News from E3 2017 are coming through with an announcement from Microsoft and Turn 10 Studios of Forza Motorsport 7. With over 700 cars from the off and a Porsche licence this roster of cars can only expand and the date of this exciting release is October 3rd 2017. This will be the first Forza title to be designed to take full advantage of the also newly announced XB1X. (We will cover the new XB1X soon). Forza Motorsport 7 will take full advantage of the new visuals and power capacity of the new console.
We have been informed the game will run at a full 60fps in HDR for those who have already invested in a 4k set up. If you don’t have a 4k TV the Xbox1X will upscale your graphics to make the game look stunning. As promised by Microsoft with all games running on the new Xbox1X.
There will be over 30 locations on release and that’ll make over 200 configurations to race on. Dynamic weather is now included rather than just the standard weather mode as in FM6. This will change in every race. You will see the clouds roll in and the rain falling in the distance which can effect parts of the track making conditions tricking. Puddles form and disperse and the sun glistens off the tarmac when the track is wet and the sun is out.
Other new visuals bring the cars to life with the interior of the car coming to life. Moving window-nets and internal wiring and fixings move when driving these cars.
More interesting news is the amount of detail in the driver. Each part of the driver, Helmet, Suit, Gloves and Boots are in a high definition bringing the driver to life. We are also promised a detailed design option of dressing up your pilot. Hans Devices, helmet makes and designs, one of my favourites being a retro style race kit, more news will be announced in the summer. Forza has never really been short on cars or locations to race so giving the user a more detailed and personal customisation with the driver just adds more connection.
I know this alone doesn’t make the game a success and the biggest elephant in the room being the physics model of the cars. Most of us know the previous iterations of the franchise and what is needed to improve the game, we shall have to wait for some feedback from John at E3 on that one.
Turn 10 have spent a lot of time trying to refine the sounds which to be honest were already quite good in FM6 for example. The tyre sounds when sliding across the circuit, or when a curb or gravel trap is hit. All these sounds have been made to be as lifelike as possible. Even the details of the air being drawn into the air intake and how this changes with the amount of throttle applied. Lets hope these resources are not avoiding the elephant!
Heading back to the Porsche licence there is an exclusive car in the game which isn’t for sale yet in the real world. A Porsche 911 GT2 RS.
There’s a lot more to find out about Forza Motorsport 7. Once E3 has finished we hope to bring you some more details.
