Analyzing Tracks Popularity in Forza 6.

[SimTourist]

So I'm currently going through all the tracks in Rivals mode which shows how many people have posted a time on each track, giving us a rough estimation of how popular a track is within a community and how many people have driven it. I'll go through all the classes and pick the top amount for any given track and include only the most popular ribbon. I'll go alphabetically first and then arrange them in order of popularity.
Alps - 562,697
Bathurst - 671,953
Brands Hatch - 565,504
Catalunya - 605,441
Circuit of the Americas - 409,574 (1,960,389 - mandatory starting race)
Daytona - 514,480
Hockenheimring - 591,494
Indianapolis - 478,184 (1,583,837 - mandatory first showcase event)
Sonoma - 452,220
Laguna Seca - 486,978
Le Mans - 337,259 (Bugatti - 785,681)
Lime Rock - 420,178 (1,967,360 - mandatory starting race)
Long Beach - 717,204
Monza - 513,994
Nurburgring - 152,630 (GP - 726,360)
Prague - 688,977
VIR - 51,508 (Porsche Expansion)
RIO - 550,629 (2,303,915 - mandatory first race)
Road America - 451,300
Road Atlanta - 595,043
Sebring - 761,336
Silverstone - 501,430
Spa - 751,898
Top Gear - 246,734
Watkins Glen - 875,872
Yas Marina - 362,188 (2,043,647 - mandatory starting race)

 

[SimTourist]

So, sorted in order of popularity:
1. Watkins Glen (875,872)
2. Le Mans Bugatti Circuit (785,681)
3. Sebring (761,336)
4. Spa (751,898)
5. Nurburgring GP (726,360)
6. Long Beach (717,204)
7. Prague (688,977)
8. Bathurst (671,953)
9. Catalunya (605,441)
10. Road Atlanta (595,043)
11. Hockenheimring (591,494)
12. Brands Hatch (565,504)
13. Alps (562,697)
14. RIO (550,629)
15. Daytona (514,480)
16. Monza (513,994)
17. Silverstone (501,430)
18. Laguna Seca (486,978)
19. Indianapolis (478,184)
20. Sonoma (452,220)
21. Road America (451,300)
22. Lime Rock (520,178)
23. COTA (409,574)
24. Yas Marina (362,188)
25. Le Mans Full Circuit(337,259)
26. Top Gear (246,734)
27. Nurburgring Nordschleife (152,630)
28. VIR (51,508)

 

[bremics]

That's a rather surprising list...

 

[Dopplegagger]

I wonder if the use include career races? I have placed on the rivals boards through career, but I did not play a lot of rivals.

 

[SimTourist]

I wonder if the use include career races? I have placed on the rivals boards through career, but I did not play a lot of rivals.

Yes, it records your time in career and free play, not sure about multiplayer. I haven't played rivals myself but have times posted.

It makes me wonder if the massive effort that goes into modelling a full Nurburgring and Le Mans is worth it because clearly players are intimidated or simply not interested in driving super long tracks. I wonder if that will also be the reason we won't see Fujimi Kaido make a return, people want it on the forums, but it was the same for Nurburgring when it was missing, people wanna have it but then never drive it.

 

[05XR8]

I don't mind LeMans and Nurb. Thing is many races don't take place there in the game. We see Prague, Alps, The Glen, Bugatti, Long Beach, Sebring in many of the first three tiers of racing.
I know that's where I do most of my racing. I hardly venture over A class and rarely do C class racing. D and E class are where I have the most fun and close AI racing.

 

[BlazeTheCat05]

Wow...so few people on Nordschleife. That shocks the heck out of me. I adore the Green Hell, but that's just me. I love whipping around it in a stock road car, trying to see what time I can squeeze out of it. That, or pushing a P or X class car to the limit around it.

 

[SimTourist]

Wow...so few people on Nordschleife. That shocks the heck out of me. I adore the Green Hell, but that's just me. I love whipping around it in a stock road car, trying to see what time I can squeeze out of it. That, or pushing a P or X class car to the limit around it.

