I love this game sometimes, but it can be the most infuriating thing ever too. I’ve got a couple of days off because of snow, GF is away on a business trip, and I don’t have much to do right now. Ok, let’s play lots of Forza…
Last night, I decide to run against myself as a rival. I run a few laps to let the tires get warmed up and to analyze what I did right and wrong on the the lap I am trying to beat. I pick up on a couple of glaring mistakes early in the lap that I can easily get better on and shave a good two seconds off my lap time. I’m currently ranked about 600 on the LB, so I’m excited to get somewhere around 2 seconds off. On about the 4th lap, I start making the adjustments and I’m way ahead of my rival/self. Oops, I take a turn near the end of the lap just a hair too wide and dirty the lap. No big deal, I will get it right on lap 5. That lap, I hit a rumble strip (same one I hit every time I take the darn lap) and my car goes wildly out of control. Then the next lap, I dirty the lap on a different turn. Then a different turn the next lap and so on and so on. Not being the type to give up, I run 48 laps in a row without a single clean lap or good time. On the laps where I’m just going out by a little bit, I’m beating my rival by as much as 2.5 seconds in most of them and would end up with a LB time around 150 (for a beginner like me, I’d be really proud of that). I just can’t stop making one simple mistake on EVERY lap and its driving me nuts. So I chalk it up to being tired and give up for the night.
Get up today, decide to become a VIP member and test out some new cars. I play around for a while and feel like I am driving everything pretty well. So, back to Rivals… 37 more laps of the same crap. Between last night and today, I’ve run 85 laps, with the same car, on the same track. Not one of those darn laps has been without a slight mistake that keeps me from beating my rival (me). Either I go barely outside the lines on a turn, dirty the lap, and have the time not count. Or I skid, lose control, whatever… and just don’t finish with a good enough time. No matter what I do, I just can’t put it all together for a full lap. I’m convinced that the guys at Turn 10 are out to get me. They must not like something I’ve said here and have uploaded some kind of gremlin into my game… Come on guys, I became a VIP member today, can’t all be forgiven???
Gotta find your grove again. Chances are you’ll get back into your zone when you least expect it, and beat that time, but until that happens you are your own worst enemy. Take a breather for awhile and just do something for the pure fun of it.
Love this post and you’re spot on. The mental aspect of this game is just as important as the physical aspect.
Being irritated, for me and I guess for the OP, equals more laps and unclean laps.
Give the track a couple days or weeks and come back to it. Do something else in the game such as career, multiplayer, photo mode, painting, etc. to clear your mind. That’s what I do when I’m pissed or getting burnt out. Sometimes playing another game for a week helps.
Ha, ha! That’s exactly what keeps me going! It is great you are trying, and very hard at that. But don’t break the controller, throw a Care Bear instead. I’ve been there before on many tracks; doing 200+ laps to beat a rival by 0.1 second. You are on the right track to becoming great and 500 or better LB is something to be proud of, especially as a beginner. Stick with lapping and you will get it.
My suggestion. Frequently, trying TOO HARD can make you slower. For a change, take it a bit slow. Run the course at 95~98% of your pace. You might be pleasantly surprised.
Well, I already snapped one controller in half a week ago. I only threw this one on the floor several times so far. I’m detremined not to snap another one… My dogs are terrified of me right of me right now too. They keep looking at each other as if to say, did you mess on the floor, because I didn’t?
I hear what you’re saying. It makes me feel better to come up with a conspiracy theory though and blame the guys at Turn 10. This has to be all their fault, it just has to be… Maybe if I go buy a car pack or two, it’ll lift the curse???
Honestly, its just a lack of concentration on my part. I know exactly what I need to do, but I’m so focused on time that I keep letting myself miss little details that are costing me in the end. I swear that every one of the mistakes I’ve made is easily fixed with better focus on my part. The darn Irish temper in me doesn’t want to allow that today though. This is just another step in my learning process…
I’m gonna forget it for a while and go teach myself how to drive manually in the game. I think I’ve come pretty far with automatic, its time for a new set of frustrations to deal with Or I could just go play MP and yell at all the people crashing into me…
Pretty much what everyone else says. I have felt this way before. You just need to calm down, take a deep breath and purely focus on the track. Ignore the times altogether. Who cares about them for the first 5 laps. Just take it easy, focus on simply staying on the track, not going fast, then once you get going try to see if you can take the next corner faster than before, and then the next, and so on. Eventually you will start hitting every corner perfectly. It gets really frustrating when you do one small screw up, but just ignore it and say, “Okay I will make sure not to do that next lap.” but don’t purely focus on not screwing up on that corner. Take it one corner at a time and focus on what needs to be done to achieve getting through it.
just remember: slow is smooth, smooth is fast. works for shooting, works for racing. focus on going fast, and you’ll make a lot of mistakes. focus on racing clean and not making any mistakes, and you will do well, and get faster.
Never said it was. I’m just frustrated with myself and blaming the game (in what I thought was clearly a joking manner) is nothing more than stress relief. Sorry if it read any other way.
It is entirely the game’s fault for being so good.
@Lou3824, I remember you stating that you broke previous controller in half! Go have a beer, eat something unhealthy, take a big dump, whatever relaxes you. FM5 will be waiting patiently for your return!
When you beat the time, come back and let us know!
I just need to learn to relax with this game. I’m a carpenter that has always had the mindset of, “when something doesn’t fit, don’t force it, just go get a bigger hammer.” That mentality obviously doesn’t work with this game. Sometimes I’m keenly aware of that, other times, not so much…
Hmmm, a cheesesteak and a beer? Now that’s a thought. Just got to find a place that will still deliver the cheesesteak with 10" of snow on the ground…
Try focusing on the track and the turn ahead. I used to watch the clock more than the track and that was making me slower. Now I use my periphiral vision to notice if the split time is green or red. After driving tons of laps on the same track you will learn where the splits are and look at the clock less.
Sometimes a fast lap will feel slow. If you make a mistake, try not to make up time by changing your rhythm, there is always the next lap.
Maybe if I go buy a car pack or two, it’ll lift the curse???