Forza Motorsport 6 has "wet weather, 3D puddles and night races" + more

Overall I can't say I'm very impressed, it's pretty much what I expected really... And that's not a good thing. A few things:

- the daytime race graphics are nice
- the woman's voice over is still there and is as shit as ever - just shut up and let me play. There desperately needs to be an option to turn her off.
- music is shite
- why is the 1st race set with all assists turned up to the max as default?
- oh I see that's why... Because the game feels like it was made to be played with most of the assists on
- mods feel like they should be in an arcade racer
- races are too short, and you still always start near the back, and no I don't want to use a mod to move myself one position forward, that's cheating. Either give us qualifying or make the races longer.
- the "AI" is as shit as ever and far too aggressive, even when the aggression setting is turned on.
- night doesn't look great
- the rubbish about track temperatures being lower in the night... Yes you would be correct... Apart from the fact that this is Yas Marina in Abu Dhabi where it's still 30+ degrees even at night throughout most of the year. Why don't you tell us what time it is and what the track temperature is exactly so that we can set up our car and tire pressures accordingly?
- the rain... Oh the rain... If there was this much standing water on the track in real life the race track would be closed and races would be cancelled. The hydro planing, while well implemented is pointless... Why? Because the puddles are static. They don't change in size, they don't spread, they don't move, even if you drive around in them. Because of this, it will get old fast. You learn where the puddles are because they will be in the same place every time you race on that track and adjust your racing line accordingly. There's no other strategy needed so it doesn't really add any depth to the racing experience. It looks nice though.
- I'll say it again because it can't be said enough, why are there so many options to make the experience more casual, but none in sight to make it more "hardcore" so to speak?

I'll play through the demo again over the weekend to experiment with a few other things but this game... They need to drop the "Motorsport" from the title, it's a sham.

Well puddles appears in the same place always, because it depends on the levels of the roads. It can magically appear in any zone.
 
After spending a few hours with the demo, I feel comfortable calling this the best representation of rain, and driving in it, of any racing game I've had the pleasure of playing.

I'm absolutely floored by it, and the 15th can't get here soon enough.

Absolutely, I loved it. Looked so great and brought a great challenge to the race. Driving the Z06 in the rivals event there was one hell of an experience. I hope they add rain to more tracks post release.

The Indy race was incredible, I never felt a sense of speed like that in a game before. It was terrifying, but in a wonderful way.
 
Loving the force feedback improvements. Between that and whatever changes have been made to the handling I'm finding more confidence driving in the rain in this demo than I did at any time in F5.
 
I liked the demo but I couldn't win a fucking race with those assists on. They hampered the shit out of me, how can you pass anyone when the game gas the breaks constantly pumping.
 
Demo impressions:

Love the driving. Simulation steering on the pad feels twitchier, but I am very rusty, so switched to normal.

Indy was quite something, with a tremendous sense of speed. With the 'normal steering' and on-screen/audio feedback it felt like I was using the arrow keys on a computer. Very easy to not clip the grass or the wall, which was a huge problem in the last two.

Have to hold the clutch button longer than the last games to avoid grinding the gears. Something to train myself on.

Audio kept cracking on me; maybe my Xbone needed a reboot after playing Fury Road? Dunno.

Took a long time to get to racing, and for fuck's sake let me pause and adjust the settings in the first race.

Also, remember my controller, audio and assist settings between rivals, please. There's got to be a way to differentiate from a copy of the demo running in a store and a personal XBox.
 
I can support some criticism but some of these are just bullshit:

1. Nice criticism. You say the game is meant to played with the assists as an insult and then do not proceed to explain what you disliked about the driving model.

2. I do not live in the UAE, so cannot truly comment on the weather, but from a quick google search there is at least a 10 degree Celsius difference between day and night on Yas island at this time of the year. I'd imagine that would have a noticeable affect on tires so your proclamation that the change in temp does not matter is bullshit.

