New to Xbox 360 & Forza 4

LeafGreen

Having been thinking about a games console for years, I finally took the plunge and treated myself to a 360 with Forza 4, as Game were offering a package at £170.

I have played a previous version of Forza a few years ago on a friends box (racing games always were my favourite genre) so I was expecting to become quickly engrossed in no.4!

However, it just hasn't happened! I'm not sure if I'm missing something, maybe Forza just isn't the game for me, or maybe at 39 I have finally grown out of video games!

I started with the world tour - have done a load of these, most of which I have won (I thought fairly easy level of difficulty rather than any amazing skill of my own), but even on the races I have lost it seems to let me progress through to the next races. I haven't felt the need to tune any cars apart from accepting a suggested upgrade to take one to the next class.

I have seen the separate event list, but this also doesn't seem to provide a fulfilling career mode. Could I be playing with too many assists (don't think I have that many turned on)?

I also found it annoying that races have no qualifying so I seem to start 8th on the grid every time!

So - am I missing something? Should I be taking a different approach to how I play this game to get the most out of it? How does everyone else play? Or maybe I should be looking at a different game altogether such as F1 2012 or 2013 where I might be able to feel more involved with qualifying, longer races with pit stop strategies etc.

:beer:

Achtung_Baby

As a driving game enthusiast, I personally don't think Forza can touch Gran Turismo in terms of realism and physics. Saying that, I'm biased as I own GT5 and only play Forza with friends. GT has a full (albeit optional) qualifying system for each race.

Also, you're never too old to be a gamer, my friend!

LeafGreen

:-) yeah, maybe I should have got a PS3 instead! I think it would have been easier to get a racing wheel for that than the xbox as well!

Retrogamer

Achtung_Baby wrote: »

As a driving game enthusiast, I personally don't think Forza can touch Gran Turismo in terms of realism and physics. Saying that, I'm biased as I own GT5 and only play Forza with friends. GT has a full (albeit optional) qualifying system for each race.

Also, you're never too old to be a gamer, my friend!

I disagree on some parts here

I've a 360 and a PS3 with Gran Turismo 5 and Forza 2,3 and 4.

Gran Turismo 5 is good in some aspects for realism depending on what tyres it has and the speeds you're doing, but the sound effects are the same from Gran Turismo 1 still, the AI are idiots and sometimes it feels like the tyres on certain cars are made from plastic.

I like Forza 4 much more as a game. It doesn't look graphically as much but i find cars seem to grip more realistically and i prefer the game physics. In car view is better as well.

For the OP
I'm 30 and still love Forza 4, but the only aid i ever use in any driving game is ABS. Everything else off and manual all the way. Try turning more aids off or down if possible but leave just ABS
Career mode is ok as it unlocks you stuff later on but any races you didn't get gold in you can use even chooser to go back and do them

It's a game orientated around racing customised cars so you really need to fit different parts then start playing around with the settings on them to get the most fun from it. Nothing like racing a Transit van with a BT Openreach paint job with a Turbocharged 5 litre v8 under the bonnet.

sirmosh

Forza is a lot more fun than Gran Turismo. Personally I feel GT is probably a bit more realistic but it's still quite a way off and I actually find it quite boring at times.

When it comes to most racing games I find that playing online is the way to make it more interesting.

Idiophreak

grahamgoo wrote: »

I have seen the separate event list, but this also doesn't seem to provide a fulfilling career mode. Could I be playing with too many assists (don't think I have that many turned on)?

By default, pretty much everything is turned on...you have to manually turn it off. Playing on default settings is essentially playing Scaletrix.

By the time the assisted braking's off, the racing line's off (sometimes I leave the braking part on) and you've switched to manual gearbox, I find it much more interesting to play. I often find, though, in head-to-head races with other cars, they put up little resistance once you're passed, which isn't great - I find NPCs in Dirt put up much more of a fight

Weird_Nev

Yes, play with the difficulty settings, because they're horribly over assisted to begin with!

Turn off: Auto steer (yes, it has it!), auto brake.
Leave traction control on, on it's lowest setting (just helps moderate the throttle on more powerful cars)
I tend to leave braking line on, because I'm a wuss.
Up AI difficulty a few notches until you get decent races out of them.
Eventyally, you'll settle on settings that you're happy with. You can even use a clutch and manual shifts if you want to (it's marginally quicker in skilled hands).

Forza really can be as challenging as you want it to be. There is a huge depth of tuning options which are good fun if you're mechanically minded - adjusting spring and roll rates of suspension, tyre pressures and diff settings really do have tangible effects in game.

Don't forget, there's a huge online scene and that's where the bulk of the "real" racing is. I've had many a happy evening racing with mates, it's a hoot of you know anyone else who plays. Even without, it's far better racing. If you have a months free subscription to "gold" it's worth trying out.

fWIW, I'm a life long GT fan. GT5 was a massive, massive let down. it's stunning 10% of the time (with a steering wheel and pedals, even more stunning) but frstrating as all hell the other 90% of the time.
Forza by comparison is fun 90% of the time and just leaves you wanting more for 10% of the time.

carolan78

Do any of you guys paint your own cars? It seems DH spends more time painting cars these playing these days lol

art4

I have the steering wheel for Forza 4 Its amazing! haha However, nothing beats a classic like NFS Underground!

LeafGreen

So Forza is definitely growing on me with fewer assists. I'm still of the opinion that I think I would prefer a more tightly organised career mode but maybe as I play more that will become less of an issue.

art4 - which wheel do you have? I saw a Logitech G27 (or something) which looked like a nice piece of kit, but it did not appear to be compatible with the 360 for some reason.