My very very early impressions of F1 2015 for anyone into racing games...
- BAD - game runs like molasses out the box - even with settings on Ultra Low. An update to Catalyst 15.7 sorted that out though
- BAD - It's a port - and a lazy one in the sense that the "button" descriptives are for a controller (X, A etc, etc)
- GOOD - Great sound (tyres scrubbing, wind, engineer voice)
- GOOD - Graphics - stunning...seeing the sun glint off your rear wing in your mirror, seeing proper rain coming off the front of the tyres, seeing splashes from puddles near kerbs and grass etc
- GOOD - Garage seems to be alive and you are a person...hand asking for the tablet, getting put onto a trolley to get pushed back in, the way the pit crew wait until the last minute to take off your tyre warmers...it all really adds to the immersion
- BAD - AI is awful. Even in practice I've been hit up the arse every single practice lap I've done. Admittedly, I'm finding my feet on the circuit - but still...
- GOOD - car torque will really spin the car...you have to be easy with the throttle
- BAD - I'm getting reasonably regular crashes. And when I exit the game, Steam comes up with a message saying it's updating, but then reports it's too busy and it failed!
- GOOD - Good particle graphics. Hit the wall and broke my front wing - Carbon fibre everywhere. Good modelling. Dust also being kicked up from the cars running wide was well done.
It's too soon to tell. Half my actual time playing today was trying to get rid of the FPS issue. I'm looking forward to giving this a good run through tomorrow. My daughter is out at a party and my wife is away with her aunt - so house to myself for some serious gaming.
I'm probably going to go against the grain here ans say I'm not too fussed about some of the missing things making the news - retro cars, various game play modes. They were nothing more than a distraction. I buy this to play F1 and to go through a championship. The more they make it feel like a championship (which I'm hoping they've done and the early signs are positive (pit crew, engineer interaction etc)) then the happier I'll be. Having one stale race after another never really flicked my switch.
I'm optimistic though. O0
Quote from: JudgeDredd on July 10, 2015, 03:21:11 PM
- BAD - AI is awful. Even in practice I've been hit up the arse every single practice lap I've done. Admittedly, I'm finding my feet on the circuit - but still...
You're just too slow.
Quote from: jomni on July 10, 2015, 07:02:00 PM
Quote from: JudgeDredd on July 10, 2015, 03:21:11 PM
- BAD - AI is awful. Even in practice I've been hit up the arse every single practice lap I've done. Admittedly, I'm finding my feet on the circuit - but still...
You're just too slow.
I find jomni might have a point here, albeit having put it down like a warhammer on a skull. :)
But yes, I am fond of Racing games too, and the AI is programmed to drive a certain line and be competitive to reasonably Fast players.
So if you're getting your feet wet on a track you don't know very well yet, you are effectively out of bounds as far as AI is concerned.
All the more serious racegames 'suffer' from this.
Practise, push and get faster and generally you'll find the AI 'gets better' too, because now you're driving within its parameters .
Can you just jump in and drive/race in this version without all the "pre-race" crap older versions had? Hated that if all I wanted to do it get a car on a track and drive or race. :tickedoff:
Replying to keep track of this topic. I've added this game to my radar after watching a few of JD's videos. O0
Quote from: Yskonyn on July 10, 2015, 07:56:53 PM
Quote from: jomni on July 10, 2015, 07:02:00 PM
Quote from: JudgeDredd on July 10, 2015, 03:21:11 PM
- BAD - AI is awful. Even in practice I've been hit up the arse every single practice lap I've done. Admittedly, I'm finding my feet on the circuit - but still...
You're just too slow.
I find jomni might have a point here, albeit having put it down like a warhammer on a skull. :)
But yes, I am fond of Racing games too, and the AI is programmed to drive a certain line and be competitive to reasonably Fast players.
So if you're getting your feet wet on a track you don't know very well yet, you are effectively out of bounds as far as AI is concerned.
All the more serious racegames 'suffer' from this.
Practise, push and get faster and generally you'll find the AI 'gets better' too, because now you're driving within its parameters .
Whilst that's true - and I know it's the case - the reason I highlighted it is because it's worse than ever.
Where I was "cutting in" on a track in previous games, the AI had the where-with-all to move off the racing line - so whilst I am slow - I don't think the AI hitting me is because of that. They are just sticking to the line.
It will absolutely get easier as I get to know the track and get faster - but that's made all the more difficult when they are smacking you up the backside.
Isn't there a free practise mode without others on track?
Time Trial is all there is I think where you are on your own
I'm uploading a video just now that I'll post in the Videos thread so you can see the crazy AI...it is poor and the incident in the video is happening ALOT. It's not me.
Of course, if you stay out it's way, you're fine - but the video I'm uploading will highlight it @ 9:39 in
oh and by the way - this game (or a combination of this game and my system) does not like multi tasking. Crashes every time.
Once you start playing IRACING, you will have no urge to play the F1 series.