3. Do you live in a world where puddles form in a random manner? If so, please document it, because I live in a world where puddles form due to pooling of water in recesses and lower elevations. If a track has defined elevations, so much so that people request and expect for them to be laser scanned for accuracy, would it not make sense that puddles would form in a consistent manner? Maybe their depth and size would change with the amount of rainfall but the base pattern should remain approximately equal.

Because as Dan has stated...they want more people to be able to play and aren't trying to be a hardcore simulator.

I mean...at this point you'd think people would get that.

The puddles will be in the same place..but does that mean your opponents will too? Doesn't that obstacle...along with racing with more/less powerful cars force you to change strategy? Has there been many/any other racers that try and simulate hydroplaning yet alone have puddles forming/deforming as the race goes on? How are the puddles being in the same place any different from the turns being in the same place every lap? Doesn't it still take skill to hit those turns correctly on the 3rd lap just as you did on the 1st?

Were you gonna be happy with anything they did?

With regards to puddles:

Puddles will tend to form in the same place most of the time due to track elevation and camber. However, if you have a field of 24 cars driving through these puddles then the puddle sizes should change dependant on how many cars are driving through them. For example look at where the water is on the track before after this incident: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=KT0oN9UPi6U . Also, due to the fact that it is raining during the race, the puddles should actually get bigger as the race progresses and maybe even new ones should form in certain places. And those puddles that cover the entirety of the width of the track? The track would be getting shut down if those form. Like I said, it is far too static and because of that you just learn where the puddles are, alter your racing line accordingly and it's job done. There is no emergent gameplay to be found here because of it, it's a very predictable experience. It doesn't matter what other racers are doing or aren't doing, I'm talking about what is being represented here and my opinions on how it does (or doesn't) effect the moment to moment racing.

Track temps at night at Yas Marina:

In the daytime it's 40 degrees Celsius plus for a lot of the year here in the UAE while at night it's 30 degrees plus. That means that even at night the track temperatures at Yas Marina will be higher than the daytime track temps at most other tracks in the world. So yes, the track temperature is less that what it would be in the day there but the grip levels should still be at least on par with what you would find on most other tracks during the day elsewhere in the year. Whenever I have gone to Yas Marina or the Dubai Autodrome in the evenings or at night the track temps have been higher than what you would ever experience in the day at track days in the UK. Even in the cooler months here in the UAE track temps will still commonly exceed 25-30 degrees Celsius at night. Hence my question of why are they not providing us with information such as the track temperature that is being simulated?

And final note on the driving model, there is nothing fundamentally wrong with it. I actually think that the physics engine in Forza is one of the best in the business (hence my frustration with everything else the game has become). However, the rest of the game isn't well set up to play with all assists off and full damage simulation considering how aggressive the AI is and how short the races are.
 
Demo impressions:

Love the driving. Simulation steering on the pad feels twitchier, but I am very rusty, so switched to normal.

Indy was quite something, with a tremendous sense of speed. With the 'normal steering' and on-screen/audio feedback it felt like I was using the arrow keys on a computer. Very easy to not clip the grass or the wall, which was a huge problem in the last two.

Have to hold the clutch button longer than the last games to avoid grinding the gears. Something to train myself on.

Audio kept cracking on me; maybe my Xbone needed a reboot after playing Fury Road? Dunno.

Took a long time to get to racing, and for fuck's sake let me pause and adjust the settings in the first race.

Also, remember my controller, audio and assist settings between rivals, please. There's got to be a way to differentiate from a copy of the demo running in a store and a personal XBox.

Holy shit man, no kidding! I thought I was just fucking something up, I was grinding them all over the place.
 
Loving the force feedback improvements. Between that and whatever changes have been made to the handling I'm finding more confidence driving in the rain in this demo than I did at any time in F5.

haha was thinking the same during Sebring race. It plays really great now and it's without some nice tuning setups.
I can't wait to take for a spin on Nurburg at least half of that car list and some race cars just to see how they handle.
 
