Forza 4 Official Thread - 10/11 - Start your engines, Forza released

[vshah]

Don't you have to pay for the cars anyways? I entered all the codes from the LCE and still only had the starting car in my garage before I started racing.. Unless I'm missing something.

yes you still have to pay for them in career, but they are available in quickplay

damn I am so used to hitting right bumper to upgrade parts that I keep on putting drag tires on my cars

Sent from my Sensation using Tapatalk

 

[brblx]

got to play this for the first time today. on the fence about buying it.

if forza 2 was more like forza 1.5, this is like forza 3.1. could've just been released as 'forza3 topgear edition w/ high poly car pack.'

basically, they said 'what can anyone say GT4 actually has against us?' then they increased the car detail, made a handful of the cars 'complete,' and added the top gear track.

do i like it? yeah. is it absolutely silly how much they continue to rehash the same (often good) tracks and (often shitty) cars? yeah. please quit telling us how many cars are in the game if you're going to include the same shitty identical race cars, and other pieces of crap that have been in the game since forza1 or 2 despite no one liking them. and quit making 'new' tracks by just bringing something back from an earlier game.

christ this is lazy. i also like how they felt the need to make the menus absolutely useless. 'forza3 was obviously too easy to read....i know, let's switch it to tiny gray text on a gray background! BRILLIANT!'

edit: also, fourth game and the AI still sucks this much ass? really? is it that hard to get them to acknowledge your presence on the track at all?

 

[Kabob]

Trying to play now, it's trying to download an update that keeps failing. I can't get into the Forza forums right now to see if it's just me or a global problem either.

 

[HybridSquirrel]

did I miss something, or is Porsche not a part of the game?

 

[Lotheron]

did I miss something, or is Porsche not a part of the game?

No, Porsche is not in the game.

Blame EA/Porsche.

 

[JackSpadesSI]

Is there any way to remap the controller buttons? In FM3 the Y button was "look back" and now it is rewind.

I keep accidentally rewinding the race just because I want to see if I'm about to be passed!

 

[AstroManLuca]

got to play this for the first time today. on the fence about buying it.

if forza 2 was more like forza 1.5, this is like forza 3.1. could've just been released as 'forza3 topgear edition w/ high poly car pack.'

basically, they said 'what can anyone say GT4 actually has against us?' then they increased the car detail, made a handful of the cars 'complete,' and added the top gear track.

do i like it? yeah. is it absolutely silly how much they continue to rehash the same (often good) tracks and (often shitty) cars? yeah. please quit telling us how many cars are in the game if you're going to include the same shitty identical race cars, and other pieces of crap that have been in the game since forza1 or 2 despite no one liking them. and quit making 'new' tracks by just bringing something back from an earlier game.

christ this is lazy. i also like how they felt the need to make the menus absolutely useless. 'forza3 was obviously too easy to read....i know, let's switch it to tiny gray text on a gray background! BRILLIANT!'

edit: also, fourth game and the AI still sucks this much ass? really? is it that hard to get them to acknowledge your presence on the track at all?

The problem for me is I think the biggest changes were for multiplayer stuff. So if you just want to play the game single player, it's not nearly as much of an upgrade over Forza 3. I'm still interested in the game because it seems like what Forza 3 should have been, but on the other hand, I already have Forza 3.

What really gets me is the number of tracks. This was the one thing I really wanted them to improve more than anything. My biggest problem with the Forza series is that there just aren't enough locales to race in. When you're playing the single player game, it gets boring fast.

So all in all it feels like I'd be paying $60 for Forza 3 with an updated graphics and physics engine, and while those are nice things, I'd rather have seen Forza 3 with more variety instead. Looking over the car list, it looks like most of the new cars are race cars and there are still all of those boring 2000-2005 MY cars that have been in every installment of the game. And if you want newer or more exciting ones, you have to pay for the collector's edition or DLC.

 

[vshah]

Is there any way to remap the controller buttons? In FM3 the Y button was "look back" and now it is rewind.

I keep accidentally rewinding the race just because I want to see if I'm about to be passed!

yes, hit the home button (select or start, i forget which..there's an icon in the bottom right) and select "profile" from there. you can customize controller settings there.


edit:
haha, on forzamotorsport.net, i can see how much money you all have in-game

 

[Atomic Playboy]

Some updated thoughts from earlier. First off, I'm not sure how I feel about the car customization aspects this time around. Literally every car you win in Season Play is upgraded to the highest point within its initial level, though this is not true for cars you buy. If I buy a Pontiac GTO, it may be a mid-level C-class car, but if I win it, the game automatically picks upgrades to make it as high as it will go and still be C-class. Couple this with driver affinity levels that make upgrading completely free after a handful of races with any manufacturer, and upgrading becomes a complete joke. I've spent a grand total of less than $20,000 on upgrades so I could get my 360 Modena up to the peak A level. Every other upgrade has either been attached to the cars I've won or given for free because of my manufacturer affinity level. What happened to the economy of trying to manage your money to effectively upgrade to best your competition?

