Volume 46 -- May 11, 2007
By: Che Chou
Forza Motorsport 2 Has Gone Gold!
Welcome to the Turn 10 Pitpass Report, a weekly update of rumblings under the hood here at Turn 10, the folks who are about to give birth to Forza Motorsport 2 on Xbox 360. If you've stumbled upon this site by way of a little demo you've recently downloaded from Xbox Live Marketplace, kick back, enjoy your stay, and have a look in our Pitpass Report archives for other nuggets of goodness you may have missed in the past 46 weeks. That said, there's been a lot of excitement this week over a couple of big happenings around Forza 2.
You may have heard that we finally got our demo onto Xbox Live Marketplace around 2 AM this morning on the West Coast, closing out a painful chapter in the history of the Forza Motorsport community that was aching to gets its collective hands on a playable taste of the game. Those of you who hung around the forums Wednesday night/Thursday morning know exactly how insane it was in the FM.net boards in the hours before the demo went live on Marketplace. To be honest, from someone on the team here at Turn 10, it was ultra-exciting to witness all the excitement, passion, and downright nutty obsession surrounding the game and its demo.
So what happens now? Now a new wait begins. You wait and we wait for the game to go completely public and we kick off a whole new generation of Forza Motorsport 2. For us here at Turn 10, we eager await the reaction of the community that we value, and those review scores that influence all those folks who may not have heard of Forza 2 or played the first game. But mostly it's a giddy kind of wait for us -- this is the moment right before the rubber hits the asphalt, so to speak -- where gamers will finally get to play this game we've been working on for over two years.
But hey, in the here and now, life ain't too bad. Everybody is playing Forza 2 in some form or another, whether it's the demo or the officially certified version. Those of us with green discs are playing the full version at home over Xbox Live, frantically populating the scoreboards and auctions with our memes, fully knowing that in a few short weeks, once y'all get your hands on the game, these records will be blown out of the water quite possibly within the very first evening of play. Also, don't forget that when the game is available, FM.net will be the place to party -- log into the site with your Windows Live ID to access your online racing stats, download your photo mode pictures, browse auctions, and keep tabs on tournament schedules... and of course, it's also your ticket to the forums.
As for myself, I've spent the past few days getting 100% finished on my arcade mode saves for the achievements and points. First it was the Time Trials, a series of fairly challenging time attack series that pit you versus a merciless clock on a track and in a car of our (i.e., the designers') choosing. After finally beating a time of 7:09.450 in a Porsche 962c on the Nurburgring (but only after many repeated attempts), I began tackling the exhibition races today.
As a self-imposed challenge, and the fact that I was curious what my real-world car would feel like with an upgraded (Endless) street brake kit, I am going through all exhibition races in a stock Miata (well, it's painted to look like my NA) except for the upgraded brakes and Motegi Traklite rims -- both are upgrades I plan to apply to real-life car in the very near future. And of course, to mirror my own Miata, I'm racing with all assists off (no line, manual tranny, no ABS, TCS, STM, hood view only). So far, it's proven to be incredibly fun.
Since the game fills the field with 7 other cars with roughly the same class/PI range as your custom car, I found myself in series of races with an Eclipse GTS, a Peugeot 206 RC, a Silvia S14, an oddly green Corrado, a fairly slow CR-X, and -- check this out -- a PT Cruiser. The car that put up the best challenge against my spec Miata was a Pontiac Solstice, always making sure to slip in and/or stuff me when I come into a corner too hot. One thing is for sure after racing these exhibition events: I absolutely can't wait to upgrade the brakes in my real world Miata.
Forza Motorsport 2 Demo: Director Commentary
We know you're all furious playing and analyzing the heck out of the Forza 2 demo. To that end, we wanted to get an official "foreward" out there by way of introduction to our thinking and philosophy behind putting together this demo. And to do so here is none other than Turn 10's game director Dan Greenawalt, who was recently mistaken for Kiefer Sutherland while loitering in a public square in Spain. Oh those wacky Spanish. I really should post this story up (in Dan's own words) on the Turn 10 blog sometime.
Anyway, here's Dan's preamble to the demo:
"There were many ways we could have gone with the demo. Forza Motorsport 2 is a huge game. We debated whether or not to highlight the painting, photo mode, scoreboards, multiplayer, upgrades and tuning features. However, all of that would have added to the complexity of the demo and taken time away from closing down the project.
