame rate is claimed to be solid 60fps.¨

    So vsync's off then :D

  • snick #19 5 years ago

    Anyone seen a forza + wheel offer anywhere yet?

  • bicky316 #20 5 years ago

    "What is the frame rate?"

    Why do people want to know this all the time? WHY? You should be asking "Does it run smoothly?". If the answer is yes then what does it matter if it's running at 30fps or 60fps? Can most people even tell the difference?

    Worrying about fps should be left for the PC.

  • sniglet #21 5 years ago

    Fiat Punto 55 ftw. Lawl. No seriously, lawl - I own one.

    Seriously though, I really want this game. No doubt I'll enjoy the supercars but as mentioned previous it'll be the Golfs, Civics, and Clios that I'll enjoy the most. I've also got some serious plans to get amongst the livery editor and make some sweet paint jobs.

  • XdarXideX #22 5 years ago

    bicky - Not that it matters much to me but I can tell the difference for sure.

    I'm looking forward to the livery editor mode the most... is that weird!?

  • Concrete #23 5 years ago

    "If you had a Honda Civic Type R and you were to weight-reduce it down to say 900kilos and put it up to 600 horsepower with racing slicks for the downforce, it should be able to compete against Enzos and things like that,"

    Ahahahahahahahaha, I'm looking forward to this game so much, please don't let this guy ruin it! So slicks are going to provide down force? And how the hell is an FWD Civic going to put 600 bhp down? Even with the Vtec's low torque figures its still going to wheelspin all day long, of course to get a 2 litre N/A engine up to 600 bhp you have to go forced induction, which would generate so much lag it would be untrue, the Enzo would have finished the race by the time he had spooled up. If this game is being billed as realistic, please dont go down the Fast and Furious route of mods being king over common sense.

  • parky69 #24 5 years ago

    Where is the demo for this game, I'm sure someone said it would be in April........so where the hell is it :)

  • MrBiggles #25 5 years ago

    360 is the only console bringing the goods, Wii and PS3 have nothing on them worth playing at the moment in Europe. Without 360 we would be well and truly fucked.

  • SpacemanX #26 5 years ago

    @bicky316

    The frame rate matters to me. There are so many racing games available (I have PS3, Xbox 360 and PC) that I can be picky and only buy games that are really well done and have the features I appreciate. The studio at one point informed us that the game was running @60fps. I just want to know it it's still the case.

  • Valver #27 5 years ago

    @ Concrete

    Forza 2 has extensive modding options - so the hypothetical 600bhp Civic he was talking about could well have had an engine swap and a drivetrain change - so it could be 4WD if that an upgrade option.

  • joeking #28 5 years ago

    This thread needs more Mapster! ;)

  • mkreku #29 5 years ago

    After playing Test Drive Unlimited, I'm having a hard time seeing myself going back to those confined spaces of racing tracks. I want a free world, dammit!

    Everything else sounds awesome though.

  • Talha #30 5 years ago

    Just to be an all-around SOB: the road textures in screenshots look horrific - no better than those in GT4, in fact!!! :-)

    And hey, why can't we transfer photos on to USB's in X360 games? That just plain sucks - there is absolutely no way to transfer game photos to the PC from the XBox, despite the presence of Ethernet port and USB.

  • bicky316 #31 5 years ago

    @SpacemanX

    Must be good having so much choice!! =D

    But say the game came out and didn't run at a solid 60fps as they have claimed it will, would that stop you buying and enjoying the game even if after playing the demo you thought "Hmm didn't notice any framerate issues there...."?

    How many fps does Project Gotham Racing 3 run at?

  • Scientist #32 5 years ago

    "Ahahahahahahahaha, I'm looking forward to this game so much, please don't let this guy ruin it! So slicks are going to provide down force? And how the hell is an FWD Civic going to put 600 bhp down? Even with the Vtec's low torque figures its still going to wheelspin all day long, of course to get a 2 litre N/A engine up to 600 bhp you have to go forced induction, which would generate so much lag it would be untrue, the Enzo would have finished the race by the time he had spooled up. If this game is being billed as realistic, please dont go down the Fast and Furious route of mods being king over common sense."