And that's another thing that bothers me. Racing in a bone-stock car that you just bought is virtually impossible. My 360 Modena was a mid-level A class car when I bought it. If I enter it in ANY event for A class cars, every single one of my opponents will be driving a car that's upgraded to the very top of the A class. I understand why the developers did this; in Forza 3, it was simple to upgrade a car and race it against your bone-stock opponents who would have no chance. But what if I want to enter an unmodified 458 Italia in a race with other unmodified 458 Italias? Can't do it. I'll get my doors blown off because every AI racer is going to have a souped-up ride. The only times this doesn't happen is if your car's stock level happens to be right around the top of the class it's in (such as the Ferrari 430). It would be nice to have the option of unmodified racing so we could feel how these cars would feel if we were ever actually able to race them in the real world.

So the manufacturers got rid of the cheesy method of racing where you could simply max out a car and bring it against weaker competition, which I approve of. But then they realized that this was going to be astronomically expensive since you'd have to spend virtually all your credits upgrading your cars, so they broke the economy of upgrading with various methods of obtaining free upgrades, all of which are ridiculously easy to do. The result? Instead of carefully tweaking my setup and trying to get the best mix possible, I'm just taking their word for what my car's upgrades should look like for whatever level I'm racing at and ignoring everything else. I don't have to decide whether it's a better use of money to get a new air filter or a transmission upgrade, so there's little incentive for me to go through the hassle.

Don't get me wrong, I still think the game is fantastic. The cars are all very responsive, although I've found I needed to turn on TCS and Stability Control at the A level and up to keep from sliding around every turn. I just wish I could take an unmodified car into a race and have a fighting chance.

 

[Phanuel]

I just wish I could take an unmodified car into a race and have a fighting chance.

Adjust the difficulty settings, it's like the last or second to last setting down there that removes upgrades from competitor cars.

 

[AstroManLuca]

Some updated thoughts from earlier. First off, I'm not sure how I feel about the car customization aspects this time around. Literally every car you win in Season Play is upgraded to the highest point within its initial level, though this is not true for cars you buy. If I buy a Pontiac GTO, it may be a mid-level C-class car, but if I win it, the game automatically picks upgrades to make it as high as it will go and still be C-class. Couple this with driver affinity levels that make upgrading completely free after a handful of races with any manufacturer, and upgrading becomes a complete joke. I've spent a grand total of less than $20,000 on upgrades so I could get my 360 Modena up to the peak A level. Every other upgrade has either been attached to the cars I've won or given for free because of my manufacturer affinity level. What happened to the economy of trying to manage your money to effectively upgrade to best your competition?

And that's another thing that bothers me. Racing in a bone-stock car that you just bought is virtually impossible. My 360 Modena was a mid-level A class car when I bought it. If I enter it in ANY event for A class cars, every single one of my opponents will be driving a car that's upgraded to the very top of the A class. I understand why the developers did this; in Forza 3, it was simple to upgrade a car and race it against your bone-stock opponents who would have no chance. But what if I want to enter an unmodified 458 Italia in a race with other unmodified 458 Italias? Can't do it. I'll get my doors blown off because every AI racer is going to have a souped-up ride. The only times this doesn't happen is if your car's stock level happens to be right around the top of the class it's in (such as the Ferrari 430). It would be nice to have the option of unmodified racing so we could feel how these cars would feel if we were ever actually able to race them in the real world.

So the manufacturers got rid of the cheesy method of racing where you could simply max out a car and bring it against weaker competition, which I approve of. But then they realized that this was going to be astronomically expensive since you'd have to spend virtually all your credits upgrading your cars, so they broke the economy of upgrading with various methods of obtaining free upgrades, all of which are ridiculously easy to do. The result? Instead of carefully tweaking my setup and trying to get the best mix possible, I'm just taking their word for what my car's upgrades should look like for whatever level I'm racing at and ignoring everything else. I don't have to decide whether it's a better use of money to get a new air filter or a transmission upgrade, so there's little incentive for me to go through the hassle.

Don't get me wrong, I still think the game is fantastic. The cars are all very responsive, although I've found I needed to turn on TCS and Stability Control at the A level and up to keep from sliding around every turn. I just wish I could take an unmodified car into a race and have a fighting chance.

