F1 2016

[TMM]

Ok so I gave in and bought it. Figured I'd dive straight into the career and use the management options to acclimatise myself to the game and how it works and well, I can't stop spinning or crashing. Literally can't get past the very first corner at all. Help?

[Meacon Keaton]

Do the tutorial videos. And turn on  some of the assists until you get the hang of it.

[JasonM]

Survived Monaco in the Renault, and by survive I mean use a flashback 10 times per lap because I've hit the wall and lost my wheels again. Finished in 11th place, whilst Ryo Haryanto somehow got 4th place in the Manor. Only one safety car period and one retiree too (Kimi Raikkonen). Thank god I don't have to drive this track until next season.

Having saved up an ungodly amount of R&D points, i've splurged going into fast-paced Canada. And it has jumped the team up into the mid-tier of cars, competing with the likes of Williams and Force India, hopefully. Although I'm still dubious about what the car will show when it matters. But getting 11th and 10th in P1 without using ultra softs is an encouraging sight.

But personally my best drives always come in quali, where I massively outperform the car. I did so in Monaco too (on expert), getting a 7th place qualifying spot after somehow getting three clean laps in. (Manually de-activating DRS has a huuuuge effect on your braking into an already tricky T1.)
So with the car being better than ever, having more horse powers, less weight, and more downforce... I'm 'afraid' i'll throw the car into the top 5, or even top 3. But I know that if I go to Legend difficulty i'll be 22nd every race.

Sitting squarely between two difficulty levels is extremely frustrating.

[FLiam]

I agree with the comment on difficulty. 

Expert I find to easy considering the car I'm in (Manor) but Legend I find myself 2/3 seconds behind 21st every practice or qualifying. 

[JasonM]

Totally broke the game now. With my souped up Renault car (hoarded all R&D from Bahrain to Monaco) going into Canada, I had a 'eh' practice and quali, even failing to set the purple quali-test time during P3 because I fucked up my tires.

Then in quali trim, I get through Q1 on the supersoft (medium) set of tires, then in Q2 I get a nice 8th spot to put me into Q3... And then in Q3, I go full balls to the walls and I get a 1:14:5 to put me on pole position, on Expert difficulty, .300 up on Rosberg and Vettel.

During the race I was also lapping at a really great rate, with the team having set up a one stopper. But I was dreading having to drive on the hardest compound, so I do a strat-call and I decide to make it a two stopper instead by going Ultra - super - Ultra... I make the pitstop for super's as the rest of the top runners go on the softs (hardest) tire. All went well, until Hülkenberg decided to snuggle with the Wall of Champions, forcing a 5 lap safety car period.

Afterwards, Rosberg and Co. manage to stay close to me, and with my tires going off the cliff I had to throw on a new set of ultra's with 5 laps to go, putting me right down to 9th place (and I had a 3s penalty for extending track limits one too many time. But as expected, me being on brand new ultra's pretty much gave me a ridiculous pace advantage with 6 laps to go, and I started to take back spots left right and center, outcornering the williams', and outpacing the Red Bull's pretty much all over the track...

All was well, I might not've gotten a first place, but at least i'd get a decent top 5 finish out of it... Until the penultimate lap and I suddenly get a message that I have to drive on the soft tire '4 raisins'. So i'm forced to pit a third time to fit softs to race 1 measly lap on them... Ultimately coming home 10th.

After nearly an hour of racing, I was pretty dismayed with what happened...

But it again poses the issue that I'm getting waay too good on Expert, but i'm still way too shit on Legend.

I'm very much the new Jarno Trulli, setting insane quali times and then lacking all sorts of consistency in the actual race.

Edited August 30, 2016 by Jasonmufc

[JasonM]

Absolute drama in Baku. I smashed the practices and came in first in quali with the Renault (seriously going to switch to Legend from now on, even if I get demolished...)

Then the entire race, full wet conditions, First 4 laps a snail's pace, then the SC comes out because Kimi ruined his wing at Turn 8 (the uphill kink), so we were behind the safety car for the longest 4 laps in history... Then the rain died down a little, and on lap 16 I switch onto the inter's, causing Hamilton to take first place with the undercut.

