FH5, Series 44, Week 3

The patch actually worked this time.

I raced a track toy round Mulegé to do the treasure hunt. I’d only just recently been racing such cars on that circuit and had a custom race to use. What I’d forgotten is that the creator thought that a light smattering of traffic would add to the fun. It wasn’t bothersome, but not welcome either. The treasure was over at the airfield in a hangar.

The weekly in the Ultima was a bit of a pain because to complete the upgrades part of the challenge, I had to buy three sets of tyres. I have two of these things; at least I didn’t have to buy a third one.

The danger sign was a pain, but I expected no less. I did my run from the corner on Lookout Circuit, which was sufficient. I was sailing through the air for the right distance and either landing on the rocks on the right-hand side of the road or going nose first into the road and failing the jump until as usual, the Forza gods allowed me to complete the stunt. It’s no great feat to guess that the SWS was awful. I one-shotted the speed trap using a fairly gentle approach before flooring it. The SWS was one-third good. I also managed to one-shot the drift zone (while being reminded how out of practice I am) for another utterly terrible SWS.

The Eventlab race, Blue Lagoon Raceway, gets good marks for props, one frown for the iffy road surface, and another frown for the technical sections of the layout, which were samey and not that interesting.

Horizon Tour was a pain. I know it shouldn’t be and in one series of races I can only blame myself. I started in B700 Minis doing cross country. I was in my Countryman, starting on the second row. I managed a third round Stadium. 4th in Oasis, but none of the straight-line speed that the other players had. I started last in Herencia, but just as I was gaining ground, I missed a checkpoint.

All right, let’s try again. Dirt racing in British cars. A800. The only suitable thing was the Range Rover SVR, an old favourite of mine from FH4. I started Teotihuacán in last place and came 2nd to a DBR1. In a dirt race?! Sigh. The Mulegé Scramble didn’t last long because some player assisted me out of a checkpoint. Who says the modern yoof no longer shows any care or concern for us older people?

I one-shotted the HW PR stunt in the F40 Competizione and got another garbage SWS. (First aside: my two free SWSs this week compensated for all this; second aside: no, I’m not going to do the RA drift zone as it’s an awful thing.)

And then it was back to Horizon Tour in classic racers. I was in my Ferrari P4, RWD, S1 870. My human opponents were mostly in the Porsche 917 LH. I was on the front row round Emerald and won probably because the handling of my car was not as bad as the Porsche’s handling, although the P4 could be tetchy about the slightest things. I then got DNF’ed in Llanuras because some damnable drivatar swerved in front of me, and I bounced off him and went into a wall. I started Bola Ocho at the back and won again, although it was quite close. I must give the 917 LH an outing to see whether I can handle it.

I went with the BMW M3-GTR for the Trial because it at least had some scope for building it. I used dirt tyres as a substitute for semi-slicks. As a consequence I added aero. I was on the second row for Los Jardines and won. The player who had been in 1st, but was taking corners poorly, seems to have let me pass. There really wasn’t any need – if that was the case – but at least the other player had the wit to do something sensible. I was at the back for Tierra Próspera and came 3rd in what was a battle for the place between me and everyone back to 6th place. There was only about a second between us. Katya was un-katya-ble [Really? Please don’t. –ed.] Another team win and the job was done.

Idle speculation

One YouTuber makes a video about where FH6 might be set, and then another one follows suit. First, HokiHoshi was speculating that it might be Japan and then AR12 Nick was doing the same. Many disclaimer from both that this was all guesswork, but I sometimes wonder whether the latter especially really does know more than he can say.

Japan – guilty, not guilty, not proven (as, I believe, they say in Scotland)? I’m not sure whether all the Japanese cars that have been added to the game were anything more than a tease for the arrival of FH5 on PS5. Nick pointed out the Vūhl being added to FH4, but like the Corvette with the Mexican livery, I think that came after the announcement, not before. As I’ve said before, the narrow, twisty roads in Sierra Nueva could be a test for somewhere like Japan (or, say, Italy). FH6 could be set in Japan to celebrate FH5 on PS5 as well as the Horizon franchise making it onto Sony’s gaming ecosystem.

Right now I’d judge this to be not proven. The hints aren’t, I feel, strong enough for me to unreservedly agree with my learned friends that the location for FH6 will be Japan. Nonetheless, if the world is going to get a fair bite of the Horizon cherry, the two regions that have yet to host a setting for a Horizon game are Africa and Asia.