F1 2021

[MUFC]

Anyone ordered it yet? You can build your own team on this one. I've watched quite a few Youtube videos. To say it's ultra realistic would be an understatement. Literally everything that can happen in practice, qualy and race happens. 

[RandoEFC+]

I bought it today and did a 50% race as Yuki Tsunoda in the default Bahrain GP you can do while the rest of the game downloads.

I really liked it. I skipped 2020 but the one thing I noticed that was a big improvement from 2019 is the AI behaviour. Ricciardo spun out right in front of me in a way that looked pretty natural and the same thing happened to Stroll. Leclerc also received a 5 second penalty for overtaking in a yellow flag zone. Maybe this was actually too much for a 50% distance race but I've played around with so many F1 games and since the Geoff Crammond series in the early 2000s, none of them have been able to programme an AI that is fallible in a way that looks vaguely believable. Aside from that, the handling is good, the pace of the cars is accurate to real life, overall I was impressed. I hope the career mode is well balanced because I always enjoy doing the R&D stuff and seeing other teams ebb and flow in their performance levels, and the driver market and stuff, but it annoys me when it gets too easy. The first season is always annoying trying to work out in practice which tracks the AI is good and bad at to tweak the difficulty and make it realistic.

I've been watching a youtube series of a guy who has early access and he's been playing through the new story mode Braking Point. It looks like it's entertaining and well written, pretty cringey at times but better than I expected. I don't think I'll feel the need to play it myself but a decent addition in my opinion.

[MUFC]

https://the-race.com/gaming/official-f1-management-game-to-launch-in-2022/

[Tommy]

1 hour ago, MUFC said:

https://the-race.com/gaming/official-f1-management-game-to-launch-in-2022/

Ooooh yes. Please. Give me a decent F1 management game again. I absolutely played the shit out of Grand Prix Manager 2 when I was a kid. Even updated it with mods until not that long ago. Nothing ever came close to it. Motorsport Manager was good, but it still didn't feel the same. I need a solid F1 Manager game in my life. 

[MUFC]

11 hours ago, Tommy said:

Ooooh yes. Please. Give me a decent F1 management game again. I absolutely played the shit out of Grand Prix Manager 2 when I was a kid. Even updated it with mods until not that long ago. Nothing ever came close to it. Motorsport Manager was good, but it still didn't feel the same. I need a solid F1 Manager game in my life. 

I hope this goes as planned. Contracted from 2022-2025. Won't be a one off like Motorsport Manager.

[MUFC]

@RandoEFC

What do you think of the Dutch GP? I struggled in practice and in qualy managed P18 for Alfa Romeo via career mode. The race was full wets and I managed to finish 13 in the end. For me it has a Monaco/Suzuka feel to it.  

[MUFC]

On 15/08/2021 at 23:26, Tommy said:

Ooooh yes. Please. Give me a decent F1 management game again. I absolutely played the shit out of Grand Prix Manager 2 when I was a kid. Even updated it with mods until not that long ago. Nothing ever came close to it. Motorsport Manager was good, but it still didn't feel the same. I need a solid F1 Manager game in my life. 

Imagine racing this nutter online.

 

[MUFC]

Turkey is my favourite track to drive on. In terms of seeing turns late, Turkey is very realistic. Going uphill on the main straight followed by going downhill with a sudden turn which you see late. Imola will be added to the game in October via updates.

[RandoEFC+]

On 30/08/2021 at 18:37, MUFC said:

@RandoEFC

What do you think of the Dutch GP? I struggled in practice and in qualy managed P18 for Alfa Romeo via career mode. The race was full wets and I managed to finish 13 in the end. For me it has a Monaco/Suzuka feel to it.  

This tag didn't work for some reason. I adapt my difficulty level at each track throughout the season to make it more realistic because the AI vary wildly between tracks. If I left my difficulty at 90 all the time I'd be finishing top six in Bahrain in an Alfa Romeo and last in Monaco behind Williams and Haas. I've almost finished my first season, sitting 10th in the championship with a couple of opportunistic high finishes but way behind the top 9 (Ferraris, McLarens, Mercs and Red Bulls + Vettel). I'm enjoying the career mode but I can't bring myself to do less than 100% races, because when I was playing a Season as Lando Norris with 50% races you'd get freak results all the time from pit stops happening on lap 8 and cars getting stuck in DRS trains and ending up 7th having made their pit stop from the lead. It's slow going though.

In terms of Zandvoort, I moved the difficulty down a bit. The AI are really over-powered in fast corners so you really have to nail the middle sector not to lose several tenths to those around you, then they absolutely suck at the last corner and don't go full throttle. I think Zandvoort was a wet race in my career mode and there were about 12 finishers because there seems to be a massive glitch where they run wide onto the bumpy kerb in the wet on the outside of the main fast right-hander, then spin back across the track and the cars behind just pile into them.

