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[Loudninja]

I absolutely think so,” DriveClub game director and former design director Paul Rustchynsky tells us. “I suspect a lot of people think we may have compromised the gameplay experience by choosing 30fps, but we’ve spent a huge amount of time minimising the latency between the pad and what happens inside the game so you never feel disconnected, and you never feel like you’re getting a sub-par experience.

“It’s a balance, because you can only do so much on any platform – PS4 has been fantastic to work with and we’ve done a good job of pushing it. It’s always a tradeoff, ultimately, and I think we’ve made the right choices to make the best driving game we could have made.” The payoff, he says, is exceptional audio and visual fidelity, backed up by a slick interface to support DriveClub’s intriguing social aspects.

But while DriveClub’s delay has allowed for a great deal of additional polish, the main reason for the hold up was the UI. Evolution wants to make things as simple as possible for club members, with its own party system (you can still use Sony’s party chat if you wish) and a dynamic menu. The newly devised system starts at the high level with options such as Drive, which covers racing and time trials; My Club, which displays statistics and other data; and Challenges. Beyond that, there’s also an activity feed similar to the one you’ll find on your PS4 dashboard that shows you what your friends are doing and which challenges are available. Click on any of the displayed notifications and you’ll go straight to the relevant track to take on that challenge yourself. And rather than have a lobby, DriveClub presents its live events as a race calendar, allowing you to book a slot in advance for an event taking place in a few minutes, or even one several days away.

I’m fighting now to get it so that in the race, music’s off by default,” says Rustchynsky, laughing. “The music is the car engine; that’s what you want to hear. And the sound’s going to improve by the time players get their hands on the game as well, [since] we’re just finishing hooking up the drive train so that you get the oscillation as you switch between the gears. It sounds great, especially in cars like the [open-top] BAC Mono, where it’s a very direct noise from the engine.”

And this is where DriveClub’s delay might prove a boon. Evolution could have been there at PS4’s launch, but admits the experience would have been a compromised one. Now it will be able to sell its vision of a socially networked racing game to over seven million players. If Forza 5 and Battlefield 4 are examples of what happens when a developer is rushed, DriveClub is shaping up to be a paragon of allowing a project the time it needs to reach its full potential.

http://www.edge-online.com/features...volution-is-back-on-track-with-its-ps4-debut/

 

[Opus Angelorum]

Good that they are back on track, expectations will be higher now though.

 

[darkwing]

but where is that weather video

 

[SuicidalSteve]

Good that they are back on track, expectations will be higher now though.

By the looks of it, they are meeting / exceeding those expectations

 

[manual4]

yet they still have to delay something like weather for post release, makes no sense

 

[BeforeU]

I think at this point, everyone is tired of hearing about this game. Release the game and then talk all you want Evolution.

 

[Metallix87]

Forza 5 is considered rushed? I thought that game's only real issue was the microtransaction system?

 

[wattm]

but where is that weather video

I tweeted the guy. It is supposed to be coming soon.

 

[manual4]

Forza 5 is considered rushed? I thought that game's only real issue was the microtransaction system?

some people had problems with some tracks and cars missing, but cant really say much with a 50 car game like driveclub.

I tweeted the guy. It is supposed to be coming soon.

you should know by now that the pr people working on the game are awful, soon to them is like 2 weeks later.

 

[DWinn7]

If Forza 5 and Battlefield 4 are examples of what happens when a developer is rushed, DriveClub is shaping up to be a paragon of allowing a project the time it needs to reach its full potential

Lol!! Truth.


I hope Driveclub delivers and proves the delay worthy.

 

[king grimlock]

By the looks of it, they are meeting / exceeding those expectations

They have in the visuals department but I'm not sure about other areas

 

[BruceLeeRoy]

“The music is the car engine; that’s what you want to hear. And the sound’s going to improve by the time players get their hands on the game as well, [since] we’re just finishing hooking up the drive train so that you get the oscillation as you switch between the gears. It sounds great, especially in cars like the [open-top] BAC Mono, where it’s a very direct noise from the engine.”

Hell yes.
Man I cannot wait for this game.

