Snymo
12-29-2010, 05:21 PM
Welcome to the Forza3 Online Racing FAQ. Please feel free to reply with anything you feel would be helpful to both beginners and veterans.
Controller vs Steering Wheel?
Almost everyone starts with the standard controller. A steering wheel/pedal setup is definitely nice and adds to the overall enjoyment/immersion, but there's no reason you can't play with just the standard controller that comes with the system. Don't let the lack of a fancy steering wheel setup keep you from joining the fun, as there's a lot to be said for just kicking back on the couch and racing with the standard controller - it has analog triggers for gas and brake, and the steering with the left thumbstick is really pretty intuitive and scales well for how much/little control input you're looking for.
If you decide to buy a wheel you have a couple of options. The Microsoft wheel is what most people use. It's cheap (in many ways) but it gets you up and racing easily and for the most part it works pretty well. Also, there's a high-end force feedback wheel made by a company called Fanatec that supports PC, XBox, and PS3, but it's not cheap ($300+) and requires a couple of extra purchases to actually be useful (like a $40 table clamp if you're not going to drill holes in your desk to mount it.)
What do I need to do to race online?
First, you will need access to an internet source. You can either plug in a CAT5 cable or buy the wireless network router. Follow the directions in the main Settings menu of the Xbox console to setup your network connection. Once you have the network setup, you will need to purchase a GOLD membership (available in multiple formats from 1 month to one year). That's all you need to do to race online!
Who can I race against?
Here is the most current list of Xbox Gamer Tags (http://www.nasarockymountain.com/nasa_forums/showthread.php?t=3489). Just send a friend request to any of these racers and they will show up in your "friends" leaderboard both online and in the game (see more below). You will also get a message when you start the game if you have friends playing Forza and if you go to the Multiplayer menu you will be prompted to join a party (online race) if your friends are racing together.
What new cars are available?
Forza releases downloadable car packs from time to time, called DLC cars. Each of these are available in the Marketplace option from the main Forza3 menu. Here is the complete list of download packs with the links to see what cars are available in each:
Motorsports Legends Car Pack (http://www.forzamotorsport.net/en-us/ForzaMotorsport3/Day_One_DLC.aspx) - This one may be FREE!
Hot Holidays DLC Car Pack! (http://www.forzamotorsport.net/en-us/_templates/NewsDetail.aspx?id=3059)
AutoWeek Car Show Pack (http://www.forzamotorsport.net/en-us/_templates/NewsDetail.aspx?id=3219)
Jalopnik Car Pack (http://www.forzamotorsport.net/en-us/Jalopnik_Car_Pack/)
Road & Track Car Pack (http://www.forzamotorsport.net/en-us/roadandtrack/)
Exotic Car Pack (http://www.forzamotorsport.net/en-us/Exotic_Car_Pack/)
Summer Velocity Pack (http://www.forzamotorsport.net/en-us/Summer_Velocity_Pack/)
World Class Car Pack (http://www.forzamotorsport.net/en-us/World_Class_Pack/)
Community Choice Classics Pack (http://www.forzamotorsport.net/en-us/Community_Choice_Classics/)
You can download each pack for roughly 400 MS Points (about $5 and MS points are not the same as game points). If you don't want to spend the money, get the "DEMO" version of the download pack. The DEMO includes only one of the available cars, which can then be "bought" in the game, but it also includes all of the "skins" for the other DLC cars in that pack. If you have not downloaded a DLC car that someone you are racing with is driving, you will see a VW Jetta! Don't let your P1 prototype get beat by a VW Jetta because you were too lazy to download the demo. ;)
What NEW tracks are available?
Just like the DLC cars, there are DLC tracks available for 400 MS points (about $5) each. Here is the current list:
Benchmark High Speed Ring (http://www.forzamotorsport.net/en-us/ForzaMotorsport3/Day_One_DLC.aspx) - This one may be FREE!
Nürburgring Grand Prix Circuit (http://www.forzamotorsport.net/en-us/OfficialNews/Nurburgring_Grand_Prix_Circuit.aspx)
NOTE: If one person you are racing with online has not downloaded the track pack, you will not be able to select it and race there. For $5, it's worth getting as these are great additions to the out of the box tracks.
What cars do I need to build to race online with my NASA friends?
Here are links to each of the build threads for each class of "Spec" racing we are doing in Forza3. Please refer to each thread for more detailed information. As new classes are added, this thread will be updated with a link to the new build thread.
