Quite a huge list of things i'd like to see improved in Fm5, that doesn't mean i didn't like fm4
- Content addition
- The game obviously needs
more tracks. Unfortunately, an editor doesn't sound feasible. Community demands Spa and Bathurst, but long fictional tracks are awesome too. We need the Transfaaraaghgjretg from that homespace.
- The game has more than enough cars at this point (how many ? like 650+ ?) but it lacks a few
european classics.
-
Open wheelers would be cool too. Not interested in motorbikes or anything like that.
- Tuning & Upgrades
i'd like widebody kits i guess and i'm sure there could be more, but i am satisfied with fm4 tuning and upgrades options.
- Graphics improvements
well, i don't think we need to tell T10 to use as much AA, AF and as high def as they can
-
Ambient occlusion would make a huge difference (with cockpits and rims especially) so i hope it's one of their priorities.
- I hope we can get
16 lod0 models on screen and i hope T10 can match the
smoke/dust effects seen in a few recent titles.
- I hope they can
match homespace lightning ingame (see top gear homespace versus top gear ingame lightning in fm4) and use more accurate cube maps for AI cars.
-
Unified lighting and thus dynamic time of day on all tracks would be amazing.
But those are natural improvements which will (or won't, depending on how powerful the nextbox is) come with new tech, as for the game's 'artistic direction':
- T10 toned things down A LOT since fm2, but they need to
drop the
overly dramatic lightning and driving in red sunsets. People stopped finding that spectacular years ago. GT5's
subtlety and natural lightning, driving on the ring at dawn is incredible.
-
Materials. Pay more attention to materials. A lot of the time, parts that are supposed to be chrome aren't chrome at all in fm4, glass isn't reflective enough. Most cars have a number of pitch black, apparently shader-less, surfaces, with zero diffuse, which just stay 000 black under all lightning conditions. Looks wrong.
- I hope they can
stop swapping fully modeled
rims with flat fake-motion-blurred textures. They often look bad.
- Use more
pictures as reference (for colors especially) and remember that while gaf might make fun of your game, a flat picture of a tree will look better than a fully modeled 3d one at a distance.
-
Tone down bloom slightly.
- Replays. Simply
get rid of all cameras that couldn't exist in real life. And stop using cameras tilted 45*. Easy, really. Also, provide a few alternate cameras for each track, so that replays are not always identical. GT has been doing this for a while iirc.
-
Bokeh filter !
- Sound improvements
- I don't know why no matter how many samples you record, a game will never sound the same as real life. Fm4 does a great job, still comparing revving up any car ingame to their autovista counterpart, for example, the difference is huge. Don't know why and i don't know if it can be helped, though.
- sounds in the distance, don't sound quite like they should
- Gameplay additions
everyone would like some rally,
weather and night.
- Career improvements
- fm4 was a step in the right direction, but we need even
more diversity in event types.
- Optional
qualifying sessions
- I personally am
not a fan of being able to drive each car in the game
right away, i'd rather the game just allowed me to
test drive cars before buying them, but only in free run (no races) for a
limited time. Maybe even being limited to single test track and just the cars you can actually afford to buy anyway.
That would make playing the game much more rewarding, although maybe today's players wouldn't dig that too much at all.
- Painting improvements
- new shapes and more importantly, being able to use
shapes as masks.
- painting on windows and
windshield.
- writing around
tires.
-
matte paint for body and rims, more types of paint.
- more types of paint on the same car.
- Photo mode improvements
- I'd like a
still life photo studio mode where i can place the car where i want in the environment and play with lighting. Change time of the day, place spotlights and other objects (maybe other cars too ?) in the scene.
- The interface is basically perfect as it is, i'd just like
real life aperture and shutter values.
- As usual, a true
replay editor would be cool.
- Online/Multiplayer/Club improvements
- I just need the ability to
delete all photos at once. Upload to youtube.
- Miscellaneous/Other
well then:
- Since it appears T10 hired someone to write the
story of each car in the game for fm.net...WHY ON EARTH are those not included in the game in any way ? give me a
DEMO-SHOWCASE option, where i can watch the car racing on random tracks mixed with sequences of it posing in different locations and closeups of the cockpit etc while reading about it. I am not asking for autovista-like narration for each car, but i'd like to be able to learn more about them in an entertaining way.
- a quick and better way to set up
custom races.
-
HUD. I want to be able to turn single elements
ON - OFF or DYNAMIC.
Meaning, those infos should become visible for a few seconds only when something changes (lap, position...)
- advanced
driving and tuning lessons and exams:
I'd like a mode where i'm requested to perform specific "hard to pull" maneuvers, recover from a dangerous situation or avoid imminent crash.
Like an
advanced techniques tutorial: i'd like the game to freeze, explain me what is happening and detailing what i should do and why, using telemetry to tell me exactly what my feet and hands should do and at what time.
Game could then resume when i give it the correct inputs and then ask me to perform the same maneuver again by myself.
Similarly, an
advanced tuning tutorial where you're presented with interactive lessons on how to correct your car's handling issues or how to improve performances on different types of tracks. Lessons would require you to drive a particular car through a specific section of a track; after which (or as you drive) you'd be brought to telemetry and explained why your car behaved like it did. The announcer (or Clarkson himself
) would then tell you what to adjust (or upgrade) by how much and how it works. You'll do the tweaking / tuning and then drive through the same section again to appreciate the differences in handling or performances.
- This is quite stupid, but i'm sure casuals would love it: have
Clarkson comment your hot laps on Top Gear test track. It kinda works with football games, and it kinda worked with the old F1 games. Just record a few hundreds sentences for different situations and have the game pick them and play them according to your driving. "And across the line !".
- I'd like to be able to
sort cars by #of times driven, or time spent driving them, since i'd like to try all of them at least once but with that many cars i can't even tell what are the ones i haven't tried yet.
-
Body roll. Still not enough.
- Damage. Should look better. More pieces coming off.
- Cars should get
dirty.
- Animated
pitstops.
-
Attract mode. Random cars on random tracks. Random car showroom. Don't just loop the intro.
can't think of anything else.
