DustinEdenYT/Forza Motorsport & Horizon on PC - Setup Guide for Xenia.md

## Forza Motorsport & Horizon on PC - Setup Guide for Xenia.md

      
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              Forza Motorsport & Horizon on PC - Setup Guide for Xenia.md
            
          
    Last Updated: 28-Oct-2024

Table of Contents & Introduction


Requirements


Basic Setup


Forza Motorsport 2 Setup


Forza Motorsport 4 Setup


Forza Horizon Setup


FAQ


This guide will go over how to set up Forza Motorsport 2, Forza Motorsport 4 and Forza Horizon on Xenia Canary, the Xbox 360 emulator.

Requirements


Disc images of Forza Motorsport 2, Forza Motorsport 4 and/or Forza Horizon (.ISO)
The latest version of Xenia Canary
An Xbox 360 ISO extractor
At least 30GB of free hard drive space


Basic Setup

Let's begin by downloading the latest version of Xenia Canary.
Next you want to download an ISO extraction tool.
This is required for the installation of Mods later down the line which ensures a better experience.
Extract the emulator and its contents into a folder of your choice. Then create a folder named isoextract in your new emulator folder and paste the ISO extraction tool into it. You may also want to create a folder named games to add your games into.

Forza Motorsport 2 Setup

Forza Motorsport 2 released in 2007 and is very comparable to Gran Turismo 3. It features a comparably smaller car and track roster, but has a very satisfying career mode and progression system. The handling is also a bit more arcadey than later Forza titles. It features some fun Tuner cars never seen in the franchise again and is certainly worth playing.
In addition to the game we will be adding the Project Forza Plus Mod made by GasAndBrakes. It fixes some common issues with the game, adds all DLC content to the game and allows the game to run at higher framerates among other things.

Download an ISO of the game from here
Once downloaded, paste it into games
Run "XBOX360 ISO Extract" as administrator
Select "choose ISO-Folder" and navigate to games
Select "choose destination" and pick the folder you want the game files to be saved to
Download the FM2 Project Plus Mod by GasAndGames here
Open the folder that contains all of the files from your FM2 ISO that you extracted in the steps above
Open "Project Forza Plus 2 v1.2", navigate into Main Game Changes and drag both the "default.xex" file and the Media folder into your extracted FM2 folder and replace all.
Open PhysicsSettings.ini for higher fps in the Project Forza Plus archive and Media in your game folder. You will find four seperate folders in the mod archive. Pick the desired framerate you want to play with and drag the included file into physics within your game folder
In the Project Forza Plus archive, go back and open Game Mode DBs. You will find four seperate folders for different progression settings, which you can read up on here. Open the folder of your preferred mode, or simply choose Vanilla Mode if you're unsure, and drag the included file into DB within your game folder.
Go back to the root of the Project Forza Plus archive and navigate through DLC Cars and Tracks, then Media. Drag all folders into Media of your game folder.
Go back to the root of your emulator folder. Download this config file and drag it into your Xenia installation folder.

Now simply run the Xenia emulator by launching "xenia_canary.exe". In order to launch the game, click on "File", "Open" and double-click on "default.xex" in your extracted FM2 game folder.
You can press F11 to enter fullscreen. You may also want to press F6 to open up the Post-processing menu. You will get the best results by leaving Anti-aliasing on "None" and enabling the third option, "FSR", under Resampling and Sharpening. I recommend setting the bars below to 0.200 stops and 1.000 additional sharpness.


Forza Motorsport 4 Setup

Forza Motorsport 4 released in 2011 and is very comparable to Gran Turismo 4. It stands out with its incredibly large car and track roster, lengthy career mode and great graphics even by today's standards. It leans more into the simcade side with its handling model. The community considers this the greatest of the series.
In addition to the game we will be adding the Project Forza Plus Mod made by GasAndBrakes. It fixes some common issues with the game, adds all DLC content to the game and allows the game to run at higher framerates among other things.

