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[The Abominable Snowman]

GT4 recently dropped its online mode. How did you feel about that?

Kiki Wolfkill: We'd also assumed that GT4 would come out with online play from the beginning, but we were confident that our online modes would be deeper and a little more mature. So we were very surprised when we heard it'd been canned in GT4. We definitely think it's a huge differentiator between Forza and GT4.

If you look at the first Gotham and compare it to what Live added to the experience in the sequel it's pretty clear how important it is. What we don't want is just to have online there as part of the price for entry: we feel that we're taking things a step further so that the online stuff is a part of the whole game design.

In Forza, credits that you earn in offline play can be used in the online mode and vice versa. You're not making a decision about whether to rack up money and buy new cars to race against real people online - you're just making a decision as to whether you want to race against real people or AI opponents.

What else are you implementing on the online side?

Kiki Wolfkill: We've nailed all the usual stuff - everything you do while you're signed in will be reflected in a leaderboard somewhere and your stats will be constantly tracked. On top of that we're really keen to focus on the idea of a racing community. We have Car Clubs, which are effectively clans of up to 100 drivers. You can think of it almost as a race team.

Anything you can do in single-player you'll be able to do within your Car Club, so you'll have guys who are really skilled with upgrades and tuning, guys who are really skilled at customising cars with our decals and liveries, and the guys who are great at racing all working together within the team. Then there's the online economy feeding into that, with people trading upgrades, mechanical setups, decals and cars.

With such a realistic physics and handling engine a force feedback wheel would be great for Forza. Any plans?

Kiki Wolfkill: There's definitely things in the works that we haven't solidified yet. We appreciate that a force feedback wheel is the best way to experience a game like Forza and it's certainly something we're working on from a partnership standpoint.

You've talked about Forza as the first instalment in a major franchise for Xbox. What plans do you have for the future?

Kiki Wolfkill: We're already thinking about Forza 2, but we're still extremely focused on getting Forza finished and starting production on downloadable content. The vision for this Forza was a lot grander than we could implement and by the time Forza 2 comes around it'll most likely be on new hardware, so it's hard to say exactly what we'll be doing - and even if I knew I wouldn't be allowed to say anyway.


http://www.computerandvideogames.com/front_index.php?

Gran Turismo contender or not?

 

[Gek54]

*Faints*

Edit: Oh wait. Its still not confirmed. :\

I was slightly more impressed with the new GT4 handling in the latest demo than I was with the Forza demo but both great handling games.

 

[Solid]

but we were confident that our online modes would be deeper and a little more mature.

GT4 IS KIDDIE!!

It sounds good though, I hope it turns out good. PGR2 rocks online.

 

[shpankey]

how did you get ahold of the new GT4 demo Gek?

 

[captainbiotch]

*Faints*

Edit: Oh wait. Its still not confirmed. :\

I was slightly more impressed with the new GT4 handling in the latest demo than I was with the Forza demo but both great handling games.

haha, I clicked on this thread wondering if you were excited about this game :lol

I for one can't wait to get my hands on this game.

 

[Solid]

New pics

 

[Kanbee-san]

I just know this game is gonna get canned by the press and reviewers because its attempting to compete with GT4, but having played the demo it looks and feels very very good.

It has a distinct western feel to it, and when it comes to racers thats a good thing.

 

[gtmax]

They're throwing Nurburgring, so i'm there regardless of the 30fps. I can't wait to compare track times between this game, Enthusia and GT4. All are SIMS and all have the 'ring and Tsukuba. Who will be them ost realisitc?

I also got the demo today and the game IS very SIM. It would really be very great with a proper wheel. At this point the physics seem more realistic than GT4, at least in the sense that cars in this game give you the sense of being able to fuck up easily. At the very least, it makes GT3 very arcade-like.