Forza3 Online "Spec" Racing Classes:
Spec Miata (http://www.nasarockymountain.com/nasa_forums/showthread.php?t=3649)
German Touring Series (GTS):
- Original GTS cars (http://www.nasarockymountain.com/nasa_forums/showthread.php?t=3622)
- New GTS cars (http://www.nasarockymountain.com/nasa_forums/showthread.php?t=3676)
American Iron (AI):
General AI discussion (http://www.nasarockymountain.com/nasa_forums/showthread.php?t=3577)
- AI 2010 Camaro SS (http://www.nasarockymountain.com/nasa_forums/showthread.php?t=3583)
- AI 07 GT500 Mustang (http://www.nasarockymountain.com/nasa_forums/showthread.php?t=3582)
- AI 09 Challenger (http://www.nasarockymountain.com/nasa_forums/showthread.php?t=3581)
Vintage Trans Am (http://www.nasarockymountain.com/nasa_forums/showthread.php?t=3618)
Super Unlimited (SU) (http://www.nasarockymountain.com/nasa_forums/showthread.php?t=3685)
Aussie V8 Supercars (http://www.nasarockymountain.com/nasa_forums/showthread.php?t=3684)
Car Setup/Build discussion (http://www.nasarockymountain.com/nasa_forums/showthread.php?t=3631)
Do I have to paint my "spec" race cars? - Added 12/30/2010
In short, yes! :D It makes it so much more fun when you have custom paint jobs on the cars and it makes it easier to know who is who as you learn who is driving what car. It can be as simple as adding a number panel or as intricate as modeling a real racecar, as long as it's your custom paint job.
In addition, you can purchase complete paint schemes and/or individual graphics using game credits. Then you can add these to your custom paint job. Some of these paint schemes and graphics are locked and cannot be edited so choose carefully. NOTE: cars with locked paint graphics cannot be sold in an auction so you will need to delete the paint scheme before you can sell the car.
How do I find my best times and my friends times online?
Go to http://www.forzamotorsport.net and login. Then click on the "Forza Motorsport 3" Heading in the top menu and select "Leaderboards". From there you can view your placing against all players or just your friends (see image below). If you click the "+" sign under the lap time, it will tell you the HP, Torque and Weight of the car used to perform that lap. The only downside is that you can only see the fastest lap for a given class, so if you go run an A600 car and beat your A570 car's time, you will only see the A600 time until you beat it again.
Controller vs Steering Wheel?
Almost everyone starts with the standard controller. A steering wheel/pedal setup is definitely nice and adds to the overall enjoyment/immersion, but there's no reason you can't play with just the standard controller that comes with the system. Don't let the lack of a fancy steering wheel setup keep you from joining the fun, as there's a lot to be said for just kicking back on the couch and racing with the standard controller - it has analog triggers for gas and brake, and the steering with the left thumbstick is really pretty intuitive and scales well for how much/little control input you're looking for.
If you decide to buy a wheel you have a couple of options. The Microsoft wheel is what most people use. It's cheap (in many ways) but it gets you up and racing easily and for the most part it works pretty well. Also, there's a high-end force feedback wheel made by a company called Fanatec that supports PC, XBox, and PS3, but it's not cheap ($300+) and requires a couple of extra purchases to actually be useful (like a $40 table clamp if you're not going to drill holes in your desk to mount it.)
What do I need to do to race online?
First, you will need access to an internet source. You can either plug in a CAT5 cable or buy the wireless network router. Follow the directions in the main Settings menu of the Xbox console to setup your network connection. Once you have the network setup, you will need to purchase a GOLD membership (available in multiple formats from 1 month to one year). That's all you need to do to race online!
Who can I race against?
Here is the most current list of Xbox Gamer Tags (http://www.nasarockymountain.com/nasa_forums/showthread.php?t=3489). Just send a friend request to any of these racers and they will show up in your "friends" leaderboard both online and in the game (see more below). You will also get a message when you start the game if you have friends playing Forza and if you go to the Multiplayer menu you will be prompted to join a party (online race) if your friends are racing together.
What new cars are available?
Forza releases downloadable car packs from time to time, called DLC cars. Each of these are available in the Marketplace option from the main Forza3 menu. Here is the complete list of download packs with the links to see what cars are available in each:
Motorsports Legends Car Pack (http://www.forzamotorsport.net/en-us/ForzaMotorsport3/Day_One_DLC.aspx) - This one may be FREE!
