Post-5.1.0 Feedback

Hi NFS team,

It's really nice to know that someone might be reading this. I don't think anybody was expecting this patch and the QOL changes are very appreciated. I also appreciate the very open-sounding request for feedback. I hope to see Unbound keep flourishing, as I really think this game has legs that could last for years. So far I have been happy with the volume updates.

Detailed below are some of the suggestions I've been stirring up while playing, ordered in terms of how much effort I feel like they would take (but obviously I have no idea).

Low Effort:

• More customizable turbofan wheels. The current patterns are nice but I've been itching for a plain one that can have its color edited. The one that came on the special Porsche and Lotus DLC would be great but they are currently limited to just those cars.
• Randomized time of day online. It would presumably be just be a matter of adding a shuffle button to the current options menu.
• Improved photo mode. I put this one in low because Heat and the games before it already had a more feature rich photo mode than Unbound, but maybe there is more I don't know.
• Unlock part editing for special bodykits. I understand why they're locked, to avoid clipping and a bad look overall, but NFS is about the freedom of customization and I don't think anyone would be too upset to see mismatched parts. At the very least, keep bumpers, skirts and fenders locked, but allow for changing spoilers, wing mirrors, hoods, splitters, exhaust pipes, headlights, etc. I love the special edition Porsche but the green headlights are unchangeable and it drives me nuts!

Medium Effort:

• Fix redundant online joining. Currently joining online means hitting "go online" on the main menu, then again hitting "find game" in the garage. It would be nice to skip the need to essentially do the same thing twice.
• Custom pattern turbofans. Similar to the request for plain ones but have the ability to make custom designs on them like the livery editor.
• Ability to see race type and track overview on car select screen. Some builds are better for tracks with lots of turns than ones with less. Currently there's no way to know what kind of track you're heading into unless you memorized the layouts and race names on the playlist screen, if you were the one who initiated it. It makes currently being able to change cars between races a little pointless.
• Improved texture streaming. Currently the detail of liveries on cars outside of the garage is very low, even on highest texture settings. You can see stair-stepping and blocky compression artifacts on shapes and text.

High Effort:

• Decentralized lobby playlist mode. The current method of joining playlists is limited to the audience of the other 15 people currently on your server. This results in lower join rates, where in past games like Payback with the lobby system, you were always guaranteed full races.
• Taunts on race start: Currently the camera pans to a random racer when the race starts but they just sit there blankly staring forward. It would be nice if there was a system to choose a taunt to play during the pan, or even just shuffle between random ones. Currently YOUR player is the only one who taunts, but it doesn't matter because nobody else is looking at it.
• NFS Heat-esque starting line. In Heat there was always a group of NPCs at the starting line sitting on their cars, playing music, taking pictures, setting fires and more. This added a lot to the immersion and world-building and I was disappointed to see it disappear in Unbound, especially since the trailers made it look like that environment would be more present than ever.
• More gamemodes. While Linkups were a great change of pace, they're gotten a bit stale as they're the only non-racing type of event to play. Modes like cops vs racers, team races, drag racing, etc would be a great shake up to the current playstyle.

These are just some off the top of my head. I'm glad to see Unbound still getting love and hope to see more for it in 2024!