OXCGN – Breathing Life Into Gaming

Official Release dates = 23rd Oct Au/Eu/Nz/UK – 27th Nth America

by XboxOZ360

©2009 Grant Smythe – OXCGN

Forza 3 Update 19th October #14

OXCGN Forza 3 October Update #14 – Daily Vehicle News

Test Track – Gymkahana Madness – Drag Racing Delights

Well it’s not that far away now, just a few days away here in Australia, and several car updates from OXCGN until Forza 3 is unleashed onto the gaming public in Europe, Australia and Asia. Followed 5 days later in Nth America.

OXCGN will still be bringing you heaps of news on the game once it is released. Such as tournaments, the formation of various Racing Teams, such as Team OXCGN Racing  (slip us an email if you want to join up), User Created Videos from the excellent Video Editor in Forza 3.

• Ken Brock Goes All Gymkhana on us . . The inspiration behind Benchmark

We will also be looking at how to tune your Forza 3 cars for the various classes and tracks/condition. Such as what works, and what doesn’t work on the various tracks with each class, how to go Drag Racing – and win (see feature in next day or two). Or how to set up your NASCAR – Stockcar for the various classes they are eligible for, as well as making some Drag Vehicles out of those monsters as well.

• Come check out our full Holiday DLC Pack now, 10 Cars Reviewed + Race Tips.

But right now, we are going to look at the newest test track that has been made for us by the guys at Turn 10, using an existing US Airfield where many racers have been using the facility for all manner of racing, testing, filming and movie making for vehicle stunts and the like.

You will be able to join in the fun from day one with this free Day 1 Downloadable Content available off XboxLIVE Marketplace.

Seeing that the place lent its self to such a variety of uses, the guys at Turn 10 decided to take it one step further, and make it the “Benchmark” on testing facilities within Forza 3 which they have aptly named – “Benchmark High Speed Ring”. It offers vast areas where Tuners, Drifters, Drag Racers could compete without the worry of using a normal track that was not designed for such purposes.

With 16 purpose designed in-game tracks to help every discipline get to grips (pun intended) with the various classes and styles of driving, as well as compete in such things as Gymkhana’s, Drag Racing, Drifting etc. It comprises one of the biggest High Banked Oval Test track measuring 3.96 miles long. A total of seven dedicated tracks in both forward and reverse, plus 2 Drag Strips for the In-Line Racers.

The track will certainly cater heavily for the online Forza community by providing an excellent venue on which to run a huge number of speciality race styles using the 16 different layouts. This is what makes Forza the best designed racing simulator on the market today. It is built for the gamer, by racers and gamers with pure racing and fun all tied in together in one huge package. Joining together a multitude of racing disciplines, classes, styles and also somewhere where you can basically “Run-What-You-Brung” if that takes your fancy.

Speaking of Drifters, and I don’t mean the homeless people that wander from town to town . . . but this guy who would arguably be “The King Of Drifters” (you just have to love him in DiRT 2, sorry Turn 10 team, I just had to mention that, it’s an awesomely fun game – different caliber, but still fun)

• Forza racing At its finest

Otherwise known by the United States Armed Forces as the El Toro Marine Corp Airforce Base – California. The the airfield was decommissioned on July 22 1999 and all other operations were transferred to Marine Corps Air Station Miramar.  after which it saw very little use.

That was until an enterprising man decided to buy the place and use it to do some vehicle testing of his own. What followed was something of a flash of brilliance. It now act as as one of the best areas to do various testing on several disciplines of racing, even Pilots use the area for their own purposes, but naturally, not all at the same time . . well one would hope so anyway.

Ken Broke made the place a little more infamous by doing his excellent Gymkhana experiences there not too long ago, where he literally set the place up in smoke and did some amazing slides, turns, spins and just about every maneuver possible, and then some, that any car could possible make. Just take a look at the video above to see what I mean. The man is insane.

But the idea also rubbed off on one the guys at Turn 10, namely Terrance Newell who is a community member and he wanted top design some new tracks. He approached Turn 10 about his idea, who in-turn approached Microsoft’s Dan Greewawalt, who then gave Terrance the “all clear” to build the various tracks for Forza 3′s new Test Track.

This is what Forza is about. Users creating content that is used not only in the game, but also in the real world of racing. Allowing the community to contribute to the overall depth and growth of the game. You will not find that level of cooperation between users and development teams in any other racing game on the planet.

As I mentioned at the beginning, so here’s what they had to say about the transformation of the site for Forza 3.

