Forza Motorsport 6 eSports Content Update (February 2017)

[PJTierney]

Turn 10 have just announced a new content update for Forza Motorsport 6, focusing on eSports tools and features for Private Lobbies.

https://www.forzamotorsport.net/en-us/news/fm6_cu_esports

The latest content update for Forza Motorsport 6 is here. With this update, we are building on the foundation created in our previous update in November. That previous update included brand new features like the broadcast ticker to enhance the capabilities for Forza Motorsport 6 ahead of the second season of the Forza Racing Championship (ForzaRC). With today’s update, we’re bringing even more flexibility and features to the game, designed to enhance the multiplayer and spectating experiences in Forza Motorsport 6.

Here’s a rundown of all the new features in the game and how you can put them to use.

Hosting & Manual Grid Ordering

With today’s update, a player who starts an online private lobby in multiplayer has hosting privileges which allows them to take advantage of new features. First up, there is now a manual method for ordering the grid before a race begins. When in a private online lobby, the host can manually set the grid order for a race. To do so, select “Game Options” from the menu and then scroll to the “Advanced Rules” screen and look for the “Grid Ordering” option. From there, you can choose “Manual” from the list of options.

With Manual grid ordering, the host has the option to manually place lobby players in any order by moving them up and down the grid order with the Right Stick. Note that lobby players who are set to “Spectate” when a race begins will automatically be pushed to the end of the order, while participating racers will move up the grid order accordingly.

Once the grid has been organized, the host sets the race to begin by pressing the X button. Just before loading into the race after the countdown, players will be presented with a final confirmation screen. From this screen, the host can make any final adjustments to the grid order (once again using the right stick), cancel the launch, or start the race.

Grid Preview

Now you can get a detailed view of the starting grid before the race begins. The host of a private lobby can take advantage of this by enabling the new “Grid Preview” feature. To do so, select the “Game Options” menu and then scroll to the “Advanced Rules” screen and look for the “Grid Preview” option. There are three options to choose from: Auto, Manual, or Off.

With “Grid Preview” enabled, players will be shown a car-by-car rundown of the grid before the race begins. Players will see the driver’s Gamertag, as well as the make and model of the car they are driving for that race. With “Grid Preview” set to Auto, the game camera will automatically switch to each car on the grid; in Manual, the lobby host will be able to switch between cars manually by pressing the LB or RB buttons. At any time, the host can choose to start the race immediately by pressing the X button.

In-Race Info

Today’s content update also includes improvements to Forza Motorsport 6’s in-game race screens for multiplayer spectators. Now race spectators can use these features to get more information about what’s happening in the race, and to learn more about individual drivers and cars. Once a race has begun, players will find a brand new spectate option called “Info Panels” (indicated by the race helmet icon). By pressing A on this item, spectators can choose from two information panels to bring up: Race Overview and Player Overview. In addition, spectators can choose to bring up both panels at the same time.

The new Race Overview panel showcases crucial in-race information, including a mini-map which shows nearby racers’ positions on the track, as well as a leaderboard indicating where the current car is in the race, and how far the closest competitors are either in front or behind.

With the Player Overview panel, spectators can learn more about the player they are currently focused on in a race. The Player Overview page includes a great deal of information, including name, car information (Car Class, PI, and performance characteristics), as well as driving telemetry like revs, speed, current gear, as well as braking and throttle pressure. In addition, this screen provides information on that racer’s fastest lap of the race, the number of Quick Stops they have completed (if relevant), current lap number, and more. Spectators can toggle these panels on or off at any time by pressing the Y button.

The features in today’s content update represent our ongoing commitment to creating amazing eSports experiences for all Forza players, whether they are competing, viewing, or broadcasting. While they are available to use for all Forza players starting today, you can expect to see these new features prominently featured in the upcoming seasons of the ForzaRC. Look for more information on the 2017 ForzaRC in April.