 

[Blimblim]

I played the latest preview code yesterday and got to interview Kiki Wolfkill too. I've been asked to wait a bit before publishing my preview but I've been very impressed by what I saw/played. I liked the demo, but some of the stuff felt wrong. In this new preview (pretty much content complete, but unoptimized and very buggy) it already felt much better. Especially the braking, you could press the left trigger a bit more than in the demo before the tires would lose the grip, allowing for a much better braking when ABS was disabled.
I got to try quite a few never seen before tracks. Nurburgring wouldn't load so I can't comment on this one (too bad), but for example the New York track was very pretty, and will be certainly be one of the main comparison tracks with GT4 since it's exactly the same location... Some original tracks looked very nice, like the maple "something" one who looked a lot like the Autumn Great Britain track from Rallisport 2 (which is a VERY GOOD thing).
I had such a blast playing a downhill japanese drift track with a AE86 Trueno. Can't wait to upload my Initial D soundtrack to my Xbox and play this to death. Yay for Initial D on Xbox

 

[Bog]

I like the photograph of people standing behind the fence.

 

[SolidSnakex]

I just know this game is gonna get canned by the press and reviewers because its attempting to compete with GT4,

You honestly think that's how reviewers review games?

 

[Bebpo]

It has a distinct western feel to it, and when it comes to racers thats a good thing.

What about the visuals is 'western' and why is that a good thing?

 

[Kanbee-san]

You honestly think that's how reviewers review games?

Definately. We are talking about a nobody game up against the most well known driving game ever.

What about the visuals is 'western' and why is that a good thing?

Where did i say visuals ?

Its all in the control, the physics the sound and vehicle selections.

 

[SolidSnakex]

"
Definately. We are talking about a nobody game up against the most well known driving game ever. "

So you're basically saying that once a game becomes the poster child of a genre it'll never get outscored by another. Yet you can look at KoTOR that outscores FF despite FF being the most popular RPG. The new Ratchet is outscoring Mario Sunshine even though Mario is basically the biggest name in gaming. If they think the game is better it'll get a better score, simple as that.

 

[Akira]

They need to show some other tracks beside Laguna Seca for a change. Like a night or snow track or something.

 

[Blimblim]

They need to show some other tracks beside Laguna Seca for a change. Like a night or snow track or something.

Tsukuba and Laguna Seca are the only mostly finished tracks for the moment. There a few new shots from the Maple something (can't remember the exact name) one. The other tracks I got to play looked all very nice but had a lot of very rough spots so I guess they are not screenshots material yet.

 

[SolidSnakex]

Is there a final track number for the game?

 

[Blimblim]

Is there a final track number for the game?

Should be around 70-80 including the variants and the sections (for point to point racing). No official number yet, it will be announced along with the release date in a few days.

 

[Bebpo]

Definately. We are talking about a nobody game up against the most well known driving game ever.



Where did i say visuals ?

Its all in the control, the physics the sound and vehicle selections.

so there is now such a thing as 'western' controls/physics/sounds?

Man I can't wait to play some new games with Japanese controls! @_@

 

[thorns]

blimblim, how is the AI?

 

[MightyHedgehog]

so there is now such a thing as 'western' controls/physics/sounds?

Man I can't wait to play some new games with Japanese controls! @_@

Heh, he probably means that it feels like some of the big western racing sims, like Papyrus and Geoff Crammond stuff.

 

[Blimblim]

blimblim, how is the AI?

Very nice. I played in hard AI settings for a bit to check it, and it was very agressive in the way it would always try to pass you or the other cars. It would also very nicely go around a crash or a car stopped in the trajectory. They do their best to avoid touching other cars, but it still happened from time to time and it looked very nice.
I did not play with the drivatar stuff, but from what we've been told during the presentation it will be a very nice addition to the game, especially online when you will be able to download the drivatars from other people in your racing team and use them to train yourself.

 

[Kanbee-san]

"
Definately. We are talking about a nobody game up against the most well known driving game ever. "

So you're basically saying that once a game becomes the poster child of a genre it'll never get outscored by another. Yet you can look at KoTOR that outscores FF despite FF being the most popular RPG. The new Ratchet is outscoring Mario Sunshine even though Mario is basically the biggest name in gaming. If they think the game is better it'll get a better score, simple as that.

Thats not what i am saying. Its based on the fact that GT series has a reputation and forza does not. The good old example is right in your face in this forum. Whether its whinging about the art in forza or defending GT4's shortcommings such as no damage or online its all here.

so there is now such a thing as 'western' controls/physics/sounds?

