The Bench

[Spiny Anteater]

Got to agree with you on your bulletpoints, apart maybe for the VIP release bit. I know it caused some controversy over at .net, but at least this one felt (to me) like they did it for the right reasons. And one thing that all the original VIP bellyachers over there seem to have missed is that the price in MS points is more expensive that it was for us to buy the LCE whole.

As for the lack of surgical strikes, I have a theory on that one too. Can't help feeling that after Che's "not a showstopper" comment and saying that they may not patch the transmission glitch, a lot of people will have taken that as an OK to run the dodgy setup. The numbers of questionable cars may now be so large that the "surgical wipe" option looks too daunting to implement now. However, as I understand it you need to do a drivetrain swap to use the stock transmission glitch, so that may offer them a way to limit the clean cars caught in the wipe. If they only wiped cars with a drivetrain swap, that would get rid of the glitched cars (assuming I understand the process correctly) while minimising the collateral damage.

[Blooze]

Kind of slow around here today.  I got the putters...  I'm having fun with my spreadsheets, I keep wanderin' off to check this and then to check that.  Then I get to wondering something about a car or a type of them and go off to see if I can get them sorted this way or that -

(See?  It almost happened right there - I was thinking maybe I'd check out that dude's Forza Facts database thing and see how much of the Car List data made it into the database.)

Then I run a race every now and again, then putter some more.

Speaking of managing expectations.  I find that it is real important for us to learn to manage our own.  If one is not careful he can find himself feelin' all blue and disappointed 'cause... "I thought it'd be faster than that."  or this or that little tuning trick didn't solve the understeer problem like you thought it ought to.  I am running the QR tracks on the latest of one of my little spending sprees (the Fujitsu Falcon FG) and found myself getting all gritty toothed because it wasn't running all that well.  Well, I probably shouldn't have done all the Snake stomping in X class last night before I went to bed.  Because, somehow, I guess I was thinking that that ole Ford should be just as much a terror as that Acura was last night. 

The car is doing pretty good actually - its keeping pace with his mortal enemy - the #2 Holden.  The little trick for mis-matching Biasii? Biases? whatever - more than one Bias - to manage a slight oversteer problem is working pretty nifty like.  And, I knew going into this project that some of these cars were not going to be as quick as others.  Thats why I'm subdividing the classes anyways!

But, I just thought it would be quicker...  and I'm bummed.

Well, back to racin' some and putterin' lots.  And by golly - this black and green machinge runs pretty good when you get down to it...

$

[Spiny Anteater]

Last note from me on the leaderboard wipe - it seems they have gone for the surgical strike after all starting Monday and ending with the Mazdas.

I think this is the first time since FM3 was launched that T10 have exceeded my expectations so good on them for this one.

[Blooze]

Coffee!  Coffee please...

I pulled a late one last night, trying to get some of the editing done - the new stuff has been developed primarily in R3 and the Tooning Sheet.  The changes to the Toooning Sheet warrant a Version change, so the current Version is now TONKA'S Toy  v 3.02.03 and should be dated 03/25/10 (if you get it from me...) I will have the archive updated later this morning.

So there are not only all the updates and new sheets for each Class Garage, but Toon Sheet has to be touched as well.  That is 122 Toon Sheets...  damn...

That is good news on the Wipe, Spiny.  I also support the wiping of the Mazda from R3 and R2 as well.  It's grip is outlandish and uncommon in those classes.  It is an R1 car, allow it in R1 only...  thats my position.

Early on I made the changes to the one Mazda I was gifted and I set a few times with it.  Because it was early, I have since been able to overhaul most of the entries - at least, I think I have.  And, since I don't run any setup but my own, I'm not in danger of getting busted on the other stuff.  I don't really understand it anyway, how you get it or what it does for you.

Part of the project was finding a way to keep track of the money from running private races on Original Trackage with out detailing all the OT ribbons.  That would require another 54 columns, and frankly, in most cases, I could care less.  (I'd swap that Ladera Test mess for the Alpine Road or Blue Mountain any day).  But I do have to set times on the things, and I prefer to do it from the Private Race platform, and when I do that, money and race count numbers are generated...

One of my goofy little goals is to exceed the Money won in the Career with Money from my Season (the Multiplayer Private Races)  I only have about another $11 Million to go... 

Ah, the gurgling announcment that the new pot of coffee's done.  Can I get you a heater while I'm getting me a cup?

$

[Blooze]

Man o man, that hoitie-toitie dude that runs the Seasons in Forza III is all bent out of shape.  He called me last night and told me that they hadn't recieved the license fee for Season 7 and I needed to get it in or be dropped from the program.  I told him about me having joined the FIL (Forza Independent League) and he got all huffy and told me I'd be sorry, and yada, and dada... 