Tried it
Too expensive
Too convoluted
Too competitive
Too "online"
Seriously, I enjoyed the game, but it was ALL of the above. I am constantly being sent emails for $12 for 3 months or $5 for 3 months etc, etc...just not interested...not in it's current mode.
I would say this though - I had a race online with a group of people and because of the penalty and point system and the requirement for clean racing to progress, I had some of the best racing I've ever enjoyed online.
Unfortunately, that "stress" of a clean race and the way so many people were sooooo anal about it, I just couldn't keep interested.
Thats what makes it so great. People actually take pride in not running into you. Well except for the rookie ranks which are filled with ...... well rookies.
Price wise, I dont think its too bad. The initial price to buy the tracks can be a little daunting, but I would just buy 1 track a week based on where the Skip Barber series was racing that week.
Actually I got my start in the F1 series games. To me though, once you actually start driving against some of the best in the world. Its hard to go back to an AI that doesn't even have a clue on how to pass you.
Also I have found the Iracing community to be one of the best. They are very open in giving help. Such as having a practice session with one of the top drivers, and letting me drive behind him while he gives out pointers on a particular track.
Plus there are just so many damn options. From driving NASCAR to open wheel F1 and everything in between. There is something for every type of driver in Iracing.
All of that being said. The F1 series games can sure look pretty sometimes.
Quote from: bboyer66 on July 14, 2015, 08:17:07 AM
Thats what makes it so great. People actually take pride in not running into you. Well except for the rookie ranks which are filled with ...... well rookies.
Price wise, I dont think its too bad. The initial price to buy the tracks can be a little daunting, but I would just buy 1 track a week based on where the Skip Barber series was racing that week.
Actually I got my start in the F1 series games. To me though, once you actually start driving against some of the best in the world. Its hard to go back to an AI that doesn't even have a clue on how to pass you.
Also I have found the Iracing community to be one of the best. They are very open in giving help. Such as having a practice session with one of the top drivers, and letting me drive behind him while he gives out pointers on a particular track.
Plus there are just so many damn options. From driving NASCAR to open wheel F1 and everything in between. There is something for every type of driver in Iracing.
All of that being said. The F1 series games can sure look pretty sometimes.
It was just too expensive. And don't forget there's a monthly sub as well - on top of all the cars and tracks.
It wasn't like you bought into a "genre" and then progressed - with no charges just the monthly sub. So for example, if they had a NASCAR route and you paid for that route, then paid your monthly sub and that gave you from beginner all the way through to the full, professional season, or an F1 route where you started out in karts, moved to Formula 3000 , 2000 formula 3 etc, etc
But it wasn't priced like that. It could (and was for me) getting very expensive. Hell the monthly sub it;se;f should be the price.
Online racing was second to none - again because of the promotion system - but it was going to be too expensive.
Add onto that the confusion about the route to go to where I wanted to end up - I had no clue and in the end had started down the wrong route (I can't remember the details) - but I couldn't find the info I needed to be able to say "Ok...if I go this route, I'm going to need all this and it's going to cost me all that...on top of the monthly sub"
It was absolutely designed to eeek out as much money as it could from people. It was "dlc" on steroids >:D
The subscription fee is 9.99 a month. That is dirt cheap in my estimation for the service Iracing provides.
At the rookie level all tracks are covered in the 9.99 a month charge.
After a year in rookie I decided that I wanted to do road racing. So I joined the Skip Barber Series which is supposed to be highly competitive at all skill levels and also can be driven with a class D Road license. The cost to join the series was the cost of the car 14.99 and the cost of the tracks 12.99-14.99 each. Which I would buy one every week based on where the Series was racing. 4 of the tracks in the series were already included in the monthly price.
My plan in the future is to next Race in the Star Mazda series which is a class C road racing series. Most of the tracks I have already purchased for the Skip Barber series, I will use for the Mazda series. So my cost will be the actual Mazda car. Plus 2-3 tracks that I had not purchased because they were not used on the Skip Barber series.
So as you keep going up the ranks, the cheaper it is. By the time you get to the F1 Grand Prix series you should only have to pay for the car (14.99) and the monthly Iracing fee.
So yes I understand how the costs can be an issue. The good news is that it does start to get cheaper as you accumulate the needed tracks for the series. It really comes down to if you think the service they provide is worth the money. To me it is. No where else are you going to drive against this level of competition on laser scanned tracks. My goal this past season was to be the #1 ranked driver in Pennsylvania in the Rookie Mazda Cup Series (accomplished), and to drive in the Skip Barber series without embarrassing myself(sometimes). Finally to get my class C road licence (accomplished). Im taking a break right now due to personal life crap, but next season I plan on dedicating all my Iracing time to The Skip Barber Series. When I finally feel I have progressed enough, I will go to the next level of road racing. Either Indycar or Star Mazda..
Dont forget that also as a bonus, that if you participate in 12/14 races throughout the season you get a $ 4-6 dollar credit. Not much, but it is something.
lol - you explained it very succinctly but it just proved my point - how expensive it is. Just the $9.99 a month is $120 a year (in pounds, I think it was considerably more....maybe even £1 to $1).
