FM7 Forza Motorsport 7 Addresses Community Concerns

[Paul Jeffrey]

Turn 10 Studios have received quite a bit of flack since releasing Forza Motorsport 7 into early access last week, however the criticism has not gone unnoticed by the developers....

With issues around PC stability and problems with the VIP perks having caused plenty of discussion amongst the gaming community, unlike many other racing developers Turn 10 appear to be acting quickly to address those concerns, putting in place fixes for the game and even offering players compensation in the form of access to exclusive cars and additional in game credits, all in an effort to retain the good will of a community that is part of a very competitive racing game marketplace at present.

Addressing fans directly, Turn 10 have released the below "letter to the community" to explain the current position of the developers:

Since Forza Motorsport 7 launched into early access last week, everyone here at Turn 10 has been keeping a close eye on our players’ feedback. The most important thing to us is to maintain open communication with the Forza Community. We’ve heard what you have had to say and, starting today, you can expect some significant changes.

VIP and Ultimate
Over the weekend we heard loud and clear from Ultimate Edition owners expressing frustration over the VIP membership offer in Forza Motorsport 7. We immediately updated the VIP description in the Windows Store to alleviate any future confusion. As head of the studio, I apologize for any confusion or frustration our players may have experienced.

Going forward, we will continue to ensure that Forza Motorsport 7 VIPs receive the most value for their VIP membership, including new experiences and great content. Starting today we’re sending all Forza Motorsport 7 VIPs four additional Forza Edition cars:

• 2016 Jaguar F-TYPE Project 7 Forza Edition
• 2017 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 Forza Edition
• 2017 Acura NSX Forza Edition
• 2010 Maserati Gran Turismo S Forza Edition

Forza 7 VIPs will be able to download all these cars from the in-game message center and add them to their car collection. Players will not only enjoy an immediate bump to their Car Collection score after adding these Tier 5 Legendary cars to their garages, they’ll also be able to take advantage of the inherent perks that each of these Forza Edition cars offer. In addition to the cars, we’re also sending all Forza 7 VIPs 1 million credits.

Secondly, and even more significantly, we will be changing VIP rewards in Forza Motorsport 7. This new system will work like it did in Forza Motorsport 6, offering a 2X base credit bonus after every race. We’ve already started work on this feature and we will release it as soon as possible. Look for more information on this update as we near the release date.

PC Stability and Performance
Since the launch of Forza Motorsport 7 on Windows 10 PCs, I’ve been delighted to see so many players enjoying the Windows 10 version on a huge variety of PC hardware configurations. We’ve enjoyed seeing feedback from fans who are praising how Forza 7 plays on their personal PCs. That said, we are aware of stability and performance issues that some PC players are facing. The team is working around the clock to report, investigate, and resolve these issues as quickly as possible. In fact, our first update for the game went live yesterday (see below), addressing several PC stability and performance issues. The quality of the PC experience will continue to be a top priority.

If you are experiencing a technical issue with Forza Motorsport 7, please let us know, either in our Technical Support forums here on the site, via Twitter, or by sending us an e-mail at forzafb@microsoft.com.

From everyone here at Turn 10, I’d like to personally thank you all for playing Forza Motorsport 7. We’re glad you’re here. Your passion for racing and Forza inspires and drives us every day.

Sincerely,

Alan​

Update 03/10/2017 Details

• Fixed numerous livery-related issues, including some liveries applying as paint colors only, liveries not appearing in multiplayer, and game lock-ups when cancelling liveries.
• Fixed an issue where vinyls would not appear in the vinyl editor for players who were creating vinyl groups with HDR enabled.
• Arabic text is no longer reversed in game menus
• Default profile slider settings for wheel users are no longer maxed out
• Benchmark mode on PC now displays the correct minimum FPS
• Framerate now improved in loading with G-Sync enabled

Forza Motorsport 7 is the very first fully fledged Forza racing title to be released on both the traditional Xbox platform and Windows 10 PC, and as such the game may well suffer from a few initial teething troubles as the developers continue to get used to the new platform. With both the Forza Motorsport 6: Apex and Forza Horizon games continuing to suffer from a few minor difficulties even now, it will be a very big ask indeed for Turn 10 to overcome the might of Assetto Corsa, Project CARS 2 and even the upcoming GT Sport in its attempts to gain the top position in the console and PC racing game wars.

Forza Motorsport 7 is available for Xbox One and Windows 10 PC.

Check out the new Forza Motorsport 7 sub forum here at RaceDepartment and keep abreast of all the latest news and discussions about this exciting new title. Join in with the community, catch up on the news and have yourself an exciting time with the game and community!

What are your first impressions of Forza Motorsport 7? Which platform, PC or Xbox One, are you playing the game on? Let us know your thoughts and opinions below!

