In 2016, Playground Games and Microsoft Studios released Forza Horizon 3, a racing game for Xbox One and Windows. The game may be played on both platforms. Final Fantasy XV: Ultimate Edition was published on September 23, 2016, while Standard and Deluxe Editions were released on September 27, 2016. Forza Horizon 3 is the third installment in the series and the ninth overall. It’s not the first time that Turn 10 Studios has aided Playground Games in the creation of a Horizon game. Upon its debut, the game was universally praised by critics. Forza Horizon 4 is the highest-rated Forza Horizon title to date, with an average critic score of 91/100, based on 91 reviews, on review aggregation site Metacritic. Windows version scores 86/100 from 12 reviewers. If you’ve never played Forza Horizon 3 before, it’s a racing game set in a fictitious version of Australia. Compared to its predecessor, Forza Horizon, the game’s playable environment is approximately twice as large, and it features Australian locations and regions. However, instead of being a racer in earlier Horizon games, you’re now in charge of expanding it around Australia by completing races, challenges, stunts, and other activities. The user may access additional locations, challenges, events, and racing courses by growing the festival. In the game, there are three different racing modes: Exhibition, Championship, and Rivals. A single race takes place in the Exhibition, but a series of races take place all across the gaming globe in the Championship. Compete in time trials against an AI opponent in Rivals, a versus race in which the player must beat the opponent’s time. In Forza Horizon 2, players may also take part in Bucket List Challenges, a feature that was just added. To accomplish a challenge, the player must use a certain vehicle to attain a specified speed limit. Bucket Lis and races may now be customized using Horizon Blueprint, a new tool that was included in the game. (https://lkop.me/2DCC8D)
There are a variety of different activities available to the player besides racing and bucket list challenges. It is possible to find bonus boards, which, when driven over, reward players with experience points or a discount on quick transit. If a player finds a barn find rumor, they will be notified and the in-game mechanism will restore it for them to utilize. “Skill points” are earned when a player pulls out driving stunts with a car, and they may be used to buy specific benefits. Horizon 3 introduces Drivatars, a driving AI that learns and replicates the driving talents of Forza players. Drivatars may be found all around the game world, and they appear as opponents in races, where they can be changed by the player according to the game level. Drivatars can be challenged to a head-to-head race in addition to the normal races. They may then add the Drivatar to their racing squad if they win, allowing them to gain more experience points, fans, and in-game cash by having that Drivatar on their team. Drivatars can be recruited in an automobile convoy as well. When in a car convoy, Drivatars will follow the player, and they will attack the player if they are attacked. Individual car parts may be upgraded and tuned, as well as body packages for automobiles. It also features a vehicle customization option called “Upgrade Heroes” that uses tuning and body kits to change a vehicle’s look and feel, however, the customization setting is restricted to a specific number of cars. It’s possible to modify the color of cars and their collective parts, and the user may even create custom liveries for automobiles. As part of the game’s transactional system, players may also bid on other players’ vehicles in the game’s action. There were a total of 350 cars on hand. (https://lkop.me/2DCC8D)
There is a cooperative campaign for up to four people at Horizon 3, and the game is cross-platform compatible as well. Up to 12 people can participate in the game’s multiplayer open-world mode. There are regular races and minigames to play in multiplayer, as well as normal races. As in previous Forza games, players may join clubs, where they can compete against other clubs in races and minigames to earn points and rewards. To create Forza Horizon 3, Playground Games, located in the United Kingdom, reworked the previous Horizon titles. Turn 10 Studios contributed to the project by providing additional work. As with previous Forza games, ForzaTech was utilized to design the game. After Forza Horizon 2 was published in 2014, the production team began thinking about creating Horizon 3. To make Horizon 3 more open, the developers wanted to give players greater flexibility, which wasn’t as prevalent in the prior installment. To make Horizon 3 a higher-quality game, the team worked to improve and reinforce several features of the previous release. The result was that Playground Games reduced the length of loading screen time in Horizon 3 to avoid damaging the game’s perception of being consistently high-quality. It was a “generational jump” over Horizon 2, according to the game’s creator Ralph Fulton, due to the effort was done by the development team to improve the game. (https://lkop.me/2DCC8D)
This was done by sending a crew out to Australia to capture hundreds of pictures for reference, which were then imported into the game as flora, rocks, and road features among other things. Horizon 3 was said to explore and depict every environmentally unique section of the nation, with the gaming world consisting of six separate regions and a greater emphasis on recreating prominent sites of the country, such as The Twelve Apostles. Many minor elements, such as the colors of Australian phone boxes and rubbish bins, were also incorporated in the game, along with native animals. The game’s universe, on the other hand, is slightly incorrect in terms of geography, with real-world sites appearing in different geographical regions. A better gameplay experience, according to Brown, is the reason for this discrepancy. (https://lkop.me/2DCC8D)