 

[Seanspeed]

Now it will be able to sell its vision of a socially networked racing game to over seven million players. If Forza 5 and Battlefield 4 are examples of what happens when a developer is rushed, DriveClub is shaping up to be a paragon of allowing a project the time it needs to reach its full potential.

This is all well and dandy, and don't get me wrong, I'm sure DriveClub will be a lot of fun for a lot of people, but this isn't the sort of game with legs. Forza 6 will be well into production by now, as well as Battlefield 5. And these are the sorts of games that have large communities even a year after release, because they are far deeper in gameplay and generally have more variety and competitive aspects to them.

Sony could afford to delay DriveClub because it was confident of strong launch sales regardless, but unless they think DriveClub is going to entertain people for more than a few months, it might have been better to have been in production of DriveClub 2 already. PGR is a good example of a great game, people still talk about it and all, but it was only a tiny minority of people who kept playing it long after release(I'm sure I'll get a few people chiming in that they still play it, and again, you're a small minority). And that's because PGR, while fun, isn't deep and it isn't super competitive.

I suppose a lot of people will be treating DriveClub as PGR5 in many ways though, I suppose. And that's fair. I'm sure it'll be well received and fun, but I still question whether delaying it an entire year was necessarily the right thing to do.

 

[Megasoum]

Ironic considering there's no actual track racing in the game lol

 

[Icefire1424]

Excellent, very pleased they took the time to develop the game they envisioned, rather than push something out solely to hit the launch window. Poly doing it right.

 

[sub_o]

It's good that they are on track. I thought they were completely derailed, and were not up to speed for 2014 release. I hope that they won't be any more slowdowns and Evolution will finish the game right on time. They are racing against Forza Horizon this year isn't it?

 

[Zeuanimals]

I think at this point, everyone is tired of hearing about this game. Release the game and then talk all you want Evolution.

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=117853862&postcount=57

It's something similar. Interviewers ask questions about the game to the devs and the devs answer them. Should they just stare at the interviewer and say "we've talked about the game enough, just wait until release and we can talk about it"?

 

[Principate]

It's extremely weird for a game delayed for year still needs to have weather patched in for launch. Precisely what were they thinking with that launch release date?

 

[Metallix87]

It's good that they are on track. I thought they were completely derailed, and were not up to speed for 2014 release. I hope that they won't be any more slowdowns and Evolution will finish the game right on time. They are racing against Forza Horizon this year isn't it?

Correct. Forza Horizon 2 launches roughly a week and a half before it.

 

[Seanspeed]

Forza 5 is considered rushed? I thought that game's only real issue was the microtransaction system?

Forza 5 lacks content compared to previous games. They rebuilt everything with next-gen assets and to hit the launch date, there was only so much they could do.

The microtransaction 'problem' sucked in certain ways, but it was overblown by most people, many of whom didn't know anything about Forza. And is mostly rectified already.

So yea, it was rushed, but not at the expense of gameplay or anything. Mainly in a lack of features, content and graphic polish.

 

[king grimlock]

Correct. Forza Horizon 2 launches roughly a week and a half before it.

Tough competition hope driveclub doess well

 

[Loudninja]

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=117853862&postcount=57

It's something similar. Interviewers ask questions about the game to the devs and the devs answer them. Should they just stare at the interviewer and say "we've talked about the game enough, just wait until release and we can talk about it"?

Heh.

Really do we except them to go silent again after they been silent for so long?

 

[Afro]

"I’m fighting now to get it so that in the race, music’s off by default,” says Rustchynsky, laughing. “The music is the car engine; that’s what you want to hear"

Yes. Yup. This man gets it.

 

[BloodMoney]

Less talking, more weather video production.

 

[Metallix87]

Forza 5 lacks content compared to previous games. They rebuilt everything with next-gen assets and to hit the launch date, there was only so much they could do.

The microtransaction 'problem' sucked in certain ways, but it was overblown by most people, many of whom didn't know anything about Forza.

So yea, it was rushed, but not at the expense of gameplay or anything. Mainly in a lack of features, content and graphic polish.

