Forza Motorsport 6: Apex (PC) Discussion

[FuzzyFassbender]

Funnily enough that's what I did this morning on the PC version. Had 20 mins to spare before heading off to work, so fired up Apex and started playing. PC gaming is really no different to console gaming. Yes you can get involved in the more technical side of things if you want but there's no need to, especially with a platform like Steam.

I agree, the plug N play aspect of consoles vs PCs is a little over blown in my opinion. I'm not saying the console isn't drop-dead easy but for the most part I turn on my PC and play any racing or flight sim in my library without having to tweak anything. It can get a little more complicated when I'm using TrackIR, SimVibe, DashMeter Pro, VoiceAttack, but this is a PLUS in my opinion, I have so many options to improve my experience. To each there own, but PC gaming is not overly complicated.

 

[ImaRobot]

I agree, the plug N play aspect of consoles vs PCs is a little over blown in my opinion. I'm not saying the console isn't drop-dead easy but for the most part I turn on my PC and play any racing or flight sim in my library without having to tweak anything. It can get a little more complicated when I'm using TrackIR, SimVibe, DashMeter Pro, VoiceAttack, but this is a PLUS in my opinion, I have so many options to improve my experience. To each there own, but PC gaming is not overly complicated.

While it is the truth, it's just the fact that the console is easier that entices people. That and it is significantly cheaper, no?

Honest question, as I have actually been considering a jump to PC in the future. If I wanted to run this game on High settings, what would my price range be for a PC?

 

[TonyJZX]

A PC that runs Forza Apex well... as it stands at fhd 60fps is probably over $1,000 us?

My CPU is $400. My GPU is $400, you need 8Gb ram plus, more like 16Gb ($100) to be safe, you need at least a 240Gb ssd ($100) to have reasonable space, then motherboard ($200), case $50, psu $100 and then a copy of Windows $100.

I mean I see a lot of the guys here who have their pc spec and many run GTX980s which is a $750 plus gpu?

Also you can obviously do a lot more with a PC as far as general surfing, apps goes.

 

[ImaRobot]

A PC that runs Forza Apex well... as it stands at fhd 60fps is probably over $1,000 us?

My CPU is $400. My GPU is $400, you need 8Gb ram plus, more like 16Gb ($100) to be safe, you need at least a 240Gb ssd ($100) to have reasonable space, then motherboard ($200), case $50, psu $100 and then a copy of Windows $100.

I mean I see a lot of the guys here who have their pc spec and many run GTX980s which is a $750 plus gpu?

Also you can obviously do a lot more with a PC as far as general surfing, apps goes.

Outside of work, I really don't use a computer. Everything I need to do I can do through my phone, really. I've just been interested in dabbling in PC gaming for sometime. I can see the price difference being the problem for me, at least.

 

[TonyJZX]

After playing this for 30 mins on the first four laps... I quite like this, it makes me smile, its Forza warts and all. Ok I hate the non skippable intro video that makes me puke... the no tuning, the TWO car rabbit AI that leaps ahead is there god bless Turn 10... I get acceptable performance on FHD... I dont think its 60fps as I only have an old ATI 7870XT 2Gb card... my cpu is a Xeon 1226 so yeah, it works fine on Xeons. Memory I'm not seeing an issue, only 4Gb used on 8Gb total. I think you really need a current gen 4Gb gddr5 card.

SSD load times are unpleasant and I'm using the best SSD Kingston make! A brand new 0 hour SSD too. Dont use a spindle HDD.

The game throws medals and cars at you... you'll find it dead easy since you know these tracks back to front and it seems to reward non-assisted drivers.

What really blows me away is that the lighting engine seems to have gotten a HUGE overhaul. I have long complained about the Xbox One's poor handling of prebaked lighting. The PC doesnt have that issue. The lighting is actually quite remarkable, so much so you maybe have issues going back to vanilla Xbox One.

This is quite an achievement on that alone.

 

[PzR Slim]

Outside of work, I really don't use a computer. Everything I need to do I can do through my phone, really. I've just been interested in dabbling in PC gaming for sometime. I can see the price difference being the problem for me, at least.

I'd say only get into PC gaming if you are serious and want to spend the bucks. It allows you to take your gaming, particularly sim racing, to a whole new level. PC gaming is no more difficult than console gaming but the real benefits come if you are prepared to spend the extra money, whether that be better performance, better, peripherals, more immersion, etc. However, if you are not looking to improve your experience in those areas then you're probably better off sticking with console.

 

[PzR Slim]

To add to the above:

Which is incidentally why if T10 want to have Forza succeed on PC they need to get those extra things right. Good wheel support is needed, they need to consider multi-monitor setups and VR, motion setups, sim displays, etc. that's why PC gamers like myself are prepared to spend big bucks on PC setups. Having esssentially exactly the same game on PC as Xbone without the added benefits a good gaming PC can bring seems like a bit of a waste of time. It won't bring anyone across from console gaming to PC and will probably bring scorn from the PC sim scene.

 

[LeGeNd-1]

I'm tempted to start downloading this, but I'll wait for 3 reasons:

1) No wheel support - you call it a racing sim, but wheel support isn't native? Seriously. Shows you where their priorities lie really.