In an interview with MCV/Develop, Ralph Fulton explained that Playground Games wanted to help celebrate Australian car culture and familiarize people in other parts of the world with it, which is why many Australian car models were incorporated into the game. To improve the visual scenery for Horizon 2, developers spent months discussing and testing new technological prototypes after the first success of recreating Cote d’Azur and northern Italy in Horizon 2. There was an HDR sky system among these prototypes as well. To create a time-lapse, the crew considered directing a high-definition camera towards the sky for many hours. Then, at Leamington Spa, England, a test was done. There was more diversity in firing a camera at a sky during the test than the sky creation method utilized in Horizon 2. As a result of these considerations, Playground Games sent three teams of two to Braidwood. (https://lkop.me/2DCC8D)
Australian sky, clouds, and sunbeams may be captured in New South Wales. HDR cameras were used from October 2015 till the end of summer in the southern hemisphere. With frame interpolation, the cameras captured hundreds of images over 24-hour intervals, and the lenses and light sensors had to be cleaned regularly. The sky was also captured on video, with the footage totaling roughly 30 days. To create a “dynamic weather system” in the game, several weather conditions and times of the day were used during the filming process. For this reason, exposures and filters on the camera had to be altered often, depending on the time of day. (https://lkop.me/2DCC8D)
To replicate a realistic sun in the game, the lighting effects (including light direction and length) are computed using real-time computation. Light distribution and occlusion caused by surrounding objects and substances are used to create shadows. Additionally, the game makes use of a global lighting system that employs voxel-based boxes to calculate the bounce of light. There are several factors to consider when determining which surface light bounces off of. This allows the light to merge with the shadows of the game. On Horizon 3, high-dynamic-range rendering (HDR) plays an important part in the aesthetics. However, after finding that the Xbox One S’ s HDR output could be programmed, it was decided to include the functionality. Video game engine ForzaTech was determined to be an excellent match for HDR since its light rendering was ideally set up to integrate HDR’s brightness gamut, according to ForzaTech’s developers. Several HDR-enabled TVs were purchased as part of the investigation. To make matters more complicated, it was later revealed that the televisions displayed HDR in different modes. (https://lkop.me/2DCC8D)
As a result of CAD data sharing, most automobile models were produced; yet for cars without CAD data exchange, designers needed additional skills to stimulate them properly. Trying to hunt down rare and older automobiles for modeling details was another challenge, with some of them taking upwards of a week to locate. In a similar vein to the Lamborghini Centenario seen on the game’s cover, a photographer was sent to Italy to take thousands of photos and measurements of the car. Using help from the images and measurements, a mesh of the car was modeled with Autodesk 3ds Max. As the car also consisted of 620 different types of materials, Playground Games desired to simulate all the materials to the “sub-pixel level”, with the designers of the game’s Centenario having to figure out which materials had to be placed in areas of the car; there is a lot of care placed into making the sea interact realistically with the beach because it is an essential region for racing. While working on Sea of Thieves at the time, Playground Games contacted Rare, a game developer, for assistance in building the sea. To create a sea in their games, the creators agreed to share code, which they then refined and repeated. (https://lkop.me/2DCC8D)
Ralph Fulton said in a presentation at a Games Industry.biz conference that “humans create their first impressions very rapidly”, explaining that individuals establish their judgments about someone within the first three seconds. He agreed that first impressions may affect how someone perceives a game, noting that Playground Games conducted a study of first impressions before producing Horizon 3. Each group played the same length of time in a sports vehicle, while the other group played in a normal automobile for the same amount of time. While playing the game, players were questioned about their experiences, players in the sports vehicle gave the game greater scores in a variety of different areas. So, Playground Games spent a significant amount of time (approximately 18 months) designing and curating the game’s initial few scenes as a result of these findings. A month after the decision to separate the opening drive and the game’s first event, the final path for the first drive was chosen. When it was agreed on a route in June 2015, tests were conducted and concept art was created to show what a player might view on their first drive, but certain concepts had to be changed or eliminated, such as the rainforest in the initial drive. (https://lkop.me/2DCC8D)
The Lamborghini Centenario, the automobile the player would be driving in the opening sequence, also had issues. Centenario’s speed made it impossible for players to take in the landscape as planned, forcing them to modify their path and terrain. It was necessary to use a sequence to replace the Centenario with a buggy because the first drive was also afraid. It was also necessary to postpone the first event after the inaugural drive so that the opponent's vehicle might be improved. Four-player cooperative campaign developers wanted to make sure that all players could play with “as little friction as possible” during the project’s development. Because of this, the campaign development team came up with a set of objectives for a planned campaign. When evaluating their project design, the team created a list of factors that affected the campaign. The following were the most important issues; In a campaign, players might be separated by hours. Depending on the session leader’s limitations, races may have particular criteria for vehicles, and participants with fewer cars may not be able to meet those standards Players with lower skill levels may finish in lower positions. Even though players can play without any communication, the person conducting the gaming session must also guide participants through the game. The team came up with a list of alternative solutions for each problem and chose the one that caused the least amount of friction amongst the participants. (https://lkop.me/2DCC8D)
