The Forza series has always wowed with its stunning visuals and commitment to realism in virtual racing. From the very first game's Mount Panorama Circuit to the third's Rally di Positano, and the fifth's Castillo Del Mar there's a certain, simple charm about hammering expensive, expertly-mirrored real-world cars around gorgeous settings; each one crafted with meticulous care. Forza Motorsport, Turn 10 Studio's latest entry to the enduring racing series, follows suit on all of these points.
But it's not just how Forza Motorsport looks and plays that's setting it up for the next evolution of the racing simulation genre, it's the process it's going through to get there.
"Part of what I love about working at Turn 10, and Xbox in general, is that we tackle weird problems that aren't always looked at in gaming," explains Forza general manager Dan Greenawalt. What the Forza mastermind is chiefly referring to here is Motorsport's new approach to machine learning, and during our hands-off demonstration at the Xbox Games Showcase, it feels like this will change the face of the racer entirely.
Under the hood
Greenawalt explains that the Forza series has long used machine learning to power its AI-controlled characters that player races against. In the pre-Xbox One days, this process was owed to a Bayesian machine learning system that operated on the console's local hard drive; but after this was moved onto the cloud. There, Greenawalt and his team used the network to train the Drivatar.
"Now, with the latest Forza, we've taken machine learning and applied it to build time and not run time or load time; so not while it's running or loading, but actually we're able to do it before the game launches. Instead of having machine learning power the moment-to-moment decisions of the Drivatar, we're having it train the Drivatar to control the car, and then we're using an optimizer to make the lines that Drivatar follows."
"What that's allowed us to do is train massive amounts of data so that we can take every car, with every upgrade, and all the tuning options through the wet, through the dry and train that controller so that the AI can make the car do everything it wants it to do. Ultimately, it was about applying the machine learning we were familiar with to a different place."
With that, Greenawalt says applying the machine learning to a different part of Drivatar has led he and his team to the fastest AI with no cheats or hacks, and to a position where they're maximizing their use of the technology in a non-arbitrary way.
Teamwork
Another area in which Forza has excelled throughout its 18-year existence is accessibility, and Motorsport also aims to be the most approachable so far.
Like machine learning, Forza has offered sophisticated assist options throughout its lineage, says Motorsport's creative director, Chris Esaki. Nodding to his colleague standing across the room, Esaki says: "Forza has always had amazing assist, even in the original games. Dan brought the amazing driving line into the world, and he did to simulation racing what Halo has done for shooters, in that he's made it so much more accessible and approachable on control pads."
"Over the years, we've added throttle assist, breaking assist, and turning assist, and you can turn all of those on and off at your will. And we have new additional levels of fidelity around all of those things. We even have one-button driving now, so if you want, you can play the entire game with a single input. If you only want to steer, you can. If you only want to brake, you can too. If you only want to accelerate, that's fine."
Esaki explains that in Forza Motorsport, the above has been evolved further still with the addition of audio assists that help streamline the process more than ever before. In practice, these might tell you when to turn when approaching a corner, or alert you to how near or far away you are to the apex.
He continues: "These audio assist cues can be toggled on and off, to the point where if you turn all of them on, you could literally put a blindfold on and drive around the track. We wanted this to be the most accessible racing simulation ever, no matter what your skill level is. Whether you are near-sighted, whether you're blind, fast or slow, you can have a great time with this game."
Both Esaki and Greenawalt promise more details on the above in the coming months, but at this early stage what Forza Motorsport is working with sounds impressive - all of this, of course, built around the series' signature looks and authentic racing simulation feel.
Forza Motorsport is coming to Xbox Series X, PC, and Xbox One on October 10, 2023.
