GTDon's Blog III

no offense to playground or turn 10, im gonna pass on this one, i am just not looking for another test drive unlimited or need for speed game to play. I grew out of those in my teen years I want hard fast as simulation as possible game, no tricky scoring systems, no young punk rear-end teens clogging up streets ramming you off the road and things of that nature. If we could find a way to incorporate what we do in this league to it id consider it but right now I am dissapointed in what I am seeing and not so much what I was hoping for. But then again it is in early productions and there is a lot we dont know about it yet- its gonna take more than just ambient lighting and dynamic shadows to impress me when there is so much you could do with modern video games. Im staying with Forza 4..

LOL, nice points corwin! I'm sure I will play it still, but probably only as a relaxing diversion to hardcore racing, sort of like when I play a shooter game or something different than Forza.


There is the hinting possibility that Forza is branching off in two directions at the same time. The rumor is that Forza5 will be the hardcore sim we have all wished for, while Horizons will be for the car show peeps. We may all just be getting our "cake" in the near future, and eat it any way we like. lol

I guess I can see your point, and like i said at first glance it isn't fair to judge the game. But my easy going fall out is the F1 series. So i dont know if i will invest in it the day it comes out

Here is a pre-order review of Forza Horizons that lacks any of the butt kissing you'll read from IGN or Jalopnik, or anywhere else.

I think I'm going to have to revise my first impression about this game. I hate to say it, and cringe at the thought, but it appears Dan Greenawalt has sold out the franchise, and allowed it to be kid napped! Say hello to Forza meets GTA.

It's sad, and convinces me that T10 and company are never going to have a serious simulator. This in spite of their false claims that the last 4 iterations have been, "very serious." lol Nope, T10 wants a younger audience as a foundation for a broader audience. So in comes the do anything, crash everything, open world format.

Like any new concept, it tends to sound good or "cool" on paper, but this rarely translates to the actual experience. Problem with open worlds, or a borderless universe is the risk of losing purpose and then the onset of abject boredom. The "Dev's" know this and have explained how they plan to prevent this, but I remain entirely unconvinced. They say Kinect will save the day by allowing you to verbalize where the game takes you. They say that there are all kinds of "achievements" to collect along the way too. They say the object of Forza Horizon is to gain "popularity points" by your driving experience, style, and skill. That it is in essence a car/gamer popularity contest. Perfect for kids at or around the age of 13-16. But what they don't say is far more interesting and telling. If there are rewards for being a flashy driver and becoming super popular, then there must also be the unintended opposite.

You see, often what is designed to be popular, or the "in thing" never really is. Instead, it is the non-in-thing to do that becomes popular. Not through the creative genius of a game studio, but through the will of the individual users. That is, what's cool is not what's in fashion right now, but what will be. What's cool is not what everyone is doing, but only what a certain underground minority does. If you try to copy or replicate or formulate what this is, the very act of doing so ruins the "coolness" you sought to reproduce. It's a bit like quantum physics, the instant you try to measure the exact position of a sub-atomic particle, you have effectively changed its locality, before you can determine its position in the first place. Same thing here, you can not calculate what cool is, and you can not artificially create it, because if you do, you instantly strip the coolness right out of it. And this is what I see T10 attempting to do. Sort of like trying to create the next big hit song, if it was easy to do, record producers wouldn't need artists.

What's sad is that T10 is sooooo ignorant about racing options they continue to leave out or omit. They pretend that there is nowhere more to go on the racing side, as though everything has been done that can be done. Yet there is a long list of things that could be done to enhance the game and make it worlds better on the racing side. Instead of admitting this, they pretend to have mastered racing and are willing to move on to a "broader" approach.

I'll tell you what's going to happen to Forza Horizon's; it will die a quick death, but not before it is ravaged like a cheap whore and beaten to death by glitch pimps, and evil children. The "in-thing" will not be to see who will become the most popular, but rather, the most powerful. It will be about automotive assault on the open roads where roving gangs seek out the innocent driver and gang bang them until they either escape or quit out the game. It will be fun or funny for a few minutes or hours, and then it will become a bunch of meaningless boring nonsense forcing you to ask why you are wasting so much of your time on the Xbox.

if you remember my prior comments - i told you why i wasnt buying this game, it is in essence the reason why i dont play test drive unlimited 2 anymore - the cars were poorly made, and the people ruined what little qualities the game had - open world driving and exploration, and a casual game to get away from intense shooters or simulators

Well, part of your reason for not wanting Horizon is missing here, because the cars will be just as good as FM4 cars, so how much of a difference do you think that will make for you?

I, like you, think the game will be virtually ruined by people out to smash into everything. Which sounds sort of fun at first, and will be, but this is short lived.

That's quite an interesting new banner. I guess the old black and white became too boring.

Yeah, was about time to break out or dust off something that was better looking.

http://simracers.myfreeforum.org/about2781.html

I'm running the Miata Shootout over at the SimRacers with Tartarus and invisico as my teammates, and did pretty good in the opening round. I encourage everyone to explore other league offerings when time permits as a way to also bring people into the IFCA and have a go at our events.

As some of you know I'm competing over at the SimRacers deal as a way to help bring people back and forth to the IFCA. Although I qualified well, it was not very good for me because I was actually faster in practice.