People have reported other issues with the AI difficulty such as them getting faster season to season so if I go to Bahrain season two and run the same difficulty level as I settled on in the first season, it might end up being harder. I really hope not because it's bad enough having to spend the first season testing out difficulty levels in practice to get a fair crack in qualifying where it isn't too hard and easy. I can't be doing with other glitches throwing that out in subsequent seasons.

[MUFC]

6 hours ago, RandoEFC said:

This tag didn't work for some reason. I adapt my difficulty level at each track throughout the season to make it more realistic because the AI vary wildly between tracks. If I left my difficulty at 90 all the time I'd be finishing top six in Bahrain in an Alfa Romeo and last in Monaco behind Williams and Haas. I've almost finished my first season, sitting 10th in the championship with a couple of opportunistic high finishes but way behind the top 9 (Ferraris, McLarens, Mercs and Red Bulls + Vettel). I'm enjoying the career mode but I can't bring myself to do less than 100% races, because when I was playing a Season as Lando Norris with 50% races you'd get freak results all the time from pit stops happening on lap 8 and cars getting stuck in DRS trains and ending up 7th having made their pit stop from the lead. It's slow going though.

In terms of Zandvoort, I moved the difficulty down a bit. The AI are really over-powered in fast corners so you really have to nail the middle sector not to lose several tenths to those around you, then they absolutely suck at the last corner and don't go full throttle. I think Zandvoort was a wet race in my career mode and there were about 12 finishers because there seems to be a massive glitch where they run wide onto the bumpy kerb in the wet on the outside of the main fast right-hander, then spin back across the track and the cars behind just pile into them.

People have reported other issues with the AI difficulty such as them getting faster season to season so if I go to Bahrain season two and run the same difficulty level as I settled on in the first season, it might end up being harder. I really hope not because it's bad enough having to spend the first season testing out difficulty levels in practice to get a fair crack in qualifying where it isn't too hard and easy. I can't be doing with other glitches throwing that out in subsequent seasons.

When I first brought the game I went straight into career mode. I started at level 75 and at the end of each season I move to a better team. Each season I put it up by 5, am currently on 80. Being honest with the Dutch GP, I got a got 13th because it was wet. Upon more seasons in the dry I've found it really difficult. Bahrain is the one track I always seem to do well at. But it can be extreme from one track to another. Monaco and Suzuka I have problems along with Singapore. I also have a stinker in Australia. 

[RandoEFC+]

Yeah Monaco is always a nightmare if you don't have a full on wheel and pedals rig. I have managed to get round a 100% race distance there once or twice without binning it but I never look forward to it.

Suzuka is difficult to drive but I can get decent pace there. Just took me way more practice and have to get the first sector perfect not to get swamped by the AI. It's only the first Degner curve at the start of sector two where I find they have the unrealistic grip.

Singapore I actually feel like I get a good rhythm there but the AI are super OP through the middle sector. It's actually really annoying because I'll go purple in sector one and then end up 15th.

[JoshBRFC+]

I imagine this will be awesome on the PS5. I haven’t been properly into an F1 game for a couple of years, I’ve still got a couple of old games on my store. 

Can you do races online or against friends? I imagine that would be fun… TFF race?

[RandoEFC+]

Portimao got added to the game just in time for me to start my second season and it is a pretty great track to drive.

I was relieved to see my career mode driver market didn't descend into stupidity like some of the ones I've seen. Alonso retired after the first season and weirdly got replaced by Giovinazzi who I consistently battered in season one. Russell moved to become my new team mate at Alfa Romeo, Zhou filled his spot at Williams and the rest stayed put.

I think a lot of my difficulty levels are too low. I've been trying to get it so that I'm racing with the best midfield drivers like Gasly and Vettel because the performance comparison shows my car as in that ball park. Giovinazzi was always about half a second behind in qualifying though and hovered just in front of the Williams and Haas in the race. However now I think my difficulty levels are too low as in the first two races I've outqualified George by 0.4s and beaten him by 25 seconds in Bahrain and 40 seconds in Portugal.

My conclusion is that the performance comparison factors in reliability and that our car is actually about 8th fastest but with better durability. This is backed up by Alpha Tauri seeming to be faster than the other midfield cars at the point I've reached but breaking down a lot more when they're behind Aston and ourselves in the relative performance chart.

[Bluebird Hewitt]

On 20/09/2021 at 23:20, JoshBRFC said:

I imagine this will be awesome on the PS5. I haven’t been properly into an F1 game for a couple of years, I’ve still got a couple of old games on my store. 

