F1 2014. Too late?
Just thinking about this while watching the coverage of Sochi...
With the new tracks appearing in F1, I've quite looked forward to getting each new F1 game because it allows you to see what the new tracks are going to be like.
It was great to be able to get an idea of what the Korean, Indian and US circuits were going to be like before the drivers had even got a look at them.
I think CM have kind of let fans down this year by leaving it until after Sochi to release this year's game.
With the new tracks appearing in F1, I've quite looked forward to getting each new F1 game because it allows you to see what the new tracks are going to be like.
It was great to be able to get an idea of what the Korean, Indian and US circuits were going to be like before the drivers had even got a look at them.
I think CM have kind of let fans down this year by leaving it until after Sochi to release this year's game.
0
Comments
I'm sure they would love to release it sooner...
I remember when Sony used to release there F1 games earlier in the year it wasn't uncommon for new tracks to be wrong (Istanbul in there 2005 game was awful) & for car/team performance to also be incorrect compared to the real life season.
I also think back to EA's F1 2002 game which used 2001 car models/performance data because they released it before the season had even started & before they had all the data.
I know they could patch things now to update things that are wrong, But starting a career/championship & then having all the performance data or whatever change half way through is far from ideal so I'd just rather they wait & release it when they have all of those details finished & 100% accurate to the real life season.
http://blog.codemasters.com/f1/08/f1-2014-and-beyond-your-questions-answered/
It has nothing about licensing - because F1 for PS4/XB1 will be released earlier in the season next year.
They just didnt put the effort in to release it on PS4/XB1 this year. And it's a good thing - F1 2014 is a crappy effort even on old gen systems
The only complaint's I have is that it has the usual Codemasters un-skipable audio tutorials for every damn menu, I've played there past games I don't need to be told how to navigate the career menu, how the scenario mode works or how to navigate the in-pit menus.
I also dislike how again like most recent Codemasters games it throws you straght into a race with no time to setup the wheel (Or graphics options on a PC). Send me to the main menu, Let me get things setup & then throw me into a test or something when I start a career.
There's also the lack of classic content as they had in F1 2013, But on PC at least there's plenty of other sims where I can play with historic cars/tracks so I'm not overly bothered about it not been a part of this title.
With the exception of those fairly minor issues I think the actual driving/racing is great & I'm having a lot of fun playing through my career.
The cars in the game are a little trickier to drive then in previous games & its much easier to get wheelspin, But in reality the new F1 cars have less downforce & a lot more torque from the new Engines/Energy recovery systems & they have been sliding around more through this season with drivers having to manage wheelspin more than in recent years.
A close family member used to work for Codies and that's what he told me was the case, that it was licensing, liveries etc. that they couldn't release earlier, although they very much wanted to.
The fact that they're releasing earlier next year means that they've gotten over the licensing issues, not that they never existed.
The car handling seems fairly decent to me.
Sure, the cars slide at the front and at the back but it's fine as long as you're using a proper wheel with pedals.
It's not about mashing the brake pedal and then mashing the throttle pedal. You've got to use the right amount of braking and then the right amount of throttle for each corner.
I sometimes think a lot of people don't quite understand this, about the throttle in particular.
Tell you what though; I seem to recall that a LOT of people were whining about how the cars handled in F1 2013 (claiming they understeered far too much) and I bet those people are raging about the handling of the cars in F1 2014.
Main thing that seems better, to me, is the brakes.
In F1 2013, if you were on the limit braking was a case of trying not to lock the wheels up and hoping for the best.
In F1 2014 it seems like you can brake much, much, later with much more control and much more stopping power.
Have only done a couple of quick races so far and there's a couple of things I was wondering about:-
1) Does anybody know if they've actually modelled ERS usage or have they just got rid of KERS?
I mean, do you need to coast into corners to regenerate battery power and is it possible to "run out" of battery power and see reduced power for the remainder of a lap?
I've noticed cars flashing their rain-lights in some corners which, I assume, denotes ERS harvesting is apparently happening.
2) What are the numbers on the steering-wheel LCD?
I saw them changing during a race but I was too busy to try and figure out what they were.
I did a quick test session so I could have a proper look at them but in the test session they just seem to be fixed at 101, 101 and 80.
Are they, perhaps, related to ERS usage and fuel usage?
I've got the screen-resolution set to maximum but I still can't make out the titles for what those numbers are.
3) Anybody know if they've fixed the AI this time around so that cars that're off-screen ahead of you don't start doing stupidly fast lap-times?
REALLY used to bug me that I'd pit a couple of laps earlier than, say, Vettel and then even though I was, allegedly, setting lap records the timing data would show that Vettel was, somehow, getting further ahead of me.
I know all these games are just tweaked versions of the previous ones but, hey, if you're an F1 fan it doesn't seem bad to me.
So far, at least.
1. ERS delivery is automatic from the PU engine mode - like IRL - although there is a lack of an 'overtake' button. Whether this is the case IRL or just kidology, IDK.
2. If you use cockpit cam then the legend is Engine?, Front, Rear. I would start the game to check, CBA.
3. The AI have never done that to my knowledge.
There was an accelerated time bug (applicable in P & Q) AND the AI used to record a set of laptimes in Q that did not match their on-track pace, i.e. a script. In R conditions the AI would not suffer from tyre deg, could run on the incorrect tyre with no lack of pace for the conditions or could run a race strategy with less stops than the player could manage (because of no tyre deg).
The AI on-track awareness is improved this season, but they still block you in Q in career.
The release date of the game used to be September, it slipped to October for 2013 and has remained unchanged. The game still suffers from dated information - the team liveries are signed off in pre-season. The McLaren MP4-29 has a no-sponsor logo (no longer the case), the tracks of India and USA were incorrect in their debut season (changed in the next iteration), Korea's pit lane is incorrect in F1 2013, DRS detection zones were wrong in many versions due to the FIA modifying them in season as DRS was being introduced. Some were patched.
Car handling is subjective as to whether it is better, but the model is imbalanced between wheel and pad. The pad has traction control in the corners even when turned off, the understeer in high speed corners is not present on the wheel. We will never know if it is realistic.
It is a disgusting piece of software, a cut and paste stop gap before next gen. Yes, I have owned every version.