Forza Motorsport Behind-Closed-Doors Impressions: If You Build it, They Will Race

There’s very little in Forza Motorsport that hasn’t been stripped down, reimagined, and improved. Graphics, physics, multiplayer, player scoring, and car building are all redesigned in the next-gen reboot of Turn 10’s long-running racing sim. But the development team seems to be most focused on the last part: building the car.

“You don’t buy cars, you build them,” says game director Chris Esaki. So what does he mean by that? First, car points (CP) are the currency used to purchase cars and parts, but they do not disappear after use. Instead, the parts retain their value. In other words, Turn 10 encourages repeated tinkering and modding so that cars can be tailored to specific races and tracks by allowing CP to be recovered when parts are removed. So you don’t have to constantly struggle through races just to continually earn his CP in order to get the next upgrade on your wishlist.

I also really like the new ways to earn CP. Of course, winning races certainly helps, but now you can choose your position on the starting grid. The further back you are in the field, the more CP you will earn for finishing on the podium at the end of the race. Turn 10 has also reimagined how clean driving is handled. “Think of corners like monsters and enemies,” said Esaki in games other than racing. This means that each corner will now be scored, so as you exit each corner, the top right corner of the UI will tell you how close you are to your limits and how much you’ve improved. I left to reach the place the next lap.

Open practice mode allows you to take your build to the track and test it out before taking it to the real race. Running a practice lap will make it clear if you’ve tuned the car the way you want it, or if you need to go back to the garage and tweak one of Forza Motorsport’s many categories. Fuel & Air, Engine, Menus include Platform & Handling, Tires & Rims, Drivetrain, Aero, Appearance, and there may be more hidden in there.

On the other hand, with Forza Motorsport’s simulation focus, as you’d expect, all difficulty settings, including rules and regulations, can be changed. You can toggle between superficial or real damage, tire realism, simulated fuel, and more. Many of these are not new to motorsports, but they are great to see. And when you hit the track, even in his mode of single-player career, the actual race will be with your friend his Drivatar. Related to that, the AI ​​has been completely rewritten. Turn 10 says AI drivers are now as fast as the fastest drivers in the real world and don’t play tricks like rubber bands.

Oh, and the tire model has been completely rewritten. Whereas in previous motorsport matches there was one contact point for each tire, now he has eight. That data is updated six times more frequently, promising a more realistic moment-to-moment experience. The team has also redone the suspension, weight and aeromodelling, and Turn 10 (as I haven’t been allowed to play myself yet) feels very authentic with the car and very connected to the track. said. A new dynamic day-night cycle allows, as Esaki puts it, “no two laps do the same thing, [and] No two wraps look alike. “I was shown a demo of this and it was certainly very impressive.