F1 2012 demo coming

[toonarmy]

Good question, that's above my knowledge level

Both of my consoles are set to auto log on and I rarely play any online modes. I assume the sample size is big enough that they can draw conclusions from it.

Toon, is there no Vita version this year? You played last year's on it, right?

No Vita version, unfortunately. Perhaps since they just released a game for the Vita at launch earlier this year they felt no need to do another one. I still play the game and like it a lot.

[pk500]

An explanation about the removal of two free practices and scalable tire wear from Codemasters' lead F1 developer, Steve Hood:

http://community.codemasters.com/t5/F1- ... 630#U69630

[Jimmydeicide]

Finally got round to trying this, tried it on ps3 with my wheel. Huge dead zone on it all of a sudden WTF it used to be so sweet with a wheel.
No interest at the moment sorry, may have got it for ps3 but not until i hear more about the wheel dead zone.

Ouch Codies.

[toonarmy]

An explanation about the removal of two free practices and scalable tire wear from Codemasters' lead F1 developer, Steve Hood:

http://community.codemasters.com/t5/F1- ... 630#U69630

Good grief. Surely he could have summed that up better. It sounds like despite what Steve says in his long-winded post the strategy has been taken out of the races for people who are racing at 50% length. The CM forum is quite entertaining today. I think I will quit reading it now and just play the game when it arrives, lol.

[dbdynsty25]

An explanation about the removal of two free practices and scalable tire wear from Codemasters' lead F1 developer, Steve Hood:

http://community.codemasters.com/t5/F1- ... 630#U69630

Good grief. Surely he could have summed that up better. It sounds like despite what Steve says in his long-winded post the strategy has been taken out of the races for people who are racing at 50% length. The CM forum is quite entertaining today. I think I will quit reading it now and just play the game when it arrives, lol.

Thankfully I don't understand 75% of the crap he's talking about so it doesn't affect me much. But then again, I could probably rock the 2010 version and be perfectly happy.

[pk500]

It's too bad scaled tire wear is gone because I'm warming up to the driving model of F1 2012 as I play the demo more often.

The driving model is different than F1 2011, but it does seem that Steve Hood's claims of grip improving as tires gain heat is accurate. I feel like I'm skating in the first few corners at Monza, while the car corners better in the third, fourth and fifth laps.

Plus the CPU racing AI is improved over F1 2011.

But I can't justify $60 for a game that is missing three vital features from F1 2011 for me: Scaled tire wear, in-race saves and Season mode.

Waiting for a price break. But online racing lobbies probably will be ghost towns by the time that happens.

[pk500]

It makes no sense for Codemasters to say it removed two free practices because gamers apparently want a shorter race weekend, but the removal of tire scaling forces people to compete a 100-percent distance race to get realistic tire wear.

That ranks right up there on the oxymoron meter with "jumbo shrimp." Stupid decisions.

[Jimmydeicide]

But what he is saying is that it doesn't really matter unless your doing under 10 laps, it sounds like you still going to have to deal with tire wear and the option/prime rule.

[Gangrel]

Finally got into this tonight. I have only done the Young Drivers test, and started some practice in OZ. I'm using the trusty Xbox wheel.....

I didn't play much 2011, though I wanted to. And on the scale of a dead dog to Terry, I'm about a semi awake squirrel in driving skill.......

I can say in my limited time the driving DOES feel different. It feels like there is definitely more grip now. I feel more like i'm driving around a car on rails and having to hang on (if that makes any sense) then last year. I guess what i'm trying to say is, there feels like there is more grip, at least at high speed, that i definitley haven't learned to use yet.

Is this realistic? I don't know, i'm not an F1 expert either. I imagine that this is what driving a real car is like, all grip and twitchiness. I'm even driving with no traction control, and wheelspin seems to be a lot easier to avoid this year. Again, not sure if this is a more accurate model of the cars, or if they dumbed it down?



I also read Codies explanation of the tire wear thing, and I guess their point is, even in a 50% race you have to think about the tires, as you will want to maximize the period of time your are using each set at their "best" levels. Sure, you could probably do as he did in the test and wait until the last lap to switch to options, but as PK has found, in my limited practice time, tires DO feel a lot better when they are warmed up, so I would guess again you want to maximize the sweet spots of both sets (or more) for best effect.

[pk500]

But what he is saying is that it doesn't really matter unless your doing under 10 laps, it sounds like you still going to have to deal with tire wear and the option/prime rule.

Don't buy that bullsh*t, mate.

