F1 2011 First impressions after playing the game

[Johnson0311]

Well just finished my first race with Force India. Let me just say the new suspension system is a handful to get used to. I lost a front wing twice in practice. Lets just say if you activate DRS don't do it at a wrong spot or you'll pull a Maldonado and spin out.

So far managing KERS and DRS is tricky in practice and qualy. At no point was I within a second in the race but I qualified 18th and finished 12th meeting my objective.

The graphics don't appear that much better and the washout effect is kinda odd. Modders will fix that I'm sure fast enough.

Career mode is now managed with a laptop and no more ugly lady... Helmets are going to have to be modded in again.

No Senna for Renault.

Fuel mixture is kind of a neat addition and my gas light came on during the second to last lap and I was not in a position to gain a position so I just turned it back to normal.

Engineer seems like he barely talks at all now. To early to tell if this is good or bad. Seems like all sector times are good in qualy.

Massa was pole along with Button and Petrov. Vettell was an embarrassing 14th.

Any other questions let me know.

Also I'm playing with 20%

 

[Carlosoul]

Well I installed the game on my 360 and got going... straight away I loved the graphics and the car handling was not as bad as I thought it would be, I noticed it got easier with each lap, I also noticed that as each lap passed I could focus not only on changing gears, breaking points and lines but also when to use the Kerrs and DRS and for a moment started to become second nature.
I like the way you get penalties or warnings if you cut corners or drive to agressive, it is very well done and is not too strict but doesn't let you take too much of an advantage.

My first F1 game for many years and at last it truly reflects the sport, am loving it, cant wait for the weekend.

p.s. online racing is mental, everyone is smashing into each other

 

[Joel Vischer]

First impressions kinda weird

Hii,
F1 2011 is really different from 2010 for sure the handling is different the graphics are different and in my opinion worser than last year but the drs and kers are really nice the tyres are cold in the beginning so u cant drive maxed out, the track is cold so you cant max out either. You don't have the pit lane options anymore in practice etc but its still a good game! tho the framerate on PS3 looks kinda different from PC and Xbox but overall a good game!

 

[mars28]

the racing line ruins the game its too bold and bright

Use 2D style, it's a little better.

 

[glight]

So after I got my wheel setup and overcame some crossfire issues (got it working!) I must say I am impressed!

This years game makes last years look like the cars had TC on permanently. This is hard work!

This! I actually have to play around with the setup, love it! Car was all over the place until I tightened up the springs, now I just need to get the hang of braking and throttle control which seems completely different this year. You can really tell the difference from low to high fuel and when the prime tyres get "switched on".

It seems like I can throw the car around a bit more now that I have a workable setup, but I can tell when I'm about to overdo it and I can lift off or counter steer. The car feels like there is weight to it and I can guess when it will over/understeer.

Looks like I will be enjoying career mode (nice menus/paddock/motorhome setup)

I like the engineer, he is very plainly informing you of what is going on. His tone is very FYI which is what an engineer should be because the racing driver (you) is focused on the race! I would definitely prefer his tone of voice when he's telling me I'm slow, Rob sounded like he was nagging me!

The Ai don't misbehave in practice anymore! Hallelujah! (2010 they would drive slow until the second you passed them and then drive crazy fast) I gave up on 2010 career because of this since I was unable to practice.

Control system is great, in 2010 I had to use the keyboard in the menus because I had a custom setup (DFGT/CSP's) now it works like it should. Haven't had any issues with controls being overwritten. Brake pedal is super sensitive but that was an easy fix.

DRS= weeee KERS=weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee DRS+KERS=Rocketship

Graphics are nice except for the excessive bloom (not a big deal). Love the steering wheels. Love the dirt/grass and wear on the tyres.

Couldn't stop playing last night until 4AM!

 

[Sun]

Well..Finished my first season with Williams, just signed for Mercedes.

After playing one season i think i have enough info of what i think of the game. I'm playing on PC with Driving force GT and i gotta say physics,Handling is just awesome, much better than last years game. I play lots of Sim's. LFS, Rfactor and Simbin's games. tbh i didnt expect the handling to be this good. DRS and KERS in the game is just fantastic! and AI is really challenging this year. I'm playing on Expert, Legend AI of course and its really hard to keep up with them this year..not impossible but its really hard especially with Williams..And yes AI does overtake you with DRS I've been fighting with Force inida, toro rosso and sauber in all races. Graphic is so much better this year i love it! and the sound is awesome! With career mode I've only seen 1 safety car came out and that was in Valencia which was cool and the AI crashed, i didn't cause anything which was cool to see AI having accidents.

