Volume 94 -- June 6, 2008

The Turn 10 Weekly Pitpass Report

By: Che Chou, Turn 10 Community Manager

Welcome, one and all, to Forzamotorsport.net's weekly pitpass report, your window inside the studios of Turn 10, creators of the Forza Motorsport franchise. The goal with these weekly updates is establish a direct line of communication with fans of autosports and folks currently playing Forza Motorsport 2. Things have been busy this week (no really? Yes really). Our post-First Anniversary celebration week saw the community team catching up on tons of housekeeping, with everything from gifting out the hundreds of rare and limited edition First Anniversary unicorn cars to contest and randomly chosen winners, to answering all your emails, and so on. Even though I was hanging on for dear life in the eye of the First Anniversary storm last week, I think the "event" (if you can call it that) went off really well. Seriously, a huge thanks to all of our hard working forums moderation team and community volunteers and VIPs who helped make last week manageable and basically as non-hectic as possible. I'd also like to congratulate not just the winners, but everyone who participated in our design contests and hotlap challenge -- ultimately, I think you're all winners here at Forzamotorsport.net as we'll continue to think of ways to keep you guys entertained, celebrated, and rewarded.

Ryu Hayabusa and the Dragon Sword by: POOPFRUIT1306 - Design Thread

So what's the deal with this week's cover image and caption title? Well, those of you who keep on the lookout for the latest gaming releases know that Tecmo and Team Ninja's much-anticipated sequel to Ninja Gaiden (now dubbed "2") came out earlier this week to much hardcore gaming fanfare. Well, it just so happens that a few weeks ago, one of our mods (TRC Solo) created a Ninja Gaiden 2 livery design thread to officially usher in what's possibly one of the best "pure" action games this generation. Yup, and Landin and I are fans of the series. While other folks at Turn 10 are probably spending the lionshare of their gaming time on Codemaster's newly-released Grid this week (more on that later), Landin and I are enthralled by the badass adventures of Ryu Hayabusa as he slices off limbs and heads with an elegance and attitude that's simply addictive. At some point, we discovered that both of us finished the original Ninja Gaiden on Xbox (no mean feat, believe you me) on normal difficulty and it became somewhat of a bonding point for us. I know how that sounds, but seriously, unless you've been beaten and broken by the masochism of the first Ninja Gaiden, this is a brotherhood you probably won't ever understand. The game was freaking hard, and NG2 looks to be more of the same brutal excellence. So yeah, that's probably how we'll be punishing our controllers this weekend.

Forza 2 made an appearance a few weeks ago at the ALMS' Utah Grand Prix held annually at the Miller Motorsports Park. Those of you who have been with us for a while will remember that, until recently, Turn 10 sponsored Risi Competizione, an ALMS race team.

And like any red-blooded racing gamer, I also played my fair share of Grid this week (check my achievements or something). Granted, I haven't gotten terribly far in the "Grid world" mode, but my impression thus far has been one of disappointment. A little background info first: I've played most of the older TOCA and Race Driver titles back in the day, and enjoyed them. More recently, I adored Dirt, which was a game I felt was the perfect spiritual successor to the old Sega Rally games of yore on Saturn and Dreamcast, or if you will, approached the beauty and intensity of DICE (and Microsoft's) Rallisport Challenge 2 on Xbox. In contrast to Dirt, however, Grid has felt really directionless and watered down for me. But worse than Grid being a jack-of-all-trades and a master-of-none is the fact that Grid seemingly changes its physics system to suit whichever mode you're currently playing.

For instance, the same Toyota Corolla GT-S handles differently (i.e., one drifts while the other one grips) depending on the mode you're racing in -- drift modes will get your car sideways very easily while any of the downhill touge modes require you to basically pull the e-brake to get any drifting action accomplished. I mean, I know folks don't really drift in touge events in real-life, but why change the characteristics of your ride? Is it so inconceivable that we may want to, y'know, have a downhill drift battle on Mount Haruna? Currently, in multiplayer, the only way to have a Drift GP on Mount Haruna is to play your own games while chatting with others while you all do your own private little runs. Hmm. Anyway, I am disappointed with Grid in many other ways -- for instance, the inability to do anything with your crazy replays (no saving, no online replays, nothing) or any sort of community features to speak of -- but I'll cut it short here. Do keep in mind that these Grid impressions are my opinions and mine alone, and not necessarily those of Turn 10 studios as a collective.