With regards to puddles:

Puddles will tend to form in the same place most of the time due to track elevation and camber. However, if you have a field of 24 cars driving through these puddles then the puddle sizes should change dependant on how many cars are driving through them. For example look at where the water is on the track before after this incident: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=KT0oN9UPi6U . Also, due to the fact that it is raining during the race, the puddles should actually get bigger as the race progresses and maybe even new ones should form in certain places. And those puddles that cover the entirety of the width of the track? The track would be getting shut down if those form. Like I said, it is far too static and because of that you just learn where the puddles are, alter your racing line accordingly and it's job done. There is no emergent gameplay to be found here because of it, it's a very predictable experience. It doesn't matter what other racers are doing or aren't doing, I'm talking about what is being represented here and my opinions on how it does (or doesn't) effect the moment to moment racing.
Thanks for explaining this more succinctly and clearly than I could. I tried to do so earlier in the thread but failed to get my point across. My point was that while they're "3D" and "dynamic", they don't actually change so you really have to question how "3D" they actually are.
 
With regards to puddles:

Puddles will tend to form in the same place most of the time due to track elevation and camber. However, if you have a field of 24 cars driving through these puddles then the puddle sizes should change dependant on how many cars are driving through them. For example look at where the water is on the track before after this incident: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=KT0oN9UPi6U . Also, due to the fact that it is raining during the race, the puddles should actually get bigger as the race progresses and maybe even new ones should form in certain places. And those puddles that cover the entirety of the width of the track? The track would be getting shut down if those form. Like I said, it is far too static and because of that you just learn where the puddles are, alter your racing line accordingly and it's job done. There is no emergent gameplay to be found here because of it, it's a very predictable experience. It doesn't matter what other racers are doing or aren't doing, I'm talking about what is being represented here and my opinions on how it does (or doesn't) effect the moment to moment racing.

Track temps at night at Yas Marina:

In the daytime it's 40 degrees Celsius plus for a lot of the year here in the UAE while at night it's 30 degrees plus. That means that even at night the track temperatures at Yas Marina will be higher than the daytime track temps at most other tracks in the world. So yes, the track temperature is less that what it would be in the day there but the grip levels should still be at least on par with what you would find on most other tracks during the day elsewhere in the year. Whenever I have gone to Yas Marina or the Dubai Autodrome in the evenings or at night the track temps have been higher than what you would ever experience in the day at track days in the UK. Even in the cooler months here in the UAE track temps will still commonly exceed 25-30 degrees Celsius at night. Hence my question of why are they not providing us with information such as the track temperature that is being simulated?

And final note on the driving model, there is nothing fundamentally wrong with it. I actually think that the physics engine in Forza is one of the best in the business (hence my frustration with everything else the game has become). However, the rest of the game isn't well set up to play with all assists off and full damage simulation considering how aggressive the AI is and how short the races are.

You still didn't address how static puddles don't present emergent gameplay when static turns on static tracks with static weather achieves this very thing.

How, for example, does worrying about 23 other racers in wet conditions with puddles on certain turns in different cars with different grip levels/power/turning capability etc not create emergent gameplay?

But...hey...just alter that race line and everything is ok. You're being disingenuous with that line.
 
After a long break from F5 which I started playing again in anticipation, and after having spent so much time in Horizon, 2 things jumped out at me:

OMFG, 60fps is just so superior. Graphics in F5 are that much better and so much more impressive at 60fps.

That alone has hyped me for F6. Sucks that I'm away on travel, I won't get to try the demo till the weekend.
 
Playing this demo reminded me of everything I've ever loved about my favorite racing games.

Went from 'eh' to Day One immediately. Can't wait
 
And final note on the driving model, there is nothing fundamentally wrong with it. I actually think that the physics engine in Forza is one of the best in the business (hence my frustration with everything else the game has become). However, the rest of the game isn't well set up to play with all assists off and full damage simulation considering how aggressive the AI is and how short the races are.

Oh yeah, have we discovered if Damage Simulation is actually fair now?

Like, do the AI get affected by it...or is it like Forza 5 where only you are affected, therefore making it not a fair race?
 