 

[Silver Arrows]

Seems a bit late for this, no? Or is it covering their bases in anticipation of the full rollout in Forza 7?

 

[ALAN ULTIMATE]

^ Late certainly, but still better late than never!

 

[SavageEvil]

This is good and all but how about at rating system and some rules, those tire barriers all over the place are annoying and change the dynamics of the course unnecessarily and some courses like Abu Dhabi have no penalties for people driving all over the place in their quest to be fast. Public rooms need some sort of rules, why haven't they even built one two games into Forza on the One and now type of grade or rule system to stop the shenanigans of cheaters. 'As long as people keep playing, why fix it' I suppose is the mantra they are going with.

 

[breyzipp]

double post

 

[breyzipp]

This is good and all but how about at rating system and some rules, those tire barriers all over the place are annoying and change the dynamics of the course unnecessarily and some courses like Abu Dhabi have no penalties for people driving all over the place in their quest to be fast. Public rooms need some sort of rules, why haven't they even built one two games into Forza on the One and now type of grade or rule system to stop the shenanigans of cheaters. 'As long as people keep playing, why fix it' I suppose is the mantra they are going with.

The tire barriers in Forza are indeed extremely silly and take away a lot of the immersion. Not to mention how it completely messes up playing with sim damage on. But then I suspect the devs just assume that everyone plays this game with a controller + chase cam far + rewind so it's not like they have a clue of what's actually going on.

The tire barriers are Turn 10's cheap and easy way out of fixing corner cutting. After Forza 5's annoying ultrafast-drying 2-component grass-glue (tm) one would expect it couldn't possibly get any worse. Well, it did and this just shows to never underestimate Turn 10 and how they can actually screw things up even more.


Back to the actual topic, yes this is Turn 10 wanting a slice of the eSports cake as well and indeed they now use Forza 6 as a live testing platform of what Forza 7 will bring in the future, just as how Forza Apex was a live testing platform for Forza Horizon 3's introduction to the Windows 10 platform. In a way it's good they make this move but on the other hand it's also pretty funny to watch how they are now taking baby steps to get on the same level of where the competition already was in 2015 while that same competition is taking giant leaps in 2017 towards the future: http://www.projectcarsgame.com/esports.html.

 

[Northstar]

I had a practice night for the league I'm in last night and I liked the grid preview feature. The host seemed impressed with the manual starting order feature as well.

taking baby steps to get on the same level of where the competition already was in 2015 while that same competition is taking giant leaps in 2017 towards the future: http://www.projectcarsgame.com/esports.html.

Don't you think it's a tad early to write T10 off when they haven't even officially announced FM7 yet?

 

[breyzipp]

Don't you think it's a tad early to write T10 off when they haven't even officially announced FM7 yet?

I don't know, we are talking about the same Turn 10 right? The ones that introduced static rain and static night (for less than half the maps) for the first time in FM6 on the XBox One in 2015. At the same time Polyphony Digital already did full dynamic time of day & weather on all maps in GT5 on the PS3 in 2010. I could say that Turn 10 aren't pioneers in the genre but that would probably be an understatement...

 

[Northstar]

At the same time Polyphony Digital already did full dynamic time of day & weather on all maps in GT5 on the PS3 in 2010.

GT5 & GT6 only have time/weather on a few tracks.

Also, have you been following GT Sport at all? Because dynamic time & weather appear to be absent. How about Asseto Corsa? How does that game do weather? It doesn't!? Project Cars has time & weather but one has to wonder if all the bugs on the XB1 version are worth it (I'd rather not spend an hour messing with settings just to make it playable with a controller).

Seriously, if you want to attack T10, go after actual flaws like not fixing things that have been around for several titles instead of them not including features that other games don't have or have to make sacrifices to achieve.