Man I can't wait to play some new games with Japanese controls! @_@

Yeah there is actually. Western sim racers are typically much more enclined to demonstrate acurate physics and coupled with the fact that most sim racers are PC games - there are significant differences in controls. The number of wheels available for pc gamers is testiment to this.

As for sounds, western sounds are usually always better. Japanese audio mixers (like those who produce GT4's sounds) over filter, over produce and clean the sounds up too much. The engine sounds in the GT3, GT4 prologue sound so digitized and sterile its not funny. Not to mention the annoying and repetitive tyre sounds.

And where did i say visuals ? :lol

 

[SolidSnakex]

" Its based on the fact that GT series has a reputation and forza does not. "

FF has a reptution and KoTOR did not and it didn't stop it frlom getting better reviews. Simply put, if the game is better it'll get a better review. Do you have such little faith in the quality of this game that you're making up excuses like this for it?

 

[thorns]

Very nice. I played in hard AI settings for a bit to check it, and it was very agressive in the way it would always try to pass you or the other cars. It would also very nicely go around a crash or a car stopped in the trajectory. They do their best to avoid touching other cars, but it still happened from time to time and it looked very nice.
I did not play with the drivatar stuff, but from what we've been told during the presentation it will be a very nice addition to the game, especially online when you will be able to download the drivatars from other people in your racing team and use them to train yourself.

I mostly plan to play this game online but this is really nice to hear anyway. Finally a game which seems to get ALL aspects of racing right. Probably my racing GOTY for 2005 (well PGR3 can change that, of course

 

[Kanbee-san]

" Its based on the fact that GT series has a reputation and forza does not. "

FF has a reptution and KoTOR did not and it didn't stop it frlom getting better reviews. Simply put, if the game is better it'll get a better review. Do you have such little faith in the quality of this game that you're making up excuses like this for it?

Kotor = Star Wars. They have a religion for crying out loud, their reputation is set in gold.

Do you have such little faith in the quality of this game that you're making up excuses like this for it?

From what i have played already (the demo, 1 track 10 cars), it was on par with what GT4 prologue has to offer. The quality is fine but there are things that need to be improved of course.

As for my excuses ? Where are they ? Are you fool enough to disagree that Forza will be shun by the media in favour of the almighty GT4 ? Sony have built their empire with alot of help from PD.

 

[SolidSnakex]

"Kotor = Star Wars. They have a religion for crying out loud, their reputation is set in gold."

Then all Star Wars games should get review scores like KoTOR. The SW name won't elevate it over everything else, the quality of the games will. KoTOR got rated better than the recent FF's because they liked it more, not because SW.

"Are you fool enough to disagree that Forza will be shun by the media in favour of the almighty GT4 ?"

I think if they like Forza more its going to get a better review. If they like GT4 more it's going to get a better review. You seem to already have it in your head that there's no possible way that GT4 is going to be better and that if it gets a better review its not because its actually better, its because its named "Gran Turismo".

 

[Catchpenny]

KOTOR may not have had a reputation, but Bioware certainly did. The Star Wars license was just a bonus. Plus the game was showcased at three straight E3 shows as a major Xbox release.

Forza will get good scores if it's a good game. But take that same game, call it Gran Turismo X or whatever, and it would get better scores from some publications.

 

[Kanbee-san]

Then all Star Wars games should get review scores like KoTOR. The SW name won't elevate it over everything else, the quality of the games will. KoTOR got rated better than the recent FF's because they liked it more, not because SW.

That makes no sense. I am positive i dont share your analogy.

I think if they like Forza more its going to get a better review. If they like GT4 more it's going to get a better review. You seem to already have it in your head that there's no possible way that GT4 is going to be better and that if it gets a better review its not because its actually better, its because its named "Gran Turismo".

You like to put words in peoples mouths, and make up what you think they will say - and its no suprise that you are far from the mark. GT4 could well be better, but it would need to improve ten fold from prologue and include online support out of the box.

Forza will get good scores if it's a good game. But take that same game, call it Gran Turismo X or whatever, and it would get better scores from some publications.

Thanks ! Thats where i will leave it.

 

[Gek54]

Preemptive damage control already. WOW.

 

[Kanbee-san]

Preemptive damage control already. WOW.

Where ?