So a long time ago when I had too much spare time on my hands I always kind of intended to make a website that defined the “perfect racing game” to me. Don’t know why, just had a lot of ideas from playing 7 iterations of the Forza franchise plus Gran Turismo before that and I just wanted to put them in physical form. I never got around to it but I did start to do it at one point. In cleaning out some old stuff I found this text file on my computer which was the start of that website (which was never finished). Just want to post it here so that I feel like I actually did something with it instead of having it be a huge waste of time. Maybe somebody will see this and it will at least spark a creative idea or something, or maybe not… at least I did something with it finally instead of letting it rot on my cloud drive without ever being read by anybody else!
NOTE: I think I originally wrote this prior to FM7 so some of the stuff in here might not be relevant or might be outdated (like the Hoonicorn).
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FORZA X
TECHNICAL NOTE DISCLAIMER
I am not a software engineer. I do have some very limited background in general programming but none whatsoever in game programming, graphics, etc. I also do not have any information pertaining to the underpinnings and internal methods of Forza Motorsport. I understand that some of what I suggest may be technically impossible without complete redesign of the underlying systems within the game which may be unfeasible. For the purpose of creativity, I’ve opted to present these ideas provided that they fall within the realm of reasonability. I have attempted to stay away from the ludicrous while maintaining a well grounded sense of imagination.
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LOADING SCREENS
OPTION 1: USER GENERATED PHOTOGRAPHY
Historically, the Forza franchise has used static images of each track as it loads. Although not excessive, track loading has always been lengthy and after several races the images become boring and the loading screen seems to last forever to the user.
Pre-FM5 there was an excellent interface (storefronts) for players to share their photography and have it rated by the community. This made it possible to have leaderboards and “most popular” photos within the game.
In Forza X, loading screens would utilize the most popular of these photos over the past X number of weeks, presenting fresh “eye candy” for the player to view while waiting for tracks to load.
[EXAMPLE IMAGE - LOADING SCREEN PHOTOS]
→ SUBOPTION 1 (GLOBAL PHOTO CAROUSEL) Once per week (or per month) FMX checks the server for an updated photo set at player login. If the server returns that the photo carousel has been updated, the game downloads the new images in the background and swaps the photo set on the client once complete. The photo set would consist of the 20-30 most popular images over the most recent period. Curation of photos by the studio is also an option, however would be discouraged due to the need for continued curation throughout the life of the game.
→ SUBOPTION 2 (PER TRACK PHOTO CAROUSEL): For each track, the photos used during the loading screen would be limited to photos taken on that specific track by users, keeping the theme track-specific. The drawbacks to this method would be bandwidth (as downloading images for multiple tracks would be more bandwidth intensive and could be wasteful if a player does not play the tracks for which images have been downloaded). Optimization in relation to which photos are being updated could mitigate some of these issues significantly.
→ SUBOPTION 3 (PLAYER SELECTED CAROUSEL): This option is optimal for several reasons First, it reduces the use of bandwidth by that subset of players who do not have any desire to customize the loading screens. Second, it encourages players to become involved in the viewing and rating of photography who would not otherwise have ventured into this area of the game. This would introduce the photography aspect to a new audience and potentially improve player retention (and therefore continued franchise and DLC purchases) Third, it allows the player to customize their game with content that they find personally appealing.
The player would add images to their personal “collection” from the storefront (or any photo interface). The images would then be saved on the client console for inclusion in the photo carousel. The game would provide a “Manage Photo Collection” UI which would present a grid view of all saved images for disposal as desired.
[EXAMPLE IMAGE - MANAGE PHOTO COLLECTION]
→ RESOURCE ANALYSIS: A sample 1920 x 1080 JPEG screenshot from FH2 was downloaded from a user post on /r/Forza. This image was 471KB in size and is assumed to be unmodified and full quality. A carousel of 30 images would require 14.13 MB of bandwidth. HOWEVER, the image was loaded into Photoshop and saved as a JPEG at 70% quality which rendered a much smaller version with negligible different in graphic fidelity and a new file size of 194 KB. A carousel of optimized images such as this would require approximately 5.8 MB of bandwidth for a full update. To further optimize bandwidth usage, the number of photos could be reduced to 20, which would result in approximately 3.9 MB of bandwidth per update while still providing a large enough number of photos to keep the content fresh. A player selected carousel would eliminate the direct usage of bandwidth (since the player has already downloaded and viewed photos which are added to the selection).
