How Forza raced past the competition to become gaming's biggest driving series.

[Vandalsquad]

Great, decent sized read on the Forza series from the beginning until now.

 

 

 

Quote

Forza has come a long way since its inception on the original Xbox in 2005. Microsoft had already published a slew of racing games on its console, including Midtown Madness and Bizarre Creations’ exemplary Project Gotham Racing series, but as part of its aggressive move into the console business the software giant was determined to find its own answer to the all-conquering Gran Turismo. At the time, Polyphony Digital’s simulation was not only the most popular and acclaimed racing game out there, but PlayStation’s number one series of any genre...

Read the article here.

[ThisSiteHasLostItsCharm]

something that is never in a decent racing game is realistic crashing, it's just lame the way games handle damage, the odd scratch and broken light and some dents...

 

why can't we have high impact crash damage like mangled wreckage and lots of debris? what's the point of going real fast if you have no element of risk?

 

for example a high speed crash is fh3 results in just bouncing off terrain objects, you got nice scenary and nice looking cars but it's all so fake, for me it's just makes ALL racing games the same. if only we had crahes like burnout / flatout in proper racing games instead of the lame bumper cars, there's no excitement if you don't think your going to smash your car up at any time. you also don't have to drive carefully either.

[Emn1ty]

4 hours ago, Slarlac249 said:

something that is never in a decent racing game is realistic crashing, it's just lame the way games handle damage, the odd scratch and broken light and some dents...

 

why can't we have high impact crash damage like mangled wreckage and lots of debris? what's the point of going real fast if you have no element of risk?

 

for example a high speed crash is fh3 results in just bouncing off terrain objects, you got nice scenary and nice looking cars but it's all so fake, for me it's just makes ALL racing games the same. if only we had crahes like burnout / flatout in proper racing games instead of the lame bumper cars, there's no excitement if you don't think your going to smash your car up at any time. you also don't have to drive carefully either.

The original reason was because big car companies wouldn't sign off the ability to user their cars in the game if they were to get destroyed. They wanted their cars looking pristine no matter what. Forza was the first one that got some of the car companies to allow it (which is why the first Forza's vehicle list was quite small in comparison to Gran Turismo, which had zero damage mechanics at the time).

 

So Forza sold them on minimal damage in the first game... and it's taken them many years to get more and more car companies on-board with allowing their cars to get mangled.

[ThisSiteHasLostItsCharm]

That's a dumb reason, since the cars aren't real as it's a game, they are real brands but as it's a game, why is it important for them to look shiny all the time? forza is really overrated, saying it's the best driving series is just wrong.

 

To me there there is no good driving series as they are all the same, none of them are unique.

 

Things i hate about the new fh game;

 

no realistic car damage

annoying radio chatter

repetitive music

crowds are generic with same animations repeated over and over

physics are poor like watch dogs 1 level, crash thouth a fence or a pole and the thing just falls to pieces and the bits just bounce all over the place

static fences that act like a brick wall

beaches look fake and too clean

ocean looks flat

can you turn off the indicator arrows on the road???

long ass loading times

unskippable cutscenes

freezing, pausing and crashing

windows store still sucks and can't backup games

 

[Emn1ty]

7 hours ago, Slarlac249 said:

That's a dumb reason, since the cars aren't real as it's a game, they are real brands but as it's a game, why is it important for them to look shiny all the time? forza is really overrated, saying it's the best driving series is just wrong.

Because car companies like their cars looking pristine. It's not a hard concept to grasp as the game is effectively an advertisement for their vehicle.

 

1. no realistic car damage

2. annoying radio chatter

3. repetitive music

4. crowds are generic with same animations repeated over and over

5. physics are poor like watch dogs 1 level, crash thouth a fence or a pole and the thing just falls to pieces and the bits just bounce all over the place

6. static fences that act like a brick wall

7. beaches look fake and too clean

8. ocean looks flat

9. can you turn off the indicator arrows on the road???

10. long ass loading times

11. unskippable cutscenes

12. freezing, pausing and crashing

13. windows store still sucks and can't backup games

1. The car damage has improved with each version, however this game is not entirely focused on crash physics or damage. This was never its primary feature and there are other racing games that do put this at the forefront of their engine.

2. I haven't played since Forza 2, so I'm not aware of this problem or if there's a setting to turn it off.

3. You can turn the music off.

4. If you're stopping to look at the crowds, you're not playing the game the way it was meant to be played. RE7 has terrible textures if you stop and look at them, but moving around and playing they are near photorealistic. They focused on making the cars and the tracks look good, not the random people cheering in the bleachers. Same is true for games like GTA, etc.

5. Again, crash mechanics aren't the primary feature of Forza.

6. This is annoying, I agree. However every racing game has hard barriers. I recall Top Gear Rally having literal invisible walls in it on the 64. Even Gran Turismo had a few as well.

7. If you're stopping to look at the beaches, you're not playing the game the way it was intended.

8. Same thing, again.

9. Yes, you've been able to since the first game.

10. Agreed.

11. Agreed.
12. This is a problem in any game that has it.

13. This has nothing to do with the game.

 

It sounds to me like you are fishing for reasons to hate it. Some of your complaints have absolutely nothing to do with the purpose of a driving simulator. But it is your prerogative to let these things get under your skin and prevent you from enjoying the game.

