Forza 6 announced

Soldato
Joined
5 May 2006
Posts
9,201
Location
PSN
I guess I'm probably in the minority that thought Forza 5 was great. With all the driver aids off, the cars have far more nuance to the way they handle. Whilst I also enjoyed the previous Forza games, the cars always felt a bit like they were running on a scalextric track.

Also loved the way the force feedback triggers now make turning ABS off a realistic proposition without a wheel & pedals setup. Sure, you could switch it off before, but you'd have little indication when all 4 wheels were locked as you steamed into a hairpin...

I can forgive the fact that most of the tracks are recycled. For me, GT is a shining example of the mistake of emphasizing quantity over quality, and I'm glad they haven't tried to do too much with Forza. Cant wait for 6!

+1
 
Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
19,354
Location
South Manchester
I'll agree with most of your points. The FM5 physics engine is great, as is the graphics and sound. The issue is the things that build upon that to make a Forza game were missing or half finished. You can't share paints and tunes and race your mates like you could in previous titles. No car clubs. There's a maximum of 10 replays. Period. All your old peripherals - like the £300 wheels MS launched in partnership with Fanatic 12 months previously weren't supported. Own goal after own goal, and T10 just stuck their collective heads in the sand and avoided providing any answers pre launch.

Credit where it's due - T10 added some things back in like drag racing and the no-cost track DLC, but it was too little too late once the trust had gone come the glorious Xbox one launch.

I'll quibble with you about the tracks - not recycled. T10 binned all the existing tracks from the 360, laser scanned them all and recreated them from scratch. The old 360 versions were knocked up from GPS data IIRC. The feel of places like Road Atlanta and Laguna Seca are very different on FM5. Which is a good thing. Just took them a while. ;)

The community has just died in the last 12 months. A topical example - Virtual Motorsports is closing down as of today. They were getting an entry of 140+ people for the classics series in FM4. FM5 numbers were 20-25 on a good week. What's the point, when someone has to devote their own time and money to running a site for their hobby, and they don't really like the game it's there to promote?
 
Last edited:
Soldato
Joined
26 Jan 2006
Posts
12,330
Location
Belfast
Wasn't the steering wheel thing all a lock up between them and Sony over rights who owned the feedback system?
Didnt a wheel come out specifically for GT5 that got dumped and not supported for any other racing game?

The problem I have with FH5 was how good FH2 is compared to it, I did however LOVE the feel of the game, the Top Gear lushing over cars etc.
 
Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
19,354
Location
South Manchester
I've not heard that before. There was a good post on a forum that no longer exists from someone in the know that explained it as well as could be a few months after without getting sued!

As I recall there were two technical issues to work on - MS/T10 wrote a new API for force feedback, plus they added a security chip to lock the console down to approved accessories. Around the same time (mid 2013) there was a falling out between Microsoft/T10 and Fanatec regarding the existing 360 products and they refused to grant Fanatec a license for the XO.

I've not looked into it recently (most of my Fanatec owning mates mostly started PC racing instead!) but there was no reason why a adapter/dongle couldn't be produced to make the newer Fanatec 360 wheels Xbox one compatible. They were already cross platfor 360/PS3/PC compatible.
 
Caporegime
Joined
22 Oct 2002
Posts
26,946
Location
Boston, Lincolnshire
Forza 2 is still the best imo. The balance was not perfect but the best it has been. You had so much competition in the classes. Yes you still had leader board cars but things were a lot closer. Not silly cars with stupid engine swaps topping the leader boards or winning races.

I only just got Forza 5. My first disappointment was not being able to use my steering wheel. Second was the lack of content and the amount you had to purchase! Third is Turn 10 have completely butchered the online play that made the earlier ones great.

The feel of the cars gets better and better with every release. They just need to bulk out the multi player content to what it used to be and have 100% of the content available from the start! Also in my opinion engine swaps and drivetrain swaps should be banned as it is stupidly hard to balance and spoils the online play, leave that rubbish for Forza Horizon. Forza 2 had very little of this which made the racing so close.
 
