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Forza Horizon 2 - 3 Gameplay videos (IGN)

Amir0x

Banned
How far can it really be if it's a closed track?

Pretty damn far. The longest track in DriveClub is said to take five minutes to get from beginning to end, at top speed for fastest car in game. They said they could make tracks even considerably longer in the engine, but because it's a club oriented game, they said they recognized that the longer a race goes on, the more the club members tend to separate and get disoriented from one another, and they wanted to maintain an intimate climate. Whether you buy that excuse or not, that's a massive amount of land mass.

And that's before you consider the detail. Every element of the atmosphere, lighting and weather is dynamic. Every blade of grass is dynamic. The clouds are dynamic. One course in Canada has one million trees in it, and every leaf in those trees are dynamic.

We're talking a level of visual fidelity that, for a racing game, is just unheard of.


We're getting a bit off track here (heh). I'm more excited for Forza Horizon 2 than DriveClub easily, because it's more my type of game. But I am in awe at what DriveClub is doing technically. I'm just calling a spade a spade, imo. That's my last post on DriveClub, don't want to derail the topic further.
 
There's no way Forza is more technically taxing. I can literally write a book of things DriveClub is doing that isn't in Forza, and hasn't even been attempted before in any other racer period, even on PC.
I'd like to see that book ;). I was certainly not saying DC isn't technically impressive, but I think you're definitely cutting some of the things that Playground is doing with FH2 short. The whole Rayleigh scattering stuff sounds brilliant. How their engine accurately creates sky color based on the position of the sun, amount of clouds in the sky, amount of water in the air is pretty damn amazing. And I don't think any other racing game has done that before (feel free to correct me, if I'm wrong). Or the accurate star constellations in the night sky? As an amateur astronomer, that sounds wonderful. Or how about the things they're doing with seamless transition from single player gaming to multiplayer gaming? And I'm not even really touching on the fact that the game is open world (which yes, does add more complexity than a closed circuit racer has to deal with).

But again, I wasn't even arguing that DC isn't technically impressive; I just personally find the things FH2 is doing to be a little more impressive because it's doing all of these things and is still an open world racer. And when it's doing it, it still manages to look as good as it is. It's just like an Infamous vs. Ryse comparison for me.

Even the open world thing isn't a balance to the amount of shit Evolution is doing with their engine. It's literally unparalleled as far as I can see, and that's without hyperbole. If it was just 60fps, it'd probably be the most technically impressive console game ever made. As it stands, it probably still is.
This is a bit hyperbolic, sorry. DC looks phenomenal and is definitely very technically-impressive (and they're doing a lot of amazing stuff, like your last post illustrates with the trees, clouds, etc.), but I think that last part is a little much.

And just because DriveClub isn't open world, doesn't mean it isn't rendering a gargantuan amount of shit on screen. You should see the draw distance in that game and the amount they're pulling on screen. The density of geometry alone dwarfs what has come before in some cases.
Rendering something that is meant to be a background object is not the same thing as rendering it as something that will be driven to/and over. The amount of assets/detail needed are not the same.

DC's background and landscapes are incredibly impressive, though. And I do see your comments you made about the amount that they're building per course (amount of trees, blades of grass, etc.). That does sound very impressive. I'll concede this point as I didn't know about those details. I would like to know some comparative stats for FH2, maybe it isn't as behind as you think it is compared to DC.

Anyway, my point is this. They both have things they're attempting.
Agreed.

DriveClub obviously looks the best technically because its system is considerably more powerful; but they did the right thing at Playground Games/Turn 10 by making a more artistically playful style, and by opening up its world. It's a wonderful trade off and really the comparisons only go to show how much people want both games in this console war world.
I think this is a funny little point you're making. "Poor little XB1, they had to scale back the graphics because they were so incredibly held back by this lowly technology"...Come on, man, the XB1 isn't a freaking Wii. it's capable of putting out very comparable graphics to the PS4.

