It's not just the physics that need revamping in FM

Forza Motorsport Forza Motorsport (2023) Discussion
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I haven’t watched the Forza Monthly events, but I do know Chris Esaki has been talking a lot about physics. And, while Forza Motorsport does need a huge revamping of its physics engine, it’s just not enough for the game to feel fresh.

When playing Forza Horizon 5, it’s difficult to avoid the fact that, despite the visuals and the sharp gameplay, it still feels like a game released 20 years ago when it comes to building your cars. Fundamentally, FH5 is not much different from the first Gran Turismo, which was itself influenced by early Japanese racing games such as Top Gear.

So now we can change sound with exhaust… as we could in NFS Underground 2, from 2004. And in that game there was a bigger impact, because there was no YouTube, so you wouldn’t know what the upgrades would do beforehand.

But that’s not the only issue. The way the upgrades affect your cars is also completely unrealistic. So you add a larger turbo, but the only difference is in the bottom end, without the advantage of better top end. ECU benefits are negligible. Lightweight flywheel does almost nothing to throttle response. Then there’s the potential of some engines which are clearly underrated by the game, such as most Ford V8s, the Audi R8’s V10, the old Hemis and the Skyline GT-R’s twin-turbo I6s. Even among the top dogs you have the Viper V10 barely making it to 1,000 bhp when you have builds north of 2,500 bhp IRL.

Then there’s customization. The horrid Forza wing has survived for 7 straight games. Nobody likes it, yet it was never redesigned. Part separation is also an issue. I must go to “side skirt” to install a lightbar which reduces drag on my car. I have auxiliary lights which somehow let me tune front downforce.

It’s nice to see some effort going into physics, but if T10 wants me to build my cars instead of buying a faster one, they need to work on such details rather than re-releasing the same game for the 8th time in a row.

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What other game has it? I think you want something impossible. I agree it would be nice.

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For tuning and customisation? Automation+BeamNG is a great example.

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People can talk about physics only if they drive with a wheel having FFB. The only thing Forza need is the possibility to do Sessions; Test,Qualify,racing management in game. It needs this.

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Underground 2 did have some great sounds. The element of cliché in low/mid tier builds worked better in that context.
Intake and Pistons/Compression could also affect sound. I’d rather have a cosmetic upgrade for exhaust sounds, to have more freedom between performance upgrades and cosmetics.

Flywheel upgrades vary. Some cars come with a light flywheel and have almost no difference from any upgrade. If the flywheel is heavy, I build around my preferred flywheel weight–the rev feature is very handy. Otherwise, I use it for PI optimization. Since FM4 drifting, I can’t say I’ve equipped a particular driveline except to move a build down in PI sort.