Hey folks,
i finally got my hands on the F1 2012 (PC) final version yesterday, after reading the whole sh itstorm that was going on here about how bad the game is, especially regarding the removed tyre wear scaling. I wasn't sure what i should think of that, but as soon as i sat in my Red Bull, doing the first test of the YDT i basically felt "home".
My first thought was: "Wow, they really changed the handling alot, compared to the demo". I'm driving with a wheel (Logitech DFGT) and it feels perfect, even with almost standard-wheel settings, i just added a bit steering deadzone, throttle saturation, 4% steering linearity and 8% brake saturation, like i did in F1 2011. I was able to adapt to the new handling within minutes. After doing the YDT i moved on to do the Kimi Räikkönen-Challenge. It was very, very satisfying to sit in the Lotus E20, i played the challenge on "hard" and overtook Räikkönnen with 2 laps to go. So for people who know how to drive, the Champions-mode is easy but a lot of fun. Looking forward to play through it.
I then met up with a friend and we played some online race (25%, Montreal). He also just did the YDT and was new to the game, he only played the demo a bit. We started a 25% race with AI on "Pro", full rules and all sims on, driving with no assists. It was really fun to drive, sadly the AI is a bit to weak on "Pro" but a bit to hard on "Legend", guess i need to train more first. Anyways, managed to do a 1:16.282 on hard tyres as a fast lap in race, being ~1.5 secs faster then the AI on "Pro". Also, as it was a 25% race, we had to drive 18 laps around Montreal. My worn option tyres from qualyfing lasted 10+ laps in the race, so on 25% it's definitely a one-stopper, but i'm okay with it, because a two-stopper in a 25% race wouldn't be satisfying IMHO. Also we raced with a Sauber, afaik the F1 2012 devs said you have different tyre wear with different cars. The Sauber is known for keeping the tyres at life.
We did not race a 50% race yet, so i can't tell about tyre wear at a 50% race as of now. I also noticed a lot of nice things, like the race engineer talking a lot more to you, helping you to adjust the brake-bias and also he tells you more things about what happens at the race currently. The new fuel calculation seems nice. 5 laps of fuel are just enough to run 2 laps with Mix 3, so you have way more fuel consumption, but i was able to race a whole 25% race on mix 2 with "+1 fuel" left after the race, even if i pushed hard every lap with manual gearbox. The graphics are like in the demo, just superb, looks way better then F1 2011 and runs smoother. Everything on "Ultra" with a i5-3570k and a HD 6870 runs absolutely smooth.
For me, F1 2012 has more pros then cons. I can live with the removal of the GP-mode, i can also live with the removal of FP2/FP3, i didn't used them alot. 60 minutes practice is enough, IMHO. What i find a bit odd is the removal of the tyre wear scaling, i'm looking forward to hear from Steve Hood what he has to say about it, i don't want to judge it beforehand.
IMHO, F1 2012 is almost in every way an improvement over F1 2011, and i totally recommend it. It would be perfect if there would be 25%, 50% and 75% race distance WITH tyre wear scaling, but even without it, it's totally enjoyable and i'm looking forward to play it with my friends in a league.
i finally got my hands on the F1 2012 (PC) final version yesterday, after reading the whole sh itstorm that was going on here about how bad the game is, especially regarding the removed tyre wear scaling. I wasn't sure what i should think of that, but as soon as i sat in my Red Bull, doing the first test of the YDT i basically felt "home".
My first thought was: "Wow, they really changed the handling alot, compared to the demo". I'm driving with a wheel (Logitech DFGT) and it feels perfect, even with almost standard-wheel settings, i just added a bit steering deadzone, throttle saturation, 4% steering linearity and 8% brake saturation, like i did in F1 2011. I was able to adapt to the new handling within minutes. After doing the YDT i moved on to do the Kimi Räikkönen-Challenge. It was very, very satisfying to sit in the Lotus E20, i played the challenge on "hard" and overtook Räikkönnen with 2 laps to go. So for people who know how to drive, the Champions-mode is easy but a lot of fun. Looking forward to play through it.
I then met up with a friend and we played some online race (25%, Montreal). He also just did the YDT and was new to the game, he only played the demo a bit. We started a 25% race with AI on "Pro", full rules and all sims on, driving with no assists. It was really fun to drive, sadly the AI is a bit to weak on "Pro" but a bit to hard on "Legend", guess i need to train more first. Anyways, managed to do a 1:16.282 on hard tyres as a fast lap in race, being ~1.5 secs faster then the AI on "Pro". Also, as it was a 25% race, we had to drive 18 laps around Montreal. My worn option tyres from qualyfing lasted 10+ laps in the race, so on 25% it's definitely a one-stopper, but i'm okay with it, because a two-stopper in a 25% race wouldn't be satisfying IMHO. Also we raced with a Sauber, afaik the F1 2012 devs said you have different tyre wear with different cars. The Sauber is known for keeping the tyres at life.
We did not race a 50% race yet, so i can't tell about tyre wear at a 50% race as of now. I also noticed a lot of nice things, like the race engineer talking a lot more to you, helping you to adjust the brake-bias and also he tells you more things about what happens at the race currently. The new fuel calculation seems nice. 5 laps of fuel are just enough to run 2 laps with Mix 3, so you have way more fuel consumption, but i was able to race a whole 25% race on mix 2 with "+1 fuel" left after the race, even if i pushed hard every lap with manual gearbox. The graphics are like in the demo, just superb, looks way better then F1 2011 and runs smoother. Everything on "Ultra" with a i5-3570k and a HD 6870 runs absolutely smooth.
For me, F1 2012 has more pros then cons. I can live with the removal of the GP-mode, i can also live with the removal of FP2/FP3, i didn't used them alot. 60 minutes practice is enough, IMHO. What i find a bit odd is the removal of the tyre wear scaling, i'm looking forward to hear from Steve Hood what he has to say about it, i don't want to judge it beforehand.
IMHO, F1 2012 is almost in every way an improvement over F1 2011, and i totally recommend it. It would be perfect if there would be 25%, 50% and 75% race distance WITH tyre wear scaling, but even without it, it's totally enjoyable and i'm looking forward to play it with my friends in a league.
