Forza Racing 101: Tactile Training

Hello and welcome to the Forza Motorsport 2 Tactile Training guide, a document intended for beginners who are not only new to the Forza series, but are also new to racing games in general. In this article we will explore the two controller options available for use with Forza Motorsport 2, with explanations on how to learn the tactile skills necessary to enhance your racing experience and master setting those hard-to-beat laptimes. Forza 2 is a simulation and as a result requires hand eye coordination along with smooth controller inputs from the user. How you accomplish this is definitely easier said than done. Get ready for Tactile Training 101.

Xbox 360 Controller: Racing At Your Fingertips

Getting accustomed to using an Xbox 360 controller for precision, sim-racing-style driving techniques can be challenging -- even for those who have been playing games for years. And should it really be all that surprising? Imagine driving to school or work in your commuter car every day using nothing but an analog stick and a couple of spring-loaded triggers -- sounds like an accident waiting to happen. Using your index fingers to accelerate, decelerate, and your thumb to turn a car is a layer of abstraction we don't experience outside of videogames and remote controlled cars. And yet this is how you will navigate the demanding tracks in Forza 2. In order for precision driving to take place in Forza 2 using an Xbox 360 controller, it is important to understand the concept of analog pressure sensitivity.

The pressure sensitive buttons on the Xbox 360 controller include the left and right triggers (LT/RT), and the left and right analog sticks (L/R). 

Analog Controls and Pressure Sensitivity

The Xbox 360 controller is equipped with triggers and joysticks that benefit from analog input and pressure sensitivity, as well as rumble feedback, features that are crucial for communication between player and game. These inputs have a specific range of motion that affects how the game reacts to the inputs given by the player. Unlike digital controls that are simply full-on or full-off (think of it as a binary 1 or 0 -- yes or no), these analog inputs can be engaged in increments, meaning they do not have to be fully engaged in order to communicate with the game. For example the Right Trigger (RT) is used to accelerate in FM2; so if it is engaged at only 25%, the car will accelerate at 25% of its full potential. The same rules apply for the analog sticks. The left analog stick is used to steer in FM2, so if it is moved only slightly to the left, the car’s front wheels will also turn slightly to the left. 

As simple as this sounds, understanding how analog controls work is a crucial first step in mastering a racing sim like Forza 2, as negotiating pressure sensitive buttons and analog sticks allow you to smoothly manipulate the cars behavior on the track. And the rule of thumb in Forza 2 is, the smoother you drive, the faster you drive.

Trigger Modulation – Throttle Control

Trigger modulation is the process of applying varying degrees of pressure to the trigger buttons in order to obtain a smooth and precise reaction. By doing so you maintain a gradual input rather than a jerky, sudden input that can result from an on/off style button. As explained earlier the Right Trigger (RT) is used to accelerate in Forza 2 and should be seen as the gas pedal in a real car, so you should treat them -- at least philosophically -- in the same manner. Just as you wouldn't drive a car on the street by stomping on the gas pedal every time you wanted to accelerate and slamming on the brakes each time you needed to slow down, you definitely shouldn't do so in Forza 2 either. 

But that's basically what you're doing every time you jam the analog trigger all the way down coming out of a corner, often causing your tires to go beyond their traction threshold. Applying 100% pressure to the Right Trigger will result in your car jumping forward with acceleration, something that can be detrimental to both control and laptime, depending on your scenario. A car with low horsepower and torque ratings will react much differently than a car with very high ratings, so depending on your car's characteristics, you are going to want to manipulate the throttle differently. Generally speaking it is important to keep your car under control at all times, therefore careful throttle control is needed to prevent your car from spinning out or losing grip (and therefore, losing speed). Start out slow and increase the pace once you feel comfortable; nothing is more frustrating than continually spinning out of control when trying to learn how to drive a rear-wheel drive car in Forza 2.

Driver Feedback: Reacting to Rumble

The Xbox 360 controller features "rumble" that will vibrate depending on specific actions taken in game. In Forza 2 this feature is triggered by different events between your car and its surroundings, and can be useful when determining how your vehicle is responding. It is important to pay attention to what the controller rumble is telling you as a key means to identify if your car is losing traction. When your tires start to slide you will begin to feel the controller rumbling, this should alert you to the fact that your car is losing traction with the road. In competitive racing it is important to always maintain traction, so if you begin to feel the controller rumbling it should serve as a warning to let off the throttle until you have regained maximum grip. When used alongside throttle control (trigger modulation), the rumble feature can save you from losing control of your car, something that is at the heart of a racing sim.