I eventually had hang up on him.

Something that has intrigued me from the get go is how the head count in the Circuit overall (1,705,293) could be so far off of the count on A Class Viejo Full, which is 1,409,925 right now.  That's damn near 300,000 who managed to get hotlapping in this game without running that track.  I tried quitting from all sorts of various positions to see if I could get the career going without running that froot loop "lets see what ya got" race and couldn't do it.  I sure am curious to know how that many people figured it out.

One of the good ways of shaking the vermin out of a fresh piece of software, specially a data base, is to start out with an empty version of it.  This will give the keys, data entry, and all sorts of stuff a test that most likely wasn't run into when the original was developed against existing data.  Well ole BucksToon was sittin' round with nothing to do so I deleted his save and started over.  Only he isn't going to run the Seasons, but go strictly with the FIL.  That Season Dude got all huffy some more when he found out about that.

So, I couldn't sleep last night and I ended up setting up a blank system and firing off BucksToon on a new mission.  (I was a little handy with the delete switch however, I lost some cars that I wish I hadn't when I deleted the old profile).  Anyhow, my VIP-ishness was good for a handful of cars, some of which I sold so I started out with around $360,000 and a brand new Vodaphone Ford V8 Supercar as the first rig for ole Bucks.  This is going to be kindof fun, and make for an interesting leader board - all of it blank except the R3 versions and they are completed.  I'll let ya know how much money I made doing it. 

That silly BucksToon, he has a kind of Aussie accent already...

$

[Blooze]

BucksToon is out of control...

He's walkin' around calling everybody "Mate", and its "bloody hell" this, and "bloody hell" that, and he's all the time wanting to go blow the froth off of stuff.  We was down to Atlanta the other day doing some testing and Marcus Ambrose was there working on some stuff too.  Bucks started shadowing the guy, practicing saying the stuff he said.  It was embarassing.  I made him park his car on the other side of the hauler so maybe people wouldn't know he was with me.

One thing about this FIL season is that it pretty well requires a commitment to the car, which ever it is, until you are finished with it - at least for that class.  Which has some cool conotations to it - This is my car.  There is no other car.  I will succeed or fail with this car, and this car only.  I love this car, even if it does blow...

I think it may be similar to the commitment required by Spiny to do his Random thing.  I am particularly reminded of the Marinello he ran last year.   He stuck it out with the thing, even tho he knew he was laying down bogus times - not bogus, more "poor" times.

It is the same with me and this Fujimi Ford Falcon I am running at the moment.  I really like the car - it is fun to drive, but is no threat to the leaderboard - that is for sure.  But I am doing my best to bust my ass and make sure the car is being run as hard as possible so that it is getting its best times.

I do love this game...

Grab a cup...  let's take five a minute or two here...

$

[Fit4aking]

I think you just touched on something that is an issue for everyone at some point in the game.  Each of us had our eye on a car when we first started this venture and it really is a rush to hop in the brand new machine and run a few laps to get aquainted.  That first impression is key to how the build and entire future of that car pans out. 

I had high hopes for the Alfa 8c.  It is sex on wheels, sounds good, looks good, it HAD to perform good.  Not so.  I gave it a fair shake, tossed a few builds at it, tuned it a few different ways, but in the end it just doesn't have the guts to handle A-class.  So what do you do when a car you have actual passion for flounders against the competition?

-Drop back ten yards and punt?
-Persevere!
-Run the rebuild, retune gauntlet over and over?

Who knows if it will ever come around and then you have tons of CR's tied up, lots of time lost, and all you have it data on what doesn't work.  Well how many race teams end up in that same position 4 or 5 races into a season or even later than that?  Plenty.  Unlike them I can just not complete that block on the Events list, or leave that car out of the World Tour.  I don't have to use it. 

Recently I've given up that train of thought and started working through the car.  Building it how I like along with several other cars and seeing what matches up within the lineup instead of if that one car is better than the best.  I've come to realize that making leaderboard cars isn't my thing.  I'd rather be the guy or the race team that makes the very best of what I have and then takes that information and applies it to the next project when the current one is finished.  Running cars through the FIL is just one way to quantify when that finishing point is.  Before it was just running ALL of the tracks and that is a daunting task.

Currently I have yet to find my latest project but I have plenty of Auction House finds that aren't quite built yet so there is still lots to do.  Perhaps my #2 Holden could use a full run through the FIL before I go and consider it done.  It really is a fun car and in R3 it will be the baseline to all other things.  Is it destined for the bottom of the total list......or the top of the V8 Supercar list.  Information is all about how you present it and what it's compared to.  I could be staring at the top V8 SC or the worst R3, results to be determined.

