Forza Motorsport 3

[icelt]

I beleive thats right on the D-pad now, and left brings up the drift scoring.

Cool. Just verified that and you absolutely correct. Also up and down on the d-pad bring up the telemetry stuff, just like F2 IIRC.

Edit to my Easy Mode/Hop Lap comment... selecting Easy DOES NOT automatically put one into hot lap mode. I guess it was just coincidental that the few times I tried easy I ended up in a hot lap session, which begs the question how in tarnation do you intentionally go into Hot Lap mode?

 

[Joey D]

Wow what an awesome game this is going to be! The demo shows that there are huge changes from FM2 to 3. Everything looks much better and the physics are feel very life like to me.

I obviously went right for the Cooper and I must say I was impressed. I don't really have much experience with a JCW Cooper but it's not that much different from a standard S model. It felt just like an S would with sportier suspension, which is essence is what the JCW is. The interior was 99.9% correct as far as I could tell, the screen on the tach doesn't show the temperature in quite the way the game does it but that's just being nitpicky.

Past that I can not wait for the full version of the game!

 

[paskowitz]

Just played the demo and well... there are some pros and cons and few in between.

Pros
-Amazing graphics (the graphics are crisper/cleaner than GT5 but not as realistic [ie lighting and reflection]. The environments however are absolutely stunning and definitely better than GT5p)
-The environments are so good they deserve a whole bullet point of their own
-Great sound (cars sound throaty but not overly loud)
-Really smooth frame rate (even in my 8 car pile up the FR did not drop an inch)
-Pretty good damage (cars look messed up when you crash them. Sure its not as detailed as GRiD or Shift but its far more realistic in regards to the effect on the car)
-Rewind is fun for repeatedly staging crashes

In between
-The Ai is what I would call good they seem to avoid me and are reasonably competitive and do make mistakes but they make very poor passing decisions and I found even on the hardest setting to be a bit slow. But since this is a demo thus a limited experience I judge this a little less.
-The cockpit view. Yes its nice but honestly its way too close to the dash. Its more like a tach view. I wish I could see the rest of the car like in real life (and other games) Its certainly adds more to the game than it takes away though

Cons
-The physics. Simply put I think this game is WAY too easy to control (this is just my opinion). To get the R8 V10 to slide you have to over turn, slam the gas, and miss your down shift (clutch mode) and then maybe it will slide. Even the RWD California took some serious provocation to oversteer. And then when you do oversteer its easy to catch and control. Sure the cars have a good sense of weight to them (better than GT'5p) but they simply don't handle the part. The Evo is SO frickin slow. I am sorry but I have been in an STI (Evo's rival) and it is nothing like that at all. The only car that seem to handle like I would expect was the 911 GTRSR. You gas it too much and you will be hitting the rewind button. Again this may be one of those things that needs to be fully tested in the final game.

Overall I would rate the Demo a 7.5-8. Its certainly fun but it just does not have that level of difficulty I look for in a sim. I will still get the final product but honestly, I am not as impressed as I thought I would be (well except for the graphics which are like a jump from MGS2 to MGS4).

 

[otago]

Unfortunately I have a silver account and cant download the demo

Same here, but I don't care too much. I'm not interesting in any car listed for demo, all of them boring super handling stuff.

I would like to see in demo at least one real RWD wild thing

 

[Famine]

Same here, but I don't care too much. I'm not interesting in any car listed for demo, all of them boring super handling stuff.

I would like to see in demo at least one real RWD wild thing

I always thought that the 911 and Ferrari California were RWD... And the precise 911 in the demo is a GT2 class racer at that...

 

[McLaren]

Same here, but I don't care too much. I'm not interesting in any car listed for demo, all of them boring super handling stuff.

I would like to see in demo at least one real RWD wild thing

The 911 in the demo is powerful enough. It's very easy to let it get away from you if you don't pay attention.


