Blog:The Problems with Forza Horizon 4

I figured I'd make a blog post talking about Forza Horizon 4 and the problems it has. This is not meant to bash the game or the developers (I still like this game a lot); instead, it points out many major problems the game has, as well as possible solutions for them. I styled this blog post after Asphalt Wiki user ShinnyShin's "The Problem with X" blog posts (and yes, I have left FANDOM/Wikia for good because it went to crap).

The Excessive Amounts of Hoonigan and Drift Cars 😡
People should have known that Ken Block becoming the Forza franchise's ambassador was the beginning of the end for the franchise. In Horizon 3, the Hoonigans were useful only for achievements related to them. In Motorsport 7, they are outright useless!

Fast forward to 2018, with Horizon 4, literally oversaturated with Hoonigans and drift cars... many of which are reskins of one another or already existing cars in the game! We have the Formula Drift cars, which are only good for drifting and collecting a total of 2.1M CR from their Car Mastery trees; then we have even more Hoonigans than before, including a Hoonicorn v2, GYMKHANA10 Focus, etc.! Turn 10 could have chosen to add something actually fun to drive like the Porsche 928 GTS, SUBARU 360, Nissan R380 II, or McLaren P1™ GTR, but no, ultra overrated rally driver Ken Block and his Hoonigan cronies are forcing them to add their garbage cars, which ultimately degrades the game's car list. Adding insult to injury is the fact that Ken Block's new Cosworth is coming to the game at a later date. Definitely boycotting that car!

Just when you thought the Hoonigan overload wasn't enough, they even add in Hoonigan clothing! Which is honestly the worst idea for new content added to the game! Now, with Series 7, we get not one, but THREE RTR S550 Mustangs! And they're all virtually identical aside from the livery.

I do NOT think the vast majority of the Forza community even asked for these Hoonigans or drift cars in the first place. The community's highly requested cars like the McLaren 675LT, Lamborghini Huracán Performante, De Tomaso Pantera, Ferrari 488 Pista, etc. get ignored or heavily delayed in favor of these useless reskinned drift/rally cars that virtually NOBODY even asked for in the first place! Either way, I have been boycotting EVERYTHING that's Hoonigan, Formula Drift, or RTR, which means: I have NO Hoonigans, Formula Drift cars, or RTRs in my Forza Horizon 4 garage at all. And if I get any of them, I will eliminate them from my garage or sell them off. The only exception will be the Hoonigan RWB Porsche 911 Turbo (964), which I can actually stand.

Still So Many Cars With Wrong Specifications 😒
This is yet another problem that the devs ignore; as minor as it looks, having so many cars with the wrong specifications (power, torque, weight, displacement) can really be detrimental to the game and, by extension, the entire franchise in the long run. It's 2019, and the GEN2 Ford GT has been confirmed over and over again to make 647 hp and 550 ft·lb (746 N·m) of torque and weigh 3,354 lbs (1,521 kg). But what does Horizon 4 give us? The outdated specs from Motorsport 6, which are 630 hp, 539 ft·lb (731 N·m), and 2,890 lbs (1,311 kg).

Also, a car's weight figure is most realistic when the curb weight rating is used; that is, the car is weighed with ALL fluids in and a full (100%) fuel tank. In addition, there IS a big difference between mechanical horsepower (hp/bhp) and metric horsepower (hp/PS)!
 * 1 bhp = 1.013869665424 PS = 0.74569987158227022 kW

There are multiple cars in Forza that have the wrong power output; that is, they use their metric horsepower ratings from real life and then just slap "hp" or "bhp" onto them, which is just wrong. With that in mind, the 2016 Audi R8 V10 plus, contrary to popular belief, does NOT make 610 bhp. As it has the exact same engine from the Lamborghini Huracán LP 610-4 (albeit with a different exhaust configuration), and "LP 610-4" = Longitudinali Posteriore (rear mid-engine), "610-4" = 610 PS (= 602 bhp), all-wheel-drive, the Audi R8 V10 plus makes ONLY 602 bhp (610 PS; 449 kW).