Turn 10′s Benchmark Dream Turns Real

“Terrance Newell, a Forza community member an avid player saw the open space inside the super speedway as an opportunity to think outside the box. The genesis was Ken Block’s Gymkhana video.

“We watched those Ken Block videos like every other day,” says Newell. “When I saw the Gymkhana Practice video I was like, wow, I want that. I want to be able to do that in our game.” Turn 10s Rhett Mathis and Dan Greenawalt supported the project early in development as it spread its wings.

“I have these two big open areas I am trying to make sense of visually and that’s tough” explains Newell.

“We got a directive make this thing wide open without anything on it but make it awesome. Visually how do I make a big flat plane not look like a big flat plane? I talked with Turn 10’s Landin Williams whose also part of Project Blackjack about what would take it to the next level. I came away with the idea that tracks had drift zones that always limited the possibilities.

Benchmark was limitless, opening up the door to a pure style of drifting. I decided to take simple elements like tires and cones etc. and make them objects not obstacles. These elements are interacted with…not avoided. It’s a freestyle playground and drift scoring is not the emphasis of this track. Benchmark breaks the rules of track design; it’s a venue where player can go mess around and experiment without the constraint of a lap timer.”

One of the coolest aspects of the track are the numerous inconspicuously placed drift obstacle/challenges Newell cleverly sprinkled throughout the facility for players to explore and utilize as they see fit. Further with the strategic placement of replay cameras Newell expects to see some wicked ‘Forzakhana’ videos come from Benchmark.

Benchmark’s dragstrip venue also goes one step beyond. Newell, who was collaborating with the Forza design team heavily to develop the tracks layouts, was approached by Greenawalt with the idea of drawing from the raw ‘run what you brung’ attitude of the “Pinks” TV show. The strip at Benchmark is eight lanes wide with four sets of Christmas trees and no excuses.

Benchmark has an immediate vibe; un-kept yet unbridled, idling yet ready to rock. The buildings and the overall environment hint at the El Toro air base where Gymkhana Practice was filmed but there is a much more substantial aura to Benchmark. The facility was built to test race cars and their drivers at the ragged edge.

But the teams soon built their own test facilities and time took its toll on the place. Enter a forward thinking former racer who is developing a revolutionary tire compound. He buys the place for cheap and hires his own drivers to fine tune his compound. The drivers love the place and it becomes a viral phenomenon in their tight knit circle; a sort of invitation only proposition.

Some history on the El Toro Air Base California.

In May 1942, Lieutenant Colonel William Fox was directed to select the sites for all of the Marine Corps’ West Coast air stations. Fox sought the most expeditious and low cost option and thus chose the already existing airports of El Centro, Mojave and Santa Barbara. For the fourth station he chose land that had previously been looked at by the Navy for a blimp base.

The Marine Corps gave the owner of the land, a farmer named James Irvine Sr., $100,000 for 4,000 acres including 1,600 acres designated for a blimp base.

Construction of MCAS El Toro began on August 3, 1942 on land previously owned by the Irvine Company. The company greatly resisted the station’s construction at this site, which at the time contained the largest lima bean field in North America, which was the company’s prime source of revenue. The name El Toro came from the nearby small community which in 1940 only had a population of 130 people.

The base headquarters was established on November 4, 1942 and the first landing occurred in late November when a Major Micheal Carmichael, flying from Camp Kearney, was forced to make an emergency landing amongst the construction equipment. January 1943 saw the first operational units arriving at MCAS El Toro. First aboard were Marine Base Defense Aircraft Group 41 and VMF-113. They were followed later in the month by VMF-224, VMSB-231 and VMSB-232 who were returning from fighting during the Battle of Guadalcanal in order to re-organize, re-equip and train.

Soon after its opening El Toro was handling the largest tactical aerodrome traffic on the Pacific Coast. Already the largest Marine air station on the West Coast, in 1944, funds were approved to double its size and operations. By the end of 1944, the base would be home to 1,248 officers and 6,831 enlisted personnel.

In 1950, El Toro was selected as a permanent Master Jet Station for the Fleet Marine Forces, Pacific. To support this new role, the aviation infrastructure at El Toro was again expanded significantly. For most of the ensuing years, El Toro served as the primary base for Marine Corps west coast fighter squadrons. In 1958, Marine Corps Air Station Miami was closed which brought the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing to El Toro.

The land originally surrounding the base was mostly at agricultural use when it first opened, but it the late 1980s and early 90s, resedential development started to begin in the area: most of it being directly in the path of the base’s runways which proved to be a major problem as the constant loud noise produced by jets and choppers passing overhead was very irritating to those living in the area. Few desired to move there because of this, causing the new neighboorhoods to struggle.