Hot Holidays DLC Car Pack! (http://www.forzamotorsport.net/en-us/_templates/NewsDetail.aspx?id=3059)
AutoWeek Car Show Pack (http://www.forzamotorsport.net/en-us/_templates/NewsDetail.aspx?id=3219)
Jalopnik Car Pack (http://www.forzamotorsport.net/en-us/Jalopnik_Car_Pack/)
Road & Track Car Pack (http://www.forzamotorsport.net/en-us/roadandtrack/)
Exotic Car Pack (http://www.forzamotorsport.net/en-us/Exotic_Car_Pack/)
Summer Velocity Pack (http://www.forzamotorsport.net/en-us/Summer_Velocity_Pack/)
World Class Car Pack (http://www.forzamotorsport.net/en-us/World_Class_Pack/)
Community Choice Classics Pack (http://www.forzamotorsport.net/en-us/Community_Choice_Classics/)
You can download each pack for roughly 400 MS Points (about $5 and MS points are not the same as game points). If you don't want to spend the money, get the "DEMO" version of the download pack. The DEMO includes only one of the available cars, which can then be "bought" in the game, but it also includes all of the "skins" for the other DLC cars in that pack. If you have not downloaded a DLC car that someone you are racing with is driving, you will see a VW Jetta! Don't let your P1 prototype get beat by a VW Jetta because you were too lazy to download the demo. ;)
What NEW tracks are available?
Just like the DLC cars, there are DLC tracks available for 400 MS points (about $5) each. Here is the current list:
Benchmark High Speed Ring (http://www.forzamotorsport.net/en-us/ForzaMotorsport3/Day_One_DLC.aspx) - This one may be FREE!
Nürburgring Grand Prix Circuit (http://www.forzamotorsport.net/en-us/OfficialNews/Nurburgring_Grand_Prix_Circuit.aspx)
NOTE: If one person you are racing with online has not downloaded the track pack, you will not be able to select it and race there. For $5, it's worth getting as these are great additions to the out of the box tracks.
What cars do I need to build to race online with my NASA friends?
Here are links to each of the build threads for each class of "Spec" racing we are doing in Forza3. Please refer to each thread for more detailed information. As new classes are added, this thread will be updated with a link to the new build thread.
Forza3 Online "Spec" Racing Classes:
Spec Miata (http://www.nasarockymountain.com/nasa_forums/showthread.php?t=3649)
German Touring Series (GTS):
- Original GTS cars (http://www.nasarockymountain.com/nasa_forums/showthread.php?t=3622)
- New GTS cars (http://www.nasarockymountain.com/nasa_forums/showthread.php?t=3676)
American Iron (AI):
General AI discussion (http://www.nasarockymountain.com/nasa_forums/showthread.php?t=3577)
- AI 2010 Camaro SS (http://www.nasarockymountain.com/nasa_forums/showthread.php?t=3583)
- AI 07 GT500 Mustang (http://www.nasarockymountain.com/nasa_forums/showthread.php?t=3582)
- AI 09 Challenger (http://www.nasarockymountain.com/nasa_forums/showthread.php?t=3581)
Vintage Trans Am (http://www.nasarockymountain.com/nasa_forums/showthread.php?t=3618)
Super Unlimited (SU) (http://www.nasarockymountain.com/nasa_forums/showthread.php?t=3685)
Aussie V8 Supercars (http://www.nasarockymountain.com/nasa_forums/showthread.php?t=3684)
Car Setup/Build discussion (http://www.nasarockymountain.com/nasa_forums/showthread.php?t=3631)
Do I have to paint my "spec" race cars? - Added 12/30/2010
In short, yes! :D It makes it so much more fun when you have custom paint jobs on the cars and it makes it easier to know who is who as you learn who is driving what car. It can be as simple as adding a number panel or as intricate as modeling a real racecar, as long as it's your custom paint job.
In addition, you can purchase complete paint schemes and/or individual graphics using game credits. Then you can add these to your custom paint job. Some of these paint schemes and graphics are locked and cannot be edited so choose carefully. NOTE: cars with locked paint graphics cannot be sold in an auction so you will need to delete the paint scheme before you can sell the car.
How do I find my best times and my friends times online?
Go to http://www.forzamotorsport.net and login. Then click on the "Forza Motorsport 3" Heading in the top menu and select "Leaderboards". From there you can view your placing against all players or just your friends (see image below). If you click the "+" sign under the lap time, it will tell you the HP, Torque and Weight of the car used to perform that lap. The only downside is that you can only see the fastest lap for a given class, so if you go run an A600 car and beat your A570 car's time, you will only see the A600 time until you beat it again.