    Well, the Lancia Delta S4 rally car from 1985-86 had over 550hp. Henri Toivonen (best rally driver eva!) managed to lap Estoril fast enough to theoretically qualify 6th in the 1986 GP race.
    So it is realisitically possible.

  • smoothpete #33 5 years ago

    krudster, how was it graphically? Were you impressed?

  • dbeamish #34 5 years ago

    good call on the math thing. man i hate Americans saying that. and Legos. The plural of Lego is Lego.

  • SpacemanX #35 5 years ago

    @bicky316

    I've couple of issues with PGR3

    1) It's almost like PGR2
    2) 30fps (+ slowdowns especially at beginning of a race)
    3) 1024x600 resolution

    I regret buying that one.

  • optimusprym8 #36 5 years ago

    MMUK - what were you doing reading IGN? :p

    confirmed as being 60FPS *apprently* but from unreliable source (GAME staff) and demo next week (same source)...

  • Virvel #37 5 years ago

    @ Bicky316: Why do people want to know this all the time? WHY? You should be asking "Does it run smoothly?". If the answer is yes then what does it matter if it's running at 30fps or 60fps? Can most people even tell the difference?

    Bicky, you must be kidding! There is a HUGE different between 60fps and 30fps, especially in driving games.. I am totally put off by driving games not running at full framerate. I can even spot the difference between 40fps and 60fps, it is so obvious. Whats wrong with people not able to see this? Are your brains running at lower frame-rate, thus affecting how much visuals you can process every second? Or are you just easy to please?

    Anyway, Forza-2 looks very nice, a pity I am a Sony fanboi and wont get the 360. Oh well, I have to wait for GT5 or play some emulated GT4 ;)

  • smoothpete #38 5 years ago

    GAME staff? Jesus, surely we can do better than that for into? :p

  • kangarootoo #39 5 years ago

    @Virvel

    "Or are you just easy to please?"

    Hey man, don't knock it. its perfectionists like you that are always stressed about something.

    I probably can't tell the difference between 40 and 60 fps, but I'm fine with that. The fact I can't tell the difference means its never a problem.

  • Concrete #40 5 years ago

    Ok but even with a new drive train and engine (which both add substantial amounts of weight, and would upset the balance and handling of the car) you are still left with a car with the aerodynamics of a family hatchback. I love my Jap imports but its silly to compare the two IMO.

    The Lancia was equiped with a four wheel drive system that allowed them to put the power down ;)

  • kangarootoo #41 5 years ago

    @optimusprym8

    In my experience GAME staff often know less than my gran about up and coming features (and my gran died ages ago).

    Anecdote time.

    It was in a game store (Game Station I believe in this particular case) I heard the resident teenager (to be said in a Capcom RE cutscene voice) boldly informing his friends of how the next rev of PSP would a 4GB hdd in it. Riiiight.

  • optimusprym8 #42 5 years ago

    hey I said *apparently* and "unreliable source"... :p

  • mkreku #43 5 years ago

    Most people can't tell the difference between 40 fps and 60 fps in a racing game. The human eye/brain can easily spot the difference if you were to flash black and white screens in 40 or 60 fps, but the changes are too subtle in racing games for the eye to register the slight changes.

    If you're driving at 180 km/h, you'll travel 50 m/s. That means that you've traveled slightly less than one meter between screen updates in 60 fps and slightly more than one meter between screen updates in 40 fps. To put it in perspective: a normal car is around 4 meters long, so you'll basically have traveled the distance of 1/4 of your car. In the middle of the screen, the differences will be marginal and undistinguishable. Around the edges of the screen is your best shot at actually noticing anything. Even then it's usually extremely difficult.

    Why did I write all this?

