Forza 4

[Teal]

The other one I've got done is Bandit from Smokey and the Bandit, so...yeah...

[Dave]

They really did so many little things right with this game, I really appreciated the bonus cars for playing Forza 3.

Tried jumping in an Audi prototype on the Indy road course last night and had a great time trying to control the beast around the track. I don't remember having the same issues with at least some of the prototypes in F3, so I thought it was really cool that there was a relatively steep learning curve.

[DChaps]

By the way, I have sent in-game invites to Terry, Teal, Leadfoot, Zeppo, Adam, & Dave to join the Digital Sportspage car club, code DSPR. If you complete the Rivals challenges, like Community or Top Gear, the club rank appears to move up the list considerably.

[fletcher21]

I have played 10 hours of this game and am now loving it. It was hard at first since I am so used to GT, but once I was able to comprehend that this is not Gran Turismo, I can enjoy it for what it is. I have mostly positive thoughts about it, but some of the negatives really bug me. If you're racing against a field of cars with the same PI as you, it's pretty much a one lap shootout. Once you get in the lead, it's your race to lose at that point. I view this game a lot more as a driving and car collecting game, rather than a racing game. You simply won't get that adrenaline rush from this game that you get from F1. I am sure it's much more interesting online, but the offline racing is an absolute breeze for anyone who is decent or better. Once you get used to how the cars react, you can pretty much dominate the AI cars when all things are equal.

I really dislike how they handled grass in this game. You can be going 170mph and if you get too far into the grass, it will slow you down to a snail's pace within a second or 2. I know they did this so people wouldn't cut corners and cheat, but it's a pain in the ass if you are forced into the grass and then it takes you ages to get back to the track. It's a really fun driving game, but the racing has left a lot to be desired for me at this point offline.

[XXXIV]

They really did so many little things right with this game

I think that sums up the game for me. It all adds up into one hell of a sweet package.

[vinny-b]

That Target Kinect deal is pretty sweet because you get the camera which Forza 4 uses, 360 Slim along with a $75 gift card.

Rod: were you in advertising? ie Mad Men

that's it. Bet you traded in NY/Madison ave and took the bank rolls you made, in exchange for florida

[vader29]

I'd like an invite to the DSP club please, gamertag vader29

[Millennium]

I'd like an invite to the DSP club please, gamertag vader29

I just vomited in my mouth a little...

Nice job, even if it does include two of the teams I hate the most in this world.

[GB_Simo]

Tried jumping in an Audi prototype on the Indy road course last night and had a great time trying to control the beast around the track. I don't remember having the same issues with at least some of the prototypes in F3, so I thought it was really cool that there was a relatively steep learning curve.

Agreed, mate. I tried the Top Gear Rivals challenge with the Radical on the Nordschleife earlier, which was an eye-opener. I spent the first couple of miles trying to push on and the remaining 10 or so just trying to get round without crashing. The quicker cars feel much, much more alive this time out.

[GB_Simo]

Tried jumping in an Audi prototype on the Indy road course last night and had a great time trying to control the beast around the track. I don't remember having the same issues with at least some of the prototypes in F3, so I thought it was really cool that there was a relatively steep learning curve.

Agreed, mate. I tried the Top Gear Rivals challenge with the Radical on the Nordschleife earlier, which was an eye-opener. I spent the first couple of miles trying to push on and the remaining 10 or so just trying to get round without crashing. The quicker cars feel much, much more alive this time out.

[DChaps]

I can't start up Forza 4 without it telling me that XXXIV has just beaten my time on some Rival Challenge. So of course I had to stay up a couple more hours to get some back. Then I see notices that Zeppo, Adam, and Terry are kicking my ass as well. Pretty fun. We really need to get a Poker Night going this week. I think the DSP Club currently stands at 12 members (need to get an invite to vader). The Rivals thing is simple yet addicting. XXXIV currently stands atop the Top Gear Rival leaderboard at 29 minutes total, but my guess is its only a matter of time before Adam and Terry complete the challenge and move up the list. So far I am liking the Top Gear Rivals and Spec Hot Laps the best, but they all seem to provide good challenge and variety. Everyone should try to get full times posted on the Top Gear challenges and then the Spec Hot Laps. These are all equal cars and setups and outside of a couple most are pretty fun track/car combos.

Leaderboards now have friends/club filter working as well:

http://forzamotorsport.net/en-us/commun ... board.aspx

[Naples39]

I think my will to resist this game has been defeated. Maybe I will hit the toys r us b2g1f sale, though I've already preordered BF3 and MW3.

Do those Rival Challenges fix everyone's assists levels?

[dbdynsty25]

I think my will to resist this game has been defeated. Maybe I will hit the toys r us b2g1f sale, though I've already preordered BF3 and MW3.

Do those Rival Challenges fix everyone's assists levels?

