Race Regulations
You’ve wanted it, we’ve wanted it, and now it’s on its way. Yesterday we announced our upcoming race regulations system (colloquially known around the community as a “player penalty system”).
The new system – which is still in development and will be rolled out in several stages – is being designed not just as a tool to deal with griefers but also as a method of teaching players of all skill levels what is and what is not allowed online in a Forza race. It’s one of the reasons I’m so excited for this feature to come into the game – we want to make all Forza Motorsport players better racers.
The system starts with our new and improved track limits system. The team has gone through every track and ribbon in Forza Motorsport 7 and rebuilt track limits by hand. Our goal is to bring consistency and predictability to track limits across the board. We’re also giving players more visibility into those track limits, with a new option that illuminates track edges and will give players a color-coded warning when they’re getting close to the edge.
Admittedly we didn’t have a lot of time to explain the details of the race regulations system in yesterday’s show segment. I know that the community is hotly anticipating more details on the race regulation system and rest assured we’ll have more to share in the future. It’s a common refrain you hear from me but it fits here: stay tuned for more as we have lots to share.
Time Attack
Coming hand-in-hand with the reveal of our new track limits system is the announcement that we are bringing Time Attack (aka multi-class, multi-ribbon Rivals) into Forza Motorsport 7. This was a fan favorite feature in Forza Motorsport 6 – with every track ribbon having an associated Rivals leaderboard per car class – and we’ve heard loud and clear that players wanted it in Forza 7. Naturally, the new Time Attack mode will take advantage of the new track limits feature and we look forward to rolling the feature out in the future. Again, no details on dates yet, but we’ll keep you in the loop.
‘Experimental’ Drag
In addition to spending tons of time collecting and reacting to community feedback – as well as implementing community requested features like the ones above – the team has been hard at work on some brand new experiences. Yesterday we showed off one of those new modes – our “experimental” Drag Race feature. This is an opportunity for the team to put a new spin on a tried-and-true mode like drag racing. Unlike traditional drag racing lobbies in multiplayer, the “experimental” drag feature will debut in Free Play and initially be a single player-only experience. We’re intentionally limiting the feature at the outset so we can gather feedback from players. We want to see what they like and what they don’t like, so that the team can react as we prepare for possibly bringing the mode into the game in a more full-fledged form.
There’s a lot to appreciate with this mode – we’ve got some new drag features in there like a Christmas tree start light, the ability to spin your tires before the start, lots of drag-related stats (Trap Speed, Reaction Time, 60-ft Time, etc.) at the end of a run, and more. But what I love about “experimental” Drag the most? It’s fast! Unlike multiplayer drag lobbies where you might wait for a minute before getting back to the start-line, “experimental” drag races are bang-bang quick. Essentially as soon as you cross the finish line, you’re a button press away from loading back to the start and going again.
This new Drag experiment is something we’re really fired up about at Turn 10 and we can’t wait to turn it loose to players and get your feedback.