Tech and Science News
Forza Motorsport 7 Update Brings Time Attack, Drift Mode Overhaul
This month’s Forza Motorsport 7 update will inject some highly-requested features from the Forza community into the game, including the launch of a Time Attack mode and a significantly improved drift mode. The update, described as one of the biggest in Forza Motorsport history, will arrive on Wednesday, August 8.
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As outlined on the Forza Motorsport website, Time Attack mode will introduce a leaderboard for “every track ribbon in the game, across every car class, every weather option and time of day.” Weather conditions will be static rather than dynamic within Time Attack, though this is to ensure that all players have the same experience over every lap for the sake of consistent comparison.
In conjunction with the new Time Attack mode, Turn 10 has redrawn the track limits for every circuit layout in the game. Turn 10’s Brian Ekberg explains that, in the case of the full configuration of the Nürburgring, this meant “hand-placing more than 13,000 pins to create the splines that define both the inner and outer track limits.”
To help us adjust to courses that feature noticeably different track limits there will be a new illuminated track lines feature which can be toggled on or off in the HUD options. The lines are colour coded (blue is safe, yellow is a warning, and the line will turn red when you’ve breached a limit). The track lines feature can be displayed as a solid or dotted line, and we can choose to have the line illuminated at all times or only be shown when we’re in jeopardy of crossing it.
A 1989 Aston Martin AMR1 Group C race car will also arrive in this free update.
In addition, drift mode has been overhauled with a new scoring model and the removal of dedicated drift zones (drifters can now manji drift down straights and potentially complete an entire lap as one, chained drift). Turn 10 has also added a new drift suspension upgrade option to the Upgrade Shop, with a steering angle kit supporting up to 60 degrees of angle and suspension geometry optimised to keep camber fluctuations down during steering.
Other changes will include the ability to save and load custom race setups in Free Play, Split Screen, and Private Multiplayer lobbies, as well as the addition of the open Test Track Airfield environment in single player for tyre shredding without lap or time limits.
The August update follows confirmation late last month that Turn 10 would be removing Forza Motorsport 7’s prize crate system and also stepping back from the microtransaction-based secondary currency system (‘Car Tokens’) by not adding it to Forza Motorsport 7 or Forza Horizon 4. That change will occur later this year. Other updates, including an experimental drag racing mode and new online racing regulations, are also still on the way. According to Turn 10 creative director Chris Esaki “the entire Forza Motorsport team” is still working on Forza Motorsport 7 and is committed to improving the current game.
Luke is Games Editor at IGN's Sydney office and likes going fast. You can find him on Twitter every few days @MrLukeReilly.