 

[snyperal]

I interested in having this on both my Xbox and my pc. If this is the future, that's no bad thing.

 

[Th3_L3g3nd]

I'm loving forza so far! One of the best virtual driving experiences (not simulations) i've ever played. It's very important to properly configure the FFB if you want to enjoy it

Is it possible to make the FFB feel like Assetto Corsa or PCars 2 ? Or better said, can you give me your settings so I can try them out ? I have a Thrustmaster T150 currently. (but that doesn´t matter I often use setting from people that have other wheels than me ^^)

 

[Colin Pappas]

The game is fun and all but WTH happened to all the class racing?! I came to Forza Motorsports 7 for that specific reason on the rivals and can't even see how I actually stack up against others. Not to mention that I can use someone else's ghost as a motivation to get faster. Overall though the game is pretty decent.

 

[Vojko Music]

Is it just me or this game doesn't have any FFB?

 

[Rupe Wilson]

Is it just me or this game doesn't have any FFB?

Depends on what your definition of FFB is,
I have FFB on my wheel, granted its not as defined as rF2, but its more than good enough to tell me what the car is doing. Ive yet to purchase the full game, but from the demo, im more than happy with the feel it gives.

 

[darkgio6]

Is it just me or this game doesn't have any FFB?

I'm playing with a G27 and had to tweak it a bit to get it right. It's great IMO

 

[Vojko Music]

I'm playing with a G27 and had to tweak it a bit to get it right. It's great IMO

I have Logitech G920 and I had no FFB in demo so that was the main factor I didn't buy the game...

 

[darkgio6]

I have Logitech G920 and I had no FFB in demo so that was the main factor I didn't buy the game...

Never tried the truck in the demo but the two cars at those conditions weren't good examples for FFB testing. The Porsche is all about rear weight so the nose would "fly" as its drifting. The other one was on a very wet track.

 

[Monstro]

My two cents and MY opinion, engaging only me (so don't be offended if you love the game)

that being said :
guys...do yourselves a favor, don't buy this game.
This is not a good message to send to the industry when you buy this crap.
After this why would they improve ?
You buy it regardless of quality !
and with the choice we have in this golden sim age we lived ( RF2, AC, AMS, RRE), i really do not understand why.

When I see what Kunos and Reiza Studios provided, i really wonder why you play and buy FM7.

Here is a comparaison :
Kunos and Reiza, are two good and gastronomic restaurant, and for the same price, here comes the BIG McDonald fast food Forza Motorsport 7.

This is the same price and you guys choose the MacDonald fast food crap...

WHY ?

if Turn 10 is offended by the "crap" word, i am sorry and i apologize, but truth hurts sometimes.
and when you sell something like this to us Turn 10,you hurt us.
we work to earn this money we spend in your games so have a little more respect for us when you sell a game with the word" Motorsport" inside.

and last but not least, Nintendo could file a complain to a court, you have stolen the FFB they use for Mario kart.
that's not fair

 

[Kjell81d]

My two cents and MY opinion, engaging only me (so don't be offended if you love the game)

that being said :
guys...do yourselves a favor, don't buy this game.
This is not a good message to send to the industry when you buy this crap.
After this why would they improve ?
You buy it regardless of quality !
and with the choice we have in this golden sim age we lived ( RF2, AC, AMS, RRE), i really do not understand why.

When I see what Kunos and Reiza Studios provided, i really wonder why you play and buy FM7.

Here is a comparaison :
Kunos and Reiza, are two good and gastronomic restaurant, and for the same price, here comes the BIG McDonald fast food Forza Motorsport 7.

This is the same price and you guys choose the MacDonald fast food crap...

WHY ?

if Turn 10 is offended by the "crap" word, i am sorry and i apologize, but truth hurts sometimes.
and when you sell something like this to us Turn 10,you hurt us.
we work to earn this money we spend in your games so have a little more respect for us when you sell a game with the word" Motorsport" inside.

and last but not least, Nintendo could file a complain to a court, you have stolen the FFB they use for Mario kart.
that's not fair

After playing for a couple hours all I could think was, I've made huge mistake.

 

[Mr Latte]

Yes, because there's no backlash against the loot boxes, microtransactions and modified progression system anywhere.

Why the need for backlash?
Are people made to open the loot boxes if they don't want to? Does the title force people to progress or play the game in only one way?

Many people can understand the difference between a "racing game" for lovers of cars and a "racing simulation"? You can play and enjoy FM7 in so many ways, as a painter, a photographer, a car collector, a casual player or racer like any similar or competing, title. Play against console owners of the same title, pay once yet have the title available potentially on both console and PC and be able to continue your progress on either platform.

PC Goodness:
Actually, we have plenty to enjoy and be glad this is available on PC. Yet on PC we can also enjoy it with the advantages of 21:9 or multiscreen configurations, faster loading times from SSD and higher framerates. Have it still work great with a joypad, yeah and one many users likely have sitting around from their Oculus Rift (ahem).

