F1 2016 F1 2016 first impressions

[jacktorrance]

Well that install took a long time but here it is:

- The sound is the absolute worst ive EVER experienced in any F1 game ive played, even way back to the supernes times. Its not because the game is bad, its because V6t is completely garbage! I mean it really, REALLY sucks! Put it in 8th and floor the throttle will give you a muffled toothbrush sound, a toothbrush wich is very sick so it coughs a lot. I cant describe it any other way.

The menus look ok and the controls were all open, even for my custom made steering wheel. I liked the graphics.

What I didnt like is the lack of set up options on the power train. Where in Asseto the F15t drove me nuts with way to many settings (in game, there, too, in the garage set up screen is nothing. Why??) here there are zero options. I did a time trial only so maybe in career there are options but in time trial no rev options, no deployment options. There isnt even a KERS button or gauge.

I probably gonna spend this weekend getting deeper, and probably keep it as even if todays F1 is a complete joke, but sofar the game kind of disappoints me. Its an obvious build for consoles.

Maybe I look at this the wrong way: current F1 is an enormous disappointment. In that respect, this game really simulates that feeling very well indeed.

 

[realitychecked]

Hey, I think you chose the wrong game to expect simulation traits from. Also KERS doesn't exist anymore in F1, it's now ERS and it's automatically activated.

 

[jacktorrance]

Youre right, we shouldnt expect any simulation traits and just treat it like real F1 is today: arcadish.

 

[Santiago Garcia]

Hey, I think you chose the wrong game to expect simulation traits from. Also KERS doesn't exist anymore in F1, it's now ERS and it's automatically activated.

But even when the ERS it's automatically activated the teams can setup in witch parts of the tracks the ERS deploys it's power. So, that kind of setup should be part of the game.

On the other side, in real life F1 the teams can't chage the gear box ratios or the RPM limit like they used to a few years ago.

 

[JeDa]

I just played it for about 2 hours, i only did fp1 at Spa. The sounds are indeed not very good but I think F1 nowadays sounds like that. What i like most is the feeling of being there. They achieved this by lots of small details. For example how the practise sessions unfolds, the AI get faster during the session, they do diffent runs on different tyres. How you have to chose before the weekend which three compounds you will use. How You loose time when the team repairs your damaged car. How the AI moves over in their outlap. You have the moitor where you can get a lot of info from timing, weather, setup and even watch TV cams from to see other drivers. The pitboard which is shown, the umbrellas from the crowds when it starts raining etc etc. All details which makes you feel part of a real GP weekend. Whats also great is how you can setup your view point. You can adjust within the menus your fov, the seat height, the angle, the mirrors, the aspect ratio etc. Great for my tripplehead setup!

The physics also feel good. Its no rfactor2, iracing or ac. But it feels not bad at all. Setups are also better. I could really feel the difference in handling after changing only two clicks of front wing.

My first impression is that this is the best F1 game from codies so far. Its now 4 am in the morning and i cant wait to start FP2 at Spa when I get up. I think that says it all

 

[AussieDucker]

Can anyone else confirm that you cannot change AI difficulty once you've started Career mode? That's majorly disappointing if it's the case because I'm once of those people where Hard can get too easy after an extended time with the game.

 

[jlp0209]

I pre-loaded the game in Steam earlier today and just deleted / re-installing now. When I start a quick race or season, on the "loading" screen no menu at all pops up. I can press the d-pad on controller and I hear options being selected, if that makes sense, but nothing appears on my screen. I press a button on my controller and it takes me to the garage. Further, there is no engineer voice or any voice at all during a race, in garage, or anywhere else in the game. In the panoramic camera shot prior to a race there is no voice at all. Nothing wrong with my PC settings, this is the 1st time it has happened. Anyone else experiencing this?

Edit- re-installed game. Updated to latest Win 10 AE Nvidia drivers, I had hoped that stupid oversight on my part would resolve this. Still the same problem, once I hit the "loading" screen I can't select any options and there is no voice anywhere in the game, engineer or otherwise. Very frustrating, I may have to request a refund from Steam.

 

[Deleted member 6919]

Graphics are ok, even at full spec there are still plenty of jaggies, especially with the white lines.
I don't know if there is some sort of focus effect but it never looks clean and crisp even more so at full chat.
Having xbox buttons appearing can be annoying, need mouse support.
A really annoying thing is that everytime I boot through it picks up my shifter and dash and wants to configure them.
Wheel weight isn't to bad, but there is no ffb what so ever on track or from the curbs, only place that it seems to exist is the gravel.

It still amazes me that the department for Dirt rally can do something good, and there F1 team can't.

 

[darwin]

The complete lack of FFB was what killed the 2015 game for me last year, this doesn't sound too promising

 

[Rodent]

The FFB is alot better then 2015, it's actually quite drivable now. Just don't expect anything like R3E's, ACs or Automobilistas FFB.

 

[jacktorrance]

But if you use a different set of pedals, the input, especially the throttle, has a dead zone of around 40%.

 

[TheGrunt]

Just had a quick test run and this doesn't seem a bad game at all. It is by no means a serious simulation, but it strikes quite well on the simcade genre. First, the visuals are quite pleasing and in my initial tests, game runs well on my i7-3930k@4.5GHz and GTX980ti and 1080p triples almost all settings on max. There is no proper triple screen support so you could set up separate view ports, but you can get the perspective quite well using different camera settings and you can also set your HUD stuff to middle screen. Great! Sounds are pretty awful, but I guess that is the fault of modern F1 cars. Cars in the game sound like a mix of a vacuum cleaner and a sewing machine, which I think is right on the spot.