Another major offender is the LaFerrari, which Forza has always depicted as having 963 hp (718 kW) and 3,031 lbs (1,375 kg), both of which are wrong. In Motorsport 7, it actually got the correct power output of 949 hp (708 kW), but in Horizon 4, it is back to having the wrong power output, and it still has the extremely unrealistic aforementioned weight rating. It should be changed to have 949 hp (708 kW) and 3,495 lbs (1,585 kg). And now we have the Gen 6 Camaro ZL1, which actually has the wrong engine displacement of 6.4 L (6,440 cc). It should be reverted back to 6.2 L (6,162 cc) like in previous games.

The only car whose specs were fixed in Horizon 4 is the NC1 Acura NSX. It now correctly makes 573 hp (427 kW) like in real life.

This video below by Ericship 111 talks about 10 cars with the wrong specifications. The only ones I don't agree with are the Regera and McLaren F1 GT, the former of which should be 1,479 hp (1,103 kW) to undo the mixup between PS and bhp, and the latter of which should have its 618 hp (461 kW) power output copied and pasted over to the standard McLaren F1. In addition, the Aventador SV should be 3,900 lbs (1,769 kg), not 3,868 lbs (1,755 kg), as IRL, it is 11-12 lbs (5 kg) heavier than the Centenario.

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For a large list of cars whose specs need fixing, look at this spreadsheet I made. It lists the affected cars and their in-game specs, along with the specs that they should get and how fixing them should be prioritized (with Extreme being the highest priority).

And to those who argue against fixing the car specs, you're only making the game worse. "Gameplay balance" is NOT a reason for these cars' specs being wrong; developer laziness is.

Also, below is a table with the offending cars along with the specs they should receive. Any figures marked in green mean they are buffed, while red means a nerf. In either case, all of these suggested spec fixes help fix the balance between the number of cars with accurate specs and the number of cars with utterly wrong specs.

Car Sounds and Detailing 😒
Horizon 4's car sounds have been largely criticized for being artificial and inaccurate to the cars' real life sounds, with several of the biggest culprits being:
 * Many of the Ferraris, Aston Martins, Lamborghinis, and Paganis - many of these cars just don't even sound like their real life counterparts. The Pagani Huayra BC sounds like a turbocharged Lamborghini Aventador LP 700-4 with a lower sound frequency setting. On the other hand, I'm glad they reverted the Aventadors, Veneno, and Centenario back to their Horizon 3 engine notes, making them again sound almost exactly like their real life counterparts.
 * Many BMW, Mercedez-Benz, Japanese cars, etc. - with the R35 Nissan GT-R being an exception, as it actually sounds mostly faithful to its real life version.
 * McLaren P1 - this car hasn't always had accurate sounds in the entire series, as they don't have the signature moaning of the real life car's engine note. In Horizon 4, they literally reused the McLaren Senna's engine note for this car.
 * Agera RS - Who thought that reusing the Hoonicorn's engine note in a hypercar was a good idea? The One:1 has a much better sound, even if the Horizon 3 engine note for that car is still more accurate.
 * Ford Shelby GT350R - Why does this sound like a Chevy LS3? It shouldn't.
 * Gen 6 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 - See Ford Shelby GT350R
 * Porsche 918 - This car sounded SO MUCH better in Horizon 3 and earlier. Now, in Horizon 4, it just feels too much like it has a Honda VTEC engine mixed with a V8 and a Ferrari V12 in some parts.
 * Carrera GT - I loved this car's sound in Horizon 3 and earlier, but now, in Horizon 4, the Carrera GT sounds like it was mixed with an Audi R8, which doesn't even make sense.
 * Dodge Vipers - Strangely enough, the FD Dodge Viper and GTA Spano have an accurate sound while the rest of the Vipers don't.

And then we have wrong car details, like the Lamborghini Reventón's rear wing not even working at all, the Koenigsegg Regera's exhaust backfire coming out of the central cooling pipe (fortunately, this has been fixed), "SS" badges still missing on cars that should have them (blame political correctness for this), some cars not even having openable parts at all aside from the doors and active aero (e.g. McLaren Senna, BMW i8, Ferrari 430 S, Nissan Silvia S15), and worse, some other cars still looking poorly modeled due to being recycled from the Xbox 360 or Original Xbox eras (e.g. Saleen S7).