I make my way back, Ham and I battle back and forth. And as the final lap begins the track has effectively dried up, giving us absolutely no traction whatsoever. In the second sector he retakes first place, and I have to go full rich to stay with him. And going into the final sector the DRS is enabled on top of that.

So flying through the final sector with slippery cars on a ridiculously long and fast straight. I get the DRS, and I overtake Hamilton as we get level with the pit-entrance... Then... I'm all out of fuel, and the car starts coasting!

And then Hamilton manages to sneak away with the win at a nose hair's distance. If my fuel had cut out a fraction later, i'd have gotten my first win.

TL;DR - FUCK THE RAIN, NUKE IT WITH HOLY FIRE!
seriously, rain is the worst. The wet tire makes for parade laps at best, and the inter's aren't much better either. And on a circuit like Baku where it is all about high traction and high speeds (3/4 sections where you're in 8th gear!) it pretty much made for the most frustrating and annoying race in existence. Especially after I started to enjoy the track during practice, for how much you're flying.

I hope I never get to return to Baku again... For a season or so.

Anyways, onto legend I go, time to get molested by ridiculously fast AI.

EDIT: Also F1 got updated, so drivers are no longer total bone-head's during Practice and Quali, they'll now drive good safety car paces, and apparently they're more aggressive in trying to overtake (although in the rain I could easily outbrake the AI) each other. And the Safety Car as a whole will be quicker to be used after crashes.

Edited September 2, 2016 by Jasonmufc

[JasonM]

First race weekend on legend difficulty (second hardest). And well, it went better than expected, much better might I say...

First practice, as expected, was a complete wash. And other than getting a decent performance on the track acclimation test I still ended up dead last in the standings after P1, but that was mostly me just trying to get as many laps in and learning how to drive the track properly (the Renault lacks soooo much grip in those long tight corners).

P2, more of the same. I did the tyre wear test, and got the average result. But as a whole, I was getting better with every lap, but I was still 1 second removed from K-Mag. Buuut, I wasn't as slow as the Manor's and Sauber's, so yay!

P3, the one where I was going to try to get the quali test done. And I must have restarted this session a dozen times, because shaving those hundred's off the expected quali time was utter utter hell, and I even messed with what I felt was a decent set-up, just to get those points out. Ultimately, got the average result in this one too.

Quali time, team wanted me to get 11th and beat Checo (who has been made my rival, due to proximity in the standings). Well, Q1 was extremely tight to say the least. My first lap time wasn't great, so I had to drive a second time, which still wasn't optimum. So I go out and try to set a time in the dying seconds of Q1 with ultra's that already had suffered through two hot-lap's and four prep laps. But as I came out of the final corner I managed to beat Gutierrez by an insane .057 seconds to get 16th and go into Q2 with K-Mag.

And Q2 gave me a hell of a lot of luck, rain was coming, I set a decent lap time and get 11th spot. And just as I wanted to try and get a second lap in, it starts raining which means that I was safe in 11th place with K-Mag 13th! (Checo out-quali'd me, but fuck that noise.)

Come race day, I'm 11th and they want me to finish 11th in the end. And knowing that the track is crazy harsh on the rear tires, I prepare a 2-stopper just so I could go full out on two sets of super-soft's instead of nurse one set home. And the time difference was doable.
Start, all goes well, no spots won, but none lost either. Then lap 6, Massa breaks his wing and the safety car comes out. All the leaders peel into the pits, as they're on the ultra's which simply were a terrible race tire. It also allowed me to save even more fuel, and get less wear in the tires. And with the race restarting, I find myself in 1st place, with the Red Bull's lurking behind me!

Well, first place was a pipe-dream, and Max quickly overtakes me. Ricc also got me later on, but he had to go into the pits for his two-stopper. And that meant I drove 2nd for the longest of time (with Max a distant #1 and effectively having won the race). And with the first safety car period having taken a while, I decide to go back to a one stopper, and with 12 laps to go I put on the super's ready to drive the rest of the race and fight for 5th place.