I personally don't think anything being done on DC couldn't be done on the XB1 if the same team was given the opportunity. Sure, they might need to put more work and time into it, but it's not beyond the capability of the system. We're not even a year into the generation. If you think either system is really being taxed, you're kidding yourself. Your comments could look pretty silly in 5 years.

And look, I still think DC looks better than FH2. I could even see one make a reasonable argument that DC is doing more things that are technically impressive. I'll even say I agree with you in some respects. But I just don't think it's this enormous hyperbolic gulf of a difference that you're making it out to be (I think it was the "molesting" comment that really got me going). To each their own, of course.

We're getting a bit off track here (heh). I'm more excited for Forza Horizon 2 than DriveClub easily, because it's more my type of game. But I am in awe at what DriveClub is doing technically. I'm just calling a spade a spade, imo. That's my last post on DriveClub, don't want to derail the topic further.

Yeah, you're right.

We should probably both stop talking about this, since this is a FH2 thread and we're derailing it enough. And like you, I'm more excited by FH2 than DC. I'm sorry if I come off argumentative, just like to debate. We should be talking about how cool FH2 looks. I'm sorry for taking this off track.
 
We can just strike it in simpler terms: technically DriveClub is molesting what this game is doing, but artistically it's an open ballgame, as it has ever been. I love the balance Forza has struck, because it fits what the platform is capable of in a way that still makes it seem totally fresh from a gameplay perspective and attractive from a visual perspective both.

Eh, that's not even remotely true based on what I've seen. Only way one could see it that way is by viewing it from a very narrow and one sided point of view that ignores just how good the stuff looks in the other game. And let's be real for a moment here: There's nothing on display in either game that can't be done on the other platform with minor adjustments, which makes the "fits what the platform is capable of" line stand out as a truly first class attempt at comedy. Taking a similarly narrow minded view, it be can suggested that Forza Horizon 2 does what Drive Club does for environments, and potentially more, since players are expected to be able to actually drive through, explore, even interact with most of that environment in ways not possible in Drive Club. See, it's all too easy to pick and choose and isolate games for being inferior for no other reason than the obvious: they are simply two different kinds of games, with different objectives. This is all still not even accounting for the fact that this is a large open world racer with surely a few more fully explorable environments we haven't seen. The cars also look positively incredible (but then they do look pretty good in both, don't they?)

The lighting and weather technology is also similarly impressive in Forza Horizon 2. After all, what exactly is there that leads me to think otherwise based on what's been shown and explained? Pretty much, all Playground hasn't done is release a trailer showcasing those real-time transitions sped up for the purpose of showing it off more, as was done so skillfully in one of the drive club trailers I watched. What we have is gameplay footage of horizon 2 showcasing just a taste of what can be expected from its weather tech, and the results are amazing.

At the end of the day, we've simply seen a lot more of one game than the other, and while it will always be tempting to declare a winner, for anyone to claim that one looks significantly more impressive than the other, or, in your words, is "molesting" what the other is doing technically makes absolutely no sense considering all the things Forza Horizon 2 does that Drive Club simply does not. Is any of that somehow a failing of Drive Club? No, because Drive Club never set out to be that kind of game in the first place, just as Forza Horizon 2 wasn't seeking to be like Drive Club. This sort of reminds me of the silly Ryse vs Infamous comparisons, where Ryse was criticized by a certain group for not being open world and more explorable, and Infamous being open world and more explorable was used by that same group as somehow a repudiation of Ryse. All this with no apparent appreciation for why attacking either game in the midst of such a bizarre comparison was both silly and unfair to their respective developers.

The two games have more to do with each respective developer's vision than with the "capabilities" of either platform, unless you genuinely believe one game choosing to be an open world arcade racer with large, explorable environments, and one choosing not to be aren't decisions that have real "technical" implications. So to strike it in simpler terms: "Technically," they're just two very different styles of racing games that both manage to look incredible doing what they do.

edit:: Just saw recent posts, and, yes, we're getting off track, so I'll be making no more conversation on this subject.
 