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RACE HAULER
Inclusion of a custom race hauler could be utilized in a number of ways:
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As an alternative to UGC loading screens as previously discussed (a side-view cut scene of the hauler riding down the freeway could be shown with the moving background provided by pre-rendered video file).
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At the conclusion of a race during result screens.
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As part of the background in a “home screen”.
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As part of the race start animation/transition (showing the player’s vehicle being rolled out of the hauler).
The player should be permitted to fully paint/vinyl the race hauler (or at a minimum, the trailer) in the same way that cars are painted. Additionally, these liveries should be shareable in the same way that vehicle liveries are shared.
ADDITIONAL REVENUE OPPORTUNITY: Inclusion of race hauler DLC would be an excellent value-added addition to DLC packs, or could be sold as additional DLC. Since there is no need for the interiors or internal systems to be fully modeled the production of these assets would be significantly less labor intensive than that of a player vehicle. Additionally, if licensing cost is prohibitive, the haulers could be designed in-house as generic models.
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ACHIEVEMENTS
Historically, the achievements in the Forza franchise have been uninspired and formulaic. Obtaining 100% completion has become somewhat of a grind and can be unenjoyable, especially now that completion of each iteration is reinforced by Forza Rewards.
Achievements should reward an actual achievement, otherwise they would be more accurately described as “milestones”. While milestone achivements don’t have to be completely eliminated, they should at least be supplemented with a significant number of more entertaining or aspirational achievements. Achievements should generally meet at least one or two of the following criteria:
- Entertaining
- Difficult to obtain (NOTE: not through grinding)
- Push the player into other areas of the game (i.e. - Photography or Livery Design)
- Humorous
Some examples of improved achievements:
PUDDLE JUMPER - Hit all 500 puddles on the Nürburgring.
HOLD MY BEER - Cross the finish line on your roof.
SHOWOFF - Win a race by crossing the finish line in reverse.
THE JACKALOPE - Set a leaderboard time in the top 20% of any class on any track.
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CIRCUIT DECALS
This is a trivial addition which falls firmly within the category of “Fluff”. FMX would have a full selection of circuit decals (Example: http://www.trackdecals.com) representing each circuit in the game, unlockable upon some set of applicable criteria. For example, completing 50 laps total of Laguna Seca (cumulative over any number of events) would unlock the Laguna Seca decal for use by the player on his/her vehicles.
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EVENT SPONSORSHIP (REVENUE OPPORTUNITY)
Some additional revenue could be gained from sponsorship of events. This could take the form of major sponsorships which would cover a championship series in Career Mode (i.e. “Magnaflow Modern Muscle Championship”) or recurring minor sponsorships for temporary events (monthly challenges, etc.). The vast majority of players are not opposed to in-game advertising provided that it is done in a realistic and not overly intrusive manner.
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ONE-STEP VINYL BORDERS (*SEE TECHNICAL NOTE DISCLAIMER)
Borders are used extensively by livery artists and are traditionally created by copying a vinyl group and manually expanding the underlying shapes to create the border. There are two major drawbacks to this method; first being the layer usage and the second (more serious) issue being the difficulty of proportional expansion of some shapes (most notably the dreaded letter “S”).
One-step vinyl bordering would have the system look at the vinyl group being bordered and form a new single vinyl layer which expands the border layer proportionally by an amount selectable by the user.
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VIEW OPPONENT LIVERIES WITHIN MULTIPLAYER LOBBIES
For those of us who are inclined towards impatience, lobby wait times can be excruciatingly painful. FMX would help alleviate some of the boredom involved in waiting out a countdown clock by allowing the lobby members to examine their opponent’s vehicles (including liveries) while they wait. Or at a minimum, a static representation of the opponent’s vehicle (as in FM3’s car selection UI).
[EXAMPLE IMAGE - fmx-lobbyview.jpg]
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PAINTABLE WINDOWS
A race car without any vinyls whatsoever on windows/windshields is a rarity. Allowing the use of vinyl on side windows and the windscreen seems to be a basic necessity within a platform such as the Forza series.
