Forza 6

[Inuyasha]

Sportdan - I'm more of a horizon guy but f6 seemed more like it. I did not like f5 too sim for me.

Is it worth it getting deluxe or ultimate?

[dbdynsty25]

It's pretty simple...this is the best demo that has ever been released. Content, gameplay, graphics...it's all there. Got me hyped to buy the damn ultimate edition so I can play it 5 days early, lol.

[XXXIV]

Played only maybe half an hour but that is one hell of a demo.

[Inuyasha]

There was an update to the demo

[sportdan30]

Picked up the Thrustmast 458 Spider Wheel from Game Stop the other day (less than $100) , and love it so much I just ordered a wheel stand for it. I'll never go back to racing with a controller again! Sure, it doesn't have the force feedback, but the responsiveness with regards to steering, braking, and flooring it is awesome. And of course it's no where close to the high end wheels, but wow is it a blast to use with Horizon 2 and the Forza 6 demo.

I honestly can't believe I've waited this long to test out a racing wheel. I'm big time sold.

[Naples39]

Gotta love this ad:



I placed my pre-order for the digital standard edition last night. I suppose if anyone splurged on the ultimate edition they could be playing it right now.

[dbdynsty25]

I suppose if anyone splurged on the ultimate edition they could be playing it right now.

Not till the 10th. I splurged, lol.

[Wilk5280]

I suppose if anyone splurged on the ultimate edition they could be playing it right now.

Not till the 10th. I splurged, lol.

I want to, but can't seem to pull the trigger

[DChaps]

The Ultimate Edition is pre-loaded and ready to go on my Xbox One. Now just the waiting. I was hoping it was midnight tonight, but will not be until tomorrow morning when I will unfortunately be in meetings all day. Here are the release times according to the Turn 10 forums:

Local times for when the Ultimate edition should unlock so you can play are listed below.
NOTE: The game doesn't release at midnight, as the Ultimate edition is released/unlocked globally at once, so it gets playable in a LOT of different time zones. If yours isn't on the list, I think you find one near you and do the math yourself.

September 10
=========
3:01am - US (Hawaii)
5:01am - US (Alaska)
6:01am - US/Canada (Pacific Daylight Time)
7:01am - US/Canada (Mountain Daylight Time)
8:01am - US/Canada (Central Daylight Time)
8:01am - Colombia (Standard Time)
9:01am - US/Canada (Eastern Daylight Time)
10:01am - Canada (Atlantic Daylight Time)
10:01am - Brazil (Rio de Janeiro; Brasilia Time)
2:01pm/14:01 - UK (British Summer Time)
3:01pm/15:01 - Central Europe (Central European Summer Time)
4:01pm/16:01 - Eastern Europe (Eastern European Summer Time)
9:01pm - Hong Kong (Standard Time)
9:01pm - Australia (Australian Western Standard Time)
10:01pm - Japan (Standard Time)
11:01pm - Australia (Australian Eastern Standard Time)

September 11
=========
1:01am - New Zealand (Standard Time)

[Inuyasha]

Pk - how does career mode work in this game? Or what have you heard? Reason I ask us in project cars the career mode feels like your racing individual races and not a career. The Twitter like feed just isn't enough in pcars.

Forza 6 supposed to be better. Loved horizon career but never got into 5 and just asking.

[pk500]

No idea, man. Career mode is irrelevant to me in racing games.

I just want to race real cars on great, mainly real tracks, with believable physics, great controls adapted for a controller and pretty graphics. Gibraltar-like online connectivity is crucial, too.

Project Cars on the XB1 delivered on so few of these checklist items that it was painless for me to trade it in.

