I'm new to the sim driving games (never really played GT) so I need some help on how I'm supposed to play this game (for the record, I hate that question).

I have the difficulty set to Medium with line on all the time until I get used to everything. I seem to take turns and everything really well when I'm in the lead. I guess my confusion comes in the passing of other drivers. When am I supposed to do this? You get penalized for damage and what happens every race is a big pile up/collision on the first turn. Should I be trying to pass at turns? Straight aways? I can't seem to get past anyone on straight aways so do I just need to upgrade my car?

I think passing should usually be done on turns. That's usually where it happens for me anyways. If you have assisted braking off this will be easier, but makes the turn more dangerous as far as flying off the track. Just keep at it and you should get a feel for it.

@filmfanatic24:

Typically passes are made by out braking your opponent into a corner, and completing the pass in the middle of the turn, although this is by no means the only way. If you're playing against the computer, don't worry about some friendly shoves now and then, rubbing them in corners is just something you have to do and you can be more aggressive with CPU opponents anyway. Online is where things get tricky, because people don't act in a pre-programmed manner so things can get dicey, and its unlikely a cockpit view driver will ever see you tuck a nose in as you out-brake them into a sharp corner, it's generally accepted in racing that if your nose is at their door, the line is yours and they should back off and take a different line, and vise versa if you haven't got the position. Also if you're obviously faster, just wait for a good opening and pass cleanly, the slower driver should yield most times if he's clearly outmatched, but tight racing can be had a lot of times.

A super proper pass would be coming of a straight, while drafting. This gives you a speed advantage, and you move out of the draft just as you approach the braking zone for a corner. You brake later than them, giving you inside position, and complete your pass by taking a good inside line, hopefully before the end of the corner. Though effective, it is generally not ideal to squeeze someone off the track from inside to outside, you should allow them enough room on the track to complete the outside turn as well, don't just run them into the dirt if you can help it.

There is a lot of practice involved in clean passing. Generally in forza, IMO, a pass where both players stay on the track and don't get rammed horribly into oblivion is a decent pass, even with some rubbing and scraping. Obviously that would be unacceptable at a track day in real life, but here it's not bad as long as you're not intentionally ramming the hell out of people.

The best tip I can give you is to not rush and just lay low and back until the right opening, usually in a corner or - if you using a faster car - the fast line.

I think the line is what is messing me up. I see that line going into turns and think that I NEED to take that path no matter what and that going in the middle of the turn isn't what I should be doing. I guess those paths are more to take when you have the lead/aren't in a big group?

I think most of it is a mentality thing. Coming from arcade racers I feel like I need to go faster than everyone into that first turn, drift around, and take the lead and that's just not how this game is supposed to be.

@filmfanatic24: the line gets you locked in to wanting to drive it exactly. It's a"good" not necessarily best line to follow when alone on the track, but when racing around others your path has to dynamically adjust. The person in front before the pass is deciding the line they want to drive (almost always the line shown with racing line enabled) and you have to drive around that. Passing is almost always done on a non-optimal racing line because the person in front isn't going to give up that line for free.

There are 2 assists that make it harder to pass in my opinion, brake assist and racing line. Brake assist does an excellent job of keeping your car on the track, however it removes the ability to brake very late into a corner. Racing line gets you locked into one line, its a good way to learn some of the track, but once you take it off you'll realize its focusing you on a very small portion of the track.

@filmfanatic24: All I would suggest is what has been put before. Try to out brake the opponents going into the corners and try and get in their slipstream on the straights. I've never played with the lines or braking assist so I'm not too sure what they are like, but I would suggest also doing a little bit of recon to get to know the track. Before you try an event, if you're not too sure about the circuit and/or your car, try 'testing' it from your garage. It'll let you just drive around until the cows come home, so you can get properly used to the circuits/cars handling/ any assists you have on.

Ok, turned off the assisted braking this morning and just have ABS on. This made a big difference in turns, definitely more challenging.

I got into the 3rd season and got a Mustang as a leveling reward. I tuned it up to C class and I'm just smoking people of the line now. More often than not I'm by everyone on the first straight away. I almost feel like I'm cheating but the game gave me the car...

Green line = Right Trigger

Red line = Left Trigger

@filmfanatic24:

World Tour dynamically adjusts CPU skill as it goes, the races should get harder after a few wins.

