How "Forza Motorsport 5" is Defining New Generation Racing

Dan Greenawalt, creative director, and the team at Turn 10 Studios, are perfectionists. At a recent event, he is surrounded by the raucous roar of gameplay stations and demos, but his attention is solely focused on one attendee as they finish their final lap in “Forza Motorsport 5.”

This is the first time the fan is playing, and Greenawalt is mentally noting when and how they are using driving assists. An improper brake here, an over-steer there – it’s all being added to the running list of mental notes Greenawalt and team have collected over the last month while watching hundreds of fans play the game. After he’s done, he plans to return to Turn 10 Studios in Redmond, Wash. to share his observations with the development team so additional tuning can take place.

“Forza Motorsport 5” launches on Nov. 22 exclusively on Xbox One, and Greenawalt insists there is still work to be done. “We’re detail oriented people,” he said. “We’re in the throes of polishing in order to make sure the game really shines.”

With “Forza Motorsport 5,” Greenawalt and the team at Turn 10 Studios have poured their expertise into making a true, new generation racing game. That means extensive polishing to iron out the experience and blistering performance at 1080p resolution and 60 frames-per-second. It means ensuring broad accessibility, which Turn 10 is addressing by employing their trademarked driving assists, a revamped progression system that rewards all play styles, a new racing guide line readable by the color blind, and much more.

But according to Greenawalt, new generation racing isn’t just about smooth, photorealistic visuals or fun, accessible gameplay. It is also about pushing the envelope and harnessing the latest in technology and science to create brand-new experiences that racing fans have never seen before.

The Next Evolution of Physics

There’s no mistaking Greenawalt’s zeal for science as he discusses the all-new physics engine in “Forza Motorsport 5.” Turn 10 worked with Calspan, one of the world leaders in transportation and aerospace research and development, to make the game more realistic than ever. The focus of all that expertise? Tires.

As the link between the driver, the car and the road, tires are the essential key to the Forza Motorsport series’ genre-defining physics. Over the years, Greenawalt and Turn 10 have worked with tire companies like Pirelli and Toyo to model tires. For “Forza Motorsport 5,” the team knew they had an opportunity to raise the expectations of simulation fans with an entirely new approach to tire modeling. By partnering with the tire-testing experts at Calspan, Turn 10 now had the ability to answer specific and complex tire performance questions that were only possible to recreate on the Xbox One.

The new physics engine impacts every facet of “Forza Motorsport 5.” The way your tires slip and grip, how the weight shifts affect your car’s handling, the interaction of the tires and the different track surface types – it’s all influenced by lightning fast calculations that occur in …read more

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