F1 2012 Tired of Codemasters

[Brad0131]

Hello all, I created an account just to discuss a few things about the Codemasters series F1 game. To start, these are my opinions and beliefs. I have been an F1 gamer for a few years, since it was on PSP in 06 I believe and just got back into it hardcore a few weeks ago. So let me get started:

- I am sick of Codemasters not developing a "full" F1 Game. The AI is generally hard but they race like cautious robots who know your every move. I can swerve over at 200 KPH in front of them and they already brake and avoid me like they knew I was going to do that.

- I am sick of the AI and myself not getting more yellows, more incidents and more failures. Compare this game to Formula One Championship Edition for PS3 and that game had AI spinning out, caution flags, tons of mechanical failures even on yourself! ****, they even had a formation lap in that game! I am tired of spending $60 on a game that doesnt have that. There have been races where if I wasnt a "human" and made driving mistakes, there would be no yellow flags at all. Ive played this game more than 50 hours and still have yet to experience the safety car being called out.

- The penalty system in F1 2012 is horrendous. Every simple accident, I get black flagged and have to do a drive through. EVERY TIME. Causing a collision on accident is not a black flag. The yellow flag doesnt even stay out that long. Just enough so when u start going in the right direction, it changes to green.

- In Formula One Championship edition, the dots on the map were color coded to different teams. When an accident happened the commentator would tell you who it is, where it was, etc..You would see the dot stalled on the map to indicate a crash. Codemasters fails to deliver one of the most exciting parts of racing, the crashes.

I just want the game to be realistic, competitive, thrilling, and fun. Yet, Codemasters is making it into some decently simulated arcade type racing game.

Please comment with your experiences / opinions and I would love to discuss.

Thanks!

 

[Kristian Nenov]

You should try mods if you're on the PC.

 

[ParkYongLee]

You should try mods if you're on the PC.

To be correct: This is the only reason to keep playing this game after all: MODS! On xbox I stopped playing the game very very early after I got it.
But having much much better AI now and braking points is already worth to continue playing, not to speak of adjusting the AI difficulties within the database, which was a must for me.

 

[Brad0131]

I have it for Xbox 360. I havent tried it on PC only because idk if it will run smoothly. I have a gaming rig but heres the specs:

i5 2500k
1gb 550 ti
500 gb HDD
8 gb ram

Is that good enough to run F1 smoothly?

Thanks!

 

[ParkYongLee]

ofcourse, lol - with mods maybe not all on highest setting [full HD] but overall should have no problems

 

[Qazdar Karim]

You should try mods if you're on the PC.

The mod-ability of the game is still very poor !

 

[Rodriggo]

- I am sick of Codemasters not developing a "full" F1 Game.

I agree with the spirit of your post in that there is always room for improvement but you have to give some props to Codemasters for the fact that at the end of the day it's a good game. It's fun and it's challenging.

Videogames are a business obviously and a Full-Sim that you could only really play with a wheel is not going to sell enough unfortunately and an arcade game wouldn't either. That being said what we have is a pretty decent balance.

Is a warm-up lap really necessary? Probably not, but they could at least show it and the grid pre-race to build up the excitement, no doubt. The little details like that and proper TV replay cameras would really boost the game to another level.

My biggest gripe is the team support during the race which is absolutely atrocious. Especially in variable weather conditions....What tires are the other teams switching to? How much rain is coming exactly, and how hard will it be? Can't tell you how many times I go Inters before a monsoon or Wets before a drizzle.....it's just dumb. F1 teams have ******* radar, they're not guessing, they know what to do 99% of the time.

Also, as a long-time console gamer who recently purchased a gaming rig...definitely go PC if you can. It's infinitely more rewarding. The mods on here are great and you can make your own. Adds so much more value to a game and you don't feel as "stuck" in Codemaster's vision of it.

 

[Kristian Nenov]

I agree with the spirit of your post in that there is always room for improvement but you have to give some props to Codemasters for the fact that at the end of the day it's a good game. It's fun and it's challenging.

Videogames are a business obviously and a Full-Sim that you could only really play with a wheel is not going to sell enough unfortunately and an arcade game wouldn't either. That being said what we have is a pretty decent balance.

Is a warm-up lap really necessary? Probably not, but they could at least show it and the grid pre-race to build up the excitement, no doubt. The little details like that and proper TV replay cameras would really boost the game to another level.

My biggest gripe is the team support during the race which is absolutely atrocious. Especially in variable weather conditions....What tires are the other teams switching to? How much rain is coming exactly, and how hard will it be? Can't tell you how many times I go Inters before a monsoon or Wets before a drizzle.....it's just dumb. F1 teams have ******* radar, they're not guessing, they know what to do 99% of the time.

Also, as a long-time console gamer who recently purchased a gaming rig...definitely go PC if you can. It's infinitely more rewarding. The mods on here are great and you can make your own. Adds so much more value to a game and you don't feel as "stuck" in Codemaster's vision of it.

