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)

 

[Daniel Higgins]

Hi Steven, What are your ideas for the 'live the life' side of F1 2011? I currently quite like the system now and often go into the GP's thinking 'got to finish ahead of my teammate' or 'team need some good points in constructors today'.

I also would like to ask about the public or semi-public beta version to maybe avoid problems such as with F1 2010.

Dan.

 

[Ricardo Fonseca]

Hello Stephen!

Since you got the F1 2009 Licence (skins tracks etc...) i would like to know if there is a DLC plan for the 2010 game or even to the 2011 game. It would be great to play the 2009, 2010 and 2011 season in the same game! Thanks and keep up the good work!

 

[Nick Deeley]

Is there a plan to replace the current 'reputation' system?
If you apply the game system to this year's F1 season. Then Vettel would of been sacked after Korea as he would not have enough 'rep' to keep his seat with Red Bull as this is only his 3rd season. Petrov would no doubt get the sack too, as well as numerous other drivers who would have not gained the equivalent game rep with their real life situation to maintain their current race seat.

Hamilton would never of got offered a Mclaren seat in his first year, neither would Hulkenberg in the Williams.

Surely there needs to some recognition in the game, because overall, there is only one 'real' way to go through the system. And thats to start off badly and gradually work your way up through the field, going from one team to the next each season, eventually ending up with either Mclaren, Ferrari or Red Bull for one final year (either season 5 or 7) to win the championship and then retire. There are also those players that have complained about dominating the first season in a Lotus, HRT or Virgin, but not getting the slightest bit of notice from either the media or bigger teams - this would never happen in real life.

So, are there any plans to implement a system where the game adapts to the success or failure of the player. If you start off winning - you generate media and big team interest alot quicker than if you start off the back and dont do so well. What about long term contracts of 2 or 3 years, maybe more? How about the Agent gets off the chair and actually does some work for you. She goes hunting for bigger contracts if your doing well, and you get to speak to them before the media so she can give you 'tips' on what to say, or answer to rumours about moving teams etc. How about getting offered to stay on in F1 if you've chosen 3 or 5 years if you've won the championship or came close to it?

Looking forward to F1 2011.

 

[Helmut Skrdla]

I'd like to ask Mr. Hood, with all due respect, to make clear if there is any intention to fix the problems caused by the patch for PC in F1 2010 (rain puddles, dynamic race line, AI in practice/qualy endless yielding/attacking), and those which are listed in the changelog but still happening to some people (AI not pitting, player stuck in pits). I'm not asking for gameplay changes or anything substanitally different, just for them to give back what we had working before the patch, but of course including the fixes from the patch.

For the upcoming game I'd ask if Codemaster will consider giving current F1 2010 50% off if they will not fix the current game because work on F1 2011 has already begun.

 

[RobbFryatt]

Will F1 2011 be just another game to you or will it be something special?

 

[Seftinho]

Will there be a bit more realism RE crashes? Personally, and I don't know if this is just me, but crashing is perhaps the most exciting part of motor racing. In F12010 you can bounce off barriers and into other cars with no damage whatsoever, whilst the AI rarely ever crash, and as a result there are very rare DNF's. The main areas I'm talking about are:

- AI more susceptible to crashing into you and other cars.
- More "big crashes" - cars losing control, going flying, maybe occasionally even flipping over (I understand incidents like these aren't common)
- Another level of damage (at the moment there is Off, Visual and Full, with Cosmetic online) where crashing is much more realistic - you smash into a barrier you won't bounce off unharmed, you would smash up your car and DNF or if you're lucky, only get a puncture or something. As well as rear wing damage, suspension damage, etc. I understand why random mechanical failures aren't in the game, but I don't see why things like I have mentioned above are excluded from F1 2010.
- Safety Cars - can make races interesting and gives the smaller teams a better chance of scoring a few points.

Thanks.

 

[F1 2011 Rocks!]

Is there a reason as to why the game's release is timed to coincide with the end of the F1 season instead of the beginning? Will there be some sort of roster update for season 2011, otherwise we've bought this game and it'll be out of date in some aspect (driver changes, etc) come the new season?

Edit: What about an option to save during long races? Maybe some people would use this to 'cheat', but I wouldn't - I'd use it for when 'real life' interferes - someone pops round, you have to pop out - stuff like that. Oh and of course the fact that you could drive most of the race and then have your system crash, losing you all that progress - most annoying and rectified by allowing saving in races. Hey, if people want to use it to cheat, that's their poor lookout, isn't it? :wink:

mod edit: posts merged - if you were the last person to post in the thread, please edit your last post rather than start a new one. Thanks. JC.

Will there be a bit more realism RE crashes? Personally, and I don't know if this is just me, but crashing is perhaps the most exciting part of motor racing. In F12010 you can bounce off barriers and into other cars with no damage whatsoever, whilst the AI rarely ever crash, and as a result there are very rare DNF's. The main areas I'm talking about are:

- AI more susceptible to crashing into you and other cars.
- More "big crashes" - cars losing control, going flying, maybe occasionally even flipping over (I understand incidents like these aren't common)
- Another level of damage (at the moment there is Off, Visual and Full, with Cosmetic online) where crashing is much more realistic - you smash into a barrier you won't bounce off unharmed, you would smash up your car and DNF or if you're lucky, only get a puncture or something. As well as rear wing damage, suspension damage, etc. I understand why random mechanical failures aren't in the game, but I don't see why things like I have mentioned above are excluded from F1 2010.
- Safety Cars - can make races interesting and gives the smaller teams a better chance of scoring a few points.

Thanks.

More AI DNFs can also give the smaller teams chances of points. As far as random mechanical failures are concerned, if someone doesn't like them, then they can turn them off - but they absolutely should be in the game.