I really struggle to understand why/how this title is so bad in some peoples eyes. Some remarks are just comical. Sure it's not as if the game is perfect but then again can I find fault in P Cars 2 or F1 2017. Yes the other recent "Racing" titles we have as alternatives. Will they offer me as much "content" & "entertainment" or be as "varied". Well perhaps they cant? Seems the biggest reason to get P Cars 2 is the VR but it and F1 2017 both of which it seems, still need multiple patches too. Also both of those will be available much cheaper soon on steam. FM7 Ultimate Edition (content) likely won't.

If I look at the price of £80 for what I paid. Is it quite a lot for a game, yeah, I guess it is but you know what with all that FM7 offers in content, in ways to enjoy the "cars" the "tracks" the "painting" the "photos" the "marketplace" before even looking at online playing or ability to race with others on consoles I have spent money on less enjoyable or worse titles.

I guess some want to keep going around in circles and cant see past their own tyre smoke?
Whats amusing is how people go out of their way to have a poke at the "game" when they could be spending such time, racing their so much better "simulations"

Enjoying my purchase very much thanks....
Its Forza, you either like it or you don't. It is what it is, it's not what it's not....

 

[Ruy Horta]

Am having fun with FM7, although the AI is a mixed bag, from challenging (due to speed - not intelligence) to absolutely terrible, but I am enjoying the car collecting a lot. Although I bought one legendary loot crate to try out and was extremely disappointed with the actual car content, to the point that I won't be getting any additional crates in the future. The driving is proper simcade, the racing is more arcade because of the rubberbanding speed centered AI, the car collecting works, but the other stuff is imho pretty out of place in a racing game, but luckily you can ingore that part if you want to.

 

[Chobonator]

Why the need for backlash?

Because limiting access to content and changing the progression system affects every player, not just the whales who buy loot boxes.

 

[DrSmile]

What you forgot to mention:

You payed full Price for a objectivly standpoint "Early Access Beta Game" where the ai is ****ed up, the mp is cut down in options, even some gametypes are grayed out "coming soon" Icons. The cheap ripp off try with the vips, the bugs, stutters, ctds, lootboxes lol, hyped driversuits which just are cosmetic waste of in other areas much more needed engineresources, etc etc

but yes you can race your tuned car: but its not a race - its a try to stay away from the ki in singleplayer or all other cars in mp.
You cant go 100% full throttle cause of the gameengine method of using pc cpus -> causes freezes and stutters.

Hotlapping with your tuned car against leaderboards - yeah thats it at the Moment. And taking Pictures.

its just a unfinished and rushed product which at least needs 6 months of heavy patching with attached dlcs.

 

[Ruy Horta]

Because limiting access to content and changing the progression system affects every player, not just the whales who buy loot boxes.

I bought the loot box with in game credits, not real money, but I'd not recommend putting any real cash in that system. Plenty of games offer a loot box system, not a big fan myself, but is is the current fashion in gaming. I've not been affected at all though, I race in events and progress, each level I choose a car and progress is relatively fast. Sometimes I buy a car, but most of the times you can get the cars you need in exhibition events. So you don't need to spend any real money beyond the base game if you don't want to. That leaves you short a number of cars, but not gamebreaking by a wide margin.

 

[Mr Latte]

What you forgot to mention:

You payed full Price for a objectivly standpoint "Early Access Beta Game" where the ai is ****ed up, the mp is cut down in options, even some gametypes are grayed out "coming soon" Icons. The cheap ripp off try with the vips, the bugs, stutters, ctds, lootboxes lol, hyped driversuits which just are cosmetic waste of in other areas much more needed engineresources, etc etc

but yes you can race your tuned car: but its not a race - its a try to stay away from the ki in singleplayer or all other cars in mp.
You cant go 100% full throttle cause of the gameengine method of using pc cpus -> causes freezes and stutters.

Hotlapping with your tuned car against leaderboards - yeah thats it at the Moment. And taking Pictures.

its just a unfinished and rushed product which at least needs 6 months of heavy patching with attached dlcs.

I clearly pointed out the title wasn't perfect. Im enjoying it thus far, I dont exepct it to be much varied from what Forza is or be free from similar issues previous Forza titles have had.

The problem is you and some others may want to "focus more" on not the many enjoyable or good things with the title but like so many have to do these days place focus, to gripe and moan. I wonder if we look into the previous posts of some moaning will we find them being as critical of other titles?

AI has issues I agree, rubber banding err what game doesn't have it? Maybe they stole that from Mario Kart as well (lol). Regards the AI, how long did it take Assetto Corsa to update its AI and it still has issues. Will we find nigh on perfect AI in P Cars 2 or F1 2017 as examples already given?