Yeah, that's also why I just can't see T10 doing a track like Isle of Man, the time and effort to make it would be enormous, but only a few enthusiasts would actually drive it. I like lapping the Ring, but that's because I already know it pretty well and know what to expect, but I'm hesitant to learn a new big track, that's why I've never finished a lap around Sierra in GT6, it's just too big for me, and too much time for a fantasy track, Nordschleife at least has long history and fame.

 

[Nielsen]

The low number on the Nordschleife is a disgrace. It's some of the best fun to be had in the game, by far if you ask me. I get that it takes a little time and patience to learn but I had fun doing that in GT4.

It makes me wonder if the massive effort that goes into modelling a full Nurburgring and Le Mans is worth it because clearly players are intimidated or simply not interested in driving super long tracks. I wonder if that will also be the reason we won't see Fujimi Kaido make a return, people want it on the forums, but it was the same for Nurburgring when it was missing, people wanna have it but then never drive it.

Of course it's worth it. Serious developers should not stop doing great things because of ignorance in their audiences. That's like questioning the refreshingly unique car packs they've released lately.

 

[PJTierney]

It makes me wonder if the massive effort that goes into modelling a full Nurburgring and Le Mans is worth it because clearly players are intimidated or simply not interested in driving super long tracks.

Le Mans doesn't show up in Hoppers.

Nurburgring usually gets voted for whenever I see it but doesn't show up until the latter half of Single Player, which explains the low leaderboard numbers.

 

[Fat Tyre]

I find it odd that Sebring is third in popularity, it's one of my most disliked tracks in the whole game.

 

[Nielsen]

I find it odd that Sebring is third in popularity, it's one of my most disliked tracks in the whole game.

What about the Bugatti Circuit in second place? I associate it with motorcycle racing and find it pretty dull compared to the 24h layout. I like Watkins Glen and Sebring but I don't drive them very often.

 

[Fat Tyre]

What about the Bugatti Circuit in second place? I associate it with motorcycle racing and find it pretty dull compared to the 24h layout. I like Watkins Glen and Sebring but I don't drive them very often.

Bugatti is alright to me but just alright, yes it's surprising that is in second position but it does feature a lot (from what I can remember) in the early stages of the career. The 24H layout although much more interesting it's also a lot more difficult and if you are not driving one of the fastest cars or at least an S class a lap can take what it seems like forever. I'm guessing most casual players find it off putting for the same reasons.

Now Watkins Glen although not my favorite (that'd be Spa) I can see it being up there, it's fast, not that long and it's like a roller coaster ride. I've been getting a bit faster there and yeah I love that track (still Spa is #1!!!). If you are driving with a wheel, at least with the TX the FFB is wonderful, when you go over the tar lines on the road right after the "esse" you can feel them all, it's no nuanced, it always puts a smile on my face. Love it.

 

[Dopplegagger]

It makes me wonder if the massive effort that goes into modelling a full Nurburgring and Le Mans is worth it because clearly players are intimidated or simply not interested in driving super long tracks. I wonder if that will also be the reason we won't see Fujimi Kaido make a return, people want it on the forums, but it was the same for Nurburgring when it was missing, people wanna have it but then never drive it.

This goes back to my question of career data. I didn't see the Nordschleife very often in the career, but there were a metric ton of races at Watkins, Rio and Brands Hatch.

I think tieing the data to the career has produced skewed results. Maybe the data was intended to be biased in such a way that Turn 10 could eliminate the less popular tracks simply by under using them in career?

 

[prousonhairy]

So these numbers, they are just the highest total that could be found in any class? It's not a combined number from all the classes put together then?

Some track variations in certain classes only have 5k recorded times on them. Unless people do a lot of free play and select the variation they want, they don't hardly ever show up when you select a random track.

 

[SimTourist]

So these numbers, they are just the highest total that could be found in any class? It's not a combined number from all the classes put together then?

Some track variations in certain classes only have 5k recorded times on them. Unless people do a lot of free play and select the variation they want, they don't hardly ever show up when you select a random track.

Yeah, I picked the highest value across all classes to avoid overlapping, this data is not entirely reliable and T10 probably has good in-house tools to see what cars and tracks are the most popular, but this is the best we've got to go on. Just gives us a rough idea, T10 said people that play career are the biggest demographic and you don't get to drive Nords in the career very much.