With the current tire model, you still only need one pit stop for tires in a race of 50-percent distance. Unless it's Monza, that's unrealistic. Just about every other F1 race is a two- or three-stopper.

Last year's game, with scalable tire wear, simulated the need for multiple tire changes beautifully even in races of 25 percent distance. This year's game does not, and Hood is trying to sell us a load of sh*t to justify the glaring, stupid omission.

[dbdynsty25]

Luckily, I really don't know what's going on out on the track, but I dig the game so far. It helps that I got it from Gamefly, but my Keep It price is 40 bucks, so 43.43 after tax is pretty good. Probably will just buy it and enjoy it for what it is.

[FifaInspected]

all this F1 talk makes me miss those DSP races we had earlier in the year.

[pk500]

all this F1 talk makes me miss those DSP races we had earlier in the year.

Those were epic fun.

[toonarmy]

Game was delivered to me this morning. It's not too far from the demo. The braking is about the same as the demo and is taking some getting used to. In all honesty the new braking is not cutting down on my times too bad because it is smoother and less abrupt, allowing for me to corner more smoothly. The key is to brake earlier than normal, and harder for a longer period. I think my times will come around. It's just going to take some more time on the track. The handling with the ds3 is improved from the demo, thank goodness. It's less twitchy than in the demo. The control could have been a deal breaker for me.

The presentation is nice. There are some good modes. I like the season challenge. It's a nice pick-up-and-play mode. I have not got too deep into the career mode yet. I'm still super miffed that there is no championship season mode in the game. Zero reason to not include this in a licensed F1 game, but whatever.

Overall, I think I will have fun with the game and take it for what it is. I still haven't got into it hardcore yet, so perhaps my opinion will change one way or the other down the road. I'm certainly not disappointed I got it, but I can see why people may not want to drop 60 bucks on it. BTW, the track at Austin is f***in incredible. It's as fun to drive in the game as it looks on paper. The elevation changes and corners are really cool, and very challenging at first. I dig the flow of the track as well.

[toonarmy]

Well, f***! Just had the game freeze my whole PS3 up mid-race at Brazil. It was a really good race too. Hope the freezes do not become a problem.

[FifaInspected]

Well, f***! Just had the game freeze my whole PS3 up mid-race at Brazil. It was a really good race too. Hope the freezes do not become a problem.

Freeze on a PS3.. That's odd

[pk500]

Played the demo last night under the influence and enjoyed it very much compared to when I was straight. Imagine that.

[TCrouch]

I read some reviews that actually sounded more positive than this impressions thread. I saw some of the things they mentioned (the AI running better in a pack and recognizing the player's car better) and went and bought it against my better judgment.

I had an absolute blast with it last night.

They definitely respect your position on the track a lot better. I was going 3 wide into corners without issue, and the braking I didn't notice being as bad as I've read here. I don't know, I'm glad I'm a casual F1 fan, because I already feel like I'll play this one a lot more than any of the previous editions. Go figure.

[pk500]

I need to race this thing fairly straight tonight and see if it was as much fun as last night, when I was walking on Pluto. Last night was massive fun dueling with Alonso for the lead at Monza.

[TCrouch]

I just started a career in the Marussia team, and they had pretty low objectives--qualify 20th, finish 18th.

What an amazing career-opening race. I qualified 19th, just above the objective, and started the 15-lapper at Albert Park. On lap 1 I just see what looked like a fireworks display, made of pieces of fiberglass instead of sparks, getting into the first corner. I've got cars on both sides, and I dart through and somehow come out in 12th. The rest of the race is me fighting off much better cars for as long as I can. They call me in to pit, so I do, and I come out in 13th. I get warnings of other cars being on Option Tires or being full red, and I let them go by, consciously taking care of my tires and fall back to 17th. I'm still above the objective, though, so I still don't push it.

Suddenly I see some of those cars who blew by me after the pits come reeling back in. 16th, 15th, 14th...my car is just BETTER than theirs, or my tires are. I get to 14th, but at the end of the DRS zone heading into turn 3 on the final lap, Grosjean ducks under me, panics me a bit, and I brake too late. I screw the corner up severely and Grosjean is by, with Vergne and Di Resta now right on my tail. I spend the rest of the lap nailing my entry points and fending off pressure by Di Resta to bring it home in 15th.

I've NEVER completed a 25% race in previous F1 games (barely ever completed a career race), so the fact that this one was so engrossing and rewarding when coming home in 15th is a major step in the right direction for me personally. I may end up being the only one here who likes it, but so far I'm seriously impressed.