These guys are very fast, some of them you know; you might not know the pole sitter PottHed, but he is of the elite Forza drivers in the world, and goes all the way back to FM1. He has competed nationally and is insanely fast just like any of the fastest Forza drivers in the world.

http://gallery.myff.org/gallery/1341821/S28+-+Motegi+West+Qualifying.jpg

It's that time of year again for me, time to go back, back, way back to...



...at the Minnesota State Fair Grounds all weekend long!

This is the largest car show of its kind in North America with an estimated 15,000 pre 1964 cars, from all over the world. Over 100,000 people will be stepping back into time with me this weekend in the land of sky blue waters, and temps in the upper 70s. Perfect for the coolest car show on Earth. The family and I will be cruising in our candy apple green 1955 Chevy, originally purchased in 1955 as a new car by my mother's father. It has a 265cid V8 producing a humble 162hp, with a 3-speed manual on the column and dual exhaust. It's washed , waxed, and ready to go!

Cool!!

Thought I might share a few pics from the big show 2 weekends ago already. A real piece of historic Americana. dale has seen all of these because I was sending him the pics as I took them during the show. Isn't modern technology a wonderful thing.



I'd like to take this moment and say thanks to the founding fathers of my country, and their eternal motto in our national anthem of, "In God is our trust." the very same anthem that four times proudly shouts, "land of the free and home of the brave." For it could only be a country of brave people, born of free men, and trusting God, that such amazing technology could ever begin to be created.



What people don't realize is that only a century ago the rigid class structure of society, in particular Western culture, did not promote or support the rugged individual, as much as they did class segregation. Class segregation was something that went beyond even racism, or racist segregation, because it was applied to all people, everywhere. High society did not mingle with commoners. Your wealth and education wasn't always enough, you had to be from a notable family too. In those days there was no middle class. You were either poor or rich then. And everywhere you might go there was segregation between the classes. The well to do would get the best seats in the house and accommodations, the commoner would get whatever was left over. This began to change when people started to leave Europe for the new world and a free land.



Notions of respect for the "upper" classes, slowly mellowed over the centuries and eventually were largely lost in a fading ancient memory. And as the high and mighty of society came down a little, and the low and weak saw they could rise up a lot, everyone could finally see things a little more eye to eye. People realized that no human being on this Earth was naturally or inherently superior to another. That all men were created equal, and equally sinned. And that to live as a slave master or in proximity to one, was to be enslaved as well. It was on that day, free minded American's were truly born.



But it had to start somewhere, and thank God it was that unique nation of average freedom loving individuals called, the United States of America. There had to be that first country of free people, who set the compass in the right direction for everyone else to follow. To be a brilliant light of liberty and freedom in an otherwise dark and oppressive world. With free men able to follow the limits of their untapped potential, the greatest country and benefactor to humanity the world has ever known was created, by God.





July 4th 2012

Happy 236th Birthday America!





My 55 Chevy



My son the USN Sailor.





Flames MAX!





Rat Rods



Dream cars



The Cheetah!





1957 Chevy with a straight axel front end old school drag car



My son, and cuda500 (Warren)

























Me and Mrs. GTDon

Nice!!

Nice pics Don, wasn't expecting to see a tall rear-end old guy with gray hair though JUST FOR MEN!!! jk jk - awesome pics though

The huge NASA rover slated to land on Mars Sunday night (Aug. 5) is expected to give scientists and laypeople alike some amazing views of the Red Planet.

The 1-ton Curiosity rover, the heart of NASA's $2.5 billion Mars Science Laboratory mission, will try to determine if Earth's neighbor is, or ever was, capable of supporting microbial life. To help address this question, the six-wheeled robot is carrying 10 science instruments — and a wealth of high-tech camera gear.

Like its older Mars rover siblings Spirit and Opportunity, Curiosity comes equipped with cameras mounted on a head-like stalk (called the Remote Sensing Mast, or RSM), providing a point of view similar to what a person might experience. Unlike previous rovers, however, Curiosity’s imaging system — called Mastcam — has features that will offer a whole new look at Mars.

yeah its kind of a big deal, it gots everyone including John Stewart and Stephen Colbert taking shots at it and at the same time bringing voices from NASA in to do interviews. I am interested in what this may or may not find because of all the hype. But we are still a long ways off on space technology to be able to learn as much as we wish we could at the time being.

I'll be tuning in most likely

http://forzamotorsport.net/en-us/August_DLC/

Ha!! I love the Lincoln Continental ...but of course, the Camaro ZL1 is outstanding!

2 of those cars were on my wish list: the Sauber-Mercedes C9 and the 2013 Boss Mustang! The Zagato is defenitely a pleasant surprise. This will be a MUST HAVE pack for me!!!

Yay another race car! Can't wait to drive it.... but with that being said I also can't wait to drive the new Zagato, you guys know how much like I like those Aston Martins

http://www.onlineracedriver.com/2012/08/10/the-2012-ifca-world-championship-grab-the-1-plate-and-cash-prize/

Please post a comment over there, thx.

Hi Guys, it's that wonderful time of the year for me and cuda500 again, the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals at Brainerd International Raceway! I will be up North at the races from Thursday thru Sunday, so don't wait up for me! I will be transmitting pics to dale and corwin throughout the event, and hopefully they can post some here.

http://www.nhra.com/

http://www.1320go.com/brainerd/livetiming.php

Cool! Say hello to Courtney for me ok?

is 10 into 1 long enough? i bet you see a lot of crashing into the sand traps at the end of 1 lol