 

[Seftinho]

Is there a reason as to why the game's release is timed to coincide with the end of the F1 season instead of the beginning? Will there be some sort of roster update for season 2011, otherwise we've bought this game and it'll be out of date in some aspect (driver changes, etc) come the new season?

Edit: What about an option to save during long races? Maybe some people would use this to 'cheat', but I wouldn't - I'd use it for when 'real life' interferes - someone pops round, you have to pop out - stuff like that. Oh and of course the fact that you could drive most of the race and then have your system crash, losing you all that progress - most annoying and rectified by allowing saving in races. Hey, if people want to use it to cheat, that's their poor lookout, isn't it? :wink:

mod edit: posts merged - if you were the last person to post in the thread, please edit your last post rather than start a new one. Thanks. JC.



More AI DNFs can also give the smaller teams chances of points. As far as random mechanical failures are concerned, if someone doesn't like them, then they can turn them off - but they absolutely should be in the game.

Yep, agree completely. The game is crying out for something to be done about the AI and DNF's side of the game, they are almost completely non-existant and a far cry from reality. Can't for the life of me work out why Safety Cars were excluded from 2010.

 

[Liquid4653]

I think I have the most important question of all

Will you be getting Robson Green back to reprise his role as engineer?

 

[ongy2k3]

Q: "Will there be a split screen multiplayer mode in F1 2011, or future Codemaster F1 releases?"

For me, this would be a great addition. It's been a while since I've had a split screen racing game on the PC (NFS Hot Pursuit?), and I feel it's an area that's often neglected due to the online capabilities. It would be nice to be able to race against my brother/nephew/friends etc. instead some hardcore nutters over the internet.

 

[Steve Stoop]

-While I would understand the reasoning behind not doing another patch just for gameplay fixes with CM surely hard at work for F1 2011, will outstanding performance issues caused by the patch that many PC gamers are experiencing be fixed?

- Will there be the possibility for more interaction with the race engineer in f1 2011?

-Will there be more statistical information available on f1 2011 (telemetry, fastest laps, comprehensive race results that can be checked in paddock)?

- Anything you can unveil about additions to 'live the life'?

- Will you add mechanical failures to the game?

- Are there major upgrades planned for AI behavior in 2011?

 

[Leonardo Chaves]

I want to know about physics/handling changes, and car setup.

Does f1 2011 have telemetry?
Differential settings? In F1 2010 feels like the diff is always on full lock.
Braking power, braking distances? Will it lock more? Will wheight transfer unsettle the back of the car more?
Will the downforce/drag ratio be adressed? it's really bad right now
What a about the low speed grip?

 

[altec122]

Here is my question/request,

1. "Live the Life" - to really "replicate" the live the life of a F1 driver the Career mode should start from Karting then Gp2/g3 (can be either or both) then a scout will invite you to join their F1 team, of course we should be able to walk in the paddock/garages(pit lane) while in practice or quali(but this can be ignore because its short time limited).

- but there should also be a "championship" mode which is straight to F1 season for those who doesnt want to grind from karting to gp2/3 to f1 in career mode.

so basically there is " Career > Championship > Race > Time Trial > Multiplayer Mode... just like other Codemaster racing game.

2. More accurate flag warning especially the yellow flag because sometimes there is an accident BEHIND me but a yellow flag will appear on my dash which is not good because we will slow down(for those who follow the rules) for no purpose at all and might lose a place or two because the ai will just run past us. another this is the electronic flag that is present in the track it we would like to see it work like in real life especially if the yellow or if the player is under blue flag that LED monitor in the track will warn us.. this will be very useful if you can apply the safety feature in f1 2011

From,

Terri (Philippines)

 

[iridium]

My question to Stephen Hood - not that he'll ever read this - is:

Will F1 2011 be full of bugs and will those bugs remain unpatched just like F1 2010?

 

[da_face]

Why should we buy the next Formula 1, when the current one did not work and does not get anymore support?
Will there be a Upgrade option to 2011, as a payment for our Betatesting in 2010?

 

[iridium]

Why should we buy the next Formula 1, when the current one did not work and does not get anymore support?
Will there be a Upgrade option to 2011, as a payment for our Betatesting in 2010?

Well, I definitely won't be buying F1 2011 without reading a good few positive reviews of it first. Any bugs like F1 2010 and I won't bother because from experience they won't be patched.

 

[Adam Bark]

Wrong thread for flaming Codemasters.

Will there be 24 cars available for mutiplayer?
Will they continue with the 'live the life' thing?
Will we be able to spend our hard earned cash on anything from career mode?

 

[James Chant]

Wrong thread for flaming Codemasters.

Indeed. This thread is for asking questions about the next game, not moaning about the current one

 

[Chris Jenkins]

Is there a reason as to why the game's release is timed to coincide with the end of the F1 season instead of the beginning? Will there be some sort of roster update for season 2011, otherwise we've bought this game and it'll be out of date in some aspect (driver changes, etc) come the new season?

This wouldn't happen as they have no data about the 2011 cars.
They could make a game which would not be a true representation of the 2011 performance, thus incurring more moans and complaints from people that it's not a realistic game.

 

[Dazzz is here]

This is my first post and i would like to raise a couple of points that relate entirely to online play.

1. If you crash out or get disqualified can we PLEASE have the option to "watch" the race ala Formula1 06 on ps2 , it gets so boring looking at a timing screen waiting for your mates to finish specially a long race.

2. When a crash occurs in front of you if you hit it , you get a penalty , if you stop you get illegal blocking if someone is behind or cause them to have a penalty , paradoxically if you avoid the accident by going on the grass to bypass it you get a penalty for illegal overtake.