F1 Fanatic

Well, the demo was supposed to be on Steam today but I can’t find it there.

@infernojim I just played it and think the complete opposite :p.
My TV is cheap and rubbish but it sounds fine on 2011 – the sound on 2012 sounds like it’s coming from a tin can.
The first time I played 2011 I didn’t like the handling but it grew on me so I’ll give 2012 a bit longer but first impressions are quite terrible: even with no traction control I can go 100% throttle in 1st at low speed and only spin if I turn sharply. I can’t sense much wheelspin whereas medium TC on 2011 I can really feel it.
When turning there is no rear movement at all and that pretty much sucks all the fun out for me. Also the steering is way too sensitive at some corners such as Ascari.
Aaaaaand there is a horrible tyre squealing sound when the car understeers which sounds very fake.
You can turn way too much under braking which again feels fake.
And worst of all the car feels very dead and there is no feedback at all apart from a weak vibration when you catch a curb.

Hopefully some setup work can solve some of these problems and I might be able to dig into the sound menu and play around a bit but overall I’m very disappointed. I might save my money and get Forza Horizon instead.

I agree with that, it feels like you are driving on rails, absolutely nothing happens at the rear.
The AI is to weak once again, no point in playing the career mode then.

I downloaded/played the F1 2012 demo breifly via Xbox360.
I must mention before all else, I’m used to playing f1 2010 on ps3 with a playseat/g27 wheel&pedals.
Since I was only able to use the X360 controller it’s hard for me to give a great comparison.
I cannot compare to F1 2011 as I have not played that.

First off I can say that the graphics are definitely better, and so is the sound and the overall presentation. I play on a 60″ Sony TV with a 5.1 Surround Home theater system.

For me the Young Drivers Test was good to help me get to grips with the new game and the controller since I’m not used to it. It was quite frustrating at times as I felt quite limited with the controller. To all of you that do play with the controller, I commend you all! I’m not used to using the KERS or DRS either. I put the difficulty on medium because I was unfamiliar and wanted to see how challenging it is.

In young Drivers mode you go through all the controller buttons and you have the option of customizing the controller any way you like. That’s a great feature but nothing new. Then you have a manual/automatic + manual with assist. It helps guide you as to which gear you should be in approaching a corner and exiting one as well as on straights.
Then you have a straight line test and a sort of circuit test. I believe there’s a video showcasing the tutorial.

After that is completed you have to put in your fastest lap on monza with Williams. Poor Senna gave up his seat for me. I was worried about how Paster Angrynado would feel of having a better teammate. Before you do your qualy lap you must choose a rival (much like choosing a rival in career mode of f12010) I choose Narain as I wasn’t sure how I would progress.

You only have one chance to do your qualy lap so make it good. Of course you could always flashback or restart your lap if you’re unhappy. After a few frustrating attempts, I ended up posting a 2nd or 3rd fastest lap. (I can’t remember at the moment)
Now that I recall I started on the 1st row with Vettel beside me. He just edged me by about .060 seconds. With Pastor in 3rd.

Oh, I must mention I had ABS ON and TC to medium. (I could not get comfortable with no aids on in a short amount of time, as well as the racing line in 3d mode)

During the race I found it somewhat easy even though I had a number of off track moments. I had alot of pressure from vettel until I got comfortable with the controller and was able to pull away nearly 2 seconds a lap.

If I have time tonight I will try a harder difficulty. But I do think I will purchase this game for the ps3 once it comes out in a week, since I have a gift certificate at one of the local game shops here. (EBgames/Gamestop) I will definitely not be buying this game every year though as I simply think that is too expensive for one and not too much difference each year. Just like all those NHL and FIFA and other sports games that come out every year. It’s preposterous but I will not get into that.

I’m sure I missed something, but if anyone has questions I’ll be happy to try to answer them.

Comparing the F1 2012 demo to the F1 2011 game, I have already found a bug: When I’m exiting the pits in the Young Drivers Test, the speed limiter turns off, however the sound of the engine is just like when you’re in the pits. And there are also some bugs on track. For example, I crashed into a bollard and my car just flew, flipped and crashed into the barriers.

I hope the game is better, otherwise I’m not buying it. Codemasters do emphasise on the demo not reflecting the final product, though…

Had I not just hammered him by 3.644seconds, Pastor would have been on pole for my Monza!
Fastest Abu Dhabi time: 1:42.336
Fastest Monza time: 1:22.507

@prisoner monkeys Sorry, I haven’t seen your video. Because CM started working on f1 2012 during the f1 2011 season or at least some-point after f1 2011 was released. They had no basis on the 2012 cars until much later in the development process. You could be correct that it was an isolated incident and I haven’t played the demo enough to confirm this or not. I was merely saying I hope that this isn’t the case, nothing more.