Forza Horizon 5

[Commander S]

Half-suspected that this might be one of the Series 10 cars, since "Odyssey 21" is another name that showed up in the updated licences a while back (and also because the "Horizon X" placeholder name for Series 10 actually shows as literally "Extreme E" in some languages), but here's confirmation: the Spark Racing Technology Odyssey 21 (i.e., the electric rally raid used for Extreme E) is going to be coming next update:

 

 

They're all the same model (all Extreme E teams just use the Odyssey 21, with the option for cosmetic mods), so I'm assuming the manufacturer colours will include all those racing liveries - I figured they'd just go with the promo/prototype look, as driven by Ken Block, so that'd be cool if true.

 

Also, there's a special launch day stream for the Hot Wheels expansion, live from the Petersen Museum (which has a Forza Horizon 5 exhibit, and houses a bunch of Hot Wheels replicas, including a Twin Mill). Wonder if they'll have stuff like the Deora II on show as well...

 

 

[Jason]

The full map has been released/leaked/found:

 

Spoiler

 

Honestly really looking forward to it. The map looks like it'll be a lot of fun to blast around, looking forwarding to unlocking all the roads, finding all the new boards etc.

[Plage]

I wouldn't call that "roads".

[Jason]

you know what I mean m8

[Commander S]

Well, "track" - plus dirt trails, too. Here's the clearest look at the map (from Twitter - open it up in a new tab for the 1080p version), and you can juuust make out the off-road areas carved into the three 'landmasses':

 

 

 

Possible new contender for most infuriating "drive on every road on the map" achievement?

[Jason]

7 minutes ago, Commander S said:

Well, "track" - plus dirt trails, too. Here's the clearest look at the map (from Twitter - open it up in a new tab for the 1080p version), and you can juuust make out the off-road areas carved into the three 'landmasses':

 

 

 

Possible new contender for most infuriating "drive on every road on the map" achievement?

 

Someone never played TDU2 with two giant maps with loads of little tiny niggly off-roads that you could miss a tiny sliver off and not notice. 

[Commander S]

3 minutes ago, Jason said:

 

Someone never played TDU2 with two giant maps with loads of little tiny niggly off-roads that you could miss a tiny sliver off and not notice. 

 

 

It's always the off-road areas, isn't it? I laugh every time I check something like the /forza subreddit, and there'll be someone trying to check off the last couple of roads from Horizon 3 - Pink Lakes, every time...

[Jason]

58 minutes ago, Commander S said:

It's always the off-road areas, isn't it? I laugh every time I check something like the /forza subreddit, and there'll be someone trying to check off the last couple of roads from Horizon 3 - Pink Lakes, every time...

 

Off-roads as in tiny little roads like drive ways is what I meant specifically, I remember TDU2's Ibiza having a really rough one that was so easy to miss. TDU2's Hawaii was insane though, giant map with already a ton of tarmac roads from the first game and then they went and added a sh*t ton of dirt roads. I know I 100%'d Hawaii in the first game, and 100%'d Ibiza in the second, but I don't remember if Iever 100%'d Hawaii in TDU2 cause it was that insane. Fond memories of the early TDU2 days driving the Veyron SS blasting around the maps unlocking all the roads for fast travel though.

[Commander S]

...yeah, no - counting driveways as 'roads' for the purposes of 'drive down every road in the game' is the mark of a sadist. And now I'm dreading TDU3 - just imagine doing that with every square inch of Kennedy Town...

[Jason]

TDU3 better be full of them, I wouldn't have it any other way.

[Commander S]

...hmm - so the Extreme E Odyssey 21s are separate cars, and basically the only all-new cars this season. Bit of a bummer (just give me the e-tron GT already), but shouldn't have been surprising: I imagine Extreme E wanted sole focus as part of the promotion, and it's probably better to save stuff like the Rivian to headline a series (I suspect that things like that and the e-tron will come one per series, and get featured for that series' Forza EV rivals event).