Kelsey

Banned
We can just strike it in simpler terms: technically DriveClub is molesting what this game is doing, but artistically it's an open ballgame, as it has ever been. I love the balance Forza has struck, because it fits what the platform is capable of in a way that still makes it seem totally fresh from a gameplay perspective and attractive from a visual perspective both.

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I think you can argue the technical merits both ways definitely. Open world and the things going on in both engines is very impressive but, I just don't think FH2 looks as good Driveclub. I think side by side the differences are pretty stark. DC is the most impressive looking car game right now and I don't think FH2 really enters the conversation when your looking at Project Cars and DC. It looks great but it's not mind blowing. The scenery is pretty cartoony looking and the cars have that same plastic paint look that Forza has. I'm not saying it looks bad by any means I think it looks extremely fun it just doesn't look visually impressive.
 

Ape

Banned

I said damn

Agreed with the posters above. Played both games, each are excellent.



I can't wait for you guys to play this game, when you hit the rain (or at least when I did) it was incredible. You can really tell a difference. It's going to be so much fun to see what you guys think.
 

Amir0x

Banned
iGYAChpLO1VJ8.gif


I know the game is not finished yet, but hopefully they'll add tire tracks. It would feel weird to be off road like that and leave no tracks. I want to be able to do some donuts and bask in the mess I made.

I mean goddamn, how can you like the racing genre and NOT want to transport yourself to the controller moving that car right now?
 

ironcreed

Banned
Obligatory:

On topic: Horizon looks awesome. If I had an xbone I would definitely pick it up, I've never really played any open world racers so I'm curious how exactly it would work. It looks pretty frenetic and intense.

Yeah, it looks great. It's just too bad you can't drive to any of that scenery. But it is awesome for what it is doing and definitely looks more impressive up close. I hope to play it someday if I ever decide to pick up a PS4.
 

HeliosT10

Member
Yep. The open world calls to me.

And Forza Horizon + Motorsport make an incredible combo. When I want 60fps and more precision racing I'll go with Motorsport, but for pure love of cars and driving and stunts I'll go Horizon.

yes....YES....Come hither....

tumblr_mmp4s13fC81s1o9cdo1_500.gif


*evil laugh* :)
 

HeliosT10

Member
I mean goddamn, how can you like the racing genre and NOT want to transport yourself to the controller moving that car right now?

Left/Right, which way would you go? I'd personally go check out that nice villa off to the right at the start of the gif.
 

HeliosT10

Member
Barn hint?

Ha no, I'm going to have as much fun exploring the game world trying to find those as the rest of you. Am doing my best to avoid any spoilers in the studio between now and launch as to where the barn finds are going to be :)
 

Filaipus

Banned
And that's before you consider the detail. Every element of the atmosphere, lighting and weather is dynamic. Every blade of grass is dynamic. The clouds are dynamic. One course in Canada has one million trees in it, and every leaf in those trees are dynamic.

We're talking a level of visual fidelity that, for a racing game, is just unheard of.
.

I find that impressive but people tend to forget that making things dinamic doesn't really matter if you don't put the dinamism to use. The fact that every blade grass is dinamic is cool, but it interacts with what and serves what purpose? Because I'm 99% sure that while you are driving at 200MPH in the roads they are calculating the effect of the wind in the grass you are driving by. I'm sorry but that isn't happening. So that dinamism is kind of useless really.

Still, great technical feat.
 
Do any of you guys use the driving wheel? I could never get used to it over the controller.

I've got the licensed one for the XBox 360 and I enjoy it more than the regular controller but I really want to try out the new XBox One controller and those feedback triggers.
 

abadguy

Banned
Game looks great so far. You can always tell when an xbox game is really good looking when the hyperbole/downplaying it's graphics ( need for Speed Rivals, bottom of the barrel graphically,) and constant comparison to certain other games on certain other consoles starts. (when you see that as an xbox dev you should likely take it as a complement lol.) FH1 on the 360 was one of the best looking racers that gen not called Project Gotham 4, Horizon 2 looks like it will bring the goods as well.
 
