So i'm finding the online modes in forza horizon 3 to be confusing/unclear. Online adventure.. Co-op campaign... Online freeroam i think? They all seem to be just about the same thing - a group of people that all run around doing the one event together, or random non-campaign events, I don't really understand the clear defined differences between each of the online game modes.

What i would like, is to have real people driving around my map in free roam situations, but just race against the cpu for actual events. (I tried co-op campaign, and you can't just start events whenever you like, only the leader of the session can start events, which is not what i'm looking for). Do any of the online game modes provide what i'm looking for?

You can't get what you're looking for, but the game pretty much does that anyway. If you aren't racing against people, does it really matter if the random cars with gamertags are real people or not?

Ye, the mode you're looking for is in The Crew but also The Crew didn't review well (I just played through it recently - it's free for download on uPlay PC - and am one of the few people who more than kind of enjoys the Weird America they've built, given a few tweaks to the settings) so Horizon 3 is going to be the better game to play if you're a typical person. Hell, even I prefer Horizon 3 and I like The Crew!

That game dumps randos into your game, forces always-on DRM into the system to enforce that persistent online state (why I waited until the price was free before grabbing it), but also allows you the play co-op (grouped) or solo through the actual races.

Horizon 3 definitely feels alive in the free-roam with the Drivatar racers seemingly having their own competitive races throughout the world and giving you more than normal traffic to deal with. It's not perfect but it's a decent simulation of if real people were playing their own game in your world. And you can beep at them so they join you in a convoy as you travel.

Co-op campaign: Open world, one person is the host and picks events and such just as they would for their solo game, and gets credit when those races are complete.

Online Adventure: Four themed races in a row, picked by the computer, with brief drive between sequences in the open world, but no real open world play as such. After 4 races, vote on the next theme and do it again.

Online Freeroam: Open world, but most of the events turned off. For literally just driving around together, finding billboards and enjoying the scenery.

So when I'm a group leader online do other people in the group see my version of the world/map with my completed events? Or does everyone have their own separate progress at all times? And I assume completing events in someone else's co-op campaign counts as completing them in solo, right?

If you complete races in co-op campaign, it does count towards your completion. I think you continue to see your own event info on the map. If you're the leader, other people will just see when you mark an event on the map so that they know where to go.

@chaser324: Ok cool. It seems pretty smartly-designed so you're never not gaining progress. I've played with you a few times btw - it's been pretty seamless sending invites, jumping between modes and keeping the group together.