The ALMS staff get some sitdown time with Forza 2 and the VRX triple-screen cockpit setup in the paddock area. Race attendees also got to meet ALMS drivers and actually race against them in Forza 2.

Forza 2 auction house devotees know that last week we experimented with getting rid of the two-minute bid extension timer so that when an auction ends, it really ends and the last person to have bid on the car wins. As you'd expect, reaction to the auction house change was polarized -- sellers in general disliked having their auctions ending at the end of the timer, and buyers loved the fact that they could snipe a bid in its final moments, or know that they wouldn't have to be involved in prolonged bidding wars with other persistent buyers. Whatever your thoughts on the matter, we want to hear it, so please head over this thread and post your comments.

At any rate, we've turned the two-minute bid extension timer back on so things should be as they were before the First-Anniversary week. Additionally, those of you who did not have a chance to win or successfully bid on one of our official Turn 10 LCE cars last week should check the auction house daily for your chance to find one of these First Anniversary LCE cars, designed by Fred "redesign" Howell here at Turn 10, and featuring the signatures of many other Turn 10 developers. Interestingly, there have been a handful of First Anniversary unicorn car knockoffs out there in the auction house. I guess imitation being the flattery that it is, we're going to just let these things exist without trying to keep counterfeits out of the system. As a buyer, you should just be aware that you run the risk of picking up a fake First Anniversary unicorn if you're buying them from a gamertag that's not "phREDESIGN" or "BLKJ SIDEFX". But hey, some people out there don't mind wearing fake Rolexes and such so, whatever, different strokes for various folks.

2005 Lamborghini Murceilago  by spoon73 - Race/Replica Livery Comp

Speaking of the official Turn 10 First Anniversary unicorn LCE, we're working on a plan to bring you one of these special unicorns once a month. As usual, you'll be able to win these cars via contests, hotlap challenges, random gifts, and winning bids in the auction house. Aside from the fact that we're going to be keeping these cars pretty frickin' rare, we're also going to really go out of our way to making these very special. How so? Well, instead of keeping the design concept tied to a Turn 10 theme each month, we're going to open it up for Fred to design special liveries inspired by the different franchises in the Microsoft Game Studios portfolio. This means you'll see official cars from such games as Gears of War 2, Fable 2, Too Human, Banjo Kazooie, just to name a few. Besides a gorgeous paint job, we're going to be pulling the developers of these games into the fold and having them sign these cars with their blessings, and also working with us on making sure the livery design is something that reflects their studios and games. It'll be a fun challenge for Fred, and I'm sure they'll look pretty sweet for you car collectors out there. And since we'll be creating these paint jobs exclusively on the Forza 2 unicorn series (so the Lotus Espionage, 35th Anniversary Camaro, and the Mitsubishi Evo TME will be the only cars to feature these liveries), you won't be seeing any knockoffs or replicas out there.

I'm already working with Fred on our June car of the month. We'll do a sneak peek at the car at a later date when we've locked things down and gone through a few passes of the design. Should be interesting. And finally, before I scramble outta here, I just want to make a quick comment on an ongoing theme in our forums as of late. Some of you out there are asking, pleading, angrily demanding, etc. an answer to the question of whether there are more DLC cars or tracks coming in the near future. So rather than go in and respond to every message in every thread, I'll just make a general explanation here; Forza 2 DLC is currently on hold as it's all hands on deck at Turn 10 for our new projects. Our next game is also going to be our greatest game yet, which means we honestly need lots of resources dedicated to the effort. In fact, we've been hiring developers like crazy in order to meet our spec. Although there's no DLC in the pipeline, it doesn't mean we've turned our backs on Forza 2; on the contrary, the game continues to astound us with its usage numbers on Xbox Live and we fully plan on supporting Forza 2 for the foreseeable future. So in case you were thinking otherwise, stick around because we're just getting started. Thanks and see you next week.

