F1 2011 Your questions for Codemasters' Stephen Hood (T4RG4)!

[OverTake.gg]

As you might know we are compiling questions for our exclusive interview with Codemasters' Chief Game Designer Steve Hood (a.k.a.T4RG4). We will talk with him about F1 2010 and F1 2011.

Of course we would like to include some community questions as well. This thread is dedicated to your questions. Please follow some simple rules

• Stay on topic, questions only = no discussions (feel free to open as much threads as you like for discussions but not in this one )
• Be nice
• Be creative, try to come up with questions that haven't been asked hundreds of times already.
• Read the thread first to avoid duplicates

Time to let us hear your voice. Take it away.

ps1: We might have a nice prize for the most original question that gets included in the interview!
ps2: You can also send us your questions via Twitter (@racedepartment)

 

[fefete]

There will be more extra action off-game? (Drivers celebrating at the boxes in the finish, more interviews, etc..)
There will be more realism in the races? (Safety Car, real car damages, etc...)
There will be a changing system season? (Unbalance in the cars trough the seasons, like RedBull powerfull in one and in the next one season maybe Williams could be more powerfull)

Thx!

 

[Latos]

--Can we hope for Mark Webber "red bull gives you the wings" crash scenarios in the f1 2011 ?
--Are we going to see different steering wheels?
--When you are rigging the car and the driver, are you working in 3dMax (and then importing all the stuff in the ego engine)? Can you talk about rigging process?
--And...how many 3d guys and programmers do you have? Whats the ratio ?
Thanks
Miran (from Croatia)

 

[Mike Sterckx]

Will there be a system implemented so players can easely share car setups online?
Will there be a text chat function implemented in the multiplayer lobby?

 

[Jace11]

How will KERS be implimented. We know how it works in the real world. Will we get to choose between 1 big boost or 8 small boosts etc. And how will the AI use it as they seem to "boost" quite effectively on straights already in F1 2010 due to the catchup file?

 

[szabika]

Hiya,
been wondering if the 2011 game will receive an official license for the time-monitoring from LG or we will see the CM broadcast again? Any talks about it?

 

[Gabe77]

Ai difficulty - lower ones needed !

Please reduce the skill between Legend and Amateur - I don't know what Legend Ai does Brazil in, but 1m 16s fro Amateur is a joke !


The fastest lap this year at Brazil in the real world, was around 1m 13 seconds. So, 3 seconds between Legend and Amateur is ridiculous. Come on.


I am in the Top 3% to 5% on all the online racing games I play, but I cannot win a Grand Prix at amateur difficulty: this game is too hard, and the Ai difficulty scaling needs loking at - big time.

Many people will agree with me, and soon tire of being whooped ALL the time. This game is on hold for me at the moment until a mod comes out that gives me a clue as to how to reduce the Ai laptimes.

They know it, but are too scared to admit it on public forums... the only people who moan about Ai difficulty in public, are those few that can actually beat it on the highest difficulty. Me thinks they probably use all aids on and use exploits - like lateral shunting !!!! Or, maybe it IS easier with a wheel - I don't know.

If you want to allow people people to run with all aids OFF and full race rules and simulation settings, you need to allow the user to fine tune Ai difficulty so as to create a challenging but rewarding experience.

So my question is:

Will you be putting more thought into the Ai scaling in the next version please !

Hint: maybe 2sec, 3sec, 6secs and 8 sec.... as differences between Ai levels for a typical qualy lap. Not... 3 or 4 seconds between highest and lowest, as it is now.

I hate to think what this is like for small children. They will always be coming last and soon get tired of it.

Don't forget, cranking up the speed of the Ai, making it difficult to beat, IS NOT SUBSTITUTE for proper simulation features... it just makes it a difficult arcade racer, to beat.

Thnx.

 

[Nug]

Hi Stephen,

First of all, congrats on F1 2010. I'm really enjoying the experience despite some of the minor issues still present in the game. Now, onto my questions...

Will we see more attention given to the statistics available to the player for both offline career and online game modes.

I would personally love to see the results of my previous races, even in previous seasons in my career and details of races I have completed (The car/team I was in, strategy used, fastest lap, etc).

When we tune in to the BBC on a race weekend we are constantly hit by a barrage of stats throughout the whole event, yet almost all of this is missing from the game.

Will we see improvements to the race engineer for next year?

At the moment the engineer is ok, but this feature has so much more potential. For example, if I were on track and the heavens opened up mid race, my engineer should be looking at the first cars to come into the pits and tell me what their tyre choice was.

Well timed, accurate and relevant information would increase the immersion during the race and add to the 'authenticity' already present within the game.

Thanks for your time, Nug.
(Playing F1 2010 on PC)

 

[maj7]

Hello, is possible in your next game in 2011 to make realistic career as a hard player that the player at the start of his career, rode a lower class, such as Formula Renault and then according to their performances that would could switch to Formula 1 and vice versa, then the Formula 1 to be released in Formula Renault. I think it was a great adrenalin racing.
Yet it seems to me in the Formula 2010 Formula little kinetic energy and it shows a lot of turns and running off the track. Thanks so much for your reply and sorry for the English via Google Translator.
Otherwise, thanks for a great game and I wish you many next successes.

