"Take it to the limit, yeah!" Landin is fond of singing that famous hair-metal, four-on-the-floor, happy-hardcore club hit from some forgotten Initial D anime episode when Takumi goes into overdrift mode. He'll belt out the high pitched singing during those heady Fridays when we're cranking out the pitpass reports.
Anyway.
When it comes to serious racing competition on the Xbox 360, Forza 2 has become the de facto platform for gamers. We got a couple emails this week -- one an anecdote from race clan TRC, the other a summary of Forza 2 racers in South Africa -- that were cool enough to share here. In order to preserve the um... purity and personality quirks of the writer, I've decided not to edit either one for grammar or punctuation. Yeah, that's the ticket.
If you've got some cool stories of your own, be sure to email them to forzafb@microsoft.com.
Oh, and in case you hadn't heard, we rolled out the FM.net scoreboard filters this afternoon. You check them out here: http://forzamotorsport.net/scoreboards/Forza2/
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Pit Strategy at its Finest
By: TRC Solo
This past Sunday, Time Racing Club (TRC) decided that to would organize a 25-lap race with a can nobody had really used before. After some debate the decision as made to use a B-class Honda Prelude on Motegi East. With 3 different drive trains to pick from and a track that has both horsepower and handling cars evenly mixed in the top 50 the setups and combinations were all unique. Unfortunately for one member his setup was a little bit too unique, but we'll get to that later.
The race was scheduled to start at 10 local time. When 10 rolled around there still wasn't a full lobby. One of TRC's members, Smokinu, signed on just as the race was ready to start. Unfortunately, for us as it would turn out, he knew nothing about the challenge and didn't have a car. TRC Solo quickly sent him one of his better cars so he had something to run with, but you don't send someone you're about to race the best setup you have.
Qualifying got underway and when the results were in somehow Smokinu had ran the fastest lap and qualified on the pole with a car he had never driven before. The start of the race was a more rubbing than racing. As the initial spike of adrenaline wore off from the start racing was still close and exciting for many laps. A few laps into the race even saw 6th place trade positions cleanly on 3 consecutive corners when ShadowBoxing #7 and Greekman #41 couldn't decide the battle between Red vs. Blue. (see screenshot)
As the race wore on and things spread out everyone realized just how difficult to pass it was with everyone running the same basic lap times. TRC Solo was stuck behind R2P Flying Scot for approximately 7 laps. While clearly faster than Flying Scot, Solo's FWD car just could not keep up with Flying Scot's AWD acceleration out of the corners. This is where pit strategy can come into play on longer races. Knowing he was faster than Flying Scot when not stuck behind him Solo pit 2 laps early on lap 11 and was followed into the pits by TRC Redjett. With that the cycle of pit stops had started.
Two laps after Solo pit it was time for Flying Scot to pit. Pit strategy paid off as both Solo and Redjett passed Flying Scot for 2nd as he left pit road. Well they thought it was 2nd place. TRC Wulf missed the target with his setup. He was clearly at a handicap when it came to the other cars as he didn't have the horsepower to run anyone down, and he didn't have the handling to catch up in the turns. Not wanting to finish last Wulf decided to gamble on fuel mileage.
After everyone else completed their pit stops Wulf momentarily took the lead away from Smokinu, who had pretty much checked out before the pit cycle even began. Sadly within a lap of taking the lead from Smokinu he quickly regained that lead despite the fact Wulf had yet to pit. About 16 laps into the race Redjett took 3rd place away from Solo and the tables were turned as Wulf became the hunted. As Wulf's tires turned red and his car began to slide his slide down the leaderboard began. On Lap 21 Redjett took 2nd from Wulf. Solo posed the question shortly thereafter if Wulf's crewchief had ran his calculations right. Wulf's response. "He has his fingers crossed and something about a worn out rosery. You'll know if you see me stalled on the side of the track." Despite Wulf's bold pit strategy Solo managed to catch and pass the ill-handling Wulf near the end of lap 24.