Steering Inputs: Smooth is Fast 

Along with proper throttle control and rumble interpretation, it is also important to utilize the full range of motion of the left analog stick to steer your car. Unlike a real car with a steering wheel and a large range of motion, the left analog stick's range of motion is on a much smaller scale. When you push the analog stick 100% to the left, it is comparable to a cars steering wheel being turned as far as it can go to the left in probably about half the time too. As a result when steering with the analog stick in Forza 2, you will be exerting a large change to the angle of the wheels with relatively small amounts of movement. It is for this reason that very precise movements are required in order to maintain smooth driving in FM2. Since the analog stick’s range of motion is much smaller than say, a real steering wheel, it does not take much to steer your car in the desired direction and as a result it is possible to lose control of your car if you are being too aggressive with the steering inputs. Make sure to utilize the full range of motion when using the left analog stick, as slight changes to your steering inputs are desired over aggressive changes that disrupt the balance of your car.

Xbox 360 Wireless Steering Wheel: Simulation Experience

Forza 2 is a game that fully supports the Xbox 360 Wireless Racing Wheel along with the regular controller. For someone who is looking for a more realistic and immersive experience, the Wireless Racing wheel is the perfect choice. The wheel features both a force feedback system as well as rumble to let you know how your tires are holding up on the road. These two features complement each other nicely and help to give the user a more authentic racing experience. Unlike the controller, the wheel simulates an actual driving environment as you will have to use your hands and feet to guide you car around the track. Still, even though playing Forza 2 with a wheel is a more natural extension of how you'd normally drive a car, it's not without its own unique challenges. Namely, a lot of the analog input principles we discussed above apply here with this device.

Range of Motion: Steering Wheel

The Xbox 360 Wireless Racing Wheel features a much larger range of motion than the controller, and as a result requires a different style of driver inputs. When driving in real life we are accustomed to crossing our hand positions in order to turn the wheel as far as it will go in either direction. In real life, this range of motion is, generally speaking, just about two full revolutions of the steering wheel (depending on the car you drive of course). The Xbox 360 Wireless Racing Wheel on the other hand features a smaller range of motion, where it only takes half a revolution to turn the wheel as far as it will go in either direction. It is for this reason that precise steering inputs are required to maintain smooth consistent driving in Forza 2. 

Once again, don’t be overly aggressive with your steering input as it will make your impossible to handle, and will most likely result in you losing control. Also when driving down a straightaway, it is important to make very small, incremental adjustments to the steering angle if you hope to maintain control of your car.  Just as with the controller it is better to start off slow and increase your pace once you feel comfortable driving around the track. The same applies for the foot pedals that are used to control acceleration and braking. Just remember, when it comes to steering inputs with the wheel, less is definitely more.

Range of Motion: Foot Pedals

The pedals that accompany the Wireless Steering Wheel allow you to have a large range of motion on both the accelerator and the brake so make sure to utilize this range just as you would modulate the triggers on the controller.  It is important to learn how to feather the throttle pedal when exiting a turn as applying too much throttle can cause your car to become unstable. Once again if the pedal is engaged at 50% the game will recognize only 50% acceleration of the cars full potential. This is a very useful technique and should be considered if you find yourself spinning out when attempting to drive the higher class cars.

Advanced options for steering wheel settings allow you to customize your wheel's behavior to suit your driving/playing style.

Advanced Options: In-Game Wheel Settings

Forza Motorsport 2 is equipped with advanced options to support the use of the Xbox 360 Wireless Racing Wheel. These options will help you tweak the wheel to your own personal driving style, so once you have spent some time with the default settings explore the advanced options.

Steering Axis Deadzone

A steering deadzone is a specific pre-determined threshold that tells the controller when to begin interaction with the game's controls. Essentially a deadzone is used to determine how much steering wheel rotation is needed before the game will identify movement and react. For example if you set the Steering Axis Deadzone Inside to 50%, the steering wheel will have to be rotated 50% before the game reacts, meaning the travel from 0% to 50% will not result in your car’s steering angle changing. The car’s wheels will only begin to change direction once you have passed the 50% mark. This percentage is not recommended for obvious reasons, and is simply used to explain how these settings can impact how the wheel and game interact. The Steering Axis Deadzone setting is helpful if you find the steering wheel is either too sensitive or not sensitive enough. We recommend that you adjust these settings with small incremental changes, as the default settings are very close to how you will want your wheel set-up.

This image represents the total range of motion of the Wireless Steering Wheel if the inside deadzone is set to 50%.  The read area represents the wheel's "deadzone" where are rotation from 0% to 50% in either direction will not result in your car turning in-game.