Then the driving physics. Like said physics are far simpler than in the more serious sims and it is also evident in the car setup too, which is definitely on the lighter side missing many setup options. When driving, car feels a little bit detached from the track, which IMO is typical for many simcades/arcades with light tire physics and canned FFB. Driving still feels fun and offers challenge when assists are off. Force feedback is nothing to write home about, far behind rF2's fully physics based FFB, AMS or R3E, but as I dislike AC's FFB a lot, I don't find F12016 that much, if at all, worse. FFB is definitely miles ahead the disaster of pCars. The point is, you definitely feel the lighter physics on FFB too, but in general it works fine and gives enough feedback for your driving. It just lacks the finesse of better feedbacks of real sims. Protip: If you have a stronger wheel (I have T500), I suggest you lower your "Wheel Weight" considerably. It lowers the wheel "resistance" force, but brings details up more.

I haven't yet tested the "gaming" aspects like the career mode, but if they are as good as advertised, this is really good game offering light simulator qualities. At this point, which is early, I'd say that this seems like a racing game, which more serious simmers should also check out at some point. I bought this from GMG for around 37,50€, and have no regrets so far. Another thing is how much I will play this in the end, but I take F1 2016 for what it is, that is a simcade racing game and as such, I must give Codies a seal of approval. Overall 8/10.

 

[jacktorrance]

Just had a quick test run and this doesn't seem a bad game at all. It is by no means a serious simulation, but it strikes quite well on the simcade genre. First, the visuals are quite pleasing and in my initial tests, game runs well on my i7-3930k@4.5GHz and GTX980ti and 1080p triples almost all settings on max. There is no proper triple screen support so you could set up separate view ports, but you can get the perspective quite well using different camera settings and you can also set your HUD stuff to middle screen. Great! Sounds are pretty awful, but I guess that is the fault of modern F1 cars. Cars in the game sound like a mix of a vacuum cleaner and a sewing machine, which I think is on the spot.

Then the driving physics. Like said physics are far simpler than in the more serious sims and it is also evident in the car setup too, which is definitely on the lighter side missing many setup options. When driving, car feels a little bit detached from the track, which IMO is typical for many simcades/arcades with light tire physics and canned FFB. Driving still feels fun and offers challenge when assists are off. Force feedback is nothing to write home about, far behind rF2's fully physics based FFB, AMS or R3E, but as I dislike AC's FFB a lot, I don't find F12016 that much, if at all, worse. FFB is definitely miles ahead the disaster of pCars. The point is, you definitely feel the lighter physics on FFB too, but in general it works fine and gives enough feedback for your driving. It just lacks the finesse of better feedbacks of real sims. Protip: If you have a stronger wheel (I have T500), I suggest you lower your "Wheel Weight" considerably. It lowers the wheel "resistance" force, but brings details up more.

I haven't yet tested the "gaming" aspects like the career mode, but if they are as good as advertised, this is really good game offering light simulator qualities. At this point, which is early, I'd say that this seems like a racing game, which more serious simmers should also check out at some point. I bought this from GMG for around 37,50€, and have no regrets so far. Another thing is how much I will play this in the end, but I take F1 2016 as what it is, that is a simcade racing game and as such, I must give Codies a seal of approval. Overall 8/10.

Excellent review. I wouldnt give it 8/10, but its nice reading what makes it work for you.

 

[TheGrunt]

Excellent review. I wouldnt give it 8/10, but its nice reading what makes it work for you.

Thanks! I point out that it is 8/10 for what it is: a F1 simcade game. It does everything it needs to do at least decently and mostly well and there is just enough fidelity in it that even sim racing hobbyistis can have some fun with it. It is actually wrong to compare this game to titles like rF2 or AMS because F1 2016 (and earlier) are meant for wider audiences, but then again for F1's record, it has also many features that serious games do lack, like the careers, cut scenes and commentators, but also on the serious side there is a proper F1 rule set with parc ferme etc. I can absolutely fine enjoy some lighter racing when it is done well and so far F1 2016 seems to fit the bill

 

[Joel Vischer]

This year's F1 done by Codies once again has surprised me, you can see they actually really tried this year instead of screwing the whole game over. Of course it isnt perfect, but it's a step in the right direction for sure. As a controller player, yes i know it is far from optimal, this years title is the most challenging, the handling feels odd with a controller and turning feels like Im driving a huge truck. It feels so slow! Sound is something many people complained about but i think it's quite a good representation of todays f1 sounds, with 7.1 surround it's really cool to hear the cars coming up behind you, or hear the busy pit lane as you rush by. Graphically wise not much to comment on my side, not running high specs but can run the game at a decent graphical setting which is nice to me, light is something they really improved on this year.

 

[Patrik Saxen]

Can anyone else confirm that you cannot change AI difficulty once you've started Career mode? That's majorly disappointing if it's the case because I'm once of those people where Hard can get too easy after an extended time with the game.

Yes you can change difficulty in career and as far as I know you can also change between sessions.

 

[Deleted member 6919]

Anyone else finding it hard to hear the engineer? want ever config I try in the audio he just isn't loud enough..