F1 2011 impressions (preview code)

[VELOCIPEDE]

http://community.codemasters.com/forum/7180463-post1.html

My F1 2011 impressions

Allright guys, here goes, my impressions of the F1 2011 preview code.

Before I start

The preview code had 7 circuits and probably originated from early August (pre-GC at least), because the SC isn't in. I focused mostly on nailing Montreal, because I only had 4 days with it so far, and unfortunately can't spend my whole day playing F1 2011. I think I invested about 4-6 hours in it in total.

Played the game against pro AI, only assist were auto gears (really can't do manual on a pad) and medium TC. Stuff like ABS, racing lines were all off, fuel sim, tyre sim, etc was on.

Without further ado, my impressions!

Likes

More accurate to life racing

For me one of the biggest things of F1 2011. Last year you had to brake really early and that was compensated by insane levels of mechanical grips. This year it's very much the other way around. Braking points are much later/closer to real life, not quite there, but much closer none the less. With that matter the grip levels are much lower. In F1 2010 you could easily set the car to the lowest downforce setting without much punishment, try it now, and you'll be flying off left, right and center at every corner on most tracks. You really have to be carefull navigating corners, even with TCS on full it's still like driving with TCS off. Too much enthusiasm or the wrong racing line and you're gone. You also really notice the difference between cold and hot tyres, on the first lap you'll be struggling for grip, but you will notice it improving as your tyres warm up. When you are too hard on the tyres or don't pit early enough, you will go over the cliff and your lap times can easily drop by 1,5 seconds.

With the levels of grip a corner like Blanchimont is really scary to go through and Pouhon can be a nightmare, be off the line by an inch and it all goes to shambles.

On the going off track and grip levels. Yes, there is much more grip on the grass than IRL, but remember it's a game, when you go wide in Pouhon or Turn 8 in Turkey you really have to prey that you get the car back on the track in one piece and there is no way you can just keep your foot down when you are offtrack.

When the car breaks away, you are really in a bad situation, with the pad it's really hard to catch. I can imagine this being a lot easier with the wheel, but I found it nigh on impossible with the pad, the only rescue is to try and slow down and recover it at lower speed. The F1 2010 tactics, of just slamming the breaks and countersteering is definitely not effective anymore.

Oh, and Eau Rouge with DRS open is a disaster, just not possible, haha. Unless you want your car to hit a wall and take flight, in that case, it works just fine.

Better AI

Let's get two things out of the way, the AI is definitely affected by fuel sim, and the pitstops function properly. In my 100% race on Montreal the overall lap times started in the 1:21's before dropping to the lower 1:18's around lap 40, after which it started raining, so no comparison after that. I believe fastest lap was about 1:16 low this year in Montreal.

AI has a lot more fight in them, they will close gaps, they will overtake you with DRS, they will not let you through if you haven't completely passed them, they will outbreak you, they will go off the line to prevent you from overtaking or getting the better line at the breaking zone. They will not weave like idiots however, in 90% of the cases they will make 1 move and maybe move back to the racing line, but that's it.

I really, really enjoyed fighting the AI, in Montreal I got to P4 in lap 1 and then slowly started reeling in nr. 1 to 3. I found myself wheel to wheel with lots of other cars at many times.

Better race engineer + race director

The race engineer gives you a lot more info during the race. He will tell you what lap times you need to do in order to catch up on your opponents. He will let you know if the car ahead or behind you is in fuel save mode, he will tell you that it might start raining in 15 minutes. He lets you know how many stops you have to go, etc.

Sometimes he is still being a dumb **** when he says 'Massa will stop in 5 laps'.

Race director is also quite an improvement, although it's a shame that it only shows warning and penalties and not accidents. It's great for checking out what lap times the guy in front and behind you is doing.