2007 Nissan 350Z  by Fruitster - Bride Of War

The Forza Motorsport 2 Community Update

By: Landin Willams, Turn 10 Community Moderator

Yo! Thanks for stopping by for this action packed edition of the Community Update; the weekly article that brings you the latest Forza 2 news and events straight from our very own community here at FM.net. There is a lot to cover in the form of news and events this week, mainly because I finally had a chance to catch up with all the new (and extremely innovative) ways that people are enjoying FM2. Personally I had a great time racing with everyone during our First Anniversary week, and am very excited to have another opportunity to race the community with all of the tuned cars that have been gifted to me over the past few months.

Speaking of gifts, Fred and I have spent a large amount of time this week fulfilling all of the gift car requests from the First Anniversary week, as well as the Hotlap challenges. As a reminder if your car or picture was included in one of the galleries in last week’s Pitpass, or included in one of the First Anniversary articles then you are eligible for one free gift car of choice (including First Anniv. LCE Cars). In addition the Hotlap Challenge random 30 from weeks 34, 35 and 36 has been posted in this thread, so check it out if you have been participating in these challenges. If you have yet to receive your gift car(s) from the Game with Dev event (we have a list so legitimate e-mails only please) or from any of the above mentioned reasons, send us an e-mail (forzafb@microsoft.com) and we will get it out to you as soon as possible.

2005 Lotus Elise by: RockSteady1983 - Photoshopped Photomode Comp

This week’s gifting frenzy has also made me reconsider our current sponsorship method for user created tournaments and competitions, so I wanted to take a second to explain some of our plans. Currently we sponsor a number of these events with free gift cars and credits; however it’s difficult to determine what contest is officially sponsored by Turn 10. All that changes with the implementation of our new system. Essentially what I am looking to do is organize a list of all the sponsored competitions in order to ease the process by which new users find them. This list will be updated regularly with all of the current sponsorships, as well as links to help you find out where it’s all going down.

So what does this mean for the Community? Well first of all it means that we have “reset” all of the current and past sponsorships. Of course if you are in the middle of an event or season we will fulfill prizing, however you will need to contact us with a request to renew your sponsorship. So if you are currently running a sponsored competition or you are looking to create one, send us an e-mail (forzafb@microsoft.com) with all the details so that we can begin putting our list together. Make sure you get in touch with us, even if you have already secured a sponsorship. As always we are looking to sponsor serious competitions only that are well executed and managed by those in charge. Next week I will post any updates on the progress of our competition list, so stay tuned if you are looking to get involved with some cool events.

The "Karoussel" at The Ring - Photo By: Hadoq - Nurburgring Photo Gallery

Cyber Racing World Championship: Broadcasting from The Ring!

Over the past 4 months, the folks over at the Cyber Racing World Championship have released some of the most polished and exciting racing videos we have ever seen here at Turn 10. This week marks the release of their 10th broadcast, and features racing on one of the most treacherous tracks in the world, the infamous Nurburgring Nordschleife aka “The Ring”. This 13 mile track was opened for racing activities in 1927, and has since hosted some of the most intense racing action the world has ever seen. The track earned the nicknamed “Green Hell” for being extremely narrow and bumpy, with super high speed sections leading into tight corners. It only takes a quick glance at The Ring’s Wikipedia page to see why many racing events are no longer held on this fatal track. 

The Ring is as much a test of skill and concentration as is it a test of your car, and when 8 drivers are fighting for the number 1 spot, the results are bound to be extremely exciting and dangerous. Fortunately for us, this is exactly what you will get from the latest Cyber Racing broadcast. With lots of action, and very close (and clean) racing, this broadcast is a must see for fans of the series and newcomers alike. I encourage everyone out there to stop by Forza Central TV to check out their latest broadcast!