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RACE NUMBER DECALS
A staple of any organized race is the number placard which appears on the doors, hood and trunk of all cars in the race. FMX would apply this placard dynamically to each car in any organized race (not for “track day” events, etc.) upon loading of the game assets. Each major race series within the game would have its own decal design based on the sponsors and title for the series (see “Event Sponsorship” section).
To prevent this decal from interfering with custom liveries, FMX will have a special “placeholder” vinyl layer which would permit the painter to specify the location of this decal by applying this placeholder in the vinyl editor in all applicable areas of the car. If the placeholder layer is not applied, the game engine will place it in a default location on the car. The placeholder layer is invisible in-game, therefore in events where numbers are not assigned, the placeholder layer would not be rendered by the game engine.
Additionally, windshield banners for major race series are generated and placed in the same manner (although the placeholder layer is not necessary for these).
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PHOTO MODE TOGGLES
FMX would offer toggles for certain assets during the use of Photo Mode. These assets would include:
- Driver On/Off(only when the car is stationary when entering Photo Mode)
- Crowds On/Off
- Doors Open/Closed (only when stationary)
- Hood Open/Closed (only when stationary)
- Race Numbers On/Off (see “Race Number Decals” section)
This would open many possibilities for Forza photographers and increase interest in this aspect of the game.
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SPECIAL “TRACK PHOTOGRAPHY MODE”
FMX would allow the player to start a track in “Photography Mode”. This would be a special mode which allows the player additional latitude in composing photos.
The first major difference between a track in standard racing mode and photography mode would be that in photography mode there are several barriers on each track which are opened to allow the player to access off-track areas (i.e. pit lane without tricks, the individual pit garages, parking lots, fields, etc.).
The second major difference is that in photography mode the player would be permitted to select multiple cars to load the track with and would be given the ability to switch between controlling each car to place them as desired along the track. This would make it possible to compose photos of multiple stationary cars at the same time without the assistance of a multiplayer lobby or Photoshop trickery.
Additionally, the location of the camera in this mode would not be anchored by the player location. The player would have free movement in and around the entire track in order to facility photography of scenery.
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MULTIPLE TRIM LEVELS FOR EACH VEHICLE
A significant amount of work goes into the modeling of each vehicle for the game. It seems to be a waste of effort not to leverage this work into representing multiple trim levels for each vehicle. Most visual differences among these levels are minor and could be considered modular (i.e. - a different front bumper piece, addition of a spoiler, slightly different hood, different side emblem, etc.) and if the game assets are structured in a manner to permit it, these pieces could be swapped out by the game engine in the same way that bodykits are swapped currently.
For example, the 2015 Ford Mustang comes in 6 different major trim levels (not including “Premium” trims which are aesthetic/interior items only):
- V6 Fastback
- V6 Convertible
- 4-Cylinder EcoBoost Fastback
- 4-Cylinder EcoBoost Convertible
- GT Fastback
- GT Convertible
Each of these models offers different weight/power/performance characteristics which would be represented in FMX.
Additionally, interim model years and special editions would be represented in FMX to allow the player an increased probability of being able to recreate “their car” in FMX. Many of these interim model years would require negligible research and asset development to recreate. For example, the only real difference between a 1999 Ford Mustang (V6 Model) and a 2001 Ford Mustang was that the power output was increased from 190HP to 193HP. There were also three special models during this generation which could be included with minimal effort: the Bullitt, the Mach 1 and the Cobra.
Another benefit of this would be drastic increases to the car count of each iteration of the series. 400 cars becomes 1,200 cars (a la Gran Turismo) with ease. Although this is a petty factor for many of us, it does look good on a game cover when sitting on a store shelf and it does scratch the itch of those of us who are a bit on the obsessive-compulsive side.
One downside to this is that the car dealership UI may become crowded. One solution would be to combine multiple trim levels under one dealership entry and allow the trim level selection as a secondary menu after the user selects the overall model.
Another consideration would be applicability of liveries. This may be potentially resolved by grouping these trim levels when designing liveries (i.e. - A user generated livery file for a 2015 V-6 Fastback could also be applied to a 2015 GT Convertible, etc.)
