The Bench

[TheTechnobear]

hey this season play things seems to be working...
as im taking a different approach again.

ive actually been buying and upgrading quite happily from race winnings ... so i actually have a few cars at top of class, also ive been letting it 'guide' me a bit,
e.g. looking for something that would be suitable for the next race, and upgrading accordingly.
personally, im finding the game gives me enough cash to always be able to upgrade the cars and/or buy something appropriate.
(quite well balanced) ... means i wont be rich quick, but by garage is fleshing out nicely.

one thing i did notice, not sure its intentional or not, but if you buy additional cars, it will change the events according to what you have, and also what car you currently are 'in'.
e.g. i decided yesterday to buy a P. Cayman for the 6 fast and fun event..., did the upgrades ... then when i went back, season play was offering the porsche club race.
... so seems like you can choose your rides, and it will adapt around you, which i like

[Blooze]

I just gave that a run... the Season Dude wanted to start me out on Season 3 with a NSX - Skyline challenge.  I upgraded my Snorkled NSX to A Class (because of the weekend races) and he changed his mind, starting me out on the A Class Nurb'ring P2P races instead.

Boy, I am loving the NSX-R GT.  Something tells me that driving the RWD cars is not going to be the nightmare that it has been.  The rear end can still step out on you if you get heavy footed coming out of a bend, but for the most part the car is quite tracktable and a pleasure to drive.

I am having one hell of a time getting clean laps on the 'Ring P2P races.  I am giving it up, waiting on free run when nobody is around to get laps that are not labled with the triangle of mediocrity.

I started a Collection group in my garage.  My thoughts are to assemble the rare ones there.  I like being able to group them like that.  However, I haven't been able to figure out how to get a car out of a group yet...

Painting really pissed me off this morning...  I spent quite a bit of time getting the side of my Eclipse just the way I wanted it.  Then when I says, "Put it on the other side" it is all sorts of wacky.  I check position and size of the elements and they are all correct.  They lay differently on the car.  I guess one has to build both sides according to his eye, which is a real pain.

Picture taking really gave me fits too.  I tried and tried (to no avail) to get the camera nearer to the ground in this shot, but I couldn't find the right combo to move it down.  Things that you would think would move it down zoomed out instead.  Frustratin' as hell, I tell ya.  I guess I need to spend a bit more time with the camera device.

Boy!!  They sure did a bang up job with the Kaido!!  There are cool scenery shots all over that mountain.  I bought the old Corvette for my collection, and just to use for cruising the big circuits.

Oh, all I changed on the NSX was the tire pressures, the alignment, and the Final Drive.  Everything else is as it came out of the box.  I am sure once I have more time in the seat and am pushing the car a bit harder, I will find some stuff, but right now it seems good to go as is.

This game is going to be a serious time sink...  I will have to come up with some sort of discipline around here or the place is going to go to hell in a hand basket.  I sort of promised my family that I would have a CD ready by Christmas.  Guess who hasn't touched a guitar since the game came out...

  $

[Spiny Anteater]

...

Picture taking really gave me fits too.  I tried and tried (to no avail) to get the camera nearer to the ground in this shot, but I couldn't find the right combo to move it down.  Things that you would think would move it down zoomed out instead.  Frustratin' as hell, I tell ya.  I guess I need to spend a bit more time with the camera device.
...

Not obvious is it? Eventually I worked out that you use the right and left triggers to raise and lower the camera, although if you pull too far back you can get it trapped on or under the armco...

[Blooze]

Both of them together?

[Blooze]

I must have spent about an hour and half just puttering around in my new 1960 Corvette, which is now just barely an E car (201) 'cause I just had to get a set of American Torque Thrust wheels on it.  Most of the time was spent driving the steets of Di Positana and the coast of Almalfi.  What a great job they did on those environments!

I love putterin' around in the Vette (it has a very cool throaty rumble) and rubber necking the houses and flowers and stuff.  I imagine some old gal looking up at the sound of my pipes.  "There goes that crazy American and his noisey little black sports car... tsk, tsk", shaking her head in disapproval.

I can't imagine the carnage of trying to run 8 class A cars through those little streets.  I'm not looking forward to that race at all.

