SEMINOLE wrote:That best be one HELL of a laptop!! Thats all I can say!
It's mega. Top-of-the-line Thinkpad, with tons of RAM and very good VRAM.
SEMINOLE wrote:I wish you the best though Paul. I told you months ago you would get hooked on pc sim racing and you would have a wheel, I called it, and yet my machine is now showing its legs and I am not about to upgrade for some racing I wish I could though, the wife doesnt see the need as the pc surfs and does everything else fine BUT play my racing sims like I want!
You were right, my friend! Glad you were.
Take care,
PK
"You know why I love boxers? I love them because they face fear. And they face it alone." - Nick Charles
"First on the throttle, last on the brakes." - @MotoGP Twitter signature
pk500 wrote:It's mega. Top-of-the-line Thinkpad, with tons of RAM and very good VRAM.
Unfortunately, Lenovo doesn't making gaming Thinkpads. I'm sure it'll be better than what you've got, but don't get your hopes up too high! Their graphics cards leave a lot to be desired and that is probably the biggest factor in PC gaming. They are fantastic business laptops though...which I'm sure was your companies intent, lol.
dbdynsty25 wrote:Unfortunately, Lenovo doesn't making gaming Thinkpads. I'm sure it'll be better than what you've got, but don't get your hopes up too high! Their graphics cards leave a lot to be desired and that is probably the biggest factor in PC gaming. They are fantastic business laptops though...which I'm sure was your companies intent, lol.
All of the games I want to run are at least two years old, most much older. My current laptop, which is weaker than the new rig I'm getting, ran anything from mid-2004 and earlier without a hitch. Call of Duty, NR 2003, Grand Prix Legends.
Fingers crossed that Burns and rFactor will run, as both are getting fairly long in the tooth.
Take care,
PK
"You know why I love boxers? I love them because they face fear. And they face it alone." - Nick Charles
"First on the throttle, last on the brakes." - @MotoGP Twitter signature
Yeah, the older games should be pretty good. rFactor, I don't know since it's a fairly advanced game when it comes to the physics model and graphics, but it's quite possible.
I went into the demo ready to be disappointed--the first Forza disappointed me, I could never "feel" the cars like in TOCA--but the demo is pretty good and definitely keeps the game in the buy category.
Two things stand out as negatives for me after spending a little time with it. One, the cars are too damn shiny. The hood view on the Corvette was extremely disorienting as the trees reflected and moved across the hood, so it might be all bumper cam all the time for me. Second, I still don't like the way braking is modeled. This is better than the first one, but it still feels like there isn't enough travel on the brake pedal since the car's weight goes shooting forward in a hurry and the tires lock up too easily.
I really enjoyed the feeling of getting through some S-corners in the C-level Mustang, the game really nails a feeling of the weight transferring each direction and how it affects your ability to guide the car as it struggles to keep the tires gripped to the road.
Kudos to MS for putting out a demo with so many cars to choose from, it really helps sell the detail that went into the physics model used.
This game is going to be knucklehead central online, unfortunately, and could be frustrating to stray from the DSP crowd.
Honestly, I loved it so much I went back and started playing the original Forza again and even that controls well with the MS wheel. You really have to have the "right" setup to get the most out of the wheel, but (and this is ridiculously bad, but that's how I am), I measured from the floor to the tops of my legs while sitting on the couch and found a little kiddie table that was 3 inches higher. I got it, mounted the wheel to that and the pedals underneath, and got very lucky...the position I sit when kicked back on my couch with the table backed up against the front of the sofa is almost posture-perfect for a driving position. That in and of itself made it an amazing game. A 57" TV on bumper cam in 1080i is exhilarating...reminds me of those Vegas simulators.
But with regards to the game itself, I have some scattershot thoughts after playing it pretty extensively...
I immediately turned all the aids off and it is still touchy on the brake pedal. Seems to be too easy to lock all the tires up rather than a steady traction loss where they are easy to predict. Much like the original Forza, you are either "not stopping enough", or "locking the tires up". You almost have to feather the throttle to keep going back and forth. Some feedback of some kind, or a smoother transition between rolling and locked tires would have been nice.
The cars all feel drastically different, even within the same class. Some pushed like pigs, yet I could punch the throttle on exit and not break traction too much. Others wouldn't stop, but didn't NEED to stop as much since they could take the corner a bit quicker than the others. It was a different learning curve every test on the track, which was nice.
No cockpit cam blows, but I honestly love the bumper cam with the rear view mirror. It's high enough to see around a car that you're nose-to-tail with, and wide angle enough that I've figured out where the sides of the car are, and it gives you a lot of wiggle room. It's just a little past the Tachometer to the left, so you actually get some peripheral vision. Once I adjusted to it, I enjoyed it immensely. I didn't get a claustrophobic feeling that a lot of nose cams give me, and I didn't lose any vision that a "bad" cockpit camera would give you. With them trying to model 300 cockpits, I can see them cutting corners and I'd honestly prefer to have it this way.
I didn't have the AI cornhole me one time yet, but I am typically very good at mirror driving, setting up my corners and choosing a different line than a hotter car behind me might pick. I've gone door to door on exit and entry and traded paint like it was mid-corner at Martinsville in a stock car. I've also used the front bumper as a horn more than a few times, and been cut in the quarterpanel when attempting to slam the door a bit too late. I think the AI is very good if you don't try to hold a position you shouldn't try to hold, or take one that isn't there. I would go so far as to say that the guys complaining of cornholing need to drive the car deeper into the corner and learn better deceleration techniques...it's a lot like NR2003 with AI. They're fun to race against if you learn "the line as the AI drives it", as I've gone nose to tail through the S corners with the AI cars many times already and had a blast. That's a tall order sometimes, since it will require many laps to truly get the most out of the car and push it "just the right amount" without going too far and losing positions.