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ADDITIONAL WHEELS
The wheel selection has not been significantly updated in years. Dan Greenawalt has stated in interviews that the relationship between studios and manufacturers has changed over the course of the past decade and the balance of power has shifted closer towards the studios. This may be a good time to try and leverage that paradigm shift to enable licensing of wheels. From a layman’s perspective, it seems that the wheel manufacturers would be eager to use the platform to promote their products. Additionally, it is a certainty that CAD files and weight statistics would be available from the manufacturers to speed asset development by the developer.
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NAME BRAND PARTS
Even if performance differences are minimal, the presence multiple brand-name parts would be a welcome addition to the upgrade menus. For example, for a spark plug upgrade the player could select from Accel, AC Delco, Denso, Fram, NGK, Zex, etc. Ideally the performance characteristics of each brand or model would differ, although it is unlikely that these sponsors could be brought on board if this were the case. For this reason it is most feasible that the selection of part brands would be an immaterial option only.
To give further importance to these choices and to further engage the player and enhance the depth of the game, player sponsorships and bonuses may be awarded based on the parts fitted to the player’s vehicle. This may be in conjunction with the series sponsorships mentioned elsewhere (perhaps Fram sponsors a race series and the player gets a 1,000CR bonus at the end of the race for each Fram part equipped).
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SPECIAL CARS TO BE INCLUDED
I’m not including any run of the mill “please put in my car” type vehicles, but there are a few worthy candidates that should be added to the series on other grounds.
KEN BLOCK’S “HOONICORN” MUSTANG
From Jalopnik (Ken Block's Gymkhana 7 Car Is A Monstrous 845 HP AWD 1965 Ford Mustang): “Take a 1965 Ford Mustang, Add a Roush Yates 410 cubic inch Ford V8. Add a six-speed transmission. Add all-wheel drive. Add paint and bodywork that make it downright terrifying to look at. You get The Hoonicorn, Ken Block’s ride of choice for the seventh installation of his Gymkhana insanity-fest.” This vehicle would make the drifters go nuts.
DAVE CARAPETYAN’S RALLY READY MOTORSPORTS 2003 MITSUBISHI EVOLUTION VIII
With a livery born from the ForzaMotorsport.net forums (http://legacy.forums.forza.net/forums/thread/3695829.aspx) Dave went on to win the Open class at Pike’s Peak in 2010. This as well as other notable cars with history linked to Forza should be a staple of the series.
JAMES ELTERMAN’S TAKATA TIME ATTACK IMPREZA
Like the previous entry, this car has a significant history with the Forza Motorsport franchise. The 2008 livery was designed via forum contest as well as an updated design for a new car in 2010.
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RESTORATION OF DEALERSHIPS CATEGORIZED BY MANUFACTURER / BUY A CAR UI
FM5 eliminated the “Buy a Car” UI which presented inventory in a grid which was categorized by manufacturer. This was presumably due to the significantly lower number of total cars in this iteration of the series. This uncategorized interface was awkward to navigate due to the sheer number of vehicles, especially after the roster was boosted by DLC.
With FM6 returning to more typical inventory numbers and FMX hypothetically continuing this trend it makes sense to restore the previous method of selecting a vehicle to purchase through the categorized grid. This change is also a prerequisite to a feature which will be discussed further within this document (see “Aftermarket Dealerships” section).
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PLAYER GARAGE CHANGES
In FM3, the player’s garage could be optionally sorted in a grid format with divisions by class as well as custom groups established by the player. FMX would reinstate this method of sorting the player’s garage.
Additionally, FMX would allow the player to enter a short note about each vehicle in the garage which would be displayed prominently below the vehicle’s information on the main screen. This enables the player to distinguish important information about each vehicle as he/she browses the collection (i.e. “Drift Setup”, “Tuned for B-Class Laguna Seca”, “High Speed Tune”), an important capability when selecting cars in a multiplayer lobby.
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RESTORATION AND ENHANCEMENT OF THE STOREFRONTS
The storefront interface introduced in Forza 3 was a phenomenal idea and was executed very well. It’s omission in FM5 in favor of curated content turned many ex-painters away of the series due to the fact that the first liveries for any model were elevated to “popular” status and everything else was buried for eternity beneath them. There was no good way to sort by popularity, downloads, etc. and no way to view any specific livery artist’s contributions at a glance. This major change would have been baffling if not considered within the context of being removed to meet development deadlines for the new XB1 system.
