Till the reveal of Codemasters' F1 Race Stars yesterday, Forza Horizon was the racing reinvention calculated to raise eyebrows highest this year.
An open world take on the famed Xbox 360 simulation series, Horizon is designed to win over automotive neophytes without ruining the show for returning fans. Here to discuss the ins and outs is John Knowles, design director at Turn 10.
You're aiming for something a bit less demanding with Horizon. Is the handling closer to something like Burnout: Paradise, perhaps?
No, the handling model is Forza 4, it's exactly the same as that. The idea though is that we do want to keep you moving. In an open world game, you're really flying around corners at higher speeds generally, because you're not in that cadence of braking and turning. We needed to make sure that we greased the rails, so to speak, and just let you glide along. That keeps you on the road a little bit more.
We're not getting too specific about the types of cars we're having but you can bet you'll still have a wide range and diversity, a pretty large number. The main thing is that we wanted to pick the cars that felt natural for this environment.
You still have the ability to upgrade your cars, paint them however you want to just like Forza 4 so you can turn any one of these cars into a rally car or a hatchback into a 600 horsepower monster. We're pretty forgiving with it, we do let you take Lamborghinis and Ferraris, cars you would never take on a dirt road.
The surfaces feel right but the cars would probably be destroyed in real life, but we let you have fun with that. Realism doesn't always make fun - authenticity is important but so is fun.
Is there any crossover with all the car setups people have created in Forza 4?
Yes. In Forza 4 we gave you the ability to check if you had a Forza 3 save file and import all the vinyl groups you'd created and we'll be doing the same thing here, not only for Forza 4 but also for Forza 3. So anybody who's owned either or both of those games and has a save game can bring over any of the vinyl designs that they made. We'll also give you some other cool rewards too but we're still working out what those are.
How is your open world structured? Can you drive literally anywhere?
So for this demo we actually made it so if you drive off on another road you'll be turned around. In the full game we'll never do that. You're free to go wherever you want to go. There are some events, like the sanctioned festival events, that take place all over this world where it's just a free-roam world until you come across a little race sign.
Just drive up behind them, you'll get a challenge and then the two of you go to a random destination with no barriers. There's also street race-offs where you go and meet some guys who are unsanctioned racing, outside of the festival. The festival wouldn't necessarily condone that sort of thing but it's fun so these guys do it. Those races take place through traffic on these highways, no barriers, no race dressing, just the open world.
9 comments so far...
Clanger67 on 14 Jul '12 said:
Really like the sound of this.Being open world is a nice change to tracks all the time.Plus dirt roads etc. dare i say might even beat Codemasters at their own game with the new Dirt being a bit crap.Got Forza 3 and 4 so in for some rewards then as well by the sound of it,great stuff.
bamozzy on 14 Jul '12 said:
I wasn't sure what to make of this game when I first heard about it but I must say it is sounding more and more like a good and fun game and a great addition to the Forza series. It will be nice to have more diverse racing environments/surfaces than just 'tracks'
Edit:- I too have Forza 3 and 4 (as well as the first 2 as well)
Clanger67 on 14 Jul '12 said:
Never bothered with the first two.Preferred Project Gotham and Gran Turismo.Three and four are good though and really liking the sound of the direction this is taking.
Baryonyx on 14 Jul '12 said:
The video for this did look pretty poor. He says they have used the handling model from Forza 4 (good) but then essentially says that the physics have been tweaked to allow you to corner at full tilt - so essentially what he is saying is that they have taken the finely honed beauty of Forza 4's handling and devolved it into some arcade racer rubbish? Great.
Horizon had a pretty easy path to stardom. All it needed to do was to take Forza 4's cars and handling model and put it into a realistic open world, kind of like TDU (since TDU2 was pap). If they had done this, it would have been superb. I cannot escape the feeling that they have pitched this wrong in trying to attract casual sorts and they'll spoil the appeal of Forza. Fingers crossed it turns out to be great, rather than naff or average.
GHOSTY05 on 14 Jul '12 said:
Im confused, so is this like Test Drive Unlimited/need for speed?
Is it a sandbox, open world, where you pick up races?
Clanger67 on 14 Jul '12 said:
Yeah it is going to be like TDU i reckon.Not sure if you can pick up races,might be more like the first 4 except you are racing on open roads.
I hope they don't make it too arcadey as we have Need For Speed for that and they are out about the same time,end of this year.
Bubblebeard JS on 14 Jul '12 said:
when this was announced i didnt know what to expect, but its sounding like a TDU meets FORZA 4, now thats a mouth watering prospect, PROVIDING they do it right, but judging by what he has said in the interview, its all sounding very promising...
TheHunt3r_Orion on 14 Jul '12 said:
I've been following this story since day one. Been searching Google everyday now, since before E3. I was out of this world optimistic UNTIL I read the words "Some things don't make sense, like hand tuning, that didn't make sense in this game." Those words just turned this franchise into NFS. A better NFS, but NFS nonetheless. They've said it themselves! Forza is a different driving experience, and no matter how much they don't want to believe it, it was the tuning that is the core of this franchise. Talk to any Forza fan. They'll mention tuning first. So in essence, they're gutting what made Forza better than the rest. And I'm a mad Forza fan. I'd slap anyone who dares say there is a better racing game. But those words...And after all my mouth running, defending Horizon. You guys just turned Forza into a slightly better NFS, and that's not what we Forza racers want. Remotely. We are the most adamant defenders of this franchise, and not afraid to run our mouths. We get the word out.
By some fluke that this gets to you guys at Forza, please take notice. Take a poll if you have to and figure it out. But do not take our tuning away. It's what makes every single racer different and every race great. I hope this if figured out and the right thing is done. Afterall, you did promise to turn every gamer into a car enthusiast and every car enthusiast into a gamer. It'll work if you guys get it right.
B Wald Big Mek on 15 Jul '12 said:
Y'all should check out the forums on Forzamotorsport.net for tons of info and speculation about this game. They have a forum dedicated to it and everything, with discussions about what is confirmed or not, and links to E3 videos.