Microsoft Forza Motorsport - Information Thread, update: Digital Foundry PC version technical review

[Spawn_of_Apathy]

Yeah, so my problem here is what will the GAME part of Forza Motorsport be like. Will it feel like proper Motorsport again, or are we going to keep down the path of weekend track day events with more and more slot machine mechanics? 
 

I’m not going to choose whether or not to play this game based on tyre temperature  physics. The physics in FM 6/7 feel fine enough to my controller. I can hotlap just fine in those games. What I want is a compelling experience and reason to play FM over those games. 

[XxEvil AshxX]

22 hours ago, Spawn_of_Apathy said:

Yeah, so my problem here is what will the GAME part of Forza Motorsport be like. Will it feel like proper Motorsport again, or are we going to keep down the path of weekend track day events with more and more slot machine mechanics? 
 

I’m not going to choose whether or not to play this game based on tyre temperature  physics. The physics in FM 6/7 feel fine enough to my controller. I can hotlap just fine in those games. What I want is a compelling experience and reason to play FM over those games. 

 

FM has never really had much of a campaign so I can't see that getting worse, but I really hope they ditch the cards. That was easily the worst part of FM7.

 

I don't want to have to constantly be buying bonus cards so I can get extra money so I can buy more bonus cards.

 

I would 100% bet on the GaaS events though. They were a huge part of FM7 and they're only going to get more prominent now that will be a Game Pass mule alongside Sea of Thieves and what would've been Halo.

[Spawn_of_Apathy]

3 minutes ago, XxEvil AshxX said:

 

FM has never really had much of a campaign so I can't see that getting worse, but I really hope they ditch the cards. That was easily the worst part of FM7.

 

I don't want to have to constantly be buying bonus cards so I can get extra money so I can buy more bonus cards.

Not to the same degree as like recent F1 games where you compete for contracts and perform interviews, or even Horizon’s narrative method of campaign.  But FM did have something that felt more like a career mode in the past. 
 

it was in FM 5 that they seemed to ditch any semblance of treating it like you’re entered in a GT series. Or working your way up the tiers of racing classes. World Tour Mode in FM4 and Season Play in FM3 we’re far and away better designs than the what the last several games have had. I even found the design better than what Gran Turismo had as a career mode too. 

[XxEvil AshxX]

1 hour ago, Spawn_of_Apathy said:

Not to the same degree as like recent F1 games where you compete for contracts and perform interviews, or even Horizon’s narrative method of campaign.  But FM did have something that felt more like a career mode in the past. 
 

it was in FM 5 that they seemed to ditch any semblance of treating it like you’re entered in a GT series. Or working your way up the tiers of racing classes. World Tour Mode in FM4 and Season Play in FM3 we’re far and away better designs than the what the last several games have had. I even found the design better than what Gran Turismo had as a career mode too. 

 

imo FM4 was the peak of the series in terms of design and setup. I haven't played it in a long time but I remember they had a season mode along with the more generic "here's a bunch of races you can do" which is what they've gone with since. 

 

And yeah, I agree that (I'm assuming) due to the fact it was a launch game, Forza 5 was pretty barebones, and they never really recovered from that. It's great that they have made so many advances in physics and graphics, but now they need to get back to giving the game structure.

 

As long as it's not a fucking coffee shop. That shit in GT7 got real old real fast.

[SoberChef]

Gotta agree w/ @Spawn_of_Apathy& @XxEvil AshxXon FM3 & FM4 being the peak of the series. FM6 turned it around a little bit, but coming off of FM5, that wasn't too hard to do. The layout for races was excellent and visually looked to offer SO much at the onset of beginning your career. I was not a fan of the whole cards = cars/mods/discounts/FM$ (even in FH5, definitely turned me off of it a bit because of this.)

[Keyser_Soze]

 

[Spawn_of_Apathy]

So we still have no idea what the game part of this will be like. Just that it will look better and sound better. Two things I’m pretty sure everyone assumed considering the last mainline Forza title releases before the Xbox One X. 
 

smh. What’s the campaign gonna be?? 
 

“Creative” Director? Yeah, we’ll see if anything creative has been done in this entry. 

[Keyser_Soze]

Blind driving assists! @Commissar SFLUFAN

 

 

[SoberChef]

1 hour ago, Keyser_Soze said:

Blind driving assists! @Commissar SFLUFAN

 

 

Legit was just about to share this. I haven't even ever thought about blind individuals playing a video game in the first place but THIS, this is out-fucking-standing to see (no pun intended I swear.)

