One of the biggest complaints I’ve seen regarding the Forza Horizon franchise is the lack of progression, lack of end game & general lack of direction…
sure there are many other complaints too, but i would like to focus on this one for now…
How could a future Horizon game be structured to help deal with this complaint, I’m not talking about actual story-line, but the structure the game is build around?
I believe parts of the game should be locked off until your ready, too many buy the game get in an S2 car, build to max-stat then complain the games handling is bad and quit…
I also believe you the player should have to go through a 1 time (but repeatable if choose to) tutorial to teach everyone the basics of build & tune…
I also believe the player should have both freedom & reward in the game, so its not 1st place or ignore participation or do ANY race to progress the story… the player should be able to choose to just race or advance story & be rewarded for 1st, 2nd or 3rd place.
Please VOTE above, if you would like Horizon to re-structure the game for furture Horizon games…
How would you structure the game?
Here is how i would structure it…
Game loads to title screen,
Press Start to play…
Select your character body model,
Select your character face model,
Select your name,
Select your car, (choose 1 of 8 D-Class cars)
Cut Scene 01 : Your driving your car on the outskirts of a town, you look as though something is on your mind, not fully paying attention… a gathering of people step into the road in front of your car, you slam your brakes on… as your car comes to a stop you can hear cheering, a slight rumble growing louder and louder and… rawrrrr, rawrrrr as 2 street racers scream across the front of your car… your eyes mesmerized, a slight grin adorns your face…
Fade to black > fade back in
the camera pans up from an open invitation ticket to the Horizon festival sitting on your tool box, the camera pans across to catch your legs hanging out from the under the engine bay…
- WELCOME 1 - BUILD A CAR *
Select your upgrades : a voice is heard on every tab like a ‘voice in your head’ talking to yourself, explaining what it does upon first selecting…
eg: Conversion - “Hmm, i could swap the engine, its an instant power boost, i could apply a widebody kit, more stability, better handling plus looks more aggressive, then again i could also change the drivetrain to make sure power goes to the wheels i want it to… lets see what my options are!”
Once your car has been upgraded, “ok, lets see how the car feels!..”
Fade to black > fade back in
the camera pans down from the sky to reveal your car in an empty car park, with Purple cones layed out marking a test-track route, “lets see how it feels…”
-
WELCOME 2 - TUNE A CAR *
Task 1 : Drive 1 lap of the test track, after you complete Lap 1,
Fade to black > fade back in
Camera pans over your shoulder to see a laptop is plugged into the cars ECU as the camera pans to the laptop screen - your now in the tuning menu…
a voice is heard on every tab like the upgrade sequence, a ‘voice in your head’ talking to yourself, explaining what it does upon first selecting…
eg: Springs - “ah springs, if the ride felt soft or swayed side to side i could stiffen the springs, if the ride felt hard & solid, might be better to soften the springs…”
Task 2 : Drive 1 lap of the test track with your tune applied…
after you complete task 2, back to tune menu & repeat or apply to car & finish? -
WELCOME 3 - RACE A CAR *
Once your car has been tuned, “Lets see what this car can really do!..”
Fade to black > fade back in
the camera pans down from the street lights glowing in the night sky, shows a crowd has gathered and 6 cars are lined up (inc your car), the camera gets closer each driver standing in front of their car playing to the crowd, a voice:
“Ok people, are you ready?” - crowd cheers, as the drivers enter their cars…
“Drivers, are you ready?” - cars rev there engines…
“You know what they say… The streets have only 1 rule… win or go home!”
“GO!”
If you win the race - progress to STORY 1
If you fail to win, your asked to replay WELCOME 1 (build), 2 (tune) or 3 (race)
"Did you see that!?.. how the!.. there’s a new name on the streets people!.. “character name”, keep your eye on that one!!
the camera pans across from the road going off into the distance to you and the race narrator talking - rewards given & the street narrator says “Keep this phone with you, i will let you know when i have your next race lined up, i have a good feeling about you!”
*WELCOME TUTORIAL COMPLETE *
Text: You can replay the welcome tutorial at any time by selecting it in the menu, under “Your Horizon : Welcome”
-
STORY 1 - Overview (a street legend is born!) *
Complete Street-Races for credit & exp rewards (no story progression),
Complete Street-Trials to unlock Head to heads,
Complete Head to heads to unlock the Street-Championship
Complete Street-Championship (D-class car required) to unlock the Street-Festival & be crowned Street-Champion.