Driving in the rain this year is really hard! but its fun at the same time. its really hard with out assist. when the game wasnt released yet i saw some vids on youtube playing on the rain i thought there was way to much grip..but trust me dont judge the game by youtube vids!

Btw i've seen some people complaining about DFGT wheel? all i know that mine works perfectly.

Steering rotation : 270
Advanced settings :
Everything set to 0% Except for linearity is 15%
And this is important at the Driving Controls menu the
OVERRIDE INPUT DEVICE TYPE : is Steering wheel

I've seen no bugs yet..Yes in my first season i've found no bugs. The game works great. but remember this is on PC i don't know about consoles.

Overall i think the game is amazing, Thank you very very much Codemasters! Don't think i'll be playing Rfactor F1 RFT 2011 mod anymore xD

If you liked F1 2010..your gotta love F1 2011! well..that's what i think anyway

Aslo if you a F1 fan you gotta have this.

Hope Codemasters will make F1 2012!

 

[SpaceBison]

Been playing the 360 version for a few days, 20% short race weekends with the control pad - using Hard difficulty with corner lines on as the only change. If you're not aware, this means Pro AI, tyre and fuel wear are both ON, 2 flashbacks (I generally don't use many, but occasionally I will if the situation was random/unfortunate rather than error) - ABS is ON (tough to turn off with the pad, would have been nicer to have had a 1-10 level, a-la GT5) - TCS Med (see abs....)

I've got as far as practice at Monaco, which I haven't tried yet - using the Force India

I've had a 3rd at Catalunya and 5th at Sepang, 24th x2 @ Albert Park and Shanghai (Did not realise you cannot quit between practice/quali/race) wedged in between an IMPOSSIBLE 16th at Istanbul.

I am glowing with praise for this game, but do have a few gripes:

1.) Granularity of race length has gone (30% in particular)2
2.) You can't quit to paddock or save after practice, or quali, or race? It just seems to put you as DNF, or last (Happy to be corrected if someone knows something I don't)
3.) AI practice/quali times on some tracks are a bit weird - everyone was slower in Q than P at Istanbul, except me of course as I changed to new Option tyres for Q.
4.) Pace of AI cars varies slightly too dramatically. I could match everyones pace at Catalunya (1:22's towards the end on low fuel/prime tyre) but at Istanbul I was 3-4 seconds off the pace of the fastest lap and I was literally at the limit of what I could do

All in all, fairly minor - I pretty much love the remaining 98% of the entire experience, seen no AI crashes or retirements or safety car yet, but on 20% races that's not necessarily a problem.

I think the very best bit is that this year it is HARD - last year with pad I raced on Legend AI with fuel off and tyre on and on some tracks I could streak away even in the Lotus - don't think that's possible this time round even on Pro AI. I spin a lot more than last year, particularly on cold tyres - you really have to wait and nurse the car and be gentle on throttle and turning, not easy on a pad but I think of myself as a decent pad racer and am quite deft with it... perhaps

High fuel at the start of a session - wow! I just miss braking points and outbrake myself all the time, this feels so cool, the marble and grass pickup on the tyres is quite sweet too, though I can't tell too much different in grip difference.

Graphics on the Xbox 360 are about as good as you could expect, I've seen no slowdown on any track so far, have the game installed to the HDD which may help but I don't think by much so it's pretty good. Obviously not a patch on the PC, but you have to think relatively and I think it looks a big improvement over last year.

New menus/race calendar is fab - you can look back and see fastest laps and positions you finished Q and R in, etc - really smart. I hope it crosses multiple years in tabbed-format, but I doubt this will be the case.

None of the sense of adrenaline, speed or tense feel has gone from the game, if anything it's more so - I held on against Perez for a podium at Catalunya by about 1 second for the final 4 laps of the 13 lap total and I was bricking it and had to take a break after, it takes a lot of concentration to get it round in one piece on any track and you just can't say that about many racing or driving games that have ever been released.

All in all, a cracking effort and a nice upgrade to last years solid effort - I think it's worthy of an extra point and 9/10 overall - can't wait to try some multiplayer with 'non-crashing-into-you' friends

 

[EIF]

My impressions . . a load of rubbish. Graphics are average even on ultra, the handling feels bloody aweful and it's ruined my G27, AI are all over the place . . last CM game I ever waste my money on.

 

[Carlo Mantovani]

Got the game about 5 hours ago and havent put my controller down since (except to write this obviously :tongue. I think the game is brilliant, handling feels more sim like than 2010 and you really have to concentrate if you want to do well. I don't think I have had more fun coming near the back of the field in a racing game

 

[Nick Kasapis]

Well now i am disapointed! Qualy Singapore 19th with perez... Fair enough! At the race i finished 3rd!!!! 50% race at legend!! What the hell is that? At the race i was at least 1 sec faster than qualy, and the Ai was rubbish. Also why the Ai made 4 pit stops. 31 laps 4 pit stops??? The tyres are wearing out too fast and the stragety for Ai is wrong.... I did 3 pit stops but even if i have made 4 i would still be 6th... Nobody passed me during the race except Vettel and Webber at the last lap. Qualy is good and difficult and i like it, but the races is a big NO!

