F1 2016

[Meacon Keaton]

So this is coming out Friday. I have it pre-ordered, and actually have the day off, so I hope to get a nice chunk of the career mode in over the course of my days off.

Anyone else picking this up ASAP? I wanted to get 2015 to hold me over, but was put off with there being no career mode. So I've been chomping at the bit for this ever since I watched my first F1 race last year. 

[Lineker]

I'd say yes but I'd be lying. Maybe if I get a PS4 once we've moved into the new flat.

It looks good though.

[Meacon Keaton]

You should! EWB races would be mental.

[Chris2K]

I've been burned by Codemasters F1 games and their promises of career mode evolutions before so I'll be hanging fire until it's cheaper. I got F1 2015 in a PS+ sale with the expectation of playing it some day and I never have. The version I really enjoyed was F1 2010 but they never really made much of an advancement on the detail of career mode for that, until of course dropping it completely last yet.

[JasonM]

Honestly, I'm interested in the game but i'm waiting on the reviews from sites and F1 youtubers. If it's good, I might get it cheap, or i'll probably pirate it to try it out first. *shrug*

[Bobfoc]

I'm looking forward to seeing what people think of this game. I won't buy it at release unless there's a seriously nice offer, but I'll be tempted to pick it up if the right people are saying the right things about it.

[Meacon Keaton]

I'll let you fools know. Though my racing game of reference are the NASCAR games.

[JasonM]

58 minutes ago, Meacon said:

I'll let you fools know. Though my racing game of reference are the NASCAR games.

It's exactly like NASCAR really. Aside from the fact it's not.

[Meacon Keaton]

I'm loving it so far. I've got the difficult down since I'm terrible with a controller and I need to get a wheel stand for my wheel, but I'm having a blast.

I drive for Haas, #99, with Romain Grosjean as my teammate.

[JasonM]

I budged and I got the game for 32 bucks on a key site. And after two races with a mate online, and two races with the Banana car in career mode I can safely say that this is the most fun i've had with an F1 game since F1 2012.

The driving is tough but rewarding, and even though I tend to lock up a lot, I am still setting pretty good times and am having a blast pushing the Renault to the limit because that thing is a tub on wheels if there ever was one.

Currently playing on Expert. In Melbourne I messed up badly in the first lap, and had to limp around and came in 20th (of 20 finishers) by quite a ways away... But in Bahrain it started clicking more, and I qualified P17 (coulda gotten into Q2 if I hadn't fudged up when it mattered). And during the race I was doing great until the final few laps when cars on softer rubber were simply quicker than the Renault. So going into the final lap I locked up massively going into Turn 1, and eventually had to fight back Button to get a nice P16.

Prolly gonna get worse before I get better though, because I absolutely loathe China with a passion, and I'm going to get messed up on the windy bits.

A few career mode tips. Track acclimatisation is doable on your very first stint in practice, but I would personally hold off on tyre management and quali pace in the second and third practice sessions, because track evolution is absolutely HUGE. You'll struggle badly if you try to do the management in P1, or even early in P2 just because the grip wont be there at all.

Another thing i've noticed, you can take a different tyre during the management drill, and I personally feel it is much easier to reach purple when you take the hardest compound instead of the primes. 

EDIT: Almost forgot, for some reason your engineers dump like 8 laps of fuel into your car during qualifying. But you can edit it down to a sane 3-4 laps of fuel that allows you to drive two lean laps and smash in one quali lap on rich fuel. Can make up a hundreds of a second or two.

But yeah, I can't say i'd pay 60 bucks for this game, but 32 bucks with all the pre-order stuff (most pre-order helmets are worse than the ordinary ones) is a good price for me.

Edited August 21, 2016 by Jasonmufc

[JasonM]

Had a totally bonkers weekend at Shanghai circuit, and I picked up my first points... My first 12 points, after I somehow managed to finish 4th in a barely upgraded Renault F1 on Expert difficulty.

Found a set up that worked like a treat, and after crushing the three training programmes I really felt confident about potentially nabbing a spot in Q2 whilst nobody was looking... Well, I did more than that, and my Q3 time ended up putting me 6th on pole, splitting the two Red Bull drivers...

The race itself started on inters for 10 laps, then I pitted a lap earlier than the rest for a set of softs which I somehow managed to keep relatively healthy for 10 laps when I had to return to inters, with the final two laps of the race being under heavy rain conditions that were just on the edge of what the inters could handle.

But still, thanks to the impressive middle stint I managed to do the race in a 2-stopper, and that put me in the best position in the top 5. Vettel hassled me for the majority of the race, but smooth driving and the wet conditions allowed me to negate most of his advantages (he was MUCH faster during the dry stints though).

If the race had been full dry, i'd have been smoked left, right, and center by all the faster cars. But in true racing game fashion, I get a magical 4th place on the track I truly hate the most. But I doubt that Sochi is going to be a repeat of my success, and with me hoarding research points for big upgrade moments (e.g. Spain), I might start to struggle at some point.

