Forza Horizon is a triple BAFTA nominated open world action-racing game, released in late 2012, exclusively for the Xbox 360.
The game was the first in the Forza series, to break away from it's conventional and popular simulation roots, in favor of a more playful, exciting & ultimately, open-world Forza driving experience. Set in Colorado, the game took advantage of the environmental locale, offering up great variety - not just in it's aesthetics - but in the types of roads & terrain possible to traverse & explore. This gave way to a multitude of driving opportunities, such as point-to-point races, off-road rally style events, street racing & showcase events.
I joined the team in November 2011, as a level designer not long after production had kicked in. Working with 5 other designers, we went through the whole process of sourcing interesting locations in the world, greyboxing them, playtesting & iteration, all the way through to the final art-passed tracks & events.
This meant working very closely with programmers & artists, to bring up the quality of each piece of gameplay collaboratively. From optimization of art assets & props, to performance profiling & debugging. This being my first major industry job, I learnt vast quantities of valuable know-how - from understanding other disciplines more intimately, to my own experience using various toolsets & software - and allowed me to grow much stronger as a capable designer. My time at Playground Games formed the groundwork of how I critically tackle game design today & provided my first insight into AAA development.
http://www.forzamotorsport.net/en-us/gaes/fh