See, then that seems like a very bizarre comment. That doesn't sound at all comparable to Battlefield 4 and the disaster that it was. Meanwhile, I'm sure content has been added post-launch, so at least to some degree, early adopters have been rewarded over time.

"I’m fighting now to get it so that in the race, music’s off by default,” says Rustchynsky, laughing. “The music is the car engine; that’s what you want to hear"

Yes. Yup. This man gets it.

He does? This is an arcade racer, not a sim, correct? I always thought awesome track themes were a key part of that experience.

 

[Carn82]

It's extremely weird for a game delayed for year still needs to have weather patched in for launch. Precisely what were they thinking with that launch release date?

I think 'weather' was on the 'nice to haves' roadmap, and not on the 'grapghics/gamebreaking issues' list. I'd rather have a great core launch game with addons arriving when they are ready, instead of a game that is broken.

 

[AristoCat]

Forza 5 is considered rushed? I thought that game's only real issue was the microtransaction system?

Forza 4 had more than 600 cars with DLC, 5 has half, and some with still the same modelisation error than before, only 17 tracks, some of the key features of the previous games are just not there, and you add to that the fact that there no new feature what so ever except if you consider "drivatar" being one of them... so yes rushed.

Driveclub being polished is a good thing, but only 50 cars and 5/6 locations is quite disapoonting. :/ even if everything is beautiful.

 

[travisbickle]

Tough competition hope driveclub doess well

Don't worry they are on different platforms.

 

[Squozen]

Ironic considering there's no actual track racing in the game lol

There are circuit tracks in the game.

 

[sub_o]

I think at this point, everyone is tired of hearing about this game. Release the game and then talk all you want Evolution.

I do agree that it's tire some and exhaust ing to hear them spinning the same story, I was hoping that the interview would steer the questions into something better.

 

[Zeuanimals]

Forza 5 lacks content compared to previous games. They rebuilt everything with next-gen assets and to hit the launch date, there was only so much they could do.

The microtransaction 'problem' sucked in certain ways, but it was overblown by most people, many of whom didn't know anything about Forza. And is mostly rectified already.

So yea, it was rushed, but not at the expense of gameplay or anything. Mainly in a lack of features, content and graphic polish.

I'd say that's at the expense of gameplay since content correlates to gameplay and the game was very content anemic, but the core mechanics and everything else was solid, so they didn't skimp out on that stuff. And yeah, the microtransactions stuff was overblown, it's not that hard to unlock cars with regular credits and I think they might've even dropped the prices of some cars too.

 

[king grimlock]

Don't worry they are on different platforms.

I meant I hope its good it has an established series that has proven itself to go against

 

[Megasoum]

There are circuit tracks in the game.

Where? When I asked Rushy on Twitter he said it was all custom locations.

 

[T.O.P]

Meanwhile i've been enjoying Forza 5 for about 8 months heh

Anyway it's a good thing they did this since the game seems 10 times better compared to E3 2013

 

[UnluckyKate]

Forza 5 is considered rushed? I thought that game's only real issue was the microtransaction system?

Cross gen engine, terribly inconsistent level of details for models, downgrade from early showcase... Sure the gameplay better than ever for a Forza, but it was rushed to meet day one like every day one xbo games. not doubt forza 6 will be much MUCH more ambitious and polished with a true next gen engine.

 

[manual4]

Cross gen engine, terribly inconsistent level of details for models, downgrade from early showcase... Sure the gameplay better than ever for a Forza, but it was rushed to meet day one like every day one xbo games. not doubt forza 6 will be much MUCH more ambitious and polished with a true next gen engine.

enough with the over exagerations.

 

[MADGAME]

“I suspect a lot of people think we may have compromised the gameplay experience by choosing 30fps, but we’ve spent a huge amount of time minimising the latency between the pad and what happens inside the game so you never feel disconnected, and you never feel like you’re getting a sub-par experience."

How does minimizing latency equalize 30fs to 60fps? Not bashing the game, I'm genuinely excited for it and it has been known to be 30fps for some time so not trying to kick that hornets nest, but I'm not certain I follow that logic. Low latency is great, but it won't have the effect of the screen frame motions being any more smooth so I'm wondering why the comparison regarding reduced latency was put up against framerate.