[Keyser_Soze]

6 minutes ago, SoberChef said:

Legit was just about to share this. I haven't even ever thought about blind individuals playing a video game in the first place but THIS, this is out-fucking-standing to see (no pun intended I swear.)

 

They are also having blind assists in Street Fighter 6!

[Keyser_Soze]

October 10

 

 

[Commissar SFLUFAN]

2 hours ago, Keyser_Soze said:

October 10

 

 

Turn 10 releasing a game on 10/10, eh?

[Keyser_Soze]

Career mode demo for @Spawn_of_Apathy

 

 

[SoberChef]

*edit* whoopsie didn't realize it was the same vid. Here's another though ...

 

 

[AbsolutSurgen]

Progression in the career mode requires a persistent online connection. 

[Spawn_of_Apathy]

7 hours ago, Keyser_Soze said:

Career mode demo for @Spawn_of_Apathy

 

 

I like that they admit to allowing the AI to cheat in the past. lol 

 

sadly it’s about what I was thinking they’d do. Essentially there is no “career” to be had. Not even a race calendar with a series of about a dozen or so races with rolling points system to crown a “champion” where it feels like you’re participating in league seasons. It’s everything that Forza 4 and older had as just additional or special event races, but not the core of the career mode experience. 
 

Disappointing. But I guess playground games still hasn’t rubbed off on Turn 10 at all. 

[AbsolutSurgen]

Finally watched the video.  IMHO, Forza Motorsport is going "all in" on sim racing, this Builder's Cup looks like it is forcing you to build your "sim racing" skills.

This new proposed gameplay loop looks interesting, but until I play it, it's impossible to say how fun it will actually be. 

[Spawn_of_Apathy]

2 hours ago, AbsolutSurgen said:

Finally watched the video.  IMHO, Forza Motorsport is going "all in" on sim racing, this Builder's Cup looks like it is forcing you to build your "sim racing" skills.

This new proposed gameplay loop looks interesting, but until I play it, it's impossible to say how fun it will actually be. 

which is fine. I just wish they’d go back to crafting more of an experience. Develop more of a career feel. 
 

when they started off with “open practice” before a race I got hopeful. I wanted the next things they talked about was qualifying. Treat it like a full race weekend. As you grow from one cup series to another, more like did in FM4. If with slightly more dramatic flare where you’re trying to be a big time race car driver, and not just a guy going to track days with their latest toy. 

[AbsolutSurgen]

12 minutes ago, Spawn_of_Apathy said:

which is fine. I just wish they’d go back to crafting more of an experience. Develop more of a career feel. 
 

when they started off with “open practice” before a race I got hopeful. I wanted the next things they talked about was qualifying. Treat it like a full race weekend. As you grow from one cup series to another, more like did in FM4. If with slightly more dramatic flare where you’re trying to be a big time race car driver, and not just a guy going to track days with their latest toy. 

That would be a very valid way of having a racing game.  I just don't think that is the type of racing game they're trying to make.  

 

The way they described the process of approaching a track/car, sounded very much like my perception of how real race drivers/teams approach a race weekend.  Will that approach make a fun game that will attract a lot of people?   Dunno.

[Spawn_of_Apathy]

2 minutes ago, AbsolutSurgen said:

The way they described the process of approaching a track/car, sounded very much like my perception of how real race drivers/teams approach a race weekend

 Only in the open practice. There’s no qualifying, and it looks like these race options are little more than what they used to have as additional races outside the seasonal race calendar. 
 

the point system is neat and all, but with the XP system too it makes it so you can’t earn or obtain a car and immediately improve it. Some cars are so low in their class that they get beaten easily until you put some parts on it to improve performance and handling enough it could hang with cars in the upper end of the class by default. So I don’t know how that’s gonna go. 
 

unless there’s more they haven’t shown it still looks like they are far from “Motorsport” and are still approaching it like you’re just rich with a hobby. 

[AbsolutSurgen]

25 minutes ago, Spawn_of_Apathy said:

 Only in the open practice. There’s no qualifying, and it looks like these race options are little more than what they used to have as additional races outside the seasonal race calendar. 
 

the point system is neat and all, but with the XP system too it makes it so you can’t earn or obtain a car and immediately improve it. Some cars are so low in their class that they get beaten easily until you put some parts on it to improve performance and handling enough it could hang with cars in the upper end of the class by default. So I don’t know how that’s gonna go. 
 

unless there’s more they haven’t shown it still looks like they are far from “Motorsport” and are still approaching it like you’re just rich with a hobby. 

I think you might be making assumptions about how the mode will work without seeing it in action.  If anything, Forza Motorsports has always had relatively balanced racing (where your opponents cars scaled to yours).  I can't imagine we're going to have a scenario where they throw you into a situation where you can't compete in a race.  [Can I see a situation where they force you to practice and get some successful "hot laps" in?  Sure.]

