Hello everyone,
*OFF TOPIC*
This is my fist post/thread in this forum. What brought me here (and also in the official CM forum) were the problems after the patch. I played F1 2010 soon after its launch in 2010 but after half e season in career I gave up because of the punctures and other bugs that players suffered at that time. In May this year I started playing again as soon as I heard that they released a patch. Another disappointment was waiting for me as I saw the disappearing puddles and I started looking in the forums. I applied the CM fix but after that I realized massive FPS drop as many other users did (note that I am running on an old laptop with Radeon 2400XT 256MB). That lead to my second "give up" from the game
.
*OFF TOPIC*
Enough for me and the off-topic session. Now we all (or at least most of us) look forward to F1 2011. Until now I saw only several screens for the new game and a couple of unofficial news. I would like to draw your attention to the mechanical failures as they were announced (not officially I think). I could say for myself that I am a hard gamer and I have been playing racing games from the early 2000's with the release of F1 2001 and 2002. For everyone that played those game should be clear that the mechanical failures (e.g suspension, brakes, gearbox etc.) were present at that time and the player could choose between time-scaled mechanics for failures and season(this should be according to the current season failures that happened during the races). The second option was... a bit disappointing for me because no one would like to race for a team that finished 3-4 races out of 16. So time-scaled option was the option that I used and as I remember it was taking into account the actual race distance (rescaling the time-scaled mechanical failure systems according to the chosen distance, eg. 25% race distance - 4x times faster tyre wear, 4x times faster engine deterioration etc.)
So I gave that little example just to show you how my thoughts are running when I look into the F1 2011 poster We all anticipate that there will be failures not caused by crash but inevitable materials wear and etc. According to me this will bring the game big amount of realism that was absent in F1 2010 (quite a big mistake I think..) So from the example above it is clear that these mechanical failures can be brought into the game. (At least it was possible for 2000 year...) So lets proceed to my actual topic. How would these failure mechanisms be implemented in the game without ruining the gameplay and the pleasure of playing an F1 game.(As it happened with tyre punctures in the pre-patched version F1 2010)
Lets divide them into points:
1. Engine
According to me engine units in F1 sport is the second decisive factor for the performance of the car after the pilot himself. Proper engine units provide more power, more flexible power output and allow more aggressive gearing and higher top speeds. Engine wear is also a big factor. For the lower teams the engines are less durable(in some cases) and usually provide less power and can support less RPM per lap. According to my thoughts engine failures should be the least calculation heavy mechanical failure algorithm needed for a proper gameplay without unrealistic engine crashes and so on. This type of failures could be connected with:
1) Overall engine wear achived before the session
2) Over REVs achieved by the pilot per lap
3) Standard engine unit durability achieved by the team mechanics
AND 4)Engine temperature maintained by the pilot by reaching the REV limits and aggressively shifted gears
Those 4 factors for me are the decisive factors that can be connected with the gameplay and could be taken into account by the pilot(gamer) without ruining the whole fun. I expect further suggestions about how this could happen.
2. Gearbox
Gearboxes were the weak spot for most of the racing cars throughout the years until now. (Maybe someone could remember how Ayrton Senna finished a race in the early 90s stuck on his 6th gear for the last five laps of the race.) This could be very dangerous for the game designers because in my opinion the gearbox durability depends on the design of the gearbox itself. Again aggressive shifting and impacts(from the back) during races could cause such a problem. So... let's say:
1) Aggressive gearing (many gear shifts in a race) could cause the problem
2) Again gearbox durability achieved by the team mechanics
3) Some impacts.(not entirely sure about that, waiting suggestions)
3. Suspension
Suspension glitches and failures during race are very common nowadays. The odd thing about the suspension is that it is connected particularly with the driving style above all. For example if you are racing in a weaker team(let's say in the beginning of your career) the durability of the car would be lower but you could avoid problems with suspension by keeping smooth racing line, avoiding debris or uneven surfaces on the track etc. This could lower your chance of damaging critically your suspension and again avoid ruining the whole gameplay and fun. So as the main causes I could emphasize:
1)Off-the-line driving
2)Aggressiveness by attacking kerbs and uneven surfaces
3)Lesser impacts that could damage your suspension in longer races
Again I am awaiting suggestions.
