Forza 4: Catch-All

MannishBoy wrote:
Serenj wrote:

I wouldn't worry about it too much. They just happen to have a staggeringly incompetent website team. I am a massive Forza fan and I frequently subject myself to bouts of annoyance caused by all their website issues.

I used to try to listen to their podcast, and they couldn't seem to keep the Zune feed working, not to mention the RSS feed. Only the itunes feed was up to date.

Haha yea I am not into racing games enough to really visit their site very often of listen to their podcast and I know that the people running the website aren't the people making the games But yea I trust the game to be good. The first one was so/so at best but since then I would choose them over Gran Turismo even if I owned a PS3.

LiquidMantis wrote:

Just a reminder, if you've pre-ordered don't forget to let them know for bonus cars.

So for those of us who don't have a paper receipt, can we just forward the email confirmation?

edit - holy smokes that dude's mom is a sissy. If I ever had the opportunity to drive Laguna Seca with my mother in the car and was going that slow, she's beat me and drive it herself.

I, on page 2, wrote:

Speaking of preorders, in case folks missed it you can get additional freebies from Turn10 by jumping through a couple extra hoops.

It doesn't mention it on that page, but they also accept a PDF/screengrab of online order confirmations in addition to scans/photos of physical preorder receipts. Just to be sure, I added an annotation with my gamertag to the PDF I sent of my Amazon order confirmation page, but in any case that worked fine for me.

Oh, and one other note: it seems that the only confirmation they send is an in game message in Forza 3 (containing the first of the incentive gift cars in Forza 3 form), so don't expect to get an email back or anything. You all have Forza 3 though, right?

Oh, and since then I realized that the car they are sending out as the confirmation was one of the Forza 3 unicorn cars, the Mazda RX-7 Spirit R Type A, which will import to your Forza 4 game along with a few other cars as detailed here. They have since said that the other bonus cars they are giving out will be sent directly in Forza 4.

For those who don't feel like clicking the link, these two charts explain what you will get when you import your Forza 3 career:

Based on your Forza 3 driver level you will get these cars gifted to you at the start of Forza 4:
IMAGE(http://forums.forzamotorsport.net/photos/community/images/4772800/original.aspx)

And if you have any of these cars in your Forza 3 garage, you will have them carry over to Forza 4:
IMAGE(http://forums.forzamotorsport.net/photos/community/images/4772807/original.aspx)

SO VERY EXCITED

I still have Forza 3.. Might wind up reupping Live Gold a couple months early for the wife to check and make sure it goes through for this.

Looks like I need to do a little more leveling in F3. Are those bottom cars available for purchase in F4 or should I plan to purchase them in F3 so that I can get them into F4?

Well, looking at the car list on the site those cars aren't listed. Guess I should plan on buying them in F3 then. Not sure how complete the car listing on the site is though. Chevy only has a 2011 Spark listed.

I recently stuck F3 in and got the wheel out to warm up for Forza 4, and realized why I'd drifted away from the game. I don't think I've liked the New York track in ANY Forza game, and I'm up to a fairly long season championship on that track. Ick. And my compulsion to win every event is doing me in.

Probably should just put it in easy and finish that and move on.

MannishBoy wrote:

I recently stuck F3 in and got the wheel out to warm up for Forza 4, and realized why I'd drifted away from the game. I don't think I've liked the New York track in ANY Forza game, and I'm up to a fairly long season championship on that track. Ick. And my compulsion to win every event is doing me in.

Probably should just put it in easy and finish that and move on.

Yeah, the NY track is a joke.

Somebody school me, obviously I wasn't paying attention. How do I post a youtube video on these boards?

Yeah, the NY track is a joke.

Well, then I have good news for you! NY is gone. From the same article I linked to above:

We chose not to update a small number of our tracks and ribbons to use our new engine. As a result, there have been two environments cut from Forza—New York and Sidewinder were not updated to work in the new engine. The long version of Amalfi Coast was also removed, though the short version remains with some small gameplay modifications. In addition we have also removed the Bugatti version of Le Mans Circuit de la Sarthe, though players will still be able to race both the full circuit and the Old Mulsanne circuit.

