You've got questions, we've got answers.
05.11.06 // 13:16
By: Che Chou
Okay, so there seems to be a little confusion out there about what Forza Motorsport 2 is and isn't. How do I know this? Because I sat in on 8 hours worth of interviews with game director Dan Greenawalt yesterday while the games press laid on the same questions time and again. Plus, I've been scanning forums and have picked up on much the same vibe. And really, it isn't entirely surprisingly, seeing as we only released a teaser video to get y'all in the mood for our holiday 2006 release.
So to help "set the record straight," as it were, I'm going to whip up a quick FAQ to address some of your concerns. Although these answers come from my fingertips, they are based on answers Dan gave yesterday, as well as my own knowledge of the project (since, y'know, I am on the team and all). Here, I'll even throw in a picture of Dan getting interviewed by popular games magazine Electronic Gaming Monthly in the Xbox 360 booth yesterday. So here goes, in no particular order of importance or chronology...
Q: I hear Forza Motorsport 2 is 60 frames per second this time. Is this true?
A: Yes. The game will play and control at 60fps. Just like in Forza Motorsport, our physics system under the hood will still run at 180fps (or more). Additionally, reflection mapping on the cars will also glide along at a brisk 60fps. Don't worry, graphics whores -- we've got you covered.
Q: What's the deal with the official Xbox 360 racing wheel? Does it feature true force feedback or are we going to be stuck with a rumble imitation like last time?
A: Hey, don't hate on the Fanatec. They tried their best given that the Xbox didn't support true force feedback. That said, the official Xbox 360 racing wheel will support true force feedback. Again, the wheel is true force feedback with additional rumble built on top of it. In Forza Motorsport 2, the force feedback will simulate the torque lines of your front two tires so you can really get a feel for how severe you're understeering. On top of that, there is additional rumble for the wheel which simulates slippage of your rear tires. So in effect, it feels like the 5.1 surround of force feedback where you get total 3D tactile awareness. Seriously, tell a friend.
Q: Does the official Xbox 360 racing wheel feature 900 degree rotation?
A: The wheel is lock to lock only, meaning that it isn't 900 degrees. But I like the materials it uses -- its non-slip pedal base (designed so that the weight of your foot actually holds the thing in place) and progressive spring pedals (the gas and brake pedals have literally a different feel) make the wheel feel really authentic. The best part is that the wheel will be quite affordable... I don't think they're talking about specific price yet but I hear it's supposed to be completely reasonable. I don't know how much more a hint I can drop here without getting slapped by corporate.
Q: Why is the Xbox 360 racing wheel wireless? Isn't that going to weaken the force feedback motors if you're running the wheel on batteries?
A: Don't be silly. You still have to plug the wheel's AC adaptor into a wall socket for power. Plus, the foot pedals also have wires that connect to the wheel. The wireless part is from the wheel to the Xbox 360.
Q: Why wasn't Forza Motorsport 2 on the show floor at E3? Does this mean the game sucks?
A: The reason Forza Motorsport 2 wasn't on the show floor is pretty simple. Coming from the press side, I kind of took for granted that showing your game at E3 was a no-brainer. Sitting on the other side of the fence, however, I see an entirely different story. E3 is incredibly disruptive to the development schedule. If you're going to show off a polished demo of your game (i.e., not incur the wrath of editors and fanboys), then you're going to spend a month polishing one very isolated area of the game while everything else falls to the wayside. The video that we showed is using real in-game assets (i.e., the cars and the track are all in-game models), and the look of the video is attainable. The game will look better than PGR3 and then some. Why? Because it isn't simply Forza HD. We're not using the old Forza 1 engine. A new platform, a new engine. Things need to be built from the ground-up. There's a lot of work involved, and showing the game now simply wouldn't do us any favors. What was effective, however, was the E3 video we showed. People were coming up to me out of the woodwork telling me about the emotional response the video got out of them. Mission accomplished on that front. We announced the game, gave folks a taste of the ol' car lust, all without taxing our very busy development schedule. Anyway, with that, I really hope you folks can understand (and forgive) why Forza 2 wasn't shown in playable form on the show floor.
Q: So what's new with Forza Motorsport 2 other than more cars and more tracks?
A: We have other cool features (both online and single-player) that we haven't announced yet. Why aren't we announcing every little thing on day 1? Because we want you to suffer. No, just totally kidding. It's because we want to hold a few of the surprises for later -- we think you might get a kick out of some of the new stuff we're putting into the game so stay tuned and speculate!
Q: Is Forza Motorsport 2's game director Dan Greenawalt an angry man?
A: Only when you spell his last name "Greenwalt."
That's it for now. If I see any other frequently harped on questions, I'll do another update.