4. Brakes
Brakes...brakes brakes brakes. In F1 2010 there is something similar as a failure of braking system but not entirely. Temperature fluctuations and brake pressure DO affect brake wear by causing lock-ups but you couldn't actually damage your brakes to the point of permanent lock-up. This MUST be implemented in F1 2011! Brakes are as important as the tyres and if you damage your brakes and perform lock-ups on every turn this affects your tyre wear so they are connected. Personally when playing F1 2010 90% of the time I used high pressure on the brakes. That not only gave me shorted brake distance, therefore faster laps, but I felt the brakes more responsive and my last lap times were as good as the the first (very odd).
1) Usage of brakes
2) Brakes durability again
3) Pressure on the brakes
4) Lesser impacts that could damage the brakes(as well as the suspension and tyres in longer races)
Again - suggestions.
5. Clutch
Mostly the clutch system in F1 is used on the start, in the pits and when re-entering the track after spin. Nowadays the F1 cars use double clutch system on the start and automatic clutch when shifting gears(automatized by the car electronics). I can't remember clearly but I thing in F1 2002 there WAS a clutch failure. I have now idea how this could be implemented in the game again without ruining the fun. Probable solution could be a "chance system" on the start of the race(around 1-2%) that you cant launch properly (As it happened with M.Schumacher in the last race in Monte Carlo). But again this chance should be bigger for lower tier teams and vice versa. The clutch failures during the actual race could be connected with the gearbox ending as bigger shift times or getting you out of the race.
1) Proper chance (which is ODD)
2) Gearbox and electronics connected problems.
As I said, NO IDEA about the clutch failures. Waiting suggestions
6. Punctures
CodeMasters did a great job after the patch. Tyre punctures are less probable and are more connected with the racing line rather than just a chance. I like that. Also I have no clue why CM turned so much attention on the tyres and leaving the game with no other possible way for Do Not Finishing. (Tyres and Accident actually) Marbles and racing line and puddles look awesome (at least pre-patched version for me because of the FPS issue). Great job! Not enough though...
Again if you have any suggestions related with tyre wear and punctures - you're welcome!
As I final guys, I know this is a big field for thinking and if you are as keen on realism in F1 series as me, lets help those guys in CM studios with our suggestions and of course just give a little thought about how F1 2011 could be made better that its predecessor. I hope you like that thread, I know it is a little longer than usual. I found some similar threads but they are very short with some guys asking if there will be such thing as failures.
Thank you guys, hope you post your ideas .
Cheers!
*OFF TOPIC*
This is my fist post/thread in this forum. What brought me here (and also in the official CM forum) were the problems after the patch. I played F1 2010 soon after its launch in 2010 but after half e season in career I gave up because of the punctures and other bugs that players suffered at that time. In May this year I started playing again as soon as I heard that they released a patch. Another disappointment was waiting for me as I saw the disappearing puddles and I started looking in the forums. I applied the CM fix but after that I realized massive FPS drop as many other users did (note that I am running on an old laptop with Radeon 2400XT 256MB). That lead to my second "give up" from the game
. *OFF TOPIC*
Enough for me and the off-topic session. Now we all (or at least most of us) look forward to F1 2011. Until now I saw only several screens for the new game and a couple of unofficial news. I would like to draw your attention to the mechanical failures as they were announced (not officially I think). I could say for myself that I am a hard gamer and I have been playing racing games from the early 2000's with the release of F1 2001 and 2002. For everyone that played those game should be clear that the mechanical failures (e.g suspension, brakes, gearbox etc.) were present at that time and the player could choose between time-scaled mechanics for failures and season(this should be according to the current season failures that happened during the races). The second option was... a bit disappointing for me because no one would like to race for a team that finished 3-4 races out of 16. So time-scaled option was the option that I used and as I remember it was taking into account the actual race distance (rescaling the time-scaled mechanical failure systems according to the chosen distance, eg. 25% race distance - 4x times faster tyre wear, 4x times faster engine deterioration etc.)
