Let’s start with the basics. I started 20th and finished 24th. But that only begins to tell the story. At the start, I was hit from behind and knocked off the track, dropping me to 24th. I fought my way back and got as high as 18th, but, while passing the 17th place Porsche on the penultimate lap, he hit me (twice), once again knocking me off the track and once again dropping me to 24th position, which is where I finished.
I was tempted to write about this race right after it happened, but I was so angry, I knew it would come off as nothing but me whining. There are a few things I want to say about Forza Motorsports 7, but I want it to be constructive and logical rather being angry and incoherent.
At the start of many races, it is nearly impossible to get through the first few turns without having contact with another vehicle. After this ill-fated race, I tried to run the race again, hoping to get the bad taste out of my mouth. After six tries, all of which ended with me getting hit and spun on the first lap, I gave up.
What is the point of programming the game like this? Does Turn 10 Studios (creator of Forza Motorsports 7) think players like getting knocked off track at the beginning of every race? And keep in mind, I have drivatar aggression turned off. It could be worse.
I understand that car-to-car contact happens in all forms of racing, and that it isn’t uncommon for that contact to occur at the beginning of the race. What I don’t understand is why that contact so often results in the player being knocked off track (often in ways that are physically impossible), while the offending vehicle carries on. Whenever someone hits me from behind, I get knocked off track. They continue. Whenever I hit someone from behind, I get knocked off track. They continue. Again, does Turn 10 think people who play their games like being knocked off track and put at a disadvantage in the race?
Another problem I have with the game is something that doesn’t happen all the time, but when it does, it’s annoying and ruins the game, at least for me. In this race at Sebring, there were drivatars that were lapping 4-5 seconds per lap faster than me. If your reaction is, “You need to go faster,” fair enough, but I’m already lapping faster than several of the drivatars. In other words, some drivatars are five or six seconds per lap faster than other drivatars. How can you have a fair, competitive race when some cars are five seconds per lap faster than other cars? This isn’t a matter of me not being able to compete with the drivatars on “Pro” mode. Obviously, I have been competitive with the drivatars in the past. I’m talking about the one-out-of-fifteen or one-out-of-twenty races where the AI seems to get screwed up and makes some of the drivatars completely unbeatable.
I could go on, but I don’t want this to be just a bitch session. The sad truth is that Forza Motorsports 7 is a decent arcade game, but it’s a deeply flawed race sim. I guess I knew this when I started, but the flaws in the game seem to rear their ugly heads more and more often lately. I plan on finishing out this season, but it will be my last with Forza Motorsports 7. There are several very good race sims (not arcade games) out there, and I’ll be using one of them.
One final note: I figured out how to record races more than an hour long. The fix was so simple I hesitate to share it (I just restarted recording when it turns off after one hour and splice the two recordings together. Easy peasy.). As you watch the video, notice that I didn’t pass a car on track for the first hour or so, then, just as I was about to make the pass, the recording stopped. When I got it restarted just a few seconds later, I was already by the car, so the pass wasn’t even recorded. It’s crazy how things turn out sometimes.
Since this was a non-points race, no new update on the points standings.
Next race: Hockinheimring (Germany)