 

[Terronium-12]

I don't know, we are talking about the same Turn 10 right? The ones that introduced static rain and static night (for less than half the maps) for the first time in FM6 on the XBox One in 2015. At the same time Polyphony Digital already did full dynamic time of day & weather on all maps in GT5 on the PS3 in 2010. I could say that Turn 10 aren't pioneers in the genre but that would probably be an understatement...

*Sigh*

We're back to playing these games again, really? GT5 may have had dynamic time and weather in 2010, but it came at the cost of frame rate stability — also only available on a selection of tracks, so I don't know what you were trying to prove with that one because it certainly wasn't available on "all" like you're implying.

And the last thing of any worth to the game (of varying degrees of interest at that) that PD pioneered was the Vision GT program... that couldn't even be fit into the game it was envisioned for.

 

[dice1998]

all maps

 

[Obelisk]

Your signature seems very appropriate.

 

[-Fred-]

At the same time Polyphony Digital already did full dynamic time of day & weather on all maps in GT5 on the PS3 in 2010.

Sierra/Papyrus had a livery editor in 1994, 23 years ago in their NASCAR game called simply "NASCAR Racing", something PD might have in 2018 at best because there's basically no way that trainwreck is coming out in 2017.

What's your point again?

 

[Terronium-12]

Sierra/Papyrus had a livery editor in 1994, 23 years ago in their NASCAR game called simply "NASCAR Racing", something PD might have in 2018 at best because there's basically no way that trainwreck is coming out in 2017.

What's your point again?

Let's be a little more fair to his point; GTR2 had dynamic time and weather (actually on all tracks) in 2006 on a comparative shoestring budget. Something PD still haven't been able to do.

No, wait. I messed that up...

 

[Dresden]

The point that Breyzipp was trying to make is that Turn 10 makes little baby steps instead of being real innovators in the racing world. And in that regard he is correct. Many times I am playing Forza 3 and I swear the RWD physics and car handling is superior to the modern game. And I have seen little change in the series in many other things-

Career mode, baked lighting on tracks, lack of new game engine, ffb, liveries, tuning / upgrading, dynamic weather etc.

Forza 7 is a huge moment for Turn 10. Horizon has great metacritic scores and is moving way ahead of the US boys across the pond. The fans should scream from the mountains if the game does not improve in the key areas.

The have now released the same game 4 times in a row, and that cannot continue when many other games now offer more.

 

[Dopplegagger]

It's nice that Turn 10 added custom grid ordering, but that should have been in the game since FM2/FM3. I could have really used grid ordering back when I participated and ran a few racing series. But thanks to E-Sports it finally made it to the game. Better late than never, I guess.

 

[ALAN ULTIMATE]

FREE 1966 Nissan Silvia

 

[BoneSawTX]

It's amazing the tire barriers have yet to come into play for me, I mean staying on track has made them a non issue.

 

[breyzipp]

The point that Breyzipp was trying to make is that Turn 10 makes little baby steps instead of being real innovators in the racing world. And in that regard he is correct. Many times I am playing Forza 3 and I swear the RWD physics and car handling is superior to the modern game. And I have seen little change in the series in many other things-

Career mode, baked lighting on tracks, lack of new game engine, ffb, liveries, tuning / upgrading, dynamic weather etc.

Forza 7 is a huge moment for Turn 10. Horizon has great metacritic scores and is moving way ahead of the US boys across the pond. The fans should scream from the mountains if the game does not improve in the key areas.

The have now released the same game 4 times in a row, and that cannot continue when many other games now offer more.

That was indeed exactly my point, thanks.

To the others: I'm not a Forza hater, I want to see the game improve as well. After all the more competition out there the better the games will be and the better we the fans will be in the end. But the Forza series have to improve massively to be able to stand up to the competition. If you see the key features that FM6 brought compared to FM5 it is really thin: 3D puddles, leagues, night & rain races and 60 fps. That is really it, hence why people joke about it and (rightfully so) call it Forza 5.1. Where are FOV settings? Where are custom controller button mapping settings? Where are the realistic settings for these so called assists? Where is dynamic weather and tire strategies? Where is a proper car and handling model?

