Forza Motorsport PC modded: extra detail and improved ray tracing are there for the taking

There was some level of disappointment when the long-awaited Forza Motorsport finally arrived for review, as visual quality didn’t quite meet expectations – especially as promised features like ray traced global illumination didn’t arrive in the final game, while PC technical performance was troublesome. However, a short while ago, we learned from user LJT that the PC game can be modded to add extra detail, improved RT reflections and RTGI, while reports of improved performance since launch warranted some investigation. So, how does the mod improve visual fidelity and what are the performance implications? Have CPU and GPU optimisations delivered performance boosts over the launch game? We decided to find out.

Engaging the mod turns out to be stupendously easy. Simply turn everything to max settings on PC, then visit the c:\XboxGames\Forza Motorsport\Content\Media\PCFamily\RenderScenerios folder on the Xbox version or the c:\Program Files\Steam\SteamApps\Common\Forza Motorsport\Content\Media\PCFamily\RenderScenerios folder on Steam. Here, you’ll discover folders for each visual preset… along with a curious ‘Visual Target’ folder. And it’s there that you’ll discover a big bunch of XML files to upgrade the visual quality of the game. Copy those XML files into the ‘Ultra’ folder, overwriting what’s there and you’re good to go.

Before we progress though, bear in mind that this is an unofficial mod and you are enabling features that may not be complete, may cause visual artefacts or may crash the game. Also, don’t expect your mods to work everywhere in all areas of the game: replays, cinematics and car inspections seem to lack the upgrades to ray traced reflections, for instance, but the improvements present in gameplay.

With the mod enabled, one of the first things I noticed was a general increase in level of detail, draw distance and even object density when the mod is enabled. Grass is mostly a flat texture, for example, but with the mod, thin planes of geometry are added, stretching out into the distance. Extra detail and further draw distance are present in many other aspects of the game: denser forests, more bushes, stands packed with onlookers. All things considered, the game looks more dense, holding up better at a distance with less pop-in. This alone could form the basis for an ‘extreme’ visual preset in the shipping game – but there is more.