Topic: Forza 5 requires day 1 update

[idolminds]

Link

“So when you first boot up the game, we’re going to ask you to log in,” he explained. “And when you log in you’re going to get the Drivatars and you’re also going to get a whole bunch of content: tracks and cars. Our production schedule is such that we are putting them in as late as possible and that means making them free as downloadable content on Day One.

“[But] that is required content to play the game. We basically have designed the game to work with all that content no matter how late is coming in, in order to make the biggest game possible.”

In other words, because games have to be submitted to Microsoft testing, certified, and then pressed onto discs and shipped, Forza 5 has to be done much, much sooner than November. By requiring part of the game as a download on launch day, it gives Turn 10 extra time to finish everything. And so what you get on the disc you buy at the store won’t be the entire game. You’ll need to download the rest of it from Xbox Live (which should be possible to occur as you play, Greenawalt clarified).

Day 1 updates have been fairly common, but as far as I know you could still play what was on the disc without it for nearly all games. At least for all my games on PS3 i was never required to download a patch to play it. Forza is different, I wonder if MS published titles will make this a regular thing.

After that, Greenawalt said, Forza 5 is like your refrigerator. “You have to fill it up with food the first time,” he explained. “And from then on, you connect whenever you want when you want to update your food. The Drivatars are as fresh as they are. It’s not like they’re going to degrade, but when you’re looking for new stuff – fresh stuff…it’s going to keep evolving. That’s the nature of this Drivatar system.”

That's a great analogy. The Forza 5 disc is like a refrigerator...it's empty when you buy it.

[Xessive]

Well, I suppose that's one way to force players to have an internet connection in order to play: sell them discs that just have a downloader application, which will download the content necessary to play the game.. In turn, making the disc copy redundant to begin with, which they will counter by making it mandatory to keep the disc in the drive to play, even though 90% of the content was downloaded.

That would be like buying a disc copy of a Steamworks game, installing it, having Steam download stuff for it then still requiring the disc in the drive in order to play.

[scottws]

My stepson really wants an Xbox One no matter how much I'm trying to push him to the PS4.

[K-man]

How old is your stepson?

[PyroMenace]

Forza is different, I wonder if MS published titles will make this a regular thing.

What makes you think that after MS's backstep from that?

[idolminds]

I dunno, I was just musing. MS obviously still wants everyone to be online, and this sort of thing is almost accepted and a way to kind of shoehorn that back in.

To be fair to the Forza devs, they were developing their game with the expectation of an always online console thats releasing in November so it may be too late for them to change up their schedule and get everything onto the disc. So it may be just a one-off thing. I guess we'll find out.

[scottws]

How old is your stepson?

He is eleven.  He does not understand (or, perhaps more importantly, care about) issues related to consumer rights.

[K-man]

He is eleven.  He does not understand (or, perhaps more importantly, care about) issues related to consumer rights.

Kind of where I was getting at.  Kids that age just don't care.  And by the time they are ready to care it will be much too late.  And kids a few years younger than that will really never know a time when media was legitimately "ours".

[Cobra951]

Well, I suppose that's one way to force players to have an internet connection in order to play: sell them discs that just have a downloader application, which will download the content necessary to play the game.. In turn, making the disc copy redundant to begin with, which they will counter by making it mandatory to keep the disc in the drive to play, even though 90% of the content was downloaded.

That would be like buying a disc copy of a Steamworks game, installing it, having Steam download stuff for it then still requiring the disc in the drive in order to play.

I imagine this required update was in place since before Microsoft's 180 on intrusive DRM.  It's a problem now; it wasn't when a fast internet connection was required to use the system.

[W7RE]

To be fair to the Forza devs, they were developing their game with the expectation of an always online console thats releasing in November so it may be too late for them to change up their schedule and get everything onto the disc. So it may be just a one-off thing. I guess we'll find out.

This was the first thing I thought about. All games were going to be digital, whether downloaded or installed from a disc. The console would be guaranteed to be online, and access to the day one patch would have been guaranteed for every user. It wouldn't have been an issue at all. But after the public backlash and subsequent reversal of online requirements, the Forza team probably doesn't have time to change their plans.

[Cobra951]

Yeah, I missed idol's post on that.  I think we're all on the same page about this.  But if they do the same thing with later games, all bets are off.  That's why I think a wait-and-see period is important with the coming gen.  

[idolminds]

Will Forza 5 have bicycles? You know...so you can backpedal? So now it seems like you can take the disc home and play it all offline from the get-go! Hooray! Well...not really all of it. Apparently the later races of the campaign needs the extra downloaded data. So you can't actually beat the campaign without taking it online.

That's...better?

[Cobra951]

Hmm, I'm tempted to say yes, it's better.  Instead of getting blocked from the game entirely if the internet is absent, you can play it well into the campaign.  Assuming the progression design is similar to the current game, that means a hefty length of gameplay before reaching a point where the extra content becomes necessary.  Somewhere in that interval, hopefully everyone can find a way online.

I think they should make a Disc 2 available as well.  As he said, in the current Forza, Disc 2 is the same as DLC.  It needs to be installed to the HDD to be usable.  They could treat the added content in FM5 the same way, for people with no way online.