Forza Horizon 5 Rumors Suggest Mexico Location

[Northstar]

When starts forum sub FH5?

Normally new sub-forums don't get created until the title is officially unveiled.

 

[ImaRobot]

Not too excited if this is the case. I like Mexico's cultures, but its one of those countries that I think lowly of as far as landscape is concerned. If Playground wanted a country from Latin America, I would have preferred somewhere like Argentina or Bolivia. Or if they just wanted to do a country like the US again, without doing the same country twice in the franchise, Canada would have been my first choice.

But if that's what Playground are doing, fine by them. They're just going to have a hard time selling me the game. If TDU Solar Crown is worth its salt and/or if Forza MotorSport gets a release soon, this speculated FH5 won't be on my radar. Not a fan of games with a lot of dry, arid landscape. Its why I'm not a big cheerleader of FH3's map, and skipped out on NFS Payback even before the controversies came to light.

I take it you’ve never been to or seen Mexico once. Especially if actually think it’s dry and arid.

 

[JoshMead]

I take it you’ve never been to or seen Mexico once. Especially if actually think it’s dry and arid.

Have not, and likely will not considering how long the pandemic is going. But I get a decent enough picture (lots of of yellow & orange). The southern half of the country looks nice enough, but I doubt Playground will exclude the bulk of the map to just those parts.

The nice thing about Horizon is it does more of a "greatest hits" layout than a tried & true recreation, so I'm sure there'll be lots nice coastal spots as showcased by Eunos_Cosmo. But at the same time, I'm dreading a return of the vast amount of flat nothingness that results in not but straight roads and an overall lack of elevation change experienced in the entire northwest of FH3. Now if they choose to include more mountainous or canyon-riddled desert instead, that'd be a different story.

My mind's not made up yet, but other games are looking more appealing right now, especially if the Hong Kong speculation for TDU:SC is true.

 

[Eunos_Cosmo]

The nice thing about Horizon is it does more of a "greatest hits" layout than a tried & true recreation, so I'm sure there'll be lots nice coastal spots as showcased by Eunos_Cosmo. But at the same time, I'm dreading a return of the vast amount of flat nothingness that results in not but straight roads and an overall lack of elevation change experienced in the entire northwest of FH3.

If that happens, you can't place the blame on Mexico. I've driven through a pretty big chunk of the country (Laredo -> San Luis Potosi -> San Miguel De Allende -> Teotihuacan -> D.F.) and once you get away from the US border, there's very few straight flat roads to be found. I can think of a few reasons they may want to avoid that border area anyways....

Again, I'm gonna put the burden of making an engaging, fun map on PG. There's no real reason that the Australia map should have been so boring. Just look at the area around the real Byron Bay on google maps. There's tons of windy narrow roads that could have been a blast. Instead we got wipeout style freeways all over with a couple of bends. Regardless of where FH5 lands, PG could make a boring map or they could make a great map. As long as S2 class racing and a casual-friendly experience is prioritized I doubt we will get many genuinely fun roads. Part of the problem is they seem to limit themselves to around 30 square miles (for any number of reasons I suppose) but that is a pretty limiting box - especially considering the sheer amount of bioms they try to squeeze into that diorama. You can circle the entire environment in less than 10 minutes in a fast car. In TDU 1 you could get on a curvy mountain road a legit 10+ miles long - in some cases longer than the entire length of a FH map. Any curvy mountain roads in a FH game are typically 1-2 minutes, at best - which doesn't exactly feel like a real place at that point...more like a theme park ride or something? Again, look at this clip from TDU 1 - 15 minutes long and it's a single road. No FH game can come remotely close to this.



No question the physics and visuals are....challenged, but the road itself is great. Bigger isn't always better of course - the crew is barren and lifeless to achieve it's size, but the 30 square miles is just too small. Chances are the city limits of the town/city you are living in is greater than 30 square miles. San Francisco is a tiny city and it's 49 square miles. I'm not confident FH5 is going to move the needle on world building because the preceding games have been way, way too popular for them to change the recipe. It's a shame. For the record, I too am hoping the next TDU game will be a great one.

 

[inCloud]

but the 30 square miles is just too small.