Just finished the first race in the rain and it was as glorious as I expected it to be. Did anyone else have any trouble with the Indy race? I think it made me nauseous (first time that's ever happened).
 
Just finished the first race in the rain and it was as glorious as I expected it to be. Did anyone else have any trouble with the Indy race? I think it made me nauseous (first time that's ever happened).


You know what, I only played the intro race and I felt off as well
 
You know what, I only played the intro race and I felt off as well

All the other races were fine. The only one that made me nauseous was the Indycar race. The sense of speed and the track itself definitely got to me. It almost looked like a sped up video. Really weird sensation. For what its worth, I drive using the hood cam so that might have made things worse.
 
This is a noticeable improvement over Forza 5 which I thought was a step backwards for the series. Most importantly the driving feels MUCH better this time and going into corners in a pack isn't a complete clusterfuck. Small things like better menu music, the prize wheel and card pack boosts will go a long way in keeping me engaged.
 
Just did my first race in the rain...holy shit, best ever rain in a driving game I've played.

Yeah, Sebring in the rain is fucking great. Really was blown away by the rain and how it looks, I mean visually it is so much better than the other courses in the demo.

With that said, I am not blown away as I thought I was. I am not that impressed by the night course, it had some cool parts, but lighting seemed a little flat to me. I also think that Indy is worse than the F5 version. I just played both versions and it seems like there is a layer of grain in the visuals in F6, where in F5 it seems cleaner/smoother.

In the end, now that I played more of the demo, I am little less excited for the game. It is not that impressive outside of the rain track at Sebring, that alone did blow me away, but considering the entire demo it just seemed "ok". I expected a bit more from Turn 10 in regards to advancements as they traditionally do. I mean Forza 2 to Forza 3 was a huge advancement. This just seems like an incremental upgrade (very slight) visually speaking. Not talking about 8 more cars on the track and the added night/rain. I am primarily talking about visuals from F5 to F6 and I swear, the frame rate does not feel as smooth as F5, especially after playing the demo and running the Indy course a few times on each.

Still getting the game as I love the series, but feel overall a little underwhelmed by the demo. Hope the final release looks a little cleaner and I really hope they improve some of the sound effects, especially those when you bump or crash into other cars, it is so subdued...it literally sounds like your car and the AI cars are covered in a thick layer of Styrofoam and when you hit them or they hit you it is a muffled/sound absorbing type of sound.
 
Yeah I'm all in for Forza 6,just love the demo.

I like the boost packs, they add some options there if you want them and if u don't then don't.
Career also looks to be a welcome breath of fresh air.
 
Going from a controller to a Thrustmaster TX is pretty intense. The default FFB could probably rip a child's arm off lol. Thankfully it's easily lowered.
 
You still didn't address how static puddles don't present emergent gameplay when static turns on static tracks with static weather achieves this very thing.

How, for example, does worrying about 23 other racers in wet conditions with puddles on certain turns in different cars with different grip levels/power/turning capability etc not create emergent gameplay?

But...hey...just alter that race line and everything is ok. You're being disingenuous with that line.

Its pretty simple really, if you know where the puddles are going to be everytime you load up a particular track in the rain and you know those puddles will not change in size/depth/shape on a lap to lap basis then over time you will adjust and learn a new racing line in accordance with the conditions. Yes there are other cars on the track to contend with but its as simple as waiting until you can overtake without ploughing headfirst into a puddle based on knowing where the puddles are located on each track.

If you are racing online against human opponents then yes, it will be slightly different in that your opponents might well be more intelligent than the AI and can defend the optimal racing line and force you towards puddles in certain scenarios. But then against better opponents online you can be forced off track by someone defending their line well in dry conditions so its no different to that really. By nature, online gaming creates emergent gameplay scenarios. I'm talking about racing against the AI here where its simply a case of learning where the puddles are and then choosing your moments.

Oh yeah, have we discovered if Damage Simulation is actually fair now?

Like, do the AI get affected by it...or is it like Forza 5 where only you are affected, therefore making it not a fair race?

