One of the biggest and most noticeable world design changes Playground games can make to a fh title is the Horizon Festival vibe that can be witnessed throughout the game, remembering how fh4 was heavily critiqued because of the lack of the reminiscent presence of the festival.
This was improved during the next title, FH5, having 6 main festival sites across Mexico, which is a major improvement over fh4.
However, it should be noted that, even though we have 6 festival sites, there isnt that much presence of the festival in on itself apart from these locations, specially in comparison to previous forza games apart from fh4.
So here are a few ways to improve the presence (these are some of the things I come up at the moment, feel free to criticize/add on these features)
•Smaller stands/camps/festival sites : These new architectures would be similar to how they worked on FH1/2, you’d have these stands around urban and more poblated zones, with some pedestrians in these stands.
•Festival themed props around pavimented roads and car parks : Props such as flags, banners, painted logos on the road, confetti, painted houses, and such, would help the vibe we are seeking, similarly to the stands mentioned before, these props woukd be tied to public, urban areas, instead of placing them on rural and natural ares, since it would ruin the beautiful landscapes of the map the game is being set, which speaking of…
[Fh3 concept art][there’re also some concept arts of fh5 from PietroDonz which represent what im talking about]
•Lights on the environment and landscapes : Something that caught my eyes while looking at the concept arts of FH5 was the idea of having different colored lights on rural areas, lighting up cacti, waterfalls, etc. It would’ve been cool to see this feature on fh5 or a next release, since it not only makes a prettier game when driving offroad at night, but it also captures the presence of the festival vibe, by reminding you how these biomes and its nature is still reminiscent on the game.
[Fh5 concept arts from Michael Richards]
•Noticing the lights of the festivals from long distances : At last, this feature would improve the feeling and vibe of the game while exploring the map.
[Pictures from FH1, one is at the top of the Canyons, the other one is near the highway]