But as you say - it does depend on your take on it and the fun you get.
There have been many, many more discussions on the cost of iRacing and of course, as you rightly pointed out, each individual has to decide if it's worth it. I think when I first joined the rat race of cost discussions I stood up for it - but I was in at a very early stage. I soon found out what others discovered - that it can and will get costly.
In the end - in my case - I simply wasn't playing it enough to warrant the cost. The main reason for that was the need to practice, practice, practice. You HAD to do that so you could race and keep a clean race...practice was absolutely essential - and lots of of it. If you didn't practice, you didn't have a clean race and your rating went down down.
The other annoying thing (one of it's huge strengths and also one of it's bigger weaknesses) was the game couldn't tell the difference sometimes between you making contact and the other guy. Both were punished. Again - specifics I can't remember but I remember just wanting to qualify at the back and pick people off as they ran wide, making positions up that way rather than go toe to toe and risk my rating being reduced.
Not a bad game at all. Looked good and the service was well presented and very stable. But cost was not one of it's endearing features.
Your absolutely correct. Having someone ram your ass from behind and you being punished for it is maddening. Luckily as you get to the higher levels it is much less frequent. If you think someone went out of their way to screw you, there is a whole appeal process you can go through.
Your also right on when it comes to practice. You really do have to practice in order to get good and not embarrass yourself on the track. It is a big time sink which can leave you without a lot of time for other games.
If you ever get the time and money, I would love to see you out on the Skip Barber series. Much better racing than at the rookie levels. A good mix of veterans and noobs.
I certainly don't want to get into a whole F1 vs. Iracing debate. I think you two have hammered out the pros/cons of the two games.
I'm more or less in JD's situation. What I really want to do is race against the AI in single player, and I want to play out a season, not a bunch of one-off races. To that effect, I thoroughly enjoyed F1: 2014. Despite how much it gets bagged on at SimHQ, I found that the game is exactly what I was personally looking for. It is one of the few times where the crowd and masses simply didn't speak for me.
I haven't tried 2015 yet, but I'm surprised to hear you're having so many issues. One would think that Codemasters could build upon their previous success fairly easily. I hope that the game gets cleaned up. I still have to play through the rest of the season in 2014 and at this point will likely start over since it's been so long since I left off of it. But 2015 will be on my radar around Xmas time I would think.
Let me update my impressions now I have more time under my belt
Quote from: JudgeDredd on July 10, 2015, 03:21:11 PM
My very very early impressions of F1 2015 for anyone into racing games...
- GOOD - game looks stunning and runs smooth as silk with all settings on ULTRA on my 2 year old system (which wasn't top of the range back then) (haven't tried a full grid race start yet)
- BAD - It's a port - and a lazy one in the sense that the "button" descriptives are for a controller (X, A etc, etc)
- GOOD - Great sound (tyres scrubbing, wind, engineer voice)
- GOOD - Graphics - stunning...seeing the sun glint off your rear wing in your mirror, seeing proper rain coming off the front of the tyres, seeing splashes from puddles near kerbs and grass etc
- GOOD - Garage seems to be alive and you are a person...hand asking for the tablet, getting put onto a trolley to get pushed back in, the way the pit crew wait until the last minute to take off your tyre warmers...it all really adds to the immersion
- BAD - AI is bad at times. They make mistakes which is nice, but sometimes there's just no reason why they've done what they've done.
- GOOD - car torque will really spin the car...you have to be easy with the throttle
- GOOD - Game is stable unless you ALT-TAB
- GOOD - Good particle graphics. Hit the wall and broke my front wing - Carbon fibre everywhere. Good modelling. Dust also being kicked up from the cars running wide was well done.
- GOOD - driving in the rain a)looks like you're driving in the rain and b)feels like you're driving in the rain - but more importantly, you CAN drive in the rain
- GOOD - changeable weather. I was in practice at Albert Park last night and it was reported that the rain was stopping 20 minutes. It started to get lighter and did actually stop. On top of that, lap times were picking up and there did seem to be a drying race line
- GOOD - imo at least - not a lot to change in the garage. Very few options, though I haven't tested to see if they actually help with anything
It's too soon to tell. Half my actual time playing today was trying to get rid of the FPS issue. I'm looking forward to giving this a good run through tomorrow. My daughter is out at a party and my wife is away with her aunt - so house to myself for some serious gaming.
I'm probably going to go against the grain here ans say I'm not too fussed about some of the missing things making the news - retro cars, various game play modes. They were nothing more than a distraction. I buy this to play F1 and to go through a championship. The more they make it feel like a championship (which I'm hoping they've done and the early signs are positive (pit crew, engineer interaction etc)) then the happier I'll be. Having one stale race after another never really flicked my switch.
I'm optimistic though. O0
It's a good drive. Better than last years and better in the rain than ALL the versions before it.