I agree with your post, except with the Bolded part. The game is incredibly easy. Cars aren't challenging to keep on the track at all, even a kid can do it (yes, I gave one 7 year old to try the game on my PC and it could play). The car stays on the track, has unlimited traction and like I said, it's incredibly easy to handle. That's like driving a F1? I don't think so.

But then again, I know that CM don't aim for realism. They aren't making a Sim. They're making a game that would sell the most copies. They aren't a rich company. But even with that being said, their overall physics engine isn't good enough. Yeah, I've tried to make the cars handle better. I succeeded in that to some level, but there isn't really much to improve. The engine is just limiting it. The options aren't really much.

Also stuff like Tyre Pressure is really hurting the game a LOT. Tyre Pressure would add so much more excitement! But yeah, that would make the game too complicated for an arcade racer I guess, so this would be why they're backing off.

I think if they want to make this game epic, they have to make it a Sim. Look at the support the new Sim games are getting. rFactor 2, pCARS are still WIP and they have so much support! CM never gets such support and it's because of their product. I don't think they'll be getting less money if they develop a full sim game. But I guess it's a lot more complicated than that. To make a Sim you'll need a lot more time to develop and you'll need a lot more money, maybe. I don't know.

At the end of the day, the game may not be realistic, but it's fun to play. You are having a good time while playing. You are having fun racing alongside your friends. Mostly that's what it counts. And on such easy game like this one, there are a lot more fast people. Leagues are a lot more competitive and fun than on real sims that you need a lot of talent.

 

[ParkYongLee]

Easy game, unlimited traction ... I wonder if I play the same game, lol.
I couldn't drive w/o med TC in rain (gamepad 360) nor do I stand a chance on pro difficulty - not everyone is a skilled driver, lol.

The original game is boring due to the bad difficulties, either it's too easy or it's too hard and that's it. If I hadn't adjusted the DB I wouldn't bother playing this game and sell it as I did with the 360 version

 

[Mike Partington]

The game engine and mostly the consoles are holding games like this back, plus that they only have 1 year to bring out the next version.

Codemasters just seem to talk about lack of memory and power when discussing what they can and cannot do. I for one hope they ditch current gen next year and develop for the next-gen consoles and PC only as it would give the game far more potential.

Im sure they want to give a realistic driving experience, just like Forza and GT as they attempt the same thing but with road/sports cars but even they are not exactly sims and are mostly designed with a controller in mind, but they sell.

Personally I think the biggest problem with 2012 is the lack of strategy involved which has dulled the fun alot, as well as online being massively buggy this year.

 

[sharpeye72]

I have just bought 2012 but only as I can't find my 2011 disk. Having just started playing this version I have to say, not a right lot has been changed/improved.
A few things I would like to see to take the game forward are

More intelligent AI. I was overtaking a car in qually that was cruising on line, I went to overtake as the AI car went off line, I guess to allow me through, but instead of letting me through it steered directly in front if me and when I hit the back if the car, I got a penalty??? Just stay where you are and you won't get in my way!!!!
Another thing that really winds me up is split time displaying. You get to a sector time appears on screen but by the time you've done the tricky left/right and got to a part of the track where you get a chance to check the split time but its gone. Why not leave it on screen until the next split??
When your in the pits watching the timing screen, I would like to see purple sectors staying purple after completion of the lap instead of it turning green.
The one thing they have changed really winds me up, I sometimes do qualifying but then do the race the next day or later the same day but in 2012 when you load up and try to set your car up, not allowed, parc ferme conditions, so you end up racing with default settings or you have to do qually and race in the same session. While im on about car set up, it would be nice if the name of the set up your using would be displayed so when comparing different set ups you know which one I've just set a time with.
The young driver test is a complete waste of time.
Safety car is a big thing for me too, there are tracks where your pretty much guaranteed a safety car, but not in the game.
I'm sure more issues will show themselves as I get into this version.

 

[sharpeye72]

Another thing that's just come to mind while watching today's gp is with pit stops, I'd like more info about where I might come out of the pits and where others might might come out of the pits around me. The number of times my team mate has come out right in front of me and messed with my race, Ferrari wouldn't pit massa so that he comes out in front of alonso!!

 

[Mike Partington]

Another thing that's just come to mind while watching today's gp is with pit stops, I'd like more info about where I might come out of the pits and where others might might come out of the pits around me. The number of times my team mate has come out right in front of me and messed with my race, Ferrari wouldn't pit massa so that he comes out in front of alonso!!

The game does actually tell you that info. Estimated pit exit position is kinda decent enough. The game is hardly going to tell you when to pit to make space though.

 

[sharpeye72]

Yeah I know it gives estimated exit position but Id like something a little more realistic, for example, "the car behind has just pitted, come into the pits at the end of this lap but put a fast one in to stay in front," or "your due to pit this lap but it looks like you'll come out in traffic, try to do one more quick lap and we can put you out in some free space."
To be fair it probably doesnt matter as I really dont like 2012 so I'll probably go back to 2011.