[pk500]

I just raced the demo stone-straight. I'm still steamed about the lack of tire scaling, but the driving model is really growing on me now that I'm getting more comfortable with the longer braking distances and the inability to chuck the car around like F1 2011.

I also can verify one unanimous piece of praise for F1 2012 from all corners of the Web: The single-player racing AI is MILES better than F1 2011. Really, really enjoyable.

This game is starting to appeal to me a hell of a lot more than I thought. Guess I'm just an F1 zealot ...

Now about that tire scaling model ...

[toonarmy]

I've been playing this game nonstop the past couple of days, trying to get a handle on the new driving model. I think I've got the braking down pretty well now on most courses. After playing so many F1 games over the years I've had to become accustomed to new braking points in F1 2012. The actual driving is quite fun. The AI is markedly better than in 2011. I now do not get paranoid when going into corners with other cars around me, and especially behind me. All design decision complaints aside, this is a great racing game that will be in my rotation for a long time to come.

[Zeppo]

I just started a career in the Marussia team, and they had pretty low objectives--qualify 20th, finish 18th.

What an amazing career-opening race. I qualified 19th, just above the objective, and started the 15-lapper at Albert Park. On lap 1 I just see what looked like a fireworks display, made of pieces of fiberglass instead of sparks, getting into the first corner. I've got cars on both sides, and I dart through and somehow come out in 12th. The rest of the race is me fighting off much better cars for as long as I can. They call me in to pit, so I do, and I come out in 13th. I get warnings of other cars being on Option Tires or being full red, and I let them go by, consciously taking care of my tires and fall back to 17th. I'm still above the objective, though, so I still don't push it.

Suddenly I see some of those cars who blew by me after the pits come reeling back in. 16th, 15th, 14th...my car is just BETTER than theirs, or my tires are. I get to 14th, but at the end of the DRS zone heading into turn 3 on the final lap, Grosjean ducks under me, panics me a bit, and I brake too late. I screw the corner up severely and Grosjean is by, with Vergne and Di Resta now right on my tail. I spend the rest of the lap nailing my entry points and fending off pressure by Di Resta to bring it home in 15th.

I've NEVER completed a 25% race in previous F1 games (barely ever completed a career race), so the fact that this one was so engrossing and rewarding when coming home in 15th is a major step in the right direction for me personally. I may end up being the only one here who likes it, but so far I'm seriously impressed.

That's as golden an endorsement as I could imagine for this game mainly because of the source. We all know that, since you're not a massive fan of F1, the license is never enough to varnish over the problems in a given game the way it may be for us, so for you to whole heatedly embrace the glory of being a Marussia driver is a very big sign that the game is for real.

I know I will get the game eventually, I simply will not be able to resist, but I just don't know when. I will say that if others start grabbing it and there's even a slim specter of a hope for some online F1 nights like we had in the spring, I will be there as quickly as I am able.

Very little in gaming is as fun for me as the kind of nights we had with F1 this spring. f***in awesome!!!

I pretty much stick with 50% races offline and we did 30% races online, so I'm curious to hear what the tire situation is like in races of that length. It sounds like even in the 15 lap, 25% race you did, Terry, you had to stop at least once and not just to be within the sporting regulations, but because the tires wouldn't last long enough. I wonder if a 30% or 50% would produce at least two-stoppers with regularity.

[dbdynsty25]

I'm glad I ignored the doubters from the demo and picked up the full game. I actually like the driving model a bit better. It seems less predictable and that's especially apparent when hitting the curbs. You definitely don't get the same uniform bounce each time which is awesome. I already think I've played this one more than last years.

Some of you guys need to get your times on the leader board so I have something to shoot for in the time attacks.

[TCrouch]

Promising race #2 ruined due to strategy snafu!!

I went into Kuala Lampur on a roll--knocked the R&D objectives out of the park, made it to Qual 2 (by the skin of my teeth, 17th on the board), and rolled off in the race in 16th. It was a rain race, so I had no idea what I was doing. Instead, I found myself on relatively equal footing with a lot of the better teams on the track. I was able to blow by several at the start, and pick off a bunch more and settled into a 4th place run for the majority of the race.

Then it happened.

They called me in for a pit, and said that the rain would stop "in a few minutes". I came in, pitted, they changed tires, and off I went. As I'm rolling around, I'm like "this is getting slippery". I notice I'm still on the green intermediates, and as cars blow by me left and right, they're on the white Options. Unreal.

So I baby it around, make a second stop with 2 laps to go, and roll back on in 18th, which is where I finished.

Lesson learned, at least. Now I know how to call my own tire types! I agree that I like this driving model much more, personally.