"As a result, we decided to stick to our core. Forza is a great simulator with a huge collection of cars. It looks beautiful and plays like a dream. So we created one arcade exhibition event where you can race against 7 AI opponents. We have added three new real-world environments to the game – using one of these was a no-brainer.
"As a physics geek brought up on the 12 hours of Sebring, that track is very close to my heard; but we had already demo’ed it a ton at different press event. Suzuka is a cool track, but it can be really difficult at times. Mugello, a Ferrari owned test track in Italy raced by MotoGP was a nice sweet spot. It’s not too hard, but still interesting and very pretty. Originally we put in 5 laps on the full Mugello. As we started playing it, that felt too long for a quick demo. So we opted for 3 laps on the shorter version. In the shorter version you still get the hair raising first corner after a long straight. You also get the long draw distance when coming down out of the back section and some pretty cool combination corners to set up passing.
"As far as the cars go, we wanted to give a good taste of our breadth. We included 8 cars from Class C, A and R2. While the demo car list is predominantly RWD cars, you still get a couple AWD and FWD options to choose from. We also have a variety of weight distributions and body types. Overall, it’s a good group to allow physics exploration.
"The final and most contentious decision was actually about enabling full performance damage. In the end, we decided to keep it limited to cosmetic damage. This demo will be in kiosks all over the world. The pick up and play experience might have been frustrating with full damage. That said, the demo has some hidden depth. You can still watch replays and pull up the real-time telemetry at any point in the race. I hope y’all enjoy it. It barely scratches the surface of the entire game, but it should whet the appetite a bit.
"Thanks..."
Dan "Kiefer" Greenawalt
Game Director
Turn 10
A Quick Forza Motorsport 2 Demo FAQ
And I mean, really quick. Sorry for the short answers but I want to wrap up this WPR.
Q: What kind of difference will we see between the demo and the actual arcade mode if we use the same cars on the same track? Is this the final build?
A: Yes, the demo is pretty much the graphics and sounds you'll get in the full game. Keep in mind that every track has a different ambience, so each car will be lit differently.
Q: How come they didn't include you (Che) as one of the A.I drivers.
A: It's a demo. I don't know. Maybe the designers hate my guts. I'm in the full game though. And I will pwn you.
Q: Why is the E36 M3 a 6-speed in the demo when it's a 5-speed tranny in real life?
A: Just like our JDM-spec cars, all European cars are based on their Euro counterparts. The E36 M3 had more power and a 6 speed tranny in Europe.
Q: Will it be possible to change the replay cameras in the near future?
A: Unfortunately no. And these replay camera angles are what you'll see for Forza TV as well. Keep in mind that each ribbon will have its own camera placements so it differs with every track variation. Those of you who would like to see more of the moment to moment tactical action can always switch views (third person, hood, bumper) or even switch cars to see that crucial pass.
Q: Will there be deep dish wheels in the rims section?
A: Yes.
Q: Can I be a moderator?
A: No. Don't call us, we'll call you.
Q: Is the force feedback wheel tunable in the full version?
A: Yes. There are “advanced” wheel tuning options that allow you to set sensitivity and deadzone for brake, throttle, steering, etc.
Q: Can you set up custom button configs for the wheel to use the d-pad to look around?
A: No.
Q: What difficulty level is the AI in the demo?
A: The AI in the demo is set to medium difficulty (there's easy, medium, and professional in the full game). Those of you who find it too easy -- not to worry -- you will get your @$$ handed to you when you go up against professional AI. Actually, those of you who race clean and are very consistent will find the professional AI very challenging but fair. Just ask my office mate (and BMW LMP car driver for this week's Replay Theater video) Rob Fulwell. He loves it.
Q: Why do some cars seemingly not have a hood?
A: All cars have hoods. Some are just sloped so low you barely see them.
Q: A lot of people seem to want certain things fixed. Will anything be fixed in the retail version of the game?
A: No. After certain people take their vacations, we're going to start working on DLC.
Q: I was kinda wondering if you would have my babies?
A: Sure, why not.
Q: A few of us have what seems to be "corrupt" versions of the demo. We can play for like 5 mins and then it craps out on us. What's going on?