 

[Cody White]

Personally I love the game! It feels like you have to drive the car on the ragged edge on every corner to put in good lap times...to me that is what driving a real f1 car looks like...this isn't napcar, where you cruise around until 20-30 laps to go...this is a balls out sprint to the finish...and I believe cm captured this pretty well.

 

[Javier López]

Edited edited edited

 

[blackcelica]

JEEEZZZZZ....I MUST be missing something.....so disapointed...I've been playing F1-2010 with RDD 2011 mod now for ages and love it, I cant believe people actually think THIS feels better????? I presume all the good comments about the feel of the car are from console players, I'm on PC and this feels to me like I'm on rails, the twitchy-ness has gone, to loose the rear & spin I've got to do it ON-PURPOSE. I was so looking forward to 'the car feels more alive now', more alive than what? a snale on a roller-skate? Someone please tell me they sent me the wrong game........Yes the frame rates better (everything ULTRA @ 60fps), I like the Kers & DRS, I've even kept switching between 2010(modded) & 2011 to convince myself its not that 'arcady' but it is.. Praying that RDD can transform it

Not sure why your getting that experience? I was in same situation, F1 2010 fully modded to F1 2011 but the new F1 2011 has blown me away, gameplay, graphics (out of box, not compared to modded HD textures which are obvously better)
As far as cars feeling alive were you racing with traction control off in 2010 but now on in 2011? if so switch it off and get ready to catch those rear end flick outs. I'm totally loving this game and can't wait for some HD textures to make it perfect.

 

[Adam Hartwell]

Slap the hardest difficulty on, no aids and you've got yourself a very very fun game, just finished my first race of the season for Williams, qualified 16th, finished 13th and the end to the race was just jaw-dropping, i was tailing Sutil for the whole lap unable to make the pass, came into the last corner right up his arse and i activated DRS a split second too early, span my car around, managed to get it over the line keeping 13th. Love it.

 

[Andrew Skinner]

absolutey love the gameno assists career i found hard since im using a pad but hopefully the more running i do il get slowly better at it, multiplayer is also good but to many rammers

 

[randomuser]

Heres my first impressions after playing the game for a few hours, i started my career and im about to start the Turkey race.

First off im running the game on a PC and so far the game runs ALOT better than 2010, in 10 i was strugling to reach 50 frames on most of the tracks and had to suffer through 30's framerates on some tracks, and when it rained i just had to put everything on low.
But thats not the case with 11, im running the game on 1920x1080, 4xAA particles and distant vechiles high, everything else low, crowd off, and im avaraging 70fps so far.

My PC specs:
MB: Asus Sabertooth P67 B3
CPU: i5 2500k @3.7GHz
RAM: 8GB DDR3 @1997MHz G.Skill Ripjaws Gold
System HDD: 1TB Sata3 6G
GPU: 2x Gigabyte GeForce 9800GT 1GB GDDR5 @ SLI
OS: Win7 Ultimate 64-bit

Now to the game itself, the handling seems a bit too loose for my taste, but thats easily cured with aids, im using medium TC ABS and tire sim off, might turn it on after i've gotten used to the game some more.
AI in racing situations seems alot more active and agressive than before, but under caution they seem overly carefull, like in turkey practise i spun off at the first corner and 6 cars that were behind me pretty much just stopped completly even though i was nowhere near the racing line or even heading towards it.

This might be too early to say but... in wet races the AI seems a bit unfair, i believe that i can set up a car well enough to make it into Q3 every time, but when it's raining theres just no way for me to keep up with the top 15, i was 4.8s off the Q2 drop zone (17th), whereas in Q1 when it wasnt raining i was 1st with 1.1s gap.

All in all this is a really promising first release, kudos to CM, this is looking ALOT better than 2010 was after release.

Edit: Oh and im using Professional AI, if anyone is interesed.

 

[Wojciech Grabowski]

Finally today I got it! I had some problems with opening executable and with setting my Logitech DFGT. First I did some Time Trial and 20% grand prix on Interlagos (fav track) and Time Attack on Monza. I like new handling and suspension, It's alot more realistic than last years, but still it's not like in real sims. But I found it better for me - looking for every 0,1 secs, not just to avoid spinning. It's feels like real car. I loved when I feel rear going out of track. In games like rFactor when u feel your car oversteery - it's always too late. Here I can move wheel smoothly and set my car again on straight. Maybe not like in real F1 car, but really funny. Video games are meant to be funny DRS and KERS are awesome.