[DChaps]

First Reviews rolling in:

Wired - Polished, Beautiful Forza 6 is Still the Racing Game to Get
http://www.wired.com/2015/09/polished-b ... -game-get/

The Verge - Just Buy It!
http://www.theverge.com/2015/9/8/927198 ... t-6-review

Career Mode:

Most of your time in the game, at least at first, will probably be spent in the Career mode, which is a staple of any racing simulator: it’s where you learn the ropes and win some cash and your first few cars. Different games (and even different generations of the same game) have taken wildly different philosophies in how Career mode should work, and Forza 6 is no exception. I generally think it’s fine, but it errs a bit too far on the hand-holding side — you have to win three series (series, not races) in a basic, low-cost car before you can graduate to a better car, then you move up to Grand Touring cars, and so on, for a total of five "volumes." The game collectively calls these volumes "Stories of Motorsport," and it’s the primary form of career advancement. Occasionally, without warning, you’ll unlock a "Showcase" event which is like a one-off special race with special goals in a car you don’t own; examples include passing challenges using various vehicles, and racing against Top Gear’s Stig.

The problem with Career mode here is that there’s very little flexibility in how you attack it. You have to advance in the exact order the game prescribes, instead of being able to jump around depending on what kind of series you’re in the mood for. And as you race new series, Forza 6 will try to force new, pre-upgraded cars down your throat — I’m sure some gamers feel differently, but for me, upgrading my own car is an integral part of the experience, and I don’t want the game to do it for me. The final insult is that there’s no point tracking and no real fanfare after you win a series; you just race your races, come in whatever place, and move on. I want a trophy, dammit. Make me feel good about being the point leader.

Mods:

Another new feature — and perhaps my favorite thing about Forza 6 — is "Mods," which are basically trading cards that can be attached to your car before a race to unlock better attributes: lower weight, for instance, or better grip, or improved payout. Some can be used forever, some are single-use, and some have special abilities that are only unlocked on certain tracks. There are also "dare" Mods, which challenge you to do something (like take a worse starting position) for bonus XP or credits. You can win or use credits to buy Mod booster packs, each of which has five cards of varying rarity; you can pay more for boosters with a higher likelihood of containing rare cards. Before each race, you can attach up to three Mods to the car, and any cards you don’t want can be sold (rarer cards are worth more, of course). I haven’t seen anything quite like it in a racing sim, and it adds a new, fun dimension to the game.

Conclusion:

It is beautiful, extremely deep, and has enough modes and features to keep you entertained forever. (I haven’t even mentioned the multiplayer modes, including Forza 5’s "Rivals" and full-fledged leagues that are matched to your skill level.) If you liked Forza 5, you will love 6. Heck, even if you disliked 5 there’s a good chance you’ll like 6, if for no other reason than the fact that it’s the new standard-bearer for graphics realism on the Xbox One. As I said from the top: just buy it.

I don't know what I think about the mods thing. I detest all the cards and stuff from the EA games. The "Pins" in the Tiger Woods series just killed it for me. However, you do not have to use the Mods if you don't want to. The good news is that Mods can only be used in either Career or in Free Play modes – players cannot use Mods in multiplayer or Leagues races or in Rivals events.

Turn 10 actually posted a big article on the Mods that was the one thing that I somehow missed in following all the news on Forza 6. The Dare Mods sound pretty cool. I tend to race with as little assists as possible, so I guess that is a way to get rewarded for added challenge.

http://www.forzamotorsport.net/en-us/news/fm6_mods
http://www.forzamotorsport.net/en-us/news/wir_8_21_15

Dare Mods challenge the player to get out of their comfort zone and perform with specific driving requirements that will test their skills. Players will earn credits bonuses if they succeed in a race with a Dare mod added. All Dare Mods can be used as many times as the player likes, but only one dare can be used at a time. Higher level Dare Mods include more difficult challenges and much greater rewards. Also, because many dares lock the player into harder difficulty settings, the player gets double rewards for using them: first, the dare Mod rewards the player directly. And second, the locked assist setting continue to provide scalars as well – i.e. if the Mod give +15% cr for driving without STM and turning off STM provides +10% by itself, the player receives both scalars.

Some examples of Dare mods include:
· Severe Power Decrease – Power decreased by 8%. Hit the objective to earn +20% credits.
· Manual With Clutch – Manual transmission with clutch. Hit the objective to earn +20% credits.
· Back of the Pack – Start in 24th Grid Position. Hit the objective to earn +30% credits.

