Forza Motorsport 5 is one of the premiere titles in the Xbox One launch lineup. With hyper realistic graphics, excellent physics, and innovative cloud-based driver AI, Forza 5 should keep fans of racing sims busy for months on end.
That’s all well and good, but my favorite feature of the Forza series has always been its unrivaled livery editor. Players have an impressive amount of freedom to make practically any decorations they want. An enterprising gamer could even make some classy Windows Phone designs with which to adorn the game’s cars. That’s just what our reader “B0BCAT wp” has done, as a matter of fact. Look at the detail on that phone!
Meanwhile, Forza 5 is set to receive a significant balancing update sometime within the next week or two. More details and custom car design pictures after the break.
Reaching for players’ wallets
2013 Audi RS 7 Sportback
When Forza 5 launched, it did so with a heavier emphasis on microtransactions and In-App Purchases than previous games in the series. Rare car prices had been boosted exponentially, to the point where it would have taken literally months of grinding to unlock the full complement of 200+ cars.
Things that used to award free cars to players in previous games no longer did, and players couldn’t sell cars to each other either. Meanwhile, the game offered to sell premium currency on virtually every screen. This caused quite a stir among the loyal Forza community and the general IAP opposition.
Quick turn 10-around
2009 Honda S2000 CR
Remember how Microsoft responded to negative feedback about the Xbox One’s online requirements by removing the requirement prior to launch? Well, Microsoft and Turn 10 did the same thing with Forza 5, except a few weeks after release instead of before. Correctly anticipating player preferences would have been better, but at least they’re trying.
Post-update, credit payouts have been increased dramatically. Leveling up used to pay 15,000 credits; now it pays 35,000. On the average difficulty setting, players will earn 60 percent more credits than before, says Microsoft.
Simultaneously, Turn 10 has reduced the prices of the best cars in the game. The Ferrari GTO, for example has had its price slashed by four million credits. It now costs only two million. The cumulative price of all Forza 5 cars has gone down by 45 percent. These changes should allow people to progress through the game at a reasonable pace.
Also, don't forget to visit the Forza Rewards website to unlock free credits and bonus cars!
More improvements
On top of repairing Forza 5’s economy in the impending update, Turn 10 has also added a couple of new multiplayer-oriented modes. First, drag races are now available in free play and multiplayer modes. Up to 16 players in a lobby can compete in 1-versus-1 heats. Alternately, 8 drag racers can compete at the same time on the same track.
The second new game type is multiplayer-only tag racing. It offers three variations: try to stay “it” the longest, try to spread “it” everyone, or try to be “it” the least during a match. Tag is one of Forza’s more inventive game types.
The only downside to the new tag and drag racing game types? They don’t appear in career mode. I suppose it would have taken the developer much longer to integrate them into single-player, so perhaps that’s for the best.
More designs to come
Getting back to custom car decals and designs, B0BCAT wp did a great job capturing the look and coolness of Windows Phone in his designs. To get these signs:
- Purchase and hop into the 2013 Audi RS 7 Sportback or 2009 Honda S2000 CR
- Then go to Paint / Find New Designs / Search / Creator and search for in B0BCAT
Do you guys have high quality Forza 5 designs to show off? If so, share them in our forums! I have a few special designs in the works, but they won’t be ready until early next year. Blame a hectic review schedule. Or blame it on the rain.
- Forza Motorsport 5 – Xbox One – 32 GB - $59.99 – Amazon Store Link – Xbox.com Store Link
Thanks to RJ Priest for showing us the custom car designs!