Can you do races online or against friends? I imagine that would be fun… TFF race?

My racing skills are from Burnout and Mario Kart, so unless I can take you out or throw a blue shell at you, I'm fucked. 

[MUFC]

On 20/09/2021 at 23:20, JoshBRFC said:

I imagine this will be awesome on the PS5. I haven’t been properly into an F1 game for a couple of years, I’ve still got a couple of old games on my store. 

Can you do races online or against friends? I imagine that would be fun… TFF race?

RandoEFC played on level 90. He'd muller us all.

[Whiskey]

On 20/09/2021 at 23:20, JoshBRFC said:

I imagine this will be awesome on the PS5. I haven’t been properly into an F1 game for a couple of years, I’ve still got a couple of old games on my store. 

Can you do races online or against friends? I imagine that would be fun… TFF race?

Yeah it's brilliant, I've racked up 75hrs already - love it.

[RandoEFC+]

I'm up to the dreaded Monaco in my second year so having a few days off .

[MUFC]

On 27/09/2021 at 21:59, RandoEFC said:

I'm up to the dreaded Monaco in my second year so having a few days off .

Is China on the calender for your second season?

[RandoEFC+]

1 hour ago, MUFC said:

Is China on the calender for your second season?

It was on the list but it was crossed off or something, weird.

[MUFC]

8 minutes ago, RandoEFC said:

It was on the list but it was crossed off or something, weird.

Am sure I read that it's available from season 2 in career mode and build your own team. It's on time trial and single race. 

[RandoEFC+]

4 minutes ago, MUFC said:

Am sure I read that it's available from season 2 in career mode and build your own team. It's on time trial and single race. 

Maybe I could have added it if I wanted to, but I didn't try. I was more interested in seeing whether the driver transfers were crazy like I've read they are for some other people (they weren't, I had Alonso -> retired, Giovinazzi -> Alpine, Russell -> Alfa Romeo and Zhou -> Williams) and getting Portimao added to the calendar.

[MUFC]

7 hours ago, RandoEFC said:

Maybe I could have added it if I wanted to, but I didn't try. I was more interested in seeing whether the driver transfers were crazy like I've read they are for some other people (they weren't, I had Alonso -> retired, Giovinazzi -> Alpine, Russell -> Alfa Romeo and Zhou -> Williams) and getting Portimao added to the calendar.

Transfers sound good. Am in my final race of season 1 in career mode. Am sure I've read that China comes in season 2. Anyway, have you seen the solo option where you can schedule an event or season? For the season you can choose the circuits. Am tempted to do it for a season and cut Monaco, Singapore and Australia out. China is available and Imola is coming in October.

[RandoEFC+]

I just crashed out of Monaco on purpose 10 laps in after damaging my front wing. I hate hate hate it. Did Baku instead and it was a full wet race where I trundled round and finished 12th having not seen another car in the second half of the race. Literally. Next up Canada, rain in qualifying and race forecast. Season 1 was a wet race in Canada. My impression so far is that there's a lot more rain in the game than there usually is in real life. Also wet races are kinda broken because the AI literally just don't overtake each other.

[MUFC]

28 minutes ago, RandoEFC said:

I just crashed out of Monaco on purpose 10 laps in after damaging my front wing. I hate hate hate it. Did Baku instead and it was a full wet race where I trundled round and finished 12th having not seen another car in the second half of the race. Literally. Next up Canada, rain in qualifying and race forecast. Season 1 was a wet race in Canada. My impression so far is that there's a lot more rain in the game than there usually is in real life. Also wet races are kinda broken because the AI literally just don't overtake each other.

You'll get through this tough period in life buddy.

[RandoEFC+]

Lol so I just won Canada because the AI can't do pit strategy in mixed conditions and made 6 or 7 stops each compared to my 3. Mazepin tried to fuck me over by crashing out with 10 laps to go and bringing out a safety car which eliminated my 20 second lead but thankfully it was Vettel in 2nd because he made 6 stops instead of 7 like the front runners and there were 3 lapped cars between us at the restart so I built a 2 second gap and kept my nose in front.

Feel like I sort of cheated though. I was 12th just behind my team mate then the AI all just made about 3 stops in 6 laps, the first one to put on fresh inters, then they went to wets and I stayed out an extra lap because my team mate was the lead car and I was too close to pit on the same lap. This put me first and I stayed out a couple of laps or two to see my pace on the intermediates against Hamilton behind me on the wets. The rain eased off and he didn't really catch me then they all came in for inters again. If I had been ahead of my team mate I would have pitted for wets when my team said to as well .