Forza Motorsport is staging a comeback after a six-year hiatus and multiple entries in the Forza Horizon series. As a racing enthusiast dating back to the first Gran Turismo, I have noticed the evolution and stagnation within the genre. However, Forza Motorsport is refining the racing sim formula by enhancing its career mode’s gameplay loop and driver AI behavior.
During Summer Game Fest, I received a hands-off demo of Forza Motorsport, where the focus was on the Builder’s Cup Series, a career-style mode with racing events featuring certain conditions, restrictions, and challenges. Car Points serve as the game’s currency, which allows players to pick and choose upgrades for their vehicles without committing to them.
The Car Points system is not just a minor change; it shifts the focus to building a car correctly instead of buying your way to victory. It helps players mitigate the grind for cash that other sims have. For example, players can spend Car Points on better tires and suspension for tracks with tight corners, then switch to engine upgrades to improve top speed on races with long straightaways. The system allows players to retool their upgrades on their current car to better fit the tracks.
Upgrading the driver AI is another focus area for Forza Motorsport. The game utilizes machine learning to create smarter and more realistic AI drivers, emulating professional drivers’ behavior more accurately. For instance, when opposing drivers make a mistake, they are “timid” rather than “sloppy.” The AI driver will back off or slow down when the player blocks them out of a corner for an overtake, rather than slamming into the player.
Forza Motorsport also grades players’ driving skills with the Car Mastery feature, rewarding players for skillful driving instead of just focusing on taking first place. The game encourages players to be a skilled driver throughout the race and to drive their way to victory.
Other Forza Motorsport features include updated physics simulation, dynamic weather, and a day-night cycle. While anything tied to progression requires an online connection, the future of racing sims lies in the small changes that lead to significant improvements. We will be able to see these improvements in action when Forza Motorsport is released on October 10, 2023, for Xbox Series X|S and PC.
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Eugen Boglaru is an AI aficionado covering the fascinating and rapidly advancing field of Artificial Intelligence. From machine learning breakthroughs to ethical considerations, Eugen provides readers with a deep dive into the world of AI, demystifying complex concepts and exploring the transformative impact of intelligent technologies.
