the assisted-braking nerfs

Forza Horizon Forza Horizon 5 FH5 Discussion
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A bit long but I’d be interested if those who can be bothered to read have any additions or comments - please don’t post “learn to drive” - I know!!

I’ve got all the Forza games from Horizon onwards. As I’m not a good driver I find I use assisted braking quite a lot in order to enjoy the games and rarely use manual shifting. While most reading these forum pages probably wouldn’t dream (nightmare?) of using those features, they are there and do get used.

What are these nerfs? Basically when the game (some of them, maybe not all) clearly does something stupid. Not excessive braking on a shallow bend, something completely repeatable. How to set up - use assisted braking, automatic shifting and full driving line. Game-by-game I’ve observed the following (not all).

Horizon. Use of rewind adds a crazy kink at a random point forcing the loss of most speed. While it’s not assisted-braking per se it only causes problems if that’s being used.

Motorsport 5. Again, rewind causes it. The Transit on Nürburgring achievement can be done (just - under 10 minutes 0.5 seconds is the requirement) with assisted braking and automatic shifting but rewind prevents it. Any use of rewind causes the engine to randomly lose power for no reason, even in a straight line. That’s the “standard” nerf mode for me but that’s because I played Horizon 4 far more than all the others put together.

Horizon 4. The “standard nerf” appears in the first race of an online session and it’s really bad but then it goes away in the later races. Missing a checkpoint, maybe not the first one or two, does remove the nerf but, well, the outcome is obvious. It also pops up in the Lego races, the 1-on-1 Chiron, F40 and Senna ones; in those case it’s present from the outset but restarting the race removes the nerf.

Horizon 5. Straying from the road usually totally kills the engine, almost as bad as the off-track areas in Motorsport games.

I’m pretty sure I’ve observed the “standard nerf” in other games but less obvious or repeatable.

Questions. Why are these nerfs there at all? It’s not as if anyone using these features is going to challenge up at the top of the leaderboards so what harm is there in not nerfing it for bad drivers like me? The presence across the games indicates it’s entirely deliberate. But, then, why is it variable? What exactly is the reasoning/justification/mechanism? Can it be overcome with upgrading in a certain way?

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I have to admit in solo I will sometimes use assisted braking and auto steer especially during long races and I just want to sit back in my chair and relax like I am having a cruise, allows me to grab a snack or a drink at same time, problem is autosteer and assisted braking are not totally infallible so I wouldn’t trust them enough to do AFK like some people do.

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I actually think a “learn to drive” mentality would be detrimental in the case. Things like the assisted braking and arcade steering in this game can help with accessibility, but they are actually detrimental to learning to drive as they teach or reinforce bad habits. I fully approve of them being in the game, but if your goal is to get better I highly recommend you turn as many assists as possible off.

Having to face the consequences of poor driving is a much more effective teaching tool than having a gentle hand assist you through everything or being able to erase a mistake with the tap of a button.

I digress though. Not everyone has the time or inclination to improve, and I don’t judge those people. I just wanted to mention that because it seemed like you desired to improve. If that’s not the case I apologize.

As for the question at hand: these systems need small issues and foibles to them, otherwise they would not be allowed in online play. Stealing power when you go off track does seem to be in the right behaviour set though even if the systems were working properly. I assume you have most, if not all of the assists turned on, and a lot of those systems will steal power in order to maintain grip. I suspect the other odd behaviors are a result of your actions fighting against what the assists feel you should be doing or some issues with so many programmed behaviours interacting with one another. For example: it’s possible that assisted braking doesn’t really know or understand how to interact with the rewind system.

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Yup, thousands of players have hundred of recommendations and suggestions. You are not the first one lol. But you know whats the problem, that you should understand by now… that it wont matter if you have the best idea ever, its never going to be implemented. But lets go, lets start another thread of the same old story, people dont have anything to do lol, not even actually playing the game :stuck_out_tongue:

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Thanks for that, TheWarmWind76. My observations are that it is nothing to do with what I do in the game, power loss in a straight line or very shallow bend is not an over-reaction to something I’ve done; it’s an interesting comment at the end about assisted braking not interacting with rewind, though. That might be so however this nerf is present from the outset in those three Lego races then disappears on a restart (not rewind). As for assists, I often have only steering set to normal. Next most often would be ABS rather than assisted (I’m not terrible without it, just not very good), and I’m not interested in being Forza’s version of Lewis Hamilton, though I certainly see what you mean about not learning with these things being on, yes, and to a large extent agree.