Forza's Greatest Addiction: The Scoreboards

Posted by: ncasolo

Written by Ryan "Solo" Terpstra, Lead Forza2 Feature Writer

Welcome back Carolina Core and Forza 2 Fans!

This week's article will introduce you to the Forza Motorsport 2 online community. We think you'll find there's a little something for everyone no matter what your taste in burnt rubber.

For those of you who are new to the Forza scene I'd like to just share a random factoid that I learned on my recent trip to the Turn 10 Studios where I got to meet many of the game's developers. The name is actually pronounced Fort-za. Apparently the word is Italian in origin and everyone I've ever talked to online has always pronounced it wrong myself included, I just figured those guys in Seattle had a weird accent until they got on my case for saying it wrong.

Speaking of Turn 10 studios and Forza those of you not already registered on their official website you should check it out. The one section I would really like to highlight from their site is the Tuning Marketplace on the forum. This is where many different groups of people market the cars that they have fine-tuned the settings on. You'll find car setups to take the top time on the scoreboards, as well as cars that are maybe a bit outside the normal, but have been setup so that they can still be competitive online. If you're new to the game this is a great place for you to get some well tuned setup as the learning curve for tuning your own cars seems to be one of the more challenging aspects of Forza.

Now that you've got a car or two from the tuning marketplace it is time to see where you stack up. One of the most competitive environments online in Forza 2 is the hot lap scoreboard. Many of you may have already heard the term "hot lappers" and wondered exactly what a "hot lapper" is. People who consider themselves hot lappers are typically racers who try to put down the best lap on every track in every class, or at least on every track within a particular class of interest to them. With 10 different classes and 52 different tracks that gives you 520 different scoreboards just to set an individual lap time on. The number of gamers who have completed this grind is less than 200. Will you add your name to the list at the top of the "Hot Lap" scoreboard?

Let's break that down in a little bit more detail. The scoreboards can be accessed both in the game by going to the multiplayer menu and online on the official website scoreboard. Each scoreboard records a significant amount of information about the lap you ran. It records what assists were used (except racing line), what game mode you were in, if you had drafting help setting your lap, what car you used, and the date on which you ran the lap. Additionally if your lap is fast enough to be in the top 100 it records a replay of your lap. When you view a scoreboard online you are given the option to watch not only your replay, if it's in the top 100, but the replay from anyone else in the top 100 as well. If you are viewing the scoreboard from free run mode you are even able to download the replay and race against that ghost. Many people find it very useful trying to chase someone's ghost in order to better their own lap time. It not only gives a concrete goal, but in many cases it even helps you improve your own racing line.

The last, and perhaps most significant, piece of information that is uploaded when you run a lap in the top 100 is your tuning setup and build. This is an option you can turn off by going into the HUD menu, but if you want to share your setup with others this is a great way to do it. However, for people new to Forza the scoreboards are a great resource for setups while they learn to build their own cars, especially if you can't afford to buy some of the tunes in the Tuning Marketplace. If you're struggling on a particular track you can go online to the scoreboards and scroll through the top 100 until you find someone who uploaded their setup. Sometimes it is even a good idea to download more than one setup to see if one is more to your liking than another as we each have our own driving style.

Hopefully that gives everyone an idea of where you can find competition even if you're not racing. That first top 10 is usually pretty elusive, but if you find yourself putting top 10's down on the hot lap scoreboard right away perhaps you should make sure you find your way to the nearest combine to try out for the CGS.

Editor's Note:
Ryan also wrote a Track Guide on Road America on Turn 10's Official Site, ForzaMotorsport.net, in conjunction with Community Manager Landin Williams. You can view this great guide here.

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About The Author

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Ryan "Solo" Terpstra
Lead Forza2 Feature Writer

Ryan has been involved with the Forza community since the launch of the game in May of 2007. He is a moderator over on the official FM2 forums at ForzaMotorSport.net and also provides valuable feedback to Turn 10 regarding some of the multiplayer competitions. Beyond that, he is an avid racer himself climbing to as high as #5 in the world on the main Time Trials leaderboard.