Game is running rather well on my system thanks. Im sure patches will come for issues some people are having. For being their first full title on the PC I think T10 have done rather well so far.

My apologies for actually enjoying it and accepting some of its issues or defending the decision of T10 to bring the franchise to PC.

 

[Chobonator]

I bought the loot box with in game credits, not real money, but I'd not recommend putting any real cash in that system. Plenty of games offer a loot box system, not a big fan myself, but is is the current fashion in gaming. I've not been affected at all though, I race in events and progress, each level I choose a car and progress is relatively fast. Sometimes I buy a car, but most of the times you can get the cars you need in exhibition events. So you don't need to spend any real money beyond the base game if you don't want to. That leaves you short a number of cars, but not gamebreaking by a wide margin.

Is it an unnecessary negative that doesn't benefit the player in any way?

 

[MarkR]

I'm also enjoying Forza, I can understand the reaction to the free to play microtransactions but as in the FIFA series, I just ignore them. Anyway on with enjoying the gamesand a quick comparison video between the current popular games.

How does Forza 7 compare to the main competition and to real life on track? That is a question I wanted to answer yesterday with a comparison video between the current 3 leading games and some real-life footage. I chose the Lamborghini Huracan GT3 for the comparison at Silverstone. I could run consistent 2:04 laps in each game and found some footage of a real Huracan GT3 running at 2:04 pace (Pro-Am pace in the real Blancpain GT3 Championship, good luck to those who can match the pole-sitting 1:59 pace!)

All the footage was captured from the PC versions of the games. Yes, Forza 7 can run well on PC now! Project CARS 2 and Assetto Corsa videos are both from Oculus Rift VR.

Comparison lap: Forza 7 vs Project Cars 2 vs Assetto Corsa vs Real Life - Huracan GT3 @ Silverstone here is the video of the results:

Uncanny Valley

All 3 games are incredibly close in both look, feel and sound to the real world footage, there is no doubt these are all close recreations of the Huracan GT3 car and accurate Silverstone tracks. What the video can't show you is the subtle differences between the games, here are my thoughts after running the games back to back for these laps yesterday.

Forza 7 - actually the most difficult to set a good and consistent lap time in. The lack of tarmac feel (corner and kerb feel are fine) makes it more difficult to hustle the car and a smooth hand is required on the wheel, much improved over any previous FM game all the same. Flat tarmac feel aside the car looks and feels right, Silverstone feels a little narrow compared to the other games (in real life the width of the Silverstone track robs a lot of the sensation of speed). Forza's greatest strength is that it absolutely looks the fastest of the games, it really does convey moving at 100mph+ well.

Project CARS 2 - looks superb in VR and the Hurcan has a real weight and aggression in the feel of the car on track. Silverstone looks as wide as it is in real life. The world scale in VR is perfect it feels like sitting in the real car. Getting the wheel set to give a good balance between feedback and weight remains a challenge in pcars2. The pcars2 sound is also more aggressive than Forza. Where pcars2 lags behind Forza 7 is in the feeling of speed. No matter the speed pcars2 cars feel pedestrian. Jumping between the 2 games I had to adjust my driving significantly, I was entering corners far too quickly at first because the car felt much slower. Once I'd adjusted I could lap in the same 2:04 times, but I still needed to watch the speed more closely. Tyre squeal sounds are essential to achieving a decent lap in PCARS2.

Assetto Corsa - Assetto Corsa has the most intuitive steering feel and higher grip levels. This game was the easiest to get in and drive fast with consistent laps. It can't match the look and feel of pcars2 or the sense of speed of Forza and the sound is also somewhere between the 2. (The audio file on the Assetto video is slightly out of synch as it was recorded in VR but I left it in as an example of how the game sounds.)

Laptimes need a mention too. The Blancpain GT3 Championship Silverstone pole time set in a Huracan GT3 in 2016 was 1.59. According to the leaderboards on Assetto Corsa gets close to these times (some alien driver, not me!), Project CARS2 and FM7 current top times are in the 2:02 region but as newer games, maybe others will go quicker. For me, Assetto Corsa feels like it has more grip.

So which is best? Well I struggle to make that choice, to me they are all different and all superb in their own way. Forza 7 is the best 'game' and has the best impression of speed of the 3, Project CARS 2 the best 'race weekend simulator' with real weather & time. Assetto Corsa has great steering feel and superb almost human AI. I can't split them and I hope the video shows just how close a recreation of the real world they all are. The best time ever to be a racing gamer? I think so.

 

[Mr Latte]

Is it an unnecessary negative that doesn't benefit the player in any way?

A bit like your attitude then, since the very beginning...

 

[Chobonator]

A bit like your attitude then, since the very beginning...

Keep playing along, they sure enjoy your money.