Chop Lots of Trees
Chopping down trees in Ravenwood Fair isn't just necessary for clearing out space, but also for gathering necessary materials. Chopping trees will yield wood, money, and experience, and in some instances even extra energy. It's also one of the only ways to gather rare materials like ladybugs and sap, which you'll need to build most of the attractions for your fair.
Follow The Clues
Your time in CSI: Crime City is often limited, as the game isn't exactly generous when it comes to energy. So it's important to make the most of your time. Occasionally you'll come across an arrow, or a clue, that will guide you in the right direction. Whatever way the arrow is pointing is the direction in which you'll find a new piece of evidence. Following the arrows helps save you from aimlessly investigating the entire crime scene.
Tip #1: Check Your Ego At The Door
One of the best things about Forza 2 is that there are a ton of options to adjust the difficulty to ensure that anyone of any skill level can enjoy the game. Some people want a hardcore simulation, while others want things a little bit easier (although, admittedly, still more difficult than most racers), and Forza 2 lets you adjust to your liking. I see a lot of people turning off the assists before they are really ready to move on, though, seemingly to impress folks on the internet with their supposed driving skill and undoubtedly to stroke their own ego, but then they crash a lot and struggle and get frustrated. Take your time. If you need to drive with the driving line or braking line turned on, do it. And antilock brakes and traction control can mean the difference between fun and frustration. You aren’t any more or less of a gamer if you need a little help
Tip #2: Don’t Sell Your Crappy Prize Cars In The Auction House
It isn’t nearly as bad now as it was when the game launched, but I still see it a lot. People try to sell their unwanted prize cars that they have won in career mode in the auction house. The reason why is because you only get 100 credits if you try to sell it normally. Please, don’t do this. It floods the auction house with cruddy cars that everyone else already has. You might think you are clever if you can trick a noob into buying your prize car, but in reality you are just a jerk. If you want to get all of the achievements you need to keep those cars anyway.
Tip #3: Custom Paintjobs Aren’t As Difficult As They Seem
We have all seen the crazy paintjobs people are putting on their cars, and I know that most people are pretty intimidated by the whole process, but it really isn’t that hard. It does take a long time to really make something good, though, so you have to be patient and really take your time. Your effort will certainly be rewarded at auction. For a really great tutorial, check out the Custom Decal Tutorial from Neubourn on the ForzaMotorsport.net forums. It is very thorough and well put together and will teach you everything you need to know.
Tip #4: Understand Why Your Car Handles The Way It Does
Each drivetrain setup will handle differently from the others. An all-wheel-drive car will usually have amazing traction and is hard to spin out. A front-wheel-drive car is also extremely stable and easy to drive. Where people struggle is with the rear-wheel-drive cars, which is particularly frustrating for many because that is what all of the really great cars in the game are. The problem comes from a lot of different factors such as weight distribution, brake balance, body roll, etc. which all combine to cause the rear of your car to try to “catch up” to the front of your car and spin you out. Tuning a few different areas will help this (more on that below), but changing your driving style will make the biggest difference. The simplest thing to do is to just slow down. On any given corner, your car will reach a certain speed where it will try to spin out. Keep it at that speed or just below and you’ll be fine. You might think you are going slower this way, but I can guarantee you that you’ll end up with better lap times. All of the tire spinning and fishtailing you used to do was just scrubbing speed and seconds away from your times. By driving smoothly and adjusting to how your car performs and not overdriving your car, you will go faster.
Tip #5: Buy The Right Upgrades
A lot of people just want to slap on every horsepower upgrade they can afford right off the bat when they get a new car, but this is a horribly bad idea and a large part of why they struggle with the handling of their cars. Buying suspension, brakes, transmission, and weight reduction upgrades will benefit you far more than just slapping on an extra 300 horsepower. You of course will want to add more power if you can afford it, but races are won and lost in the corners, and even if your opponents are faster on a straightaway, I promise you’ll be much faster through the corners and produce better lap times overall. You’ll be able to brake later and get on the gas earlier and go through the corner faster than they can. On some tracks, horsepower will win you races, but on most of them handling is far more important.
Tip #6: Learn How To Tune Your Car
For casual players, the default setups on the cars in Forza 2 will likely be good enough. But for players that want to squeeze just a bit more performance and better handling out of their car, effective tuning can make a world of difference. I’m not going to run down exactly what you need to do, but I will offer this advice. Each different aspect of your car that you can tune has detailed instructions on what it does and what a change in either direction will do right there in the game. Read them before you make any changes so you understand how and why things are changing. For more detailed tuning tips, there is a great tuning guide at the Turn 10 Studios Developer Blog that should help you out.
Chop Lots of Trees
Chopping down trees in Ravenwood Fair isn't just necessary for clearing out space, but also for gathering necessary materials. Chopping trees will yield wood, money, and experience, and in some instances even extra energy. It's also one of the only ways to gather rare materials like ladybugs and sap, which you'll need to build most of the attractions for your fair.
