Forza Custom Radio Tool

Source-only helper for replacing a Forza Horizon radio station with your own legally-owned music files. It can unpack a station bank, loudness-normalize replacement tracks, rebuild a .assets.bank, and update RadioInfo_EN.xml metadata so song titles/artists display in-game.

This repository intentionally does not include music, generated WAVs, game files, rebuilt banks, downloaded third-party tools, or prebuilt executables.

What is included

• forza_radio.py — Tkinter workflow app for unpack/normalize/rebuild/update-XML.
• Empty workflow folders used by the app:
  • 1_extracted_originals/
  • 2_my_music/
  • 3_normalized_wavs/
  • 4_install_to_game/
• examples/fh1-horizon-xs-song-picker/ — static song-selection example for a Forza Horizon 1-inspired Horizon XS playlist. It contains metadata and review links only, not audio.

Safety and legal notes

• Supply your own audio files. Do not use this repository as a music downloader.
• Back up original game files before copying anything into a game install.
• Test offline / Solo first. Online play and anti-cheat/mod-policy consequences are not verified.
• The app downloads external audio tools on first use if they are missing: ffmpeg, vgmstream, and FMOD/fsbankcl-related files. Those tools have their own licenses/terms; you are responsible for complying with them.
• This project is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or supported by Microsoft, Playground Games, Turn 10, Forza, or FMOD.

Basic workflow

1. Copy the target RadioInfo_EN.xml from your game audio folder into this tool folder.

2. Put replacement music you own into 2_my_music/ using Artist - Title.ext filenames where possible.

3. Run the app:

   python forza_radio.py
   

4. Use the app tabs to unpack/inspect the original bank, normalize your music, rebuild the bank, and update XML metadata.

5. Copy generated outputs from 4_install_to_game/ into the game folder only after backing up the originals.

Build a local Windows executable

A prebuilt executable is not tracked in this repository. If you want one, build it locally from source:

python -m pip install pyinstaller
python -m PyInstaller --onefile --windowed --name forza_radio forza_radio.py

The executable will be created under dist/. It still downloads the external audio tools on first use if they are not already present.

FH1 Horizon XS song-picker example

Open the static example directly in a browser:

examples/fh1-horizon-xs-song-picker/index.html

It lets you review a Forza Horizon 1 Bass Arena + Pulse candidate set, adjust selection/order/metadata, and export JSON/CSV manifests. Links are for review/evidence only; the example does not download or include music.

Credits

Original tool/source copyright: Jan Mazanek, MIT licensed.

Thanks/third-party ecosystem noted by the upstream project:

• vgmstream team — FSB5 → WAV decoding.
• FMOD Studio — fsbankcl, used to rebuild Vorbis banks.
• Wouldubeinta / Fmod-Bank-Tools — prior-art workflow.
• ElRors / ForzaRadioModTool — mirror used by the tool for FMOD-related files.
• ffmpeg — audio normalization.
• Forza modding community research around radio audio formats.

License

MIT. See LICENSE.