Forza Motorsport Quick Start Guide
The first time you start up Forza Motorsport, you will have the chance to adjust several game settings like your preferred driving assists, accessibility options and PC graphics settings or Xbox Series X|S render mode.
The opening races of the game include an Open Practice lap at Maple Valley behind the wheel of the all-new 2024 Chevrolet Corvette E-Ray and the last 2 laps of an endurance race at Hakone, where you will experience the stunning 2023 No. 01 Cadillac Racing V-Series.R.
Players can start their Forza Motorsport journey anywhere in the game. After the opening races, you will pick your driver suit and can immediately jump into the modes you want to play, whether it’s the Builders Cup Career Mode, Featured Multiplayer, Free Play or Rivals.
Welcome Center
Select the “What’s New” menu item to access the Welcome Center. Here you will find live events currently active in Forza Motorsport. These include Featured Tours in Career Mode, Spec Series and Open Series in Featured Multiplayer, and Featured Rivals. Live events spotlight new cars obtainable at a discount for a limited time. Be sure to check back often for the latest updates.
You can also access the Message Center (accessible via the envelope icon in the top right corner of the Welcome Center). Here is where we will notify you of game alerts, community updates and any rewards you have received.
Builders Cup Career Mode
We’ve curated the Builders Cup Intro Series to ease you into the game and get you ready to compete. Starter cars include the 2019 Subaru STI S209, the 2018 Honda Civic Type R, and the 2018 Ford Mustang GT. You will level, build and race your chosen car across the Grand Oak Club Circuit, Mugello Club Circuit and Kyalami GP Circuit.
The Builders Cup Intro Series introduces you to new mechanics like Open Practice and Challenge the Grid, as well as our new car levelling and building systems. In-between each race, you can upgrade your car with new unlocked performance parts and tuning. The car upgrade screen includes a new spider graph that helps you understand the balance in your car build. For more details on the new car upgrading system, check out this article.
In-between races and practice sessions, you can adjust the race options, including Drivatar difficulty and race rules which influence damage settings, rewind availability and the penalties enforced.
Completing the Builders Cup Intro Series will unlock Practical Performance, the first stage of the Modern Tour. Each series you finish in the Builders Cup will earn you a trophy with bonus credits rewarded based on your series placement. Each Tour you fully complete will also unlock a special reward car at the end.
For players who want full creative freedom in their build, check out the Open Class Tour featuring C to S Class Series. The Career Mode also includes a Featured Tour. This is where we will spotlight new cars and tracks added to Forza Motorsport, and it’s a great way to continue your single-player racing journey.
Featured Multiplayer
To get started in Featured Multiplayer, you will need to play the Qualifier Series and complete 3 races to unlock the Spec Series and Open Series. Your result in these races doesn’t affect your progress towards unlocking the rest of Featured Multiplayer, so feel free to race at your own pace and get accustomed with the gameplay mechanics.
Like Builders Cup, every race in Featured Multiplayer begins with Open Practice. This is where you can get to know the car track combo and dial in your tire compound selection and fuel load. You will have anywhere between 5 and 20 minutes or more to get your practice laps in and Qualify depending upon when you joined the event.
At any time before the Featured Race, you can jump into the Qualify session. You will have 3 chances to put in your best lap. Your best time will determine your starting position at the beginning of the Featured Race.
You can join an event anytime during Open Practice or Qualifying, up to 5 minutes prior to the Featured Race, and then entry for that event closes for new participants. When you join an event, you start in Open Practice with up to 23 other players.
We’ll generally have at least one event available to join in each series in Featured Multiplayer at any time with new events starting roughly every 30 minutes. Parameters for each event will be varied, with different tracks, weather, and time of day, and these rotate through multiple series.
There are two different types of events in Featured Multiplayer – Spec Series and Open Series. Spec racing is fully homologated to ensure an even playing field. That means all the cars racing are identical and have been tuned by us to provide the fairest and most competitive experience possible. Open Series is where you can bring any car that meets the class restrictions. The Open Series will be rotating through the various car classes on a weekly basis.
Featured Multiplayer also incorporates race strategy elements with pitting features like managing your tire compounds and fuel loads for optimal performance. In shorter races there is no need to pit, however in longer races it may be necessary to change tires or refuel, and we’ll even have some races that require it.
Powered by machine learning, Forza Race Regulations is our race adjudication system that identifies thousands of individual racing incidents from track cutting and purposeful collisions to all-around dirty driving. Players will receive penalties and race disqualifications based on the severity of incidents.
Matchmaking in Featured Multiplayer uses both your Driver and Safety Rating to pair you with similar players. Driver Ratings are skill-based, while Safety Ratings are influenced by on-track behavior. With Safety Ratings, players are graded for clean racing from S to F, and it means clean, skilled racers play together, while racers with a history of unsportsmanlike conduct are kept isolated in their own pool.
Free Play and Private Multiplayer
Free Play is where you create your preferred single-player racing experience, while Private Multiplayer uses these same tools so you can dial in the racing you and your friends are looking for. There are a variety of game modes such as Circuit Race, Timed Race, Multi-Class and Meetups. The host can customize the race length, the car class and track selection, as well as the race rules.
There are event rule presets where you can adjust the level of competition and fun, from a relaxed race with limited penalties and no race strategy, to a competitive event with strict penalties, required pit-stops, and simulated damage.
Organizers can use Private Lobbies to host authentic endurance races with race strategy, Forza Race Regulations, 24-hour dynamic time-of-day with weather, track temperatures, and rubbering in, all of which can be customized. Other options include collisions on/off, ghosted back markers, disabled ghost effect, cosmetic or simulated damage, grid ordering, roll off delay, and so on. Assist overrides can be enabled to dial in the specific gameplay for your race.
Private Multiplayer lobbies are not affected by Safety Ratings or by Driver Ratings; in the same way, matches in lobbies do not affect your overall Safety and Driver Ratings.
Rivals and Time Attack
Rivals in Forza Motorsport is where you’re invited to really push yourself and the car to shave off every possible millisecond on a selected car and track combination. You can immediately jump into any Featured Rivals or Time Attack event.
Time Attack is where you can build a car to the best of your chosen PI class and attempt to set the fastest possible time on any track layout in Forza Motorsport. Just like in Builders Cup, Multiplayer, and Free Play, the cars you bring into Time Attack are always levelling up.
Rivals now includes a Skip Lap option for when you quickly wish to restart. You’ll also be able to identify which corners and track segments you are losing the most time on with Car Mastery sector scoring, so pay close attention to those results.
See You at the Starting Line
This is only a quick look at each of the modes available in Forza Motorsport at launch. We hope you enjoy the game, honing your skills through racing competition, and that you fall in love with your favorite cars as you level, build, and dominate your way to victory. We’ll see you at the starting line!