The Bench

[barumba]

Glad you like the Fanatec wheel, Blooze. Let me know if you have any issues with set up of the wheel.
And, hand controllers have a lot of handling assist built in by the game, less so the wheels. So, it would be great if we could come up with a set up for the wheel that could closely emulate the handling characteristics of the controller. Narrow the margin, so to speak. I have tried a few variables, but have not come up with anything I can measure. But, there is probably some low hanging fruit there, to be had.
Cheers!

[Blooze]

Thanks again for the recommendation Barumba - it is all working out real well.  Set up came off without a hitch.  I don't understand all the inside/outside business with the Wheel and Pedal devices so I have pretty much left them stock.  The Brake is bit too touchy and I may go looking for a way to set it so that I can at least touch the pedal without initiating the function.  The Force Feedback is quite strong and I have dialed it back to about 30% and am thinking that 20% may be in order.

The Shift kit was back ordered so I haven't got to mess with it yet.  I will be getting the Graphite paddle shifters as well, and am seriously considering coughing up the bucks for a set of the Clubsport pedals.  

As far as competing with the standard controller, I don't know that I do you much good there.  I myself am faster with a wheel, even if I don't know much about it.

@ Warped I'd noticed that you were knocking down quite a few seconds on the P2P Big Board.  If you wouldn't mind sharing, I'd appreciate a copy of your F and E class Elan tunes.  I'd like to give the little bugger a try.

Well, the population growth showed a marked hit for October, the anniversary month, in that it is the first month where growth was less than 100,000.  But then, proof that die hards like us Chasers are out there and still whackin' away at can be found in the fact that I was dropped 13 positions in the Circuit overall during the month.  I now sit at 120.  Ah well...

It still sort of boggles me at how engrossing this version of the game is, or at least it is for me.  I find myself quite content to set up shop and restrict myself to any one of the 10 classes (sorry - X sort of leaves me cold).  I decided to jump up to D so I could check the behaviour of the Gaposis system after having dropped so far under the slope in E Class.  And I still have some more to go in E.  I have a tendency to want to bring a majority of my E class cars up to D rather than mess with cars that are native to the class.  I will have to go do some serious shopping.

Warped - I am sure there is some beverage that you like to keep around the shop so go ahead and bring some around.  Just because I have a intra-venious rig set up to my coffee pot doesn't mean that everyone else has to go that route...

Speakin' or which - I need to go start a fresh pot.  Y'all have a good day!

$

[Blooze]

Good morning everyone.  Hope you're having a good day, or that you are preparing to have a good day at least.

I've been a little slow with the posting and the Forzacating this week due to a visit from my 85 year old Mother, God bless her.  The Old gal is still getting around pretty good so I bought her the tickets and we flew her down from Denver for a bit of Birthday/Thanksgiving Day celebration (cheaper than flying this Okie side of our clan to Denver...)  At any rate, Forza has had to take a bit of a back seat.

But Forza still has a seat, even if it is in the back.  I am all excited over various Forza stuff that is currently in the mail and should be arriving in the next day or so.  One of the items is the Forza III Ultimate Collection (FUC?)  It turns out it was a sort of funny release, actually not a release at all but just a change to what was being shipped, sort of.  At any rate, stores seem to just be stocking the game as inventory rather than a new release.  So, it has been slow to come by.  The Walmart in my little town damn sure didn't have it, and Amazon back ordered it on me.  But, finally it has shipped and I should get it in the next day or so.  Not that big a deal really, but I do like having the car collection complete.

The other item is the Fanatec Shift Kit for my Porsche Turbo S Wheel.  I am more interested in the Sequential Shifter than the 6 & 1, but they both come with the kit.  There will perhaps come a day when I have Two separate setups.  One wheel with two pedals and the sequential shifter (and Flappy Paddles), and another wheel with three pedals and the 6 & 1.  Then I will swap them out according to which car I am driving.  I will have to get my office a bit more organized should that turn out to be the case.  (and my Daughter will just shake her head...)

I don't know if I mentioned it or not, but I bought the Rennsport Wheel Stand with my Fanatec wheel.  It is really not all that pricey ($130.00) so having two of them is not entirely out of the rhelm of reason.