Anyways, loving the demo. I don't know why, but I have been looking at all the cars in their color selection screen to sounds of "The Ecstasy of Gold" song, and they look so brilliant. I don't know why the in-game shots don't look as good as the menu screens, but they're gorgeous models when you ignore inaccuracies. The close up, panning shots, are great.

Again, this is a bit of a GT ripoff, but it's a good ripoff because the camera just goes through all the lines of these magnificent cars.

 

[MagpieRacer]

Cool. Just verified that and you absolutely correct. Also up and down on the d-pad bring up the telemetry stuff, just like F2 IIRC.

Edit to my Easy Mode/Hop Lap comment... selecting Easy DOES NOT automatically put one into hot lap mode. I guess it was just coincidental that the few times I tried easy I ended up in a hot lap session, which begs the question how in tarnation do you intentionally go into Hot Lap mode?

another tip, while on track select menu, go to the leaderboard and then press A. Hotlapping. Just laid down 20 laps in the 911, sooo much fun!

 

[McLaren]

another tip, while on track select menu, go to the leaderboard and then press A. Hotlapping. Just laid down 20 laps in the 911, sooo much fun!

Thanks for that tip! 👍

 

[otago]

The 911 in the demo is powerful enough.

It's not 911, it's race 911 tuned to death to improve handling and stability

 

[Terronium-12]

It's not 911, it's race 911 tuned to death to improve handling and stability

What?

 

[otago]

What?

LOL. Dude, FIA GT teams spend at least 2-3 car's prices to upgrade the car, they basically rebuild everything and final race car handle nowhere near the base car. Just try any Forza 2 R classes and compare to original models.

Just to give you an example: Pratt & Miller Corvette price tag is 180.000$, which doesn't include the price of donor Z06. This is as close as you can get to race Corvette for your money (you can't buy the real factory FIA GT one, I guess they are not road legal) and overall price is 250.000$

 

[McLaren]

It's not 911, it's race 911 tuned to death to improve handling and stability

It's still a 911. I'm going to type out the whole model, though, in your case, I'd have to type a full 3-page report.

 

[otago]

It's still a 911.

I agree with you, just more stable 911.

As for me I prefer air cooled Porsches pre 1995 era, they are much more challenging to drive than a modern ones and have distinctive feeling of rear engine/heavy butt

 

[TeamStig]

My thoughts:

The good: I was surprised to find that the oversteer physics - my biggest complaint from previous Forzas - is gone. You feel more in control. I wouldn't call it easier - just more realistic. I also found the A.I. perfect at the hard setting. They are more aggressive, but you can also pressure them unlike in the last game. The graphics are great, very sharp and vibrant. The Camino Viejo track is one of the best looking circuits in any racing game I've ever played. The user interface is also cleaner and brighter - suspiciously, Turn 10 seems to have gotten its inspiration from another famous driving simulator .

Now the bad: The game shows signs of being produced under a tight development cycle. A perfect example is how the seating position for the cockpit cam was moved up way too close to the dashboard, most likely so that the development team would have less to model. Also, being the gearhead that I am, I was disappointed with some of the inaccuracies in the cars themselves. Why don't the Ferrari California's taillights work? Why is one of the speakers in the Audi R8's interior a flat 2D texture? I would have much rather waited an extra month or two for Turn 10 to polish up these inconsistencies.

Overall, I am very impressed and excited for the full game! FM3 is what FM2 should have been in the first place.

 

[Rykon Zero]

Well, it is a demo, I assume they'll smooth those things out.

 

[otago]

The good: I was surprised to find that the oversteer physics - my biggest complaint from previous Forzas - is gone.

You must hate GT5 Prologue, cars there oversteer more than in Forza 2.

Though I still count on car selection, you need to try pretty hard to get some oversteer from cars like Mini, Lancer, R8

 

[TeamStig]

You must hate GT5 Prologue, cars there oversteer more than in Forza 2.

Though I still count on car selection, you need to try pretty hard to get some oversteer from cars like Mini, Lancer, R8

Haha, I actually find GT5P's physics a bit too understeery. Then again, I never go out of my way to drift in either game. Maybe I'm in the minority.