2) Content - obviously this is only a taster of what's to come. I'd rather wait for the full Forza 7 port than this glorified demo.

3) Optimization - the minimum spec requirements are insane enough and people are still reporting stuttering issues. This reminds me of NFS and shows that this game isn't really optimized properly for PC (yet). I'll wait for the next version thanks.

 

[PzR Slim]

I'm tempted to start downloading this, but I'll wait for 3 reasons:

1) No wheel support - you call it a racing sim, but wheel support isn't native? Seriously. Shows you where their priorities lie really.

2) Content - obviously this is only a taster of what's to come. I'd rather wait for the full Forza 7 port than this glorified demo.

3) Optimization - the minimum spec requirements are insane enough and people are still reporting stuttering issues. This reminds me of NFS and shows that this game isn't really optimized properly for PC (yet). I'll wait for the next version thanks.

It's a demo, it's free, what have you got to lose. It'll take an hour to download, you can see how pretty it looks and sounds, try a few races and delete it. No biggie!

 

[hennessey86]

I'm still yet to have a race right when it says we are preparing your first race in the Ford GT it crashes to desk top with no error code

 

[FuzzyFassbender]

While it is the truth, it's just the fact that the console is easier that entices people. That and it is significantly cheaper, no?

Honest question, as I have actually been considering a jump to PC in the future. If I wanted to run this game on High settings, what would my price range be for a PC?

I don't know what it would take to run Apex on high settings - its a new game with a lot of unknowns at this early stage. It takes some research to find the sweet spot in hardware, cost, performance when building a gaming PC. It's not easy for anyone to provide a hardware pick list, unless they recently did the research. In addition, everyone has a different level of acceptable performance. Console gaming simplifies things, but with that brings limitations. As I example, I wouldn't fly (flight sim) without TrackIR for example, so if flight sims are important to me a computer for gaming is an easy choice.

 

[Imari]

For those who are having trouble even though your hardware seems to be acceptable, it may be a connection thing.

I've been running the game mostly fine, but the internet went out last night and so I tried to connect my computer through my phone just to get it to authenticate. I got into the game a few times, but it was freezing up and randomly closing all over the place, I never did get into a race.

No idea if that helps anyone, just a thing I noticed.

 

[FoRiZon]

For those who are having trouble even though your hardware seems to be acceptable, it may be a connection thing.

I've been running the game mostly fine, but the internet went out last night and so I tried to connect my computer through my phone just to get it to authenticate. I got into the game a few times, but it was freezing up and randomly closing all over the place, I never did get into a race.

No idea if that helps anyone, just a thing I noticed.

So you need to be online in order to get the game working?

 

[G.T.Ace]

A bit annoyed that there are no settings for sensibility etc. Countersteering almost always ends in a tank slapper. It's a fantastic little game for free though and looks great. I can max it out when I'm hotlapping and have to scale some things down with a full grid, or I get some slight stutter. I'm not having the recommended specs though and it got much better after moving it to my SSD.

 

[Imari]

So you need to be online in order to get the game working?

I don't know. I got it working once without a connection, but then I quit out and restarted to kill the stutters and it was trying to do something with Live.

Actually, I tried it again now by pulling the cord and it seems to start up fine. So...I unno. Beta software has bugs, I guess?

 

[ImaRobot]

A bit annoyed that there are no settings for sensibility etc. Countersteering almost always ends in a tank slapper. It's a fantastic little game for free though and looks great. I can max it out when I'm hotlapping and have to scale some things down with a full grid, or I get some slight stutter. I'm not having the recommended specs though and it got much better after moving it to my SSD.

By chance are you using simulation Steering? It's an odd Steering mode and makes joystick response super sensitive.

 

[MedigoFlame]

Rather amusing glitch.


Been enjoying it so far.

 

[BoneSawTX]

Rather amusing glitch.

Been enjoying it so far.

Actually have seen that in FM6

 

[GregTheStig]

Welp... I'm not a big fan of it so far.

I'm never upgrading my dedicated gaming rig to Win10 so I'm using a "gaming" laptop instead. It has a hybrid GPU and because of that I have ridiculous amounts of screen tearing, which doesn't happen on any other game I've loaded on here.

But what's annoyed me the most is just some of the design decisions they've made. I was taking some awesome (IMO) photo mode shots and didn't pay attention to the whole "save and share" option it gave me while I was saving them. If you're taking shots and don't hit that share option right at the start on each individual photo, it's apparently impossible to access it outside of the game. It doesn't save locally (for real) and it'll only appear in the Forza Hub if you have sharing enabled on that photo from the start. You can't go back in and share it after the fact. I just... give up. That's beyond 🤬 stupid. So uh, heads up.

I can't complain too much since it's free, but they've got a lot to learn before I throw money at them for the next game they bring to PC.

And for a funny glitch I came across, I managed to capture a screen shot of the track disappearing at Yaz Marina.

