weird stuff : the influence on AI difficulty on payouts after races

Forza Horizon Legacy Horizon FH3 Discussion
1

I wanted to know what was the better payout in the end, driving against easier opponents and always finishing first, or driving against thougher opponents and finishing top 3 or even worse. Some weird results in here.

My assists : everything off and then steering back to normal and gears to manual (no clutch) for all testing done. (all testing in the demo done with the Nissan)

Then AI difficulty variable :
with NR : 75% (new racer)
with AA : 90% (above average)
with EX : 100% (expert)
with UB : 115% (unbeatable)

off the chain (helicopter chase)
AA : 9503 fans (1st place)
EX : 9523 fans (1st place)
UB : 9504 fans (1st place)
conclusion : as long as you win, drivatar difficulty doesn’t seem to make a difference in fans rewarded.

drivatar signup (the one you get to race on the coast highway in the centenario vs laferrari)
NR : 1.2m CR / 1.2m XP / 8.5m fans
AA : 4m CR / 757k XP / 2.4m fans
EX : 1.5m CR / 922k XP / 4m fans
conclusion : drivatars offered to recruit seem completely random (from your friends list) and not influenced by your difficulty setting during the chase

Ocean view trail
AA : 1st place
EX : 3rd place
UB : 3rd place
AA CR : 9428 total : 4913 1st + 4422 diff&ass + 93 lineup
EX CR : 9724 total : 4814 3rd + 4814 diff&ass + 96 lineup
UB CR : 10454 total : 4814 3rd + 5536 diff&ass + 104 lineup
AA XP : 9492 total : 3962 1st + 40 lineup + 1770 skills + 3720 clean
EX XP : 6652 total : 3962 3rd + 40 lineup + 570 skills + 2080 clean
UB XP : 7112 total : 3962 3rd + 40 lineup + 470 skills + 2640 clean
AA fans : 2316 1st + 47 lineup + 57 skills
EX fans : 2319 3rd + 47 lineup + 22 skills
UB fans : 2322 3rd + 47 lineup + 21 skills
conclusion 1 : higher difficulty is better for credits even if you finish a few places further down on the scoreboard
conclusion 2 : difficulty setting doesnt seem to matter the slightest bit for XP reward, clean racing and skill chains do though
conclusion 3 : for the amount of fans rewarded difficulty doesnt seem to matter

Headland circuit
AA : 1st
EX : 4th
UB : 7th
AA CR : 13435 total : 7001 1st + 6301 diff&ass + 133 lineup
EX CR : 13716 total : 6790 completed + 6790 diff&ass + 136 lineup
UB CR : 14288 total : 6580 completed + 7567 diff&ass + 141 lineup
AA XP : 15292 total : 5646 1st + 56 lineup + 3550 skills + 6040 clean
EX XP : 10942 total : 5646 completed + 56 lineup + 1840 skills + 3400 clean
UB XP : 9682 total : 5646 completed + 56 lineup + 1140 skills + 2840 clean
AA fans : 2441 1st + 52 lineup + 156 skills
EX fans : 2453 1st + 50 lineup + 59 skills
UB fans : 2443 1st + 49 lineup + 30 skills
conclusion 1 : higher difficulty is better for credits even if you finish a few places further down on the scoreboard
conclusion 2 : difficulty setting doesnt seem to matter the slightest bit for XP reward, clean racing and skill chains do though
conclusion 3 : for the amount of fans rewarded difficulty doesnt seem to matter

bucket list (Nomad)
AA : +/- 3m00s
EX : +/- 3m05s
UB : +/- 3m05s
AA CR : 8516 total : 4866 bucket list + 3650 diff&ass
EX CR : 8965 total : 5123 bucket list + 3842 diff&ass
UB CR : 8484 total : 4848 bucket list + 3636 diff&ass
AA XP : 5164 total : 3924 bucket list + 1240 skills
EX XP : 5171 total : 4131 bucket list + 1040 skills
EX XP : 5759 total : 3909 bucket list + 1850 skills
AA fans : 2124 new fans + 42 lineup
EX fans : 2121 new fans + 42 lineup
UB fans : 2113 new fans + 42 lineup
conclusion 1 : why does drivatar difficulty seem to matter for credits rewarded in a race without any drivatars? err devs?
conclusion 2 : why does drivatar difficulty seem to matter for XP rewarded in a race without any drivatars? err devs?
conclusion 3 : for the amount of fans rewarded difficulty doesn’t seem to matter

[Mod edit - WSD - profanity and alluding to profanity is against the ToS]

2

The difficulty settings menu only mentions CR bonus for higher difficulty, that’s why fans and xp are unaffected.

3

Yes I know that but finishing 1st or 7th doesn’t seem to affect fans and XP either. Fans and XP actually looks very static no matter the finishing place or difficulty.

1 Like
4

Everyones a winner…

5

This style is nothing new to Horizon at all. They have done this since Horizon 1. Motorsport does this too. You get different credit payouts, but the XP always stays the same, because you are technically still doing the event, and no matter what position you take, you are getting the experience you deserve for effort. Instead of one person getting way more experience than the other just to level up a bit faster than them. This time they are just adding this style to the fans count, instead of just the XP gain. I mean sure it would have been nicer if they made it so you get more fans the better you do, which would make more logical sense to some degree in terms of video game standards. At the same time though, you are just the boss of the festival so the festival gains fans no matter what, because they would be enjoying the event. It’s the fans for the festival itself, not just you, the boss you know? I think that is why they decided to do this way, they went for a more realistic approach, which actually makes good sense when you think about it. It’s more of a preference thing though. I guess the fans are just set no matter what you do, just like the wristband system in Horizon 1 and 2 perhaps. They just seemed to replace it with fans. I think that is what they did here.

6

Conclusion: Put game on easiest difficulty so you can beat races faster and earn xp, to level up. After your first 10 prize spins (especially with vip) money probably won’t be an issue.

7

and that while I concluded this from my testing :slight_smile:

As long as you don’t need to win races for progress or championship progress, there is no reason whatsoever to race on easier difficulty.

8

I believe the bucket list is affected by difficulty.

eg if you have a get to point A within time challenge if you are on easiest difficulty you may get 5 minutes but hardest you may get 4 minutes (I THINK)

Try testing that. I seem to recall in a previous game it worked like that.

9

It was 4 minutes here on all 3 difficulties I tried

10

Just reading the OP again I am not sure you can reach a conclusion because the CR and XP rewarded do not go up in a consistent relationship with difficulty.

I say pick the difficulty that makes the game fun and stop over analysing something like this. (sure if it is wrong, it is wrong and the devs should fix it but the evidence is not conclusive).

If the game is fun I am sure we will all be complaining about having too many credits and have clocked the xp meter in the game before too long.

1 Like
11

I’d personally play the game at whatever difficulty provides the most enjoyment (giving a challenge) over which provides the fastest method of gaining Cr.

Anyway, I’m assuming a big chunk of your credits would come from wheelspins, and you could always get Forza Rewards (which imo ruins the sense of progression and satisfaction in saving up credits for new cars and parts).