The Buck kid is still pounding away at D Class with the GSX.  He finally got the Career races done, and completed the P2P tracks.  I hope he hurries up.  I'm gettin' sort of stir crazy here.

A good part of my spreadsheet setup, and a lot of the work I have put in is bent toward the Purfekt Garage... and one of the Primary Tenants of the Purfekt Garage is that there should be no duplicates.  The only thing that is violating this Tenant is Cars with Locked Paint Jobs.  More specifically, the VIP cars we get.  I have been collecting them from the start, but the locked Paints are becoming an issue.  The thing that has brought this to a head is the recent VIP Kinect Subaru.  I happen to have an Auction house Subaru as well (a long and ugly story that reflects the reason I don't mess with the auction house much.)   So now, I have two cars to support two paint jobs, and I have another that I was gifted, and yet another that is my own, neither of which I can use or mess with without permanently killing one of the locked paints.  I have searched for a way to save a locked paint from a car as a locked paint, but alas... there does not seem to be a way to do that.

So...  My VIP collection is on its way to becoming a handful of Photos in a separate directory on my hard drive.  This promises to be a somewhat lengthy project, but it has been moved high up on the ole 'Round Tuit list.  It would be nice to keep the paints, but all the duplicate and unwanted cars are just too much to tolerate.

Oh me...  

and Oh, Good...  the coffee is done!  How goes your Forza-cating lately?

$

[Spiny Anteater]

Just my opinion, but I really didn't think much of that Subaru. Definitely not keen on the paint, and the tune wasn't crash hot either - it could have beaten my power-tuned Skyline around Catalunya National if I'd done a clean lap, but around Camino it wasn't up to much - in fact I've gone quicker in my Cayman which is a surprise given the usual 4WD advantage in the game.

So, since I already had an '08 WRX courtesy of Big Moo, the VIP one got it's parts sold off, then I went to put it on the Auction House in the hope of getting some more back on it. No such luck - the car is locked so if you want rid you have to sell it back to the dealer for 100cr. Oh well, at least I got almost 60,000cr for it.

The Mustang on the other hand is a different matter. I don't have one of those, and I do like the paint so that one is a keeper. Not driven it yet though, so I can't say whether I'll stick with the tune or redact it and do my own in due course.

Got to admit though Blooze, your idea of "not pricey" and mine are a little different. Then again, I haven't even been able to justify to myself the purchase of a wheel so I guess that's just the old Yorkshire tightfistedness coming into play

[Blooze]

...Got to admit though Blooze, your idea of "not pricey" and mine are a little different...

LOL - that does sound a bit high rollerish and pretencious, doesn't it?  And coming from a fellow that is known to reuse paper plates...  I think I will qualify the statement just a tad.

Since my more or less retirement and the death of my wife, Forza is what I do.  It is all that I do.  And, I have nothing to spend money on other than Forza as far as any sort of entertainment is concerned.  So, in the over all scheme of things, and a glance at a dollars vs. hours ratio, $130 really doesn't mean much.

But hey... at least I haven't joined the 3 screen Racing cockpit crowd...

$

[barumba]

...Got to admit though Blooze, your idea of "not pricey" and mine are a little different...

LOL - that does sound a bit high rollerish and pretencious, doesn't it?  And coming from a fellow that is known to reuse paper plates...  I think I will qualify the statement just a tad.

Since my more of less retirement and the death of my wife, Forza is what I do.  It is all that I do.  And, I have nothing to spend money on other than Forza as far as any sort of entertainment is concerned.  So, in the over all scheme of things, and a glance at a dollars vs. hours ratio, $130 really doesn't mean much.

But hey... at least I haven't joined the 3 screen Racing cockpit crowd...

