F1 2011

It’s that time of the year again; when we give you the scoop on the latest instalment in the
Formula One racing series – F1 2011


Developer: Codemasters Birmingham
Publisher: Codemasters
Release Date(s): Sep 20, 2011 (NA), Sep 22, 2011 (AU), Sep 23, 2011 (UK)
Genre: Racing, Simulation


Last year the racing world stood up and took notice as Codemasters pushed their latest racer with a high-budget advertising campaign boasting "the most comprehensive and impressive weather system ever seen in a racing game,” along with a slew of other life-like features and settings that arguably made it one of the most realistic representations of the sport ever seen. This inevitably persuaded gamers to part with their hard-earned cash and the game to date has sold 2.3 million copies worldwide.

It was clear that they were throwing both money and determination at the project in an aim to create something truly special and with 2011 they are looking to build upon that success even further. The first step towards continued improvement lay in their impressive EGO Engine that has been given an upgrade to 2.0 and can be seen in action in the already critically acclaimed DiRT 3, another Codemasters offering, which has seen specific praise for its impeccable gameplay.

With this new and refined engine the team are able to ramp up their weather system and implement dynamic clouds, which lead game designer Stephen Hood touches upon, “Instead of solely relying on weather reports you can look up into the sky for yourself and see the dark clouds coming in, you’ll then have a pretty good idea if there’s a chance of rain or not. It gives you that feeling of weather changing over time and allowing you to try and get the jump on everybody else by coming in for a change of tyres at the perfect time.”

Vettel in the lead, nothing new there then

 

As you would expect from an official game all 12 teams and 24 drivers will be featured, along with all 19 circuits from the race calendar, including the newly reinstated Nürburgring for the German Grand Prix. Bahrain has been dropped, as has its real-life counterpart, with many controversies currently surrounding the area. We do get a first taste of the brand-spanking new Buddh International Circuit in India though, which is still under construction and will be represented as close as is humanly possible from current design plans.

Something else the team has had to rely on is the information they’ve been given on the DRS zones for future tracks, as these are negotiated on a race-by-race basis. For those wondering, the DRS or the ‘Drag Reduction System’ is one whereby a flap on the rear wing of each car opens if they are within a one-second window of the car in front, thus allowing them to hit greater speeds. Another system that has also been integrated to aid overtaking is KERS or the ‘Kinetic Energy Recovery System’ where drivers will be able to make use of a boost button for a limited period each lap.

What is still up in the air at this point is whether or not we’ll see a fully-functional safety car, “It’s about including things that do the game justice. There are a lot of complexities around the safety and a lot of people externally don’t understand that, for example the licensing restrictions and how the system behaves in a very wide set of scenarios. We don’t want to have it play out through a cut-scene, we want to make the safety car segments playable which opens up a lot of questions – What do you do when there’s a safety car incident? What does the race engineer inform you? How do you heat your tyres and save fuel? How you handle the restart? What will you do if someone decides to park up? There’s a lot to think about and to do it right takes time and we’ll put it in the game when we’re happy it’s in the right position. It will appear at some point,” says Hood.

However, if you check out the video below on 1:00 towards the left of the screen you’ll see a yellow flashing light with the letters ‘SC’ under it, giving the strongest indication yet that we may well be seeing the safety car sooner than expected.

 

 

Two-player split-screen makes its welcomed return after the team finally overcame the problems plagued with implementing the feature in the past, “Split screen was a bit of leap for F1 2011 seeing as we already had 24 cars on the track and we weren’t sure if it was going to be possible, but the [Dirt 3 team] gave us such a head start with their tech that it made it possible for us to do it,” says Hood.

He also spoke of a two-player campaign mode – which allows you to race as rivals or as part of the same team – and what that entails, “It’s mainly the trackside stuff. There’s a lot of emphasis on research and development and the two players improving the fortunes of the team by working together to improve the car. There’s also the fact that if one player has been consistently out-qualifying the other then they’ll receive upgrades more quickly and that might cause a bit of friction and extra competition. Maybe in F1 2012 we’ll have the media element too where I can mention you in the media and try to increase the pressure that way.”

The game will also allow for up to 16 players online, with the remaining cars controlled by the computer AI. The team at Codemasters wanted to feature a fully-functioning 24 car grid but stated that, “the technology can’t handle it,” placing the blame in the hands of Sony and Microsoft who wouldn’t remove their stringent bandwidth restrictions.

F1 2011 hits store shelves this September

Another enhancement comes in the form of Spectator Mode where users can switch the camera to any car on track and select from a variety of angles. Perfect when you retire from a race and want to see how it pans out, unlike 2010 where you were simply offered a results screen that chartered lap times. Hood expands, “You can watch from a bunch of camera angles, we’re trying to add the broadcast cameras at the moment so you can watch the race from trackside – if that doesn’t make it in time for release then we’ll probably add it as an update.”

The mode also provides you with information on the current position of each driver, whereabouts they are on track, their current fuel levels, what tyres they have on and even the condition they’re in.

When asked about a near-final build of the game former Formula One driver Anthony Davidson, who also had a hand in helping to develop the racing sim, said: “I found the last game enjoyable and this game is more polished in every sense. It’s got better handling, it’s easier to control, and it’s more predictable in where you place the car and is graphically enhanced too.”

Plenty of positives then, and we can hardly wait to get our hands on it and take it for a spin. What are we most excited about? A dynamic cloud system sounds pretty ground-breaking to us.

Handheld versions of the game are also in development for both the PlayStation Vita and Nintendo 3DS but no date has yet been penned for their release.


Craig Bryan, NoobFeed
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