  • stoopidgreg #44 5 years ago

    um, most sims don't use 60fps physics. GTR, toca and richard burns rally were much higher. GTR, toca and live for speed all have accurate tyre modeling, inside and outside temps, hot patches, etc. forza 2's physics aren't anything spectacular, it's still a half and half arcade racer / sim, so i dunno why they go on and on about how cool the physics are when it's still pretty easy/unrealistic to drive

  • joeking #45 5 years ago

    I want this game so badly! :(

  • phl0w #46 5 years ago

    Around the edges of the screen is your best shot at actually noticing anything
    And that's exactly what disturbs me so much about racers running at 30fps.
    Of course you can't really tell the difference looking straight ahead. Try driving your real car at around 200kph (if that's possible in the UK). Your "picture" keeps pretty stable and the only time you realize how fast you are really going (apart from wind noises and the engine) is when you look at things rushing by, i.e. at the edge of your vision field or the asphalt in front of your bumper.
    That said, ANYBODY can tell the difference between 30 and 60fps in a racer, alone from looking at passing by textures. And tbh it's quite important either, because I don't want to rely solely on landmarks to set my braking points but wanna estimate my velocity too. I had the biggest problems in Forza telling the difference between approaching a corner at say 120 or 180kph. Although it did build a proper sense of speed, differences occured only late with GTR and P1 cars. And having to look at stuttering asphalt textures or signs/ curbs rushing by at only 30 is extremely disturbing while racing. I noticed an effect only seen on TV too: Asphalt textures in Forza sometimes become stable and stop moving at certain speeds, much like wagon wheels spinning on a TV screen, which is due to the rotations being slower than the frames per second and known as a strobe effect. It occured in GT too, but not until going ~400kph on the Test oval. Just shows that textures are applied to a track's surface in a certain pattern
    Anway, glad they managed to run the game @60 (knocks on wood). Finally a Forza I can live with.

  • asphaltcowboy #47 5 years ago

    This is gonna be awesome!

    /needs to learn about cars...

  • SomaticSense #48 5 years ago

    mkreku - I'm sick of people going on about "You can't tell the difference, blah, blah, blah".

    I can tell the difference quite clearly, and even my non-gaming bird noticed the 30fps within seconds of me first starting a race in Forza after showing her the 60fps of GT4. It was little test I felt I had to do to prove to myself that people like you are wrong, and that I'm not some kind of genetic freak with superhuman eyesight.
    Without telling her what I was testing her for, I asked her what looked different between the two (same track, same car, same bonnet view), and she said straight away about Forza "it looks a lot less smooth than the other one. A bit rougher".

    Fucksake, I wish my eyesight was as crap as people like yours, as it takes me a long while for my eyes to get used to a new 30fps game after playing a 60fps for a decent amount of time, as at first it looks as rough Bill Oddie after a long night on the piss. It took me ages to get used to Halo after hours of playing Timesplitters 2. Same the other way round as well, as after playing a 30fps game for some time, 60fps ones actually make me feel travel sick.
    Edited by 2 at 03/05/07 @ 14:46

  • bonker #49 5 years ago

    "I've couple of issues with PGR3

    1) It's almost like PGR2
    2) 30fps (+ slowdowns especially at beginning of a race)
    3) 1024x600 resolution

    I regret buying that one. "

    This statement is utterly beyond my comprehension.

    I'm beginning to think that I'm not going to enjoy Forza because I don't have a spanner-shaped cock as it sounds like some of the others in here have ...

    Is this game going to be a reasonably easy to pick up n play racer without having to resort to dismantling my "big-end" etc (yawn)?

  • SpacemanX #50 5 years ago

    If it runs @60fps it is a big plus for the game.

