This Week In Forza Motorsport Paint Jobs: Episode 1

Giuseppe Nelva October 24, 2011 6:45 PM EST

Forza Motorsport 4 is on the shelves and in the houses of millions of gamers, and one of the most prominent features of the game is definitely the ability to personalize the liveries of the cars, creating all sorts of art and designs to express one’s personality and tastes on the racing track.

Of course not everyone can do that, as it’s a time consuming process that requires patience and varying amounts of artistry. That’s why, starting today, I’ll write this little weekly column every monday in which I’ll showcase some interesting liveries available on the Forza Motorsport 4 storefront, possibly giving a hand to those that find themselves a bit disoriented by the wealth of user created content available.

Of course this column doesn’t want to be a “best of”, as it reflects my personal taste, and there would be no chance to cover all the most beautiful and artistic liveries available (there are way too many). That said, if you think your newest paintjob is awesome and would like to see it showcased, do shoot me a mail, I might just do that the week after. No promises though.

Before I move to the liveries themselevs and let the cars do the talking, you probably noticed the black banners just above and at the bottom of this post. The Last eight days have been extremely sad for the racing community. on the 16th the IndyCar champion Dan Wheldon lost his life during a crash at Las Vegas Motors Speedway, while the offroad TORC series driver Rick Huseman was killed during a plane crash on the same day. Finally, yesterday morning, the Italian MotoGP rider Marco Simoncelli passed away after a disastrous crash at Sepang.

Marco’s death is the one that touches me the most on a personal level, not only because we’re both from Italy, but also because I met him and spoke with him in a few occasion (while he worked as a testimonial for the Wii), and had a chance to experience his cheerful, humble attitude and his willingness to chat and have a few laughs even with people that weren’t part of his usual elite environment. He sure didn’t behave as an elite, but more like any other 24 years-old guy that liked to play games and loved to race more than anything else. He will be missed.

The community of racing games enthusiasts has always been close to that of real racing, as most if not all of us love racing in all its forms. And that’s why I wanted to put a little, humble sign of mourning in this column. To remember and honor the memory of Marco, Dan and Rick. We may “race” in the comfort and safety of our living rooms, but we definitely care for those that risk their lives every week-end to bring us the show of the sport we love.

That’s why I hope you’ll forgive and support my decision to let this first episode of this column be partially influenced by the tragic events we saw last week.

But Let’s move to the liveries themselves. The first is a Tribute to Marco Simoncelli, created by FastXbox. It fits the Lotus Exige Cup 240 (2006) and it’s a take on how Marco’s bike would look if it was a car.

This isn’t the only tribute to Marco I found, but I selected it because it really reminds me of his bike, especially due to the choice of car. The Exige has the curvy lines that fit the image of a bike almost perfectly. It also includes the nickname “SuperSic”, that is how we Italians loved to affectionately call Simoncelli. He was a great raider, gentle and funny out of the track, and full of spirit and determination on the asphalt.

His friend and colleague Valentino Rossi once said about him: “Going into a duel with him is like going into a fight with someone bigger than you. You know he’s going to take you.” And yet, they were big friends, probably more than one would expect from two rivals. That’s how I like to remember him: a funny, cheerful young man able to take everyone on the track and hug them afterwards. Goodbye, Marco.

The next livery on the list is DanWheldon Vpr2 by Supasweded. It’s a tribute to Dan Wheldon on the 2008 Dodge Viper SRT10 ACR.

This livery reproduces the lcassy black and white paintjob of Dan’s #77 Bowers & Wilkins Sam Schmidt Motorsports Dallara Honda. It’s an absolutely stunning sight on the track, and racing on it is a great way to remember and honor a champion that isn’t with us anymore.

There’s also another awesome tribute to wheldon, a paintjob for the #66 de Ferran Motorsports ARX-02a, by Snake Doc 5I. But I couldn’t display it this week, simply because I can’t afford that quite costly race car. If you can, definitely check it out.

Let’s move to something a bit brighter, with the stunning Sha Do livery for the 2003 Nissan Fairlady Z by furious212.

The Fairlady Z has always been one of my favorite cars and while this livery can definitely be considered a little gaudy, what’s not to love? The art is stunning and clean, and the choice of colors is spot on. Of course racing with big dragons, kanji and yellow tribal patterns on the car isn’t for everyone, but there definitely is a time and a place to use this one.

Let’s move to the moe side of Forza Motorsport 4, with the ARIA04H design by Kanadarai for the 2010 Honda Mugen Civic Type-R 3D.

Japanese artists have always been between the best and most creative of the Forza Motorsport community, and Forza Motorsport 4 is no different. Itasha (cars decorated with characters from anime, manga or games) are popular in Japan, and their virtual reproductions look great. This particular one is inspired by the manga/anime series Aria, and showcases the characters Aika and Akira.It looks beautiful, especially because of the little details. It’s rather easy to plaster the face of a cute anime girl on a car, but it’s not as easy to fill the empty spots with other elements that don’t look out of place.

That’s all for this week. I hope you enjoyed this first, little showcase. Feel free to send me a mail if you want to vouch for the livery you created, or even just one you liked and would like to see showcased next week. See you on the track!