Its a curse of Xbox One x Forzatech. But we don't need one big map, they could release different bioms as addons and rotate like seasons in FH4(with ability to swap map manually for singlplayer or coop use). In perfect world, FH5 could be a collection of remastered Horizon festivals from around the globe. Its a shame that gorgeous worlds of FH2 and FH3 unavailable for newcomers.

 

[Eunos_Cosmo]

Its a curse of Xbox One. But we don't need one big map, they could release different bioms as addons and rotate like seasons in FH4(with ability to swap map manually for singlplayer or coop use). In perfect world, FH5 could be a collection of remastered Horizon festivals from around the globe. Its a shame that gorgeous worlds of FH2 and FH3 unavailable for newcomers.

Is it though? Oahu was rendered at 1:1 scale for TDU 1 Xbox 360 - twenty times larger than a typical horizon map. While it wasn't exceptionally detailed...I would argue that the FH games haven't really been either. At least nothing like GTA V, for instance, a comparably sized map with exponentially more environmental interaction and life. I'm not saying its easy to make a big map that feels finely detailed but PG needs to rethink their approach I think. I think you could lean on procedural generation quite a bit for scale and then use the artists time to flesh out the details with some creative tools.

 

[inCloud]

Is it though? Oahu was rendered at 1:1 scale for TDU 1 Xbox 360 - twenty times larger than a typical horizon map. While it wasn't exceptionally detailed...I would argue that the FH games haven't really been either. At least nothing like GTA V, for instance, a comparably sized map with exponentially more environmental interaction and life. I'm not saying its easy to make a big map that feels finely detailed but PG needs to rethink their approach I think. I think you could lean on procedural generation quite a bit for scale and then use the artists time to flesh out the details with some creative tools.

Both Forza and GTA struggle to provide silk smooth experience, especially when you rise speed to extreme. Bigger map is achievable, but would have some issues with popup and stuttering. Only game this gen that provides silk smooth transition through map is Crew 2 and it was built for it.

 

[strela]

I don't remember where I read/heard it, but somebody from PG mentioned hardware limitation for map size. Maybe it's true. The map in FH2 for 360 is slightly different from FH2 Xbone map. But than you look at the Crew map.... Anyway since FH5 would likely be a crossgen title I don't believe we will get a bigger map.

 

[willbsn13]

I really hope for a bigger map. I don't see why not, what hardware limitations would there be in terms of map size?

Another question. What are peoples guesses for the cover car?

 

[GBalao888]

I really hope for a bigger map. I don't see why not, what hardware limitations would there be in terms of map size?

Another question. What are peoples guesses for the cover car?

I'd sure hope the cover car would be the Nissan GT-R50 by Italdesign. Hasn't been in a game yet so I'm hopefully counting on it.

The supporting car (ever since Horizon 3 - where there was an off-road vehicle as a supporting cover car) should probably be a Baja truck to fit the theme if it were to be set in Mexico.

 

[WanganDream]

I really hope for a bigger map. I don't see why not, what hardware limitations would there be in terms of map size?

Another question. What are peoples guesses for the cover car?

I'm not sure what the main car will be.
But I am sure that the sub-car (offroad cover car) will be a Ford Bronco R.
The good relationship between MS and Ford and the buzz of an off-road racing version of the new Bronco will make it a good cover car.
And if the location of FH5 is in Mexico, this car will be even more appropriate since it is a Baja 1000 race car.

 

[sirjim73]

One thing I wondered, if the setting is to be Mexico, what might the Showcases be?

Not knowing much about Mexican culture, I have no idea what they might include. One would have thought they would try to include the "day of the dead" somehow, unless they're worried it might frighten people?

 

[strela]

One thing I wondered, if the setting is to be Mexico, what might the Showcases be?

I know one is going to be car vs train. How exciting!

 

[Northstar]

Anyway since FH5 would likely be a crossgen title

Considering we don't even know the release date of the next Motorsport title I'm not so sure it will be. Prior to the release of the Series X they said the window for cross-gen was 2 years and it's looking very likely that FH5 won't be released in that time frame.

unless they're worried it might frighten people?

Day of the Dead really isn't all that frightening despite it's title and use of skulls, Disney even made a kids movie out of it. I wouldn't be surprised if they avoid it out of fear they might get it wrong and cause issues though, after all this is the company that refuses to use "SS" even though it's meaning in the car world has nothing to do with Nazi's.