 

[BloodMoney]

He does? This is an arcade racer, not a sim, correct? I always thought awesome track themes were a key part of that experience.

Step 1 of all racing games (regardless of genre): turn off music... At least thats how I roll.

Racing music, is like an automatic transmission... All it does is detract from the enjoyment of the vehicle.

 

[Metallix87]

Cross gen engine, terribly inconsistent level of details for models, downgrade from early showcase... Sure the gameplay better than ever for a Forza, but it was rushed to meet day one like every day one xbo games. not doubt forza 6 will be much MUCH more ambitious and polished with a true next gen engine.

But that's the thing: What you're describing should still not be lumped in with Battlefield 4 in the "rushed" category.

Step 1 of all racing games (regardless of genre): turn off music... At least thats how I roll.

Racing music, is like an automatic transmission... All it does is detract from the enjoyment of the vehicle.

I can't imagine playing, say, Outrun Online Arcade with nothing but engine sounds.

 

[mrklaw]

but where is that weather video

I secretly hoped that the IGN 'first' Forza Horizon 2 article showing the rain hitting the cars would be a spur for Evo to respond with a weather video..

 

[Xav]

I was interested in the game until they announced it was 30 FPS and started lying about the PlayStation Plus side of things.

I have zero tolerance for developers who try to convince me with bullshit reasons as to why 30 FPS was the "right choice".

Even F-Zero X on N64 in 1998 knew the importance of 60 FPS. Hell, Daytona USA did it in 1993 with 40 cars on screen.

That aside I'm not really sure what DriveClub's "thing" ever was. It looks quite boring compared to the Motorstorm series.

 

[Seanspeed]

Cross gen engine, terribly inconsistent level of details for models, downgrade from early showcase... Sure the gameplay better than ever for a Forza, but it was rushed to meet day one like every day one xbo games. not doubt forza 6 will be much MUCH more ambitious and polished with a true next gen engine.

Graphics and physics engine are new.

There is also nothing 'terribly inconsistent' about the car models.

 

[Squozen]

Where? When I asked Rushy on Twitter he said it was all custom locations.

They're not real-life circuits, but they confirmed there are track locations.

 

[T.O.P]

Racing music, is like an automatic transmission... All it does is detract from the enjoyment of the vehicle.

Horizon - Underground 2 - Outrun

big ass nope imo

Sim are another thing

 

[sugarman]

yet they still have to delay something like weather for post release, makes no sense

what?? are you kidding me?

 

[edotlee]

While I'll give DriveClub a spin, I can't wait to see a next-gen Motorstorm on this engine. My eyes wouldn't be able to handle the amount of awesome on the screen. Do it Evo!

 

[p3tran]

Forza 4 had more than 600 cars with DLC, 5 has half, and some with still the same modelisation error than before, only 17 tracks, some of the key features of the previous games are just not there, and you add to that the fact that there no new feature what so ever except if you consider "drivatar" being one of them... so yes rushed.

Driveclub being polished is a good thing, but only 50 cars and 5/6 locations is quite disapoonting. :/ even if everything is beautiful.

so, you are claiming forza 5 is <<light on cars>> with a lot more than 200, while the driveclub offer is ...50?

we serious here?

and tracks, they are all redone and laserscanned. physics too.
lets see a 2013 racing game that offered 200 cars and -even- 10 laser scanned tracks for 60 bucks mister.. yeah, "no new features".. "same old modelling mistakes" most probably you dont even have forza 5 yourself...

 

[BigDug13]

what?? are you kidding me?

Are you saying this as a response to his idea that weather is super easy to implement and can simply be slapped in within a short time frame, or are you saying this in response to finding out that part is delayed?

 

[SolidSnakex]

As you can see LoudNinja, you should've left out that Forza comment.

 

[p3tran]

As you can see LoudNinja, you should've left out that Forza comment.

the comment was not done by Paul/EVO, as it it not in quotes. it is the writer of the article that writes this, and clearly he has not got a clue.