*except at Monza
F1 2010 by Codemasters
Release Date:
US: 09/22
EU: 23/09
UK: 24/09
X-Box 360/PS3/PC
I might be alone here as I'm not sure America actually cares about Formula 1 (or that Formula 1 cares about America given some of the previous races they had). But I'm sure a few of us remember what used to be a mainstay of videogame racing in the form of Geoff Crammonds F1GP. Anyways, after a decidedly long absence from most of the formats, F1 Racing is back, in a fashion. It's
not a simulation (might want to try
rFactor or
iRacing in their various guises if that's what you're after), but it is something that should be familiar to those who enjoyed Codemasters previous hits (Dirt 2, Grid).
Having skipped the '09 release on the HD consoles, codemasters have committed themselves to putting in a real effort and not just a quick license cash grab. And the results are looking pretty impressive with enhanced weather effects being the in thing for this update to the Ego engine, and all 19 tracks from this season included as well as all the teams and drivers.
Intro VideoIsn't Formula 1 really boring and no one can overtake?
Race Edit: Canada
Actually, aside from the season opener 2010 has been a pretty great year, formula1.com do some pretty nifty
race edits which are worth checking out.
So what's the game all about
It's about adjusting your front wing and engine maps, obviously.
It might not be a full on simulation, but a lot of detail has been put in the game. Tyres will degrade, suspension can be tweaked, breaks can be biased. There's a full career mode that sees you putting in the practice, developing the car, racing your team mate, dealing with the press. And then there's the online mode which has up to 12 people taking part. But for most of us it'll be you vs 23 other drivers straight from Formula 1 on any one of the 19 tracks. In the sun in the desert, at night in the city or just you against the rain.
Rain? What's that got to do with anything?
It makes things
wet and hard to see. Any wet race is a good race, as it makes things unpredictable. There's the active track technology as well, which calculates the grip on every square 30cm of the track as the race goes on and rubbers in. Rain washes it all away but it can also pool, allowing you to cool off your tyres.
Cut to the chase, can I do a Mark Webber.
Crash
It's obviously no
Gran Tourismo but they've put in the effort - see the flying McLaren at 1.11.
But the mirrors on the Ferrari are all wrong!
Very observant of you! All the cars got signed off a few months into the season, so they're pretty much locked now. There's a fair few other things missing unfortunately, marshalls, safety cars, formation laps, no Dx11 support either although that might get patched back in. Apparently they got Button's new helmet right though.
Posts
Or, to put another way, I can't drive a car in rFactor, yet I'm fine picking up Forza and racing someone when I'm around a friends house. I think this is the same, it should feel real, whilst still being a big gap between actually being real as possible.
Preordered my copy for the 360 from amazon, should be turning up on the 24th. The reviews so far have been excellent. Can't wait!
As an aside, I was at the Belgian Grand Prix this year - wonder if they've modeled the crowd as it was on race day? It's a long shot, but a man can dream. I'll sure as hell be parking at Pouhon to check out whether I can see myself on the banking!
PSN ID : Xander51 Steam ID : Xander51
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battlerep on STEAM.
Only strange thing is that I can't enable hardware audio, and it BSoD'ed me during the middle of a qualifying lap.
Comes out tomorrow in Australia, and I'm beyond excited. There hasn't really been any F1 games that have come close to Geoff Crammonds Grand Prix 1/2/3/4 in my opinion.
Fingers crossed this is as good as it looks..
Apparently there is a small bug with pit stops though - the game controls the car for you during a pit stop (intended) but if you pit at the same time as other cars the engineer holds you in the pits until all the other cars are gone (unintended) basically costing you tons of position. I think the idea was supposed to be the engineer holds you so you don't crash into a passing car, but instead just holds you until everyone is gone.
If I get to drive for Ferrari in this game and that comes over the radio I will put Alonso in the wall
______________________
battlerep on STEAM.
He does have a huge face, I do wonder how he gets a crash helmet that fits. He's a brilliant driver without a doubt, but I don't like him... although he's better than Vettel.
I didn't pre order this so I hope I can find time tomorrow to pick it up (and play it) typical I have a busy weekend when 2 games I really want come out on the same day (Dead Rising).
Slightly unrelated, I also enjoy Indycar (well, we did have a british champ last year right) and I was wondering if any of you americans could tell me why the hell they hurl those poor tire guns across the pit lane after a pit stop? They have all these auto lift things so there no need for jacks, but they cant run the hoses over the top of the road? Sheesh :P Im shocked the gun doesn't wreck a tire more often.
Speaking of pit lane, is that bug in all versions or just the PC?
How is it with the 360 controller? I don't have a racing wheel for the 360 or the PC.....
In topic related news, game bought, loving it! I have the Xbox version and Im playing with the wheel, its hard, but very rewarding (just staying on the track) Done some practice laps, and started my season in a Lotus. On normal difficulty I managed to qualify 1st (at 20% race distance/Practice 1 and Qually 1 only) so I think I may need to up the difficulty. However I only managed 16th in the race after loosing my nose cone (Im inconsistent right now to say the least), eve after pitting for a nose (everyone pits for tires at 20%) I managed to fight my way back to about fifth, but I cut 2 corners and gave someone a bash over the remaining 8 laps so I guess I was dropped to 16th for time penalties etc.
I hope as you raise the difficulty the punishment for damage is much greater, as without a nose the car was still easily drivable on normal. I think the challenge right now is just to be consistent though, and up the AI/punishments later.
Love the game, and as I said, I hated Dirt and the codemaster Touring car game.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=byz8QS6M9os
Now I just need to convince my wife that this kind of setup is worth the money I'd have to spend.
Still haven't bought a wheel.. which is for the better, cause I'd end up wanting to build a pit (like I almost did for DCS: Blackhawk / LockOn: FC2 / etc..)
It's one of the few racing games I actually would like a wheel for, but the pad is fine. I'm not sure if the console has the pitlane bug, but if they were in both then I'd think PC might get patched quicker.
I only tried some practice laps so far to see how the pad worked w/ the PC and to check out the performance etc. The game seems to run fine, but I noticed some weird graphical stuff while racing. I was using the 2nd cockpit view (a little higher up in the air) and it looks like the drivers head is bobbing around all the time. I'll need to race with some other cars too cause it seemed like the ghost car was a little glitchy, but I could be wrong.
Overall the game seems like it'll be a lot of fun. I'd like to get my hands on the 360 version to see any difference. I'm definitely not used to racing with these kinds of cars though! I don't know the tracks or really the mentality behind how much you should break vs coast etc.
Generally you need to be more aggressive than you'd think. Everything is designed to work at speed. The difference is easily seen in a sim where multiple types of cars are available. In a sports car you're braking pretty far out to get the car slowed down, but in the F1 car you can brake a lot later because it has so much more stopping power...and you have to go faster through the corners to generate the downforce on the wings.
Obligatory "Richard Hammond drives F1 Car" video to illustrate:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EGUZJVY-sHo
I also like this video which shows you just how different a world it is in an F1 (basically a Mercedes ad):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_sFGXh-zthM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZavYBQO1ZQ&feature=related
You do have to register for a free account, but it's worth it if you want to get an idea of how the tracks are driven.
PSN ID : Xander51 Steam ID : Xander51