[Spawn_of_Apathy]

I probably am making some assumptions, but it was possible to say buy a car that is an A501, the lowest rating it was possible depending on the opponent make up you could be racing against one or more car that could be much higher in the range which goes all the way to A600. It didn’t happen on the starter cars very often, but later in the game could where depending on the car you wanted you’d need at least a few upgrades to fill out the performance index in its class a bit more so it was competitive. 

[SoberChef]

 

[XxEvil AshxX]

I used to think I wanted a story mode in my racing games. I loved the original GRID and it had cutscenes and all, and it was cool. But then we got that latest GRID where they tried to be all dramatic and have interviews and shit and it was just cheesy. 

 

I do want a rags-to-riches story mode though; I want to SEE the fruits of my labor, not just a screen with a list of cars and a "collector rating." I know that garages have been a thing in racing games for a little while, to varying degree of customization, but it would be really nice to not just buy a nicer garage, but take the garage you have, accessorize it, expand it, etc.

 

Kinda like how cribs was in NFL 2K5.

[Spawn_of_Apathy]

Yeah I don’t know if I need a narrative story mode, but they could have a career mode that feels like you’re working your way through various leagues over the course of seasons. there’s a lot of ways they could go like where your selected starting region dictates what cars are less expensive to you and what races/leagues are open to you at the start. Where you can be invited to race in certain leagues by a manufacturer sponsor who provides you a car at the start of the season. Or you could go independent and buy your own ride for the season which could attract other sponsorship opportunities for higher leagues or leagues in other regions. If you stick with a manufacturer you could be rewarded with special cars from them that otherwise you might not be able to obtain until much later in your career. Some leagues may be single season things, while others may be multi season commitments. Maybe some leagues to keep your sponsorship you have a certain championship target based on the rating of the car you’re given. Like to keep your sponsor happy you may just need to finish in the top 5. To attract a more prestigious sponsor or be invited by your sponsor to a new region league you need to finish in the top 3. I dunno. Something that feels like you’re on a motor sport career journey and maybe where your career journey could be different from other people’s. More than just checking races off a list. 
 

The garage idea is one I’ve always loved. It was one of my favorite things about PGR2 back on the OG Xbox. What a way to show off NVME and direct storage to have Auto Vista level of detail and interaction through a growing complex of garages instead of just 1 car at a time like in past FM titles. Not unlike Jay Leno’s Garage. Decorate your multiple garage buildings and choose which cars to have where. Special race events could also reward items to decorate with along with some you can just buy in game from dealers. 

[SoberChef]

 

[Spork3245]

 

SSD Required. Recommended Specs have a 2080 Ti for the GPU 

[Spawn_of_Apathy]

4 hours ago, Spork3245 said:

 

SSD Required. Recommended Specs have a 2080 Ti for the GPU 

that has me right about recommended. I wish they were more forthcoming about what that meant in terms of performance and settings. 

[SoberChef]

 

[Commissar SFLUFAN]

Forza Motorsport is the Competitive Ground for Building Skill

FORZA.NET

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Here’s how Forza Motorsport makes you fall in love with cars and build community through competition and skill.

 

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Here’s how Forza Motorsport makes you fall in love with cars and build community through competition and skill.

 

We’re about to be at the starting line for a new era of Forza Motorsport, and today we’re excited to tell you more about our vision behind the game.

 

We also shared the first hour of gameplay with media and creators over the past few weeks, so keep an eye out for impressions of what they thought of the experience. And for those of you who can’t wait, we shared a video on Forza Monthly featuring some of the gameplay from the first hour of the game.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Commissar SFLUFAN]

Hands-on previews:

 

Forza Motorsport Hands-On Preview – A Shift In A New Direction

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Forza Motorsport Hands-On Preview – A Shift In A New Direction

 

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With the preview build being quite limited in terms of what’s available, we only had access to a few cars and the one segment of the single-player Builder’s Cup. There’s a huge portion of Forza Motorsport that’s yet to be discovered, like customisation and the suite of multiplayer features. Forza Motorsport is set to be a massive title with the confirmation of 500+ cars to race and tinker with and 20 tracks confirmed for launch (five of them being brand new), with the famous Nordschleife also being added in 2024. 

 

This new iteration of Forza Motorsport will give hardcore racing fans something to look forward to without leaving the casual crowd behind – this a game that prides itself on the love of cars no matter what type of fan you are and I’m keen to dive into the rest of the game once it’s out next month.

