Codemasters to launch F1 2015 in June

2015 F1 season

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F1 2015, the latest edition of Codemasters’ official Formula One game, is set for an earlier release than its predecessors. The first F1 game for next-generation consoles will go on sale in June.

The game will run on a new version of Codemasters’ EGO graphics engine which the publishers say will offer “spectacular visual fidelity” and “a significant step forward in the physics-based handling model of the game”.

Codemasters say the games’ handling model features more than 20 improvements including “engine and transmission, aerodynamics, fuel tank, force feedback, suspension and most notably a brand new tyre physics model”.

As well as all the teams, drivers and cars from the 2015 season, the new game will include last year’s season data as well.

Game director Paul Jeal said F1 2015 is “a shift in direction for the game series”

“The handling is a vast improvement from our previous games. In particular our new tyre model is a superb step forward towards realism, letting you explore where the limit is and allowing you to instantly feel much more connected with the car. You can now experience the changes in grip caused by temperature changes, wear, car set-up, debris and weather conditions.”

F1 2015 will be released for PlayStation 4 computer, Xbox One and PC.

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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60 comments on “Codemasters to launch F1 2015 in June”

  1. Hopefully they change the noses to 2015 version.

    1. F1 2015 will also have the 2014 season.

      1. That’s neat. I’m not impressed with the screenshots though, the codemasters game have a distinctive filter, the light effect always look strange and this was still on the game after the 2010 which on top had an even stranger post effect. The new graphics engine seems to retain this strange look I don’t know if it’s the contrast the shadows or the glare, it’s just uncanny.

        1. Let’s hope you can start career mode in 2014 and then move on to 2015.

          1. Let’s hope the Williams car actually looks like a Williams this time

        2. It’s the HDR. I always thought Codemasters was a little too heavy handed with their use of HDR. Their heavy use of HDR gives their games a cartoon/comicbook feel.

  2. Code masters have failed repeatedly to produce a god formula 1 game. I doubt this will be it, Rfactor mods are probably better.
    I still think the best F1 game is F1 championship edition 2006. It just felt real, compared to this arcade obsession with code masters.

    1. @gremlinwon FCE06 was indeed very solid, representative of the 06 year and that era of cars. The codemaster games as games haven’t been very solid, and as representations of F1 these have felt a little off the real F1. I think it’s funny that Codemaster said this

      You can now experience the changes in grip caused by temperature changes, wear, car set-up, debris and weather conditions.”

      F1Challenge did pretty much this, and I’m not a particular fan of that game.

      1. Stuart Becktell (@)
        26th March 2015, 15:13

        F1 Challenge 99-02 did not have debris damage.

    2. Stuart Becktell (@)
      26th March 2015, 15:14

      I played F1 CE and wasn’t impressed with its arcade feel. The fact that it had canned spins was very aggravating.

      1. you didn’t look in the settings to turn that off? I never had that happen to me…

      2. @stubeck yeah i’m the same, I brought F1 CE & didn’t really enjoy it, Bit to far on the arcade side for my liking.

        The Codemasters games have been OK but a bit inconsistent from year to year. 2010 felt more arcade, 2011 felt better but 2012 was a step backwards with 2013 probably been the best of the lot & 2014 been more or less the same.

        I think however that the best F1 games have all been on PC, The Geoff Crammond games were all excellent & a lot of the mods on F1C 99-02, Rfactor etc… were also brilliant.

        More recently Assetto Corsa has really impressed me, No modern F1 cars but it has mod support & some classic cars which all feel simply fantastic with a decent wheel/pedal setup. You can even add mods to give rev-counter/timing graphics like we see on TV-
        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hpi0FHjA5cM&hd=1

        1. Finally! Someone who praises physics realism in a game and recognises what realism feels like. I totally agree with you. I’ve played f1 2011 and I own f1 2013 and none come close to Geoff crammonds grand prix series (I have gp3)

          Rfactor also looks good but sounds weird sometimes, but assetto corsa… What can I say? Its litterally perfect in almost every way. Those formula corsa mods are still available if anyone really wants an authentic experience of what driving an f1 car is really like.

          In assetto corsa, you actually get a kick out of driving a car. Even if you’re the only one on the track, just mastering a corner and trying to beat your lap time is so enjoyable. The last time I enjoyed DRIVING the car (as oppose to racing it) was in Geoff crammonds gp3.

