F1 2016 - NOT a wargame

[Grim.Reaper]

lol - to be fair, I did say a wheel was highly recommended

If you do get a wheel and you are "into" Formula 1, then I'm sure this iteration will please you

Yep you did, but choose to ignore that after reading a lot of positive reviews and your feedback...so your still on the hook:)

Many places seemed to indicate a controller can be setup reasonably well so hoping that is true...otherwise, I guess a future wheel purchase will be done.

[jomni]

Practice - practice - practice

Well the good thing about the career mode is you're competing against yourself and they set small achievable goals for you even if you're last. Still gives you a sense of achievement.

By the way, can you change Race Settings mid-way or you're stuck with them?

[JudgeDredd]

You can change race settings between races...what you set at the start of the race weekend is what you're stuck for that race weekend.

[jomni]

You can change race settings between races...what you set at the start of the race weekend is what you're stuck for that race weekend.

Yeah it asks during the start of the weekend.
I got best qualifying time at Bahrain

[Grim.Reaper]

I am no F1 racing expert (or any racing), but this game appears very detailed and the graphics are very good.  Using the controller for driving is not as bad as I thought it would be, but I do imagine the wheel being obviously better.  Just have scratched the surface and of course I absolutely stink right now, but I do see good potential.

JD might be taken off the hook:)

[jomni]

I lost the race in Bahrain as I lost places due to the pit stop.  I guess 25% race length has something to do with it.  Not enough laps to build a lead or make up for list time.  But I don't want to race for 2 hours.

[Grim.Reaper]

I just complete my own quick race....not very good results, but I didn't finish in last place :)  Finished in 17th out of 22.  Not going to lie...its tough out there...some tight tracks and really hate when there is other cars on it, they seem to get in my way:)  I am sure they hate it to since I have a habit of crashing into them!

Good fun though...just need a LOT OF PRACTICE!

[JudgeDredd]

I just complete my own quick race....not very good results, but I didn't finish in last place :)  Finished in 17th out of 22.  Not going to lie...its tough out there...some tight tracks and really hate when there is other cars on it, they seem to get in my way:)  I am sure they hate it to since I have a habit of crashing into them!

Good fun though...just need a LOT OF PRACTICE!

Practice makes perfect.

Rather than race quick races here and there, I'd suggest get into a career. You'll have 3 practice sessions and a qualifying. I think you can reduce the practice times but I'd suggest full race distance to get the full benefits of the safety car and pit stops and tyre wear/strategy.

Also - you can save between sessions. So if you only want to do 10 minutes of practice, then just do 10 minutes of practice and go back later. Same with the race. Do full race distance but have a nice long straight that you can go to the pause menu on and save the session. When you continue your career, it'll pick up from your last save.

If you are going to save mid session (2 hours is a long time to sit in the one place), then before jumping back in when you come back to play, sit down and do a few laps of Time Trial on the track you were racing on...that will allow you to get back "into position" and to familiarise yourself with the track.

So treat the game like one of your strategy games - just load it up, do what you want, save and exit, rinse and repeat.

You will get the best racing experience from full race weekend (P1 90mins, P2 60mins, P3 60mins, full qualifying sessions and full race distance). Also you can fast forward through P1,2,3 and Q1,2,3 if you wanted. So once you've had enough practice, just fast forward through the rest of the session and other sessions if you wish. Obviously make sure you set a time to get you through each qualifying stage or that will end quicker than you thought.

I've started on Expert, went up to Legendary and going back to Expert. If you don't want to be bow beaten, start on the easier levels and you can change before each race until you find where your comfortable. For me, that's not streaking ahead and winning but fighting midfield and making the best of a bad car. I'm also in the Marussia which isn't a fantastic car.

Enjoy.

[Grim.Reaper]

Thanks for the advice, will certainly look into it....right now I am actually playing on the easiest level with a lot of the assists turned on....gradually I'll start moving away from them.  Part of my problem right now is I just don't understand a lot of the racing terms and strategy so have to come to grip with that.  For example, on a pure straightaway early in the race....my car is dead middle on the racing line with max throttle, but other cars just blow by me....I am guessing it has something to do with car setup or the overall car itself.

Didn't know about the saving options, which that is good since no way I could sit in front of a race for multiple hours:)

[JudgeDredd]

Setups...the cars, iirc, all start the race weekend with the middle ground setup which is a balance between straight line speed and grip for cornering.

When you go to the setup screen, you'll see your current setup highlighted. there are two to the left and two to the right. The arrows are kind of self-explanatory - but basically the far left will be geared towards pushing the car into the ground to get maximum grip...you'd use that setup for Monaco for example. The far right one is for pure speed. You'd probably use that one for Monza.

Once you select one of these you can adjust various aspects of the setup to make it custom. So for example, in Malaysia where there's two very long straights, I might want to select the far right setup, but then I'd probably go in and add some front wing downforce to help me through the fast corners (because it has those too).

But I'm not too clued up on the individual setting options...so mostly I stick to selecting one of the basic 5 options depending on what the circuit looks like.

Out of curiosity, what track where you on when the AI was blowing past you?

Also - don't forget all through practice and qualifying, you get to use the DRS (Drag Reduction System). It's a button which you press when it becomes active (you'll see an indicator on the bottom right of the screen) and it opens the top part of your wing. It automatically closes when you brake. During the race, the DRS is only available when you are within 1 second of the car in front. So the AI might be blowing past you because they've got the benefit of DRS.

They could also be using a rich mixture...something that you can change. You will likely be running in Standard fuel mix. Moving it to rich gives more power. Beware though - you can't run in rich mix for too long or you'll not have enough fuel to complete the race.

Anything you don't understand in terms of terminology or what something does or when something happens and doesn't make sense, let me know and I'll try and help. Like I said, I'm not a whole lot clued up on the various setup options (like anti roll bar etc)...so I might not be able to help with those kind of things.

[JudgeDredd]

For the fuel mixtures, I generally start the race on rich and go for a few laps. I'll then change to standard and move to rich again if there's an AI car gaining or I'd go to rich mix a couple of laps before my pit in for tyre change and then stay in rich mix for a couple of laps after leaving the pits.

You only really need to go to lean fuel mix if you've burned too much fuel in rich.

Also, I'm pretty sure changing gear at the right time (you'll hear a beep which tells you to change) saves fuel and allows you to build an excess to use when you need to call on the rich setting

[jomni]

Ah never knew I can save mid race. Then full 2 hrs is the way to go.

[Grim.Reaper]

I have read a couple places (maybe isolated) that mid session saves can be buggy some times...not sure whether just certain circumstances, but something to watch out for.

[Grim.Reaper]

JD....

Any recommendation of what level of team a newbie should start?  I don't care if I actually win races right away, just want something that will allow me to learn and gain experience.

And are you able to switch teams during your career so that if I start out low, some day I can make it to the top team?

[JudgeDredd]

I have read a couple places (maybe isolated) that mid session saves can be buggy some times...not sure whether just certain circumstances, but something to watch out for.

I hadn't heard of that and nor have I come across it. I haven't saved mid race though I have saved mid practice sessions.