So, how long before the Circuits leaderboard breaks a million Total Players...  I figure before Thanksgiving, or if it continues at the same rate, before next Friday.  The Turn 10 folks have to be pleased.

I certainly am.

$

Oh, and this morning I pissed away 80 MS Points to get my little Avatar guy a Forza T Shirt...  My grandson will be pleased.  He will laugh at me.

  $

[Blooze]

Whoa... Forza Hangover this morning.  

Too many cigarettes and not enough sleep.

The Season Dude is trying to herd me off into S Class cars already.  Now, I like the Season thing.  Running races from the Event List is sort of boring as opposed to competing in the Season.  So, I am attempting to thwart the Dude's always upward tendencies by presenting him with different cars.  I showed up with a D classed Integra after the 5th race of the A World Championship and he now has me running off on a D Class World Tour.  Once that is completed, I will have to jump back in my Audi for the 6th race, but I wonder what he will come up with after that.

I have also noticed that the PI of the current car has an affect on the race he chooses for you.  When I showed up with a stock Integra (D258), he wanted me to run the Integra Event, but when I showed up with it tuned (D350), he shuffled me off to the World Tour.

That World Tour is long - 7 races.  Man, am I gonna rack up the Fequent Flier miles now...

My Minamalist Synchonicity tuning system is going well.  I have messed with nothing but alignment, PSI, and FD since this started.  I may get back into the gearing (race transmission) tho...  The Acura's gearing could use some help, specially in the top gears.

$

From the "Crap" file:  The AWD drive conversion is no longer offered for the Integra.  I wanted to build that one and compare it to the one I built and sold in Forza II.  Ah, well.

And, from the "Holy Smokes" file:  I have reached level 25 and have only used up 7.6% of the career.  Some of that is due to running the Multiplayer Private room QRing trick, but still...

Also on the Season Dude: I tried to fake him into letting me run the Hyundai Genesis Factory Spec race 'cause I want to get that done 'fore I build out the car, and I want to build it - one of my projects since having seen its rave reviews on the Speed Channel.  No dice...  I may have to go an end around on him. 

$

[Blooze]

Ugh, coffee...   

I should go back to bed, but I am sort of wound up right now. 

Really liking this game...

I've noticed that they have managed to make D Class quite interesting this time around.  The PI system lets one get some building done on the cars.  It seemed like it was a lot of one and done in the old version.

I hope Forzacating isn't leaking too far over into your normal lives.  Like me, I've had perscriptions to pick up since Saturday...

  $

[Fit4aking]

I forced myself to take last night off.  I had every opportunity to play as well.  The kids went to bed early, the wife was in the bedroom watching a show and letting Nyquil handle her cold, and little ole me was in the living room staring at the familiar green circle...

Needless to say I was utterly exhausted from a busy day and a crashed computer.  Instead I just read up on my chassis engineering text books and went about hypothesising over my next batch of tunes.

A little self restraint went a long way to getting me off to la-la land before midnight.

[Spiny Anteater]

...
The Season Dude is trying to herd me off into S Class cars already.  Now, I like the Season thing.  Running races from the Event List is sort of boring as opposed to competing in the Season.  So, I am attempting to thwart the Dude's always upward tendencies by presenting him with different cars.  I showed up with a D classed Integra after the 5th race of the A World Championship and he now has me running off on a D Class World Tour.  Once that is completed, I will have to jump back in my Audi for the 6th race, but I wonder what he will come up with after that.

...
$

I'm reading that as you being towards the end of Season 3, so you're just behind me (first week of Season 4). I must admit I'm not looking forward to the expected 13 week Season 6 with R1's

Interesting that you're being shepherded towards S Class - so far I've only been offered it once (Corvette challenge) and haven't built up a car higher than A Class. That's about to change though - first weekend will be the R3 weekend and I need something for it.

[Blooze]

I am currently working on week 6 of the 3rd year.  Lack of sleep seems to be slowing me up.  And there are a bunch of races in that World Tour.  There is an Audi S4 driven by Mullen I think, that is killin' everybody, including Davis in a Pontiac GTO.  Anyhow, the Audi is a speed rank of 6.6, my Acura has a 5.5...

And Le Manns is on the list of tracks to run.  Arg.