          Codemsters could learn lots from these people at AC

          http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5GnvqxQr4Do

          Simply awesome

          1. I agree. I have recently ditched my console fan boy-ism to get more into pc racing as the next gen consoles have no exclusives and no racing games to speak. I guess I got fed up with GT6 and it’s “amazing simulation” compared to a rather old PC racing Game Race07, race07 feels fantastic and people still race online on it aswell!

    3. I very much liked F1 racing championship for PC, by Ubisoft (season 1999, released in 2000 or 2001). Only weakness of the game was poor AI which got stuck time to time, but it had very realistic car behavior, and u got flipped arround if u contacted with youre tyres with another car + the suspension failed after repeated punishments….second is 99-02 by EA, but it lacked the tyre contact realism…Geoff Crammonds GP4 was good as well, but it suffered by slowdowns and the onboard was not as detailed as it should be

      1. Wasn’t F1RC the 1996 season? I loved that game.

        1. Nevermind. I meant F1 Racing Simulation.

      2. GP4 still had the physics engine from GP2, which was released in ´96. And while later installments only where graphic-updates and new liveries/drivers/tracks, one has to say the GP2-physics-engine was the best simulation-engine for almost a decade, a milestone in gaming history, and basically had 90% of all the features that later developments in racing-sims strive to enhance. Just compare pre-GP2-games (like “Lotus” or “Test Drive”) and those developed later, and you´ll see the huge impact it had on how to program a racing-game. Yes, I am a fan, as my username my subtly hint at.

        1. @crammond driving in the wet at Spa on GP4 is still one of my favourite ways to pass the time. Still better than any codemasters experience I’ve had.

          1. codemaster wet simulation consists of 3 things

            1) understeer
            2) snap oversteer
            3) being unrealistically blind from the “dynamic lighting” and spray from the cars. *I used to race and have raced in torrential rain and have been blind up to not being able to see 10 metres ahead of me. In the games inters are on time to shut my eyes.

  3. The biggest thing that is still missing is TV-style overlays and camera angles. I just wish i could see that pass i’ve just made the way it would look on TV.

    1. That’s my biggest gripe with most console racing games (infact, close to all of them), is that they don’t offer realistic TV cameras. I don’t want all of these super dynamic shots for watching a race. They’re fine for creating promos and other videos, but I want to watch a race how a race would normally be watched. One day it might happen. Maybe it will in this game. Who knows.

    2. petebaldwin (@)
      26th March 2015, 16:00

      @leftie @philereid – It’s a difficult choice for them though – what are they trying to achieve in their game?

      Are they trying to re-create a race so that you experience what an F1 driver experiences or are they trying to re-create the TV experience so you experience what a viewer at home experiences?

      Personally, I would prefer the race to have no display other than what you would receive in the car as the driver. I’d have the information come to you over the radio, on the pit-board and on the steering wheel. I would then use the TV graphics on any highlights, re-plays etc which the game shows to add authenticity.

      1. @petebaldwin What I want if for the option to be there to have both. Why not? It really doesn’t take too much effort to put in the options of having HUD only on wheel, and to have extra cameras for TV. It seems games just get less and less options each iteration.

    3. Hear hear. They used to do the TV-style overlays when Psygnosis/Studio Liverpool developed the games from F1 95 to CE, and had the ITV commentary team. They had a spectator mode back then and you could also flick through each car when watching replays. It would be nice to be able to do the latter again.

  4. petebaldwin (@)
    26th March 2015, 15:20

    They have lots to improve on but my worry would be that a lot of the previous issues had nothing to do with a lack of power from the last-gen consoles but more with bad design decisions.

    I’ll live in hope that they’ll get it right this time but I’m half expecting the exact same game with a few minor changes.

    1. @petebaldwin I understand that a lot of the problems with the previous titles has been that the game engine was originally developed for the Dirt series & that the main reasons they have never had proper replays with trackside cameras, Spectators modes etc… is because of the limitations of the game engine been built primarily for rally games.
      The grid series has many of the same issues for the same reasons.

      The engine there using for F1 2015 is a brand new engine which should be built from the ground up for circuit racing rather than rallying.

  5. “You can now experience the changes in grip caused by temperature changes, wear, car set-up, debris and weather conditions.”

    Something they’ve said time and time again since they got the license, but have yet to deliver. I remember towards the start of the series it received favourable reviews, but it appeared over time the engine was seriously limited in terms of how precisely handling characteristics could be fine-tuned. Leading to things that people just assumed would be improved upon as time went on going unchanged, muddied or even going in an unexpected or seemingly random direction.