No tears shed over NY for me either, although I sort of liked the circuit with the chicanes in it. Sidewinder is a bummer since it had a lot if interesting circuits in it, but I can totally understand; the art in that environment was really showing its age. Losing the long version of Amalfi though, well, that's a huge bummer. After Fujimi Kaido, that was my favorite track, especially for F through C class racing. Here's hoping that they might bring that one back (or something similar) as DLC.

EDIT:

LiquidMantis wrote:

Looks like I need to do a little more leveling in F3. Are those bottom cars available for purchase in F4 or should I plan to purchase them in F3 so that I can get them into F4?

Well, looking at the car list on the site those cars aren't listed. Guess I should plan on buying them in F3 then. Not sure how complete the car listing on the site is though. Chevy only has a 2011 Spark listed.

Apart from the ones that were "unicorns" in Forza 3 (the Camaro SS, the Subaru S204, and the Mazda RX7-R), all cars you can get via the profile import will be purchasable in Forza 4. The profile import just means you won't have to buy them with your Forza 4 credits.

zeroKFE wrote:

Apart from the ones that were "unicorns" in Forza 3 (the Camaro SS, the Subaru S204, and the Mazda RX7-R), all cars you can get via the profile import will be purchasable in Forza 4. The profile import just means you won't have to buy them with your Forza 4 credits.

Not sure what you mean by unicorns. Do I need to find a virgin to shop for me? I wish you'd posted this yesterday. Last night I blew $10 on the VIP upgrade as most of the cars on that list were VIP add-on cars from the LE version of F3. I'm on an F3 binge now so I can hopefully hit 40 anyway and afford those VIP cars I just added. I'm only level 19 right now, so we'll see.

MisterStatic wrote:

Somebody school me, obviously I wasn't paying attention. How do I post a youtube video on these boards?

Use youtube as your open and close tags with just the video's ID between the tags. If the ID contains dashes or underscores it won't work though.

Like this, just with the brackets actually bracketing the tags.
[youtube[x452s71as[/youtube[

Thanks.

This video shows some significant improvement of the Laguna Seca track, textures, lighting, and background scenery. It looks a lot more like the real thing. Can't come soon enough!!

LiquidMantis wrote:

Not sure what you mean by unicorns. Do I need to find a virgin to shop for me? I wish you'd posted this yesterday. Last night I blew $10 on the VIP upgrade as most of the cars on that list were VIP add-on cars from the LE version of F3. I'm on an F3 binge now so I can hopefully hit 40 anyway and afford those VIP cars I just added. I'm only level 19 right now, so we'll see.

Yeah, I think that's sort of their way of rewarding people who had the limited edition (or the DLC) of Forza 3. But remember, it sounds like those two lists are the sum total of what you will get from the import, so don't burn yourself out on Forza before the new one comes out.

"Unicorns" is how they refer to rare cars that can't be acquired in game via normal means. They often will use them as prizes for community competitions or as incentives to get people to participate, as they just did by giving the RX7-R to everyone who took part in the special Forza 4 preorder program. Forza 3 just had those three, but it sounds like they are doing quite a bit more with the unicorn concept in Forza 4. The same three cars from Forza 3 will remain unicorns, but they will be adding a good deal more and expanding how they can be acquired, etc. From the same article I linked to above:

Forza 4 will also have unicorn cars… lots of unicorn cars in fact. What was the philosophy this time around?

In Forza Motorsport, unicorns are unique cars that cannot be bought in the career’s “Buy Car” area. They can only be added to your career garage (and thus upgraded and customized) through the Auction House or as gifts from the Community team. These cars cannot be driven from the common garage that is found in “Quick Race,” “Free Play,” “Split Screen” and “Multiplayer.” They are called unicorns because they are exceedingly rare (it’s a somewhat common video game design term for rare or random items).

Before we discuss unicorns, let’s discuss the changes in Forza 4’s Auction House—this is an important component to unicorns in general. Firstly, its layout has changed to more resemble the storefront—this makes quick searching easier. Secondly, unicorn cars now have their own tab in the Auction House, so they are no longer grouped in with the normal community auctions. This makes them easier to browse/find. More importantly, we can more easily swell and reduce the available unicorn offerings on the Auction House as needed without affecting regular player-to-player auctions.