[Blooze]

One of my Round Tuits for the R3 project is to build up some of the old R4 cars and see see how they hold up to the new Pi system.  The #16 Caddlliac is always high on that list - I don't know, I like the paint job maybe.  Anyhow, I was a roamin' around through the cars seeing where the HKS Evo fit into the scheme of things when I spotted that #16 Caddy...  bingo.

So I goes and adds all the parts to it and gets a Pi of 772, which ball parks it with the #2 Viper (779) pretty good.  GT3 is gonna be fun too!  I really want to get aholt of that #31 Whelen Vette too.  I think I've seen that car on the TV just about as much as that Lizard Porsche.

It sure is a relief and it sure does increase the fun if you can get that damned leaderboard out of your head.  I guess we could thank the Sheople and their Leaderboard cars for that.  I mean, they do make it easier to not pay much attention to who's in first place on the thing...

$

[Spiny Anteater]

I'd forgotton all about that Maranello. You're right though - it was noticeably behind the leaderboard cars in the old R2. Now though, it seems that we have a better indication of where the cars fall within the R-Classes with them being (visibly) PI's now. And, if you took the Corvette and Saleen out of the equation, the Ferrari was actually pretty good on the twisties.

I'm going for a similar thing to the old random car bit this time, only with more cars. Last time I was grinding out lap after lap with a car until I'd done all the tracks in it. In some cases, that was a real grind, most noticeably when I was doing the twisty tracks in the Chevelle. Fun, but always slow times.

This time I've been doing the Season Play then Event List with a random car for each event. Granted, I don't have the fastest stable (apart from a couple of examples, I have a self-imposed rule not to change the drivetrain unless I can't hit the class limit with the stock PI) but I probably have one of themost varied And once the Event List is complete, I'm off hotlappiung, one random car per environment finances permitting (although running a car will not rule it out of running another environment).

But that's all in the future. I need to get a run at the Targa Forza - only trouble is that other commitments will mean it will be after Easter before I get the times in. Just wondering which car to run

[Blooze]

Oooo that's right.  Without the wife around there's a lot of that stuff kind of just slips past me.  I knew it was gonna be pretty so tho 'cause I been able to pick me up some them Cadburry Easter Eggs down to the Walmart lately.  Damn I love those things, but if you eat more than two in a row they'll really gag you down, they're so rich...

It's a wonder you are as fast as you are, driving a different car everytime you turn around.

$

[Spiny Anteater]

Thanks, but I think it's mostly to do with the fact that I'm a line user. No way I could jump classes or even cars so much without the line. When I'm in a series which forces the line off it takes me a good 7 or 8 laps to find the braking points, and more like 20 to get good consistent times. Thing is, once I have got the track learned, I'm as quick as with the line and even more surprising I'm also as consistent as without. So for me, the line just means I get to know the car/track combination quicker.

Oh, and got to love Cadbury's Creme Eggs too - just a shame they only make them January through to Easter.

[Blooze]

Line user too...  my eyes just won't cut it anymore.  Even with the new TV.  The glasses are due for an overhaul too.  I got tired of jumping to the Assists menu for every type of car and or track so I have set it at +ABS, +TCS, +Full Line...  and leaving it there.

I been spending this week keeping up with the Targa Leaderboards and chasing down ole Sarcasmo.  He's only 112 seconds ahead of me now.  I have knocked 639 seconds off my overall since declaring the Circuits done.  10 minutes.  And most of it has come from X Class.  Boy was I sloppy when I went through there the first time.  That will learn me...

I still have 14 positions clear of where I was before the wipe.  I wonder how much longer they will last.

The FIL (Forza Independent League) shakedown is working out well.  I got it worked out how to keep track of the money on multiple toon cars.  For me, say, the Acura Integra is 4 different cars, and I would like to keep track of how much each Toon is earning.  But with Forza all earnings go into the single entity of the car.  Anyhow, I got that part whipped with my car sheets.

I have declared the On Line Winnings item on the Profile page of the Main Menu to be the FIL Account.  So, another of my little goals is to have the major percentage of the Total Winnings item come from the FIL.  It is currently 28% - another 13 million to go... 

Things have definitly picked up around here...  busy, busy, busy.

$

[Fit4aking]

Entered, well sort of initiated, a Hot Lap Comp with some of the guys I've been league racing with and had my doors blown off.  Admittedly I didn't put a ton of effort into it as I was ineligable for the prize but still had a shot at it.  I was over 3 seconds off the pace.  On Catalunya National, in either an '04 WRX or an EVO X, all the way up in A class.  Seems full weight reduction, roll cages and slicks were the hot ticket to running in the low 73 second range.  My all around build was in the low 75's but started in the 76's.  The Evo was nowhere near as fast as the WRX but it was loads more stable.  I guess loose is fast.  I'll need to revisit that in the near future with new builds to see where I went wrong.

