Giant Bomb Forza Race Night
Starts every Thursday Night at 10:30 PM ET (7:30 PT)
Runs until people get tired (usually 1 AM - 2 AM ET)
Click here to see when we start in your time zone.
We started with Forza Motorsport 3 on November 5th, 2009. We've been racing together every Thursday since. Now, we move on to Forza Motorsport 4.
Do you like racing cars? Do you like doing stupid stuff with cars? Do you want to do any or all of that with the Giant Bomb community? If so, you should join us.
Hosted by PsEG.
How To Join
By Car Club
- Be a member in the Giant Bomb car club. Find more info on that here.
- When Forza Race Night starts, you will be spammed with game invites from PsEG's gamertag, Peace Egg (and perhaps others). Join in once they go out!
By Gamertag
- If you aren't in our car club or can't join it (perhaps you're in a club with close friends), send a friend request to GiantBomb Forza before we're running. Invites will be accepted once a week, right before I start up Race Night.
- Once Forza Race Night starts, either wait for an invite, or attempt to join the lobby Peace Egg is running.
What To Expect
While we're mostly about racing, we do have a few other game modes we've conjured up over the years that are fun.
Some of these games might be paraded out on any given night:
- DRIFTING: The SEAT Leon SuperCup and Volkswagen Beetle once ruled this mode. Will that continue?
- CAR SOCCER: Now it's an official game mode in Forza 4. We might bring our old version back at times, though! That would involve placing a tiny car in the middle of a straightaway, with two teams attempting to boot it into their opponent's shed.
- CLUNKER PUSHING: Requires teams of two. One person is a clunker, an already-slow car with 75% of their horsepower and some of their grip taken away. The other person is a pusher, a faster vehicle with no such handicaps. First clunker to make it to the finish wins. It's like Cat & Mouse except more awesome. Typically done on a section of Fujimi Kaido's Old Hill Climb.
- VIRUS TAG: So basic, it's inherently supported by Forza! One person starts as 'it'. When another person is tagged, he or she also becomes it. Repeat until everyone has been tagged and far too many references to lizardmen have been uttered.
- FLAGPOLE RACING: One person is a flagpole. Everyone else is racing stock models of a specific car (Zondas, usually). Every time you encounter the flagpole, regardless of where it is on the track, you have to drive a circle around it before continuing on. The flagpole may move between laps.
- COASTING: Always starts at the top of Fujimi Kaido. Manual w/clutch (of use of clutch/neutral otherwise) mandatory. When going down the old side, everybody stays in first gear until the peak of the second hill. At that point, let off the gas, hold in the clutch (or shift to neutral if you have a fancy setup), and coast down the remainder of the mountain. First one to the bottom wins. In the rare event we coast down the new side of Fujimi Kaido, hold in the clutch at the first right-hander where you see red arrows on the wall.
- ANYTHING ELSE: Expect the unexpected. I am always willing to try new things out, provided there's a good way for determining a winner in-game.
The Rules
Pretty simple, much like Giant Bomb's rules: Don't be a dick. So far, we haven't had any issues with this, but allow me to elaborate with suggestions that will greatly help everyone's experience:
Don't intentionally crash others during races.
Accidents happen -- quite frequently, in fact -- but please don't intentionally slam into other players. A little bumping here and there is discouraged, but sometimes it happens despite our best efforts to avoid it.
It's worth noting that sometimes we'll throw this rule out the window, and that it never applies during modes like clunker pushing and flagpole racing. Generally, if you haven't been told that a race is full-contact, you should try to avoid any contact.
If you do end up blatantly taking someone out by accident and get past them as a result, it's considered good manners to give them the position back. This doesn't always mean stopping on track, which we've learned can be pretty dangerous, but if you see them in your rear-view mirror driving at speed again, slowing down and letting them pass is a nice gesture.
Be mindful of the voice chat.
With up to 16 people, there's going to be a lot of potential voice chat going on, and for the first time, it's very unlikely we'll be using party chat at all. Do keep in mind that sometimes I'll ask for race suggestions or someone will try to explain game modes to newbies in the lobby. Chattering over this sort of stuff only delays the fun times. Don't delay the fun times!
In addition, if someone's headset is acting up, most especially with echoes or high-pitched squeals, we'll ask you to try and fix it ASAP, since that almost completely prevents us from communicating with one another. It's highly frustrating. Usually, unplugging or muting the headset until you can deal with it is a good temporary fix if you're in the midst of racing when this crops up.
Other Things You Should Know
If you want to join, JOIN.
Don't mull over whether we have enough room or anything. That's a thing of the past. With 16 spots, I doubt Race Night will ever stay full for long. Therefore, if you want to play with us, newcomer or otherwise, you should join. Period. Dot. Full stop.
We don't care about skill level.
Sure, there's a few of us who are pretty darn fast, but that's not everyone. Our fields are full of people with widely varying skills, and as long as you're willing to understand that racing's not always about finishing first, but finishing well, you should have a great time with us.
We don't mind if you're late.
Seriously. As long as we have open spots (and we will have open spots), we're looking for people until the end of Race Night. If you can only make it to Race Night an hour in, then that's more than fine.
You don't need any cars or DLC, but having a car for each class and the DLC tracks would be nice.
The car suggestion is for your own enjoyment, as having to race uncompetitive cars is rarely fun. The DLC track thing just lets us do some sillier game modes, but it's not required. Car DLC is never required, but it'd be nice if you could download the free car from each pack, since that should allow you to see all the cars from that pack. Not being able to see when somebody uses a Ford Raptor detracts from the experience, trust me.
Have fun! That's what we're here for.
You're not going to become the next big name professional race car driver through Race Night, so just relax and try to have fun.
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