This game is going to kick so much ass!
“No way” the forum chatter said shortly after the announcement was made that Forza 2 would run at 60fps.
Chalk another one up for Turn 10 at GDC.
Not only did Forza 2’s MS-internal dev team dispel the myth that smooth animation and Xbox 360 could never be synonymous, but they also illustrated that 60fps physics can work well with such visual prowess as well.
Before we could actually sit down in the Sparco racing seat and grab the force feedback wheel, game lead Dan Greenawalt went through a few of the things that are, ahem, driving Turn 10 this time around. The first point taken away from Dan’s obvious passion for things with four wheels is that car passion and gaming can be mutually exclusive. Of course, there are those gamers that have the hand-eye coordination to be adept at gaming and posses an obsession with road racing and road-racing vehicles, but this isn’t exactly the norm. So the team first wanted to make sure car nuts, some of whom could be completely inept at video games, could appreciate Forza 2.
Cruisin' the countryside.
Turn 10 started with the cars, of course. Three hundred this time around, with support by Ford, Porsche, Honda, Mitsubishi, and Ferrari (and the list goes on). But as any gearhead will tell you, a car sim is only as good as its ability to mod the hell out of the stock iron. Forza 2 has got you covered here as well. More individual power upgrades (such as splitting up power increases by splitting up air and fuel increases), a greater array of engine swaps, and major brands of aero parts (Ings, C-West, Bomex, and Mugen to name a few) are just the tip of the tuning iceberg. Forza 2 will also feature drivetrain swaps that would allow a Type R to compete in an AWD class (Mmmm VTEC and DCCD perhaps?), which should really open up the amount of creativity that one will see in the online community. Wannabe race car tuners will also have the ability to add Forza-branded aero parts to their rides (for cars that don’t have much aftermarket body kit support) in order to not only look the part of race car, but also to reap the benefits and live with the detriments of these sculpted pieces of fiber-reinforced plastic.
Of course, there are those that choose body kits simply for the visual flair, which is all well and good, as the Forza series has always been aesthetic-friendly. You’ll see more of Forza 2’s flair for the visual with the redesigned livery editor, which is essentially like having an auto-specific version of MS Paint within the game. MotoGP is going to have to step it up, as Forza 2 is now boasting 4000 (yes, as in THOUSAND) layers of possible livery, which should make even the most ardent car artiste swoon. CGI Picassos will now also be able to batch move layers, have an actual text tool, and even gradient any layer with a Photoshop-like quickness.
The integration of Xbox Live into all 360 titles is surely a priority to any MS-internal dev team, but we can really see now that Forza 2 is going after the jugular of in-house friendly rival Project Gotham Racing. The big news is that a spectator mode will be a large part of the experience, although we don’t have many details on what it will entail. We do, however, know that custom cars will now be treated like intellectual property and can actually be locked from modification by the creators. There was also mention of an auction house, and a photo mode with track or studio pictures that will automatically be uploaded to Forza.net for sharing, wallpapers, etc.
But as knowledgeable and as enthusiastic as Dan Greenawalt is about Forza 2, we couldn’t wait until his spiel was over and the make-shift sim cockpit was fired up. Yes, Turn 10 brought 3 large plasmas, networked for the full cockpit view, along with a small LCD acting as a rear-view mirror. An Xbox 360 Wireless Racing Wheel was front and center and mounted to a genuine Sparco racing seat, planted firmly on top of a linear actuator plumbed in to the heartbeat of the vehicle.
Looking good as usual.
Instead of opting for the twin VATN turbo’ed 1997 Porsche, we went a bit milder to lessen the learning curve of Forza 2. A jump down in class put us in a virtual dealership filled with off-the-shelf gems of the motorsports world. A fan of the AWD platforms, and realizing that tuned Mitsubishi EVO’s absolutely dominate Japanese time attack events, we opted for a fresh Lancer Evolution IX - possibly the last in a long line of 4G63-powered performance cars for diamond star.
We were plopped onto new venue Sebring - a southern Florida road racer’s dream, which just so happened to serve as a military airfield some years back. The ultra-thick concrete slabs are also ultra-uneven, which made for some interesting driving dynamics from our Evo’s stock, yet tightly-wound suspension. But it was mainly the nut behind the wheel which caused the EVO to screech, squeal, and slip off of the road. The frame rate is already running without a hiccup, even though we saw more of the sophisticated damage model from numerous run-ins with tire walls and steel barriers. Rear wings, bumpers, headlights, and body panels crack, crumble, or just plain disappear depending on the severity of the damage. Expect all of this damage to translate into a ride that may not be drivable, or one that may have one shoe in the scrap heap.
Color us impressed (Okay, really impressed) by Forza 2. The only thing that put a damper on our experience was the peripheral setup, which seemed a bit insecure. The foot pedals were also a bit close to the driver, thus making it difficult to really get the complete experience. There are also some questions we have about the effectiveness of the force feedback, but it’s truly hard to tell how the FF will completely pan out in the final version. Stay tuned for much more on this ground-breaking race sim.