 

[strela]

Considering we don't even know the release date of the next Motorsport title I'm not so sure it will be. Prior to the release of the Series X they said the window for cross-gen was 2 years and it's looking very likely that FH5 won't be released in that time frame.

Yes, we don't know nothing yet. Just some thoughts based on some rumors and that 2 years support statement. It would make perfectly sense if both FM(8) and FH5 release only on PC and Series X too. They are going to support both games for years and releasing anyone on all 3 platforms would bring more problems.
If they announce FH5 on E3 and if it comes this year then it will likely be crossgen and day one Gamepass, imo. Personally would like both to be next gen only with all the goodies.

 

[AudiMan2011]

I doubt FH5 will be crossgen as it would end up massively compromised on both systems. Plus I personally think that its part of obligations in contracts with studios for MS to release Horizon games after Motorsport.

I'll be hugely surprised if we get any info at all on FH5 at E3 since T10's focus appears to have been shifting towards the FM reboot

 

[ShawnPhillips]

Is it though? Oahu was rendered at 1:1 scale for TDU 1 Xbox 360 - twenty times larger than a typical horizon map.

Different Game Engine, Different Limitations. The Forzatech Engine was developed for the Forza Motorpsort games, which has closed maps for racetracks that are very small compared to even FH1's map. It was not built for Huge maps the way TDU's Engine was.

 

[SoapBoxRacer]

All previous FH games have been centered around the cars, car industry, and car culture of their respective locations. In that sense Mexico doesn't make sense to me, since it better known for things other than cars and car industry.

 

[ImaRobot]

All previous FH games have been centered around the cars, car industry, and car culture of their respective locations. In that sense Mexico doesn't make sense to me, since it better known for things other than cars and car industry.

I didn't realize Colorado was such a forefront of car culture. Color me surprised.

Either way, I would much have a nicer place to drive if the option is just picking a place that is just centered around if they produced cars or not.

 

[SoapBoxRacer]

I didn't realize Colorado was such a forefront of car culture. Color me surprised.

Either way, I would much have a nicer place to drive if the option is just picking a place that is just centered around if they produced cars or not.

I know Colorado is not a hotbed of motoring or car culture, but it was located in the U.S. It was the first iteration of FH franchise and there were hardware limitations regarding map size as well.

I'm going to be okay with any location as long as the game is be enjoyable.

 

[Joey D]

Colorado does have a decent bit of automotive culture but it's almost entirely centered around going offroad, so that was a miss.

Mexico does have a pretty decent car culture though. I mean it's a culture that gave us the lowrider and contributed greatly to hot rods in general. They also have a pretty good off-road scene as well. I'm not sure about supercars or whatever, but there are enough wealthy people in Mexico that I have little doubt there's not a decent number of higher-end vehicles.

 

[ShawnPhillips]

All previous FH games have been centered around the cars, car industry, and car culture of their respective locations.

Apart from simply including a few Utes and some Aussie muscle cars There is next to nothing in terms of Austrailian car culture depicted in FH3.

 

[Nielsen]

I didn't realize Colorado was such a forefront of car culture. Color me surprised.

I’d be surprised if FH1 had taken place in Michigan. Not hard to see why they opted for the slightly more scenic Colorado for a US-based game.

 

[ImaRobot]

I’d be surprised if FH1 had taken place in Michigan. Not hard to see why they opted for the slightly more scenic Colorado for a US-based game.

Hence the part that you conveniently cropped out. That was quite literally my very point. I don’t mind it being a place that isn’t the top top of automotive culture, I prefer a nice locale.

 

[WanganDream]

Colorado does have a decent bit of automotive culture but it's almost entirely centered around going offroad, so that was a miss.

Mexico does have a pretty decent car culture though. I mean it's a culture that gave us the lowrider and contributed greatly to hot rods in general. They also have a pretty good off-road scene as well. I'm not sure about supercars or whatever, but there are enough wealthy people in Mexico that I have little doubt there's not a decent number of higher-end vehicles.