 

That, and it's not like they had an entirely separate team working on the Hot Wheels stuff, so 14 all-new cars in one month was probably too optimistic! Instead, they've done the logical thing, most likely to get good mileage out of pre-existing stuff while the focus was on the expansion: the four regular series reward cars are returning Porsches from FH4 (917 "Pink Pig", Gunther Werks Carrera 2, Singer DLS - and the 356 Emory Special). I'll always take more Porsches (particularly the Singer!), and most of them were reward cars relatively well into FH4's lifespan, so it'll be nice to get more mileage out of 'em.

 

...still, point stands: gimme that e-tron, PG!

 

[update] Oh, nice: unlike with the FH3 Hot Wheels expansion, the Hot Wheels red stripe tyres are getting added as standard for all players, rather than just as a paid feature. Same for the Spectraflame paints - and they're the actual Hot Wheels colours, not just another customisable paint finish. That's better than I was expecting - I thought it'd just end up looking barely distinguishable from the "metal flake" look in most cases, so it's nice they included the proper unique colours.

 

[another update] ...okay, so they're adding new metal flake options as well as the preset Spectraflame colours - presumably that'll allow for custom Spectraflame 'lacquer-on-zinc' finishes. And they're loosening the restrictions on seasonal PR stunts, too - so they'll still be capped to PI rating (not completely open, like in FH4), but they won't be locked to certain cars or classes for Series 10 (and I'm guessing from now on). Suits me, since I much prefer seeing which stock car works best for the job, rather than just slapping a tune on something.

Edited July 18 by Commander S

[Jason]

 

It's good fun... as expected, really. FH5 + a crazy map was never gonna be a crock of sh*te. Enjoying the racing and the various track types, the water flume one is a lot of fun.

 

What's potentially interesting is that PG have long used the DLC to test ideas for the next game and one of FH5's big complaints was the lack of progression - or rather how easy it was to quickly destroy any sense of it. With the HW DLC they've gated higher class cars behind a GT style license system, and also done a Lego DLC style bricks/medal system on top of that to make a sorta new system that's a bit like the middle ground of the Lego brick system and the FH5 accolade system.

 

I'm enjoying it, though I'm not so sure I'd want the same progression in a main game.

[GAUNTLET HELLFIRE]

I enjoyed the Hot Wheels expansion but I'm a bit disapponted. I have almost finished it already I just need to do the clean laps on rivals, 80km Horizon tour and 40km Horizon open and I'll have all achievements and have done everything. It was also way too easy I got 3 stars on the PR stunts, qualifier events and the story first time without even trying. The achievements are boring with all except the stunt jump in the VW just being playing the game. The Horizon 3 achievements were far better with them being for doing certain things with certain cars.  

[Dock]

Pretty great DLC; I can finally retire FH3 from my PC now lol    It tops the old version quite handily

 

As Gauntlet said, it is quite short if youre only interested in PvE, but PvP racing has been amazing (and chaotic)   Still, doesn't really justify why it took this long to release if its content be finished in 1-2 days of casual play

 

Also its been a loooong time since Ive seen Rivals boards be this empty lol; I think most players just picked S2 for completing the HW challenges

 

 

And as is tradition, another DLC car is now meta for Online: the Bad to the Blade holds the world record for S2 circuit racing now

[Commander S]

Had a couple of short evenings with it, and it's fun - and interesting from a 'let's work out what PG is trying out with it' perspective, definitely. The progression is rather good: a mix of the specificity of Brick Challenges (and not that longer-term scope of Accolades, which feel like Brick Challenges crossed with the FH4 Star Card system) and FH3 Hot Wheels' progression, with a return to "earn medals to unlock the next tier". The whole 'locking you out of higher PI ratings until you rank up' thing is maybe a bit restrictive for some, but I get the intent, and it helps with the pacing, since you can't just jump straight in an S2/X thing and whizz around as soon as you're past the intro.

 

Also, as much as I absolutely get the value of things like the horizon angle indicator and the 'stunt assist' mode (which solves issues some people had with FH3 Hot Wheels), I'm glad they made that obvious and easy to disable - same with how they tell you what the regular FOV settings are, because while I see what they were going for with the wider FOV, that rectilinear distortion look just does my eyes in after a while.