The steering deadzone can be adjusted from both the “Inside” and the “Outside” allowing for complete control over the steering characteristics. Adjusting from the “Inside” will impact how the wheel reacts from dead center, whereas adjusting from the “Outside” will impact how the wheel reacts when it has been turned as far as it can go in either direction. You should think about these settings as a range, and should always make sure that the range is large enough to allow for realistic sensitivity. If the “Inside” steering deadzone is set to 10% and the “Outside” deadzone is set to 95%, the total steering range will be 85% of the wheels total range of motion. We suggest that you always adjust settings from the “Outside” first, as setting the “Inside” deadzone past 10% will result in a wheel that does not react to minor steering inputs.

Brake Deadzone

Much like the steering deadzone, the brake deadzone affects how much pressure is needed for the game to recognize the input being made. If the “Inside” deadzone is set to 50%, the brake pedal will need to be pushed in by 50% before your car’s brakes are engaged. If the “Inside” is set to 0% and the “Outside” is set to 50%, the maximum amount of braking force will be applied once the pedal reaches 50% of its total range of motion. This setting is useful to change the overall sensitivity of the brake pedal; however the default settings should work well for most amateur drivers. If you are looking to make the brake pedal more sensitive, lower the “Outside” Brake Deadzone setting. Increase this setting to make the brake pedal less sensitive. If you are looking to have the brake pedal react slower to your inputs then increase the “Inside” setting.  Decreasing the “Inside” setting will make the pedal react much faster as it will engage with the slightest amount of pressure.

This image represents the total range of motion of the brake pedal if the inside deadzone is set to 50%.  The red zone indicates that the movement from 0% to 50% will not result in your car braking in game.  With this setting the brake pedal will not respond until it reaches 50% of its overall range of motion. 

Throttle Deadzone

The Throttle Deadzone setting will act the same as the Brake Deadzone setting, and is useful if you are having problems getting used to feathering the throttle. By increasing the “Inside” throttle deadzone the acceleration pedal will require more pressure before the car begins to accelerate, so if you have a lead foot that is causing you to spin out or lose control you might want to experiment with this setting. It is important to remember to adjust these settings very slowly as they will have a very large impact on how your car will react under acceleration. If you want to make the gas pedal more sensitive, decrease the outside throttle deadzone setting. This will result in less pedal travel being required to reach 100% of your car’s acceleration potential. If you are looking to decrease the gas pedal’s sensitivity then try increasing the outside throttle deadzone setting.

This image represents the total range of motion of the throttle pedal, if the inside deadzone is set to 25%.  The red area represents the deadzone, where the pedal's motion will not accelerate your car.  Once the pedal passes 25% of its total range of motion, your car will begin accelerating.

Force Feedback Scale

The Xbox 360 Wireless Steering Wheel features “Force Feedback” that will engage at various times depending on your car behavior. For example if your front tires hit the grass the force feedback will not only alert you to this it will also apply force to turn the wheel in a specific direction. This feedback will make the wheel harder to control and is used to simulate real life driving conditions. For some the force feedback is a positive thing that can aid in understanding how a car is reacting, and for others it can be a distraction; this setting will allow you to adjust the amount of force exerted on the steering wheel. It is recommended that you first try the steering wheel with the force feedback set to 100% (default setting) as this will allow you to understand what it does to enhance the driving experience. Once you have experienced the full force feedback you can then adjust as necessary to suit your driving style. The “force feedback scale” setting starts at 0% and goes until 100%; 0% meaning it is off and 100% meaning it is at its strongest.

Vibration Scale

Along with force feedback the Wireless Racing Wheel also features vibration that is similar to the rumble feature of the controller. This vibration will engage if your tires begin to slide or you drive over a rumble strip, and will serve as a warning that your car is losing control. Generally speaking this vibration setting should remain at 100% (default setting) as it aids in the immersion factor and serves as a tactile indication of your cars performance. If you feel the vibration is too strong then you can tone it down by lowering the percentage, once again 0% means it is completely off and 100% means the vibration is at its strongest.

Recommended Settings

Many of these advanced settings can be complicated to understand, therefore we have included a list of settings that should work well for someone who is learning how to play Forza 2. Start with these suggested settings and adjust them as needed as you learn how they will impact your gaming experience.

Recommended Wireless Steering Wheel Settings:

Steering Axis Deadzone Inside - 0%
Steering Axis Deadzone Outside - 100%
Brake Deadzone Inside - 10%
Brake Deadzone Outside - 90%
Throttle Deadzone Inside - 10%
Throttle Deadzone Outside - 100%
Forza Feedback Scale - 100%
Vibration Scale - 100%

We hope this has been a helpful primer into what's often an overlooked aspect of playing Forza 2. Good luck, and happy racing!

// Continue to Track Guide: Motegi Road Course //