Well, let’s take some inspiration from a great game that I played growing up. It was called Forza Motorsport.
Since they seem insistent that they keep their CarPG perhaps we take inspiration from Forza Motorsport (2005)s region selection at start. So for those who are unfamiliar when you start the game you can choose your region for where your avatar is based. (America, Europe, or Asia) Whichever region you choose decreases the price of that regions cars but also reduces the rarity of those cars which effects overall payout after races. We could use region to start all cars in your selected region at level 10 or something to thar effect.
Another thing that Motorsport (2005) had that I would like to see return is point to point races. Some of the world’s most famous races are point to point events. So it seems odd to be focused only on circuits, especially when every title in the past has had point to point events. We had 20 locations at launch and 3 of them we’re oval tracks. Maybe they could’ve pushed one of ovals to be drip fed to us and give us a point to point instead.
Motorsport (2005) had multiple ways to play;
-Arcade mode: single race events with difficulty from easy to medium to hard.
-Multiplayer: I do not understand how so many developers drop local multiplayer from every title - Yes, I know I don’t have any friends, but I would like the option to play with one if I manage to get one.
-And the career: 3 event types (point to point races, circuit races, endurance races). Of the 3 event types in the original title somehow the ‘built from the ground up’ version has 1 (ONE!) of the race types from the original game.
Other things Motorsport (2005) did better:
-There were only 17 locations in the original but there was variation between them. In Motorsport (2023) all locations, save for Hakone, feel pretty much the same.
-2005 had the Nurburging Nordschleife. Yeah, you know the world’s most famous race track, they had that. Because why wouldn’t you have that in a racing game!
-2005 you could change your car during an event, you weren’t locked in on using one car for an entire championship unless you restart the entire thing.
And just for some added fun here is the reviews for the original Motorsport. Lowest was 3 out of 4 stars. I think 2023 would kill for a 3 out of 4 review these days.
Over the pandemic I collected some older racing games, including Forza Motorsport 1 and 2. I thought the track selection in FM1 was pretty interesting, especially with the point-to-point races.
Pacific Shipyards isn’t seen anywhere outside of FM1, but I think it’s a very unique track in the context of a track-focused racing game. Racing at Pacific Shipyards is more akin to participating in a “street race” rather than a sanctioned, organized racing event. It’s a very fast track, with plenty of straights and a stretch of highway. Curiously, this is the only time night racing was featured in Forza before FM6 AFAIK.
Fujimi Kaido, which only appears as a series of point-to-point stretches of road in FM1. It wasn’t made into a whole circuit until FM3.
(Just as an aside with FM3, I wish modern Forza had some more long tracks outside of the Nurburgring. Fujimi Kaido, Rallye Di Positano, Sidewinder Test Track, and the Nordschliefe? FM3’s track selection is just [chef’s kiss] imo)
FM1 briefly featured taillight customization for a few cars… Anyone up for some custom taillights on your Chrysler PT Cruiser?
FM1 and FM2 had Forza race rear bumpers. FM 2023 does have the option, but only in the form of tow hooks. In FM1 and FM2, Forza race rear bumpers featured a rather aggressive diffuser! Just don’t mention the unsightly (imo) exhaust pipes
There was a great selection of pre-tuned cars in the first two games, which included an RX-7 tuned by RE-Amemiya, two Veilside Supras (as well as one by AB Flug, which is my favorite out of the three), a Lingenfelter Corvette, a Hennessey Viper 800TT, among other tuner cars. Newer Forzas (Specifically FH4 and FH5) had a bit of a resurgence in pre-tuned cars, specifically the stuff from Deberti Design and the various tuned Porsches, but unfortunately I don’t think any of them made it to FM 2023.
There’s more of course but I’d be typing for a hot minute!
Pacific shipyards is probably one of my favourite races in the entire series. Thinking about it brings me back to racing my Acura CL (my starter car) through the winding roads, over different surfaces such as cobblestone. Closest thing we have to another surface in Motorsport 2023 is the yard of bricks on the brickyard circuit. Apart from that it’s all tarmac.
In terms of FM 2023’s track selection, there’s definitely some holes in it. Sebring, Daytona, and Road Atlanta, and the Nordschliefe to name a few. I’ll cut them a little bit of slack for now though, assuming they’ll be added soon (Soon as in within the next 6-9 months).
The Forza tracks like Prague, Rio, and Bernese Alps I remember being so/so among the community. They looked quite pretty, but weren’t amazing to race on. Personally I enjoyed Rio and Prague, but if they ever returned I’d like some changes to the layout. Mostly just get rid of the cumbersome curb chicanes and killer tire walls. A layout of Rio that echoes the variant in FM1 would also be pretty neat as well
The lack of diversity in track choices is a big problem with '23. Most of the tracks are very vanilla with a few outliers. This is the first game to not have any city circuits and the two new fictional tracks are as boring as they come. FM1 had less tracks but it made up for that with diversity.
I get that they want to have a more “serious” game but that doesn’t mean every track has to be an uninteresting grand prix circuit.
