F1 Fanatic

Don’t think that first person style thing would work. I think interacting with other drivers is good for sure and I think relationships with them would be very nice. I would also like to see the parade and celebratory laps linked with the parc ferme, podium and press room so it is all one fluid experience.

I agree with the team offers things though PM they did seem only to be able to achieved through rivals. So that does need some work.

No I agree that 2011 career was stale. But I’m not sure about being able to wander freely though. I still think interaction with more people would be a good thing but I’m not sure that would be the right way to go about it.

I agree that the live the life side of the career mode was pretty ordinary in 2011. In some respects, 2010 was better with your (sort of) human agent in your trailer, and the after race press interviews if you got a podium were quite good. I’d like to see the post race podium interviews come back actually.

The worst thing that I saw in 2011 were the number of stupid bugged “press release” things that came out in the loading screens in between races. The number of times that I got praised by the team boss for a win when I wasn’t even in the points, or congratulated on a podium when in fact I had a DNF are ridiculous.

The “david croft” interviews in 2011 are pretty rubbish too.

It could be improved in ways that others have said before; podium celebrations; champagne spewing etc etc.

It’d also be good if the post race interviews had some more varied topics. I’d love to have a chance to badmouth or play down a racing incident in the event I clipped someone. Or to come under fire for my driving style if I get several penalties in a row at various tracks.

And although it’ll never happen, I’d LOVE the opportunity to charge down into another team’s pit area and bean a driver if they run me off the track.

It’d also be cool if they had pre and post race sessions showing you signing autographs or something. Maybe your crow of fans could get bigger or smaller depending on your success or popularity.

The press release stuff could be improved too. Stuff you say in interviews should come back and be reflected in the press releases; good or bad. Your actions on track could also mean that other things are said about your personal life. For example, if you have a lot of off track excursions and/or penalties, the game responds and suggests your private life is just as hectic. Maybe the press report you being found drunk outside a nightclub clutching an inflatable dolphin or something. It’d be a nice nod to the fans if some of the incidents were things that actual drivers have been found doing (Raikkonen in this case). By the same token, if you’re known for clean races and not causing trouble, you get glowing praise in the media for your gentlemanly attitude.

I also think that little “sponsor” events wouldn’t be a bad idea. Maybe The team has you do a couple of laps on tracks that aren’t raced on anymore for promos. Or they get you doing doughnuts on the main straight at Catalunya. Whatever. Something a little different.

Another good way to “live the life” is to allow customisable helmets in career mode. I can understand why for online races it might be a problem (data transfer etc), but a personalised helmet for career mode should be on the cards.

And I don’t want to see another driver’s name on my car. I hate seeing “maldonado” on my car when I’m with Williams or “Schumacher” for Mercedes etc etc. Either put my name on it, or remove it completely.

The little details matter.

I haven’t played F1 2011 but am playing F1 2010. Currently in my 4th or 5th season. So I’m not sure if anything was fixed from 2010 to 2011 but here’s what I’d like to see for 2012.

I think codies should take some tips from F1 CE (aka F1-2006 for ps3). and add some mini games. One thing I liked was the help with car setups during practice, and the parade lap before the race starts to warm up your tires and prepare your car for getting onto the grid.
This mini game could be added into the safety car laps as well.

More customization options, helmet, race suit. building your own team I think would be amazing.

I would also like to see a statistics tracker especially if you’re doing a multi-season career.
A lap chart like what’s done on this site would be amazing per race, per season, (so you can compare how you did from one season to the other), Multi-year team deals. Track fastest laps of race.

You should be able to decide what type of R&D your team goes. (Of course depending on the team, only 1, 2, or 3 of the options should be available. Such as the big 3 would obviously get aggressive, where as HRT wouldn’t have the option of being aggressive R&D)

Does anyone find it annoying if they do a long weekend and have to do the same R&D for all 3 practice sessions? That bug should be fixed.

Having other tracks aside from the one of the current season, bringing other tracks maybe to be used outside of career mode or if you can create your own custom season “career mode”.

How about a Hermain Tilke mode where you can create your own track?

More Replay options and being able to save the race and have different camera views where you’re able to watch a race from another perspective (ie. other racers onboard). Much like what’s done in GT5.

Another Idea for the R&D portion where the team will supply you with parts, and you have the option to choose which ones you want to try and see how they affect the car and if it improves your lap times with your driving style. For example two different set of front wings, one would provide more front grip or more over-steer, or the other could improve/reduce drag so as to make the tires last longer.

What does DLC stand for??

Things I would like in F1 2012… Well, for starters I’d like a Wii U version, since that’s very much on my “to buy” list and this would be an awesome early game, but besides that.

- A finished game. F1 2011 is seriously buggy and I will not fork out £40 for F1 2012 unless that’s fixed. I know it’s a big game under tight deadlines, but technical competence matters more here than in almost any other game. Even if it’s just a yearly update fixed that would be a big improvement.
- Tighter handling. The cars in F1 2011 feel loose, and DRS is only a realistic proposition on perfectly stright straights. And that brings me onto…
- Accessibility. F1 2011 is punishingly difficult, and while I have no problem with that, I’ve been playing F1 games for over a decade (god tha makes me feel old). If you’re not a serious F1 fan you will struggle. Put it this way, F1 games got me into F1, would that have worked with F1 2011?
- Challenge Mode. Unquestionably the most epic feature of F-1 World Grand Prix (and 2), challenge mode (where you take on real life senarios) would not only extend the game, but make awesome DLC in the close season. I’d pay an extra tenner for that.
- More realistic AI. As in, AI which actually makes mistakes and crashes at Monaco from time to time. Seriously, not even Kimi Raikkonen make that few mistakes!
- Better damage. Yes, they’re hobbled by the license here, but being able to continue after rolling the car is not realistic.

Having said all that, most of the issues people have with Codemasters’ F1 games are small, and certainly fixable. At least there aren’t any major issues…

1. I would like to see a podium ceremony, the anthems (with the option to skip), the flags, the champagne & the driver celebrations. Also there should be special celebrations if you win the world championship, or it is a first podium or win for your team (or something similar).

2. Building you own team would be amazing.

3. Having driver changes in-between seasons (between AI), and some in-season.

4. Realistic driver characteristics, hamilton aggressive when overtaking, schumi when defending, button/perez easy on their tyres, vettel stretching an early gap, etc. This would also include certain drivers being better in changing conditions than others.

5. Test driver roles (you could begin your career as a test driver, driving in FP1).

6. Certain drivers doing better at certain tracks than others (such as Hamilton being good at Canada, while Button struggles a Silverstone).

7. A race engineer would be cool (that you could usefully communicate with)

8. Being able to switch to other cars in replays to see different angles and such.

9. Pit-stop mistakes, and more realistic mechanical failures.

10. Being able to design your track (and race on it with AI).

11. Have more realistic fans, for example, at Monza, if a Ferrari is leading they begin waving their flags and are standing up, applauding.

12. More realistic crashes, the cars are not nearly that strong (e. g. Grosjean/Maldonado @ Australia)