It doesn't fix the assist levels, however, it docks you time if you use more assists. For example...i've beaten a few guys times but since I had an auto transmission, I really didn't, so it still has me below them on the leaderboard. I wish it would say HOW much of a time dock there is, but I can't find it. It definitely prevents you from using modified cars...gotta be stock.

[DChaps]

It doesn't fix the assist levels, however, it docks you time if you use more assists. For example...i've beaten a few guys times but since I had an auto transmission, I really didn't, so it still has me below them on the leaderboard. I wish it would say HOW much of a time dock there is, but I can't find it. It definitely prevents you from using modified cars...gotta be stock.

I don't think it is docking you for using assists, but I think it will always put a "dirty" lap below a "clean" lap even if you are faster. You have a dirty lap if you go too much off track. Sometimes it will even have the next lap as dirty depending on where you go off track. For example, if you go just off the curb in the last downhill at Road Atlanta your current lap will be counted as dirty and your next lap will too, even if you don't go off track anywhere else. It is not nearly as unforgiving as FM3 was in this regard, but it still can be a little annoying. I just always have the racing line assist on and if you stay pretty close to that you should always have a clean lap. As soon as you see the little "!" show up on the HUD, you know you have a "dirty" lap. The online leaderboard does not show it, but you can tell on the ingame leader board if your lap was clean or not by looking at the last column. Someone jump in if I have not explained this correctly.

PS - It does show what assists were used in the leaderboards, even if it does not dock time. According to the Devs, depedning on your prowess, you should always be able to be faster with less assists, although I doubt removing the racing line speeds anything up. I have not looked at the top of the leaderboards to see if they are filled with those using assists or not.

[XXXIV]

I can't start up Forza 4 without it telling me that XXXIV has just beaten my time on some Rival Challenge. So of course I had to stay up a couple more hours to get some back. Then I see notices that Zeppo, Adam, and Terry are kicking my ass as well. Pretty fun.

Me? I get the same damn messages about you.
You got me to the point where I am now using manual trans for Rivals and hot lapping in order to pick up a half second here and there.

Yeah. It is only a matter of time before Adam and Terry are dominating the boards. Not so much Zeppo

PS - It does show what assists were used in the leaderboards, even if it does not dock time. According to the Devs, depedning on your prowess, you should always be able to be faster with less assists, although I doubt removing the racing line speeds anything up. I have not looked at the top of the leaderboards to see if they are filled with those using assists or not.

It doesnt dock for assists only dirty laps.

Also I know on some tracks the leaders are those who have everything off plus have the clutch on so maybe the devs are correct?

[dbdynsty25]

I could have sworn that I was faster than you on the "autocross" at Laguna Seca in an M5 but used more assists so it docked me. It was a clean lap. I was so pissed I quit and never did beat you.

[sportdan30]

Wow, really impressed with this 360 exclusive. I just picked it up today. Thank you Kmart for the $20 gaming coupon from
my purchase of NBA 2K12. I haven't played a Forza game since Forza 1 and this is light years
ahead of the first in the series...of course. It's just the right balance for my skill level. I like that it borders on an
arcade sim more so than just a sim.

[DChaps]

I could have sworn that I was faster than you on the "autocross" at Laguna Seca in an M5 but used more assists so it docked me. It was a clean lap. I was so pissed I quit and never did beat you.

Oh, I think I know what it is on that one. In the autocross it does add time if you miss going in between the barrels. Any miss adds 5 seconds to the overall time, but does not necessarily tag it as a dirty lap. Even if you just barely tag a barrel I think it counts it as a miss. Your ghost was definitely faster than mine overall and I was initially surprised when it said I won the bounty for the rival challenge. I was not really paying attention to see if you missed any, but I am guessing that is what it was.

[dbdynsty25]

I could have sworn that I was faster than you on the "autocross" at Laguna Seca in an M5 but used more assists so it docked me. It was a clean lap. I was so pissed I quit and never did beat you.

Oh, I think I know what it is on that one. In the autocross it does add time if you miss going in between the barrels. Any miss adds 5 seconds to the overall time, but does not necessarily tag it as a dirty lap. Even if you just barely tag a barrel I think it counts it as a miss. Your ghost was definitely faster than mine overall and I was initially surprised when it said I won the bounty for the rival challenge. I was not really paying attention to see if you missed any, but I am guessing that is what it was.

Oh I know...when I did it the first time, that is what it was, however, when I went back and tried to beat it last night, I could have sworn I had a clean run and beat your time, yet didn't "beat" your time. Maybe I just mis-read something or missed something. Oh well...back at it tonight.

I've spent a lot more time trying to get through the "event list" in the Go Race section, so I don't do the hotlaps against the ghosts that often but occasionally I do. This game is a freakin' blast regardless and worth every penny.