 

[PJTierney]

Some track variations in certain classes only have 5k recorded times on them.

Some VIR variations have less than 30 laptimes on them at X/999. 30.

 

[SimTourist]

Some VIR variations have less than 30 laptimes on them at X/999. 30.

Porsche expansion, very small demographic.

 

[PJTierney]

I know, merely pointing out how a paywalled track doesn't get used as it's not an option in regular Hoppers

 

[Nielsen]

The progression of Career may explain the numbers, but it doesn't explain why more players don't venture into Free Play and drive the tracks. The game is almost like a sandbox, yet the majority take the linear route. I don't get it.

 

[05XR8]

The progression of Career may explain the numbers, but it doesn't explain why more players don't venture into Free Play and drive the tracks. The game is almost like a sandbox, yet the majority take the linear route. I don't get it.

I do Career races over and over. The main reason, liveries. Free Play is fine but, it's bland without seeing other cars without liveries.
It would be a different outcome if T10 fixed that issue with displaying player's avatars. I know I would use different tracks more if that were the case.

 

[Dopplegagger]

The progression of Career may explain the numbers, but it doesn't explain why more players don't venture into Free Play and drive the tracks. The game is almost like a sandbox, yet the majority take the linear route. I don't get it.

I assume that those players who don't go into free play, have put the game down. For me one time through the career was enough. I kind of want to get everything to 100% but that is on my "eventually" list. Most of the time I spend with the game is in Free Play or test drive.

 

[SimTourist]

I assume that those players who don't go into free play, have put the game down. For me one time through the career was enough. I kind of want to get everything to 100% but that is on my "eventually" list. Most of the time I spend with the game is in Free Play or test drive.

Yeah, I wanted to 100% the career, but it turned out to be quite tedious. I hope I do it before FM7. Personally I think FM4 was the best as it was changing according to your cars. I think they should go back to FM4 structure for main career and then have showcases separate like in FM6, then it will be perfect for me.

 

[IceMan PJN]

It makes me wonder if the massive effort that goes into modelling a full Nurburgring and Le Mans is worth it because clearly players are intimidated or simply not interested in driving super long tracks.

Even though players are evidently intimidated by the length of Nordschleife or even Le Mans, personally I'd feel it important to still represent these tracks because they're iconic and almost mythical. Sure, the average Joe on the street has never heard of the Nurburgring and might guess it's a foreign IUD, but hardcore car or motorsport enthusiasts know of it and the inclusion of such a circuit seems almost obligatory.

It might help if the career mode threw it at players more often. The fact that the game appears to feel guilty about challenging players with it may add to the impression that it's a daunting task to be feared by more casual players. As such, rookies may view races at the Nordschleife as ventures in masochism.

 

[UKMikey]

It might help if the career mode threw it at players more often. The fact that the game appears to feel guilty about challenging players with it may add to the impression that it's a daunting task to be feared by more casual players. As such, rookies may view races at the Nordschleife as ventures in masochism.

Although it's a shame Turn 10's 'Ring wasn't very accurate at the time Forza Motorsport 4 had the right idea with mini events set on short sections of the Nordschleife and I think Le Sarthe as well. That way they gently broke players in to learning the long tracks.

 

[Nielsen]

I'm honestly not sure why people would be intimidated by the lenght of Le Mans Circuit de la Sarthe. Most of that distance is full throttle, unlike the Nordschleife. Sure, you'll crash harder if you forget to brake, which is something casuals often seem to forget.

 

[FosterG]

Lemans, I run it daily, for me there is nothing more fun than zipping down the Mulsanne in an S or R class car, P class now that FXX K is in, probably 80% of my time is spent there, I get my butt kicked there though in the FXX K. And I'd rather drink mud than run Long Beach or Hoc , seems my favorites are a little down the list!

I find it odd that Sebring is third in popularity, it's one of my most disliked tracks in the whole game.

Yes, I don't like it either, hardly ever race it.

 

[turbofozz]

What's with people online loving the Alps I hate it the one track I could do without I find more enjoyment in driving the track at the test track airfield. I don't get why it always get voted for?