I went and gathered up my D Class QR times from Forza II to compare what I am getting right now in Forza III.  I am about 6 secs behind on just the QR!  The extended ranks are about 20 seconds off.  Guess I have some work to do...

But, I need sleep... 

See y'all tomorrow...

$

[Blooze]

Ah, surprising how much good a wee nap will do.  It all doesn't look so daughnting.

Clearing the decks for a new suspension tuning devise.  Not a single universe type deal.  More 3 universes, and they will just have the tools to aide keeping the new relationships alive, if not with each other, within itself with respect to front and rear, or, as with dampers, Rebound to Bump.  Mostly, it will be a bunch percent modifiers - just got to get it all organized into the space of the last year's tool.

That's a good project for today.  I may even get in some racing.

Hell, I may even get my ass down to the drug store.  (I wisht they delivered...)

Ah good, the coffee pot gurgled.

$

[Spiny Anteater]

I...
I went and gathered up my D Class QR times from Forza II to compare what I am getting right now in Forza III.  I am about 6 secs behind on just the QR!  The extended ranks are about 20 seconds off.  Guess I have some work to do...

...

I don't think that's so bad really - I seem to be a similar distance off my FM2 times, maybe even a little more. And it's not just me - check out the top times on the leaderboards and they seem to be slower too. Maybe it's lack of track/car time, maybe it's that the glitches in the game aren't there/haven't been found yet. Just a shame (as Fit mentioned elsewhere) that 4WDs (and specifically Audis) seem to dominate the leaderboard at present - I'm hoping against hope that it's just a case of someone having found a good tune for them and another car will join in soon.

[Blooze]

Ah, the Sheople...  AWDs have always been tough, if for no other reason - the launch.  I think it will even out over time.  Think back to how often the various leader cars changed in V2.  And the thundering herd will jump and run after whoever lands on #1 this week.  As for the Audi S4 '04, it AWD and has a Speed Rating of 6.6 - only the Merc C32 is faster.  And consider this, it's the Boss' Car...

So, did I tell ya the latest on my steering wheel trials and tribulations?  It turns out that Logitech doesn't make it anymore.  In fact, they don't have any wheel for the Xbox anymore.  That war between them, Sony and MS must have gotten just a tad seriouser...

So, I like the wheel - like the way it mounts and stuff (I had to drill holes in the MS wheel to get it to stay in one place) and I'm not ready to commit to a Fanantec 3 pedal rig.  What to do...  enter EBay!  There are about 6 of them for sale at any given time, mostly by the same guy.  I think he picked them up as factory seconds because of the boxes were scuffed or something.  At any rate, I figure I have the price of a new MS wheel to spend.  I have two coming now, and am going to try for another.  That ought to keep me in business...

Coffee...

Then I got to go race the A Class Weekender on the new New York.  Not looking forward to that.  I think I will just turn the AI down to dumber than a box of hair and get it done...

$

[Blooze]

I have been tried... and found wanting.  In the Time Trials.

Gave that little contest on Sedona a try this weekend - try to get into the top 500 and get a Random Pick.  After a number of passes, I got it down to 139.xxx, good for somewhere in the 350s.  I looked this morning and my time is 650 already...

Bugger!!

I may go back and try it again at the end of the week, after spending some time with the R cars to hopefully get me reflexes sharpened a bit.

Want to knock 7 hours off yer Circuit Ranking real quick?  Grab any car and go run all the tracks on the Benchmark Ring.  Unless you really care, all you need is two laps to get a fairly decent position.  Hint: On Layout E - the circle - drive to the center and burn a donut.  Ya can get a sub 10 second lap.  Anyhow, yesterday whilst I was waiting for the Texas race to start I ran that whole complex (14 tracks) in just over 9 Min, using a stock Veyron.  That little trip knocked 6:51 of my S Class and Overall ranking.  And there are 10 more classes...  Wowza - damn near 70 hrs.  I figger one or two a week...

$

[Drift2XL]

I wouldn't get too involved in any sort of hotlapping. Rumor has it there is going to be a scoreboard wipe sometime around the first or second title update.

The R1 in R3 is the gamebreaker to that one.

But as to be expected in a racing game with a leaderboard.