This Monday, July 12th, the third episode of the unveiling of the features and functions of took place. instead of Forza Horizon 5. After studying the modeling of the sky and the climatic conditions of Mexico that we will have in the game, this time the developers told us about one of the most discussed topics: Vehicle sound. Indeed, in Forza Horizon 4, Many car enthusiasts have criticized the sound reproduction of the engines of various vehicles in the game. Rest assured, the team heard you and that aspect has been given special attention in this new episode as well. To talk about it were present Mike Brown, Creative director of the game, as well Fraser Strachan, senior audio designer.
A colossal job on the sound of the engines
As in previous streams, many details have been mentioned to testify to the tremendous work that Playground Games has done Forza Horizon 5 as realistic and immersive as possible. We won’t go into detail, of course, but here are the main points to keep in mind:
A lot of vehicles mobilized
The developers realized that” Sound recording from more than 320 different vehicles. These have thus been added to the already extensive library of audio files available to the studio. During the live performance, for example, we were able to observe the recording of the sounds of a BMW M3, a Lancia Stratos, a Volkswagen Golf R or two Toyota Supra.
To capture this tone it is a an average of eight microphones attached to each vehicle in order to record them with the greatest possible accuracy. In addition, an amusing anecdote from the developers, they said they broke many microphones while trying to record too close to the exhaust pipe. This is not surprising given the heat it can release and the power of the sound it makes. Of course, some vehicles are easier to record than others. Think especially of hybrid and electric vehicles, which are much quieter than their thermal cousins. As far as the process is concerned, the developers proceeded very differently than with Forza Horizon 4. In short, in this case the vehicles were placed on a weight bench in a closed garage, where they were accelerated and braked. In order to have sounds that are much more realistic and true to the original, the team made recordings on the track this time.
However, if you remember the experience feedback from Jonathan Marole, Developer who worked on Unlimited test drive 2, during his interview with Mangalore, he stated that just like modeling cars, recording the engine noise is an absolutely colossal task, making it impossible to record that from all the vehicles in a game from a technical, financial and, most importantly, timing point of view. For similar-sounding models, the developers take the brand’s vehicle with a similar sound and modulate the sounds.
Ray tracing in the service of sound
So like it a engine Graphics in the studio for the implementation of the sets or the cars, in short everything that has to do with the visual, Playground Games also has some developed one to synthesize sounds. Thanks to this engine, it is even possible for you to revise the recorded / reproduced. For sure Forza Horizon 4, the developers were only able to apply this method to 10/15% of the vehicles in the game. Forza Horizon 5, they could use it for everyone, whether those sounds were recorded or modeled. In addition, when we are modeling, we always think of the visual aspect of the term. However, this aspect also exists for the sound. And that goes for them too Ray tracing. In fact, in the minds of most people, this term describes everything that has to do with reflections, with brightness, i.e. a contribution to the service of graphics. But did you know that this term also applies to clay ? Yes / Yes ! This spreads like light in space, is reflected differently from surfaces depending on the texture, etc. This is exactly the principle of radars and sonars elsewhere. With a lot of work, the developers have succeeded in developing a real spatialization of the sound, with which you can immerse yourself even deeper in the game, even more so in races with other participants, regardless of whether they are bots or real players. So, Depending on the conditions, you will hear the sounds of your car differently or you may even hear more of your opponents than yours, for example if you are overtaken or drive in a tunnel. In short, all of this is in line with an even more realistic goal within Forza Horizon 5.
Improved sound with the capabilities of the Xbox series
In addition to all the work related to the recording of sounds or their reproduction, this aspect also benefited from the contributions of the technical capacities of the Xbox Series X and S. In summary, the new generation machines have enabled the use of new audio compression formats that offer much better rendering than what was the case Forza Horizon 4.
The bonus of the day: an overview of the mechanical preparation of vehicles and sets of Forza Horizon 5
Today’s live was also an opportunity to have a Overview of what the menus will look like when preparing the cars. While these were all horizontal in the previous opus, their arrangement has been completely revised in this new opus, as you can see in the image above. In addition, a small interesting detail, it will be possible to make your vehicle roar, as it was possible in, for example Need for speed heat, and hear the sound effect of the changes you want to install.
We were also able to see some of them in-game to illustrate the work on the sound of cars. The opportunity to once again admire the beauty of the landscapes that we can explore in November, be it in the middle of the desert or in the heart of a tropical forest.
Finally, as in the previous streams, it ended with a short round of Q&A with some interesting information:
- Will the sound be different depending on whether you are driving a top-down or a roll-over car? Yes !
- Will the sound be different between a canvas-topped vehicle and one with a hardtop? Yes again!
In addition, the perception of sound differs depending on the camera you are driving with and your location in relation to your car.
In relation to this, the developers have announced that the list of everyone present from the start of the game will be the most important in the entire series. As for Opus Four’s hundreds, which currently end at over 750, there is something turning your head! Also as a tease, Mike Brown announced that we will have more information about these as well as the playing card in the coming weeks. Do we have to expect a revelation? Only the future will tell us.
In summary, this is once again a very substantial amount of information that the developers have disclosed Forza Horizon 5. Whether visually or sonically, as discussed today, we are seeing more than ever how the open-world racing game from Playground Games promises a real upward trend at all levels. He will certainly help bring the series to an unprecedented level of realism and immersion. We can’t wait for the next stream to find out more and more about one of Microsoft’s technology showcases for late 2021.
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