I mean, I got into the games starting with Horizon 2. I bought an Xbox One just for this game, and then I had to sell it, and then just bought another one realizing that my PC would be more expensive to upgrade to play future Forza games on a PC, so yeah, I’m in no means hater of the franchise, I just get into it deeper and deeper and starting to be dissapointed in a level of detail this game lacks.
I remember when Test Drive Unlimited came out, it was a weird game in a sense that vehicles had all these non-essential functions, like opening and closing windows, but it felt great! One particular moment just stuck with me for all these years, and it was just me driving in an Audi A6 and I just stopped on a highway near the ocean, and my windows were open, so I just closed them and the surrounding’s sound just changed and muted, I felt like I was in a real car, on a real Hawaiian island, oh wow. These moments made this game amazing. And don’t get me wrong, the physics and career were just as good, at least to me. Also the soundtrack was awesome, so much great and not really popular bands were discovered back then, hehe.
With that being said, I think that Forza, at least the Horizon part of it could do it and only benefit from this insane and yet not impossible level of detail. Turning lights,convertible roofs, close and long range lights and all that jazz. The game is really really good as it is now, but I feel like Microsoft just rushing the game developments too much. And I get it, it’s just a racing game, but seeing pretty much the same things over and over again I think it needs more time, both Motorsport and Horizon games.
Am I asking too much, am I crazy german-like “attentionist” to detail? I mean, I don’t know, I just think it’s the small details that glue the big picture together to form a masterpiece.
What do you guys think?
While I agree those small details were cool, they’re not a game maker. We finally got horns and they’re only cool when you get a new one and the novelty wears off after 5 minutes. Same goes with the windows, changing lights, and low/hi beams. It would be neat in the initial days, but did you really buy a game to be able to roll up the windows? Just go get in your actual car. The only really important addition would be the convertible opening and closing. Only because it changes the way the car looks.
I played a lot of Test Drive Unlimited but I never used the windows more than once just to try them. I don’t think it adds a lot and I wouldn’t want the controls to be made needlessly complex, with too many sub menus on the D-pad etc. for something that would be of little value.
It would be nice to have these things but what I really miss are working convertible roofs.
Sterile? Let’s take off the rose-tinted glasses and see TDU for what it was:
- Upgrades based on percentages, which screwed up cars with limiters from the factory, Mercedes SL65 AMG was the biggest offender, delimited it goes 330+ kph, but it can only go 275 kph in the game.
- Really, really badly made 3D models. Most other contemporary games trounced TDU in this regard.
- In 2006 a map of Oahu was a massive undertaking so the road resolution suffered as a result, low polygon count and weird bumps everywhere.
- No BMWs, nor Porsches.
- HORRIBLE car sounds.
- No rain nor nightfall in the game.
- No tuning parts except for one or two cars.
- Physics engine was meh, and to enjoy HC mode you needed a wheel.
- No vinyls.
- Couldn’t use online profiles in offline mode and vice-versa.
- Atari support was the worst possible, as is typical of Atari as publisher.
- One of the DLCs was exclusive to Xbox 360 (the last one).
About the only things I miss from TDU compared to FH3 are interior trims and bikes. The rest, I can do without, as it wasn’t that great. We have better games now.
Even with all its flaws, TDU was still one of the best open world car games at the time. In ten years from now we all say how horrible FH3 was and how good FH7 is. Times change ;).
I think the problem is with little details, it becomes a big big list if you have to do 500+ cars. Its time consuming, something thats not really a big thing if it costs you money.
Of course it was. I’ve played it to death! So I know about all these small things that escape most people’s attention. 
But it hasn’t aged too well, that much is certain. 
TDU had its own share of problems, like physics. Different games have a different focus. However, calling Forza Horizon 3 sterile is just crazy talk.
Well, you’re not the only one. Many dedicated fans have been consistently complaining about the franchise’s lack of creative imagination whilst every new game mostly brings new content. It is what it is. It certainly isn’t what it used to be. Forza on the X360 was like me going to the toy store and finding a brand new toy to play with that would keep me excited for not months but years. Now it’s just the toy store and you go “mehh, think I’ll try this one, see how it’s turned out”.
By the way, use of paragraphs will help tremendously in making your content more reader friendly. 
I agree with you. I never really liked TDU that much, but that’s obviously not what this post as a whole is about. I loved the ability to control parts of my car and the change in sound when I did so, and I think Forza’s sound design would really help emphasize that.
As a whole I kind of wish PG would put less time into making the map bigger (with less density of good roads, also) and just focus on the features for one game. While the horns might seem like a novelty when you’re just playing, they sort of revolutionized how drag races, drift runs, and cruises worked in the game. If they put more time into details like that, like car sound and control of car features, it could really help the game. Not that I’m complaining about the current quality of the games, I realize the amount of work that goes into making such a huge carlist and map, but their work focus seems to work against them in game appeal sometimes.