As I promised last Friday, this week we introduced Mods, a new feature in Forza 6 that players can explore and use in the game’s Career or in Free Play. Mods are collectible items that can be bought in packs and applied to any Career or Free Play race; how they affect your race depends on the type of Mod being used. They come in three different flavors: Boosts, Dares, and Crew, and each type of card can have a tangible effect on your approach to a race. A Crew mod might offer a valuable performance increase to your car; better grip or improved braking, while Boost Mods can be used to get more out of completing your race objectives – more credits, more XP, that kind of thing.

Recently I had a chance to chat with Turn 10 creative director Dan Greenawalt about the Mods and Prize features and, specifically, how he uses Mods when he plays the game. Here’s what he had to say:

My favorite Mods are Dares, and my favorite Dare is Cockpit with no HUD. I already prefer to play that way, but with this Mod, I get extra credits for it.

I also like the Sim Damage with No Rewind Dare. I don’t use it all the time, but it really heightens the race tension and gives a big credit bonus on top of the normal bonus I would get for setting the assists this way.

I use the Crew Mods most of the time, but not always. They allow me to more reliably compete against the Unbeatable Drivatar level – without the occasional Crew Mod use, I seem to straddle the line between Unbeatable and Pro depending on the track and my tune. They also allow me to offset Dare difficulty a bit. Occasionally, I use them to cover-up a weakness in my upgrade strategy for a given track in a series – without having to go back to the upgrade menu to swap upgrades.

There are some Mods that I just sell as soon as I get them. The XP and CR Boost Mods, I use as soon as I get them.

Before most Career races, I do a couple of practice laps – this is a new option in pre-race. This allows me to make sure I like the tune I have on the car. It also lets me evaluate my Mod combination.

Regarding the new prize spinner, some cars I keep and some cars I sell. Like Forza Motorsport 4, cars can be sold back to the game for 50 percent of their original value.

GameSpot - Forza Motorsport 6 - Video Review
https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=150&v=N74bp4rwliU

PS - I can't seem to embeed Youtube videos anymore.

[pk500]

Ugh. My retail copy will be available next Tuesday at Best Buy. When do I leave for COTA to work Lone Star Le Mans? You guessed it: 6 a.m. next Tuesday.

Patience!

[Inuyasha]

not feeling fifa and nhl. maybe get this instead w/ my $20 BB credit. I guess if I preorder I get some BMW.

[sportdan30]

not feeling fifa and nhl. maybe get this instead w/ my $20 BB credit. I guess if I preorder I get some BMW.

Yeah, I'm getting this game and NBA 2K16, the only games I'm buying at full price. I'll also get the new Tomb Raider game when it comes out in November.

[Dave]

This game is awesome.

One thing I like about having it early is that it is a lot easier to get a good spot on the leaderboards when there are so few people playing. It was cool to see my time at #5...out of only 662 players.

Did everyone win the Bugatti with their first spin for leveling up?

[TCrouch]

Nope, I think I won some POS Audi or something.

My second spin I won 1,000,000 credits, though.

[Dave]

I got the 1,000,000 credits too--nice to have 1.5mm already. In the demo I also won the Bugatti, so I thought it might be rigged to help get people started.

[pk500]

Did everyone win the Bugatti with their first spin for leveling up?

Yep, in the demo!

[sportdan30]

Here's an excellent in depth video review I found on Youtube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8oyNiqSYLnI

[DChaps]

I hope to be posting more impressions shortly, but man I am very happy with this game so far. Best Forza yet for sure! Of course with my luck I purchased the Ultimate edition with the 5 day early access and we are in the middle of a project that is requiring us to work weekends. Oh well..... Anyway, I was going to post this in the Steering Wheel thread, but this really more pertains to Forza 6, and is a great example of why I love Turn 10 so much as a company/development team. So for anyone interested in how the force feedback works in Forza 6, read on:

http://forums.forzamotorsport.net/turn1 ... Guide.aspx

My name is Christian and I'm Gameplay Engineering Lead for Forza Motorsport 6. I also happen to be a fairly practiced Forza player since Forza Motorsport 1 (before I started working for Turn 10) and a wheel player since I got my hands on the Forza Motorsport 2 demo.