Caporegime
Joined
27 Sep 2004
Posts
27,676
Location
Luton ;)
I've not looked into it recently (most of my Fanatec owning mates mostly started PC racing instead!) but there was no reason why a adapter/dongle couldn't be produced to make the newer Fanatec 360 wheels Xbox one compatible.
Would be a rosetta stone for people to reverse engineer...

ps3ud0 :cool:
 
Soldato
Joined
26 Jan 2006
Posts
12,330
Location
Belfast
I've not heard that before. There was a good post on a forum that no longer exists from someone in the know that explained it as well as could be a few months after without getting sued!

As I recall there were two technical issues to work on - MS/T10 wrote a new API for force feedback, plus they added a security chip to lock the console down to approved accessories. Around the same time (mid 2013) there was a falling out between Microsoft/T10 and Fanatec regarding the existing 360 products and they refused to grant Fanatec a license for the XO.

I've not looked into it recently (most of my Fanatec owning mates mostly started PC racing instead!) but there was no reason why a adapter/dongle couldn't be produced to make the newer Fanatec 360 wheels Xbox one compatible. They were already cross platfor 360/PS3/PC compatible.

The force feedback works with like a bungee cord at the back of the week with a motor twisting the appropriate pressure, that give the sensation of steering. They where copying each other and think its in the patent courts.
 
Associate
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
1,554
Location
Reading
I'll agree with most of your points. The FM5 physics engine is great, as is the graphics and sound. The issue is the things that build upon that to make a Forza game were missing or half finished. You can't share paints and tunes and race your mates like you could in previous titles. No car clubs. There's a maximum of 10 replays. Period. All your old peripherals - like the £300 wheels MS launched in partnership with Fanatic 12 months previously weren't supported. Own goal after own goal, and T10 just stuck their collective heads in the sand and avoided providing any answers pre launch.

Credit where it's due - T10 added some things back in like drag racing and the no-cost track DLC, but it was too little too late once the trust had gone come the glorious Xbox one launch.

I'll quibble with you about the tracks - not recycled. T10 binned all the existing tracks from the 360, laser scanned them all and recreated them from scratch. The old 360 versions were knocked up from GPS data IIRC. The feel of places like Road Atlanta and Laguna Seca are very different on FM5. Which is a good thing. Just took them a while. ;)

The community has just died in the last 12 months. A topical example - Virtual Motorsports is closing down as of today. They were getting an entry of 140+ people for the classics series in FM4. FM5 numbers were 20-25 on a good week. What's the point, when someone has to devote their own time and money to running a site for their hobby, and they don't really like the game it's there to promote?

To be honest I haven't gotten around to exploring the multiplayer side of things yet. Only finally got hold of my XB One a couple of weeks ago, so I'm still working my way through single player. Difficult to fault that aspect of the game, but it certainly sounds like the online stuff is more of a mixed bag.
 
Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
19,354
Location
South Manchester
The force feedback works with like a bungee cord at the back of the week with a motor twisting the appropriate pressure, that give the sensation of steering. They where copying each other and think its in the patent courts.

The Xbox issues were more API/firmware than the mechanics. The mechanisms I've seen usually have a motor connected by helical gears or a belt drive. Unsure about the cheaper end of the market. Can't quite see how you can have an epic patent dispute on a force transmission technology that was used in cotton mills in the late 1700s to drive machinery. :confused:
 
Soldato
Joined
10 May 2004
Posts
3,480
Location
South UK
Awaits the first gameplay footage running on a pc and the inevitable visual downgrade before launch a la Forza 5. :rolleyes:

Wonder if we will get a 3D model crowd and not 1990's 2D sprites in F6? :rolleyes:
 
Associate
Joined
26 Mar 2010
Posts
1,931
Location
London
Awaits the first gameplay footage running on a pc and the inevitable visual downgrade before launch a la Forza 5. :rolleyes:

Wonder if we will get a 3D model crowd and not 1990's 2D sprites in F6? :rolleyes:

Did it really bother people so much? I was so determined to take each corner as masterfully as I could that anything outside the track barriers got no notice from me lol!
 
Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
19,354
Location
South Manchester
On that basis they should just have welded the new physics engine and track data onto FM2, eh?

Bit less funny when they demonstrate a launch title to get hardware pre-orders and when your shiny new day one console appears it's mysteriously been downgraded to trackside sprites stolen from the 90s, amongst other things.
 
Back
Top Bottom