Maybe it’s because I come from a sim racing time which predates braking lines, but I don’t see what’s difficult about not using one. I’ve tried it of course, but for me I find them to be weird, and it tends to make me focus just past the nose of my car rather than further down the track. It teaches almost nothing about what makes a person a better driver, and reinforces a passive method of driving. I’ve seen friends greatly struggle when they began playing PC sims, and the simple practice of learning a new car/track combo becomes a process of repeatedly braking too late and sliding out wide and going off-track.
As ever, go with what works best for you, but I just don’t see how it helps more than it hinders in the long run.
My .02 cents. For all it’s worth.
Real life tracks all have corner markers and brake makers so drivers have a visual reference going into corners. They also have full visual reference of the track something which is hard to fully replicate in the game. Although FM7 does far better than any other game to date. While the game has the corner and brake markers it lacks the full visual reference for someone (like me) with less than perfect vision. For me it’s just a game, and the brake line is just a tool in the game to help visualize the brake points.
If it works for you with it off, by all means, turn it off.
If it works for you with it on, leave it on and enjoy the game.
Cause it ain’t real, it’s just a game, have fun.
Will turning the line off make you faster … yes! I know this because I have done this. Will it make you the one of the fastest racers in Forza, probably not, but I myself have done pretty well in the rivals without the line.
"The Ferrari 360 CS), which I believe I hold the records for the fastest time in a 360 CS for 9/10 of those events "
Really? I have never considered the Ferrari 360 CS to be a leaderboard car for anything, good car and fun to race, but have beaten many with cars that hardly anyone races in A-class.
Yes, I’d turn on the braking line in the FRR hopper whenever Suzuka or Maple Valley would get voted in just so i could get a gist of the track, once i turned it off I’d get better lap times, not the best but better.
In Forza 6 I was doing a rivals event at Watkins Glen, I was struggling to get decent times so turned on the racing line … didn’t help me.
I use the braking line, but I don’t need it, I actually have brake points memorized for most tracks. The only reason why I leave it on is because sometimes the game throws you into some stupid layout of a track I never run and it helps remind me where things are. I also use the braking like as reference on some tracks, IE Leguna Seca, braking into the corkscrew I line up to the right of the line and brake as the first distance marker comes into view. I could do that without the braking line, but it’s now part of my visual reference and really I see no need to turn it off. The game lacks for visual detail so reference points are harder to make.
Regardless if you saw my replays I’m not using the actual braking line for reference, but they are still on. Most important information to remember is what gear you take the corner in, it’s easy to figure out when to brake if you know where you need to slow the car down to.
Just want to mention the braking line won’t make you a better or worse driver. If you gain lap speed with the line off, you had other mechanical issues. You are paying too close attention to a colored line than to what your car is capable of and how it’s driving. Turning the line off just forced you to adjust your playstyle.
I would say straight up, if you have trouble beating unbeatable level AI, the issue isn’t the braking line. The issue is the other aspects of the game, from learning how different cars handle, how to properly brake and different brake techniques, how and when to accelerate out of corners, how to properly set up for turns, lap after lap consistency, etc…
The whole “practice makes perfect” quote is somewhat true, however, ineffective practice is and will always be ineffective. Here’s some pointers:
Start in a slow, easy to control car and build yourself up over time.
The reason for this is simple. When turning off the braking line you need to use reference points on the track to spot your braking zones. Things like brake board markers, trees, shadows, environmental objects and so on. In a slow car, it gives you more time to initially look around and pick out these reference points rather than a fast car where it’s just harder to react.
Pick a track with that you are comfortable and know well.
Self explanatory. If you pick a track that you don’t like or know well, you’ll be more inclined to give up simply because not only are you learning to braking points but you’re also learning the circuit itself. It’ll become frustrating if you make this mistake.
Try to pick a circuit with a mixture of all types of braking zones.
This is once again very easy to understand. I personally think Yas Marina and Road America are fantastic tracks because they have corners that require harsh braking zones, trail braking, lifting off the throttle, sharp corners and long flowing bends as well.
Watch top leaderboard times and tutorials online.
You’ll learn a lot from the very best from this game. Not only will you learn braking points but you’ll learn techniques and a whole host of other things as well.
Just keep practicing and when you feel comfortable, switch tacks and cars.
Once you’ve mastered one track in one car, try a faster car or switch tracks all together. I would however always stick to one car that you really like for learning all tracks initially. Pick a car that has really good braking and handling. Something light and grippy like an MX5 or an Elise is perfect.