 

 

We Spoke To Turn 10 Studios About The Return Of Forza Motorsport And Falling In Love With Cars

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We Spoke To Turn 10 Studios About The Return Of Forza Motorsport And Falling In Love With Cars

 

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I recently got the chance to go hands-on with upcoming Forza Motorsport at a special preview event in Los Angeles, where on top of spending decent time with the game itself I got the chance to talk to the co-founder and creative director of the Forza Racing Franchise, Dan Greenawalt, on what players can expect from the series after a long hiatus.

 

 

Forza Motorsport has the potential to be this generation’s best racer | VGC

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Full impressions from Microsoft'

 

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The Forza Horizon games make it easy to forget that it’s been some time since the so-called ‘main’ Forza series has had a new release.

 

Although the brand always feels present and accounted for, the Forza Motorsport series used to get a new game every two years. It’s now been six since the last entry, Forza Motorsport 7, arrived on Xbox One. In that time we’ve had two new Forza Horizons, two Gran Turismos and a bunch of other realistic racing titles, all competing for pole position.

 

Next month, after the largest gap between games by far, developer Turn10 will return with the eighth in the series, which is simply called Forza Motorsport. It’s a title that suggests permanence – we almost certainly won’t see another one in two years, and there’s a chance this may be the only Forza we get this generation, one that will be continually built upon with regular car, track and feature updates.

 

 

 

 

Hands-on With Forza Motorsport: Back on Track - IGN

WWW.IGN.COM

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After six long years we’ve finally played the next evolution of Forza Motorsport: here are our first impressions.

 

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It’s been six years since Forza Motorsport 7 was released, and a fraction under two years since it was delisted. That’s right; it’s been over 725 days since you could buy a Forza Motorsport game this side of the second-hand market. Fortunately, that’s about to change next month – but ahead of the much-anticipated launch of Forza Motorsport on PC and Xbox Series X|S consoles on October 10, 2023 we’ve finally been able to get behind the wheel. Unsurprisingly, it does look and feel fabulous – but it’s the more thoughtful tweaks to the moment-to-moment racing out on track that have me the most interested.

 

 

 

Forza Motorsport Is Xbox's Live Service Car RPG, And That's A Great Thing - GameSpot

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The Xbox racing sim series is transitioning to a live service model, and after getting hands on with the game, my excitement for Forza Motorsport has been restored.

 

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It's rather exciting to be back into the groove with a racing sim--for as much as I loved 2022's Gran Turismo 7, I didn't feel particularly motivated to stick with it after I had my fill. Forza Motorsport has an improved physics model that accounts for the complexities of each car and a more realistic AI system that behaves much closer to professional drivers, but those aspects are tougher to tease out with the short time I had with the game. Right now, it's the new gameplay systems and mechanics that offer minor but impactful changes, and the foundation of a proper live service model with long-term potential, that entice me most.

 

Judging from the introductory cutscenes and tutorial, there'll be a bunch of different cars to take to the track, like expensive supercars and classic whips--there's even a tease for old Formula 1 cars with a quick shot of legendary F1 driver Niki Lauda's Ferrari. We'll be able to find out what's in store and hit the track soon; the new Forza Motorsport will make its first impression when it launches on Xbox Series X|S and PC on October 10, 2023.

 

 

 

Forza Motorsport hands-on preview: a career mode with welcome layers of strategy and risk | TechRadar

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We went motor racing

 

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What I liked most about this whole process is that it genuinely allowed me to grow an attachment to my car. As opposed to Forza Horizon 5, which rewards cars at such a blistering pace that it’s hard to feel much for any of them, Forza Motorsport dials things back to ensure you’re driving fewer cars, albeit for longer periods of time for a deeper overall connection between you and your machine.

 

This feels like an excellent way for players to get used to a wide range of vehicles with varying top speeds and handling models. And hopefully, this will better prepare players for Forza Motorsport’s competitive online suites by first getting them familiar with racing lines and circuit layouts, all while rewarding them for doing so.

 

We don’t have much longer to wait until Forza Motorsport’s October 10 launch on Xbox Series X|S and PC. While I’m sure a sizable portion of its audience will keenly dive into its online suites, I’m hoping its career mode continues to be as involving, and polished, as it was in that initial Builder’s Cup. And with over 500 cars at launch, the game’s career mode is likely to keep eager racers busy in its opening weeks. 

 

 

 

Forza Motorsport (2023) hands-on preview: A new platform | Windows Central

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This is the end of Forza Motorsport as a series, and the beginning of Forza Motorsport as a platform.