$

3 screens! Oh, if only I could. I am so tempted, what with the prices of the flat panels plummeting. And the clear outs of the "older" technology screens. Heck, they are all of two years old and they are already in clear out. When I bought my first box, it came as a package with a 61" DLP "way back" in 2005. Cost only $5000 CAN. Ough!!! When I think of it now, I could buy two of everything for that now. And not to mention the two xbox wheels I have gone through, the three "white" consoles, and the black Elite I am now using, and now the tough as a tank Fanatec wheel. Jeese, talk about focusing your disposable income. I used to fish, golf, what ever. But now I just can't afford it. Oh me, Oh my. So sad, too bad.
And as for Forzacating, I have been beta testing a really good upgrade of Slave Munky's calc. So, since my flooring project has pretty much wrapped up, and my house is almost back in order, I have had some decent seat time in the last week, just-a-testing my ass off. Stupid me, though. I have put up some personal bests with this new version, but have tested in, well, test mode. So, since the light went on tonight, I will be testing in one of the modes that will at least record and credit my new times. I'm such a dope.
But loving the time spent, all the same.
That's my Forzacating update.
Cheers!

[Spiny Anteater]

Just goes to show that video games aren't just for kids - they also have a role in keeping the elderly active as well I think barumba has just taken the honours in the "splashing out on Forza" award though with that C$5000

Incidentally Blooze, if you're collecting the T10 paint jobs, you need to brave .net and comment in this weeks blog as they are giving a "gift" out to anyone who comments - best guess as to what it will be is some sort of Twitter paint job.

[Blooze]

Speaking of High Roller and Pretencious... I am up early this morning to watch the F1 finale at Abu Dhabi.  If ever there was a case of a bunch guys sitting around figuring out... "So, what we gonna do with all this money?", then Abu Dhabi has got to be pretty high on the list.

I saw the bit about the comment and jumped right in with a "Congrats" to the Twitter crowd for achieving their goal.  Thanks for the heads up though...

Speaking of Turn 10 paint jobs...  3 of the 10 cars associated with the Ultimate Platinum edition are existing Audis with an "Ultimate Collection" paint job.  Then, another 3 of them are Vintage collectables, the Porsche Spyder, the Jag D Type, and the Hemi 'Cuda.  Incidentaly, I see where the Spyder is topping out a few of the D Class leaderboards already.  Too bad a guy can't buy stock in the thing...  Ya add in the Stig's garage trio and the Lancia Stradale and you have the Ultimate car set.  

Interestingly, this is the first add-on DLC where I have felt an urge to buy all 10 cars.  I have seven of them already... OC behaviour can be a burden at times.  

I got to go make another pot of coffee before the "Doin's at Abu Dhabi" gets goin...

$

[barumba]

Big bucks, there in Abu Dhabi. They said they spent over a BILLION $ converting the desert to a marina/hotel/race track/Ferrari pavilion...

[DirtDriver]

Uh, Mr. Buck? You did download the free Spyder from the marketplace, right? I mean...it's 600,000 credits in game but free on the marketplace...and it's a "snake charmer"!

[Blooze]

Hey there Son!!

Yes-sir, I did do that.  One of the reasons I been raggin' on that BucksToon kid to get done with his project so I can get out to the shop and start messing with it.

Plus, I got to fire up and get me some credits so I can afford to buy one of those Jaguar D Types. 

A Snake Charmer huh?  Cool, if a guy was any good at painting, a coiled Cobra on one of those Spyders would look pretty neat, wouldn't it?

$

[DirtDriver]

Well, I am gonna go ahead and 'fess up. I built an F class AWD version for super lap days. It is a hoot! Particularly, Kaido and Positano were a blast. Now, don't get me wrong, the RWD version is a blast, too.

DD

[chuckrateez]

   I also plead guilty to buying the Porsche Spyder and building it with AWD (in E class).  Put in the usual adjustable bits, a sport tranny and sport tires on it and used up the last of the points on a bit of power.  Used a standard F'dog tune on it and never looked back.  The thing is a hoot.  It's also blew away almost all my times in E P2P.  Even on the 'Ring (?!)   


       Chuck (it's lookin' like serious leaderboard material)




   

[Blooze]

Re: Spyder AWD.  Very good!  I too will most likely be sporting an AWD build on the little dude as soon as I get the keys back from the Buck kid.  My confidence level in my Toon and just about everything else is higher with AWD cars than any other configuration.

I am off to make another pot of coffee and snap the whip on the kid.  He should be finishing up today.

$

[EXOR Warpedo]

With the release of the 550 it looks like I shall have even more difficulty staying competitive in the lower class that are my favorites. I could keep up with the golfs and various other AWD's after a fashion, the 550 is even faster.