I'm going to play around with this more later, but from what I can tell so far, no only you seem to be affected, even if they cause the incident and plough into the back of you. Unless the final game is any different?
 
Can't believe we've got to a point in game development where we can complain that the 3D puddles don't propagate themselves due to the shifting of the bodies of water when cars drive through them!!.

I mean, come on, what other game has done puddles even close to the way they're done in here?

I get the arguments about it not being realistic that a race would take place with that amount of water in real life, but lets be honest, it's forza, it's moving more and more away from a SIM with every iteration, the puddles are there to change the track dynamic, make it more exciting and more challenging, and they do that in spades.

As for those asking about things persisting between demo playthroughs, I believe MS doesn't let demos do this, I may be wrong though, but I'm sure I read that somewhere.
 
Something that bugged me about the demo, and with Forza 5 (can't remember if this was in 3 and 4):

Why are all the rear view mirrors in 30 FPS or lower?
 
Something that bugged me about the demo, and with Forza 5 (can't remember if this was in 3 and 4):

Why are all the rear view mirrors in 30 FPS or lower?
To keep the framerate at 60fps. I recall in FM4 that time trials (with obviously no cars in the rear-view) would have a 60fps rear-view, while full races would have 30fps.
 
Are people complaining about static puddles also complaining about the static turns? I mean, how much strategy is there if you know where every turn is?

Yea, when doing hot laps, you will learn the puddles just like the turns. But in races, they add one more element to navigate when trying pass and make up time.
 
Are people complaining about static puddles also complaining about the static turns? I mean, how much strategy is there if you know where every turn is?

Yea, when doing hot laps, you will learn the puddles just like the turns. But in races, they add one more element to navigate when trying pass and make up time.


Why not have the puddle get bigger / smaller depeding on rain severity? No reason its not dynamic. I understand constraints on going from clear to rain but severity of rain and puddle formation - as a minimum - should have been implemented. Considering that the competition does this and more....much more.
 
Why not have the puddle get bigger / smaller depeding on rain severity? No reason its not dynamic. I understand constraints on going from clear to rain but severity of rain and puddle formation - as a minimum - should have been implemented. Considering that the competition does this and more....much more.

Because you know how much time it will cost to program this and if it's feasible within deadline and budget?
 
Driving feels so great. DC and Horizon where great, but this is the real deal.

Oh but I don't like Soundtrack, they should have done something similar as they did in FM3 and FM4.
 
Because you know how much time it will cost to program this and if it's feasible within deadline and budget?
Not to mention this is year One of rain puddles... Who knows what improvements will be made over the years...

It's still Pretty damned good for a new feature ever
 
T10 should think about how Forza games start out, or provide a "jump into carreer" option for seasoned Forza players. It's always the same... Live-Action intro, show-race with no options, lot's of unskippable talk. It's frustrating and yes I realize it's only the first time you start the game, but an option would be highly appreciated.

edit: and I did not get to finish the whole demo due to private reasons and now I can do that all over again. Yes it's silly to complain about that for a demo, but stuff like that could happen with the full game too.
 
T10 should think about how Forza games start out, or provide a "jump into carreer" option for seasoned Forza players. It's always the same... Live-Action intro, show-race with no options, lot's of unskippable talk. It's frustrating and yes I realize it's only the first time you start the game, but an option would be highly appreciated.


the unskippable talk is so infuriating.

some of the stuff described is blatantly obvious on the screen, even if you've never played any game before.

I don't have time for an extra two minutes between races to listen to the VO.
 
Only played through once, but the physics definitely feel less forgiving than Forza 5 w/ no assists. Correcting oversteer at medium/high speeds isn't so effortless this time around. Love that.
You mean more-forgiving, surely? Absolutely no way I'd take the F430S around Yas without aids on FM5 yet can do so on FM6.
 
the unskippable talk is so infuriating.

some of the stuff described is blatantly obvious on the screen, even if you've never played any game before.

I don't have time for an extra two minutes between races to listen to the VO.

"For each race you earn experience points, XP for short."