I'm writing this to help you understand more about how force feedback steering wheels work and why certain things are the way they are. After reading this, you'll maybe have answers to questions you've had about Xbox One steering wheels and how to make the best out of them.

Our Force Feedback code was re-written for Forza 5 to work with the Xbox One and the new steering wheels. Then we took what we had from FM5 and spent quite a bit of time making improvements for FM6 as well as tweaking the effects for every wheel that is currently supported (more on that later).
We've spent time with every force feedback Xbox One wheel (Thrustmaster TX, MadCatz, Logitech G920, and the Fanatec ClubSport) to make sure we provide you with the best experience we can.

Force feedback design is a bit of an art and there are a lot of compromises involved. We generally approach it with an eye towards two main priorities: giving you an authentic experience, and giving you as much information as we can about what your car and tires are doing to help you perfect your driving.

For those who are not interested in the details and just want a good experience with a steering wheel, you can skim this post for the portions in bold for specific practical advice.

Let me start with a very high level (and a bit simplistic) overview of how things work when you player Forza with a steering wheel.

Your wheel (and pedals) have sensors. The sensors detect how much your wheel is turned and how far your pedals are pressed and send electric signals to the wheel's own CPU running proprietary firmware.
The wheel's brains then translate the electric signals from the sensors into a digital output that it sends to the Xbox One. For simplicity, let's assume that the output goes something like "Wheel is turned 50% to the right" or "Gas pedal is pressed 20%".

This brings up a question: how does the wheel know how much electricity from the sensor corresponds to 50%? (or 10%, or 100%)?

If you have a Force Feedback wheel, you will have noticed that every time you power it up, the steering wheel rotates itself all the way to one end, and then all the way to the other. This is a calibration process that helps the wheel figure out how much electricity to expect from the sensors at each end of the range.
That calibration is how the wheel can accurately assess where the center is, and where 10% to the right or left is.

So because your force feedback wheel has motors than rotate the steering wheel, it can do this calibration on its own every time you start it. But what about the pedals? Those can't move themselves.
The pedals, usually, still need calibration. So they rely on something else: every time you press the pedal, the wheel re-calibrates its understand of where the edges are. If you press really hard, you force the sensor to send its maximum electric signal, and the wheel's firmware takes that to mean 100% gas/brake/clutch. It will, from there on out, translate all other signals from the same sensor as something in the middle between zero and that maximum.
There is an interesting conclusion here: if you never press the pedal very hard, the wheel can get confused about where the maximum (100% input) is. If the wheel only ever detects your very soft presses on the pedal, it may think that's the max signal it can get from the sensor and translate all the other signals as a percentage of that max. The net effect is a very touchy pedal: e.g. when the maximum is 5, a very soft brushing of the pedal that registers a 1 is now 20% input.
This is where the advice to press your brake pedal hard three times after turning on your wheel hardware comes from: it helps the wheel calibrate its understanding of the sensor signals.

It's worth noting that we haven't yet talked about the game or the Xbox One. The above process all happens inside your wheel hardware. Neither the Xbox nor any game running on it has much to do with this part. So the above calibration process works at the hardware level and will work with any game, not just Forza.

So you've moved the wheel and pedals, the wheel translated your inputs and sent them to the Xbox One/Forza, what's next?

