Forza 3: Gameplay Modes

Ferrari 458 Italia

Forza 3 has a variety of gameplay modes to keep you playing for a long time. The first one is career mode which is basically going through the same career as a professional racer and gradually moves up to higher leagues. The second mode is event list where it lets you play every single event in the game but some are locked depending on your level. These events have car restrictions like "muscle cars only" or "cars must have less than 600 horsepower" which ensures you drive new cars for each event making it seem less repetitive. This also means you have to purchase specific cars for each event which may cost a lot of money especially with some cars like the Porsche Carrera GT costing over $300,000 in-game. Each event has more than one race so it takes quite long before you complete the whole game.

Audi R8 LMS Race Car

The next mode is free play which basically allows you to race with any car you want in any track. This is a great mode as you can drive cars even if you didn't buy them and you can also test drive them first if you're thinking about purchasing a car. There is a mode called quick race within free play which allows you to race against computers but unfortunately this mode is very limited as you cannot choose what cars the computers drive, the number of laps or the computer difficulty. A better way to face computers is to set up a private race online which allows you to change almost every aspect to customize your race. Private race is also useful when you want to race with friends as other people cannot join. The next mode is Multiplayer which is where you play with other people online with a variety of game modes. Some of these modes include circuit, drag, drift, stock car racing and road racing.

Forza 3: Progress III

Ferrari FXX

This is an update on my progress on Forza 3 for the Xbox 360. I have made it past Season Four and I am currently on Season Five which start getting difficult without any assists. For some of the races, I started using traction control which reduces throttle to maintain traction. This was because it was hard to keep the wheels from spinning due to the power of R3 cars and it was especially difficult launching the car at the start of the race. The car I mainly stuck with in Season four was the Ferrari FXX as it was one of the fastest cars in that class and faster than the competition. This car was given to me for free at level 35 which I achieved before season four. I didn't need to upgrade the car at all which helped me save money for other cars projects. Season four was still relatively short and it took me about a week to finish.

Koenigsegg CCGT

Season five uses cars from R2 and I am still currently on this season. Now I'm using a lot more assists such as stability control, medium computer difficulty and ABS because these cars require a lot of skill to drive without assists. Even with traction control, it's hard to get a good launch off the line and I usually end up having a hard time catching up. The good thing about Forza 3 is that you'll still get money and experience no matter what place you finish as long as you finish the race. The Koenigsegg CCGT was my car of choice for this season because it was one of the fastest albeit it was hard to handle. Although the races are a lot longer now, you make a lot more money which motivates me to keep playing. I also noticed that season play is getting pretty repetitive despite playing different events. The good thing about this game is that if you get bored of season play, you could always practice painting cars, selling cars on the auction house for a profit or race online with a plethora of game modes.

Starcraft 2: Map Editor

The map editor in Starcraft 2 allows you to create a map how ever you like with almost no boundaries. Every aspect of the game can be changed allowing users to create different game types. This tool is very complex and not very beginner friendly. There is a lot of data involved and different strings and values which is very confusing if you don't know what you're doing. Different game types can be created with this editor such as RPGs (Role Playing Games), tower defenses and many more. You can change every aspect of every unit such as the damage, in-game model, attack range, unit size and you can even create your own models to replace in-game ones. You can share your maps by uploading to battle.net which allows other people to play your map. The more people play your map, the more popular it will be which puts it higher up on the list of maps. Battle.Net will also feature maps which put them on the very top to help map creators gain some publicity.

Here is an example of a classic "Tetris" being recreated in Starcraft 2

Starcraft 2: Races (Protoss)

Protoss Dark Templar

Protoss is the races that specializes in psionic technology and is considered the most advanced race. Their units have a futuristic theme often plated in gold armor. Protoss units are very expensive compared to other races but they are more powerful so the focus is quality of units instead of quantity. This requires a bit more skill because you have to try your best to keep each unit alive as losing each unit will affect you greatly. Units are warped from the planet Aiur which is the homeland of the Protoss. All Protoss untis have shields as well as health but their shields regenerate when the unit is out of combat which can help preserve your army. All buildings must be built around a Pylon which is the supply building for the Protoss that gives off psionic energy which buildings need to operate.

Carrier

The worker unit for the Protoss is the probe which warps buildings so one probe can make another building before the previous one finishes which other workers cannot do. The following units are warped in by the Gateway. The zealot is a melee unit that is most often used for taking damage as they have a lot of health for their cost. Stalkers are ranged units that are very versatile when blink is upgraded which allows them to teleport. The sentry is a spell casting unit that can cast force field which blocks units, hallucination which creates a clone of a unit and guardian shield which reduces damage around the sentry. High Templar are casting units that can cast AOE spells like Psionic storm which is useful against groups of units. Dark Templar are invisible and deal a lot of damage but does not have a lot of health. The following units are warped in by the Robotics Facility. The immortal is a powerful ground unit that deals a lot of damage but can only attack ground units. The observer is an invisible unit used for spying on enemies. The warp prism allows ground units to be transported by air. The Colossus is a huge mechanical unit that can attack multiple units and climb over cliffs. The following units are warped in the Stargate. The Phoenix is a fast agile air unit that can only attack other air units and lift ground units into the air. The Void Ray can be a powerful unit when utilized correctly as it's attack becomes more powerful the longer it attacks a unit. When fully charged, the Void Ray can be a devastating unit. The Carrier is the flagship unit for the Protoss and it has multiple little ships called interceptors that attack.

Starcraft 2: Races (Terran)

Terran Marine

Terran is a race full of humans have many different colonies, some against each other. This race is known for their mobility as some of their buildings can lift off and move. This race evolves through technology from marines which are small infantry units to battlecruisers which are big war ships. Rather than mutation, units are upgraded through technological upgrades. Terran is often to be said as the easiest race to play for a beginner as their units are quite strong and there isn't a lot of things to focus on like Zerg.

Thor

The worker unit for Terran is the SCV and they are able to repair buildings and mechanical units as well which is unique to this race. The next unit is the marine which are small infantry units that are trained at the barracks. Next is the Marauder which is a powerful ranged unit with a lot of health for it's cost but it can only attack ground units. The reaper is also trained at the barracks and it specializes against buildings and can leap over cliffs making them very versatile. The Hellion is build at the Factory which is a light armored vehicle that shoots a straight flame making it very strong for harassing enemy worker units making them unable to mine. The siege tank is also built at the Factory and can learn Siege Mode through a tech lab which makes it stationary but gives it a lot of range and AOE(Area of Effect) damage. The Thor is a massive ground unit that is commonly used for taking out large amounts of air units with javelin missiles. The Viking is an air unit built at the Startport and can only attack air and the Banshee is an air unit that can only attack ground. A medivac is an air unit that can heal biological units and carry units as well. The raven is a unit that has a lot of special abilities like heat seeking missiles but it is unable to attack. The battlecruiser is the most powerful unit in the Terran arsenal and it's an all around unit but costs a lot.