Pretty sure I already know the answer to this, but figured it might be worth asking anyway.
Project Cars has a feature where it will stream UDP data (basically game data such as lap times, current position, tire wear, etc.) out to any external device. I’ve absolutely fallen in love with the Crew Chief app, which takes this data and provides you with, well…a “crew chief” whom you can talk to via voice recognition on your phone or tablet, and keeps you up to date on what’s going on in the race.
I’m curious if FM7 will support UDP data export so that some similarly enterprising individual might create a similar app for this game.
edit how the heck does one subscribe to a thread here? I’d like to receive email notification on replies, and can’t for the life of me figure out how. :\
Have you not noticed all the other posts where people are complaining about the lack of information about simple stuff like career progression, download size/window, etc.? And you’re surprised that no-one has been able to provide any information about your acutely specific feature that’s never been in a Forza title before?
No mention of it has been made regarding Forza Motorsport 7 yet, and given that it hasn’t been done in previous games before there’s a good chance it won’t be added now.
This forum’s platform is relatively outdated; the last major refresh was in 2013. Many of the extra features don’t really work properly and it’s never been a priority to fix them when there are more important things to worry about.
That’s pretty much what I figured. I guess I was just holding out hope for hope’s sake, on the off chance that I might have been surprised. I guess I should have known better.
The types of data that UDP utilizes (lap times, sector times and deltas, fuel and tire status, weather info, etc.) allows communities to create amazing companion apps like Crew Chief and others which can do everything from telemetry and data logging for later analysis, to customized HUDs and dashboard readouts while playing…all of which promote, or you could say require, a certain amount of attention to be paid to the details of real-life motorsport, on the part of both the developers and the players. But the Forza community on the whole, I think, doesn’t seem interested in that level of detail or authenticity. Whether it’s been a case of Turn 10 catering to what the community wants (or doesn’t want, in this case), or Turn 10 making and promoting the game that they want, which then attracts a community that isn’t necessarily interested in real-life motorsport, this much has become obvious to me: creating a realistic, authentic experience for the player, mimicking what a real life racing driver might go through, has never been high on the list of Turn 10’s priorities.
They’ve never felt it appropriate to include practice or qualifying sessions, there are no races much longer than 3 or 4 laps (negating any need for any kind of pit strategy…and without changing weather or any kind of wet weather tire, the need for pit stops has been minimal to begin with. It looks like FM7 will have some degree of variable weather, but what effect that will have on gameplay and indeed whether or not we’ll even get wet weather tires, is still unclear and we’re only a little over a month from release.)
And look, I get it…especially now that it’s under Microsoft’s corporate umbrella, Forza Motorsport has to appeal to as wide an audience as possible. Racing games are a niche genre to begin with, so going down the “super hardcore sim” route would likely be brand suicide. But I think there are things that they COULD implement which would add some more authenticity, which wouldn’t necessarily alienate the more casual members of the crowd which this game attracts.
Things like practice and qualifying sessions before each race could be optional. Race length (speaking of career mode specifically) could be adjustable to cater to those who want a longer experience than a mad dash of 3 or 4 laps. Things like tire wear could receive modifiers which would allow the user to simulate faster-degrading compounds, forcing you to think about pit strategy in new ways. There are many other examples, but the point is that all of these things are available in other games, so they absolutely could be implemented here, and in such a way that would appeal to those looking for a more authentic experience, without alienating those who aren’t.
I find it incredibly frustrating that factual, detailed information from Turn 10 is so hard to come by these days, which makes it feel like having conversations like this is pointless. It basically amounts to “you’re going to get what you’re going to get, so just wait til the game is released.”
Thanks for that, I do appreciate you taking the time to point that out. Honestly however, for the reasons I’ve mentioned above as well as others, it’s become clear that Forza Motorsport isn’t really for me anymore…so I doubt I’ll be spending much future time with this forum or its management tools.