For Forza 4, we’ve expanded the implementation of unicorns. I don’t expect the changes to make the feature any less contentious than it was in previous versions of Forza, just more powerful for driving community engagement. In Forza 3, there were three unicorns: the Camaro SS, Scooby S204, and RX7-R. In Forza 4, those three unicorns return. However, if you have these cars in your Forza 3 profile, they will be added to your Forza 4 garage from the start. On top of the three returning unicorns, we have an additional 14 unicorns. It’s a pretty heavy hitting list.

In Forza 3, we found that unicorns made great community gifts and allowed us to have strong rewards for motivating community engagement. In Forza 4, we’ve expanded the roster in order to empower more community contests and give participants more reward choices.

MisterStatic wrote:

Thanks.

This video shows some significant improvement of the Laguna Seca track, textures, lighting, and background scenery. It looks a lot more like the real thing. Can't come soon enough!!

Looked nice at first, but once the commenter said "muscle milk" out loud I kind of couldn't pay attention any more. For some reason those words together make me feel kind of queasy.

Preview embargo is up today, so expect a flood of media and information throughout the weekend.

First out the gate is Gamestop: http://www.gamespot.com/xbox360/driv...

Goddamn, this game is looking good.

EDIT: Also, demo details: http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/20...

Prederick wrote:

SO VERY EXCITED

DO WANT

I'm really hoping the changes to the tire and handling models results in a more intuitive driving and tuning experience. I found some of the changes made in 3 kind of left me struggling to really dial in car setups like I could in 2. Being able to get some good tunings off the marketplace helped address this, but I really enjoyed when I could successfully cook up the tunings my self.

I'm also hoping the PI changes will favor more well-rounded car setups, but I imagine that won't change too much: we'll still see crazy optimized builds for certain tracks, but I can dream.

Hmm, so I got a bunch of gift cars from Turn 10. I don't know if they're from my preorder incentive that I emailed in or if they showed up because I bought the VIP pack the other day. I downloaded them in F3 so hopefully that doesn't mean they're lost when I get 4.

All but one of those gift cars are part of the Forza 3 VIP program. The Maxza RX7 Spirit R was the (first, and currently only) preorder incentive car. That was a unicorn car, one that is only available via special promotions and rare Turn 10 generated auctions, and will remain that in Forza 4. It is one of the cars that will import to Forza 4 (you'll see it on the list I posted above. I can't remember what all the VIP gift cars were, but I don't think most of them will import to Forza 4 (although some might be the cars on the list of what you get based on your F3 driver level).

However, they have said that they intend to give out a few more cars in Forza 4 as part of the preorder incentive program, but they haven't said what yet. And, of course, the Limited Edition of Forza 4 once again includes a VIP program, which presumably means what it did in Forza 3: once or twice a month, people in the VIP program will get specially tuned and painted cars gifted to them. So while most of those Forza 3 VIP gift cars will be be left behind, if you have bought the Limited Edition of Forza 4 you can look forward to a new set of gift cars as the months pass.

Hmm, so I got a bunch of gift cars from Turn 10. I don't know if they're from my preorder incentive that I emailed in or if they showed up because I bought the VIP pack the other day. I downloaded them in F3 so hopefully that doesn't mean they're lost when I get 4.

Also I found out the Muscle Pack that comes in the LE includes a 1968 Dodge Dart HEMI Super Stock. This makes me very happy. I used to own a '69 Dart that I had partially restored. It had the grill from a '68 and the side reflectors were shaved so it actually looked like a '68 anyway. I swapped out the Straight 6 225 for a tweaked 318. While not a Hemi SS it was still fun.

(Not mine)
IMAGE(http://memimage.cardomain.com/ride_images/3/15/4961/25037480001_large.jpg)

[Edit] Just reread zero's post. Well I haven't gotten the RX-7 unicorn. Anyone know how long it takes generally?

Just reread Lobster's post. Well I haven't gotten the RX-7 unicorn. Anyone know how long it takes generally?

When did you email them your preorder receipt?

I'm not sure how quickly they operate, but I know I logged into Forza 3 about a week after sending the email and it was waiting for me. If all else fails, maybe try emailing it again?