In 1993, MCAS El Toro was designated for closing by the Base Realignment and Closure Commission and all of its activities were to be transferred to Marine Corps Air Station Miramar. The station officially closed on July 2, 1999.

Full details here on Wiki for those interested further.

So there you have it. It may be rather long, but it gives you, the digital racer in Forza 3 a full idea of just how YOU, the community have been forming this game from the onset. No doubt Forza 4, which is already on the drawing boards at Turn 10, will have even more User Generated Content and ideas.

My suggestion is a simple one, Think outside the box, and always ask the question youthink you shouldn’t ask . . it probably is the right one to ask, and isn’t as dumb as you may think, Terrance did, and has found himself an excellent position on the Forza team at Turn 10.. What else could a racing nut ask for.

More Forza 3 news

Make sure you check out the great Fantec Sports Wheels and the set that OXCGN will have up for grabs later on when Forza 3 arrives in October 23rd (Aust Release date) . . . as well as other OXCGN Forza 3 pages of info on the game.

• Forza 3 October Information – All 136 tracks & Loading Tips
• Forza 3 October Special – Lets Go Drag Racing, Forza Style
• Forza 3 October Info #14 Test Track, Gymkhana, Drag Racing Delights
• Forza 3 October Info #13 2002 Firebird Ram Air – The Last ‘Bird
• Forza 3 October Info #12 Remington #8 Cadillac CTS-V Razor Sharp
• Forza 3 October Info #11 Curvaceous Chevy Camaro SS
• Forza 3 250 Gig Xbox 360 Bundle Official – OXCGN News & Special Offer
• Forza 3 October Info #10 Classic American Muscle 79 Z28 Camaro
• Forza 3 October Info #9 Saleen S331 Supercharged Supercab
  
• Forza 3 October Info #8 Build Your Own Chevy-Dodge-Ford
• Forza 3 October Info #7 Sleek, Sexy & Swift 2009 Scriocco GT
  
• Forza 3 October Info #6 – Complete car listing
  
• Forza 3 October Info #5 Primetimes’s #11 Vioer R3 Class
  
• Forza 3 October Info #4 2006 Slippery Evo & HKS Time-Attack Mitshubishi
  
• Forza 3 October Info #3 Black Beast – #41 Gulf F1 Mc Laren GTR
  
• Forza October Info #2 Mad Mazda Lola #16 Comin’ Through
  
• Forza October Info #1 Here Comes The BMW E34 Z4 Coupe
• Forza 3 September Info #12 Bell Motor’s #11 DB9 Aston Martin R2 Coupe
• Forza 3 September Info #11 Presenting The Koenigsegg CGT
• Forza 3 September Info #10 Skyline Driftin’ Madness
• Forza 3 September Info #9 Fugimi Kaido Returns
• Forza 3 September Info #8 2nd DLC Pack – Ferrari’s & 2010 Italia 458
  
• Forza 3 September Info #7 More Ferrari Mayhem
  
• Forza 3 September Info #6 250 gig Forza 360? & Farrari Madness
  
• Forza 3 September Info #5 Forza Dyno Tunes Ford GT400
  
• Forza 3 September Info #4 Bugatti Veyron & Avatar Cloths
  
• Forza 3 September Info #3 Media Update – V8 Supercars Event Slideshows
• Forza 3 September Info #1 & 2 V8 Supercars Officially Announced
  
• Forza 3’s V8 Supercars In-game screen & info V8 Supercar Image found
  
• Forza 3 August Info #5 Video Walkthroughs
  
• Forza 3 August Info #4 Forza Dreams, Gadget Show & Puma
  
• Forza 3 August Info #3 LE Information
• Forza 3 August Info #1 & 2 Cars, cars & more cars & Le Mans
  
• Forza 3 coming in 2009 OXCGN’s Official Major Forza 3 Page
  
• Forza 3 June info E3 Video Interviewwith Developer
  
• Forza 3 June-July Info screens & vids
• Official Australian Xbox Forza 3 site game info
• Fantec Porsche 911 Turbo Wheel for Forza 3
• Fantec Wheel Stand and Turbo Wheel kit up for grabs – info
• OXCGN’s Forza 3 on its way in 2009
• OXCGN confirms Aussie cars in Forza 3
• Fantec Prosche 911 Wheel for Forza 3
• Forza 3 Official – Gentlemen, Start Your Engines

©2009 Grant Smythe – OXCGN

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