Forza Motorsport 3

[The_Hawk]

I'd seriously consider buying an XBox 360 for this game Especially if you can do stuff like that!

[Preen59]

How the f do you do that?!

[Mr Messy]

The game has about 100 different wheels you can put on (including Centrelines and other drag wheels, Preeny) and you can put whater patterns you want onto the side of the car. Truly talented people do replicas of the Mona Lisa, or very sophisticated Transformers graphics, that sort of thing.

I like to replicate racecars sometimes.

This is a crap copy of a local bloke's Evo X running in next month's Bathurst 12 hour:




(Ignore positive camber, its the dodgy lens on my phone)

Original car:

[MattyT]

Nice vww logo! I might have to get a copy of that. Do you have a storefront??

[team_v]

The new DLC pack is out with the R8 LMS and the Lotus 2-11.
Also includes 8 other cars but i will probably only use those two.

400 points is pretty reasonable i think.

[MattyT]

I've only driven a handful from the holiday DLC pack, but I'll be downloadin this one too

Just checked the FM3 website, we have:

Official AutoWeek Car Show Pack Roster:
* 2010 Aston Martin One-77
* 2009 Audi R8 LMS Show Car
* 2009 Audi RS 6
* 2010 BMW Motorsport M6 Coupe
* 2010 Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sport
* 2010 Ford Shelby GT500
* 2009 Lotus 2-Eleven
* 2010 Pagani Zonda R
* 2010 Porsche Boxster S
* 2010 Saleen S5S Raptor

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS, FINALLY a new Zonda!!!!!!!!!! One of my fav cars of all time, FINALLY!!!!

[team_v]

Lol, you sound like Richard Hammond.

Nice list of cars, i would probably use about 5 of them.

The GT500 is a waste, as is the Corvette Grandsport and the 997.
The one-77, 2-11, R8 LMS, RS6, Zonda R and the Salene S5S will get a work out though.

[Langers]

My thoughts on Forza 3:

I am a long time PS1/2/3 user and have always loved playing the Gran Turismo series of games. Having heard great things about Forza 3, I went out and bought the XBox console, game and MS steering wheel. Having had the opportunity to play the game for a couple of weeks, below are some observations / wishes for future changes (even if in Forza 4 or subsequent titles). Overall I am happy, but the realism is severely lacking in a number of areas.

I'll say up front that I think there are more than enough cars available. A few more real life tracks would be nice, but really you could say there are enough.


Damage

Realising that Turn 10 tried their best with the damage model, I think that there are some serious gaps/issues to be addressed:

(1) The damage model is nowhere near savage enough! I've been around cars long enough to know that when you stuff the car in to a wall/barrier/tyres/another car, you often don't just continue to drive, but you're really stuffed.

(2) Fixing of damage in the pits. IRL, you can't just drive in with a 100% broken engine and have it fixed in the pits in 30 seconds. This is woefully unrealistic, and quite infuriating to me from a realism point of view. To mimic real life, prior to entering the pits you should be given the option of what to fix and how long it will take, using realistic times. Most of the time, with the exception of endurance races, you would need to continue with the damage, or retire.

(3) Expense of fixing damage - the expense of fixing damage doesn't seem to vary much based on the car. Parts like the front bumper on a Reventon cost more IRL than entire cars; this doesn't seem to be reflected in the game. And guess what? Sometimes IRL cars are writeoffs and CANNOT be fixed! That should also be included in the game.

(4) Tyre damage from damaged bodywork - would be nice to see this implemented to mimic RL.

(5) Cars with severe damage should receive a mechanical black flag and be forced to either fix the damage or retire.

(6) Damage doesn't take into account the type of material that the body panels are made from - e.g. steel, aluminium, carbon, fiberglass.



Physics model

Based on my observations, there are also some issues with the physics model

(1) Tyre wear - having spent 2 laps drifting around a track in a high powered RWD car, the front and rear tyres were worn roughly the same %. Obviously this isn't even close to being realistic.