That actually sounds like a feature I'd like. I hated that races in Forza 3 were never competitive. Even class-restricted events had stock cars, so some would be at the bottom of the class while others would be at the top. The only competitive races in Forza 3 were single-model events. It made all the races feel like a chore because they weren't even really races. It was just, drive around this track six times while avoiding five or six F-class obstacles at the first turn of the first lap.

In fact, that might be enough for me to justify buying the game.

 

[Don Vito Corleone]

Some updated thoughts from earlier. First off, I'm not sure how I feel about the car customization aspects this time around. Literally every car you win in Season Play is upgraded to the highest point within its initial level, though this is not true for cars you buy. If I buy a Pontiac GTO, it may be a mid-level C-class car, but if I win it, the game automatically picks upgrades to make it as high as it will go and still be C-class. Couple this with driver affinity levels that make upgrading completely free after a handful of races with any manufacturer, and upgrading becomes a complete joke. I've spent a grand total of less than $20,000 on upgrades so I could get my 360 Modena up to the peak A level. Every other upgrade has either been attached to the cars I've won or given for free because of my manufacturer affinity level. What happened to the economy of trying to manage your money to effectively upgrade to best your competition?

And that's another thing that bothers me. Racing in a bone-stock car that you just bought is virtually impossible. My 360 Modena was a mid-level A class car when I bought it. If I enter it in ANY event for A class cars, every single one of my opponents will be driving a car that's upgraded to the very top of the A class. I understand why the developers did this; in Forza 3, it was simple to upgrade a car and race it against your bone-stock opponents who would have no chance. But what if I want to enter an unmodified 458 Italia in a race with other unmodified 458 Italias? Can't do it. I'll get my doors blown off because every AI racer is going to have a souped-up ride. The only times this doesn't happen is if your car's stock level happens to be right around the top of the class it's in (such as the Ferrari 430). It would be nice to have the option of unmodified racing so we could feel how these cars would feel if we were ever actually able to race them in the real world.

So the manufacturers got rid of the cheesy method of racing where you could simply max out a car and bring it against weaker competition, which I approve of. But then they realized that this was going to be astronomically expensive since you'd have to spend virtually all your credits upgrading your cars, so they broke the economy of upgrading with various methods of obtaining free upgrades, all of which are ridiculously easy to do. The result? Instead of carefully tweaking my setup and trying to get the best mix possible, I'm just taking their word for what my car's upgrades should look like for whatever level I'm racing at and ignoring everything else. I don't have to decide whether it's a better use of money to get a new air filter or a transmission upgrade, so there's little incentive for me to go through the hassle.

Don't get me wrong, I still think the game is fantastic. The cars are all very responsive, although I've found I needed to turn on TCS and Stability Control at the A level and up to keep from sliding around every turn. I just wish I could take an unmodified car into a race and have a fighting chance.

I agree with this. I also wonder whether the auto upgrades chosen by the computer are the most optimal ones for each car. I have tried racing with auto-upgraded cars by class online (this was necessary because I had only played the game for a few minutes before joining the races and hadn't had a chance to purchase any class cars) and I was not competitive with other people with cars they had built. I readily admit I may not have been driving as well as as the competition, but none of the stock cars I chose seemed in any way competitive even if I drove very cleanly.

 

[AstroManLuca]

I agree with this. I also wonder whether the auto upgrades chosen by the computer are the most optimal ones for each car. I have tried racing with auto-upgraded cars by class online (this was necessary because I had only played the game for a few minutes before joining the races and hadn't had a chance to purchase any class cars) and I was not competitive with other people with cars they had built. I readily admit I may not have been driving as well as as the competition, but none of the stock cars I chose seemed in any way competitive even if I drove very cleanly.

Then remove the upgrades and buy your own. You get to spend money on upgrades and customize which upgrades you want, and I get to just roll with whatever they give me. I could never figure out optimal upgrades or tuning anyway.

 

[Don Vito Corleone]

Then remove the upgrades and buy your own. You get to spend money on upgrades and customize which upgrades you want, and I get to just roll with whatever they give me. I could never figure out optimal upgrades or tuning anyway.

These were cars in our club garage. I don't know exactly how that works but I think they were all auto-upgraded to the max permitted by the class.

 

[ivan2]

To get a car to go fast, i usually start with the biggest turbo. If there is awd conversion, all the better

 

[HybridSquirrel]

No, Porsche is not in the game.

Blame EA/Porsche.

meh,i dont like driving vw beetles anyway =D

 

[Atomic Playboy]

That actually sounds like a feature I'd like. I hated that races in Forza 3 were never competitive. Even class-restricted events had stock cars, so some would be at the bottom of the class while others would be at the top. The only competitive races in Forza 3 were single-model events. It made all the races feel like a chore because they weren't even really races. It was just, drive around this track six times while avoiding five or six F-class obstacles at the first turn of the first lap.