  • bonker #51 5 years ago

    "Of course you can't really tell the difference looking straight ahead. Try driving your real car at around 200kph (if that's possible in the UK).
    Your "picture" keeps pretty stable and the only time you realize how fast you are really going (apart from wind noises and the engine) is when you look at things rushing by, i.e. at the edge of your vision field or the asphalt in front of your bumper. "

    Last time I drove my car at 220kph (in the UK I might add - M6 towards Scotland) I left new indents in the steering wheel cos I was gripping it so hard through fear, never mind looking out the side windows etc :)

  • bonker #52 5 years ago

    "bonker - Only you know that answer to that one... I couldn't give a toss about real cars, but gimme a videogame and 30+ "handling" sliders that I can use to craft the racing game handling model I want, and I'm in there like a shot... "

    Sure, I understand. What I'm after is whether the faffing with your car is actually going to get in the way of the game cos you gotta go through 2 trillion tweaking options (which I acknowledge will float a lotta other people's boats) rather than just getting on with the action. I.E. the difference between having the options available and having them in yer face ...

  • SBfistfun #53 5 years ago

    "all have accurate tyre modeling, inside and outside temps, hot patches"

    Crime : Lies

    Sentence : to be called a n00b

  • Scientist #54 5 years ago

    "Last time I drove my car at 220kph (in the UK I might add - M6 towards Scotland) I left new indents in the steering wheel cos I was gripping it so hard through fear, never mind looking out the side windows etc :) "

    How responsible of you. We need more idiots driving at 220kph on our motorways.

  • The-Bodybuilder #55 5 years ago

    Not a huge fan of sims (always intimidating), but the devs have but so much effort into making this game great and accessible to laymen like me, I jst have to buy it.

  • parky69 #56 5 years ago

    where's the demo??????????????????????????????????????

  • The-Bodybuilder #57 5 years ago

    Just checked in LIVE, demo is up people.

    I REPEAT, DEMO IS UP.

  • malteaserhead #58 5 years ago

    The Bodybuilder
    Just checked in LIVE, demo is up people.
    I REPEAT, DEMO IS UP.
    ____________________________

    lol!

    /awaits news of bodybuilder's demise through car nerd + exhaust unpleasantness ;)
    Edited by 1 at 03/05/07 @ 16:09

  • SBfistfun #59 5 years ago

    "I REPEAT, DEMO IS UP"

    And my pants are down.

  • thehat #60 5 years ago

    Want. Now.

    Now now now now.

    /stamps foot

  • Mr_Whacker #61 5 years ago

    @concrete

    He's saying that the slicks allow you to use the downforce you have, not that they provide downforce in themselves. His point is that it don't matter how much power or downforce you have on the car if you don't have enough rubber to grip the road so a set up as described would need slicks to have even a chance of moving.

    The game is looking schweeeeet!

  • The-Bodybuilder #62 5 years ago

    Damn it, I was expecting a mass of driving nerds foaming at the mouth and thirsting for my blood.

    Oh well. I'll just wait early may 16th to shout "HALO 3 BETA IS UP".

  • cyber_nicco #63 5 years ago

    Well, actually the whole slicks downforce thing isn't quite right, as downforce loads the tires without adding lateral weight during turns - so it would help regardless. Of course, it could exceed the maximum loading limits of the tires... or something like that...

    but I'm not trying to pick a fight with anybody. I'm just so happy this is finally coming out!

  • The-Bodybuilder #64 5 years ago

    >"bows to the new king of comedy"

    Thanks. Been watching the chapelle show for some tips.

  • SomaticSense #65 5 years ago

    @MMUK

    "I couldn't give a toss about real cars, but gimme a videogame and 30+ "handling" sliders that I can use to craft the racing game handling model I want, and I'm in there like a shot... "

    Absolutely brilliant idea. MM, you are a coder or something right? Well get TO IT BOY!!!

    :)

  • cyber_nicco #66 5 years ago

    by the way, if anyone would like to have a little online racing in the original Forza (to start getting ready for 2), please let me know.

    I would really enjoy racing a little online with some decent, civilized people.

    Please. Really. Please!!!

  • Corben_Dallas #67 5 years ago

    Hope they spent those 3 months designing the code for tyres from Forza1.

