The speed effect seems quite a bit faster than FM3. It is true that you are rewarded for your FM3 accomplishments and you are able to import ALL of your vinyl groups. The graphics look much better than FM3 and the driving physics feel great, IMO it feels more realistic. I've seen a little bit of frame rate slow down when there are like 12 cars in the camera shot but nothing too bad. There is also a steering setting under difficulty, with it set to simulation the car handling is very realistic. It's easy to snap spin the car if you are not carefull. My only gripe is the braking feel which seems to require a bit more modulation than I'm used to in order to keep from locking up the wheels, even with ABS on. I think I recieved 60,000cr for FM3 accomplishments plus a load of free cars (nice). Sadly there are no Porsches but we do have RUF which is cool.
So far I've been peddling around in career mode trying to make some money. I'm really loving the handling/physics, definately the most convincing of any driving game I've ever played. Driving with the steering set on simulation is amazing. Excellent stuff. One nice surprise was the inclusion of a certain real life track I wasn't expecting. Hopefully we can expect one or two more DLC tracks later.
Other details I've noted.
*The cars backfire and flame out.
*The sound is improved. Great tire noises give some aural feedback as to how close to the traction limit you are.
*Camera settings in photo mode are pretty much the same but the game has a completely different look which may require new settings.
*Looks like upgrade and tuning options are basically the same but don't have enough cash yet to fully test this theory.
*You will be able to buy in-game money with Microsoft Points. You basically buy tokens that are worth a certain amount of game credits. Doesn't look like this feature is live yet though.
*Also, all of the old tracks have been updated and have a completely different look to what your used to. All of the real world tracks I've seen so far look like they have been updated to current specs. Nice, also you can race at different times of day on individual tracks which adds some nice variety.
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I played quite a while last night. Spent a good amount of time in the paint booth transfering my 908 livery which is the hardest livery I could've chosen but I thought I'd just jump in the deep end. Here are some notes I took.
*Lighting in the paintbooth is awesome. You can finally see the rear of the car clearly.
*There are two pages of new community submitted vinyl shapes as well as all the old shapes.
*No new fonts and mostly the same manufacturer decals.
*Unexpectedly, old vinyls that looked jaggedy in FM3 are sharp and clean in the new game.
*One thing I was dissappointed about is that metalic paint shows thru vinyl layers worse than ever. This means I had to radically alter my 908 replica which used metalic base in FM3.
*I was also able to get my old camera settings to work in the new game surprisingly.
*Storefronts work the same as in FM3, still 18 slots for designs.
It's not perfect so don't expect that although I do believe Turn10 has owned Polyphony Digital this time and obviously the Need For Speed franchise is Tinker Toys compared to this. Well done Turn10 and thank you..