    Who knows, maybe this time they’ve got it right? It will never be the simulation game some people are looking for, and that’s fine, there’s iRacing, rFactor mods, Live for Speed etc. for that, this doesn’t and I almost argue shouldn’t be that (to appeal to the masses) but things like non-buggy multiplayer, some solid lobby systems, and online racing rules that are conducive to clean, proper racing, shouldn’t be limited to said sim’s.

    Looking forward to the reviews and hands on articles, hopefully it has a solid showing at some game conference or something before release where previewers can really sink their teeth into it.

    I would love to get excited about this series again, but after the horrible way it’s been managed so far, it’s really hard to be.

    1. petebaldwin (@)
      26th March 2015, 15:47

      So are they saying you couldn’t experience the changes in grip caused by set-up, weather and wear previously?

    2. @skipgamer Can’t wait for the McLaren-Honda MP4-30 (2015 F1 car) to be built for iRacing! At the same time, a laser scanned Nurburgring Nordschleife..

      @petebaldwin Looks like it. Meanwhile, if you can’t get the car handling how you like it in iRacing, you’ll be more off-pace than a pay driver having a particularly bad day…. if you’re lucky :P.

  6. Seriously, the best F1 sim around at the moment, albeit not official can be found in this game:

    http://game-stockcar.com.br/?lang=en

    I’ve made the same mistake time and again in the hope that Codewasters will at last deliver on their promise.

    Never again.

    1. @psynrg Heh, the Reiza looks a lot like the last F1 car Rubens raced… but that’s a nice line up and I’ve heard good things about GSC.

  7. I hope Codemasters stick to their word on bringing updates throughout the season (well, from June). I see the Mercedes nose already needs updating.

    Having the 2014 season is a nice addition (it was an great season, it deserves next gen representation), but I already bought F1 2014!

  8. “Work in Progress” with a picture of a McLaren and a Red Bull. I hope that was intentional…

  9. Will the 2014 cars be added to the grid to make it look full?

  10. I hope they inlcude formation laps and cool down laps etc- would make the game a bit more immersive and wouldn’t be difficult to turn off for people who didn’t want them.

  11. The one thing I care about more than anything else, is the AI, and whether they have finally improved.

    They have been terrible in 5 consecutive games. F1 Challenge 99-02 has better AI than Codemasters, and that game is almost 10 years old.

    The AI’s tendency to smash on the brakes and lose 2 seconds EVERY time they have the inside line almost ruined offline racing for me.

    1. @kingshark Having played F1C to death back in the day, there is absolutely no way that I would say that the AI in that game was as good as in Codemasters’ series, let alone better.

      They would crash into each other with comical regularity and weave around on straights really randomly when racing other AI opponents.

      F1C was a fun F1 game for a lot of reasons, but its offline single player experience was by no means among the best compared to many other officially licensed games.

    2. @willwood
      I actually meant talking about F1 2006 Championship Edition (hence almost 10 years old). However, I personally found the AI to be more challenging on that game. I distinctly remember being dive-bombed into a heavy braking zone by the AI on many occasions, something that has never happened to me on any Codemaster’s games. Granted, F1C’s AI were clumsy, but at least it was a moderate challenge to keep them behind. You actually needed to do more than just stay on the racing line.

  12. I am glad that this is now a mid-season game. Enough of those “end of the year” releases.
    Just checking guys, anyone reading this comment. Am I the only one waiting for an official F1 management game? And I am not thinking about some online/web-based flash “product” or something made by some independent game developer with made-up teams like Fucuderia Serrari (In reality I am not aware of any using this name) but a proper licensed game like there used to be, in the year 2000.
    Real teams, real drivers, real tracks. Starting a season with van der Garde thinking that he too will drive for your team etc.
    And that you can build a team from scratch. Buying land, building a factory, hire engineers, finding sponsors and drivers. Design motorhome, transporters for the team, buy lorries etc.
    Things got pretty anal, sorry about that.

    1. I’ve spent countless sessions trying to get “team f1” working on my newer comps (also called pole position somewhere). That was a great management game for the 1995(?) season.

    2. Edward Grabowski made a great manager game, with great pictures and awesome soundtrack. I dont get it why in todays F1 they are forcing electronic and autotuned songs…we all know that rock tracks should be played like in the old days, and the only electronic instrument is supposed to be the guitar :)

    3. Waiting for a good manager for nearly 2 decades, yes. Wouldn´t even need something licensed with real names, just realistic and in-depth simulation of all the aspects and a good AI, and the game being properly bug-tested. After I have been heavily disappointed by every game that tried (the mentioned Grabowski-game was at least bearable), I came to the conclusion the target-group is probably to small to develop a game good enough for said target-group. I can´t see any other reason why we don´t have anything even close to that kind of game.

