FH5, Series 53, Week 2

 I probably drove the same HSV Gen-F GTS for this weekly as I did the last time, although since then I’ve painted the car a different colour and have added some stripes. No real problems, but this sort of thing doesn’t take a week to do.

I took a picture of the 2022 Ford Focus. I got some pretty bovver boots.

The collectibles were easily done. I got a pointless, probably annoying horn.

I one-shotted the ST in Guanajuato and got a Shelby Cobra from the SWS. I believe I only had one previously and had been thinking recently I’d like another. The other ST took a couple of attempts because of the awful conditions and a car swap. I started with the Dodge Demon (?), which was ridiculously overpowered and terrible in the wet. One-third excellent SWS. One-shotted the SZ, but the SWS was a disappointment. (Yes, I know, I don’t need the credits.)

I postponed the HT in favour of the HW PR stunt because I didn’t fancy the events that were being offered. I one-shotted the SZ in the BMW X6M for a one-thord very good SWS. I managed to get the car through the zone fairly cleanly in spite of its chubbiness.

I also one-shotted the RA PR stunt in spite of worrying that I wouldn’t have enough speed as I approached it. One-third excellent SWS.

I remember the Eventlab, Hill Valley Rally, from the previous occasion. Classic rally on that dreadful, fake tarmac, but I’m on off-road race tyres. It feels like somewhere in, say, Yorkshire rather than Mexico. A nice idea, but needs to be on dirt. A third 2010 VW Golf R. I should also note that once again, the Eventlab tile failed to work till after I’d gone to the HW expansion. I’ll also note in passing that Eventlab Island ought to have a garage.

I finally did the HT after this, cross country in A800 SUVs. I ended up in a lobby with beginners in stock vehicles and had them on a thrashing to nothing. I did let them catch up a bit round El Pípila so that they didn’t all get DNF’ed.

The Trial was B700 daily drivers (whatever those happen to be). I had to partly create an event to see what was eligible, and found that I could use the Audi S1 again. I started 3rd on the human grid and came 3rd round Cathedral after getting slammed into a wall by a drivatar and doing a recovery drive. However, I was in a lobby of inexperienced drivers who gave places away. I managed a last-to-2nd in Panorámica, although got frustrated with the understeer and – probably – the lack of decent braking (tyres, I think, but perhaps brakes as well) because I overestimated the handling.

Horizon Tour

My good deed was in a dirt racing series in B700 Minis, which I was dominating because my Countryman was built and tuned. I let all the other players cross the finish line round El Pípila ahead of me even though they all tried driving into me.

There was also an incident in another dirt series. In the lobby was a prestige 10 player. In the first race, Horizon Baja, I came 1st with her in hot pursuit. Round San Juan, I turn into the first corner and get rammed from behind before following the player ahead of me. I then got rammed again, and happened to notice that the prestige 10 player had fallen to the back. Missed a checkpoint, I thought. I resume my pursuit of the other player, but our friend comes shoving past (and in spite of being prestige 10, wasn’t as skilled as I’d expect), which annoyed me. I wanted to get past the other player and annoy her by following closely. Instead, the other player shoved me out of a checkpoint. I admit I was attempting a slightly iffy pass. I quit.

Then I get a message from Little Miss Prestige 10, partly mocking me for quitting (I refuse to continue races against dirty drivers; it’s also why I let lesser players get ahead of me when it becomes apparent that their enthusiasm exceeds their skills) and partly threatening me: “You shoved me out of a checkpoint. I’ve got it on video. I’m going to report you. You’ll get banned.” I shoved you out of a checkpoint? Really? I’ve probably done that accidentally to other players in my time, but I’d never do it deliberately.

Also, I drive in cockpit view, which means that the list of players obscures the rear vision mirror. I suspect she came flying up behind me too fast and was probably the author of her own downfall. While I’ll let faster players get buy, I tend to resist people who resort to shoving and ramming.

FH6 release date

Another thought. I’ve seen suggestions of summer next year for the release of FH6, which would be well ahead of the release of GTA VI. It’s a pity that PGG weren’t more transparent about the development process. Is the game ready, but is the delay from re-scanning the graphics that have been recycled into the game since FH1 or 2? Or have there been a series of delays such as starting with game engine X and then porting it to game engine Y? Or have they really rebuilt the engine from the ground up? Or were there issues negotiating with the Japanese government? Or was Microsoft being a pain in the background? There may be dozens of reasons I can’t even imagine.

However, how much of the excitement for GTA VI is coming from the original GTA V players, who played the game back in the day and look forward to the new iteration with the warm glow of nostalgia? Although I don’t know whether some games with long development times have gone on to be successful, I know that some have crashed and burnt. Daikatana was like this; so, too, the latest Duke Nukem game.

While I hope GTA VI will do well, it may not turn out to be exactly what the previous gen players were expecting and lose favour with them; or they remember it warmly, but life has moved on. It’s success may depend more on a new generation of players and how replayable or moddable it is. It may also turn out to be another AAA bugfest (which could also be FH6’s fate).

Perhaps FH6 will be out when it’s ready to be released regardless of other factors, and this is merely all a morass of overthinking.