Perhaps slightly distracted by the Wulf's predicament Flying Scot lost 5th place to TRC Greekman on the last lap. Much to the dismay of those at the back of the pack Wulf's Prelude crossed the line under power and he survived to take home 4th place despite 90% wear on his tires. Smokinu took the checkered flag followed by Redjett and Solo. With some mechanical trouble, a sticky shifter, ShadowBoxing came home in 7th not far behind Flying Scot.
All in all it was an exciting race made all the more exciting with some great pit strategy. Look for some similar length tournament races coming to the multiplayer section of Forza soon. Now if only my car could get that kind of gas mileage...
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South African Racers Show Class
By: Johann Gerber
Not everyone has the budget or means to get involved in serious racing. Honestly, the amount of money required to race can be astronomical. Turn 10 changed this for a bunch of petrol heads in South Africa with the release of Forza Motorsport 2 (FM2).
Since the game’s launch on Xbox 360, a core group of racers took an immediate interest, resulting in some of the most competitive racing seen on a console in South Africa, perhaps even the world. Three months after launch saw the local community run its first tournament (A-class) with 16 entries.
From there the format gained momentum and I am proud to unveil the Porsche Cup (S-class). The format has seen a serious transformation from its humble beginnings to what can only be described as a massive assault on the title honours. The event will be a test event for AGASA – South Africa’s own Cyber League. The Porsche Cup organizer, Dareno, hopes that the rules implemented in the Cup will set the standards for racing in the AGASA Leagues. For this specific event drivers are only allowed to enter a Porsche. It was also decided to test the team event (constructors championship) and saw eight teams enter.
“I believe that FM2 is not just a game about racing it has many more elements to it than just that. You might be a good racer, but if you have no knowledge of tuning and setting up a vehicle you are going to struggle. This is why this tournament is so important to us. We need to show that across more than one lobby in different cars, with different set ups all racers will agree that the event is fair,” commented Dareno.
Dareno’s partner in organizing the event, Plasma280 agrees, adding, “We previously had many issues regarding half full lobbies and the random grid order. This often resulted in good racers getting crashed off the circuit in the first corner. The new qualifying system really puts your grid position into your own hands.”
Some of South Africa’s top racers, and the top contenders for the title include SVS1000, Plasma280 and Nick SA. All three racers are part of South Africa’s oldest Xbox 360 clan, the Recces, and are rounded off with Dareno, PhoenixSA and Carn. This brings the Recces teams to three for the event. “We hope to take the top three positions in the Porsche Cup,” says Phoenix SA, Recces Captain, adding, “We recently brought in Carn. He is a phenomenal racer and now gives us three top teams to race with.”
The Porsche Cup compiles of qualifying on a Sunday night (18:00 GMT+2) and the race night on Thursdays (19:30 GMT+2). To keep the adrenaline pumping and a high-level of anticipation, two races are held per week, with the qualifying sessions determining the grid order for each race.
Sunday, March 3, 2008, was the first qualifying round with the racers embarking on Mugello and Road Atlanta. All the racers were asked to park their vehicles off the track or in the pit lane exit.
This gave each racer the opportunity to utilize one lap to warm their tyres and the next lap for a hot lap, before parking off the track to give the next racer his opportunity. On Mugello it was Carn that dominated proceedings, putting in a hot lap of 1:45.808, followed by Plasma280, PhoenixSA and Bago in fourth.
The Road Atlanta qualifying round saw a completely different picture. SVS1000 recovering from his poor lap in Mugello to set a blistering fast 1:16.476. Plasma280 went second fastest and Phoenix (Mr Consistency) claimed third with Jimmythediblewyrm rounding off the top 4.
All 16 drivers are extremely excited about this Thursday’s (March 6) first Porsche Cup race and judging by the comments on the community’s local forum (http://www.xbox-360.co.za/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=63) the newly adopted qualifying system has set a new standard in racing competitions to be held locally.
Other new rules implemented will include the field be adjudged on total race time and no longer on the position in the lobby also helping to combat half full lobbies. All the racers agree that this format will give someone the true winner’s podium.
Watch out Turn 10 and Microsoft Studios as South Africa’s petrol heads gear up to one of the most anticipated events in its short gaming history.