Link to pics.
http://screenshots.teamxbox.com/gallery/1476/Forza-Motorsport-2/p1/
“No way” the forum chatter said shortly after the announcement was made that Forza 2 would run at 60fps.
Chalk another one up for Turn 10 at GDC.
Not only did Forza 2’s MS-internal dev team dispel the myth that smooth animation and Xbox 360 could never be synonymous, but they also illustrated that 60fps physics can work well with such visual prowess as well.
Before we could actually sit down in the Sparco racing seat and grab the force feedback wheel, game lead Dan Greenawalt went through a few of the things that are, ahem, driving Turn 10 this time around. The first point taken away from Dan’s obvious passion for things with four wheels is that car passion and gaming can be mutually exclusive. Of course, there are those gamers that have the hand-eye coordination to be adept at gaming and posses an obsession with road racing and road-racing vehicles, but this isn’t exactly the norm. So the team first wanted to make sure car nuts, some of whom could be completely inept at video games, could appreciate Forza 2.
Cruisin' the countryside.
Turn 10 started with the cars, of course. Three hundred this time around, with support by Ford, Porsche, Honda, Mitsubishi, and Ferrari (and the list goes on). But as any gearhead will tell you, a car sim is only as good as its ability to mod the hell out of the stock iron. Forza 2 has got you covered here as well. More individual power upgrades (such as splitting up power increases by splitting up air and fuel increases), a greater array of engine swaps, and major brands of aero parts (Ings, C-West, Bomex, and Mugen to name a few) are just the tip of the tuning iceberg. Forza 2 will also feature drivetrain swaps that would allow a Type R to compete in an AWD class (Mmmm VTEC and DCCD perhaps?), which should really open up the amount of creativity that one will see in the online community. Wannabe race car tuners will also have the ability to add Forza-branded aero parts to their rides (for cars that don’t have much aftermarket body kit support) in order to not only look the part of race car, but also to reap the benefits and live with the detriments of these sculpted pieces of fiber-reinforced plastic.
Of course, there are those that choose body kits simply for the visual flair, which is all well and good, as the Forza series has always been aesthetic-friendly. You’ll see more of Forza 2’s flair for the visual with the redesigned livery editor, which is essentially like having an auto-specific version of MS Paint within the game. MotoGP is going to have to step it up, as Forza 2 is now boasting 4000 (yes, as in THOUSAND) layers of possible livery, which should make even the most ardent car artiste swoon. CGI Picassos will now also be able to batch move layers, have an actual text tool, and even gradient any layer with a Photoshop-like quickness.
The integration of Xbox Live into all 360 titles is surely a priority to any MS-internal dev team, but we can really see now that Forza 2 is going after the jugular of in-house friendly rival Project Gotham Racing. The big news is that a spectator mode will be a large part of the experience, although we don’t have many details on what it will entail. We do, however, know that custom cars will now be treated like intellectual property and can actually be locked from modification by the creators. There was also mention of an auction house, and a photo mode with track or studio pictures that will automatically be uploaded to Forza.net for sharing, wallpapers, etc.
But as knowledgeable and as enthusiastic as Dan Greenawalt is about Forza 2, we couldn’t wait until his spiel was over and the make-shift sim cockpit was fired up. Yes, Turn 10 brought 3 large plasmas, networked for the full cockpit view, along with a small LCD acting as a rear-view mirror. An Xbox 360 Wireless Racing Wheel was front and center and mounted to a genuine Sparco racing seat, planted firmly on top of a linear actuator plumbed in to the heartbeat of the vehicle.
Looking good as usual.
Instead of opting for the twin VATN turbo’ed 1997 Porsche, we went a bit milder to lessen the learning curve of Forza 2. A jump down in class put us in a virtual dealership filled with off-the-shelf gems of the motorsports world. A fan of the AWD platforms, and realizing that tuned Mitsubishi EVO’s absolutely dominate Japanese time attack events, we opted for a fresh Lancer Evolution IX - possibly the last in a long line of 4G63-powered performance cars for diamond star.
We were plopped onto new venue Sebring - a southern Florida road racer’s dream, which just so happened to serve as a military airfield some years back. The ultra-thick concrete slabs are also ultra-uneven, which made for some interesting driving dynamics from our Evo’s stock, yet tightly-wound suspension. But it was mainly the nut behind the wheel which caused the EVO to screech, squeal, and slip off of the road. The frame rate is already running without a hiccup, even though we saw more of the sophisticated damage model from numerous run-ins with tire walls and steel barriers. Rear wings, bumpers, headlights, and body panels crack, crumble, or just plain disappear depending on the severity of the damage. Expect all of this damage to translate into a ride that may not be drivable, or one that may have one shoe in the scrap heap.
Color us impressed (Okay, really impressed) by Forza 2. The only thing that put a damper on our experience was the peripheral setup, which seemed a bit insecure. The foot pedals were also a bit close to the driver, thus making it difficult to really get the complete experience. There are also some questions we have about the effectiveness of the force feedback, but it’s truly hard to tell how the FF will completely pan out in the final version. Stay tuned for much more on this ground-breaking race sim.
Link to pics.
http://screenshots.teamxbox.com/gallery/1476/Forza-Motorsport-2/p1/