  • numptyboymatt #68 5 years ago

    This kind of thing leaves me cold, but no doubt the boyfriend will start obsessing over it the moment he realises its out. Oh joy.

  • Introspectre #69 5 years ago

    "This article is extremely similar to the IGN preview I read 20 minutes ago..."

    It's also spookily similar to the video preview I saw on Gamespot.

    Game sounds good though. Just hurry up and release the thing before I go gaga.

  • Mordum #70 5 years ago

    This is the game I've been looking froward to the most, ever since I picked up my 360. I thought the original Forza was brilliant, especially online ('cept for those blasted Tommies and CRX's!). Hopefully they have got the car classes just right this time, although it can be tweaked after launch as he says, so should'nt be a problem.
    Right, so we got a 70 hour single player career, double that time for all the tuning and paintwork inbetween, then with the online races aswell we're looking at hundreds of hours of pure gaming bliss... I can't wait.
    Edited by 1 at 03/05/07 @ 19:12

  • Virvel #71 5 years ago

    WELL?? is it 60fps ?? :)

  • Virvel #72 5 years ago

    I think if Forza is even close to the quality of GranTurismo, it will be a big system seller. Even I am tempted.

    Well have fun!

  • effinwooly #73 5 years ago

    yes its 60fps !

  • The-Bodybuilder #74 5 years ago

    >"I think if Forza is even close to the quality of GranTurismo, it will be a big system seller. Even I am tempted. "

    Considering the last one was better than the last GT.

  • phl0w #75 5 years ago

    Considering the last one couldn't even see GT's backlights... let alone eat its dust.
    Not flaming or anything, just my opinion.

  • CorporalSpank #76 5 years ago

    Am I weird for reading the entire comments page of articles but never posting anything?

  • stoopidgreg #77 5 years ago

    "all have accurate tyre modeling, inside and outside temps, hot patches"

    Crime : Lies

    Sentence : to be called a n00b

    --------

    i speak the truth. you can even turn on the display of your tyres in NFS, you can see the colours change as different sections of the tyres touch the ground. there's outside air temp, rubber temp, inside temp and pressure, hot patches, worn out patches, mud patches. look who's the n00b now.

  • Mordum #78 5 years ago

    @phlow
    "Considering the last one couldn't even see GT's backlights... let alone eat its dust.
    Not flaming or anything, just my opinion."

    I grew tired of the GT series, and it seems like the widespread opinion would say Forza 1 was a better game than GT4 (Gamerankings: Forza 93.0%, GT4 89.1%).

    Gran Turismo has grown stale, and the appearance of Forza (and now Forza 2) will hopefull be the kick up the arse that Polyphony needed (and maybe they'll stop believing that graphics are the most important aspect of games like these). With that in mind it'll be interesting to see how GT5 compares... of course there's every chance we'll be talking about Forza 3 by the time the next GT game is released.

  • bonker #79 5 years ago

    ""Last time I drove my car at 220kph (in the UK I might add - M6 towards Scotland) I left new indents in the steering wheel cos I was gripping it so hard through fear, never mind looking out the side windows etc :) "

    How responsible of you. We need more idiots driving at 220kph on our motorways. "

    Nah, I think we have enough, though they're usually in uniforms ...

  • DrunKao #80 5 years ago

    The amount of work put into Forza's physics engine is just ridiculous.

  • 3william56 #81 5 years ago

    Tyre temperatures and local air pressures indeed. As if anyone can tell the difference when playing this on a TV with a gamepad. Total b*ll*cks.

    /awaits all the GT anal retentives wittering about how important what the driver had for breakfast is in determining torque curves...

    Simplicity, speed and big crashes FTW. Yay Motorstorm!

  • parky69 #82 5 years ago

    where's the demo people :(

  • JYM60 #83 5 years ago

    @Mordum

    Imo gt4 was by far the better game.
    As for PD and graphics. Well the graphics are important in a game like this(to me at least) however they are not the most important aspect of GT. The handleing is simply sublime in the GT games, and even HD is a step up( really surprised how fast they got it up, even if it is devoid of content). The only thing that held back GT4 was the lack of online play.