A: It's likely your Xbox 360s are edging close to the red ring of death. :(
Q: Is Dan Greenwalt really that bad a driver?
A: Not that I've noticed.
Q: How are you guys at T10 feeling about the reviews of the demo? Are you generally pleased with the reaction? Are you suprised about the amount of complaints (I am talking about you jaggy freaks)?
A: We're having a blast with all of this. The game is fun and we're finally doing what everyone thinks we do all day (i.e., play videogames for a living). Plus, now the world has gotten to play it and we're excited for everyone to get the full game. We think the reaction has been really great so far -- are we surprised people are complaining? This is the Forza Motorsport community. Nothing shocks us anymore.
Q: At any point did marketing try and add three more cars to everyone but the U.S.'s Demo?
A: I was going to try to make a funny here but I don't want to get mailbombed.
Q: In the final game, will damage have consequenses for the behaviour of the car or is it just cosmetic like the demo damage is?
A: The full game will have simulation damage, which means you can royally mangle your car. The demo is a slice of the exhibition arcade mode wherein damage is only cosmetic.
Welcome to the Green Hell
Got a little video for you guys this week featuring a little track called The Nurburgring Nordschleife. It's a famous strip of asphalt in Germany comprised of nearly 13 miles of punishing, technical turns and high-flyin' straights. The concept this week involves getting two very opposite extremes racing for keeps on the 'Ring. On the one end of the spectrum we've got a very fast 1999 BMW Motorsport V12 LMR prototype capable of speeds up to 190mph; and in the other corner, a lovely little pitbull, the Lotus Elan roadster (can you tell I'm kind of obsessed with small, lightweight roadsters right now?).
It's literally R1 vs. D class this time around. To make things fair, Rob (in the Bavarian goliath) gives me and my Lotus Elan a 3:30 second head start; his goal, of course, is to beat me to the finish line. I've got to hand it to Rob, he only goes off track once in that entire race and he is quite literally flying by the seat of his pants. Superb driving on his part. I really did think my Lotus Elan was going to have a chance, too.
More than just a gimmicky race premise, the purpose of this video is to give you guys a real good look at the totally awesome, gorgeous, new and improved Nurburgring in Forza 2. The track team revisited the 'Ring with a whole new arsenal of equipment to recapture track camber and elevation -- and did so in the summer, the season that earned the track its nickname, "The Green Hell." As for the music, my buddy Evan Shamoon helped me out this week with one of his own tracks. By the way, any of you notice the music last week in the Import Generations video? That was yours truly, yesiree.
Forza Motorsport 2 Demo Hotlap Contest
Alright, and before I sign out, I'm going to lay down the rules of the hotlap contest I'm going to be running/monitoring this weekend. The irony of this contest is that the full Forza 2 game is so wired to the gills with scoreboards, tournaments, and FM.net support, that it cracks me up I still have to do a hotlap contest in this manner. But hey, the good news is that on May 29th, the dark ages are coming to an end.
What you need: An Xbox 360 with Xbox Live Gold Membership. A copy of the Forza Motorsport 2 demo. A digital camera of some sort to take a picture of your TV screen.
How to compete: Place hotlap times in any of the 3 classes in the demo (C, A, and R2) using the following cars: C class = 2003 Nissan Fairlady Z; A class = 2005 Ford GT; R2 class = 2005 Maserati #35 Risi Competizione MC12. After you are satisfied with your hotlap time, take a photo of the post-race scoreboard and post that screenshot in this subforum. A moderator will update the first page of the thread with the top 3 fastest times for each class. This thread is for posting hotlap times only. If you want to discuss techniques and your times, please create a thread in this subforum. Failure to follow this rule after an initial warning will result in your disqualification.
Assists: You may use any assists you see fit to achieve your lap times. Just keep in mind that the cool kids don't use ABS.
Contest Window: The contest will run from the publication of this WPR until 11:59pm Tuesday, May 15th, 2007.
Winners: First place winners in each of the classes will win a Forza Motorsport 2 Xbox 360 faceplate, along with an official Forza Motorsport 2 license plate frame (for your real world car). Second and third place runner-ups in each of the classes will receive the Forza Motorsport 2 license plate frame. You are ineligible for prizes (but have plenty of bragging rights) if you do not reside in North America. Sorry.
May the best driver(s) win!
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