Game looks great so far. You can always tell when an xbox game is really good looking when the hyperbole/downplaying it's graphics ( need for Speed Rivals, bottom of the barrel graphically,) and constant comparison to certain other games on certain other consoles starts. (when you see that as an xbox dev you should likely take it as a complement lol.) FH1 on the 360 was one of the best looking racers that gen not called Project Gotham 4, Horizon 2 looks like it will bring the goods as well.

You think it was just PS4 guys doing that shit here? Sorry, but you've all made a mess of it these last few pages, and drowned out any relevant FH2 discussion.

And don't think for one minute your comment was rising above it all.
 
I was just talking graphics in general. Shouldn't have had the word 'more' in there. Kind of a random thought but I'm sure I'll have another moment like that in FH2. Probably seeing the sun go down as I'm flying over a hay bale.

I'm sure that there will be plenty such moments in FH2. I can't wait to experience racing through that half-collapsed abbey that they mentioned in one of the interviews.


I find that impressive but people tend to forget that making things dinamic doesn't really matter if you don't put the dinamism to use. The fact that every blade grass is dinamic is cool, but it interacts with what and serves what purpose? Because I'm 99% sure that while you are driving at 200MPH in the roads they are calculating the effect of the wind in the grass you are driving by. I'm sorry but that isn't happening. So that dinamism is kind of useless really.

Still, great technical feat.

Precisely. For someone who's known to be such a harsh critic of everything, Amir0x seems to be buying into a lot of that babble. Developers often like to describe their creations in grandiose terms, and even when they're technically correct, more often than not all that ends up amounting to very little in actual code and perceivable end result. That said, Driveclub is evidently a gorgeous game, but I'd really refrain from comparing the two at least until we've seen more of both, and even then this is probably not the right thread. For what it's worth, Horizon 2 has made a far better first impression on me with its gameplay reveal, although recent showings demonstrate that Driveclub has undoubtedly profited from its protracted development.
 

pop_tarts

Member
The game looked decent played it at E3, didnt get to play The Crew too long of a line, so I can't give a comparison of two open world games. But the handling maybe because of the setting the had it on was a little too floaty. More so than Need for Speed Rivals. I enjoyed Rivals handling, can't remember if I had to get use to it like I did with Most Wanted (PS3 version)

Visually looks a little cartoony to me. Early The Crew shots just looked ugly but the recent once I've seen they've cleaned up the cars considerably. Even though FH2 looks a little cartoony I believe they have better car models than The Crew still which is good for PG studio.

I'm sure people will continue to stay stop comparing games with games but I see no problem with it. I've played DC at E3 as well and yes they are both night and day different type of games. Though FH2 is open world I personally prefer DriveClub because of its lighting and environment details etc. The night transition looks Godly but then again that's also the lighting. FH2 will be picked up day 1 just because I'm a really big racing fan. I'm sure not too many people picked up Fuel, but I loved that game last gen they just need a little more Motorstorm feel and it would have been nice.

All in all they have more than enough time to make the game look even better. Someone said something about the stars in the sky GT6 actually did that first, but I'm sure PG has done something with something in their game that no other dev have done before.
 

RawNuts

Member
Ha no, I'm going to have as much fun exploring the game world trying to find those as the rest of you. Am doing my best to avoid any spoilers in the studio between now and launch as to where the barn finds are going to be :)
You have so much more self-control than I do.

If I was there, I would be watching everyone's monitor over their shoulder and constantly pestering them with questions.
 

zkorejo

Member
This is the only xbox exclusive I wish was multiplatform or with Sony. I absolutely loved Forza Horizon... best racing game for me ever!

This game looks so awesome... its really sad I will miss out on it.
 
This is the only xbox exclusive I wish was multiplatform or with Sony. I absolutely loved Forza Horizon... best racing game for me ever!

This game looks so awesome... its really sad I will miss out on it.

How did you play Horizon, on your own Xbox, on somebody else's, or an Xbox you sold? Because Horizon 2 is coming to 360, just without the weather and Drivatars.
 
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