Fun to do long races

For some reason I couldn't really be bothered to do races longer than 30% in F1 2010, but in F1 2011 the fun really only starts at 50%. I think it's just because there's much more strategy involved with DRS, KERS, the tyres, but also the fuel mix, better AI. I had some points during the race where Hamilton would gain on me and then I would get away from him with a second, then he would gain a bit again, just really exciting basically.

Looks so much better

If you'd start it up next to Crysis 2 or Uncharted 3 it wouldn't be that awesome looking, but it really is so much better compared to last year. Detail on the cars is much greater, track details are a lot better, more stuff going on in the garage, you name it and it looks better.

Loads of small little things

I love seeing the drivers push the KERS and DRS buttons and them changing gears with the flippers. When you're driving around Monaco you can really see the marshalls waving the flags, when you open DRS the sound of the airstream changes, which also happens when you lose (part of) your front wing. There's the sound of marbles or other debris hitting the floor of the car when you go offtrack.

Dislikes

Weather system not top notch yet

The accompanying letter for the preview code said that the weather system wasn't final and that the wetness levels weren't in line with the visuals and that was exactly the case. It started raining lightly at a certain point, but it still took about 6 laps before there was any need to change to inters. If Codies is right, this will be fixed, but it is something that really needs to be fixed.

AI sometimes too fast, sometimes too slow

Overall the AI is much better and they are around as fast as real life at pro difficulty. However, on some parts of the track they are too slow and then compensate that on other sections. For example in Montreal they are fast in sectors 1 and 2 (gained about 0,5 per lap on me there) and then they would brake way too early for the hairpin before the DRS straight, subsequently letting me gain 0,5 again. I experienced same sort of things in Turkey and Malaysia. The AI was definitely not final, but again, something that needs fixing.

Damage relatively unchanged

Didn't notice much differences in damage model and the sensitivity of the car, it's too hard to knock your front wing or tyres of, which is a shame. I understand they can't wreck cars completely, but it felt like the same level as 2010.

Overall

Really loved the racing, it's just so much more intense and fun than in F1 2010 with the added bonus of more realism. It will be hard to pick up, as you really have to get used to the car trying to go it's own way in every second corner, but once you get it nailed it just adds to the challenge. Personally can't wait for the review code with the SC in it, but in the mean time I'll have to do with racing in the preview code, which is hardly a shame

Edited September 5, 2011 by Uff

[kunos]

bene ma chi parla? la signora cannavacciulo al secondo piano? lewis hamilton? papa ratzinger? il ceo di codemasters? dave kaemmer? berlusconi?

[VELOCIPEDE]

preview di un "appassionato di simracing" che si fa chiamare jellejelle

[andry]

un appassionato di simracing che dice certe cose poco credibile

[2slow4u]

L'importante e' che a dirle non sia un pilota di F1...

[kunos]

preview di un "appassionato di simracing" che si fa chiamare jellejelle

hahahhaha adesso ho capito perche' non lo hai citato

cmq dai.. fra i vari copia incolla, prova ad incollare anche il nome dell'autore. Se accendo la TV e sento il 12 Dicembre 2012 la fine del mondo... se lo dice la NASA, e' una cosa.. se lo dice il mago stella e' un'altra... convergi?

[BoNI]

preview di un "appassionato di simracing" che si fa chiamare jellejelle

hahahhaha adesso ho capito perche' non lo hai citato

cmq dai.. fra i vari copia incolla, prova ad incollare anche il nome dell'autore. Se accendo la TV e sento il 12 Dicembre 2012 la fine del mondo... se lo dice la NASA, e' una cosa.. se lo dice il mago stella e' un'altra... convergi?

ma non era il 21?! nooooo, allora non riuscirò mai a rilasciare in tempo!

[Guest converge]

only assist were auto gears (really can't do manual on a pad)

Ok, mi fermo qua

[2slow4u]

only assist were auto gears (really can't do manual on a pad)

Ok, mi fermo qua

Ma pork!...questa mi era sfuggita!

[Guest Uff]

La fonte originale era questa.