The previous storefront system should be revived in full and expanded with more item slots for each player. Additionally, the search system should be similar to that of FM4 which allowed the player to search for paints/tunes for an individual car and then sort them by rating. This was a very functional method of finding quality content when it was in place and for most cars the player could search, sort by rating and see a significant number of well executed liveries for the applicable vehicle. With the current system, it is more common to see one or two excellent liveries and then hundreds of poorly executed basic paint jobs, perhaps with a racing stripe or in-game logo scattered here and there.
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RETURN OF TUNING/PAINTING GARAGES - AFTERMARKET DEALERSHIPS
The Tuning Garage community that grew at an astounding rate during the tenure of FM2 was slowly debilitated after the release of FM3. This was due to the advent of the storefronts, which gave content creators a much more effective method of distributing their tunes and liveries. Although this change was arguably for the better, the garage culture was fascinating, fun and addictive and it pulled many players much deeper into the franchise.
The garage culture continued to survive (although not flourish) during FM3 and FM4, however the release of FM5 put the final nail in its coffin.
FMX would fully revitalize the tuning garage culture with the addition of Aftermarket Dealerships (“ADs”) that piggyback off of the reintroduced storefront feature. The most intuitive implentation of this feature would also piggyback off of a reintroduced car club system.
An “Aftermarket Dealership” is quite simply an entry in the “Buy a Car”/Dealership UI which appears after all stock/manufacturer categories. An aftermarket dealership is treated as it’s own manufacturer and contains fully tuned/painted models for sale from Tuning Garages/Car Clubs (for all intents and purposes in FMX, garages and car clubs are interchangeable and are two ways of describing a single entity).
To establish an Aftermarket Dealership, a garage/club leader would “Create Dealership” and have the option of naming the dealership as well as providing a logo (designed from within the vinyl editor). The leader could then choose vehicles from the club inventory to share to the dealership as completed models. These models would have an additional title alongside the actual Make/Model (i.e. - the player may purchase the “PLOP Tuning NSX-R Raptor (Honda NSX)”) and this is the name of the car that would appear in the player’s garage and within race lobbies. For leaderboard purposes the standard make/model name would be used.
The cost of these vehicles to the player would be base cost (of the underlying car) plus additional parts cost. When a player purchases a vehicle from an aftermarket dealership, the proceeds are distributed to all the club members equally.
Alternatively, the developer may opt to allow clubs/garages to set their own markup prices or proceed distribution ratios however this would be somewhat more complex to develop.
Since there would obviously be a massive number of Aftermarket Dealerships, display of all ADs would not be feasible alongside the manufacturer dealerships. To keep this feature integral to the overall dealership interface, the entirety of the AD list would be available in a search screen similar to that of the livery and tuning search in FM4 (including a “most popular” sort). Then, while viewing an individual AD, the player would be permitted to “Favorite” the dealership. “Favorite” ADs would be included on the main dealership UI alongside the manufacturer dealerships.
[EXAMPLE IMAGE - DEALERSHIP SCREEN]
This implementation would completely revitalize (and perhaps even improve upon) the tuning garage community that players enjoyed so much within previous iterations of the Forza series.
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RANDOMIZED CAR ATTRIBUTES
This is somewhat of an RPG type factor and is not well fleshed out, just a loose idea to explore.
Gran Turismo (3?) used to have the used car dealership which was interesting because the mileage, etc. always varied. In Forza X, each car would be unique with it’s own VIN, mileage and variables which modify key performance aspects, albeit in an extremely minor amount. Due to this, each car which is purchased from the dealer is unique and may vary by 1 or 2 HP, or might have a suspension which is generally 1% stiffer, etc. to account for inconsistencies in manufacturing. Maybe these inconsistencies are more significant for older cars which did not benefit from the same modern manufacturing technologies that we have today.
In FMx, only current models would be available from the dealership and older models would be purchased from the used car dealership (a la the old Gran Turismo setup) where each one would have different performance modification factors to account for things like an older suspension on one car versus a recently replaced carburetor on another.