 

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The experienced Forza Motorsport team went back to the drawing board, evaluated its roots, observed the trends of modern gaming, and cultivated a cohesive vision to deliver a true next-gen simulation racing game to Xbox and Windows PC players. After going hands-on with Forza Motorsport (2023) both in Los Angeles at the Petersen Automotive Museum and within the comfort of my home, I'm more confident than ever that gamers, racers, and car lovers will adore what's next for the Forza franchise and the best Xbox racing games.

 

 

Forget all that 'Car-PG' stuff, the AI is what makes Forza Motorsport worth playing | PC Gamer

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Dispatches from some of the most gloriously scrappy races in recent memory.

 

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Forza Motorsport’s always been singularly good at gamifying the grindier elements of racing, and joining those sector ratings this time is the option to manually select your grid position for a bigger credits payout. If you’re feeling confident you can start from the back and earn a bigger bonus if you finish on the podium. And if you haven’t figured the track out yet, you can go easier on yourself and "qualify" higher up the grid, the tradeoff being a lower podium bonus. 

 

I’m pretty excited for Forza Motorsport now. Those smarter AI drivers can make me faster, too. I can follow their lines and learn their tricks. I can pull off different kinds of overtakes that ordinarily would only come up in online races. And that to me matters more than the RPG-style progression for each car that Turn 10 has been talking up prior to release. 

 

In an admittedly thin sliver of the full game I've previewed, progression seemed pretty straightforward to me—earning XP for doing basically anything on track levelled up my car, which unlocked parts, which in turn boosted that car’s performance rating. Ostensibly it goes deeper than that, letting you equip different loadouts for varied disciplines such as drift or endurance.

 

But that doesn’t get me going like a good scrap for track position into turn two at Kyalami. Only Forza’s chaotic opponents can do that.

 

 

 

Forza Motorsport sheds its stuffiness for a friendly, generous welcome

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Eurogamer's preview of Forza Motorsport (2023), which offers a warm welcome.

 

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As for the driving, it's a cinch. All you need to do, as a lady informs us in the tutorial, is "break before the turn, coast through it, then accelerate as you exit." What could be easier? After a few minutes of throaty, thunderous speed, you remember that the reputation of the Horizon games, that of bottomless generosity, was only ever a natural extension of the ethos that always held sway in their Motorsport forebears. Think of the dashed line that loops through corners - hotting up to a hit-the-brakes red, then cooling to an icy hue when you're clear to hit the pedal - an invention of the very first Forza Motorsport, copied by almost everyone.

 

That is exactly what Turn 10 Studios hopes to do with the new game: hook you in with a low-heat learning curve, then gradually raise the challenge to a glowing gauntlet. There is difficulty here, and it's up to you how much you want to tinker and tighten it. Your opponents are governed by forgiving A.I., unless you opt to click them up a few gears. The array of driving assists can be dampened and shut off. Hit the auto-upgrade option, in the performance menu, and the game will tune your car for you. But perhaps, one fine day, you will feel the urge to head into the depths in search of camshafts, taking on a couple of those thousand little decisions yourself. Perhaps not. Turn 10 may not make motor-masochists of us all, but what's here is a pleasure - a rarer beast than its sibling, with secrets to guard and passion to impart. Whether that passion will be enough to unite the audience, and tempt in the Horizon holidaymakers, remains to be seen. The welcome is here, but will it wear them out?

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Commissar SFLUFAN]

"Blind Drive Assist" accessibility feature:

 

 

Forza Motorsport's Blind Drive Assist Is A Breakthrough For Gaming Accessibility

KOTAKU.COM

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Microsoft's racing series continues to set a high bar for gaming accessibility

 

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Steve Saylor, a blind games player, has recently tested it out, and tweeted to describe how the suite of audio cues and customizations work.

 

The ensemble of aural guidance appears to combine the co-driver spoken guidance more familiar to rally driving games, in which upcoming turns are described, along with what essentially boils down to sophisticated sonar. A collection of bleeps, bloops and tones that tell a player where their car is on a track relative to its sides and turns, and when they need to brake or accelerate.

 

Saylor was able to play a specific track in the unreleased car-tuning racing game, and described his first attempt to use the audio cues as “a cacophony of sound.” Then, after meticulously adjusting the volume meters and tone levels of all the different sounds to suit him, Saylor said his racing considerably improved. In the video above, he explains how fixing these settings, and getting familiar with the cues, eventually saw him winning a race.

 

 

[Commissar SFLUFAN]

Gameplay footage:

 

 

 

 

[Biggie]

Will this be on GamePass?

[Keyser_Soze]

1 minute ago, Biggie said:

Will this be on GamePass?

 

All first party Microsoft games are on game pass this one included.