Forza Motorsport 7 June Update
Staff
Monday, June 4, 2018
The June update for Forza Motorsport 7 will release on Tuesday, June 5! This month we have big list of features and improvements that are coming into the game, many of which have directly come from our ongoing conversation with the Forza community. We’ve added some major new features to the game, overhauled our #Forzathon system, and so much more. We’ll dive into all the new stuff that’s arrived with the June update in just a bit, but first, let’s focus on some awesome cars.
In June, we’re pointing the Forza spotlight on Ford and, with this update, we’re adding a brand-new Ford car to the Forza Motorsport 7 roster: the 1982 Ford #6 Zakspeed Roush Mustang IMSA GT. The Zakspeed Roush Mustang will available at no additional charge for all players, and we have lots of Ford-related fun for this car and others (see below for details).
Here’s a closer look at the Zakspeed Roush Mustang:
1982 Ford #6 Zakspeed Roush Mustang IMSA GT
The Zakspeed motor racing team is located near the historic Nürburgring. Since 1973 they have been collecting victories for Ford in their Group 2 Escort and Group 5 Capri cars. When Ford wanted to go racing with the Fox body Mustang, Zakspeed did the racing and Roush handled the performance. This wide-body, high-downforce design was created by Bob Riley and Roush built it out of carbon fiber, Nomex composite, and Kevlar. While Roush wanted to build a V8 to power the car, the trend at the time was toward smaller engines, and a 1.4-liter turbo that was later upgraded to 2.1 liters with an output of around 530 hp was used. Success was limited during the IMSA series at the time, but that doesn’t mean this beast won’t compete or, at the very least, scare the pants right off of you.
Next up, as we explained in the May episode of Inside Xbox, we’re making the Hoonigan Car Pack available for purchase for all Forza Motorsport 7 players. Previously available only to players who pre-ordered Forza Motorsport 7, the Hoonigan Car Pack will be available to everyone for purchase and, if you’re a FM7 Car Pass member, the Hoonigan Car Pack is included with the Forza Motorsport 7 Car Pass.
June FM7 Update
The June update is a big one, touching on everything from our new interstitial (that’s the big window that pops up occasionally in Forza 7, letting players know about cool stuff happening in the game), to an overhaul of the Forza Motorsport 7 #Forzathon system, a new Data Out feature that will be a boon for Forza tinkerers, several new multiplayer features, and more. So much of this feedback has come from listening to what the Forza community wants and we’re just getting started.
In addition to the features we outline below, we’ve got our longer list of Release Notes on the Forza Forums going up on Tuesday, which includes fixes and other improvements not detailed here.
#Forzathon Updates
#Forzathon events are undergoing a change starting in June. Some of those changes are happening behind the scenes, others will be immediately apparent to the player. We’ve moved the #Forzathon system in Forza 7 to an internally managed service at Turn 10. This means that FM7 #Forzathon events are no longer tied to Xbox achievements. Instead, we will now manage #Forzathon events start to finish with our own systems. What this means for the players is new #Forzathon events coming into the game, with more variety, and more frequency. At the start we’ll have three events per week, each with its own reward. We’re varying the steps of events as well – each week we’ll have one 1-step, one 2-step, and one 3-step #Forzathon event to play. Naturally you’ll be able to monitor your progress as you make your way through each event. Look for those new #Forzathon events to go live this week.
Multiplayer Updates – Multi-Class, Tuning & More
With this update, we’ve put a big focus on multiplayer. Starting off, we’re happy to report that multi-class racing is returning to the game, giving players the chance to race against fields of multiple classes of cars. Multi-class isn’t new to Forza Motorsport 7 but it’s now better than ever, thanks to new features we’ve added to the game, like improved scoring. For the first time in Forza Motorsport multi-class player scoring will now be grouped by the player/class bucket. For example, if you’re racing in Class C vs. Class A lobby, all players will be scored according to the bucket/class they are in. If you’re grouped in the Class C cars, your scoring will keep track of how you’re doing in that class and the end-of-race podium will show off the top three finishers within that particular class/bucket.
We’ve also introduced per-bucket timing triggers in multi-class. For example, you could set the slowest class bucket to start the end-of-race timer, as opposed to the fastest class.
You’ll be able to try out the new spin on multi-class racing for a test drive when our new “ABCS” hopper makes its debut soon.
Multiplayer Tuning
In May, we introduced the ability for players to test drive their cars in multiplayer while waiting for a race lobby to finish. This month, we’re giving players the chance to tune their cars when in a multiplayer lobby or test driving their car. When test driving in a multiplayer lobby, you can now pause the game and choose the “Tune” option to make upgrades and adjustments to your car or download new tunes in real time. Once you apply the tune, that tune will be used in the race when you are pulled back into the lobby and set up for the next race. One other highly requested features arrives this month as well – you can now change your Assists in the middle of a multiplayer race. Simply pause the game, go to the Assists selection, and set the Assists as you’d like them before heading back into the race.
More Multiplayer Control
Multiplayer lobby hosts now have the option to password protect their lobbies. In addition, hosts have more control over the kinds of cars players use in a lobby, including forcing players to use rental cars. When hosts set up lobbies, they’ll see new options when setting up the race event, including:
Upgrades – Stock or Any
Tunes – Stock or Any
Ownership – Owned, Rental, or Any
Data Out
We’re opening up a new world for Forza Motorsport 7 players who want to expand their experience. What we colloquially refer to as a “Data Out” feature means that we now output a UDP data stream which players can take advantage of. This is the same data stream that powers the motion sleds we use at Turn 10 and now we’re putting that power in the hands of players. The possibilities here are limited only by the imagination of the developer – from motion sleds to dashboards, data logging, etc. All of the data is sent to a remote machine at 60fps but localhost streaming is not supported.
The initial data structure is designed to support motion sleds. For a look at the current output structure available to players, check out this post on the Forza forums.
Photography – New Panning Focus Mode
Forzatographers, we’ve got something cool for you in June as well. With this update, players can now toggle between Tracking and Panning camera options in Photo Mode. This option appears when players go into Photo Mode and then into “Effects Mode” (Y button on Xbox One controller). Players will see a new option to toggle between “Tracking” Camera and “Panning” Camera in the Effects menu.
So what do these two options mean? The “Tracking” camera is the same legacy camera option that has always been in Forza’s Photo Mode. Here, the Tracking Camera acts as if it was attached to a car moving at the same speed and direction as the focus car. The new “Panning” camera option acts as if the photo is being shot from a standstill (more akin to how a real trackside photographer would work at a real race event).
The differences between the two camera options is best seen when taking action shots. The new “Panning” Camera option offers a deeper motion blur effect than the “Tracking” camera, and is most noticeable on objects in the far background. In addition, focusing when using the “Panning” camera puts the focus on a specific part of the car, giving players easier options to focus on the hood of a car, for example, while the rear section of the car is more blurred. In all, the option to switch between focus camera options gives players more power to create the types of shots they want on the track.
