It’s no secret that Turn10 and Microsoft is working on Forza Motorsport 6. But to date we haven’t had any information to go on except that it will feature the Ford Performance series as the lead automotive partner.
This weekend there was some leaks from a Japanese site that detailed some interesting tidbits and we’ll analyze what they mean below.
Glorious 1080p
When the Xbox One was revealed in 2013 the first game that was outed as 1080p 60FPS was Forza 5, and it remained the best performing racing game to date. Games like Project Cars and Driveclub certainly attempted to hit that on their respective platforms but failed.
Racing games are meant to be played at 1080p 60FPS and Microsoft knows this. The Japanese site did however state 50FPS. However this is universally accepted as a typo. I do believe that a 50FPS lock will be implemented mainly because of the online component. You do have the option to unlock the framerate between 50 and 60 FPS if you so wish. But we would hope that Turn10 ensured a stable framerate throughout the game.
Don’t rain on my parade
When Forza Horizon 2 was released it ushered in a new era of racers on consoles. Gone were the days when racing games like Need for Speed showed you a wet car but no rain. Forza Horizon 2 had the most demanding weather systems that were dynamic. It even featured a dynamic atmosphere. It’s only reasonable that Playground would share this technology with Turn10.
Weather have been a stalwart of racing games since then with Project Cars and Driveclub eventually implementing it too. I however don’t see the point in having a high speed race during a rainstorm, because of the next point.
3D Puzzles (I mean Puddles)
The leaks also stated that the game will have 3D Puddles. In prior racing games such as Driveclub when the road got wet your car would universally become unstable regardless whether your car was driving on dry asphalt or through a huge puddle in the road. With Forza Horizon 2 they experimented with the three dimensional road.
When it rained in Forza Horizon 2, the rain was regarded as a separate entity and ‘filled’ in cracks in the road. However this did not affect your driving ability. Anyone who has used a car in a rainstorm will attest that when driving through a puddle it severely affects your speed and handling. It’s only fitting that the best racing game on any platform will implement this system when weather effects come into play.
You get a car, and you get a car. Everyone gets a car
When Forza 5 was released it was skewered for having such a limited selection of cars (around 200). Since then racing games have skimped on the selection of available cars to the point where you can choose between a BMW and a Mercedes. Forza also got scolded for using paid DLC to introduce more cars. I for one don’t like this system however I won’t mind paying for additional cars a year after release if something cool comes along.
So in that light Forza 6 will have the largest selection of detailed cars of any racing game. And we’re not talking about cars being copied from Forza 5. Each car will have ForzaVista enabled which means that you can walk around your car and view it like it’s in the showroom floor. Porsche also signed a deal with Microsoft (possibly due to Microsoft and EA being so close these days and EA games usually always having exclusive rights to Porsche) and we will finally see the real deal when it comes to Porsche vehicles. 911 Turbo anyone?
Forza is known for their immaculate eye for detail when it comes to cars, and I can’t wait to have a go at it.
Dying Light
For the first time in Forza history, it will have Day/Night cycles. This was a dream racing fans have had for a long time and I do hope they don’t have strange cycles where the night comes along after 3 minutes of racing (you started at noon).
I can see 24 hour racing events becoming a thing in Forza Motorsport 6.
Bumper Car Simulator
Online racing games have always been a hit miss situation. When I attempted the online feature in Forza 5, the gamers I raced against may have had several consecutive seizures during the race because I found myself in some wall with 5 cars that crashed into me for no apparent reason.
Forza 6 will introduce a 23 player online racing simulator. Project Cars attempted a 45 car pileup but we know this had an adverse effect on the playability of the game especially with weather enabled. Forza have always been about decent framerates so it makes sense that they lowered the online racing car limit.
Who wants to play 45 bumper car simulator anyway?
Count the leaves of grass
Forza have been at the forefront of graphics fidelity in racing games since the release of Forza 4. Forza 6 will introduce even more detailed tracks and cars thanks to their new engine ForzaTech. With the release of DirectX 12 upon us I believe that this game will be the first of many DirectX optimized games. Tracks will feature detailed podiums, road surfaces, and you’ll be able to see the sweat running down the spectators faces when you crash into a wall.
Forza is expected to implement realistic damage to cars as well. It has been a dream of mine for years to be able to play a simulation game that will show your mangled car when you crash into a barrier. Forza 5 had some damage, and Driveclub had a texture overlay that ‘simulated’ scratched surfaces (even your lights get the metallic scratch marks). It always left me wanting more. Forza 6 will finally reveal a true simulator will true damage.
Winning
Microsoft is expected to reveal more at E3 on the 15th of June. Will we see all these amazing things and then some? Most likely. Turn10 is known for their amazing quality and eye for detail and Forza Motorsport will show the world why Forza is the highest rated racing game franchise that ever existed.
