DSP member/alum featured in Forza Horizon video

[webdanzer]

As far as I know, that 'Unlocks' them. You still need to spend credits in-game to buy them.

Are you serious? I'll never have 1 million, 2 million credits in my account.

Yeah, that's what I meant. You bought the DLC, not an 'in game' purchase. That just makes them available to buy for you in game.

[dbdynsty25]

As far as I know, that 'Unlocks' them. You still need to spend credits in-game to buy them.

Are you serious? I'll never have 1 million, 2 million credits in my account.

Yes you will...it's easy. Especially if you play multiplayer. Every time you level up you get a "slot machine" type bonus. Cars, money, etc. There are some big bonuses.

[Naples39]

I was pissed last night. I ranked up 3 times, and twice my reward was a puny 13k credits. Worthless.

[Teal]

The higher you place in a race, the better odds you get of getting something good.

[TheTruth]

I won the Ford Raptor in the slot machine after one of our infected matches and it never showed up in my garage. I was bummed!

[pk500]

But yeah...there's a ton of crap you can do with every car you own. In the cases where I end up getting a duplicate car from the Slot Machine (LOVE THAT!!!!), I often times go in and upgrade the crap out of the duplicate to make it one of those wonky "WTF is a Trueno doing as an S class Car???" moments.

GREAT idea. I need to stop trading in duplicate cars and soup them up instead. Thanks!

[TCrouch]

The higher you place in a race, the better odds you get of getting something good.

Is that why I keep getting Lambos and Ferraris and Vipers and crap? I figured it was just about time to go buy a real lottery ticket, the way my slot machine was rolling.

[pk500]

Wow, you have been doing those long races with it off?! Mine was on by default, but I guess if you simply switched the game difficulty to hard first thing it may have turned it off. I have been playing at default medium difficulty, except with manual tranny on.

Yes. I turned off the driving line assist right away. It's more distracting than helpful to me.

[webdanzer]

The higher you place in a race, the better odds you get of getting something good.

Is that why I keep getting Lambos and Ferraris and Vipers and crap? I figured it was just about time to go buy a real lottery ticket, the way my slot machine was rolling.

LOL!

"Oh, you mean you get better cars when you are good? Well, my incredibly exceptional winnings make sense, then!"



(It's funny 'cause it's true...)

[Teal]

Wow, you have been doing those long races with it off?! Mine was on by default, but I guess if you simply switched the game difficulty to hard first thing it may have turned it off. I have been playing at default medium difficulty, except with manual tranny on.

Yes. I turned off the driving line assist right away. It's more distracting than helpful to me.

Except when you wind up driving halfway to Idaho???

[TCrouch]

LOL shut up, you know what I meant.

I just figured it was giving me better cars as I got into the level 20's and stuff. I couldn't imagine race position having anything to do with it. I got my share of Mini Coopers and dogs early on, but lately it's been aces.

And agreed on the driving line. It's distracting as hell, PK. Although when we're in a huge pack, I consistently get cornholed because I'm so cautious getting into a corner that I'm unfamiliar with.

[TCrouch]

Wow, you have been doing those long races with it off?! Mine was on by default, but I guess if you simply switched the game difficulty to hard first thing it may have turned it off. I have been playing at default medium difficulty, except with manual tranny on.

Yes. I turned off the driving line assist right away. It's more distracting than helpful to me.

Except when you wind up driving halfway to Idaho???

Just spit my root beer all over my keyboard. Hilarious because I did the same damned thing. At least we know who the driving line-off masochists are. The ones turning the wrong way and going to Idaho.

[Leadfoot5]

Back to the topic from a few hours ago, I'm an "assist" guy, and that's not gonna change. I just want to point my car in the right direction and go. I enjoy mastering the tracks, and getting out of a turn as fast as possible, but I'll never buy any racing game HW and I don't have the time or patience to make it work with the standard controller. Hell, I have a hard enough time with the faster RWD cars as it is.... I did turn off the racing line, so that's something at least...

Really cool to see that you guys are down with that approach. I just want to have fun and compete. Of course, the bastard part of me now wants to find a time that Terry of Paul posted with assists off just to hear the outrage. Thanks for keeping the DSP club fun!!!