 

[Eric.]

As expected, using the clutch on a controller is awful...Hmmph. Not so bad on the upshifts, but its the same issue as NFS Shift where I cannot downshift and brake simultaneously. Auto clutch it is...


Though, you can make a mess of those cones before the start/finish line and do some random gymkhana with the clutch enabled.

 

[otago]

Haha, I actually find GT5P's physics a bit too understeery.

Probably depends on what car are you driving. Try NSX and Ford GT, they are not just overrsteer more than Forza 2, but a way more.

After watching J.Clarkson driving NSX on Laguna Seca in GT4 episode I thought Forza 2 NSX oversteering is not enough, GT5 Prologue looks more like this. LOL

 

[tfujiwara]

RX7(FC3S) Confirmed and Bodykit for the AE86.Wow, look at those rims

 

[Crashbroke23]

Demo Impressions: Not Bad!

I wasn't expecting much from this demo, really. I was expecting a meh track and a good race car, at the least. To my amazement, I really like the track in the Demo, except for the gratutious jump. Its probably the only moment in a racing game where i dont like a jump during a race. But other than that, I wish i could be the cars that I raced against. The R classes seemed more balanced than ever. In a race, I saw the Primetime Viper go all the way to THIRD before i passed it on the final lap. If the AI could pull a Jon Field like that in the Full Game, I can't wait to see what happends.

 

[aspect8]

Why don't the Ferrari California's taillights work?

No daytime running lights in Forza, or headlights/tail lights. Sad I know. The brake lights are in the right place though.

Environments are stunning, replays are far improved. Cockpit view is serviceable, game play graphics are serviceable. The F2 demo was too small to convey the best things about the game, and this one fails too. It's a testament to the driving model that it's still kept me amused for hours. Also, already some crazy hotlap times being posted.

 

[440 CHARGER]

Just played the demo, an I am a little disappointed.

What I liked...
- The physics feel good. They are probably improved over FM2, but it, for the most part, feels like FM2. But that's not a bad thing.

- The sound is awesome, as usual. I definitely enjoy how most of the cars in all of the FM series have their own unique tones, and it looks like FM3 sounds mostly the same, but with some nice new sound effects added in here and there. I really like how the engine tones bounce around when rpms change between shifting. The sounds are excellent!

What I am in the middle on...
- The course/track is beautiful, but it just doesn't have that realism that I'd like to see.

And here come the disappointments...
- The graphics are a real let down for me. Sure they are incredibly smooth and clean, but the game just looks a tad too much on the toy-like arcade style side. But maybe that's what they need to be. They are however an improvement over FM2, but they just lack the appeal. Sure it is cool to have a cockpit view, but everything in it looks like plastic toys. I promise I am not trying to hate on FM3, but it is night and day when you compare GT5 and FM3. But everybody around here pretty much knows that already.

Car rollover and damage....
- Totally should not have tried to implement car rollover. They should have used the time and money they spent on this elsewhere. Very arcade-ish looking to me. But I guess it's probably better than the car staying glued to the track when you ram head on into another car at 100 + mph.

- Car damage, well, looks much like FM2. Not very realistic. Now the way the damage effects the physics is ok, it's just the visual part of it. You can still smash into a concrete wall at 100 mph and only have a broken headlight and some paint chips. I really didn't see much body deformation. There was a little bit, but not what you'd expect.

- Oh, and I hate my car bottoming out 6 or 7 times a lap, and ind places that just don't make sense. If it bottoms out, fine, but we don't need the incredibly annoying sound it makes when it bottoms out. This part really irritated me.

- Also, hearing my brakes squeak the first time was cool, but having to hear it every time I start a race gets old really quick!

- And lastly, I felt like the AI was always bashing into me. Not from the rear, but just running me off the road as if I wasn't there. Maybe I was doing the same, but I like to run a clean race, and it seemed impossible!

