FELiYCORA
16-05-2004, 14:22
http://xbox.boomtown.net/en_uk/articles/art.view.php?id=5160
Forza Motorsports preview
Microsoft hate Gran Turismo, which they made quite obvious with Project Gotham Racing. Forza Motorsports makes it even clearer.
Gran Turismo has become an immensely strong brand over the years, strengthening the PS2 a good deal in the battle against the Xbox. So far Microsoft have put their money on the Project Gotham Racing series to combat it, but now they shift gears with the brand new Forza Motorsports ? a simulator along the lines of Gran Turismo, stripped bare of all arcade elements. The game is influenced by Gran Turismo, but also by Need for Speed: Underground and Live for Speed, which all serves to make this an explosive cocktail.
I managed to push my way up to an Xbox running Forza at Microsoft?s huge E3 display and I also got to talk a little with level designer Eugene Wong as I raced around some of the tracks in the game.
The battle against the empire
No doubt the Forza team uses Gran Turismo as a measure for themselves. Forza has cars from over sixty manufacturers and while that may be less than the eighty that Gran Turismo 4 has, it?s mostly due to the fact that Forza doesn?t contain all the common cars and all the old cars. And, honestly, who wants to drive these cars for more than once or twice? Furthermore Microsoft have attained two real gems that have so far been missing from Gran Turismo: Porsche and Ferrari. All in all it seems that the game will be very strong car-wise.
The development team has addressed many of Gran Turismo?s flaws, among which is the damage modelling. I happened to push another car a little and that resulted in some very apparent scratches in my car?s finish. Damage will of course also influence the handling and performance of your car, as will regular wear and tear. The computer controlled cars are worth noting as well. The team have developed what they themselves call Drivatar, which basically means that you can train the AI to drive better and even to imitate your style of driving. According to the Forza team this should actually produce an AI that drives almost as good as human players. By the way, the AI is also based on a PhD thesis from Cambridge University.
Create your own car? almost
Forza is probably Microsoft?s number one title at this year?s E3. In the first presentation of the game it almost seemed as if it would be possible to completely build your own car. Obviously you don?t get quite that much freedom, but as in Need for Speed: Underground you can alter your car?s appearance and performance quite substantially through the purchase of upgrades. There are 150 licensed car part manufacturers in the game and you can buy body kits, spoilers, custom bumpers and so forth. As opposed to Underground it?s not just about styling you car and adding some tuning kits. In Forza you can tweak forty areas of the car including the ignition. You can also customise colours and stickers and even draw something yourself ? just remember that your artworks will be on display for your opponents to see on Xbox Live, should you choose to race there.
Xbox Live will be very central to Forza, but unfortunately Eugene Wong wasn?t allowed to reveal much, giving me the feeling that something major will be announced in the next couple of months. However, he did tell me that players will be able to buy and sell cars to each other on Live using Forza?s credit system. This adds an element of role-playing to the game and it makes it important to pay attention to the properties of your car, where ?rarity? is the most valuable commodity. If you succeed in creating a truly unique car, you can sell it for a lot of credits, which will probably make a lot of players specialise in creating rare cars exclusively.
From Laguna to Nuremberg
Eugene Wong demonstrated one of the tracks he had created, Laguna Seca. Completing this track alone took him four months, during which he was also at the real world counterpart for a couple of days. The original charts and blueprints were most important in creating the virtual version of the track though. Forza also contains the legendary Nürburgring Nordschleife, so aficionados will have plenty to drool over.
Forza is definitely more realistic than Project Gotham Racing, which is already described as being a pretty realistic racing game itself. Compared to Gran Turismo 4 the handling may be a little more forgiving but not much. No doubt that the two games will be compared a lot on the web and opinions will be divided. I had a better sense of speed than in Gran Turismo 4 that somehow feels a little slow, even when you are driving at top speed. Forza also has a more interesting AI that should be able to deliver some good duels ? not just against you but among the computer controlled cars as well.
The deciding factor will probably be the online part and here Forza has an advantage in the buy/sell element of the game. Gran Turismo players are very passionate about their collection of cars themselves and what could be cooler than creating a kick-ass car, making money of it and buying an even more kick ass car? The races support eight players as a minimum, but whether or not sixteen players can race at the same time has not yet been decided. For all you readers out there, worrying about steering wheel support I can comfort you by saying that Eugene Wong told me an official Forza steering wheel will be released for the Xbox, so you don?t have to settle for the joypad.
Racing game enthusiasts have a lot to look forward to in the near future. The low price of the consoles means that you can have more than one and avoid having to choose between Gran Turismo 4 and Forza Motorsports. You could argue that Microsoft is plagiarising Gran Turismo (including the pre-race countdown with three different camera angles) but the genre will only benefit from this increased competition and we will witness even higher standards for racing games. Forza Motorsports will be released for the Xbox in the winter of 2005.
Source: Boomtown DK
English version by: Julian Henlov (Progrock)
http://i.boomtown.net/pics/2/5/8/50852/640x480.jpg
http://i.boomtown.net/pics/7/4/8/50847/640x480.jpg
http://i.boomtown.net/pics/9/4/8/50849/640x480.jpg
http://i.boomtown.net/pics/1/5/8/50851/640x480.jpg
ca esta o que faltava á xbox pra ser melhor k a PS2... :x2: :x2: :x2: (ainda falta o gta)
vamos ver se está a altura do GT4... graficamente n parece tao evoluido, mas tambem esta em desenvolvimento à menos tempo. sera que sai para PC ou sera exclusivo Xbox?
inverno de 2005 nao é mt especifico... pk no inicio do ano é inverno e no fim tambem... lol... onde ficamos?? :D
Forza Motorsports preview
Microsoft hate Gran Turismo, which they made quite obvious with Project Gotham Racing. Forza Motorsports makes it even clearer.
