Forza Horizon 5 opens with a 10-minute section players will only see once. The artwork director of Playground explains why it took so much time, effort, and dedication in order to get it right.
In Forza Horizon 5, the introduction sequence lasts just under 10 minutes, and most players are only going to see it once – but for Playground Games (the developer of the game), it was a major undertaking, requiring more than six months of work, as well as a large team of artists, coders, and designers. In this regard, it is important to ask why the spectacular interactive segment has become a staple part of the Horizon series, and how those precious weeks of development are spent. Recently, we had the opportunity to spend some time at the studio where we were able to learn about the planning and execution of the project.
As a first step, the game and level design teams had to think about the vehicles and locations that would best represent the new Mexico locations in an exciting way, in order to determine how to display them in an exciting manner. Hence, dropping the vehicles from an airplane is the most appropriate method. According to Don Arceta, the art director of the company, “it does a number of things for us.”. In addition to communicating scale and giving us a great view of our most distinctive environment feature – the volcano – it provides an incredible view of it. It also has a fantastic audio-visual intensity curve – it swings from high-intensity as you exit the plane, to brief serenity as you freefall, to high-intensity as the ‘chute opens, to brief serenity again, to high-intensity as the music hits and your tyres touch the road for the first time – all within just a few seconds.”
This sequence was effectively planned out like a film, using intensity curves to grip the player. In preparation for production, artists created reams of digital drawings that showed the planned sequence of events and provided a visual cue for the development process. In order to inspire the car drop, the team searched for footage. The group watched movies with similar sequences – Mission Impossible, The Avengers, James Bond, Fast and Furious – and played games with similar dramatic moments, such as Uncharted and Apex Legends.
Also, Arceta says, “we looked at footage of cars on cranes to get a sense of the weight.” Our storyboarded everything, including how the cargo drop system worked. And then the big reveal comes with the lava, Guanajuato, and the cloudscape right in front of you. From the beginning, you could see all the beats planned and sketched out, even in the early stages. In concept sketches, we try to convey the mood, the emotions we want the player to experience at that moment, and every department uses them.”
Setting the scene
It was planned to give players four distinct experiences in the opening sequence. As for why the mountain area was chosen, Arceta says, “We wanted to play with expectations.” “When you think of Mexico, you maybe don’t think of towering, snow-capped volcanoes. We really liked the idea that when you first start the game you’re tossed into this really foreign unexpected environment. Each section after that contrasts the one before it. After the volcano you go into the living desert which is scorching hot, then into lush farmland, and then you see a giant sand storm in the distance. When we were doing the initial research of Mexico, we were amazed by how much diversity there is – the canyons, the swamps. It’s a massive country and there’s so much height change, which we tried to replicate.”
It was also important to show off the new dynamic weather system during the sequence. Forza Horizon 5 introduces highly localized and emergent weather events, such as rain and sand storms, compared to Forza Horizon 4. The part where the player spots the sand storm from miles away also shows off the improved draw distance.
According to Arceta, the design team would play through the sequence every morning, carefully tweaking and iterating the narrative and visuals to capture the essence of the game. In the closing section where players race the Mercedes-AMG ONE to the festival site, the action originally took place at night, as the cars zoomed through the dark toward this huge display of lights in the distance. In order to keep the energy and vibrancy up and so players could enjoy the scenery, the game was switched to daylight.
While six months is a long time to spend on an intro sequence, it works as an introduction, a showcase of the new vehicles, and a chance for players to get a feel for the handling and driving experience without throwing them into a race right away. We are given permission to go wild, to experiment, and to explore – this isn’t a super serious racing simulation.
Also, the Forza Horizon 5 intro reflects the supercut approach of modern TV documentaries, where the first ten minutes provide a taste of the entire series – it’s all about getting the viewer oriented as quickly as possible. A tourist guide, in a sense, gives players a taste of key locations – lush waterfalls, ancient monuments, and so much more – that they might want to explore on their own after they are released into the open world. It’s fascinating to see Playground take these interactive introductions to their vast racing worlds so seriously.
