Volume 85 -- Mar. 28, 2008
A Turn 10 Introduction...
By: Landin Williams, Community Moderator
What’s up folks! Welcome to this special edition of the Turn 10 Weekly Pitpass Report. Although Che isn't actually writing his section this week (supposedly he's been busy working on our next game and planning out features for the future of the community). As a result I have taken the reins this week and will be piloting this Boeing 747 to its final destination somewhere in Seattle Washington, while Che hangs out in our office piloting his Helicopter around in the Battlefield: Bad Company beta.
2008 Maserati GranTurismo by: Mazda6 MPS
Last Friday marked the second official Turn 10 Game with Dev event on Xbox Live, and judging by all the excited players joining the lobbies to put us in our place, it was a great success. It was such a success that Che and I have once again brought up the idea of doing these events on a more regular basis, to give more players the chance to get smoked by a Turn 10 employee (just kidding -- or am I?). We have thrown around the idea for a while now, but have decided that it is definitely something that we want to pursue more actively in the future. Right now we've got maybe something penciled in for the week after next.
The format will be slightly more casual, and honestly we just love being able to sit down on our game and talk to the people who play it the most. It’s great to see how much fun people are having with our game, and it’s even better when we can get in on all the action. For the most part these events will be promoted and discussed in the Pitpass Reports, so if you are looking for a time and place where you can accept your virtual smack down (still kidding -- or am I?), this is the place to look. And while we’re looking, let’s take a second to talk about another initiative that we are going to be focusing on in the future.
1971 BMW Motorsport 3.0 CSL by: Bizarre
As you should already know, everyone here at Turn 10 is crazy about cars. Anything that has four wheels and displacement is enough to get us excited, and we want to spread this excitement to everyone willing to listen. All of this has been said plenty of times before, however now the context is different. Now we are looking at you. Over the past few weeks, Che has been reaching out to different car communities to find the coolest stories, cars, and people to write about in feature articles on our site. We want to find real people with a real passion for cars, and share that passion with the world. So what does all this mean? It means that if you are a car enthusiast with an interesting story to tell, then you should e-mail us (forzafb@microsoft.com) and we'll have a little chat. If you read these community updates on a regular basis then you should already have an idea of the things we are looking to do. If not then stay tuned, as we will be working on our first feature article next week!
And finally before I jump into the FM.net community update below, I want to point everyone to the Car of the Week article that is currently live on our blogs. This week the ultra-lazy J. Mason talks about the “iconic” 1965 Shelby Cobra 427 S/C. I made sure to put "iconic" in quotations marks... you'll know what I mean when you read his rant. In any event make sure to check out our latest article for old man Mason!
The 1965 Shelby Cobra 427 S/C. A true American icon, unlike the Hummer H2. Read all about it in this week's Turn 10 Car of the Week.
The March DLC Competition Week
User generated content is the theme for this week’s Community Update, as our latest DLC competition week has officially come to an end. I spent a huge amount of time this week rummaging through pages and pages of some of the coolest content that the FM2 community has to offer, and the result is a Pitpass report filled with incredible images. In fact there were so many images that one page just wasn’t enough to show off all of the cool content that was submitted. So I made another page. If you like cool pictures and liveries as much as I do, I suggest you wander on over to the March Competition Gallery to check out all the images that just couldn’t be stuffed into this article.
So what if you check out the gallery and notice your username underneath your picture or livery? Well that means you have been selected as a winner, as we have decided to reward everyone who has a picture featured in this week’s gallery and pitpass! It was virtually impossible for me to choose a handful of winners when you consider the quality of the submissions, so we decided to take it to the next level and reward more people than usual. So if you see your username and picture in the article or gallery, make sure to send us an e-mail (forzafb@microsoft.com) with your gamertag and car request!
A Pack of 2008 Porsche 911 GT2's by: RoxxApexx
Additionally we have recently completed the March DLC Hotlap Challenge, where the fastest racers in the world compete on center stage for the title of the Fastest Forza 2 Player in the world. This week is no different as some familiar faces return to prove they can still dominate at the drop of a dime (or maybe a quarter). As a special bonus I decided to reward the top 20 drivers from this challenge with a free gift car of choice, along with the regular random 30, so without further ado here are the fastest drivers from our special DLC Hotlap Challenge.
Hotlap Challenge Week 27: Top 20
1 - PoTzyPLOP
2 - R2P JED
3 - TRC Smokinu
4 - VVV headyman
5 - VVV Richie Roo
6 - TRC Greekman
7 - TDR Sabre
8 - IPR DriveR E76
9 - MonoPeak BR
10 - Gatz83
11 - IPR Andy AI
12 - D2C Walahoshie
13 - VVV AlpineArts
14 - TDR JerseyBoy
15 - blademeisterTRC
16 - R2P Henniker
17 - TRC IcemanLeigh
18 - SPDN L8Braker
19 - LoCo ArMeN
20 - VVV Daveyskills
Click here to see if you have been selected as one of the Random 30 from week 27.