Well, 6 laps before the end, cars started to die a lot. First K-Mag, then Alonso, then most importantly Hamilton's engine breaks and forces a second safety car period! So that means I was effectively safe in 5th place!

But wait, there's more! With three laps to go the SC goes back in, and for some ungodly reason Vettel peels off into the pits to fit a new set of tires with only three laps left, putting me in fourth place! But that's not all, the very next lap Rosberg dives into the pit and gifts me third place!

So I finished on the podium, third, and made Red Bull's home race a complete Renault podium, all thanks to the AI being utter utter bellends who decide to force their pit-strategies regardless of laps to go and grid position *shrug*

I don't think i'll be as lucky in Silverstone, though. Because Legend AI is ridiculously pacy, and for most of the race they were threatening me more than I was threatening them. 

tl;dr - AI is flaky, Legend is hard, still got a podium...

Edited September 4, 2016 by Jasonmufc

[Meacon Keaton]

Hearing how well you do on Legendary difficulty lets me know that trying online would be a waste of my time.  

[JasonM]

6 minutes ago, Meacon said:

Hearing how well you do on Legendary difficulty lets me know that trying online would be a waste of my time.  

Yeah, i'm a bit shocked myself how fast i've gotten into a decently competitive state. But when I look at the major guys on youtube (Tiametmarduk, xMattyG, Aarava) I just fall into nothingness in comparison. My fastest time at Austria was like a high 1:09 in quali, and for most of the race I sat in the 11's and 12's, and these really competitive guys are able to drive their backmarker cars to top 5 spots on Ultimate difficulty.

But yeah, I have the advantage of using a wheel (and having racing line on, because I suck at fully memorizing such things), so I have an easier time, especially on the circuits where you need lots of traction and fine throttling.

It's been years since i've played on gamepad, and I really can't imagine using them anymore now that i'm used to using the DFGT. 

Another useful thing for me is that I drive all practice sessions, do full quali, and then drive 50% races. And even then at times restart sessions to get as many laps in as I possibly can. And the difference between lap one of the weekend and the final one is huge.

[Meacon Keaton]

I have a racing wheel and pedals, but I need a racing stand. My pedals slide around too much without one. I like to imagine I'll be better once I'm using the wheel instead of the gamepad, but I don't know if I'm being honest with myself.  

[JasonM]

Just now, Meacon said:

I have a racing wheel and pedals, but I need a racing stand. My pedals slide around too much without one. I like to imagine I'll be better once I'm using the wheel instead of the gamepad, but I don't know if I'm being honest with myself.  

Honestly, the first time you use a wheel over a gamepad, you will be noticeably worse than what you do with a gempad. Because you suddenly have much finer steering, throttling, and braking. And getting used to that takes time and practice, but very quickly you become better and more able than you can ever get with a gamepad, because again, you're able to be so much more subtle in your actions.

Personally I have a DFGT, and I got my pedals resting against the bedroom wall, which does its job. And the wheel is attached to the desk, which again does its job. I really don't have the room for a stand or a playseat, or any other fancy set-up that gives me an even better position. But hey, you get used to it.

And unless it is a crazy arcade racer like Need for Speed, playing with a wheel is just so much more fun and satisfying when you find yourself learning to perfect a tight chicane from braking, apex-entry, apex-exit, and slamming on the gas just enough to not lose the back of the car.

[Lineker]

The game will be released for mobile devices and Apple TV later this year, it has been announced.

[JasonM]

Got yet another podium, this time luck struck at my favourite track, Spa.

Despite struggling a bit early on, I had to claw to get out of Q1 (Was P17 and somehow got through on the final allowed lap), then I ended up working my way into P7 for the actual race, which was promoted to P6 with Raikkonen getting a grid penalty.

Started the race overloaded on fuel, due to the pace difference between rich and standard revs. And the Renault is so ridiculously good on fuel (only one upgrade on that too) that I ran the entire race on rich revs*

Start was great, overtook Max into the first corner, then down on the Kemmel straight I managed to split Hamilton and Rosberg and grab second place... Naturally, that only lasted for a short while until Wehrlein DNF'd and the safety car came out around Lap 11 (*which allowed me to run lean for a good long while).

