FH5, Series 43, Week 2

Treasure hunt. I did a figure-8 round the crates at the Street Scene outpost. No drifting required. The treasure is not far from the stadium to the south-west. I think I have about 69,000 FPs. Nothing to spend them on, not even Backstage Passes.

The weekly in the 2016 CTS-V passed without any issues, although some players may need to buy a new one to spend the credits to get it into S1 class. As I had a second, unused one, that wasn’t a problem.

Eventlab, Chemical Plant. Totalitarian use of props. Points off for a night race and a terrible circuit. Points on for at least restricting the race to C-class hot hatches.

PR stunts. I added front aero and heavier rims to get the CTS-V to the top of S1 class. The danger sign was a nuisance because on my first attempt I got the distance, but landed on a rock. Got it on the second attempt by aiming slightly to the left. Start from the Lookout Circuit turn (I’ve decided that a long run-up doesn’t really help, especially on that deceptive right-hand curve ahead of the Festival outpost) and lift off a little where there’s that vexatious bump ahead of the jump. Rubbish SWS. I made some adjustments to the car for the dirt speed zone which I one-shotted and PB’ed. Ribbish SWS No. 2. The drift zone took three attempts because the car kept sliding too much. I got punished with another rubbish SWS.

This got me the new “Mustang”, which I used for the picture. Another T-shirt. O sartorial elegance!

For Horizon Tour I ended up in C600 pickups and 4x4s. I thought about the International Scout, but switched to the Chevrolet K10. I was on the front row for the Estadio Cross Country Circuit. One player had a very fast Scout, and I suspect the others muddled up corners and straight lines (hint: they’re not the same). I managed a 3rd after a late overtake by another player in a K10. I was on the back row for Las Granjas and came 4th because on the final jump I landed on the armco, which lost me 3rd. The K10 lumbered in spite of having more power than my Scout. The last race was the dreaded Festival Cross Country. I was on the front row again and managed a third because corners baffle some players.

For the Trial I picked the Dodge Magnum even though mine was AWD and evidently understeery. I was on the second row of the Marigold Sprint and came 2nd. Team win. It ought to have been a whitewash, but a player behind me probably missed a checkpoint. I was at the back at the start of Llanuras and managed to come 3rd because of other players fighting each other and taking corners badly. I didn’t have the greatest start, either. Anyway, team win and my fourth Mustang RTR Spec 5.

I managed to one-shot the HW PR stunt and got a one-third very good SWS.

I also one-shotted the RA PR stunt in the 2015 Corvette Z06, but while the Forza gods granted me this, they rewarded me with yet another rubbish SWS.

JakeXVX

JakeXVX has popped up on YouTube to explain his absence which is essentially that he’s moved on in his life, and YouTube was getting to be a chore. He talked about perhaps returning for FH6, but probably not.

FH5 on PS5, further thoughts

I was thinking a little about the forthcoming arrival of FH5 on PS5. Too late in the day, or is this suggesting that there won’t be any FH6 till next year? The point is that if FH5 is bowing out this year, it doesn’t make sense, I think, for PS5 players to buy that game when it’s about to be superseded. I also wonder how long ago MS planned this because it would’ve made more sense within a year or two of the launch of FH5 for the game to have been ported to Playstation.

The other issue is that if FH6 isn’t out till spring next year, FH5 is going to drag on well past its toleration date if there’s no more new content this year. Recycling old material is fine for new players, but for those of us who have been playing the game since the very beginning, it’s all a bit of a shrug. I already have a decent stack of Backstage Passes with nothing to spend them on. I have enough FPs to buy a lot more. I haven’t thought about what I’ll do with the Festival playlist next week since from now on, there’s precious little point.

I’m not convinced that GTA VI is necessarily a factor in MS’s considerations regarding the release of FH6 (the former is a different sort of game), and ACE remains, I feel, a little too niche to be a threat. As for Fable (being produced by a different branch of PGG), I’d guess that the set of customers for that and FH6 is probably quite small and neither will much affect the other.

I don’t know whether there’s a cunning strategy formulated by people who are wiser and better knowing than I am about the strategies of release dates; or the gaming companies don’t let it bother them. My prediction will remain as it ever does, FH6 this autumn.