 

[GTchicken]

I have to say, Forza Motorsport Apex, despite only being a Beta, is pretty damn impressive. The graphics are great, the gameplay is great also. Playing it on a keyboard is not ideal, but it works for the moment.

 

[FoRiZon]

So, the racing series intros are now in stylized form compared to the "diorama style" in XBox One's Forza 6. Is it cooler though?

 

[Imari]

But what's annoyed me the most is just some of the design decisions they've made. I was taking some awesome (IMO) photo mode shots and didn't pay attention to the whole "save and share" option it gave me while I was saving them. If you're taking shots and don't hit that share option right at the start on each individual photo, it's apparently impossible to access it outside of the game. It doesn't save locally (for real) and it'll only appear in the Forza Hub if you have sharing enabled on that photo from the start. You can't go back in and share it after the fact. I just... give up. That's beyond 🤬 stupid. So uh, heads up.

That's not a design decision. They've identified it as an issue and it's slated to be fixed.

http://www.windowscentral.com/forza-motorsport-6-apex-beta-known-launch-issues

 

[LeGeNd-1]

It's a demo, it's free, what have you got to lose. It'll take an hour to download, you can see how pretty it looks and sounds, try a few races and delete it. No biggie!

What have I got to lose? Time and hassle. Where I live it's gonna take half a day to download 18 GB. And it would blow a quarter of my monthly quota straight away. Deleting it after a few races is gonna be such a massive waste. My specs are also marginal (i7, 8GB RAM, GTX 860M) so I don't think it'll run that well.

I'm not really a graphics person, so it's all in the driving for me. I don't have an XBOX controller so at best I'm gonna use a DS3 or worse a keyboard. After 4 months of playing AC with a wheel I doubt I'll derive any enjoyment from playing Forza with a joystick

If they put out a full game next time (with wheel support) I'm definitely getting it. But not now.

 

[TonyJZX]

Well thats all on you. Your circumstances arent typical. Where I am I have unlimited downloads. I have a 360 and Xbox One so controllers arent a problem. I'm sure you're all surprised someone actually owns an Xbox One and controllers on a Forza 6 forum (!!!)... I have two spare gaming PCs I could throw at it. One an i7, the other a Xeon. Ram is like $50 for 8Gb so I have a few sticks lying around. Spare SSDs start at $50.

There is actually more content than I expected. 36 medals to earn, 12 races. unlimited free play over 20 track variations and 60 cars. That's not a "few races" no matter how you cut it.

There is 'stuff' to do in this demo. In fact for me, installing Win10 was more of a hassle.

 

[TonyJZX]

I just had a pretty damn good race on Brands Hatch. Its BTCC time so you got a choice of Toyota Avensis Honda Civic Mercedes A class and that 2.0 litre turbo fwd things. I have actually never driven these cars.

I chose the Honda. Race was very fun. Battled to 2nd but the guy in 1st had dissappeared like well into the distance, looked like over 2,000 ft. But now I had a clean run to catch him. What kind of damn car did he have that he could disappear so far into the distance. We all ran 2.0 fwd hatches right?

Wrong. He had my favorite BTCC/STCC/DTM car. The mid engined Nissan 3.4 v6 powered Volvo S60.

No wonder he got so far ahead. I couldnt catch him but I hung onto his back bumper until the end.

Once you won more coins you can unlock the higher powered cars like the Volvo.

 

[Imari]

There is actually more content than I expected. 36 medals to earn, 12 races. unlimited free play over 20 track variations and 60 cars. That's not a "few races" no matter how you cut it.

There's also two more races in the Seasonals, I mean, Spotlight. And two more to come each week for at least the next month.

I've found the content to be surprisingly compelling. It took me a while to get all three medals on every race, and then I discovered that if you get a high enough score to completely fill the bar you get PLATINUM medals. So I'm working on that. I still don't know how I've got 45 medals though, I guess the intro race just gave you 3? I wasn't really paying attention.

Also, leaderboards are awesome. I'm 4th on the first Spotlight leaderboard, or at least I was last time I checked. And I'm at least top 100 on most of the rest. The way they've done it is cool, it encourages no aids and ramping the difficulty without explicitly demanding it. I very like.

The more I play the more it reminds me of GT5: Prologue, another tiny game that ended up having a remarkable amount of replay value. Especially as more content was added to it.

And for myself, I'm using a DS3 because even though I have a X360 controller I prefer it. But that's just me.

 

[GTFan24]

Guys, need help, i installed the game easily and then it told me my graphics card cant run the game. any advice?

 

[PzR Slim]

Guys, need help, i installed the game easily and then it told me my graphics card cant run the game. any advice?

Buy a new graphics card?

I've seen other instances where drivers need updating, are you running latest drivers? Which graphics card do you have?

 

[Lain]

Try updating your drivers.

If that doesn't work, I remember reading somewhere that you can hold Pg Up (I think, might've been a different key) while exiting out of the error message, and it'll force the game to try to run anyway.

 

[Nexus]

Guys, need help, i installed the game easily and then it told me my graphics card cant run the game. any advice?

Have you updated your video card's drivers? I got the 'AP301' error but updating my drivers solved that problem.

Edit: Tree'd