Like Dresden said, PlayGround studios has really surpassed Turn 10 because the former do bring innovation to their game (photorealistic skies, blueprints, Forzathon, auction house, storefront, ...). It is really a worthy FH3 and doesn't feel like FH2.1.

It is really about time Turn 10 wakes up and step up their game. This is not 2005-2015 anymore where the only competition is Polyphony Digital who fail to release a new title in time for the new comsole platform time and time again. Nowadays there is also Project CARS, Assetto Corsa, Dirt Rally, F1 2016 on consoles that will give them a serious run for their money.

FH3 has positioned itself well above Need For Speed as the best game in the arcade/semi-arcade market. FH6 with it's silly assist settings, unrealistic upgrades, awkward handling model, a silly PI system and lack of key-features of a sim is currently situated somewhere between the arcade racers and the real sims. They need to decide where they want to bring the series in the future because they are seriously losing ground in the sim department and are being pushed out of the sim market. The way I see it now FH6 is more a difficult arcade racer than a sim. Soon FM will be competing with FH if they don't give the first one a more realistic approach.

 

[-Fred-]

It is really about time Turn 10 wakes up and step up their game.

And yet, and I quote:

At the same time Polyphony Digital already did full dynamic time of day & weather on all maps in GT5 on the PS3 in 2010.

You can't say T10 needs to "wake up" and at the same time compare it with PD, who's pretty much Sleeping Beauty at this point.

 

[breyzipp]

And yet, and I quote:



You can't say T10 needs to "wake up" and at the same time compare it with PD, who's pretty much Sleeping Beauty at this point.

I fail to see any reason to rip that one line out of its context. This is my full paragraph:

It is really about time Turn 10 wakes up and step up their game. This is not 2005-2015 anymore where the only competition is Polyphony Digital who fail to release a new title in time for the new comsole platform time and time again. Nowadays there is also Project CARS, Assetto Corsa, Dirt Rally, F1 2016 on consoles that will give them a serious run for their money.

I think it is pretty much self-explanatory when I say they need to step up their game who I am comparing them with...

 

[ImaRobot]

lack of key-features of a sim is currently situated somewhere between the arcade racers and the real sims.

I'm not sure there is anyone who thought it differently, or that they are even trying to be deep into either end of the spectrum. Isn't it their goal to be there, to be easily accessible and intuitive enough for anyone to pick up and play while still offering a decent enough simulation of how a car actually drives? That's where I've always thought it was aiming for, for all the years I've been playing.

I haven't kept up with the games you've listed, but what massive drastic changes have those titles gone through in the past iteration compared to the recent/upcoming one?

 

[breyzipp]

I'm not sure there is anyone who thought it differently, or that they are even trying to be deep into either end of the spectrum. Isn't it their goal to be there, to be easily accessible and intuitive enough for anyone to pick up and play while still offering a decent enough simulation of how a car actually drives? That's where I've always thought it was aiming for, for all the years I've been playing.

I haven't kept up with the games you've listed, but what massive drastic changes have those titles gone through in the past iteration compared to the recent/upcoming one?

Dan Greenwald called the FM series a "really really hardcore simulation" at E3 2016 in an interview after the FH3 reveal. But you do have a point that the FM series is an excellent entry-point for people new to the genre. One thing that FM is hands down the best in is that whatever they offered is offered with an incredible level of polish. That bugged release of Project CARS 1, that is certainly something you will never see for a Forza game. They do have a quality QA department I give you that.

To answer your question of what the more serious sims have been doing the past years, here are a few examples:

Assetto Corsa's 2015 Formula 1 Ferrari has been so realistically introduced in the game that you really need a manual to know what all the newly introduced butttons do. http://www.racedepartment.com/threads/assetto-corsa-ferrari-sf15-t-technical-guide.123938/

Project CARS 1 tire model background info : http://www.wmdportal.com/projectnews/inside-project-cars-seta-tire-model/

Project CARS 1 being the only sim to my knowledge to bring UDP to consoles:

Then that's only from what's available on consoles, I have no info about PC sims like iRacing and the likes.

