Two changes to bring back the "soul" that people say is missing from modern Horizon.

A realistic way to implement progression.

It’s no secret that progression has become something of a pain point in Forza titles, especially Forza Horizon. I don't mean realistic as in similar to the real world, I mean realistic as in possible to implement in a modern Horizon game.

Most of us enjoy the sandbox style gameplay, where it’s not hard to have more than enough money to buy any car in the game. However, many in the community feel that the game would benefit from a more restrictive career that forced players to make consequential decisions about the vehicles and upgrades they purchase.

I think we can have our cake and eat it too here. I propose a system that starts off much less rewarding than current games. One that allows the player to select a starting car and then forces that player to stick with that cars for the majority of the early to mid-game. Forza’s tuning and upgrade system is more than deep enough to support interesting gameplay even in tuning and upgrading a single car. After learning to adapt and upgrade the car from lower classes, the game slowly gives better payouts but never too much. I think a good goal would be for most players to end up with about 8-12 vehicles at the end of the career portion of the game.

After the player completes the career mode, the classic Horizon experience opens up. After becoming the Festival Champion, our driver is a famous racer and garners sponsorships and appearance fees, making our payouts for every event have a Champion Modifier applied that adjusts the game economy back to the sandbox style game we have all come to enjoy.

I think this would increase the longevity of the game for many and create unique memories for players as they struggle their way to the top. Players have felt disengaged from the game world for a long time. If they have a reason to care about their cars, they will. When they are handed out like candy they feel like nothing, but if they are something we have to learn to rely on they will always stick with us. In most racing games, that first car holds a place of honor in the garage. In Horizon, they are quickly forgotten, but I think these changes could make us care about our cars again.

Another way to make us care about the things in the game, and the game itself, is to make the whole environment feel more material. Driving through any Forza title is always gorgeous, but rarely very engaging outside the driving mechanics. I love the handling and tuning in these games, but a little meat on those good bones will go a long way.

A simple way to make the world feel lived in.

Ever since Horizon 4 introduced seasons, the canonical festival schedule has been utterly psychotic. It’s a driving game, so it doesn’t need to be realistic, but I think the world would be more fun and immersive if it was.

Currently, the Horizon Festival canonically turns all roads in the area into total chaos FOREVER. YEAR ROUND. It’s hard to feel like a world is living and breathing when its canonical description is so improbable. I appreciate the arcade sandbox the world exists in, but I think it makes it difficult or even impossible to tell good stories in the world of Horizon.

We already play each season in a week. I think we should make the Horizon Festival canonically occur within a single week in each season of the year. Each weekly reset would be officially a time jump of about 3 months. This way the roads are not a total death trap for the entire foreseeable future.

It’s a seemingly insignificant detail, but I think flavor like this is important for making a world that feels like a place people can actually live in. In my opinion, one of the first steps to creating a more interesting world is making it feel functional.

[https://forums.forza.net/t/suggestion-for-mixing-sandbox-and-linear-progression-in-future-titles/796458](https://forums.forza.net/t/suggestion-for-mixing-sandbox-and-linear-progression-in-future-titles/796458)

[https://forums.forza.net/t/the-horizon-festival-should-feel-more-realistic/796465](https://forums.forza.net/t/the-horizon-festival-should-feel-more-realistic/796465)