Street-Festival is the Street HQ, access to: Garage, Paintbooth, Tune shop, Clothing Store etc…
** when you complete a street-trial at a location, that locations “Mirrored” track unlocks for street-races : Track A (fwd) / Track B (mir) giving the player access to twice as many race tracks for the end game.
** While you are not the street champion, Street-Trials+ can only be raced with D-class, C-class & B-class cars… Unlock Street-Champion to have access to A-class +.
** Crests under the map icon are rewarded for Bronze (3rd), Silver (2nd) or Gold (1st).
** Completion of this story gives you a gold crest with Blue centre (D-Class) on the map. -
STORY 2 - Overview (sometimes you just need to take a more direct line!) *
Complete Baja-Races for credit & exp rewards (no story progression),
Complete Baja-Trials to unlock Head to heads,
Complete Head to heads to unlock the Baja-Championship
Complete Baja-Championship (C-class car required) to unlock the Baja-Festival & be crowned Baja-Champion.
Baja-Festival is the Baja HQ, access to: Garage, Paintbooth, Tune shop, Clothing Store etc…
** when you complete a Baja-trial at a location, that locations “Mirrored” track unlocks for Baja-races : Track A (fwd) / Track B (mir) giving the player access to twice as many race tracks for the end game.
** While you are not the Baja champion, Baja-Trials+ can only be raced with D-class, C-class & B-class cars… Unlock Baja-Champion to have access to A-class +.
** Crests under the map icon are rewarded for Bronze (3rd), Silver (2nd) or Gold (1st).
** Completion of this story gives you a gold crest with yellow centre (C-Class) on the map. -
STORY 3 - Overview (According to legends, a Dirt monster rules these lands!) *
Complete Wilds-Races for credit & exp rewards (no story progression),
Complete Wilds-Trials to unlock Head to heads,
Complete Head to heads to unlock the Wilds-Championship
Complete Wilds-Championship (B-class car required) to unlock the Wilds-Festival & be crowned Wilds-Champion.
Wilds-Festival is the Wilds HQ, access to: Garage, Paintbooth, Tune shop, Clothing Store etc…
** when you complete a Wilds-trial at a location, that locations “Mirrored” track unlocks for Wilds-races : Track A (fwd) / Track B (mir) giving the player access to twice as many race tracks for the end game.
** While you are not the Wilds champion, Wilds-Trials+ can only be raced with D-class, C-class, B-class & A-class cars… Unlock Wilds-Champion to have access to S1-class +.
** Crests under the map icon are rewarded for Bronze (3rd), Silver (2nd) or Gold (1st).
** Completion of this story gives you a gold crest with Orange centre (B-Class) on the map. -
STORY 4 - Overview (Time to put all that practice into play!) *
Complete Apex-Races for credit & exp rewards (no story progression),
Complete Apex-Trials to unlock Head to heads,
Complete Head to heads to unlock the Apex-Championship
Complete Apex-Championship (A-class car required) to unlock the Apex-Festival & be crowned Apex-Champion.
Apex-Festival is the Apex HQ, access to: Garage, Paintbooth, Tune shop, Clothing Store etc…
** when you complete a Apex-trial at a location, that locations “Mirrored” track unlocks for Apex-races : Track A (fwd) / Track B (mir) giving the player access to twice as many race tracks for the end game.
** While you are not the Apex champion, Apex-Trials+ can only be raced with C-class, B-class, A-class & S1-class cars… Unlock Apex-Champion to have access to S2-class +.
** Crests under the map icon are rewarded for Bronze (3rd), Silver (2nd) or Gold (1st).
** Completion of this story gives you a gold crest with red centre (A-Class) on the map. -
STORY 5 - Overview (Being a champion is great, you know what’s better?, being a legend!)
** Once you’re the champion, You can replay the story at any time by selecting it in the menu, under “Your Horizon : Story 1,2,3,4”
** Now all championships have been won, you can now replay the championship races in any class, go get those yellow(C), orange(B), red(A) & purple(S1) crests… become the legend you were meant to be!
** Now all championships have been won, you can now apply Nos to your cars! - please be aware, cars with Nos can not be used in multiplayer races.
** Now all championships have been won, you can now play through the Horizon chapters, help xxxx start up a drift-scene, help xxxx debunk some insurance claims, help xxxx build the world’s fastest delivery service, help xxxx find long forgotten locations, etc…
** When you become a legend of a race-type (completed all 4 crests) you are encouraged to equip Nos n head over to the rivals screen…
Well, theres some of my toughts…