The control with the wheel made me enjoy it much more than Forza 1 with a controller OR wheel on XBox. It only took me about a race to really get a handle on it, and I got more impressed with the throttle control required to really get off the corner quickly the more I played it. By the time I started really running the R2 class or whatever it's called, I had some serious appreciation for turning a quick lap. You can't treat the pedals like a digital on/off switch and do very well, which anybody who knows me at all will tell you that's my most loved thing about any racing game. If you can drive with all the aids off with buttons as fast as a driver of equal skill with a wheel and pedals, it's a lost cause. It may be possible, I have no idea yet, but I'd have to see it to believe it if it's able to be done in Forza 2.
It didn't make me decide not to purchase it. It was like Forza with better control using a wheel and hi-def graphics, with more differences between the cars and classes. For me it's a no-brainer, but I'm sure everybody knew that already. I'm counting the days.
Thank You! I may try to pick a wheel up if I can find something or someway to mount it. I read somewhere (TXB or AVS) that in a faq they said the wheel and pedals would be able to be adjusted as well as calibrated in the final game. A huge plus. You have any pics you can email me of your table to mount it to?
How is the feedback compared to like rfactor or gtr say, as good ? better? Sounds like it improves the game which is great news but is it as good as they made it out to be.
Hey Zeppo,
I just read over on the Forza Motorsports forums that the host can choose the end of race timeout period. It's not unlimited, but you can choose from 30 seconds, 1,2,3 or 5 minutes. That should allow for a lot more people being able to finish a race.
I found the wheel at Sam's Club for $119.82, anybody know a better deal?
I was hoping to see a Forza 2/Wheel bundle for around $150, but no such luck.
Terry, I'm not sure in your posts if you were talking about braking in Forza 2 or the wheel itself? I seem to be able to control the braking well with the controller. So maybe it's a calibration between the game and the wheel? Of course I haven't done as much in depth study...
RogueWar wrote:Hey Zeppo,
I just read over on the Forza Motorsports forums that the host can choose the end of race timeout period. It's not unlimited, but you can choose from 30 seconds, 1,2,3 or 5 minutes. That should allow for a lot more people being able to finish a race.
That's huge. All you really need is enough to complete a lap, so the 2 minute or 3 minute choice would work fine. Of course, I'm hoping they have realized how the checkered flag works as well, otherwise the end of race will still be a bit screwy, but this is really good to hear.
The FF in the game isn't even close to the level of a PC sim like GTR2 or rFactor. It's more of a rumble and not really true FF, but I could barely notice it in the first place. It has resistance with regards to turning and that's all I ever really care about so I can't really comment on the FF. I'll fire it up tonight and really pay attention to it, but I normally don't, sorry.
With regards to the braking, it's a characteristic of Forza, and magnified by my experience with "true" PC sims. I can control the braking fine just kind of riding the "line" between where it's going to roll freely and lock the tires, but there's a whole gray area in between that the good sims nail...you can hear your tires start to scrub and squeal barely and the pedal has a lot more travel before it really starts pushing the envelope with regards to brake traction. I prefer a stiffer pedal than the MS Wheel has, too, so it could be a combination of feel and driving physics. I just know that I used the same wheel on the PC for NR2003 and GTR2 previously and had no brake issues like Forza seems to have. I guess "brake issues" is a little extreme; it's easily adapted to within a few races, but it felt unnatural to me, as opposed to the rest of the game feeling very very good.
I am REALLY hoping its just a demo thing Terry. Like you, I am sure I will really "feel" the difference between the good pc sims and Forza 2 in regards to the breaking etc..... I just hope its not too steep. I am really NOT digging it with the controller. I mean its good but I think a wheel/pedals would make me like it a little more.
Don't get me wrong...I know I'm harping on it quite a bit here, but it's really not a huge deal. It still drives very well, and even with the ABS off it's pretty easy to get the car stopped. It just punishes you without much tactile feedback when you push it in too deep to a corner, is all. When I keep my head clear and nail my marks, it's unbelievably fun. Especially with the bumper cam that is like having peripheral vision. Test it, you'll see what I mean. The sides of the guages are the sides of your car, so you can actually tell exactly how far to let it hang out.
Terry,
What wheel are you using? The MS 360 wheel or the 360 logitech wheel?
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Fshguy wrote:I found the wheel at Sam's Club for $119.82, anybody know a better deal?
I was hoping to see a Forza 2/Wheel bundle for around $150, but no such luck.
Terry, I'm not sure in your posts if you were talking about braking in Forza 2 or the wheel itself? I seem to be able to control the braking well with the controller. So maybe it's a calibration between the game and the wheel? Of course I haven't done as much in depth study...
Jimmydeicide wrote:Mimic ? i believe it does forcefeedback full monty.
MS claims it does, but I am not 100% sure its true FF (based off a lot of what I have read). I may be wrong and have yet to use it so who knows.
It says it has axial feedback. I don't know what that is.
I saw one of these at gamestop the other day and only glanced at the box but I remember seeing it having feedback support.
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Fshguy wrote:
I was hoping to see a Forza 2/Wheel bundle for around $150, but no such luck.
Probably not going to help you... but do you have any friend who works (or have worked) for Microsoft? They can get the wheel from MS store for $99.99.
I wish I could though, the wife doesnt see the need