      1. Yes, I agree with you on this. F1 management game is no GTA V. But let`s wait and see.

  13. Blaming Codemasters is pretty popular but their 2010 game wans’t too bad actually, considering it was their first game. The problem is they haven’t changed it much since then.

    Let’s hope F1 2015 is the big change they have promised.

    1. As a game, F1 2010 was great. There were so many more features, most of which are gone now (anyone remember walking down the paddock and answering interview questions?). However, the handling model was terrible. The car was very stiff and you could correct almost any slide by simply braking.

      I am also quite hopeful for 2015.

  14. Finally! First Codies said that more info for F1 2015 would come out in October after the release of F1 2014, then they said after the beginning of the new year, and it took them till the end of March to finally announce something!

  15. F1 ’97 > *

    1. Not just the best F1 game but The Best Game Ever! :D

  16. What’s Geoff Crammond up to these days?

  17. I think one of the problems which has been a limiting factor for the previous CM F1 games is that the game engine was initially designed around the Dirt series & because it was primarily built for rally games there were a lot of limitations in what they could do.

    For example a common complaint about F1 2010-2014 is that there was no spectator modes & that ai laptimes & performance didn’t match what the player was seeing & was not always consistent. Reason for both is the rally origin of the game engine where that sort of thing isn’t really necessary.

    I believe that CM will be using a totally new game engine for F1 2015 which will allow them to resolve many of these issues.

    1. I think they already confirmed they are using a new game engine this year.

      Interesting points about the origin of the current one.

      1. Michael Brown
        26th March 2015, 22:02

        Really? I’m interested in seeing how it performs.

  18. I’m still waiting for them to release a proper F1 game.

    But because of consoles, that’ll never happen.

  19. Not interested in any of this. I am a grown man.

  20. Duncan Snowden
    26th March 2015, 23:34

    “PC”

    Grrr.

    There are over 1000 games for Linux on Steam now. The Codies’ own GRID: Autosport will join them in a few weeks. So what does “PC” mean? Sure, the balance of probability is still with MS Windows, but we can no longer take that for granted. They might as well say “F1 2015 will be released for things”.

    Still, it doesn’t matter. Nothing beats Geoff Crammond’s F1GP.

  21. If only they could get the car to feel different depending on how the car is setup, it’s still far to arcade in last few years incarnations, I understand from a business model needing to appeal to a wider audience, however this kind of genre of motor racing gaming does little to improve race craft, spacial awareness, even track surface and bumps.

    Not really an F1 simulator rather a F1 skinned any other mass marketed, multi platform racing kind of game.

    They could with some preparation do a pre-release in Feb and updates after each real life race, and use that as a tool for R&D. This would also keep interested willing to suspend criticisms to try re-enact performances seen.

    However it is not just Codemasters that translates this highly competitive environment in my opinion wrongly, many in the sport in their efforts to be more media friendly do just as bad a job. Does passion about F1 and wanting it to be more of a simulator, does the majority care, or is ego more important as a marketing tool ( by that I mean encouraging a feeling of success without really that much effort).

    I’m pretty sure some here have Assetto Corsa and a wheel, drive street cars not just GT, like myself. Here is a driving experience..whilst it’s virtual and not real, it’s so good driving it it’s easy to forget as you heel and toe on a down shift, yet it’s very accessible with controller too, played 700 hrs before I could afford a wheel on it, and set many times, raced many races (cleanly I add, and videos proving it) that were very competitive. Having a wheel I have set many new PB’s why? practice is the answer and if codemasters continue with just a short practice on long weekend, they are basically setting the standard for the servers etc etc. I know many don’t want to practice, they don’t often stay in my rear mirror for long or they crash into me thinking they can do the same as with AI.

  22. toca 1, 2, race driver 3, colin mcrae rally one, 2,4. micro machines 2, dtm, so many great codemasters racing games but for some reason, since f1 2011 they have not improved at all. the game is boring, boring intro, boring same voice from pits, you never get a sense of being in a race. Agreed about the strange graphics / lighting effects. doesnt have the look of realism. huge lack of game type options. TV style graphics would be great, as would commentary.

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