The daught net is currently running a comp in D class around Iberian Full with anything in the top 500 excluded and I hope to do much better in that little exercise than the one above.  Funny thing is how I got started on it.  I went through all of the cars I had already built before buying anything new.  Worst to first as the garage had them sorted by PI.  I don't even remember what car I had my best time in initially but it wasn't good, not by a long shot.

First up was my newly created Pontiac Trans Am ('02).  Not the usual suspect but I wanted to test the heavy RWD torquey option and it worked out.  New personal best after 10 laps and some extra cash in the account.  Not too shabby, high 62's.

Next I went with a tried and tested Lancia Stratos, the only eligable MR car in the list of cars.  Another 10 laps, another personal best, mid 62's.  It just didn't have enough power to pull up the hill but took the corners with better speed than the Pontiac.

On to FWD, my trusty dusty Hyundai Tuscani.  Same scenario only with a heavier car.  10 laps, new personal best.  62.1's IIRC but the car still didn't accelerate well out of the sweeper up the hill.  That just won't do.

I'm currently on the search for a lightweight, 2500lb +/-, FWD or RWD but not AWD car with an acceleration rating closer to 5 (4.4 wasn't enough) that can support a decent tire width.  I purchased the little Vauxhall and had my eye on the Citroen.  Seems the Yaris may take the cake as the fastest but the "Tuning Marketplace Regulars" are already flocking to it and anything else AWD.  If I can't make progress with the two wheel drive route I'll give the conversions a shot but I'd rather exhaust other options first.  I'm open to suggestions.

On a side note I was suffering from a touch of the Forza burn that comes from nothing but racing and gave the white loading screen a break for a run through Final Fantasy XIII.  What a good looking game.  The cutscene graphics aren't that much better than the game play which is fantastic.  Not a lateral move for a hardcore racer but RPG's are a genre that I really enjoy to an extent but the single player only is a lonely row to hoe when you normally need 100 to 200 hours to complete all of the missions in a game like that.  Just a quick aside, if I'm playing FF13 I won't be paying any attention to the indicators as they will be turned off.  Not to ignore, just to immerse.  I hate to admit it but a few of the things in that game would look really good as liveries.  Even in a different game it all comes back to Forza.  Sheesh.

[Blooze]

Yeowoff...  it is good to get back to the main office - to get back to my own Mr. Coffee moscheen and my own nasty-assed coffee cup.  Yes indeed, Home Sweet Home.

I been out amongst 'em for most of the Month, implementing the new Forza Independent League (FIL) system on a class by class basis.  It is installed in F, E, C, and B - though B still has many issues to work out.  Things were pretty much allowed to run amock during the BTCC/S2000 development.  I haven't even looked at the nightmare that A Class will be.

But, for now, things are such that I can run the operation from the Main Office.  Ahhhh, my chair!

My current "mini" project - the one I am using as a test case for implementing the FIL system is the '95 Eclipse, and perhaps later, the '98 Eagle Talon, which according to history, is issentially the same car.  There was so much inbreeding going on back then...  Anyways, there will be more on that in its own thread.  There is some grunt level anxiety in that just dreaming these projects up is not sufficient.  Sooner or later, ya got to get down and do it or you're just a day-dreamer.

Part of cutting down on the Day Dreamer factor is taking a realistic look at the Round Tuit list and paring is down without the glassy eyes.  How much can you accomplish without invoking the Tedium Factor?  Really!!  You can guage this by how big the sigh is when you log onto the game.  I need to learn to go painting or photoging when I hit those periods - my times would appreciate it, I imagine.

Back when I was an un-retired person, my work was primarily a Systems Analyst - my output was usually some form of database and a means of collecting the data required with as little impact to what was already a stressed system as possible.  That is much of what the FIL System has been about, and the process of bringing the system online has been a blast...

I love this game.

So, grab a cup and rinse the dust out of it... what all have you been up to? 

What class are you looking to build in Fit?  How does one of the new cars, like that little Mazda fit your bill?

$

[BarbecuePete]

I went and bought me one of those there Mazda superlights the other day... cracking little car even just stock. I took a loan of one from the dealer and hit Laguna Seca to see what it was like and found it had tons of grip and even though it hasn't got much power its still pretty quick on acceleration because of its lightweight.. and being a cockpit view driver I just love the open top.

So I went back did the paper work and drove of in my very own superlight... Straight up on the ramps in the garage and she was pushed to the top of E class with a few adjustable parts and an air filter upgrade. It runs pretty nice there but I may change the build slightly and just add a few power parts as the stock chassis does feel like it could take more power without being upset. I also want to try it out in D and maybe C Class too but I haven't decided what sort of build to go for yet, do I want it as a full on short track / grip build or as a more balanced short - medium track car... ahh desicions, decisions...