 

[David O Gorman]

Given the 200 odd pages of people reporting bugs for the original release and 2 threads running at the moment ,1 for consoles and 1 for pc post patch 1.01,reporting bugs, can we expect a lot more thorough pre release testing and fixing of any issues before the 2011 F1 release.
I have no doubt that coding of games has gotten more complex ,but I'm wondering what your personal opinion is on the releasing of games without adequate testing(or possibly release dates overriding testing and fixing of bugs).
On the above question, i rather if answered that the subject stayed with Codemasters F1 game and not referred to other games shipping with bugs, as a customer of some of those games I'm well able to make my views known to those game developers.

What is going to improve and what will be adding to game-play this time around.

Can we expect a demo this time ?.

 

[CeeGee]

Is there any chance of having Telemetry Displays (especially in the PC version) to aid set-up changes during the practice sessions?

 

[JCT1875]

My question for Stephen Hood is:



mod edit: content removed - not in-keeping with the spirit of the thread - please keep it polite and to the point. JC.

 

[Andy_J]

I'd also like to ask Stephen Hood why he and his team have abandoned F1 2010 as it is clearly bug ridden for the PC at the moment even worse after the the only patch. Will there be another patch for it or have they really washed their hands of the game?

 

[BlackSun]

Hello, some questions (one being already asked for but ...essential for buying project):

- What do you think about introducing in the game a tutorial for driving and setting up the car? (The engeener could make test you different settings on some circuit parts, pointing out the differences between setups and how to improve them).

- The engeener should be able to give advices on how to improve the car setups on a particular circuit (instead of just saying: you are not fast enough in the 2nd section, could say some possibles tips on top of that related to the specific lack of perf for this section)

- Will CodeMaster give you some free time after the release or affect a special developers team so you can make as many patches as necessary to have finaly a finished product?

- You did say there will be no dedicated servers for PC users, as they do not represent enough sales.
But what about giving them a server software so they could loan or set dedicated servers by themselves (like, for example, Counter Strike, in anoter game domain)? For now, being hosted by a player is too laggy, as far as I did have some experiences with.

Thanks for your attention.

EDIT: would like to add this question:

- Will F1 2011 damages model take in account entire cars?
(so rear car damages too, as for now only the front can be damaged except for exceptional circonstances).

 

[Vex009]

To Mr. Hood,

1. Although the challenge is certainly present in "F1 2010", a majority of players feel there is a missing element to the sense of achievement in "F1 2010". To that end, will there be the popularly fan-requested podium ceremony for "F1 2011"?

2. "F1 2010" has a solid foundation for you and your team to build upon, that being said, apart from modified and updated circuits, cars, drivers etc. What other plans on improving the overall "Be the driver, live the life" aspect can we look forward to with "F1 2011"?

Thanks.

 

[AProst]

Mr Hood, except hoping a bug free version of F1 2010, could you tell us a good reason to buy F1 2011, since safety car or three new tracks will be a bit short for F1 2010 owners, or maybe you plan a 2011 DLC version for F1 2010?

 

[David Kaye]

My question is, What can you promise us that 'WILL DEFINITELY' be in F1 2011 & 'HOW' will you convince me/us to buy F1 2011.

p.s And do you feel any shame what so ever for F1 2010 ?

 

[tappex]

What these guys said:

Given the 200 odd pages of people reporting bugs for the original release and 2 threads running at the moment ,1 for consoles and 1 for pc post patch 1.01,reporting bugs, can we expect a lot more thorough pre release testing and fixing of any issues before the 2011 F1 release.

My question for Stephen Hood is:

mod edit: content removed - not in-keeping with the spirit of the thread - please keep it polite and to the point. JC.

I'd also like to ask Stephen Hood why he and his team have aboandoned F1 2010 as it is clearly bug ridden for the PC at the moment even worse after the the only patch. Will there be another patch for it or have they really washed their hands of the game?

Will CodeMaster give you some free time after the release or affect a special developers team so you can make as many patches as necessary to have finaly a finished product?

p.s And do you feel any shame what so ever for F1 2010 ?

Quoting the above makes this post technically a duplicate, which the thread opener asked to avoid. But I want to emphasize the relevance and importance of those questions.
Because even if they'd make the most amazing and most ambitious game ever with F1 2011, it'd be simply of no use if it is unplayable because of many annoying bugs.

 

[Craig Turner]

• Will you continue to support the PC Version of F1 in F1 2011 ?
• Why do Codemasters not seem to support Dedicated servers on their EGO Engine, when this could be a great move for Online Play ?
• What new innovations can you tell us about for F1 2011, and will this detract from resolving the current problems in F1 2010 that clearly need resolving.
• In light of the problems with F1 2010, why did the team decide to firstly create a patch that made the game worse, and then not provide any official feedback to the consumer.
• Will you be looking at Public Beta Testing for F1 2011, to assist in finding all bugs prior to release?

 

[MatrixFC1969]

Hi stephen
I ask the opportunity to have a career or at least infinite 1-3-5-7-10-15-20 years with the possibility to customize both teams that the riders at will.
enter the seasons with the values that change from year to year to teams and teams like the real thing by making contracts with pilots in a list say between 35-50 riders (including legends like Alain Prost, Senna, Mansell, Irvine , Montoya, Villeneuve, etc.etc.) and about 20-25 teams, chosen from among the contracts of the motors 6-7-10 engines.
the career opportunities also simulated in the sense that you choose a guide but teams from the wall (do not run with the pilot) and to prepare the car and make test strategies etc.etc. then choose whether to run or see it on TV as
more real damage to machinery, safety cars.
internal editor to change names, teams, creating the colors of cars etc.etc. short stretch the longevity of the title to make it the best ever (see GP4) who lives for over 10 years