Gran Turismo has become an immensely strong brand over the years, strengthening the PS2 a good deal in the battle against the Xbox. So far Microsoft have put their money on the Project Gotham Racing series to combat it, but now they shift gears with the brand new Forza Motorsports ? a simulator along the lines of Gran Turismo, stripped bare of all arcade elements. The game is influenced by Gran Turismo, but also by Need for Speed: Underground and Live for Speed, which all serves to make this an explosive cocktail.
I managed to push my way up to an Xbox running Forza at Microsoft?s huge E3 display and I also got to talk a little with level designer Eugene Wong as I raced around some of the tracks in the game.
The battle against the empire
No doubt the Forza team uses Gran Turismo as a measure for themselves. Forza has cars from over sixty manufacturers and while that may be less than the eighty that Gran Turismo 4 has, it?s mostly due to the fact that Forza doesn?t contain all the common cars and all the old cars. And, honestly, who wants to drive these cars for more than once or twice? Furthermore Microsoft have attained two real gems that have so far been missing from Gran Turismo: Porsche and Ferrari. All in all it seems that the game will be very strong car-wise.
The development team has addressed many of Gran Turismo?s flaws, among which is the damage modelling. I happened to push another car a little and that resulted in some very apparent scratches in my car?s finish. Damage will of course also influence the handling and performance of your car, as will regular wear and tear. The computer controlled cars are worth noting as well. The team have developed what they themselves call Drivatar, which basically means that you can train the AI to drive better and even to imitate your style of driving. According to the Forza team this should actually produce an AI that drives almost as good as human players. By the way, the AI is also based on a PhD thesis from Cambridge University.
Create your own car? almost
Forza is probably Microsoft?s number one title at this year?s E3. In the first presentation of the game it almost seemed as if it would be possible to completely build your own car. Obviously you don?t get quite that much freedom, but as in Need for Speed: Underground you can alter your car?s appearance and performance quite substantially through the purchase of upgrades. There are 150 licensed car part manufacturers in the game and you can buy body kits, spoilers, custom bumpers and so forth. As opposed to Underground it?s not just about styling you car and adding some tuning kits. In Forza you can tweak forty areas of the car including the ignition. You can also customise colours and stickers and even draw something yourself ? just remember that your artworks will be on display for your opponents to see on Xbox Live, should you choose to race there.
Xbox Live will be very central to Forza, but unfortunately Eugene Wong wasn?t allowed to reveal much, giving me the feeling that something major will be announced in the next couple of months. However, he did tell me that players will be able to buy and sell cars to each other on Live using Forza?s credit system. This adds an element of role-playing to the game and it makes it important to pay attention to the properties of your car, where ?rarity? is the most valuable commodity. If you succeed in creating a truly unique car, you can sell it for a lot of credits, which will probably make a lot of players specialise in creating rare cars exclusively.
From Laguna to Nuremberg
Eugene Wong demonstrated one of the tracks he had created, Laguna Seca. Completing this track alone took him four months, during which he was also at the real world counterpart for a couple of days. The original charts and blueprints were most important in creating the virtual version of the track though. Forza also contains the legendary Nürburgring Nordschleife, so aficionados will have plenty to drool over.
Forza is definitely more realistic than Project Gotham Racing, which is already described as being a pretty realistic racing game itself. Compared to Gran Turismo 4 the handling may be a little more forgiving but not much. No doubt that the two games will be compared a lot on the web and opinions will be divided. I had a better sense of speed than in Gran Turismo 4 that somehow feels a little slow, even when you are driving at top speed. Forza also has a more interesting AI that should be able to deliver some good duels ? not just against you but among the computer controlled cars as well.
The deciding factor will probably be the online part and here Forza has an advantage in the buy/sell element of the game. Gran Turismo players are very passionate about their collection of cars themselves and what could be cooler than creating a kick-ass car, making money of it and buying an even more kick ass car? The races support eight players as a minimum, but whether or not sixteen players can race at the same time has not yet been decided. For all you readers out there, worrying about steering wheel support I can comfort you by saying that Eugene Wong told me an official Forza steering wheel will be released for the Xbox, so you don?t have to settle for the joypad.
Racing game enthusiasts have a lot to look forward to in the near future. The low price of the consoles means that you can have more than one and avoid having to choose between Gran Turismo 4 and Forza Motorsports. You could argue that Microsoft is plagiarising Gran Turismo (including the pre-race countdown with three different camera angles) but the genre will only benefit from this increased competition and we will witness even higher standards for racing games. Forza Motorsports will be released for the Xbox in the winter of 2005.
Source: Boomtown DK
English version by: Julian Henlov (Progrock)
http://i.boomtown.net/pics/2/5/8/50852/640x480.jpg
http://i.boomtown.net/pics/7/4/8/50847/640x480.jpg
http://i.boomtown.net/pics/9/4/8/50849/640x480.jpg
http://i.boomtown.net/pics/1/5/8/50851/640x480.jpg
ca esta o que faltava á xbox pra ser melhor k a PS2... :x2: :x2: :x2: (ainda falta o gta)
vamos ver se está a altura do GT4... graficamente n parece tao evoluido, mas tambem esta em desenvolvimento à menos tempo. sera que sai para PC ou sera exclusivo Xbox?
inverno de 2005 nao é mt especifico... pk no inicio do ano é inverno e no fim tambem... lol... onde ficamos?? :D