[PGHammer]

On 4/19/2017 at 0:57 PM, Emn1ty said:

Because car companies like their cars looking pristine. It's not a hard concept to grasp as the game is effectively an advertisement for their vehicle.

 

1. The car damage has improved with each version, however this game is not entirely focused on crash physics or damage. This was never its primary feature and there are other racing games that do put this at the forefront of their engine.

2. I haven't played since Forza 2, so I'm not aware of this problem or if there's a setting to turn it off.

3. You can turn the music off.

4. If you're stopping to look at the crowds, you're not playing the game the way it was meant to be played. RE7 has terrible textures if you stop and look at them, but moving around and playing they are near photorealistic. They focused on making the cars and the tracks look good, not the random people cheering in the bleachers. Same is true for games like GTA, etc.

5. Again, crash mechanics aren't the primary feature of Forza.

6. This is annoying, I agree. However every racing game has hard barriers. I recall Top Gear Rally having literal invisible walls in it on the 64. Even Gran Turismo had a few as well.

7. If you're stopping to look at the beaches, you're not playing the game the way it was intended.

8. Same thing, again.

9. Yes, you've been able to since the first game.

10. Agreed.

11. Agreed.
12. This is a problem in any game that has it.

13. This has nothing to do with the game.

 

It sounds to me like you are fishing for reasons to hate it. Some of your complaints have absolutely nothing to do with the purpose of a driving simulator. But it is your prerogative to let these things get under your skin and prevent you from enjoying the game.

It was just as true in the Need for Speed series (the only series pre-Forza to dare to be multiplatform).  And that is, in fact, the OTHER thing about Forza - it is multiplatform (starting with FM6: Apex and now FH3).  No - I DON'T expect the predecessors to FM6 to make the trip to Windows (what is the advantage for Microsoft in that?); however, I WOULD like at least FH or FH2 to make the trip.  If you want more realistic crash mechanics, then you want the GRID series - I don't hate GRID; it simply strikes me as being way to "simmy" compared to Forza.

[Draconian Guppy]

On 18/4/2017 at 8:21 AM, Slarlac249 said:

something that is never in a decent racing game is realistic crashing, it's just lame the way games handle damage, the odd scratch and broken light and some dents...

 

why can't we have high impact crash damage like mangled wreckage and lots of debris? what's the point of going real fast if you have no element of risk?

 

for example a high speed crash is fh3 results in just bouncing off terrain objects, you got nice scenary and nice looking cars but it's all so fake, for me it's just makes ALL racing games the same. if only we had crahes like burnout / flatout in proper racing games instead of the lame bumper cars, there's no excitement if you don't think your going to smash your car up at any time. you also don't have to drive carefully either.

This very same reason is why I started playing Live for speed. Damage to every part of the vehicle, tires get burnt out, car physics gets affected with the crash. https://www.lfs.net/

 

I did give up on it due to the lack of branding (you know, generic cars), but the mod community out there for this game is huge

Quote

While LFS' car selection mainly includes fictional cars, it also has five real officially licensed cars:

BMW Sauber F1.06

Formula BMW

McGill University's Formula SAE (in conjunction with McGill Racing Team)

Valmet RaceAbout 2003 concept sports car designed by Helsinki Polytechnic Stadia

Volkswagen Scirocco (announced, not yet released)

.

[tsupersonic]

On 4/19/2017 at 4:58 AM, Slarlac249 said:

That's a dumb reason, since the cars aren't real as it's a game, they are real brands but as it's a game, why is it important for them to look shiny all the time? forza is really overrated, saying it's the best driving series is just wrong.

 

To me there there is no good driving series as they are all the same, none of them are unique.

 

Things i hate about the new fh game;

 

no realistic car damage

annoying radio chatter

repetitive music

crowds are generic with same animations repeated over and over

physics are poor like watch dogs 1 level, crash thouth a fence or a pole and the thing just falls to pieces and the bits just bounce all over the place

static fences that act like a brick wall

beaches look fake and too clean

ocean looks flat

can you turn off the indicator arrows on the road???

long ass loading times

unskippable cutscenes

freezing, pausing and crashing

windows store still sucks and can't backup games

 

Have you actually played FH3?

 

2/3 - you can listen to music on Groove, or just turn it off altogether which is what I do. If I'm playing a racing game, I want to hear engine and environment noise (tires, other cars, etc.) 

4 - who cares about the crowd? I haven't seen a single racing game in which it was 'dynamic' and not repeated over. 

5 - physics are not horrible, and is comparable to other sim. racing games.

6 - seriously?

7 - again seriously? 

8 - again, have you actually played this game? 

9 - yes. Putting it on an SSD helps I hear (I haven't tried).

10 - yes, like hundreds of other games...

11 - I've had it crash a handful of times. It's frustrating but not specific to Forza.

12 - luckily PC users can actually backup FH3 although a manual process.