So overall the demo is ok. I was just expecting a little more polish than this. The toyish graphics were the biggest let down, but most other aspects of the game will keep it fun, like the customization and liveries and the good physics and awesome sound. FM3 will keep my appetite for a new racing game until GT5 makes it's supposed March 2010 release.

 

[y2blade]

I love the free run mode,I did 10 lap stints in both the evo and R8 last night

first impressions are very good, started with the mini and worked my way up with only the ABS on and all the cars had good grip in std trim...more so than forza2...the graphics are good as are the engine noises

I did only a couple of 2 lap races in each car and the AI is a lot better than in previous Forza games

I cant wait to start tuning these cars


THANK YOU turn10



really enjoying this demo

 

[Chronos]

Hey guys, since I normally frequent the GT5 forum and don't want to get them all uppity, does anyone know the name of the song used in the F3 458 tribute video? Specifically the part from :50 onwards. I enjoy it much more than the GT5 one, but everyone else disagrees so I can't seem to get any help.

Forza 3 Ferrari tribute music

Music intro: Mistabishi - Talk Me Down


Main: Alex Metric - What Now

 

[KSaiyu]

Updated impressions:

Still can't believe how much better the cars feel with the wheel, RWD cars will actually be useful when stock and up against FWD/AWD online it looks like. That being what's with the high-end cars being so toothless. Deliberately flooring the throttle coming out in 2nd gear in the California made me think I was driving a '90s Audi, not a 450 BHP rear wheel drive Ferrari. Weight and load transfer is much improved over Forza 2 and the grip levels filter through the wheel really well although the model might not be as nuanced as some sim-fans might want; a bit one dimensional.

Trail-braking is effective although in all cars apart from the GT3 I felt like the game was holding my hand - giving me grip but no threat at all of the rear going light. My concern is that some of the cars might have GT4-syndrome in which when they're stock they'll feel similar to one another because some of their traits can't come through. Perversely I found myself wanting some (and only some) of F2s snappiness to lift off/power oversteer just to add a little spice to proceedings, however the GT3 certainly gives me hope for some challenging driving.

Overall, with the wheel it's better than I was expecting and only makes the wait that much harder. Or easier, depending on how you look at it . Oh and there's hotlapping now? Bye bye ODST....

 

[Pebb]

Stock Demo Shot:


Click for the full size

Taken On: Blackmagic Intensity Pro​

 

[CAMAROBOY69]

Quite impressed with the demo. Much better than the Forza 2 demo by a longshot.

The demo is excellent. Graphics are way better then I expected. Especially the backround scenery graphics. The Audi handles like a dream. Each class truly handles like it should and the physics are very good. I tried about 4 laps with the Audi and the Evo to see where I would stand in the timed leaderboards. Overall I was around 1,400 for both. On was in 2nd position on my friends list which isnt too bad considering I had all assists off besides braking line and auto. When the full game is out I will use manual with clutch but I want to change the location of the buttons so that I can shift with the right analog stick. Similar to NFS Pro Street.

The new auto braking system and rewind button are excellent. I am sure I will use the rewind button a few times for sure. Especially if I make a huge mistake on an endurance race or simply dont feel like restarting the race because of an error.

Cant wait to see how the drag racing events and drift events work. Really looking forward to the uphill and downhill Kaido challenges. Also cant wait to see the photo mode and looking forward to seeing how many vinyl creations I can come up with this time.

 

[Cobalt600]

I have just had a muck around with it, I am definatly impressed overall I think they have done well.

I like the track, physics is good, havent played it much more to test out damage but overall I say 8 out of 10 for the demo. Would have been nice for it to be multiplayer.

 

[shawtyoner]

Played the demo last night for a good, hmm lets say 5 min, before my xbox froze and crapped out on me, again, for the second time. The really annoying thing however is how it died on me the first time when FM2 was just about to be released, and now right when FM3 is around the corner. Sometimes life can be very, very cruel. Overall polish of the game was very good to my surprise, and the sound was off the wall good.