@Renahzor: Ahhh, I see. I could definitely tell they were getting tougher. So, in the early stages (E series, D Series, C Series) can you pretty much tune up any car and be competitive? Say I really liked the Mazada 2, could I just race it for all of those low seasons?

I would probably not try too much overtaking on the very first turn, unless you're really confident or just wanna scrap paint. But the AI's been tweaked to gun it on the straight-aways, and then the easier you go, the bigger the cowards they are when it comes to turns, they'll break earlier and earlier. So really your best chance is to outmaneuver them on turns, and break later (which means ignoring the line a bit, because it always tells you to break a bit earlier than I would for example) or outcar them with a muscle car and just rape them on the straights. Which is a little easy, but eh... if you really have trouble on one race try that.

I tend to just have the braking line on, instead of the full line and I'll recommend you do that too, because the braking is really all you need the line for. The rest you can come up with yourself, and it'll develop your racing skills faster. Plus I like to use the line to challenge myself, I see it as basically the slowest possible line, and I use that as a base to pushing the limit with my breaking. I'm getting better but I still need work too. Using a wheel is a whole other set of challenges, especially since I don't even drive in real life!

passing on turns are good. i do it because of the way that i turn. when i come up to a turn i usually coast to it and then break hard. i do the turn and end up needing speed. it's when i pass people.  on straight aways and there is a person ahead from a distance, follow them on the way they go.

just wait until Fujimi Kaido and try passing all those slow ass cars on those small japanese roads

@Vinny_Says said:

just wait until Fujimi Kaido and try passing all those slow ass cars on those small japanese roads

That has been my first "Go fuck yourself" moment I've experience in Forza 4. I've never wished bodily harm to some faceless person driving a Yaris, or at least I hadn't before Wednesday.

disable all assists.

Patience is really key in this game. At least, for the most part. A majority of the time bullying your way to the front is actually detrimental to your progress, and can end your race in a hurry if you have the damage set to "Simulation."  
 
If your car has the muscle, get the inside line on other cars during straights. Otherwise, you can usually beat them out of corners with smart braking and a feathered throttle. Remember the analog throttle--it's more useful than you think (that is to say, don't get complacent thinking the right trigger only interacts with the car when either A) pushed down fully or B) not touched at all; a light amount of pressure on the accelerator can maintain speed through a bend, something that is always beneficial to coasting and dropping a gear and then flooring it again). 

Sometimes I just take my time, and I won't get into the lead until the second or third lap. To do that, the key to success is drafting. But other times, I like to go full speed into a turn, and kind of angle my car so it smacks into the lead car, and straightens my car out in the process. It's fun, and there's usually only a small amount of penalizing for damage. But not enough for me to care.

The thing that I struggle with early on is that I don't feel the races are long enough to be patient. A lot of the early races are 2 or 3 laps and you generally start in 8th place. I find that if you haven't moved up to third by the first corner, it will be quite challenging to win the race. Often, getting into an early lead requires a bit of bumping and scraping. I've gotten to the point where I'm no longer playing pinball with my car, but I'm always losing paint on the first turn. Any advice on this?

@KimChi4U said:

The thing that I struggle with early on is that I don't feel the races are long enough to be patient. A lot of the early races are 2 or 3 laps and you generally start in 8th place. I find that if you haven't moved up to third by the first corner, it will be quite challenging to win the race. Often, getting into an early lead requires a bit of bumping and scraping. I've gotten to the point where I'm no longer playing pinball with my car, but I'm always losing paint on the first turn. Any advice on this?

Either lighten your car and improve your launch to just fly by the cars to the first turn, or take the first turn easy and race as hard as you can afterward.

@KimChi4U said:

The thing that I struggle with early on is that I don't feel the races are long enough to be patient. A lot of the early races are 2 or 3 laps and you generally start in 8th place. I find that if you haven't moved up to third by the first corner, it will be quite challenging to win the race. Often, getting into an early lead requires a bit of bumping and scraping. I've gotten to the point where I'm no longer playing pinball with my car, but I'm always losing paint on the first turn. Any advice on this?

My advice would be don't sweat it. Always strive to race super clean, but a little rubbin' and scrapin' is pretty standard in the season mode. In the shorter early races you gotta move up quick, and then watch the lines of the cars ahead and set them up for passes with alternate lines through corners, drafting on straights, and late breaking. ABS is great, but if you can get used to it, no aids is even better for massive late breaking, just less forgiving(correct trigger pressure)before lockup.