(2) Marbles - I haven't found much (any?) evidence of a lack of traction off the racing line. Traction seems to be fairly consistent across the track surface, which of course again is not realistic in any way. Marbles accumulate throughout the course of a race, so the model would need to take this into account as well.

(3) Tyre flat spots - Tyres should flat spot when locked and require replacement

(4) Gravel / kitty litter - again, IRL you generally can't just drive through it. Once you're in, your race is over until you're towed out and end up 2 + laps down on the leader. Would be nice if a safety car could be implemented to clear up debris on the track and remove beached / damaged cars.

(5) In racecars at least, there should be the the option to set the % of wheelspin at which traction control kicks in.

(6) Traction control sounds - Engine sound doesn't change enough when traction control is activated. In race cars, traction control is usually implemented through spark rather than fuel interruption, hence you get popping sounds from the engine/exhaust. Forza doesn't replicate this.

(7) Ability to independently set low and high speed damping circuits on race dampers.

( When cars ARE able to get themselves out of the kitty litter, some of this material should be transferred back onto the track, and red & yellow striped flags should be shown for other cars until the debris has been cleared.



General gameplay

(1) Inability to test and tune the car for each track prior to the start of each race is woeful.

(2) There should be a main menu option to disallow the use of the 'rewind' function. Realising that it's really up to the individual to have enough self control not to use it, sometimes I do find myself tempted and would prefer to have that temptation buried outside of the race in several layers of menus.

(3) Would be nice to be able to see people working on the car in the pits.

(4) More cars in each race. (realise other people have raised this several times!)

(5) Starting sequence for each race is horrid (again, realise raised elsewhere).

(6) Qualifying - self explanatory really.

(7) Ability to alter fuel maps when standalone engine management has been fitted - e.g. for endurance races, opt to run leaner, cut fuel on overrun etc to extend distance between refills.

( Night racing and wet weather racing are obviously essential as well. Very surprised they weren't included from the start!

(9) Wave white flags in multiplayer when some muppet is trundling around the track as you bear down on them at 300 km/h...

(10) Multiplayer hoppers are rubbish - not enough people race in the A Class Expert hopper, meaning I have to deal with the other muppets who require driving aids to get around the track.

(11) Sound is pretty woeful and doesn't change with modifications. E.g. cams, exhaust, engine management etc. Also, in cars with weight reduction (i.e. sound deadening removed) you should be able to hear gravel etc bouncing off the underbody of the car.

Graphics

(1) Generally graphics are far less important to me than gameplay or physics, but it would be nice to see the cars spitting flames where cat converters have been removed. Gunk (dirt, dust, oil) should also accumulate on the screen throughout a race. If my old Playstation with a game from 12 years ago can manage this, so can Forza.

(2) Windscreens should also shatter from the cockpit view, as they do from the outside.

(3) Interior view doesn't change with weight reduction.


And that's about it... over all the quality control on what was released is pretty bloody woeful...


Cheers

[MattyT]

I'm sure a lot of this would have been considered by Turn 10. But you have to take into account that some of those things you mention require a lot of computing power to figure out / display OR make the experience entirely too "difficult". Turn 10 wanted to make a semi-realistic racer that appealed to the masses.

There are other games which offer much more realism (GTR on PC?). Does the gran turismo series offer much of what your suggesting here?

I enjoy FM3 for what it is and I dont really want to go any further in depth in the racing experience as this is meant to be entertainment, not a job.

No, I dont know why they omitted flames from exhaust either. At least you do get the overrun sounds.

Finally, yes you CAN tune your car for each track before the start of each race. You can save individual tuning setups for each car too, so if you really wanted you could have a tuning setup for each track in the game.

[Umai Naa!!]

Grid has the ability to write-off a car. Would give the game another level of realism. I know I felt rather crest-fallen when I wrote my Chev Lacetti touring car on Grid. Having no money to replace it sucked.