FM1 by miles. It had a larger variety of cars, some we never saw again. Lots of bodykits, pre-tuned cars (R.I.P.), huge test track, street race through a city, Fujimi Kaido! Need I go on?
Seriously, why is this all not possible anymore? I’d happily buy a remaster of FM1 if it were possible.
I forgot about the test track. It’s a shame they stopped making things like that. The fictional tracks this time around are so generic. The whole game is really, so many things feel like they were just checking a box.
It’s not possible anymore because they don’t have the talent or passion to make stuff like that. I mean look at the new tracks, we have two circuits that follow the same maple valley-like generic design and a mini oval.
Car progression system won’t be changed now i feel. There are players like me who have 150+ cars maxed out already. So they would be cheating us out of all our invested time.
I suspect they’re more concerned about cheating themselves out of money by not removing the system. If they were in any way concerned about the value of your time there would be no carpg system.
How would they make money off of the car progression system? They’re not paid by advertisers and since most of the people who hate the system are playing less because of it… id say they’re actually losing money.
It’s not like you can pay your way through the car levels.
I want you to imagine that Simpsons meme between Bart and Homer as I tell you it’s not like you can pay your way through the car levels yet.
The cynic\realist in me thinks that’s absolutely MS’s endgame here. Getting us to microtransact our way through the carpg system. That’s been the long con all along. Get most of the community lathered up with anger over carpg. Then float down from the ivory cloud server center and offer to let us pay our way through the system.
I wasn’t around for it but apparently they tried loot boxes in FM7 so that level of darkness isn’t unprecedented.
What I find astonishing is that so many games from original Xbox, 360 and One are fixed to work on this gen consoles.
how many of Microsofts racing games from original Xbox were part of backward compatibility
no FM as far as I can tell!!!
Zero, zilch, nada, nothing!!!
They made this possible to a lot of game vendors that also used this ability to run on current gen consoles.
Microsoft = none
Correct me if I am wrong.
I run the Dirt 3 on Series X now and then. I still fire up Dirt 2 on my 360 that I have under the chair.
Codemaster did Dirt 3, and Microsoft did none, how about that.
I went through my games, about 50 on 360 to see which are compatible now with Series X.
Codemasters vs Microsoft = 1:0
I have FM3 Ultimate on 360, and it was not made upward compatible.
Again I ask myself
Why???
27 of my 360 games are upward compatible!!!
none are Microsoft Studios or Turn 10 or similar
Here is my list
Ace combat 6
Alan Wake
Battlestations - Midway
The Bureau - xcom
Call of duty - Modern Warfare 3
Crackdown
Crackdown 2
Deadfall Adventures? kolla upp
Dirt 3
Dues Ex: Human Revolution
Fallout 3 (digital kod med F4)
Far Cry 2
F.E.A.R 2
Just Cause 2
GTA IV - Complete edition
L.A. Noire
Mass Effect 2
Max Payne 3
Medal of honor - Airborne
Red Dead Redemption
Sniper Elite v2
Syndicate
Tom Clancy’s EndWar
Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell : Double Agent
Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell : Conviction
Ghost Recon - Advanced Warfighter
Tomb Raider ? Legend ? Underworld ? Aniv
3rd party vendors vs Microsoft = 27:0
Some here mention FM1 and FM4 etc
why did not MS fix thos to run on this gen consoles?
If they don’t change it, the game dies. It’s as simple as that, unfortunately; it’s gotten a little holiday bump, but that’s not only temporary, but if the numbers on SteamDB are anything to go by it’s also modest at best.
There’s not only that, but the outliers that are interesting are also pockmarked with quirks that make no sense. Case in point - the Circuit de la Sarthe, and the final kink on the Mulsanne Straight before reaching Mulsanne Corner. If you hug the shoulder taking the inside lane in Motorsport 2023, you can watch the car pitching up and down violently, as if there are deep potholes in the track surface. It also has the expected effect of throwing your car’s balance off.
Seems realistic, right? Well…
Yeah, cars don’t do that on the real thing. And didn’t do it on every other game that has depicted Le Mans up to this point.
EDIT: Go to 1:40 in the video for a depiction of what I’m referring to.
This is quite interesting. I honestly didnt realise the game critics had reviewed it this highly. I do like the very diplomatic response below of “community response to the game is more mixed”. I just checked and on steam the reviews are at “mostly negative - 38%”
Going through the reviews however many of the negative reviews are from players with over 100 hours. So although it is mostly (62%) considered a negative experience, people are still playing it (myself included). But at the same time the overall player count is dropping off more and more on a daily basis (at least based on steam charts numbers)
I think taking all of this data it mostly shows that the game itself isnt bad per se;
[it has positive reviews from critics and many players do have 100+ hours even if reviewing negatively. But player count is still dropping fast and the playerbase is dropping quick and generally disappointed in it]
But they simply overhyped the game and told us it would be so much more than it ended up being. The catfished us! For years before release they told us they were a ten and then when they showed up to the table they weren’t even a 4. And that is why we’re agitated.