We even have cars that literally recycle parts from previously existing cars in the game:
 * Agera RS - front trunk is recycled from One:1
 * Corvette ZR1 C7 - C7 Z06-derived rims and dashboard; fortunately, these have been fixed

Also, why is the 2013 Mercedes-Benz E 63 AMG not named the Mercedes-Benz E 63 S AMG? It literally has "E 63 S" badges at the back. Also, shouldn't the Lamborghini Aventador LP 700-4, Gallardo LP 570-4 Spyder Performante, and Aventador LP 750-4 SV have an additional space in their "LP ###-#" naming suffixes like with the Centenario LP 770-4, Huracán LP 610-4, Murciélago LP 670-4 SV, and Gallardo LP 570-4 Superleggera?

Now, onto car painting. Why is the Huayra BC virtually unpaintable? Why do the BMW i8, HW Ford Mustang, Twin Mill, Bone Shaker, and Rip Rod not have paint groups whereas the BMW i8 Roadster, Maserati MC12, etc. do? Also, there are many cars that are lacking in manufacturer colors, with the biggest offenders being the P1, Spano, Huayra BC, LaFerrari, and Aventador LP 700-4. These popular cars get neglected while less popular ones like the Zenvo ST1 get more manufacturer colors. WHY?!

Glitches & Bugs Galore 😡
There are still many bugs and glitches in this game that still have not been fixed:
 * 1) Invisible wall - this stops your car dead in its tracks for no reason. Most likely happens when the game is still loading up sections of the map that are close by to the player. This annoys many players for many reasons, one being that this can result in a lost race.
 * 2) Turbo glitch with the Gen 6 Camaro ZL1 - Adding a Twin Turbo aspiration swap onto the Gen 6 Camaro ZL1 erroneously reduces its power.
 * 3) Goliath glitch - This has become even more common lately; it shows a route as being 50 laps long, but once you get in it, the actual number of laps is much less than that. This is a bannable glitch, by the way.
 * 4) Drivatar car selection algorithm - Horizon 3 had a much better and more diverse car selection algorithm, selecting the cars your friends' Drivatars actually used, resulting in a much more diverse field of competition (e.g. 991.1 GT3 RS, Lambo Centenario, Ford Shelby GT350R, McLaren 570S, etc.). Does that happen in Horizon 4? No. Instead, the game sends in spams of Focuses, TTSs, etc. which not only becomes boring to race against, but also becomes an extreme annoyance. When doing solo races, avoid Anything Goes, Ford, Audi, Modern Sports Cars, Super Hot Hatch, and 2010s Collection. This becomes even worse if you have a lot of friends in your friend list who actually play the game. Adding insult to injury, the Drivatars are extremely annoying in AWD cars, especially the starter cars.

Bland and Boring Soundtrack 😕
Never before have I become so disappointed with a Forza Horizon's soundtrack. Horizon 1's soundtrack was really memorable, Horizon 2 was better, Horizon 3 was okay, but Horizon 4's soundtrack is so disappointing. So many songs that aren't even worth listening to, and this is so bad to the point where I only listen to Hospital Records and Timeless FM.

Worse, even if you select "Radio Off", the soundtrack is still forced onto you. Good news? Streamer Mode is at your side. Turn that on and say goodbye to the forced music in loading screens and the Horizon Festival.

Exclusive Car System 😕
This is yet another major complaint by fans, as there are cars that are exceedingly rare due to being Horizon Wheelspin-only, including but not limited to:
 * Lamborghini Aventador LP 750-4 SV
 * SUBARU Impreza WRX STi (Blobeye)
 * Ford SVT Cobra R (Foxbody)
 * HUMMER H1 Alpha
 * Cadillac XTS Limousine
 * Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptor
 * Porsche Cayenne Turbo (9Y0)

I am glad to actually have many of the exceedingly rare wheelspin-only cars in the game, especially the Aventador SV and 9Y0 Cayenne, but still, the exclusive car system is not well executed. How is a Mk6 VW Golf rarer than a Bugatti Chiron? How is the Ferrari 812 rarer than the F12tdf or even the LaFerrari? That's right, they are wheelspin-only/#FORZATHON Shop stock cars.