 

The cars are great, and I like how you have to unlock them through challenges - and it's a small thing, but I think it's neat how you get a different set of race suit/helmet/t-shirt/etc. for each tier colour (orange, pink, blue, etc.) as you climb the ranks. I almost wish they'd auto-equipped the corresponding race suit as standard each time you qualify, lol. In fact, it's the cosmetic details that I'm appreciating a lot so far - like being able to see Mexico underneath (complete with street lights being visible at night!), or the visible Helicarrier-like superstructure bits around the outside of the platforms:

 

 

[Jason]

Game seems a bit more crashy than it was pre-update. It's always been good for a completely random crash (especially if you ever alt tab out of the game) but it seems a wee bit more sensitive atm.

 

Think it's a bit cheap that they're farming out the Extreme E cars over the series as rewards when in reality it's just one car, but ah well, there's still some other new cars in the playlist. Like that the HW challenges compliment the current crop, rather than them being separate like the DLC ones were in FH4.

 

The new trial system continues to be arse, by the way. The biggest threat to me not beating the AI is either me missing a checkpoint or team mates crashing me out, cause the AI are a non-issue.

[Commander S]

I get the impression that Extreme E really wanted this to be a showcase, rather than just letting PG put the Odyssey 21 in there and have done - hence why not only having the entire grid in there, but doing the Forza Motorsport thing of having them as individual cars, so that you get the full line-up in a race, rather than just a dozen all with the most common livery. Except there's still the issue that there are 10 teams, and Forza defaults to 12 cars in races, so you still get two cars doubled up in each race and ...ehh, it's fine...  And at least the Odyssey is fun to drive - used it for some of the Hazard Sprint Hot Wheels races, and it just doesn't lose speed at all off road.

 

On a related note, I'm getting exasperated by louder voices in FH community circles moaning about "copy-paste" vehicles, like the Porsches this series, just because they've been in a previous game - aside from the implication that there's no effort involved (it's basically another variation of "lazy devs!", which in turn is code for "I don't know anything about game development!"), it also shouldn't be surprising that they'd make use of returning cars at the same time as releasing an expansion (complete with 10 all-new cars in it). That's not new, either: see Series 10 for FH4, where the only new car was the Rimac, and the main focus was Lego Speed Champions. I see people say that "those cars should have been in the game at launch", and ...what? So you were really expecting all 700-ish cars from FH4 at launch, and four cars a month from Day 1, without fail? It's like how Pokémon fans seemingly want every Pokémon from all previous games included with any new game, plus an entire roster of new ones on top - not considering that if that were the case, things would get ridiculously unwieldy after just a few games. It's just so exasperating...

[Jason]

The similar models and returning cars are sort of annoying at times especially when they are very basic variants but for the most part it's not a real issue for me.

 

FH's only mtx being a car pass and expansions (and some pointless convenience stuff you can just Google) is something that gets easily forgotten, I think. They break stuff and and make mistakes but PG's support of FH is absolutely fine IMO. Worse games get supported with less and yet still go ham with monetisation.

 

Edit: yea, jesus, the DLC/update made the game hella unstable. Map changes causing crashes consistently for me to the point I'm currently held hostage on the HW map while trying to go back to Mexico to do the weeklies.

 

Edit2: I think it's the HW Nexus, the hub place. Just played fine and and then fast travelled back to it to do a PR stunt and then insta crashed.

[Aquamaniac]

Is the 2015 Dodge Charger included in the base game or would I need DLC content?

[Ivan1997GTA]

57 minutes ago, Aquamaniac said:

Is the 2015 Dodge Charger included in the base game or would I need DLC content?

You mean the Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat? It has been included as standard since FH3, after appearing as a DLC car in FM6.

Edited July 30 by Ivan1997GTA

[Commander S]

Yeah - 80,000 credits (assuming you don't get a free one from a wheelspin). The Forza wiki is good for listing unlock requirements - particularly so if you want to keep track of things that you can only get from the seasonal events.

[Plage]

PBLN #980

[Jason]

I'm all for sports like Extreme E getting into FH, but yea I aint feeling how they've done it for this month. One of the reasons I enjoy seasonal events is using them to try out new cars that I've not used before but they're all requiring Extreme E cars which are all identical.

[Plage]

[Commander S]

On 8/2/2022 at 4:07 PM, Jason said:

I'm all for sports like Extreme E getting into FH, but yea I aint feeling how they've done it for this month. One of the reasons I enjoy seasonal events is using them to try out new cars that I've not used before but they're all requiring Extreme E cars which are all identical.