I'm a lowrider enthusiast, so if they add iconic models like the 59 Impala or the 80s de Ville to the game I'll be happy.
It is my dream to apply lowrider style livery to these vehicles and cruise around with friends.

Well, I don't expect them to add cars like the de Ville, let alone the Impala, and Forza doesn't even have wire wheels as aftermarket rims.

By the way, the new generation of Warthogs in Halo was announced the other day.
Whether we love it or not, I think this car may make an appearance in FH5 as well.
https://www.motor1.com/news/506725/halo-bigger-badder-warthog-razorback/

 

[Eunos_Cosmo]

Hmmm...I'm pretty sure Lowrider culture is a distinctly American thing. Yes, it definitely started in the Hispanic community in Los Angeles and San Jose (including Mexicans and Mexican-Americans, without a doubt) but I'm not sure it's actually even a thing in Mexico nor ever has been. I'll also say that people tend to conflate all of Mexican culture (including food, music, landscape, etc) with northern Mexico and the Mexicans who immigrate to the US...but the majority who do immigrate to the US (legal or otherwise) tend to represent only a small, mostly rural (and frankly poor) subset of Mexican people generally - that's the whole reason they come here in the first place. I'm not sure where I'm going with this, but Mexico is far from a monolithic place and it's border area with the USA is sadly too often what people associate with the entire country, especially with films like Sicario. If you want a bit more depth to your Mexican period film, I'd suggest Roma, which is totally excellent.

Back to Forza: The only tangible links between the FH locations thus far are pretty scenery. That's it. There is no connection to car culture, car industry, automotive history, racing, or anything like that. I mean think about it...it's based around a fictitious music festival that you have absolutely no involvement in...somehow.

 

[Joey D]

.I'm pretty sure Lowrider culture is a distinctly American thing. Yes, it definitely started in the Hispanic community in Los Angeles and San Jose (including Mexicans and Mexican-Americans, without a doubt) but I'm not sure it's actually even a thing in Mexico nor ever has been

Lowriders started with Chicanos in California, but it has since spread all over the place. While it's not as big as it is in the Southwest (mostly New Mexico and SoCal), there is a lowrider scene in Mexico that comes from either people learning the trade in the states and moving back to their homeland or through family/friends who live in the US. It's more popular the closer you get to the border though and I know it's popular enough in places like Tijuana since it's easier and cheaper to have a car modified in the US and then driven back to Mexico due to import duties which I know can make car parts obscenely expensive.

To bad @Cano isn't around much anymore, he was pretty good at showing off Mexican car culture and hot rods were very much a thing. It's not going to be like it is in the US, but it does exist.

I do know from various overlanders that I still stay semi-in contact with that there is a pretty decent offroad scene in Mexico too, especially down in the southern portion in places like Yucatan, Campeche, and Chiapas. I'm guessing that has more to do with the landscape and the need for something 4WD in some areas.

 

[Eunos_Cosmo]

Lowriders started with Chicanos in California, but it has since spread all over the place. While it's not as big as it is in the Southwest (mostly New Mexico and SoCal), there is a lowrider scene in Mexico that comes from either people learning the trade in the states and moving back to their homeland or through family/friends who live in the US. It's more popular the closer you get to the border though and I know it's popular enough in places like Tijuana since it's easier and cheaper to have a car modified in the US and then driven back to Mexico due to import duties which I know can make car parts obscenely expensive.

To bad @Cano isn't around much anymore, he was pretty good at showing off Mexican car culture and hot rods were very much a thing. It's not going to be like it is in the US, but it does exist.

I do know from various overlanders that I still stay semi-in contact with that there is a pretty decent offroad scene in Mexico too, especially down in the southern portion in places like Yucatan, Campeche, and Chiapas. I'm guessing that has more to do with the landscape and the need for something 4WD in some areas.

Somebody needs to make an overlanding game already. There's been a few games that dabble in it, but none of them have been very mainstream.

 

[cosme]

According to people on twitter, Microsoft already showed some glimpses from FH5 in Series X announcement trailer, we just didn't notice

 

[Eunos_Cosmo]

What's going on in that top right image? I don't buy the top left being the Chihuahuan desert with those Joshua trees...I think the Sonoran Desert or Baja is more likely. Unless they go obscure, I'm leaning towards Cabo as the anchor city still.