Then I decided to start career. Expert, 100% lenght race, long race weekend. I'm racing for Williams. I had to learn Albert Park again, because braking point are different. There was raining in P2 and here I was really suprised. Driving in wet is horror for me!

I was expecting around P14 on grid, but I managed to get P10 (in Q3 I sat in pits to save tires). I loved game so far!

 

[James Chant]

the racing line ruins the game its too bold and bright

You always have the option to Turn it off!

 

[Adam Hartwell]

Just finished China, once again Sutil was my nemesis, the AI are amazing, i had three cars right behind me each lap, i just couldnt pull that second and when in the DRS zone they were all over me, but anywho i was in 10th, and on the last lap i was approaching a Lotus to lap him when Sutil dived onto my outside in the DRS zone, i went up the inside of the lotus he went up the outside, lotus stuck to the middle of the track in the hairpin, i kept up the inside to re-take 10th and keep a point, meanwhile due to sutil being on the outside he got passed for 11th!

I love this game, i reccommend it to anyone who likes a good battle.

 

[Wojciech Grabowski]

After race I noticed some issues with AI. First - someone said it before - they are realy fast in wet conditions. Race started in light rain. My start was good I got to P4... but AI was too fast for me. Drivers in front was 2 secs faster each lap. Drivers behind was able to drive that fast - but all cars( except new teams, they were too slow) was following me like safety car.

Then - pit stop. There was still raining but AI stopped for Options. I did the same, and I was suprised when I was able to drive when it was raining. Again, like last year, going from wet to dry track isn't codded correctly.

Other issue - AI thinks nothing about cold tires after pit. They are driving like hell after pit stop, when I struggled to stay inside of track.

And the last one... Penalties. that's good they are radical. I got penalty for corner cuttin', and that's OK, I deserved it. But after drive thru' I cut corner again and instantly got next drive thru'. There I knew that I won't be in top 12, so I decided to check it out. Every next cut I did was causing penalty, no warning. I did 4 penalties to do (in next 3 laps, lol) and I retired.

 

[Gilbert Ghammachi]

FUN!!!! thats my first word of the topic..

Codemasters - so far good job much bettern then in 2010!!! -> I started my career with Williams - Expert mode no aids and KI at Legend.. I really needed the practice sessions to get used to the car and physics and to Kers FUN!! and DRS even more Fun!!!! I was worried about the KI but nope they are strong as sh... -> Qualy was under heavy rain and I had not time to get used to it, huge different to last year much harder to get used to so I finished 15th on the grid but at least I fullfilled the team expecation.. Race.. now it starts.. thats fun using Kers in the first corner.. I got quiet clean into turn 1 however all off the sudden Safty Car! I looked at the reply and one virgin got slamed by a Lotus... so 3 laps behind it.. me at 12 -> behind me Rubens infrot of me - Petrov Schumacher Heidfeld and Rosberg.. Restart - let the battle beginn.. ( btw 50% I used as a race length) the entire race we've been at least together in the group, DRS and KRS overtaking all the time.. I had to use fuel level 3 to keep up the pace and that was my problem at the end, the fuel was gone so I had to back off, however ended 10th place.... and belive it or not, I am happy about it.. there was no way for me going for the win or so.. KI is really doing a good job..... Can't wait for malaysia

As I said at the beginning - far better then 2010, not a hardcore sim as Rfctor is but not an Arcade game as 2010 was.. little things are just nice to see for example in practice if you turn to the right (where you can choose the tires) you here the music playing from the mechanics and it is the same when you are forwarding time on the timetable... hm what else, yeah falling leave in Melbourn which is quiet true as it is getting fall there when F1 shows up in down under.. Ruber effect on the street looks pretty cool and the race line is shown after a while.. and whats really cool is that the car sound or actually the wind effect hitting the car is different if you lose your front wing or parts of it..
I haven't seen a box stopp bug.. the lollypop man had to wait for a second however I was able to pass Schumacher in the box..
The only thing is, the cars are a bit to shinny the Lotus are looking similar to the McLaren from the distance but that can be fixed with a mod ;-)

Oh and Mr. Grabowski thats the F1 rule -> if you get a penalty for exampel cutting and you do it again you get the same penalty straight again.. thats "normal" -> KI and tires, I saw the same, however when I swtiched in the race the second time on primes which where used I could push from the beginning as hell so I guess that makes a huge difference, to the KI the seem to struggle as well as Humans, Rubens was 10 sec. ahead of me and I got to him quiet quick.. however after he stopped he was back on my nack again,,
However Fun, Fun, Fun