Download an ISO of the game from here
Once downloaded, paste it into games
Run "XBOX360 ISO Extract" as administrator
Select "choose ISO-Folder" and navigate to games
Select "choose destination" and pick the folder you want the game files to be saved to
Download the FM4 Project Plus Mod by GasAndGames here
Open the folder that contains all of the files from your FM4 ISO that you extracted in the steps above
Open "Project Forza Plus 4 v1.2", navigate into Main Game Changes and drag both the "default.xex" file and the Media folder into your extracted FM4 folder and replace all.
Open PhysicsSettings.ini for higher fps in the Project Forza Plus archive and Media in your game folder. You will find four seperate folders in the mod archive. Pick the desired framerate you want to play with and drag the included file into physics within your game folder
In the Project Forza Plus archive, go back and open Game Mode DBs. You will find four seperate folders for different progression settings, which you can read up on here. Open the folder of your preferred mode, or simply choose Vanilla Mode if you're unsure, and drag the included file into DB within your game folder.
Go back to the root of your FM4 install folder. Download this track shadow fix and paste it into your game install folder
Load up FM4 once by running the emulator and clicking "File" and then "Open", browsing to your FM4 folder and running it by clicking on "default.xex". This creates a folder we need for the next step, so you can close the emulator after this
Go back to the root of the Project Forza Plus archive and open Disc 2 and DLCs. Also open the content folder in your Xenia installation and browse through folder within it where you'll find another folder named 4D530910. Drag the 00000002 folder from your mod archive into 4D530910 of your game installation
Go back to the root of your emulator folder. Download this config file and drag it into your Xenia installation folder. (You can skip this step if you have previously installed FM2)

Now simply run the Xenia emulator by launching "xenia_canary.exe". In order to launch the game, click on "File", "Open" and double-click on "default.xex" in your extracted FM4 game folder.

(Optional) Download Track Lighting Tweaks and open the archive. Browse through Xenia Canary Format and then 4D530910 and paste the folder inside it into the 4D530910 folder within the content directory of Xenia 
(Optional) Download Tweaked Chase Cam and replace the file in the Camera folder found inside Media within your game folder 

You are now set to play Forza Motorsport 4 with all its content installed. You can press F11 to enter fullscreen. You may also want to press F6 to open up the Post-processing menu. You will get the best results by leaving Anti-aliasing on "None" and enabling the third option, "FSR", under Resampling and Sharpening. I recommend setting the bars below to 0.200 stops and 1.000 additional sharpness.


Forza Horizon Setup

Forza Horizon released in 2012 and is an open world spin-off based off Forza Motorsport 4. Compared to the more modern titles it focuses more on delivering a music festival atmosphere, has light story elements and a more structured career mode. It holds up exceptionally well and stands out among the other Horizon games.
This time there are no major mods to be installed, which makes the setup process a little easier. The only deviation from the base game will be a change in Xenia's config to achieve 60FPS.

Download an ISO of the game from here
Once downloaded, paste it into games
Open "xenia-canary.config.toml" in your Xenia Canary folder
Set "vsync = false" and "vsync_interval = 16"
Create a new folder named patches in your Xenia Canary root folder
Download and paste this file into the patches folder

You are now set to play Forza Horizon with all its content installed. You can press F11 to enter fullscreen. You may also want to press F6 to open up the Post-processing menu. You will get the best results by leaving Anti-aliasing on "None" and enabling the third option, "FSR", under Resampling and Sharpening. I recommend setting the bars below to 0.200 stops and 1.000 additional sharpness.
⚠ DLC install instructions will be added later.


FAQ

Where are Forza Motorsport 3 and Forza Horizon 2?
I will add them to this guide at a later date. This took forever to put together. I'm tired. Please send help
My game doesn't work, help?
If you run into issues with your installation, you probably messed up somewhere during the setup process. Always read each instruction carefully and make back-ups if unsure. If you're stonewalled you may post your question in the comments below. Please to do NOT DM me (DustinEden) on Discord and be patient, I can't reply all day.
What can I do if my game is running badly?
If your games are not running well, open the config file ("xenia-canary.config.toml") and search for a setting called "d3d12_readback_resolve = true". Set it to "d3d12_readback_resolve = false". This improves your overall FPS at the cost of introducing some visual glitches. If you're fine with that, you can continue playing. Otherwise keep in mind that Xbox 360 emulation is not easy to run on old hardware. If your games are still lagging you might simply not able to run the emulator on your system.