In fact, that might be enough for me to justify buying the game.

Don't get me wrong, I think it's great that all the cars are legitimately competitive with each other now; you're not going to be able to overpower your competition with a modded-out car while they're stuck driving stock. It makes the racing way more fun since you're not going to be taking the lead on the first turn and racing by yourself for 5 more laps. I just wish there was an option for everyone to be in unmodded cars so we could get legitimate Viper vs Corvette battles without all the tuning... I'd say the change does far more good than harm though, so yes, it's a good thing overall.

Adjust the difficulty settings, it's like the last or second to last setting down there that removes upgrades from competitor cars.

In Season play or just in Quick Races? I don't remember seeing that option anywhere. Do I have to go through the Options menu under settings? I'll take a look later this afternoon (although I'll probably just keep it as is, but for a few individual races that I might want to try, ie my Vette Viper battle from above, or the Ferrari Lambo races).

 

[Lotheron]

I'm actually of the opposite opinion. I always thought it was stupid that competitors never had anything but stock cars. That's not how the real world works lol.

 

[vshah]

In Season play or just in Quick Races? I don't remember seeing that option anywhere. Do I have to go through the Options menu under settings? I'll take a look later this afternoon (although I'll probably just keep it as is, but for a few individual races that I might want to try, ie my Vette Viper battle from above, or the Ferrari Lambo races).

in season play, but perhaps not in world tour mode. go to career, then event list. in the difficulty settings before the race there is an option to allow or disallow upgrades.

 

[QuikWgn]

To get a car to go fast, i usually start with the biggest turbo. If there is awd conversion, all the better

Not everyone is king of the rocket car Famous

 

[vshah]

These were cars in our club garage. I don't know exactly how that works but I think they were all auto-upgraded to the max permitted by the class.

a couple of those were tuned/upgraded my me personally (the ford gt and miata), not sure about the others.

Not everyone is king of the rocket car Famous

supposedly they tweaked the PI model so AWD cars will have less headroom for upgrades. from
http://forzamotorsport.net/en-us/underthehood2/

There were also two big changes in the PI simulation itself. Looking at the PI simulation in Forza 3, we found that AWD cars were not accelerating out of the corners as effectively as they would in the real world. This meant that the average speed for their simulated lap was lower—thus they had lower PI. This error was related to the code as well as the simulation track geometry. So we changed the track geometry to have more increasing radius lines to follow. We also changed the code to push the front tire limits more while accelerating (especially for AWD cars). These changes made the AWD cars faster in the simulation. By making them faster in the simulation, they get a higher PI. Obviously, these changes don’t change how fast they are on the track when you’re driving them. This just changes how they are scored by the PI system. Therefore, higher PI simulation results for AWD cars means less headroom for upgrades before hitting the class boundary.

 

[QuikWgn]

That was just a dig at Ivan AKA FamousWings vshah. He was infamous in our FM3 sessions for builds that were uber fast AWD cars with no handling upgrades.

 

[brblx]

it's almost worth the $60 to have proper PI ratings, heh. anyone experimented with this? at least at lower levels, can RWD's keep up with AWD's of the same class?

also, who buys the game just to do AWD swaps on everything? ruins everything.

my favorite thing so far was racing the hurst/olds at the top of C class. no upgrades except gearbox, a little weight reduction, and power. pissed all over everything and looked awesome doing it. i think the quarters were scraping the ground occasionally.

 

[vshah]

Not everyone is king of the rocket car Famous

That was just a dig at Ivan AKA FamousWings vshah. He was infamous in our FM3 sessions for builds that were uber fast AWD cars with no handling upgrades.

oh i know. never understood how the hell he managed to stay on track sometimes.
i'm just wondering if his strategy will continue to work in fm4

 

[HybridSquirrel]

it's almost worth the $60 to have proper PI ratings, heh. anyone experimented with this? at least at lower levels, can RWD's keep up with AWD's of the same class?

also, who buys the game just to do AWD swaps on everything? ruins everything.

my favorite thing so far was racing the hurst/olds at the top of C class. no upgrades except gearbox, a little weight reduction, and power. pissed all over everything and looked awesome doing it. i think the quarters were scraping the ground occasionally.

I can semi-confirm it. AWD definitely seems more...AWDy..you still take off a little faster, but not nearly as fast as forza 3. They also made some of the big mods (cams, turbos, ect) count for more points on an AWD car...so you can't have a 700hp skyline racing in A class. Definitely feels more balanced.