I am by no means against having cars available as progression rewards (e.g. barn finds, Road Racing Series, Horizon Stories), but once you start locking many desired cars behind wheelspins (which are RNG-based, but are even more unforgiving, as they more often than not award duplicate cars, clothes, or emotes) or the #FORZATHON Shop for extreme prices, then there is a problem.

Worse, the Hot Wheels Rip Rod became a PvP-only reward, which many players, as expected, frowned upon. Adding insult to injury is that the Rip Rod is once again another collector's item with literally no use outside of being used only for fun.

However, as I said above, the only exclusive cars I WILL refuse to own are the Hoonigans, RTRs, and Formula Drift cars.

Broken and Unbalanced Performance Index System 😕
The Performance Index system, as with Horizon 3, is still broken and unbalanced. It still favors AWD swaps (albeit not as much as Horizon 3), but now it also favors the Racing 7.2L V8 most of the time. The biggest offender of this is the Hot Wheels Bone Shaker, which is a car so broken it kills everything in Class A and almost everything in Class S1. If you go into an online race and happen to find this car, you are very much screwed.

Poor Multiplayer 😕
I won't even go into detail about this since I very rarely even touch the multiplayer aspect of the game outside of being in Horizon Life anyway. To sum it up, wallriders, poor Online Adventure, spams of Bone Shakers galore, etc.

Car Pass and DLC 🤔
While I did not really hate the Car Pass, it's honestly annoying how the community requested cars most often come after the Car Pass's end. Now, onto Horizon 4's car pass. There are many cars the community actually asked for, like the Agera RS, GEN2 AM Vantage, Ferrari FXX, Corvette ZR1 C7, Camaro ZL1 1LE, etc.

Now, here are the problems. First of all, sometimes, even if you own the Car Pass and have it installed, some of the cars in there can never be obtained. A solution to that would be to reinstall the Car Pass and travel to Fortune Island (if you already have it). Next, we have the cars from previous Forza titles that were placed into the Car Pass. People love to bash Motorsport 7's Car Pass for being too SUV/offroad-focused, but here is the one major redeeming quality it has over Horizon 4's Car Pass: ALL of the cars in Motorsport 7's Car Pass are completely new to the franchise. Returning to the topic at hand, recycling content from previous games as paid DLC in the current game is a problem, and Forza is not immune to that. However, Horizon 1 and Motorsport 5 still have the worst DLCs to date as the vast majority of cars in those packs had already been featured in previous Forza games. But perhaps my most hated cars from the Car Pass are (obviously) the Hoonigans and DeBerti Design cars.

I loved the addition of the Agera RS, Vantage, FXX, and 992 Carrera S, as well as the open-top cars (e.g. 650S Spider, Gallardo Spyder); however, with the 650S Spider, it wasn't until Series 5 that we finally got to drive it with the roof down. Now if only that can be applied to the Ferrari California T, BMW Z4 sDrive35is, Porsche 918 Spyder, Pagani Zonda Cinque Roadster, etc., that would be great.

Solutions to these Problems

 * 1) Hoonigan/drift car spams = end the Hoonigan license already and cut all ties with Ken Block
 * 2) Cars with wrong specs = fix their specs to their IRL ones
 * 3) Car sounds and details = not all of the sounds can really be fixed, but at least put the Audi sport quattro's engine note on the Vipers and fix the other wrong car details, even if that means having to remodel the cars altogether
 * 4) Gamebreaking glitches and bugs = fix them, and appropriately punish anyone who exploits them (esp. Goliath glitch)
 * 5) Soundtrack = use Streamer Mode or just listen to your own music with Spotify or iTunes
 * 6) Exclusive cars = make them more easily obtainable (e.g. by putting some on the Autoshow) and stop locking them behind Co-op Championships or PvP; also, keep #FORZATHON Shop pricing reasonable for all players
 * 7) Unbalanced PI system = nerf AWD swaps
 * 8) Poor multiplayer = Playground Games will implement Custom Adventure, which is good news!
 * 9) Car Pass = theoretically, the Car Pass would have gotten an extension like with Motorsport 7, but that's not going to happen. So in the future, it would be a good idea to revert back to the Motorsport 4 model of DLC, which also involves community feedback