Showing the Forza pride! - Photo By: Hadoq - Nurburgring Photo Gallery

Back here on FM.net’s home page we have seen a flurry of action going down on our overall Time Trial rollup scoreboard. For a while now we have seen V12 BackONE AbS holding down the top spot, however a sneak attack from two incredibly fast hotlappers has shaken up the rankings. One of my many community private eye’s has informed me that both iPicaso and iCam v1 have been scheming to attack the time trial leaderboards for a while. Evidently they have just executed their plan. 

By completing all but one track as fast as possible, they set themselves up for a tandem takeover once confident with their times. This week they put their sneak attack into full motion by running times on the final track, securing the top 2 spots on our leaderboard! How much faster can they get? Only time will tell, however if anyone is able to knock iCam v1 off the top spot I will personally send you all 3 First Anniversary LCE Unicorn cars. Who’s gonna step up to the challenge?

Hotlap Challenge Week 37 Top 10
1 - GSR Kronoturbo
2 - V12 seba grisea
3 - GSR Origin
4 - GSR Alesi N27
5 - V12 DOCTOR
6 - VVV Howskii
7 - VVV Richie Roo
8 - VVV Watson
9 - Mono BR
10 - R2P JED

Click here to see if you have been selected as one of the Random 30 from Week 38.

1995 Mazada AB Flug RX-7 - "Project.oni" by SW2 Tuning

Forza 2 Community Events Listing

IFCA Spec Racing Series 3: The folks over at the IFCA have put together another great racing series, where tuning and car selection have no impact on your chances at victory. This is a spec series, meaning everyone will be driving the exact same car with the same settings (give or take). In addition to some great racing and prizing, highlights from this series will be shown on LagTV! Registration is still open to anyone who is interested, so head on over to this thread to find out all the details and how to get involved.

Photomode Tournament: Next up is TVR_fan who put together a very innovative challenge that replaces the racing in tournaments with pictures. This photomode tournament pits players against each other in a knockout style competition with multiple rounds. Very specific categories and themes guiding your creative instincts, this contest is bound to have some interesting pictures. To check out the first round of entries head on over to this thread and peruse through some shots. If real life photography is more your style then you should definitely check out TVR_fan’s real life automotive photo thread here and submit your best picture!

One of the entires to the Photomode Tournament is this Lamborghini LP640.

Scenery Livery Competition: Forum user asrttyoxo has been hosting a very unique livery competition for nearly two months now, and they have just recently determined the winners. In this contest players were challenged to create a fantasy or real life landscape, and the results are quite impressive. I urge you all to check out the original thread here to check out all of the great submissions. For now here is a list of the top 3 from each category. Congratulations and great work!

Real Scenery Competition Winners:
1st Place - Razored21 - Asian Beauty
2nd Place - Little Vixen - Tranquility and Heron
3rd Place - Jerod - Northern Lights

Fantasy Scenery Competition Winners:
1st Place - QK Timmyflush - Guild Wars Nightfall
2nd Place - UltraVyletKnite - Absynthe
3rd Place - Little Vixen – Bunnyfish

1995 VW Corrado  by Lethal Industry - Forza Central Photomode Comp.

Tuning Marketplace Leaderboard: The tuning community is always up to something--most recently it has been the establishment of a tuning leaderboard that ranks cars based on their lap times around specific tracks. This leaderboard was created by PpR Greeksniper, who is personally running 10 laps on 5 different tracks with various cars. So far he has classified 16 different cars in the official leaderboard thread here, so check it out if you are looking for a tune, or looking to have your car added into the mix.

And with that said it’s time for us to bounce and get down with our inner Ninja. I am planning to review a few cars from the Tuning Marketplace next Friday, so look forward to that if you have sent me some cars to drive! Thanks for checking out this edition of the Community Update, and I hope you enjoy the weekend.

Peace

Landin