But hey, at least I destroyed both WCC and WDC expectations, so I can pretty much do fuck all for the rest of the season

[Meacon Keaton]

Im gonna sit down and get a couple hours in tonight after the kids are in bed.

Im still trying to find the right balance in difficulty. I'm either running second or third (fucking Hamilton) or I'm dead last by a good margin. 

Absolutely loving the game though. No regrets paying full price for it. I haven't even gotten to the online part of it yet, which I'm sure is total chaos.

[Meacon Keaton]

Oh my god Monaco is just kicking my ass all over the place. I can't stay off the walls in practice to save my life. This is going to be a dreadful race. I don't even know if I'll make it three laps in at the rate I'm driving.

[Bobfoc]

If you crash, at least you'll be able to take in the picturesque scenery.

[Katsuya]

6 hours ago, Meacon said:

Oh my god Monaco is just kicking my ass all over the place. I can't stay off the walls in practice to save my life. This is going to be a dreadful race. I don't even know if I'll make it three laps in at the rate I'm driving.

Well Max did the same thing this year, so you just have to keep that in mind! 

[Chris2K]

Everything I heard about this very positive so I went look for it in the PS Store. Unfortunately I found Need for Speed for £35 less and got that instead.

I'll definitely get it in the winter though.

[TMM]

Ok despite not having played a racing game for about 15/16 years and having no general interest in doing so in that time and the fact I only have a reasonable interest in Formula 1 (what the fuck is DRS?) I am considering getting this game. Is this a good idea or slight insanity?

[Bobfoc]

From my experience of previous games, Codemasters tends to do a good job of explaining the ins-and-outs of F1 terminology.

[Meacon Keaton]

I have a pretty good concept of F1 and how the car works, but I found the tutorial videos/practices very helpful. And there are plenty of them. You'll learn what DRS is and how to properly use, and many other things.

I struggled through my second round of practice at Monaco last night. I'm almost ready to skip the third practice, just do qualifying and accept my DNF just so I don't have to do this track again until next season!

[JasonM]

3 hours ago, TMM said:

Ok despite not having played a racing game for about 15/16 years and having no general interest in doing so in that time and the fact I only have a reasonable interest in Formula 1 (what the fuck is DRS?) I am considering getting this game. Is this a good idea or slight insanity?

DRS is a mechanical flap on the rear wing that opens/closes on certain sections of the track (most of the time, there are 2 except for Monaco). It dramatically decreases drag and downforce for a significant straight line speed boost. If a driver is trailing behind another car within 1 second at a set timing location (except if it rains) the driver behind gets to use DRS on the DRS straight, which will help him get past the driver in front of him.

It's very powerful in the game as it is in real life, but it is not a fool-proof system that will guarantee you to overtake the guy ahead of you. The other driver can up the fuel mixture (to go faster), use a single defensive maneuver to try and stop you (but you can obviously then go around the other side), or just straight up beat you down the straight or in the braking zone.

Additionally in practice and qualifying (again, not if it's raining) you can freely enable DRS in their respective zones without needing to be behind another car.

Finally, once you hit the brakes the system automatically closes again to make sure you don't fly into Narnia.

TL;DR - It makes your car faster*

Also, buying it is always your choice. If you can get it for a lower price than 60-70 bucks, go for it. I got it for 32 euros and i'm having a blast.
The game is also very optimized to be used with a gamepad if you don't have a wheel, there are a few tracks that'll give you a bad time, mostly the ones with crazy tyre deg, but there are big names on youtube (xMattyG) that play on a very high level with pads and consistently beat wheel users.

There's also plenty of assists to give you an easier times, from ABS and Traction Control, to straight up helping you steer and brake the car. And there are like 7 difficulty levels that allow you to be weaned into the game.

---

Ultimately though, whilst it's not as extreme a simulator as say rFactor, iRacing, Project Cars, or Assetto Corsa. It's still pretty simcade, and as you might expect, it's 11 teams all with 2 F1 cars. So if you want a more diverse experience, you're probably better off getting pCars/Corsa, or if you're on console maybe get Forza or Gran Turismo respectively.

The Career mode is good fun and a lot deeper than past iterations, and the racing is great too if you're into F1. From all accounts the multiplayer is pretty good too, and there's a pseudo co-op function in there too where you can drive with your mate(s) against the AI. 

16 minutes ago, Meacon said:

I have a pretty good concept of F1 and how the car works, but I found the tutorial videos/practices very helpful. And there are plenty of them. You'll learn what DRS is and how to properly use, and many other things.

I struggled through my second round of practice at Monaco last night. I'm almost ready to skip the third practice, just do qualifying and accept my DNF just so I don't have to do this track again until next season!

Monaco is the bane of my existence in every racing game ever. It borders on the mundane and downright frustrating at times, and quite frankly whilst it's at times enjoyable to watch real life races, it's a downright chore when you're driving it yourself in games.

Edited August 24, 2016 by Jasonmufc