Races that have been unlocked in a cooperative session but not in single-player will display as “finished” on the single-player UI. Second, a rental function was included that enabled players use the session leader’s car during a race. Lastly, every race was turned into a team race involving the players and AI opponents to make it more interesting. After then, a point system was implemented for each opponent that was defeated. Because of this, novice players may contribute to the campaign, even if they had only defeated one opponent in a game. Though it wasn’t on the team’s original to-do list, the fourth problem did come up. Forza Horizon 3 was announced on 13 June 2016 during Microsoft’s E3 Xbox briefing. The game was released on the 27th of September, 2016. Owners of the Ultimate Edition version of the game received access on 23 September, along with six downloadable content car packs, and access to exclusive cars and events. The game also made use of Groove Music to play custom soundtracks, although the feature became limited to music and playlists uploaded to their OneDrive cloud storage only after 31 December 2017 when Microsoft discontinued the Groove Music Pass. (https://lkop.me/2DCC8D)
OneDrive audio streaming was later removed from the game on March 31, 2019, restricting players to the in-game soundtrack, like with the previous Forza Horizon titles, as of March 31, 2019. Volkswagen vehicles were not included in the game owing to license difficulties. After achieving its end-of-life status on September 27, 2020, Forza Horizon 3 and all of its downloadable content will be withdrawn from the Microsoft Store. Several downloadable content vehicle packs have been made available for the game’s players. Some packs, such as the Motorsport, All-Stars Car Pack, have a specific theme. Some of the vehicles featured in this pack are the Dodge Viper GTS-R and the Chevrolet Corvette C7 in their race forms. With the Porsche Car Pack, you may get a pack just for your car brand! Porsche 911 GT3 RS 2016 and two more 911 models from various years are included in this bundle. Players can also unlock an event that triggers a second Porsche barn discovery by purchasing all expansions. (https://lkop.me/2DCC8D)
The Blizzard Mountain edition was published on December 13th, 2016. Blizzard Mountain DLC and Hot Wheels expansion were included in the Expansion Pass. In Blizzard Mountain, players may experience snow conditions on both the mountain’s foothills and its summit. During the course of the game, the weather varies from bright skies to near whiteout. Nine new DLC automobiles are included in the update, including a barn discovery. As well as the Expansion Pass, players may purchase the pack independently on the Microsoft Store website. Forza Horizon 3 Hot Wheels[38] was published on 9 May 2017 by Turn 10 and Playground Games in conjunction with Mattel’s Hot Wheels. The expansion pack features a new location off the coast of Australia that is created using real-world size Hot Wheels stunt track components. Ten’s completely new DLC automobiles are included, including a barn discovery. As well as a few Hot Wheels classics like the Twin Mill and the 2010 Pagani Zonda R, the 2016 Jeep Trailcat (a modified Jeep Wrangler), and the 2007 Toyota Hilux seen in Top Gear’s North Pole special are also included. (https://lkop.me/2DCC8D)
While gamers of Forza Horizon 3 received an in-game greeting from Final Fantasy XV on August 1, those that played Final Fantasy XV received an Xbox Live message that contained a code to redeem the automobile. Anyone who played either game on Xbox One or Forza Horizon 3 on Windows previous to that date was entitled to a free piece of DLC. “Forza Horizon 2 was utilized as a reference for the road trip parts of Final Fantasy XV,” says director Hajime Tabata, which led to a partnership with Turn 10 and the fictitious vehicle in Horizon 3. Microsoft’s Xbox One version of Forza Horizon 3 garnered “universal praise” from critics, while the PC version received “generally positive” reviews, according to review aggregate Metacritic With a Metascore of more than 90, it was the highest-rated Forza Horizon title until Forza Horizon 4. In 2016, it was Australia’s sixth best-selling game. The game sold over 2.5 million copies. (https://lkop.me/2DCC8D)
According to Brett Makedonski of Destructoid, the game’s “dynamic has worked well for three games.” As Game Revolution’s Nick Tan put it, “You’ll want to bend and curl around every corner in gorgeous Australia terrain at least once, even if that’s the only time you play this game.” According to GameSpot’s Miguel Concepcion, “Turn 10 and Playground Games confirm the series’ reputation as the driving game for everyone.” Due to the vast number of events, the increasing emphasis on off-road choices does not come at the price of traditional braces. According to Justin Towell of GamesRadar, the game received a rating of 4 out of 5 stars “As a casual game, it won’t need a lot of thought on your part, but Australia is an excellent spot to relax and take in the magnificent landscape. IGN’s Luke Reilly rated the game a score of 9.5/10, calling it a “fantastic experience.” “maintains that ripping through postcard-perfect settings should be exciting, and it gives us the means to keep it that way forever. My favorite thing on four wheels has finally arrived: this is the racing game I’ve been waiting for. Good luck to all of you, chums! (https://lkop.me/2DCC8D)
As Polygon’s Colin Campbell put it, “Through a wonderfully realistic rendition of Australia, together with a broad range of terrain, automobiles, and obstacles… this free-roaming car simulation offers a useful playbox.” — In addition to the “Cor blimey” moments, the game managed to give me an adrenaline rush of speed and liberty. (https://lkop.me/2DCC8D)
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