Forza Motorsport Will Get RTGI in the Future, Forza Horizon Tech Used to Boost Track Detail

Yesterday, a fresh round of Forza Motorsport previews made the rounds, which included details on the game’s Xbox Series X/S visual modes. We learned we’ll be getting three modes on XSX -- Performance (4K, 60fps), Performance Ray Tracing (4K, ray-tracing, 60fps), and Visuals (4K, ray tracing, 30fps) – but there a few details left out.

Well, today Digital Foundry posted a new lengthy interview and technical overview of the new Forza Horizon, which includes some more nitty gritty detail on the game’s Xbox Series X visual modes. For instance, it seems all visual modes will have some sort of 4K dynamic resolution, although it will obviously be more aggressive on some modes than others. It seems one of the big differences between Performance Ray Tracing and Visuals/Quality mode will be the extent ray-tracing is used – Performance RT features reflections on cars, but not on the tracks, while Visuals will have ray tracing on both.

Continuing to... reflect on ray tracing, Forza Motorsport will feature both ray-traced reflections and ambient occlusion, but not ray-traced global illumination, which could really boost the realistic feel of the game. That said, Turn 10 promises that’s will be coming in a future update…

“We're still committed to bringing [ray-traced global illumination] to the players. I might not be there on Day 1, but it is a technology that we think adds a lot to the game, and we will bring it in a future update. We do see Forza Motorsport as being a live title and we plan to keep bringing you new features and new technology with it.”

The rest of the Digital Foundry video digs into a lot of the other new tech implemented in Forza Motorsport, including the new procedural weather and sky system, advanced tire physics, car material shaders, and more. Interestingly, it seems Turn 10 is borrowing some technology Forza Horizon developers Playground Games, particularly when it comes to rendering 3D foliage and crowds, as well as their global illumination solution. Some of those background detail have been criticized in Sony’s Gran Turismo 7, so it’s good to hear Turn 10 is paying attention to the whole package instead of just how shiny the cars are.

Forza Motorsport drifts onto PC and Xbox Series X/S on October 10.

Written by Nathan Birch