[DChaps]

I also have no problems with people using the assists, as I use them myself on many occasions, particularly the racing line to learn a track. What I have a problem with is that you should not be much faster with them on. Everytime The Stig does a Power Lap on Top Gear, he turns all the assists off that he can because he will be faster without them. It will be harder for him to maintain control and he will not have as much room for error, but he will be faster with them off. That is how it works in real life. That is also basically how it works in Forza 4. As Terry and Paul stated, at the very least the Rivals/Hotlapping mode should allow you to filter the laps set with assists vs. without.

The Rivals/Hotlapping was by far my favorite part of Forza 4, particulalry theTop Gear Rivals and the Spec Hot Laps. A total of 20 different events with different cars (22 if you purchased the Porsche DLC), that were same cars with a locked setup. Therefore, completely even playing field. Yes, you could use assists, but in Forza 4 almost ALL the top leaderboard times are achieved with no assists whatsoever, even requiring manual clutch. That is how assists should work in a racing game regardless of it is considered, sim, arcade, sim-cade, etc. The assists should help you learn, but to be the fastest it requires you to eventually turn them off. Likewise, in Forza 4 it always put a "clean lap" ahead of a "dirty lap" regardless of the time posted.

At this point in Forza Horizon I would call the Rivals/Hotlapping mode "broken" compared to what made Forza 4 so enjoyable for me.

For one, and I don't think this has been mentioned yet in this thread, you can actually REWIND in Rivals mode as many times as you want and the lap is not flagged as such in any way whatsoever. This is just an inexcusable design flaw in my opinion, but I am being told in the official Horizon forums that this was done on purpose to make the game more available to casual gamers. This makes no sense to me, as it completely changes the nature of what a hotlapping/ghost challenge is all about. I am fairly certain that REWINDS were not allowed at all in the Rivals mode of Forza 4.

Issue number two is the fact that all the Top Times so far seem to be with a majority of the Assists set to ON. That is just wrong. I have no problem with assists to help the novice or casual racer, none whatsoever, as I sometimes use them myself. However, if the assists are implemented correctly, you should be able to be faster with them turned off with the proper amount of skill. This just does not appear to be the case in Horizon.

Issue number three is that they removed the "clean lap" vs. "dirty lap" designation. Which I understand to some extent since the nature of this game is different, but it appears based on some of the ghosts that I have tried to beat, that the fastest route in some instances is to bounce off walls and guardrails, as opposed to actually trying to race the proper line. It's fine to allow for a lap with hitting stuff/going off line, but that should not be the fastest way.

My arguement on the Horizon forums is that the implementation of a simple filter. That is what I don't understand. Why not allow for a filtering of assists, rewinds, clean laps vs. dirty laps, then everyone is happy? Or at the very least, allow for multiple leaderboards, similar to the different skill level tournaments in Tiger Woods. There could be an easy, intermediate, hardcore, etc.

The ultimate solution (at least for me), would be the ability to have custom Rivals Challenges within Car Clubs. Just like our custom daily's and weekly's in TW13, you could have the admin set up individual rival challenges with the ability to track or limit assists, cars to be used, rewinds, etc. When I made this request in the Forza 4 forums last year, it was met with much confusion and disbelief, so it could be that I am the only one that sees this as a obvious next step.

I just have enjoyed hotlapping ever since I got Indy 500 for the Atari 2600 back in 1980. Somewhere in my parents house is a notebook that still holds the neighborhoods best times for Indy 500, as well as Activision Skiing among others. Ghost racing in Mario Kart is also another that stands out. Striving for that perfect lap has always been fun for me, even though I rarely come close to achieving it. At my stage of life now, the Forza Rivals challenges also give me the ability to compete against known DSP players, without having to coordinate times. There was a period of time where it was really fun to wake up to a rivals alert challenge telling me that XXXIV had just beaten my "Star in a Reasonably Priced Car" challenge.

I am sure I will keep playing this game as it is just too damn fun, and I have yet to even connect with you guys for an online game, but it is still frustrating to see some of these design decisions when it seems so close to achieving perfection.

[Leadfoot5]

For one, and I don't think this has been mentioned yet in this thread, you can actually REWIND in Rivals mode as many times as you want and the lap is not flagged as such in any way whatsoever.

Oh wow, that's not right. I'm in the casual gamer demographic, and even I know that's lame....

[TCrouch]

That's incredibly lame. I didn't even know they had rewinds in the game. That's pretty stupid, though.

I guess all we can do is a gentleman's agreement in the DSP Car Club and as a site to not use them in Rivals?

