DF Interviews Playground Games; Find out why Forza is "best-in-class."

THREAD UPDATE:

The Making of Forza Horizon, Digital Founry Interviews the engineers and technical director of Forza Horizon.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-the-making-of-forza-horizon

"It has given us a great new lease of life to focus on a single-platform game; we can be a lot more aggressive and the freedom is refreshing. We found we can extract a lot more performance from the Xbox 360 and still feel like we could do more."

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-vs-forza-horizon

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Some important excerpts;

"Playground Games didn't take the obvious safe route and simply iterate on the existing formula using the established engine: instead the fledgling developer took that technology, retained its core attributes and then expanded upon them, taking the whole franchise in a new direction."

"The existing Forza engine is no slouch here - the image-based lighting of Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit (a technique that "wraps" the environment around the cars) was impressive running at 30Hz, but it becomes a thing of beauty at twice the frame-rate. Gamma correct HDR is also implemented, ensuring that detail stands out in all lighting conditions."

"In an era where game developers are killing off the memory and bandwidth-intensive MSAA in favour of the much cheaper post-process equivalents, Playground's solution is comparatively lavish. Not only is 4x MSAA retained - in line with the replays and time trials of Forza Motorsport 4 - FXAA is added too."

"Somehow, Horizon manages to maintain its exceptional standards with a level of consistency we rarely see in modern gaming."

"A few minutes in the company of Forza Horizon makes you realise that this isn't strictly true: most console games target 30FPS - Playground's debut offering is remarkable in that it actually hits that target without fail, transforming the experience. We've been conditioned to accept that frame-drops and screen-tear are necessary evils: in this respect, Forza Horizon is refreshingly compromise-free."

"The overall look and feel of the game is almost untouchable, with an extremely high standard of production values applied to almost every visual element - everything meshes together beautifully, making for a best-in-class presentation."

Some pretty positive remarks for Forza Horizon's technical standing; I'm surprised they polished it so incredibly well even after going from 60Hz to 30Hz and considering it's a whole new developer working on this--granted in their defense, they were hardly run of the mill. Well done, Playground.

Arcade racer, no thanks.

"But make no mistake - this is very much the "custom thoroughbred" described by Oli in the 9/10 Eurogamer review, a release where the developers hand over the simulation and difficulty controls to the player and actively invite them to make the game as arcade-like or as authentic as they wish. Out of the box, Horizon is as mainstream and as inviting as it could possibly be and to be frank, while it's immense fun, it's not particularly challenging. But for the purists, all the Forza engine DNA is still there - assists can be tweaked to taste and difficulty level of the opponents can be shifted on a race-by-race basis. Fittingly for a series built upon a foundation of customisation, it's a game that demands to be tuned to taste."

:]

Arcade racer, no thanks.

Z-Fatalis

So what do you call Little Big Planet Karting?

Huh...I guess that makes Forza Horizon the new console graphics king. :D

A label I wouldn't have a problem applying since Forza Horizon is absolutely gorgeous in every respect.

I can hear them... roaring in the distance...

[QUOTE="Z-Fatalis"]

Arcade racer, no thanks.

PhazonBlazer

So what do you call Little Big Planet Karting?

[QUOTE="Z-Fatalis"]

Arcade racer, no thanks.

PhazonBlazer

So what do you call Little Big Planet Karting?

Arcade racer, no thanks.

Z-Fatalis

Huh...I guess that makes Forza Horizon the new console graphics king. :D

A label I wouldn't have a problem applying since Forza Horizon is absolutely gorgeous in every respect.

The_Game21x

[QUOTE="The_Game21x"]

Huh...I guess that makes Forza Horizon the new console graphics king. :D

A label I wouldn't have a problem applying since Forza Horizon is absolutely gorgeous in every respect.

Stevo_the_gamer

Are you sure? I mean, Sony fanboys keep insisting there is so I decided to roll with it. :P

But yeah, Forza Horizon looks amazing. Easily the best looking racing game on a console in my opinion.

[QUOTE="Z-Fatalis"]

Arcade racer, no thanks.

clone01

What does that have anything to do with LBP Karting?

Arcade racers are not my thing.

Sim racers are.

Fun racing games that don't take themselves too seriously like Mario Kart, LBP Karting and Crash racing are.

I'm actually far from trolling.

[QUOTE="Z-Fatalis"]

Arcade racer, no thanks.

clone01

[QUOTE="clone01"][QUOTE="Z-Fatalis"]

Arcade racer, no thanks.

Z-Fatalis

What does that have anything to do with LBP Karting?

Arcade racers are not my thing.

Sim racers are.

Fun racing games that don't take themselves too seriously like Mario Kart, LBP Karting and Crash racing are.

I'm actually far from trolling.

[QUOTE="clone01"][QUOTE="Z-Fatalis"]

Arcade racer, no thanks.

Stevo_the_gamer

Again read into what you will, I'm expressing my opinion, but feel free to rage more cause I don't like your precious Horizon :)

[QUOTE="Z-Fatalis"]

[QUOTE="clone01"] Considering your sig, 0/10 trolling attempt. Keep practicing, though, you'll get better.JohnnyCageMK

What does that have anything to do with LBP Karting?

