A new Forza Motorsport is on the horizon. Turn 10 Studios announced yesterday that it’s working hard on Forza Motorsport 6, and it came as quite the surprise.
At this point all we know about Forza 6 is that it will be the first racing game to include the newly announced Ford performance line, including the Ford GT, Shelby GT 350 Mustang, and F-150 Raptor. But we also know that a lot of feedback was given after the launch of Forza 5, so Turn 10 has a ton of material to work with when it comes to improving the series.
Related: Forza Motorsport 6 Announced, See the New Cars
As a fan of the Forza franchise I have high hopes for the next game. There are a few things I would like to see added and improved, 10 of which you can read about in the gallery below.
Forza 6 Wish List: What One Forza Fan Wants to See From the Next Release
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A driving school
One of my favorite features of the Gran Turismo franchise is the Driving School. Not only does it serve as an introduction to racing for players, but it also functions as a way for advanced players to push themselves as far as possible for trophy awards.
Basically, Driving School places players in a short challenge that describes the objective, and has them try to get as low of a time as possible in the specific circumstance. In some cases it may have to do with navigating a tough corner perfectly, while others it's about hitting a perfect brake point to guide a car into a designated area.
Forza 5 toyed with the idea with its Top Gear Challenges, but expanding on that, and ensuring that new players can dive in and be instructed from the get-go would be a great addition to Forza 6.
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Epic tours
As much as I loved Forza 5, it was severely lacking in energy. A lot of that was due to its race format, which would throw players in a series of races with no overarching theme. There was no true sense that you were participating in a championship or a tour. There were no placement races for pole position, or practice laps.
Forza 6 needs to find a way to make its championships stand out from ordinary races; a standard race shouldn't feel the same as one that's for a gold trophy.
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Keep the 60 FPS, but kill the aliasing
For a launch title, Forza 5 was beautiful running at 1080p and 60 FPS. As a matter of fact, more than a year after the launch of the Xbox One it stands as one of the few 1080p/60FPS titles on the platform.
Although the game looked great, it suffered from some aliasing problems. According to 10 Turn Studios, 4K resolution is the only solution for such aliasing problems. Well, that and anti-aliasing.
I'd be happier with a game that runs at 900P, but with some MSAA or other effective anti-aliasing method. But keep the 60 FPS, it's a godsend for a racing simulator.
Oh, and some touch ups on the environmental objects, user-interface, and crowds would be nice, too.
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Bring back the removed features
As with many franchises that transition between generations, Forza 5 had fan-favorite features removed that were in previous iterations, features like Car Clubs, User-Created Lobbies, and the Auction House. Strangely enough, many of these features are community oriented, and were a major reason automotive fans actively played Forza 4 for great lengths of time.
Adding these removed features into the next title would be a great way to add depth to the game.
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Improved Drivatars/A.I.
I wasn't expecting Drivatars to be perfect in their first implementation, but they had some serious issues. Myself and many other Forza fans enjoyed how Forza 5 kept track of player tendencies in order to replicate them on NPC cars, but the inherent problem is that many people who buy racing games don't actually know how to drive a car on a track. While myself and other hardcore racing fans like to simulate the real world by avoiding collisions, and staying on the track, a lot of people play as if they were in a bumper car.
It might be worth it to add major penalties for collisions at this point similar to Driveclub, because I just don't see a way for Drivatars to work without having issues with overly aggressive A.I. Something needs to be done to make sure that constant collisions don't break the immersion of the racing simulation.
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More tracks, please
At launch, Forza 5 suffered from a lack of tracks. There were fewer than two dozen, and while a few were fantastic, circuits such as Road Atlanta took the place of countless better tracks.
Having Nurburgring and Fujimi Kaido in the game at launch would be a great start. Other great tracks include Circuit de Monaco, Suzuka Circuit, and Autodromo Nazionale Monza. The more the merrier.
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Say no to elevator music
The elevator music that was Forza 5's soundtrack needs to go. While it served its role well for menu music, the ferocity of racing deserves something better when on the track.
Forza Horizon 2 did a great job in this area by introducing several radio stations. While Forza 6 doesn't necessarily need to have this, delivering licensed tracks would do wonders for the race environment.
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Night racing, maybe even a day/night cycle
The Forza 6 cover hints at this with its darkness-drenched Ford GT, and it's among the most requested features for the new installment. Night racing does a lot for racing simulators, adding a new variable to the track. Decreased visibility means racers need more awareness, and brake points are affected opening up opportunities for passes.
While I'm certain night racing will be added to the game, what would be even better is a day/night cycle. Forza Horizon 2 had this, and it worked wonders. Watching a track go from fully lit to darkness during a lap is a sight to behold.
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Bring the rain
As with night racing, weather goes a long way toward mixing things up. Wet ground means different road conditions, giving players adept at car control an opportunity to shine.
Turn 10 can take it a step further with varying levels of rain, from drizzle to thunder storms. Snow would be nice, but is probably asking for too much.
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Rally racing
Okay, so Forza Horizon 2 has a ton of off-road racing, but most of it is in open fields. I would love to see rally circuits included in Forza 6 to highlight the strength of 4WD vehicles like the Subaru WRX STI and the Audi Quattro.
Dirt has this style of racing on lock, so it doesn't need to be extensive, but just enough to add variety to the experience.