Special thanks to everyone who submitted content/hotlaps, and congratulations to the winners of our March DLC competition week! For this week we have created a wide open C class challenge on Road Atlanta Short. We have yet to determine when the next Hotlap Series will begin, however any new details will be featured in these reports, so check back every Friday for the latest info! For now get out there, build your C class cars, and run some laps around Road Atlanta Short.
Nearly a decade of Evolution by: Littleblueneon
So with all of that said I wanted to announce yet another contest that will harness the ideas and creativity that is abundant in our community. As we have evolved and grown as a community it seems that more and more people are using creative graphic design to promote their customized content that is available for purchase on the Auction House. These promotions help to build awareness of your abilities, and make it much easier for new players to jump right in and find some cool cars to test out on the track.
Over the past few months I have seen more and more advertisements appearing in signatures and threads, and have been very impressed with the level of design that goes into promoting your content. This is why we are going to be hosting our very own Graphic Design contest that will challenge users to be creative, smart, witty and professional all at the same time. We want to champion the skills of our users and show off what you can do, so if you are good with graphics, images or ideas in general this is the contest for you.
2008 Mitsubishi Evolution X GSR by: timbo1977
Here’s the deal. Everyone will get to submit a maximum of one design. This design can be any dimension and can include anything you could possibly imagine. You can use one picture or ten; the choice is yours. Now of course we are looking for something specific, so here it is. We want you to do whatever it takes to make the most convincing, exciting and professional advertisement for the March Car Pack. You can use the design to promote the entire collection of cars, a specific set of cars, or even that one car you love. The possibilities are endless and it’s up to you to decide how you want to structure your design; just remember that we want it to feel like a professional advertisement for the content that you have selected. Picture a high tech Forza themed ad for the brand new March Car Pack, or a sleek billboard featuring the new M3. You could even go back in time to re-create the old school advertising look of the 70’s, and create a poster for the new BMW Motorsport 3.0 CSL. All of these are general ideas, but hopefully it gives you a sense of the things we will be looking for with your design.
2007 Audi S5 by: m00se79
Essentially we want you to take all of the cool techniques developed by the community (HDR Pictures, Panoramic Pictures etc…) and use them to make the sickest looking Forza 2 image that the world has ever seen. Get creative and try to think about cool ways to promote your selected product, whether it’s the March Car Pack, or the new Audi S5. It is important that your design has a clear message, and a definitive product that viewers will want to purchase. This is the main goal of the contest and we are really excited to see the results.
So what do you win? Well first of all let me say that your design will be heavily promoted on FM.net and will be the cover image for the following Friday’s pitpass report. As if this isn’t enough we are going to be gifting 3 Unicorn cars to the winner along with 10 Million credits. The stakes are high to say the least, so if you have some graphical or creative skills get busy! Finally it is important to remember that even a very simply and creative ad can be just as effective, if not more effective as something super complex. So head on over to the official contest thread here, and start discussing. We will be accepting submissions until Thursday April 3rd, and announcing winners on Friday, so make sure to get us your advertisement before then. Good luck and we hope to see everyone participating.
1989 Ferrari F40 Competizione by: Kami Iki
So as if there aren’t enough competitions already, I want to take the time to talk about another great contest being hosted by our good friends Racing to Perfection (R2P). R2P has decided to create an off shoot of the official Hotlap Challenge, where players set their fastest possible time on a given track and gain points along the way that accumulate towards an overall total. This competition will last for three weeks and will be rewarding winners with real cash prizes! If you are interested in participating then stay tuned to the Tournaments section here at FM.net, as R2P will be posting all the details once the contest has officially been launched. Last I heard they are looking to start the first season on April 1st, and will be hosting multiple events in the future. Shout out to R2P for stepping up to create this challenge, and I hope it goes well for everyone involved!
Alright just a few more community related things before I wrap it up and vanish into the depths of Xbox LIVE. Firstly the Cyber Racing World Championship has recently completed its fourth broadcast featuring white knuckle action on Sunset Infield Short Reverse. According to Robert Whittington, the series coordinator, this broadcast features some of the best racing action to date. You can view all the intense racing action on the official website here, so check it out.
The TT S-Line avoid's contact with the Evo X by: chrizar
As always there are plenty of user creates contests for people to participate in, so here is a super duper community competition breakdown. First up is Mr Questtt who has returned from a short hiatus to run the Official Audi Photomode Competition here. Then over there we got TVR-fan running the Old School American Muscle Photoshop contest. If that’s not your cut of tea then check out the Official Fantasy Livery contest here or the Official Replica Livery contest here. If none of this fits your style cause all you want to do is race, then you should take a gander through our Tournament section as there are just too many competitions for one person to cover!
2008 Mitsubishi Evolution X GSR by: DScammell
And with that said..I’m out. I hope you all have a great weekend, thanks for reading and I will see you on the forums!
Peace
Landin
// Continue to the March Competition Gallery //