I loved Forza 3 and am really excited for 4, but does anyone else favor the lower class cars, or am I just odd? It always seems that as the more exotic and unattainable a car gets the less interested I am in racing with it. Once I start moving past the Porsche 911s of the world I start to lose interest.

Sorry for my flurry of edits earlier. Yeah, I definitely went LE this time. Still bummed I waited too long to get it from Amazon though and instead had to go Best Buy.

Yeah, I'm still grumpy about the stupid store exclusive preorder thing. I lucked out in that I have a friend who like you waited too long and had to order his LE from Best Buy as well, so I'll be bumming his BMW 1M code off him so I'll have both the cars I wanted. Here's hoping they'll all be available as DLC after a month or two, as they were with Forza 3.

[Edit] Okay, there's a thread on the Forza forum's with a lot of people still waiting. I sent mine on the 17th so I'll just wait. They must batch process them.

Ah, yeah. I imagine that everyone at Turn 10 has about a million things that they are trying to do right now, so a bit of a delay seems understandable right now.

imbiginjapan wrote:

I loved Forza 3 and am really excited for 4, but does anyone else favor the lower class cars, or am I just odd? It always seems that as the more exotic and unattainable a car gets the less interested I am in racing with it. Once I start moving past the Porsche 911s of the world I start to lose interest.

I dropped out of F3 once I hit the R spec cars. Just got much harder to drive, then I hit the New York track in a season championship, and I just can't make myself go back.

zeroKFE wrote:

if you have bought the Limited Edition of Forza 4 you can look forward to a new set of gift cars as the months pass.

Sorry for my flurry of edits earlier. Yeah, I definitely went LE this time. Still bummed I waited too long to get it from Amazon though and instead had to go Best Buy.

[Edit] Okay, there's a thread on the Forza forums with a lot of people still waiting. I sent mine on the 17th so I'll just wait. They must batch process them.

So are we making a GWJ Car Club?

imbiginjapan wrote:

I loved Forza 3 and am really excited for 4, but does anyone else favor the lower class cars, or am I just odd? It always seems that as the more exotic and unattainable a car gets the less interested I am in racing with it. Once I start moving past the Porsche 911s of the world I start to lose interest.

Yeah, I think my sweet spot is somewhere in the D to B class as well. That's where I feel like I have the most fun, and where I feel most in control. That said, I do enjoy the extra challenge of the more powerful cars from time to time, but the extra stress of driving them certainly makes it so I need to take a break more often. And once you get up towards the top of S class and into the R3 and R2 cars I have to start turning the assists back on in order to have any hope of staying in control, which sort of makes it less fun (although I know that in real life I'd have no hope of driving that level of car even WITH heaping piles of computer assists turned on, so I suppose I shouldn't be too bothered by it).

LiquidMantis wrote:

So are we making a GWJ Car Club?

I'd hope so.

imbiginjapan wrote:

I loved Forza 3 and am really excited for 4, but does anyone else favor the lower class cars, or am I just odd? It always seems that as the more exotic and unattainable a car gets the less interested I am in racing with it. Once I start moving past the Porsche 911s of the world I start to lose interest.

Another +1 to this sentiment. I love hot hatchbacks and rally-inspired sedans, partly since those are also cars I could potentially own in real life. My fantasy cars tend towards the practical (seats? storage?). A class and beyond don't really have much to interest me since I've never really been into super cars.

And anyway, I see enough of them around the city, driven by midlife crises guys, businessmen, probable gangsters, and exchange students with rich parents back home; all of whom either drive their cars way below the limit to show off, or way above when they street race and kill people. I can't divorce that image of the drivers from the cars in the game.

imbiginjapan wrote:

I loved Forza 3 and am really excited for 4, but does anyone else favor the lower class cars, or am I just odd? It always seems that as the more exotic and unattainable a car gets the less interested I am in racing with it. Once I start moving past the Porsche 911s of the world I start to lose interest.

C and B class (at least the base models) all the way. I always save up for a WRX or Lancer right off the bat and then race everything I can with it.

I expect I'll be spending no small amount of time in a Kia cee'd on the Top Gear track.