So I gave that little example just to show you how my thoughts are running when I look into the F1 2011 poster
We all anticipate that there will be failures not caused by crash but inevitable materials wear and etc. According to me this will bring the game big amount of realism that was absent in F1 2010 (quite a big mistake I think..) So from the example above it is clear that these mechanical failures can be brought into the game. (At least it was possible for 2000 year...) So lets proceed to my actual topic. How would these failure mechanisms be implemented in the game without ruining the gameplay and the pleasure of playing an F1 game.(As it happened with tyre punctures in the pre-patched version F1 2010) Lets divide them into points:
1. Engine
According to me engine units in F1 sport is the second decisive factor for the performance of the car after the pilot himself. Proper engine units provide more power, more flexible power output and allow more aggressive gearing and higher top speeds. Engine wear is also a big factor. For the lower teams the engines are less durable(in some cases) and usually provide less power and can support less RPM per lap. According to my thoughts engine failures should be the least calculation heavy mechanical failure algorithm needed for a proper gameplay without unrealistic engine crashes and so on. This type of failures could be connected with:
1) Overall engine wear achived before the session
2) Over REVs achieved by the pilot per lap
3) Standard engine unit durability achieved by the team mechanics
AND 4)Engine temperature maintained by the pilot by reaching the REV limits and aggressively shifted gears
Those 4 factors for me are the decisive factors that can be connected with the gameplay and could be taken into account by the pilot(gamer) without ruining the whole fun. I expect further suggestions about how this could happen.
2. Gearbox
Gearboxes were the weak spot for most of the racing cars throughout the years until now. (Maybe someone could remember how Ayrton Senna finished a race in the early 90s stuck on his 6th gear for the last five laps of the race.) This could be very dangerous for the game designers because in my opinion the gearbox durability depends on the design of the gearbox itself. Again aggressive shifting and impacts(from the back) during races could cause such a problem. So... let's say:
1) Aggressive gearing (many gear shifts in a race) could cause the problem
2) Again gearbox durability achieved by the team mechanics
3) Some impacts.(not entirely sure about that, waiting suggestions)
3. Suspension
Suspension glitches and failures during race are very common nowadays. The odd thing about the suspension is that it is connected particularly with the driving style above all. For example if you are racing in a weaker team(let's say in the beginning of your career) the durability of the car would be lower but you could avoid problems with suspension by keeping smooth racing line, avoiding debris or uneven surfaces on the track etc. This could lower your chance of damaging critically your suspension and again avoid ruining the whole gameplay and fun. So as the main causes I could emphasize:
1)Off-the-line driving
2)Aggressiveness by attacking kerbs and uneven surfaces
3)Lesser impacts that could damage your suspension in longer races
Again I am awaiting suggestions.
4. Brakes
Brakes...brakes brakes brakes. In F1 2010 there is something similar as a failure of braking system but not entirely. Temperature fluctuations and brake pressure DO affect brake wear by causing lock-ups but you couldn't actually damage your brakes to the point of permanent lock-up. This MUST be implemented in F1 2011! Brakes are as important as the tyres and if you damage your brakes and perform lock-ups on every turn this affects your tyre wear so they are connected. Personally when playing F1 2010 90% of the time I used high pressure on the brakes. That not only gave me shorted brake distance, therefore faster laps, but I felt the brakes more responsive and my last lap times were as good as the the first (very odd).
1) Usage of brakes
2) Brakes durability again
3) Pressure on the brakes
4) Lesser impacts that could damage the brakes(as well as the suspension and tyres in longer races)
Again - suggestions.
5. Clutch
Mostly the clutch system in F1 is used on the start, in the pits and when re-entering the track after spin. Nowadays the F1 cars use double clutch system on the start and automatic clutch when shifting gears(automatized by the car electronics). I can't remember clearly but I thing in F1 2002 there WAS a clutch failure. I have now idea how this could be implemented in the game again without ruining the fun. Probable solution could be a "chance system" on the start of the race(around 1-2%) that you cant launch properly (As it happened with M.Schumacher in the last race in Monte Carlo). But again this chance should be bigger for lower tier teams and vice versa. The clutch failures during the actual race could be connected with the gearbox ending as bigger shift times or getting you out of the race.
1) Proper chance (which is ODD)
2) Gearbox and electronics connected problems.
As I said, NO IDEA about the clutch failures. Waiting suggestions
6. Punctures
CodeMasters did a great job after the patch. Tyre punctures are less probable and are more connected with the racing line rather than just a chance. I like that. Also I have no clue why CM turned so much attention on the tyres and leaving the game with no other possible way for Do Not Finishing. (Tyres and Accident actually) Marbles and racing line and puddles look awesome (at least pre-patched version for me because of the FPS issue). Great job! Not enough though...
Again if you have any suggestions related with tyre wear and punctures - you're welcome!
As I final guys, I know this is a big field for thinking and if you are as keen on realism in F1 series as me, lets help those guys in CM studios with our suggestions and of course just give a little thought about how F1 2011 could be made better that its predecessor. I hope you like that thread, I know it is a little longer than usual. I found some similar threads but they are very short with some guys asking if there will be such thing as failures.
Thank you guys, hope you post your ideas .
Cheers!