    Dear PDigital,

    Get GT5 out in 2008 please.
    Forza will do for now though.

  • SomaticSense #84 5 years ago

    "i speak the truth. you can even turn on the display of your tyres in NFS, you can see the colours change as different sections of the tyres touch the ground. there's outside air temp, rubber temp, inside temp and pressure, hot patches, worn out patches, mud patches. look who's the n00b now."

    Who cares, it's not like it's makes much difference in those games. But then if it makes the chavs feel somewhat clever looking at their tyre temp while sliding round a street corner at 250mph in their bastardised Murcielago with a giant squiggely sticker on the side, all while in ultra-realistic 'bullet time', then fair play to 'em........
    Edited by 1 at 04/05/07 @ 12:33

  • mkreku #85 5 years ago

    SomaticSense, I bet you're one of those people who can hear the difference between a MP3 encoded in 192 Kbs and one encoded in 320 Kbs too, huh? On your £200 stereo..

    The best part of the Internet: you never have to prove anything you write!!


    Did I mention I was the third man on the moon? I did that just before I invented the cure for cancer.

  • phl0w #86 5 years ago

    (Gamerankings: Forza 93.0%, GT4 89.1%)

    I know those figures, but you forget that GT4 was the fourth(!) iteration. Given that Forza is a new breed and had 3 GTs as reference, 93% isn't that impressive, tbh. Imagine how GT4 would have scored if it had been the first game. I'm with you on GT3->GT4 being stall and not that much an improvement after all, but exactly this argument (and the lack of online-play) costed GT4 a (near-)perfect ranking in almost any review I read. Which is not that fair, imho. Not everybody has played GT1-3 (or every prequel of every single game, for that matter) and seeing those prequels as a process, GT4 is the best GT there is. Lucky those who were introduced to the series with this latest iteration. And speaking from a neutral point of view, I am sure that those new to PG's GT series AND Forza would prefer GT4 over the black box' racer.

    Just my thoughts, and I own and play both, although I only play Forza to be fair and reaaally wanna see what many people find so great about it. I want to like it, I do, but to be honest playing it feels a bit like charity.
    Edited by 1 at 04/05/07 @ 14:07

  • chronom4n #87 5 years ago

    @phl0w... very well put about how forza has used gran turismo as a reference. I predict that with all the extra storage capacity that Blu-Ray allows, GT5 will be a mind-blowing game. As for everytihng else, it is going to be strange to see how the polyfunny guys are going to use the forza template to create their game.

  • Mordum #88 5 years ago

    My opinion is, the GT series has the superior graphics, menus and number of cars.
    Forza has the superior physics and damage, AI, sound, custmization and online play/features.
    It's just a simple choice of what you want from this type of game, and then choose accordingly.

  • groovychainsaw #89 5 years ago

    personally, always prefereed the original forza to gt3 or 4, its the first time i messed around with the suspension settings and actually got a significant difference in the handling (GT never seemed to make much difference IMHO). PReferred the handling model i guess, plus the races seemed that much more exciting for some unknown reason.
    /preorders...

  • DrunKao #90 5 years ago

    Why would you play a game out of pity anyway? It's not a fuckin human being, it's just a game. That's such a stupid reason it's obvious you're just lying.

  • skibii #91 5 years ago

    If the demo's anything to go by, the full game should be excellent. I tried going for realism and went with all the driving aids turned off....except the ABS (even my mondeo has that).....I think it could make for some interesting on line racing....more than a little paint swapping on the track I think !
    Also, I know the wheel of favour is Microsoft's new baby...but has anyone else tried Forza with Logitechs Drive FX ? It may not have true force feedback but having tried both wheels I'm actually leaning toward the Logitech, it has a much simpler clamping system and is more compact and feels a little more solid.