Here’s a video of me at the Nurburgring in a McLaren P1. The footage is live, ignore the terrible FPS, it was before I got a capture card. I run with no HUD, no assists (apart from switching between manual and manual with clutch depending on the car) and I’m on a wheel. It may look really hard at first but trust me, once you get used to it you’ll never go back and not only is it very rewarding, but it’s actually surprisingly easy once you’ve just put in the time and effort.
That is one of the first things I turn off is the racing line completely. It shows a line not necessarily the best line. Most tracks you really should not need any line for anyway. The only track I can think of to use a line is VIR in the rain. Everything is gray. There are no markers (they usually get obliterated on the first lap anyway) and no landmarks to help judge your braking zone. I think during the career you had to do that VIR ribbon in the rain with muscle cars. Good times good times.
If you can find some videos on youtube of real tracks that helps. You can see where the pros lift, break and turn in. Note a lot of them come very close to or exceed track limits. You would dirty your lap taking the exact same line they do. But it is cool to see where pros brake, turn and exit at turn on a real track and compare it with the virtual track.
I wish Forza had the option of GT’s traffic cones instead of the driving line. Put a few cones at brake lines and one near the apex. It’s so much better.
It’s nowhere near better. It’s not as accurate as a braking line, doesn’t show you the racing line and it takes up more recourse because you have to model the object, it’s shadows and reflections.
The only benefit is aesthetics but if that’s a problem, just turn off the braking line and the problem is solved.
First thing you need is to know it’s ok to make mistakes. You need to find the limit, feel the limit and then stand just behind. So, as many have probably said before me, you must memorize tracks and braking points, but sometimes, 150/100/50 boards get thrown away so you need to develop a feel for your car. I suggest practicing solo and then get to online track days, then full on races, AI or humans. Good luck!
I use the braking line and will continue to do so. It’s much harder in Forza to spot the corner than other racing games and more difficult to see good braking markers. Watch one video on I-Racing and notice how easy it is to spot the coming corner and how easy it is to see the track detail to the sides of the track to mark your braking points, and every major braking zone has massive white braking distance signs. It’s much more difficult to do this on Forza, especially if you are on a regular Xbox One like me instead of the X, losing detail through lower resolution. Forza’s line of sight or sense of depth is off, it blurs the edges of the track at speed making it harder to see good detail to note braking points, it move you closer and farther from the view based on speed and braking messing with your sense of distance, and many major braking zones have no markers to use.
You can still manage to figure it out without the braking line, but it’s a lot harder. So to me the braking line is like having clear braking markers on the track and that is what I use it for when there isn’t really a suitable alternative. The more I practice a track, I usually find some other marker than the braking line and that tends to work better than relying on the braking line, but inevitably there are corners where this is much more difficult to find. I play mostly multiplayer, which means track rotations without time to practice for them, I use a lot of different cars which behave differently, and having to pay attention to the cars around me makes the task of finding braking markers that are already difficult to see even harder.
Not using the barking line may ultimately make you better and I find definitely makes me faster on some corners to not use it doing time trials/rivals, but unless you have the time to spend countless hours practicing every single track and variation or near pro level, I would not recommend it in multiplayer. The amount of people who miss their braking points and ram in the back is already bad enough.
Spotting a braking zone without the braking line will always be harder no matter what. That’s obvious because the breaking line is a continuously dotted red arrow on the actual track. You’re never going to miss it.
Spotting braking points is harder on a PC with everything on low or on a smaller screen because it’s just harder to see everything and like you said, you lose detail. I don’t think there’s that big of a loss in detail from the One to the One X, having owned both. Actually the original console is pretty optimised.
The line of sight and sense of depth can be fixed using a few things:
Going into either cockpit, hood or dash cam view (dash cam offers a much lower field of view).
Selecting one of the three motion types in your HUD settings (Simulation, Normal, Off).
Playing around with the view that suits you best and the motion that suits you best. I drive in either cockpit or dash cam depending on the car. I think overall, cockpit, dash and hood are the best views to learn braking points, however Forza goes wrong with the major things:
Have you tried running a race and just stay behind the AI (not pass them)? I tried this a few times. You know be more patient and not try to win the race on the first lap. You get to see where the AI brakes and turns in. You can then if careful and don’t completely obliterate them in a turn, pick and choose where your best chance to pass is. True the AI can be a bit more cautious at corners but you learn the brake points and turn in point and adjust from there.
the braking line goes hand in hand with the racing line .
thing is that he line is good if you are hot lapping but in a race you wont always be on that line
ultimately you want to work upto where you dont need assists
yo will get better over time and wont need them one day .
Its just practice .
Once upon a time I used to use auto gears but eventually I changed and I improved as a result
Go for it … its worth it if you ever want to get better