 

[ImaRobot]

Dan Greenwald called the FM series a "really really hardcore simulation" at E3 2016 in an interview after the FH3 reveal. But you do have a point that the FM series is an excellent entry-point for people new to the genre. One thing that FM is hands down the best in is that whatever they offered is offered with an incredible level of polish. That bugged release of Project CARS 1, that is certainly something you will never see for a Forza game. They do have a quality QA department I give you that.

On one hand you tout what games like Pcars have in their games like weather and TOD, but you see, that is exactly part of the issue with why it was so buggy. I do agree that FM is slow and steady, but I think I prefer polish over anything else, to a certain degree.

Assetto Corsa's 2015 Formula 1 Ferrari has been so realistically introduced in the game that you really need a manual to know what all the newly introduced butttons do. http://www.racedepartment.com/threads/assetto-corsa-ferrari-sf15-t-technical-guide.123938/

I can see why they'd stay away from something like that. To me, that doesn't sound fun.

Then that's only from what's available on consoles, I have no info about PC sims like iRacing and the likes.

Than I'm not sure where you're coming from with the comment if that's the only two things you can provide.

 

[breyzipp]

I can see why they'd stay away from something like that. To me, that doesn't sound fun.

Each his own I guess, for me immersion and realism is the key feature of a fun racing game. The dynamic weather, the helmet camera, the career mode is all what makes Project CARS for me the most fun racing experience on my XBox.

Than I'm not sure where you're coming from with the comment if that's the only two things you can provide.

You asked for that, the examples are just some quick things I could think about. Didn't realize you expected a copy/paste of half the internet.

 

[ImaRobot]

Each his own I guess, for me immersion and realism is the key feature of a fun racing game. The dynamic weather, the helmet camera, the career mode is all what makes Project CARS for me the most fun racing experience on my XBox.

I enjoyed Pcars, but it was to broken for me. From the sketchy pad controls to the weird fps and slow motion instances, I just couldn't deal with it. It was swell when it worked though.

You asked for that, the examples are just some quick things I could think about. Didn't realize you expected a copy/paste of half the internet.

No, I just didn't expect these amazing leaps to be nothing more than what Forza has done with things like puddles, that you had an issue with. I was just expecting.. well a big leap.

 

[-Fred-]

I do agree that FM is slow and steady, but I think I prefer polish over anything else, to a certain degree.

It's much more sensible than to rush things out and end up with a broken mess of a game. Slowly adding changes/features to a franchise over time also doesn't alienate the fanbase who are comfortable with the gameplay and will expect a similar experience to the game they're used to play, just with either better graphics or more content.

 

[BoneSawTX]

ah yes Pcars, so bad with a control I haven't bothered with AC. T10's product is a very polished.

 

[Dopplegagger]

I know, I'm the Man on the Moon when I write this but, yes Forza is polished; but there are some issues with the game that has been around since the earlier versions of the game. To me, they are polishing a tiled concrete floor with tiles missing. Sure it's shiny, but what's with the missing tiles?

Most of my complaints have been on the visuals, and errors in how certain things are depicted. For example, wheel offsets don't effect how the wheels sit on the car. Turn 10 just keeps the tires aligned by where the outer wall of the tires are. Doing this gives the illusion that the suspension has moved inboard, and a new suspension that pivots based on where the outer lip of the wheel has replaced the old suspension.

On the physics side of Forza; I still feel that the cars are tubs full of water, and one cannot make sudden moves because that will cause the water will slosh back and throw all your efforts, you and the car, into the weeds. This becomes more pronounced when sim steering is off and you're in a high powered RWD vehicle.