Arcade racers are not my thing.

Sim racers are.

Fun racing games that don't take themselves too seriously like Mario Kart, LBP Karting and Crash racing are.

I'm actually far from trolling.

A. Motorstorm is an offroad racer, you can't put it in the same catagory as say, NFS, Burnout or Horizon

B. No, it's not really my thing

Are you sure? I mean, Sony fanboys keep insisting there is so I decided to roll with it. :P

But yeah, Forza Horizon looks amazing. Easily the best looking racing game on a console in my opinion.

The_Game21x

Arcade racer, no thanks.

Z-Fatalis

Yeah the game is amazing. I didn't expect it to turn out as great as it did.JohnnyCageMK

[QUOTE="JohnnyCageMK"][QUOTE="Z-Fatalis"]

What does that have anything to do with LBP Karting?

Arcade racers are not my thing.

Sim racers are.

Fun racing games that don't take themselves too seriously like Mario Kart, LBP Karting and Crash racing are.

I'm actually far from trolling.

Z-Fatalis

A. Motorstorm is an offroad racer, you can't put it in the same catagory as say, NFS, Burnout or Horizon

B. No, it's not really my thing

[QUOTE="Z-Fatalis"]

Arcade racer, no thanks.

GhettoBlastin92

sigh, an Illiterate

[QUOTE="Z-Fatalis"]

[QUOTE="JohnnyCageMK"] So you hate Motorstorm right?GhettoBlastin92

A. Motorstorm is an offroad racer, you can't put it in the same catagory as say, NFS, Burnout or Horizon

B. No, it's not really my thing

[QUOTE="Z-Fatalis"]

[QUOTE="JohnnyCageMK"] So you hate Motorstorm right?GhettoBlastin92

A. Motorstorm is an offroad racer, you can't put it in the same catagory as say, NFS, Burnout or Horizon

B. No, it's not really my thing

So would you put Wipeout in the same category as them too? you know considering "it's an arcade racer"

[QUOTE="GhettoBlastin92"][QUOTE="Z-Fatalis"]

Arcade racer, no thanks.

Z-Fatalis

sigh, an Illiterate

[QUOTE="GhettoBlastin92"][QUOTE="Z-Fatalis"]

Arcade racer, no thanks.

Z-Fatalis

sigh, an Illiterate

[QUOTE="Z-Fatalis"]

[QUOTE="GhettoBlastin92"]LOL self ownage. GhettoBlastin92

sigh, an Illiterate

ok not Illiterate, just selective reading

[QUOTE="Z-Fatalis"]

[QUOTE="GhettoBlastin92"]LOL self ownage. DarthClark

sigh, an Illiterate

By morons who can't read, like yourself it seems :lol:

Another great looking game that 360 is not powerful enough to handle :(

Wait.... :o

Criterion is the king of arcade racers with actual cars instead of karts. With criterion developing the new NFS, this game is going to be forgotten by all but lems super quick. Jonwh18

Lol at both lems and cows in this thread. To cows :lol: at you excepting LBP karting ad the 15 steps back it takes from mod nation racers. For a LBP game the sack boy creation tools are pathetic compared to MNR, also judging from the beta the track editor has taken the best parts of MNR and done away with them. As for lems praising FH :lol: at this. The is just a prettier version of burnout paradise with out the burnout magic. Criterion is the king of arcade racers with actual cars instead of karts. With criterion developing the new NFS, this game is going to be forgotten by all but lems super quick. Jonwh18

You're laughing at cows/lems for praising a certain game, how ignorant is that?

[QUOTE="Jonwh18"]Criterion is the king of arcade racers with actual cars instead of karts. With criterion developing the new NFS, this game is going to be forgotten by all but lems super quick. Stevo_the_gamer

[QUOTE="Stevo_the_gamer"][QUOTE="Jonwh18"]Criterion is the king of arcade racers with actual cars instead of karts. With criterion developing the new NFS, this game is going to be forgotten by all but lems super quick. Jonwh18

[QUOTE="Stevo_the_gamer"][QUOTE="Jonwh18"]Criterion is the king of arcade racers with actual cars instead of karts. With criterion developing the new NFS, this game is going to be forgotten by all but lems super quick. Jonwh18

It's great, looks amazing, really interesting concept, but get rid of that filthy rewind button. UGH.

[QUOTE="Stevo_the_gamer"][QUOTE="Jonwh18"]Criterion is the king of arcade racers with actual cars instead of karts. With criterion developing the new NFS, this game is going to be forgotten by all but lems super quick. Jonwh18

It's great, looks amazing, really interesting concept, but get rid of that filthy rewind button. UGH.

Chemical_Viking

[QUOTE="Jonwh18"][QUOTE="Stevo_the_gamer"]That must explain why Codemasters keeps getting more nods over Criterion--oh wait. :]DarthClark

make more pics, you were more funny with those as ispeakfact.

[QUOTE="Jonwh18"][QUOTE="Stevo_the_gamer"]That must explain why Codemasters keeps getting more nods over Criterion--oh wait. :]Blabadon