The game now applies a little bit of logic to the message it received that says you've pressed the gas at 10%. This is to allow you to set deadzones and respect them in the game.
So let's say you've set your deadzones on the "acceleration axis" (read: gas pedal) to 5% on the inside and 95% on the outside (my personal setting). This means that Forza will ignore the first 5% of input on the gas pedal (so anything less than 5% gets translated to zero), and everything above 95% will get translated to 100%.
For values in the middle, say the 10% example above, we will simply map it to a new value between 0 and 100%. Let's change the example and assume you've set your deadzones to 25% and 75% on the inside and outside respectively (not recommended). Why is this a bad idea?
Well, you have now effectively halved your resolution. Forza has to translate the 50 values between 25 and 75 and map them to a 0-100% input. So a 26 input now means 2% gas and 27 means 4% gas. Notice the problem? There is no way for you to apply 3% gas in this scenario. You've lost resolution (i.e. precision).
If deadzones make you lose precision, why use them at all? Well, no hardware is perfect, and if you set your deadzones to 0 and 100 (i.e. nothing), you may notice some phantom inputs being applied -- a little bit of gas when you're completely off the pedal or never being able to get to 100% gas.

This brings us to the next practical piece of advice: generally speaking, it's best to set your deadzones on every axis to the minimum (as close to 0 on the inside and as close to 100 on the outside) you can get away with but no less. If you ever notice phantom inputs: increase your inside deadzone. If you press as hard as you're comfortable with and still can't get to 100%, increase your outside deadzone.
The telemetry view (down on the d-pad while driving) makes it easy for you to see the exact value of input you're applying.
The same applies to your steering axis; if you find it hard to keep the car going straight, you may be having some electronic noise from the sensor registering a little bit of left or right input. You may add a bit of inside deadzone to compensate.

So what about degrees of rotation? For Xbox One Force Feedback wheels, the degrees of rotation are applied to the wheel hardware itself. So when you set your wheel to 900 degrees, Forza sends a signal to the hardware to ask it to restrict its range to 900 degrees. This makes sure that you get motor resistance when you reach the end of the rotation range, and the wheel hardware uses that knowledge to translate your input into a percentage.
So at 900 degrees of rotation (450 degrees to the right and 450 degrees to the left), the wheel will respond to a 225 degree right rotation by sending a (225/450=) 50% right signal.

Forza then takes that 50% right signal and translates it into a steering angle. We author every car in Forza with knowledge about how far the wheels can actually turn. Your input is then applied as a percentage of that. So if you're driving a car whose wheels can turn 35 degrees, your 50% input is now 17.5 degrees (off the straight ahead point).
There are some interesting conclusions here. Different cars can have very different ranges of wheel rotation, generally speaking a street car's front wheels will have a lot more range of rotation than a race car to allow for low speed maneuvering, parking, etc... (race cars don't need to parallel park). At higher speeds, you actually don't need (and shouldn't) apply a lot of rotation to the front wheels.
So what happens when you drive a race car that has, say, 12 degrees of wheel steering in each direction with a 900 degree wheel? Your rather large 225 degree right rotation now translates to 50%, which is 6 degrees of wheel rotation on this particular car. That's not a whole lot, and if you want to turn harder/sharper you'll have to turn your steering wheel more. This would feel sluggish to most people. And it's why real race cars usually have much quicker steering ratios than that: so that drivers don't have to go hand over hand to get the car to turn.

The conclusion: find a degrees of rotation that strikes a balance between being slow enough to not feel twitchy and fast enough to let you turn lock to lock without having to take your hands off the wheel. If you're looking for the the best, no compromise experience, you may want to switch between a higher degree of rotation setting when you're driving street cars and a lower degree of rotation setting when you're driving race cars to get the best of both worlds.
We've played a lot with these settings and found 540 degree to offer a fair compromise between the two extremes, and that's why we've set that as the default setting in Forza Motorsport 6. In my own play, I generally keep it at then although every now and then I will go a little higher if a certain car feels too twitchy at 540. Forza Motorsport 6 saves your setting and applies it to the wheel every time you connect it (FM5 didn't save that setting and you had to change it every time).
Note that Forza merely sends your degrees of rotation setting to the wheel to apply, the important conslusion here is that the wheel hardware and firmware can override/ignore that setting. This means that with wheels that allow you to set sensitivity or degrees of rotation on the hardware itself (e.g. Fanatec Clubsport), the wheel setting overrides the Forza setting. That's why, for example, the Fanatec ClubSport v2 wheel has an "auto" setting: this lets the hardware accept the settings from the game.

