F1 2018 The "First Impressions" Thread

[Peter Kerényi]

Hello guys. Let's share our first impressions of the game here to help others decide.

I have been playing for ~2 hours. I haven't tried career/online yet, only time attack and grand prix.

So far I find the game much better than F1 2017. A major "pro" is the driving/handling, which is more predictable, direct, yet can be more punishing. From my point of view it's a decent step forward in our world of simulations. In my first race at Spa with a Sauber, with a lower downforce setting, I was constantly at the edge of grip at Eau Rogue/Radillion. I felt the car wanting to break loose, and I could correct it, because there is no more latency/input lag and the in game steering wheel is in sync with your physical wheel (finally).

Another "pro" is AI. Can be a very little bit more aggressive than optimal, but it races you. I had it set to 100 where I used it in F1 2017. With a midfield car I was fighting in the midfield. It was great. I had to think not to overtake a car before a long straight, because I was sure they will get back the position. For someone who likes AI races I think this is a great game.

Another pro is the ERS management. It is very engaging, tactical. Want to attack but low on excess fuel? Use more ERS instead. Vice versa. Having good pace but low on juice? Let's sit behind for a few laps with DRS, recharge the ERS, then attack. Much better than only engine management like in previous games. Fortunately I have a T300 with the F1 wheel so I can map all the buttons.

So as a racing title, I find F1 2018 to be a major step up from F1 2017, and I would personally recommend it to any sim racer who, of course, likes F1.

Now as a game... anti aliasing is still the same as F1 2017 (TAA), which is not very nice. The mirrors are still blurry and I was still getting lag spikes. I am trying a few tweaks to get rid of them, because they can be quite frustrating. Graphics are nicer regardless. Sounds are also a major step up, the Ferrari engine actually sounds like the Ferrari engine. Menus are more or less the same as the previous game. Menu music is more "chill".

These are all my opinions about the game. The more we share our experiences, the more we can help the others decide if they want to get this game. Feel free to ask questions.

 

[Leonardo Chaves]

Setting the weight more towards the back really unleashes the car, i accidentaly made the car a bit too tail happy which is a first in a Codemasters F1 game, great

 

[newbert]

I've got only one question. Does the UI support mouse input (on the PC version)?

Thanks!

 

[Norseman]

Am I the only one who thinks the sound level on the in cockpit is waaay too low? I installed Letasoft Sound Booster just so I could get the volume up to where I like it, but now then the crowd sounds are way too high. No way can a driver hear the crowd that much when he's in the cockpit. Anyone know how I can turn down the crowd volume?

 

[Leonardo Chaves]

I've got only one question. Does the UI support mouse input (on the PC version)?

Thanks!

Nope.

 

[Trebor901]

My one annoyance so far is graphically and that's the night time graphics of the track. During the day they look amazing, sun reflecting off the tarmac etc. But you get to a night race like Bahrain and the track looks awful, flood lights don't reflect off the track or anything the surface is just one flat colour.

 

[romanos]

https://steamcommunity.com/app/737800/discussions/0/1733210552677753983/

Seems like more people are having the stuttering issue.

 

[newbert]

Pity. No mouse support is a deal-breaker for me.

Thanks.

 

[robmcm]

Love it so far...

... but...

Audio stutters from time to time, and the radio messages are still garbled like they were in 2017 e.g. “full race update” and I might get two voices talking at the same time. Also in a 5-lap test race, how can i "really be racing" guys three positions ahead of me on the final lap... Hmmm....

 

[Lesley Buurlage]

lol. just finished my first career race, driven 5th from halfway through the race trailing grosjean, cross the line and i finish 6th. hamilton wins, followed by raikkonen and ricciardo. podium: bottas, hamilton, raikkonen... lewis retires after he crosses the line and suddenly bottas who started 13th and driving 12th is teleported to 1st

 

[Richard Millard]

So far, so good. Enjoying the feel of the game, although I played 2017 with a Thrustmaster TX on the PC and all I did was plug it in and play, it required very little adjustment. This year I have a Thrustmaster T300RS and had to spend a good solid hour of setting up the wheel to get the feel right, as the default had very little feel in the game.

I've only done one race so far, but out performed in my Sauber. In the previous games I've found I have to lower the difficulty for Practice and Qualifying as I was unable to complete programs and always qualified seconds off the pace, however the same difficulty in the race was too easy which led me to changing the difficulty between sessions. This was easy to do in 2017, but in this years game I cannot for the life of me figure out how to change the difficulty, I can see the menu but it is all greyed out.

Any suggestions?

 

[vee10]

The racing in this game is just brilliant, it has everything. Just finished a race at Spain and finished 8th after managing my tyres and ERS deployment until unleashing hell on Vandoorne on the 2nd to last lap and grabbing the place.

After finishing a race I can't wait to get back on it again, a great sign.

Although modern F1 lends itself very well to games, be it R&D or race strategy, other 'sims' could learn a thing or two from codemasters about immersion and a single player experience, it just sucks you in.

Love it.

 

[Trebor901]

one thing im liking is the fact that you start career in a slower car and you really do have to race it hard to get any kind of result which hasnt really been the case in previous f1 games

 

[Thomas34DK]

Great game, so much cooler thant F1 2017, playing with gamepad though, waiting for a new bracket for my wheelmount.... :-/, and i am missing the DLC i believe i should have as i preordred the headline edition, but i cannot get it in the game :-(

 

[Karl Brankin]

So far, so good. Enjoying the feel of the game, although I played 2017 with a Thrustmaster TX on the PC and all I did was plug it in and play, it required very little adjustment. This year I have a Thrustmaster T300RS and had to spend a good solid hour of setting up the wheel to get the feel right, as the default had very little feel in the game.

I've only done one race so far, but out performed in my Sauber. In the previous games I've found I have to lower the difficulty for Practice and Qualifying as I was unable to complete programs and always qualified seconds off the pace, however the same difficulty in the race was too easy which led me to changing the difficulty between sessions. This was easy to do in 2017, but in this years game I cannot for the life of me figure out how to change the difficulty, I can see the menu but it is all greyed out.

Any suggestions?

Any chance you could post your settings here or in the FFB thread please. I have just ordered this from CDkeys and it's installing now. It will take hours on my rubbish internet connection. So an hour or so saved not having to mess around with FFB would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers