XBox 360 Forza 4 100% Completed Chapter One

Gentle reader,

 

NOTE: This article is from 2015 and is the first of what turned out to be fourteen chapters. I have revised it a bit in 2021. I do not plan to do so for the rest of the series unless you let me know, via the Forza Motorsport 4 Community | Facebook that you would like to see more. ALL revision text is in blue. I also enlarged the text and added white areas between some lines to make it easier to read and comprehend.

Based on the HUGE jump in readership yesterday, it seems many of you are also interested in Forza Motorsports.

First a little bit about driving perspective, as it pertains to what you, the racer, sees on the TV screen while racing.

 

Being ancient (age 58, now 64) by what one imagines a gamer's age to be, I set the view up so that I am seeing while racing is what I see when actually driving: In cockpit view. 

 

In real life and in most cases in Forza 4, we see nothing of the car's hood and fenders, when racing with In cockpit view.

 

Side note, since the windshield in a closed cockpit Le Mans Prototype racer which is usually TINY, I tried one press of the left button on the (Microsoft Steering wheel horn area, see photo below)

and I could see SO much more, it was like I had stuck my head THROUGH the windshield. Actually, it is like one is seeing through a camera placed outside at the base of the windshield of whatever you are driving. 

 

In the 1973 Porsche 911, it is almost what one sees in the real car, minus the inside the car stuff, because of the 911's iconic fenders. With THAT setting, I am able to easily race and win forward-vision-challenged racers like Audi R-18s and their ilk. 

 

The pictures below, for those of you who didn't know one could change the perspective (it's the little button to the left of the big X button in the middle of the wheel or controller) here are photos featuring my BMW 2002 on the most awesome and toughest course in Forza: Fujimi Kaido in Japan.

Above, the view is to the rear and perhaps 10 feet in the air. Is that how we REALLY drive? Of course not! So why choose to race this way? I know, earlier racing games ONLY had this view.

THIS view puts one even HIGHER in the air!

Above is "in cockpit". One does not get quite as wide a view as in a real car, but it works in most cases. Sorry about the DARK interior, as you know, it is not this dark while racing.

 

Below is the "base of the windshield" view. It too is similar to reality if one never looked down at the dash or gauges. Plus, the mirror is wider helping keep track of who is trying to catch or pass you.

Below is the "no car at all" view which seems kind of silly to this old man, but if you like it, go for it.

This series of photos shows, by looking at Mount Fuji, the different perspectives of each forward view method are easier to see. Note the size of the mountain in each picture.

Below, in 2015, I showed EVERY car in my garage, starting with a Porsche 914-6 F Class car. However, i did NOT tell the reader WHY there were suddenly race car photos following the photos above.

I deleted the car's photo and F199 specs, just now, because there was no space for the explanatory text. I still have the car's photo, and re-uploaded it, but not the cars specs.
 

I always modify the cars to the maximum in each class so that they perform well. I did not so much back then. And, I OFTEN choose an older car if the race will allow it, rather than some modern, under-powered front-wheel-drive car.

 

 

According to the artist of this paint scheme, this is an authentic livery used on an Australian Datsun 510 racer back in the day.

Appropriate that Alitalia (Italy's national airline) is a sponsor of this Fiat 131 Abarth racer. 

The BMW 2002 featured at the top. Replacement wheels, added intercooler and other tweaks.

Tiny Toyota needed for "Micro cars" races. Converted to AWD and tons of fun!

I just had to choose John Player Specials livery for this mostly stock Esprit.

Tricked out modern Alfa Romeo. Cool paint scheme.

An "Omologato" The "O" in GTO, which is Italian for homologation. Car makers are required by race organizations to make a specific number of street versions of their rally or other race series cars. The Stratos uses the V6 engine from the (Ferrari) Dino.

The blogger program loaded the photos above in the opposite order than I wanted it to. So it took quite a while to put them in order. That's why some of the performance photos are not centered as I'd like them to be. 

Stay tuned, many more chapters to follow. Keep the shiny side up and DON'T race on the streets!

 

Scott

 

Revised and updated 05-28-2021

Scott