We've covered a lot about how your inputs work with a steering wheel and Forza. I will prepare another post that talks a bit more about the forces we apply to the wheel (the force feedback portion) and how that works. In the mean time, I'm happy to answer any questions you may have about steering wheels and Forza and will try to amend this post with answers to frequently asked questions.

[WPatrick]

DChaps & Pk are both gonna be unable to play much............more time for me to beat them in rival events.....lol

I got the Ultimate edition. I've been playing it all weekend. It's the game Forza 5 should've been. It's really fun.

[DChaps]

Agreed, it is fantastic so far. Not perfect, but certainly the best Forza yet. Even though I have not been able to take advantage of the early release, I am still glad I purchased Ultimate Edition. Some quick impressions and cool findings:

1) Mods: The Mods are actually kind of fun in career and I was shocked to find myself enjoying using them to get extra points and achievements during the career mode. I really did not like this when I heard about it as it just sounded so cheesy and non-simulation, but it is fun finding different combinations to collect and try out, particulary the Dare Mods, which add different challenges. Plus, you don't have to use them if you don't want to.

2) Hardcore Leaderboard: There is now a filter in the Leaderboards called "Hardcore" that shows only clean lap times set with all assists off, manual+clutch, and no mods being used. I also like the quick leaderboards summary it gives for overall, region, division, and friends. One other issue with the Hardcore Leaderboard, is that it still only tracks your fastest time. So if you set a fast time using any assists, it is going to post that, and the only way to make the Hardcore Leaderboard is to then beat that time with no assists. So if you are interested in going Hardcore, set it now and don't ever change it.

This issue came up last night during the 12-hour livestream. Some players have been asking how they get a time posted to the “Hardcore” leaderboard in a Rivals event. In order to have your time posted to this leaderboard you need to have ALL assists turned off, including driving line. Plus you need to be using manual with clutch to shift gears. One small detail: provided the prior conditions are met, times set with either Normal or Simulation steering will count on the Hardcore leaderboard.

3) Practice Laps: Now in career, you can run practice laps before each race. You can even apply the mods and test them out, but it won't actually use them up until you race. Technically due to the mods, you can't really set clean Leaderboard laps during career. However, if you want to get a Leaderboard Lap posted while you are doing career, there is a way to do it. I am using no assists as I am trying to get the Hardcore Leaderboard for each class/track. Therefore, before a career race, I go in and practice several laps with no Mods applied. This gets me a clean, hardcore lap posted to the Leaderboard. Then I can apply mods and practice some more, or just go race. You can see the Leaderboards in career and see where you stack up, only drawback is you can't select and race a ghost.

4) Setup Downloads from Leaderboards: If someone has used a build/tune to set a leaderboard time and they have chosen to make it shared, you can download it to use and apply to your own car, and then it shows what build/tune you used to set the Leaderboard time with. I don't think this feature has been available in a Forza game since Forza 2, and while there are mixed emotions in the Turn 10 forums about it, I for one am glad to see it added back.

[fletcher21]

I need a racing fix. My ps4 has nothing for me. I'm considering an xb1. On a scale of 1 to 10, how realistic is this game? Is it a good driving game AND racing, or does it do one better than the other? Gran turismo is a solid driving game, but the racing is twatty bollocks.

I want the game badly, assuming it is geared towards those of us who have had a real car on a real road course. I don't wanna drift or do gymkhana or anything. I just want a solid racing game that is close to realistic.

[dbdynsty25]

I need a racing fix. My ps4 has nothing for me. I'm considering an xb1. On a scale of 1 to 10, how realistic is this game? Is it a good driving game AND racing, or does it do one better than the other? Gran turismo is a solid driving game, but the racing is twatty bollocks.

I want the game badly, assuming it is geared towards those of us who have had a real car on a real road course. I don't wanna drift or do gymkhana or anything. I just want a solid racing game that is close to realistic.

Forza fits that description.