[JRod]

I'd like an invite to the DSP club please, gamertag vader29

I just thought, why is he posting a picture of his truck because it sucks. Then I realized it was forza. Impressive graphic rendering for the livery part of the game.

[Zeppo]

I can't get over how much fun I am finding this game. Maybe it has a lot to do with pretty much skipping the last one, but this game has really grabbed me.

The polish in terms of how they progress you through career, the layout of the progression along with the little details like the world map, the way they have special specific car challenges at different stages, and then all the rivals challenges and stuff, it's just endlessly slick and easy to keep entertained without bogging down into boredom. I can do an A class race or a D clas race or a Sylvia challenge or a Mustang v Camaro challenge, so many choices from stage to stage.

I decided to use my first Mustang gift (can't remember, maybe it's a '68? There are so many Mustangs in the game) in a race it was suited for at default (250?). Somehow I had earned the 100% discount on upgrades from Ford, so for the next race I used it in an A class race, and oh my goodness was that thing insanely fun to drive with its 4 forward gears and fully upgraded tire width race tires. The sound it makes! And how much fun to compete against fancy modern cars. I just love the muscle cars, there are so many different ones! Now I have that Mustang as a B and it's endlessly fun.

And then to pop off to the Top Gear challenges for something different. I have a lot of trouble getting clean laps at the Suzuka one and I ran about two and a third laps at the 'Ring before giving up, so no time yet for me on that challenge, but how awesome are those challenges?

Interestingly, I actually didn't win my last two career races after winning with ease until then. I don't think the guy who beat me, the Italian guy, is really quicker, but the races are so short and I start from the back. So it does seem to me as you progress further the AI will become more challenging, but so far I don't really mind winning by a mile race after race because I'm enjoying trying new cars all the time and I've still not visited all the tracks, and certainly not all the track configurations yet.

One thing I like about the AI is they have them make some pretty human type screwups like you'd see in random online races, where a guy will just completely miss a turn and go flying off wide. It's nice to see that sort of thing. I am curious someday to try my really long race test, because I tried one in Forza 2 and not only did I never lap an AI car, but they just sort of stuck together at about the same gaps from one another for the whole race. I have a feeling that wouldn't happen in this version. I've seen AI spin out or smash into one another, that sort of thing.

I am highly disappointed that it's the old Silverstone in the game. I've only raced it once, so maybe the new configuration is in there, but I sort of doubt it. It's not that I don't miss the old setup, with Bridge and all that, it's just that I'm now accustomed to the new grid placement and everything from the F1, so it just feels a little lazy not to be up to date with that.

Maybe it was just not the right game for me at the time, but the last Forza never really grabbed me. This one I am finding just fun, fun, fun, and it's a very, very impressively put together package. I haven't even tried random online yet, and I used to live off of random online way back in the old Forzas.

[dbdynsty25]

One thing I like about the AI is they have them make some pretty human type screwups like you'd see in random online races, where a guy will just completely miss a turn and go flying off wide. It's nice to see that sort of thing. I am curious someday to try my really long race test, because I tried one in Forza 2 and not only did I never lap an AI car, but they just sort of stuck together at about the same gaps from one another for the whole race. I have a feeling that wouldn't happen in this version. I've seen AI spin out or smash into one another, that sort of thing.

Totally agree with everything you said (well except the Silverstone thing...I haven't even noticed it's the old one, lol).

Have you done any of the multi class races yet? It makes for some HAIRY crashes. I did an A and a D on the Alps course and literally had another car fly over top of me because it collided with another A car while trying to avoid slower traffic and then launching itself up over the D. Ass puckering at 150 mph is awesome.

Just a phenomenal game.

[TCrouch]

Yeah I did one as a lower class car, then one as a faster class car. One of the challenges felt sorta that way, too. I thought it was pretty funny--XXXIV's ghost went flying by me at the start of a lap where we had to go around a bunch of slower cars without contacting.

By the end of the lap, I had caught back up to him and passed him...from a standing start

I took another 2 laps just for good measure to extend the gap, but I can't wait to see what Adam does at that one, because traffic navigation is one of the biggest things in racing, and virtual Schumacher should kick ass at it.

[XXXIV]

Yeah I did one as a lower class car, then one as a faster class car. One of the challenges felt sorta that way, too. I thought it was pretty funny--XXXIV's ghost went flying by me at the start of a lap where we had to go around a bunch of slower cars without contacting.

By the end of the lap, I had caught back up to him and passed him...from a standing start

Now this has to be the biggest upset of the week. You are actually much faster than me?

[TCrouch]

Hey, I couldn't beat you at the drag race!

I tried a few times. My launches pretty much suck in Forza. Always have. I either spin the tires too much, or too soon, or go too slow. You killed me every time in the Vette.

So there!