F1 2016 - What a pleasant surprise!

little P

Super Mod
Picked it up in the Steam sale, and I was fully expecting to refund it. I am pleased to announce it has made it past the two hour threshold into that rare little P hall of fame where all the non refunded games go to tell tales of their war stories and... what was I talking about?

Oh yeah, F1 2016. If you have even a passing interest in open wheel racing then this game is going to be great fun for you, if you are a fan of Formula 1 then this game is a dream come true, and a long time coming.

Two paragraphs from a PC Gamer review sum it up for me:

"After six attempts, it’s an understatement to say that F1 2016 is a relief. This year, more than any year before it, Codies’ F1 game is more than just a graphics update with a new track. Instead, it’s a rethink of how F1 games should be made. This is the best F1 game since the Geoff Crammond heydays."

and


"The racing itself has been refined. The slide of the car as you over-accelerate out of a turn; the gentle squeeze of the brakes so you don’t slide into a smoke-billowing, tyre-ruining lock-up; the aquaplaning as you stray away from the safety of the racing line in a monsoon downpour—every lap is a joyous exercise in taming a ludicrously overpowered beast."






F1 2016 REVIEW
By Sam White 23 days ago



I’m 39-laps into a full-length race at Spa. I'm playing on official race day, mirroring the real-life Belgian Grand Prix like a real-life maniac, and I’ve somehow managed to avoid any strategy-complicating rain. My tyres are fast going out of date, degrading with every turn, but I can’t pit for new boots because I’m doing my best to catch Vettel—teammate and career rival—who’s sat 7-seconds up the road. I cut the gap by tenths with every passing sector, but a hasty mistake into Bruxelles on the penultimate lap sends me way wide, ruining my chances of catching him again. The chequered flag is waved. I settle for a hard-fought fourth.

When played like this F1 2016 is a great sim, where every position, both in qualifying and in races, feels truly earned. Last year’s feature-slim F1 2015 was a misstep that left many wondering if Codies had lost its way, but 12-months later and what a turnaround this is. F1 2016 is the most well-featured, authentic recreation of Formula One ever created, and it’s a genuinely good PC port.

The core of this revamped circuit racer is career mode, which puts you back at the forefront of the experience. Not only can you choose your avatar, helmet and lucky number that’ll get emblazoned on your car, but you can choose any team from get-go. I opted for Ferrari with the aim of winning the driver’s and constructor’s championship within two seasons.

It includes brand new track—Azerbaijan’s fast, technically challenging Baku City Circuit—and adds an R&D system that lets you spend points to develop the car throughout each season. Practice has been entirely revamped, too, with great new mini-games that transform a previously redundant runaround into an exciting part of the race weekend.

The game immerses you in the glitzy F1 spectacle in a way no game has previously. It’s the little things that make the real difference. Manual starts add a tension to the beginning of every race. Safety cars, formation laps, detailed telemetry, increased race engineer interactions, race preamble, driver rivalries and deeper handling tweaks all create an F1 game with the authenticity of a TV broadcast.

The racing itself has been refined. The slide of the car as you over-accelerate out of a turn; the gentle squeeze of the brakes so you don’t slide into a smoke-billowing, tyre-ruining lock-up; the aquaplaning as you stray away from the safety of the racing line in a monsoon downpour—every lap is a joyous exercise in taming a ludicrously overpowered beast. The game's customisable assists make for a racer that's designed to be enjoyed by everyone, even those not willing to invest 90-minutes into a full-length race with the most vital assists switched off.

There are far fewer AI wobbles in this edition. I occasionally found some strategy suggestions nonsensical, and I saw 18 cars pile into one another because of one small mistake from Williams’ Felipe Massa at a race in Monte Carlo, but these were infrequent enough that I laughed at them, rather than felt they ruined my race.

After six attempts, it’s an understatement to say that F1 2016 is a relief. This year, more than any year before it, Codies’ F1 game is more than just a graphics update with a new track. Instead, it’s a rethink of how F1 games should be made. This is the best F1 game since the Geoff Crammond heydays.
 

Daunt

MLG Pro
Nice write up P. If I enjoyed open-wheels I'd give it a shot... the career mode looks pretty good this time by. Honestly GT or touring car racing needs a career-focused game like this, with attention to detail. Everyone was hoping Pcars would have a comprehensive carrer mode, something really deep that you'd take your career from karts all the way up the ladder. It obviously missed the mark.

A BTCC version of the F1 game, that was very in detail about managing and racing a team in the series, would be incredible.
 

little P

Super Mod
A BTCC version of the F1 game, that was very in detail about managing and racing a team in the series, would be incredible.
Thanks, and yes, that would pretty much be my dream game right there.

The career mode of F1 2016 is really fun (for once in a racing game). Like you said applying these mechanics to a dedicated BTCC game would just be perfect. For now I have to settle for the Assetto Corsa BTCC mod in VR, which is pretty good to be honest, but alas is just one quick race after another.

Still, soon be time to re-join iRacing for the winter, but the chances of seeing anything BTCC related in iRacing are slim to none unfortunately.
 

AbbyTheFoxx

TS3 SA
Just spent the past 6 hours playing, had a lot of fun even if I finished shitty. Did a full length race weekend at Melbourne and I qualified 5th. Unfortunately a lot of things added up to me ending up in 17th by the end. I went through about 4 nose pieces, got a drive through penalty for speeding in the pits, got stuck behind my teammate in the pits TWICE, someone ran over some brake markers causing me to blow that corner multiple times in the race because I'm tired and was spacing out, and just general mistakes in general, generally.

However, during the 58 laps, I felt completely immersed. Between the formation lap, the start, patiently waiting for the safety car to let the race go green again, it just felt so satisfying to be a part of. The rain was one of my favorite aspects.

As I'm driving I start seeing something out of the corner of my eye when I realize it's very early rain. Slowly it starts to pick up and suddenly my braking points aren't working any more, I'm locking up the brakes and oversteering out of corners. My pit chief calls me in for Intermediates and finally I have something that feels drivable, for now. Over about 10 or so laps the rain has gradually increased, I can barely see through my helmet, even moreso when I'm behind another car. Finally I get the call to box for full wets. From there the rain faded away and I worked my way back to inters and then finally back to softs, where I ran til the end of the 58 lap race, kicking myself for making so many mistakes, as I continue to make mistakes in the process.

Not the finish I was hoping for but I had a lot of fun. Spending so much time in practice learning the track and doing the training programmes, followed by the intense elimination qualifying session, all really had me feeling invested in this long ass race. Hopefully I can finish with less driver error in Bahrain next :p
 

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