Forza Horizon 2 on the horizon! [XO,X360]

+ Game looks fun to play and the arcade driving/handling looks really good.

- Really disappointed by the visuals: short draw distances most of the time, meh environments, lighting/effects not really subtle/advanced on both day and night time.

I purposefully ignored the filmic heavy artefacts that are unfortunately the industry standards for many arcade driving 30fps console game.

 

Two things bug me:

- to the trees, just being honest they look bad
- the driving, everything shown so far was floaty. I want to be able to carve tight corners like in PGR, where even playing around on "the ring" was great fun (I am not getting that same feeling with F5, that low speed floatyness needs to be addressed I think with the engine)

Will need to see some hands on impressions, or play the demo.

 

I don't know anyone else that is disappointed by the visuals.

 

It's the best looking racer that I have ever seen. They used high ploy models for gameplay, the lighting is top notch (I need to see more night time). The draw distance is amazing and detailed and unlike other racing games you can drive to the point that you can see. When I see the gameplay it seems to me that it's a circuit racing, not an open world one.



This part of the E3 trailer is mind blowing, the indirect reflections on the tire is amazing, I had never seen such a thing on a racer before.

 

You shouldn't mix "photo mode" images with one average (but true) gameplay screenshot.

 

I'm surprised by how close the gameplay trailer was to the teaser screenshots, game looks amazing.

 

If you are comparing this to DC, which is fine, then you should take note that all footage released for their game has been mainly night/dusk scenes to emphasize their lighting engine. That tends to skew things in their favour because you are generally more attracted to those types of landscapes, or in general things you have never seen done in games yet.

That being said I think DC has an edge over FH2, but without proper comparison shots (same lighting and environment) it is hard to form a subjective opinion on the matter.

 

So which one of them is from the Photo Mode and which on is from the average gameplay in your opinion? Since both of them are taken from the same video! Also I said you once that Photo Mode won't change lighting in Forza.

You can see it here:
http://www.gamespot.com/videos/e3-2014-forza-horizon-2-trailer-at-microsoft-press/2300-6419208/

 

Downloaded the B-Roll footage and a couple of Gamersyde vids and I don't know what you guys are talking about, this game looks absolutely stunning.

 

Great that they have day/night cycles and dynamic weather, and the track detail and textures look quite a bit better than F5. AA seems better, though it's hard to judge on the footage I've seen. Other than that, it looks quite similar to F5 with a more stylized look with more vibrant colors. The car shaders still look off to me on some cars (look plasticy) and the lighting doesn't impress me as much as other racers, especially at night. Overall it looks great though.

This is what I'm basing my opinion on: http://www.gamersyde.com/news_e3_forza_horizon_2_gameplay-15454_en.html and:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HGKoqktEjBY

 

I like this shot.

 

Something about the lighting there seems a bit off, maybe it's the environment map on the car.

 

Maybe you saw the ProjectCars vid and now, like me, everything else car related looks cheap and fake?

 

Could be, but even compared to last week's teaser, the paint seems too reflective.

 

What do you mean by saying it's too reflective? And compare to what?

It seems ok to me:


Gifs are bad mmkay
http://i.minus.com/iGYAChpLO1VJ8.gif

 

Compared to last week's teaser, and yes, the angle of sun is different and off-camera.

I can understand the highlight being bright in the sun (looks fine in the gif), but it's in shadow in that particular shot/instant. The reflection just looks weird there.

 

Never heard of Turtlewax?

 

That's from skybox, not sun. Teaser sky was cloudy, but in this pic you can see same effect :

http://assets1.ignimgs.com/2014/06/09/e3-press-kit-02-wm-forza-horizon2jpg-2ea0ca.jpg


---------------

I think this pic is new:

http://assets2.ignimgs.com/2014/06/09/e3-press-kit-09-wm-forza-horizon2jpg-6e45ee.jpg

 

Sure. Doesn't change that I find it weird looking at that moment.

edit: As I already said, it looks fine when it gets back out into the sun, but in the shade of the tree, it's weird.

Skybox or sun, I'm just referring to the reflective sheen.

 

looks great!

http://ca.ign.com/videos/2014/06/25/exploring-forza-horizon-2s-dynamic-world-ign-first