 

 

Same - at least there's one regular championship each week (plus the Hot Wheels ones), and this week's EventLab feature is ...actually good!  It's a properly-designed circuit - like the sort of things the dedicated GTAO track creators come up with, only with better props.

 

With the Extreme E thing, I know it was probably something PG could do quickly and still have a proper theme while the main focus was on Hot Wheels this month, but I think they could have made even more out of it. For instance, they could have done like the Horizon World Cup, and have players rep one of the 10 teams all month: instead of having the cars as seasonal rewards, make them all Autoshow cars, make the first one free (so people can pick their team of choice), and then whichever car you use for the Extreme E championships counts towards the community scoreboard. Something like that would have been better for getting players to engage with the whole thing - maybe that'd have been seen as potentially overshadowing the expansion launch, though.

 

I do rather like the Odyssey 21, though - it's a decent cross-country tank, but it just glides over dirt roads (joys of being heavy, squat, and with cushiony suspension and oodles of torque), so it's almost best treated like a massive rally car. I've enjoyed the Wilds races more than the Baja ones - although last week wasn't helped by some genius at PG deciding to set the Extreme E circuit races to one lap...

[Plage]

This weeks EventLab creation is actually quite nice. Except for the sound the surface actually makes but the creator really put a good track together. Drove it with my "El Rudo".

 

[Jason]

Couldn't enjoy this weeks cause I looked at the track on the map and thought it was off-road so did it with something geared for off-road that couldn't turn on the track. 

[Ivan1997GTA]

Do you think there will be a Horizon Story based on the Grand Tour, with the player taking part in the misadventures of Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May? The previous game had a storyline based around Top Gear with Chris Harris as narrator and the player taking control of the Stig, and Forza Motorsport 4 had Jeremy Clarkson as the narrator for the Autovista. I doubt that it'll happen, but I think it would be cool if Playground Games could get the OG Top Gear trio to voice fictional versions of themselves in FH5.

 

Granted, the Grand Tour had its own video game adaptation several years ago, but it was pretty meh.

Edited August 21 by Ivan1997GTA

[Jason]

Sadly I think we're at the end of the Hammond, Clarkson and May era of motoring shows, I think they've maybe got a few years of specials left at most before they retire from the show (and May has hinted as much) where they will then move full time onto their own things like Clarkson's Farm, Hammond's workshop, etc. So I don't think there's gonna be any interest in anything like that anymore from them, nor do I think Amazon will have any interest in pushing for it.

[Commander S]

To think: Tesla hasn't been in the games since Horizon 3, and Jeremy Clarkson since Motorsport 4. If Playground/Turn 10 can avoid breaking either streak, I'd be very grateful, ta!

 

In any case, I don't think it's likely - Amazon Games seem like they're one foot in the grave right now, but until they give up the ghost completely, I don't seen them licensing out an Amazon show to a non-Amazon developer. Besides, there's already been news of an upcoming (October-December-ish) Horizon Story themed around automotive punditry, similar to the Top Gear Special in FH4, so I think that's going to be the equivalent this time around.

 

In case anyone missed it:

 

Spoiler

...it's Donut Media:

 

 

 

Possibly controversial - if only because that might not be the most exciting car lineup ever. If that's indeed the "HiLow" cars (and trucks), then that's two custom 1st-gen Tacomas, two custom 350Zs (all four of which have been seen at the Petersen Museum - probably for scanning, same time as doing the Hot Wheels replicas, even), a rally-modded E36 saloon, and a track day "money pit" MX-5. Aside from the Tacomas, I suspect the rest are similar enough to existing FH5 cars that they're not going to go down that well with fans - particularly in the case of the 350Zs, I forsee more "copy-paste" accusations, even though those will have needed scanning/recording from scratch, like any all-new car.

 

That last part is the real question, though: i.e., for what little they're likely to add to the game, was it really worth doing 'new to Forza' levels of work for those cars? Probably not, IMO - not compared to unique things like the Project E-AT and Track-Tor with the Top Gear story. I know they're Donut's best-known cars, but ...that just makes me wonder if they should have gone for a collaboration guaranteed to include some more interesting cars...