F1 2018 Progress check

[ryguy76]

Hi guys,

New to racing games as an adult, only been at it for a couple of weeks. Started with F1 2018 and really liking it now that I'm over the hump with controlling the car without assists. Was hard to go from all the assists to none, cold turkey, but I'd recommend that switch versus weening I think. So far, I've raced Australia in Career Mode with AI set rather low to 20. I could set competitive lap times with a little bit higher AI but when it comes to the races, I was getting out-classed which forced me to lower the AI so I could stay in the race.

I finished 11th in that Career Grand Prix on a 25% race. Was happy enough with that.

What I noticed was that the AI at this level, was pretty dumb. I was getting bumped from behind and from the side despite my efforts to race as cleanly as possible. Is this somewhat expected while the pack is tight on the first few laps?

I'm learning Bahrain now and have the fastest lap time after P2 so am contemplating bumping AI up but wondering if where I am at is pretty standard for being new.

If I run Time Trial on Australia with a Mercedes, my fastest lap is a 1:28 and appears to be 10 seconds slower than the best results on this track. To do that, I'm pushing myself hard and driving very aggressively and will lose it in 9 of 10 attempts. I know consistency will come with practice but I am stunned that on MY perfect lap, I'm still 10 seconds off the best times, even with a fully spec'd fast Mercedes. Crazy! But motivation to keep at it for sure.

 

[Gonira]

Difficulty is personal and only depends on how fast you are, that's why we have a slider with so many steps.

You will get better. But I don't even know what to think about the top times, I consider myself half decentish but still can't go faster than a 1:23 in Australia for my life, don't feel so bad.

As being bumped by the AI, it doesn't get much better at higher levels, they're overly aggressive in this game, but part of being bumped from behind is probably you being inconsistent in your braking points or moving to their line when they stick their nose to pass you. Different to most other racing games, including older F1 titles, the AI will battle you, therefore **** happens. And you have to be aware of where they are in relation to your car to not cause accidents yourself.

 

[ryguy76]

Difficulty is personal and only depends on how fast you are, that's why we have a slider with so many steps.

You will get better. But I don't even know what to think about the top times, I consider myself half decentish but still can't go faster than a 1:23 in Australia for my life, don't feel so bad.

As being bumped by the AI, it doesn't get much better at higher levels, they're overly aggressive in this game, but part of being bumped from behind is probably you being inconsistent in your braking points or moving to their line when they stick their nose to pass you. Different to most other racing games, including older F1 titles, the AI will battle you, therefore **** happens. And you have to be aware of where they are in relation to your car to not cause accidents yourself.

Thanks for responding. I spent some time at Bahrain today in the Career Mode and had the fastest lap going into Q3 but ended up in P3 to start the race. I was getting spanked off the line so kept restarting to try and figure out how to be faster and eventually got to the first corner in P4 so raced with that. Finished 2nd with 2 Flashbacks due to getting spun off the track from other cars. I didn't bother Flashbacking for any of my own mistakes, just the things I couldn't really help due to my lack of car awareness, (need to figure that part out next).

Anyway, I think with my fast lap times in the late P sessions and throughout the Q sessions, coupled with my 2nd place on race number 2, I need to definitely adjust the AI for the next Grand Prix.

You're probably right about the getting bumped from behind. In Australia, I was at the back of the pack and when I overtook someone, they were all hot on my tail and I was panicky so likely was all over the map on consistency.

Being faster than AI on Bahrain allowed me to be ahead of the pack for the most part until I did something to allow them to catch up. After a few corners, I had space again though.

Because of the over-aggressive AI, is the first few corners usually a bumpfest despite skill, or does proficiency with "car awareness" dramatically cut down on early race vehicle damage?

 

[Sasha Jednak]

Hi, and welcome to racing games.
I would add also one thing which helped me to get faster. After doing enough laps that you feel you reached your limit, make sure to memorize your braking points. Then go on youtube and watch some of faster guys and try to see what they do different.