[Leadfoot5]

That's incredibly lame. I didn't even know they had rewinds in the game. That's pretty stupid, though.

I guess all we can do is a gentleman's agreement in the DSP Car Club and as a site to not use them in Rivals?

Was thinking the same thing, since those are the only times I'm shooting for anyway! My times will never use rewind...

[pk500]

Wow, you have been doing those long races with it off?! Mine was on by default, but I guess if you simply switched the game difficulty to hard first thing it may have turned it off. I have been playing at default medium difficulty, except with manual tranny on.

Yes. I turned off the driving line assist right away. It's more distracting than helpful to me.

Except when you wind up driving halfway to Idaho???

You ain't seen nothin' yet. Wait until I get back from band practice tonight after seeing satellites in orbit.

[pk500]

Really cool to see that you guys are down with that approach. I just want to have fun and compete. Of course, the bastard part of me now wants to find a time that Terry of Paul posted with assists off just to hear the outrage. Thanks for keeping the DSP club fun!!!

Absolutely, man. There's a spot for everyone in this game, whether you're a "car guy" or not. So accessible. So much fun.

And finally -- a "big room" game has returned to DSP!

[pk500]

For one, and I don't think this has been mentioned yet in this thread, you can actually REWIND in Rivals mode as many times as you want and the lap is not flagged as such in any way whatsoever.

Oh wow, that's not right. I'm in the casual gamer demographic, and even I know that's lame....

This may sound odd considering I'm a racing purist, but I have no problem with rewinds. I don't use them, but people need to remember -- and I'm winking at you, The Donald -- Forza Horizon is NOT Forza 5. It's not even Forza 4.5.

This is a sim-cade game, pure and simple. It's more "cade" than "sim," actually.

Like Terry, one of the reasons I'm enjoying Horizon so much is that I had no expectations for it whatsoever. I didn't want it to be like Forza 4, maybe because I thought Forza 4 was incredibly sterile, dull and overrated.

Horizon is pure fun. Suspend your sim belief, and you'll have much more fun with it.

[XXXIV]

There was a period of time where it was really fun to wake up to a rivals alert challenge telling me that XXXIV had just beaten my "Star in a Reasonably Priced Car" challenge.

Notifications were a call to duty there for a while. It was a pretty intense and kick ass fight with the handful of the hardcore for those very few seconds.

I thought it was pretty f***in awesome also.

Hate to disagree with my favorite sky pilot but the rewinds are NOT cool at all. Especially strange that support when you consider the anti aid posts.

[Naples39]

Rewinds are fine for offline as it just eases accessibility, but rewinds in rivals challenges and live leaderboards is BS.

[XXXIV]

Read some negative talk of the soundtrack but I just heard Lazy Eye by the Silversun Pickups in my car. Now thats a kick ass song by a kick ass band.

[DChaps]

This may sound odd considering I'm a racing purist, but I have no problem with rewinds. I don't use them, but people need to remember -- and I'm winking at you, The Donald -- Forza Horizon is NOT Forza 5. It's not even Forza 4.5.

Paul, you ignorant slut! That is the same PR BS that I am hearing on the Horizon forums. It has nothing to do with being sim, arcade, sim-cade, or whatever. It changes what hotlapping is. Mario Kart on the SNES would never be considered anything but an arcade racer. The ghost racing/hotlapping did not allow rewinds. If you can rewind every turn and every mistake, does that not completely change what a hotlap is? Would that not be the equivalent of allowing unlimited mulligans in TW13 tournaments with no ability for the players to see who used them and how many times they did? Or allowing a 3rd and long play to be replayed over and over in Madden until you get the first down or a touchdown? If there were never any Forza games, sim or otherwise before it, it would still be a stupid design decision. Suspending my sim belief has nothing to do with it. If we were playing Wipeout,Ridge Racer,Outrun or Diddy Kong Racing, and it allowed unlimited rewinds at any point in a "hotlap" I would not like that either. Plus adding filters to leaderboards that allow you to see where you fall in comparison to other "like minded" players does not make it less accessible to casual players, which is what I am being told in the Horizon forums.

It's not really that big a deal to me as it probably appears in my posts. As a product manager/software developer for 20+ years, I get curious when I see things that don't make sense, and then the explanations from PR folks make even less sense. There is a reason behind it, just not the reason they are stating in the forums.

[10spro]

Thanks for another fun night boys. PK thanks for the setups, that was 'Foocking Aaawesooome!'