XP?! Damn tthat's something new in gaming! xD
 
Now, I'm not shit posting or trying to be callous but it just seems the way f6 is being marketed with rain/puddles/night as its main new selling feature is not sitting right with me. If it was for every track then no problem, but only a handful? That's just deceiving.

If anything, the rain/puddles/night is almost like a free weather dlc pack.
 
Played the demo. some impressions.

Graphics: good, could be better, really need to work on the lighting. Been spoiled by other games I think.

Gameplay: Great as usual with Forza

Night: Felt bland, maybe it was the track, didn't do anything for me.

Rain: Awesome. Absolutely nailed it. Puddles actually felt like they were there.

Microtransactions (never played FM5 so don't know how they're different if at all): mostly a non-issue, payout seems good for the races, but not a fan of what is essentially gambling with the packs and their random nature.

In the end, hasn't changed my mind, looks like I won't be getting it. I don't know whether it's the 2 year dev cycle, or they simply don't care for it that much, but they really need to work on the lighting. I don't think I can get into a sim again unless it has dynamic lighting due to its nature of sharing the majority of its tracks with past entries. Static lighting just makes the game get stale quickly for me.

Anyways, it's a slick presentation with solid gameplay and great customization, can definitely see the diehard fans loving it and can also see the demo resulting in some brand new players buying the game.

Just not doing it for me unfortunately. Oh well, hopefully, next game. I miss the fantastic customization aspect of the Forza games. No other game comes even close (at least on consoles, no idea about PC).

PS. I'm assuming this demo build is older code that they used to show off at an event or something which would explain the large amount of menu stuttering I faced.
 
Played the demo. some impressions.

Graphics: good, could be better, really need to work on the lighting. Been spoiled by other games I think.

Gameplay: Great as usual with Forza

Night: Felt bland, maybe it was the track, didn't do anything for me.

Rain: Awesome. Absolutely nailed it. Puddles actually felt like they were there.

Microtransactions (never played FM5 so don't know how they're different if at all): mostly a non-issue, payout seems good for the races, but not a fan of what is essentially gambling with the packs and their random nature.

In the end, hasn't changed my mind, looks like I won't be getting it. I don't know whether it's the 2 year dev cycle, or they simply don't care for it that much, but they really need to work on the lighting. I don't think I can get into a sim again unless it has dynamic lighting due to its nature of sharing the majority of its tracks with past entries. Static lighting just makes the game get stale quickly for me.

Anyways, it's a slick presentation with solid gameplay and great customization, can definitely see the diehard fans loving it and can also see the demo resulting in some brand new players buying the game.

Just not doing it for me unfortunately. Oh well, hopefully, next game. I miss the fantastic customization aspect of the Forza games. No other game comes even close (at least on consoles, no idea about PC).

PS. I'm assuming this demo build is older code that they used to show off at an event or something which would explain the large amount of menu stuttering I faced.

I feel the exact same. Although a step forward in the series, its a step backwards in the genre for me as other games are achieving more.

And before people start quoting car numbers and autovista in the grand scheme of things quantity isn't necessarily better. It's safe to assume MOST people will only use 5-10% of the cars unless forced via career mode.
 
T10 should think about how Forza games start out, or provide a "jump into carreer" option for seasoned Forza players. It's always the same... Live-Action intro, show-race with no options, lot's of unskippable talk. It's frustrating and yes I realize it's only the first time you start the game, but an option would be highly appreciated.

edit: and I did not get to finish the whole demo due to private reasons and now I can do that all over again. Yes it's silly to complain about that for a demo, but stuff like that could happen with the full game too.

100% this. It sets the tone from minute 1 and is infuriating for people who know their way around games like this, not to mention its a waste of time.
 

I think the tyre tracks in wet weather should really be more prominent so they aren't so hidden by the spray in chase cam*. That old Merc at Silverstone looks like a hovercraft. The spray actually reinforces this illusion (if you've ever seen a hovercraft go over wet Tarmac).

*you probably deserve this if you use chase cam in a sim. Maybe it's Dan's way of punishing you.
 
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