Additionally because the AI is boneheaded, they all started pitting despite Jeff on the radio clearly indicating that rain was on its way in 2 laps. And lo and behold, it started raining, I got inters on the car, and I rejoin the track back in 3rd with two soft-drivers still behind the safety car which comes in the very next lap, allowing me to immediately grab 1st place!

But I suck badly on the inters, and Vettel (who started the race at 16th due to car issues in Q2) jumped me and flew off into the distance never to be seen again (ended up winning by 20 seconds).

With 4 laps to go, the track luckily dried up before others could take my spots. And the conga-line into the pits happened again, this time putting on my final set of softs to take to the end (again, at rich revs). Overtook a bunch of inter drivers who didn't double-stack, and with one lap to go I was in second place...

Then Hamilton decided to stop sandbagging, and utterly utterly destroyed me on the Kemmel straight, never to be seen again.

But hey, I got third place at Spa in a Renault!  

So yeah, safety car driver AI is still flaky as hell, but I'll take those 15 points any day of the week.
Now Monza though, that's probably going to be the death of this Renault...

[Katsuya]

Started playing this again, because I is poor and can't afford F1 2017 yet.

Been doing a Career mode in the Sauber. Was doing Expert difficulty for the first couple races and was finding that way too easy - was coming 5th/6th. So I upped it to 100% and Legend difficulty instead 

Came 13th in Spain (I just couldn't get the final corner for the life of me, was losing about 0.8 a lap there). Then was in 6th in Monaco on a one-stop, when there was a safety car. I fucked it up though and pitted, but ended up coming out behind the leader so was a lap down in like 12th - I had thought I could cheat the system and get way ahead of everyone else. No dice. Fought back to finish 10th which wasn't too bad in the end.

Then came Canada. Practice One was wet and I managed to get in the top five there, then in the dry the pace seemed to be lacking. Somehow, though, I got on the pace and ended up 0.009 behind Hamilton in second on the grid. Race was light rain and intermediates the entire way; got a lightning start and led the race, then pulled away until the tyres started to go off. Ended up having to defend hard against Ricciardo and Hamilton until the pit window opened for a good 10/15 laps, but we were still quicker than anyone behind us by some margin. Came in, put in two fastest laps whilst the other two waited to pit, and ended up coming out about 2 seconds ahead of them once it all fell in to place.

Thankfully, they then had a lot more trouble with the traffic, and the tyres didn't go off at all like they did in the first stint. Ended up winning by like 14 seconds in the end.

Now on to Baku which I know is going to be horrific...

[JasonM]

With Kats talking about this game, I got the feeling to start over in F1 2017 again (Sauber's are too fucking dreadful, just anti-fun.) So I went in, decided Massa needs to go and took the second spot next to Stroll for the Williams F1 rookie team.

Felt the helmets in the game were naff, and the ones you can download are also 'meh'. I decided to download a Williams F1 template on racedepartment and started working on my own instead in photoshop.

Took a bunch of hours, and it looks pretty poor, but it's a first try, and I love it because it's mine.

This is how it looks in game:

This is how it looked in photoshop (Getting the overlaps right was a chore and a half)

[Meacon Keaton]

I almost played this the other day and decided to play football instead, but reading about Kats' game, I may have to play a couple races later. 

[MDK]

1 hour ago, Jasonmufc said:

With Kats talking about this game, I got the feeling to start over in F1 2017 again (Sauber's are too fucking dreadful, just anti-fun.) So I went in, decided Massa needs to go and took the second spot next to Stroll for the Williams F1 rookie team.

Felt the helmets in the game were naff, and the ones you can download are also 'meh'. I decided to download a Williams F1 template on racedepartment and started working on my own instead in photoshop.

Took a bunch of hours, and it looks pretty poor, but it's a first try, and I love it because it's mine.

This is how it looks in game:

This is how it looked in photoshop (Getting the overlaps right was a chore and a half)

The micromanagement in this game is amazing!