Hi there,
as a longtime Forza Fan I’m starting to get a little frustrated with the standstill of the driving assists. I know there is a friction assist now, but the rest hasn’t changed for years. I’m not talking about the special ‘keep me on the track’ assists like auto steering or braking, I’m talking about the car related assists like ABS, TCS etc. Let me explain what I mean in detail:
ABS:
Even though I’m playing without ABS since Forza 2, a friend recently made his first steps in Forza (FM6) and was starting with ABS on. As we were racing in the same car the brake differences were huge. I know that ABS in general slightly increases the stopping distance, however the difference in the game is like day and night. The difference should be decrased to a smaller amount to be more realistic. Braking without ABS is not a challenge once you got used to it as you can break to a certain point and still turn wheels without locking up. As a game that calls itself a realistic simulator, this should be thought of. We’re in 2017, not 2007.
TCS:
TCS improved over the years and got even competitive in leaderboards. However, other games gave us different TC settings to meet our preferences. Many cars, especcially race cars, have a wide range of TC settings to choose from. Forza needs to move on and adapt this or atleast give us a few TCS settings with different strengths. Again, it’s 2017 now and not 2007. This should be a well accepted driving aid, not a punishment for not being able to control the car without it. At the moment it helps me only with cars like the F1, as I can’t get the power to the ground safely. But a slight intervention of the TCS could already be a big improvement for slower cars.
Shifting with manual clutch:
To be honest: I’ve never been a fan of this. Of course, a manual clutch is a good thing, especially if you’ve got a wheel setup with a shifter. Or as a drifter. But again, if you think in competitive levels, it is a must. Because it radically reduces the shifting time. People bind the clutch on pad to the A Button, so all they have to do while shifting is press two buttons that sit next to each other at once. Yet they don’t even lift and hammer into the rev limiter. Not really a miracle to master. But it ruins the authenticity of the cars.
A car with a DCT or the racecars with sequential boxes don’t need the manual clutch while shifting. But because people with manual clutch shall receive an advantage, the shift time of gearboxes gets slowed down if you shift manually without clutch or let it be done automatic. Some gearboxes also wouldn’t let you shift, unless you take your foot off the throttle. Yes, there should be a advantage in manual transmission cars, however there shouldn’t be in DCT or race transmissions.
I’m not whining or anything or complain I’m not fast enough using (or not using) the assists in order to be fast. Most of the time I just have everything turned off, even if I have to fight really hard to keep traction. I just want Forza to improve or meet the standards that have built up with other racing titles. I once loved the series and defended it, however the lack of innovation or change in some areas is depressing and makes me wonder why I should spend the money every year. I would also be interested to see how others think about this. Especcially the TCS and clutch thingy. I’m just annoyed with the hammering in the rev limiter all the time.