F1 2016

[Burnzoire]

Haven't bought this series since '11 but holy shit they nailed it this year! Anyone else picked this up?

[Kangawallaby]

No not yet, was a bit gun-shy after last years disappointment. Definitely keen to get the Master Race version and give it a go on the new TV maybe even at 4k?

Are you playing PC version? How well optimized is it?

[Burnzoire]

I have it maxed out and get MINIMUM 90 fps in the benchmark

[Kangawallaby]

Nice downloading now..... Will give it a go tonight

[Froggy]

Picked it up today but the bone version.. nailed it for sure. Went straight to Pro Career and realised I have no hope coulnt even keep the car on the track so now doing a career but with elite level AI and only a few help things.

[jizzlobber]

been reading the PAD controls are a bit broken, need to play with the settings to make it feel right.

[Kangawallaby]

Yeah I'm using a wheel and have everything off except TC I had to turn it on a bit I can't keep the car on the track without it.

[Burnzoire]

I've got a wheel but the game is super driveable on my 360 troller. Use assists that make sense with your input method. Unless I get competitive with time trials, I think I'll keep my wheel in its box!

[Kangawallaby]

Fair enough, I love my wheel and playing racing games without it feels alien these days ..... I'm no champion racer with it I just love using it.

[Burnzoire]

Yeah I'll drag it out eventually.

So boys, put your laps in for Timetrial @ Spa!

[Kangawallaby]

Lol I'm just getting used to driving the thing..... Man it looks amazing in 4k though wow !!!

I'm really pleasantly surprised how well the 1070 does at 4k I wasn't expecting this at all. I'll still be getting a 1080ti when they come out but happy to be enjoying some 4k goodness on the new TV till then.

[Froggy]

Right, what car settings are we using for Spa then?

[pilonv1]

I've heard this is fantastic, and supports all the Xbone rumble on PC. Not sure how my 970 will cope at 1440p tho

[Kangawallaby]

Should be fine I'm running mostly ultra with a few high settings on my 1070 at 4k no problems at 60fps its well optimized.

[Burnzoire]

I started career mode last night. Chose to replace Kvyat in the torro rosso

I chose the limited practice, 3x 30mins. Single shot qualifying, and 25% race distance with AI on Hard. Manual gears, low TC and ABS to help with the controller, and braking line on.

First up at Albert park I entered practice 1 and tried to get through the programs - the better you do, the more 'research points' you get to spend on car development.

First up I did the track acclimatization (?) run. Simply drive through the gates at a decent speed and hit DRS at the right time. After I got used to the controller this was fine. I managed to hit every gate correctly (it's a simple track) but didn't realise they wanted me to do 3 laps of it, so I stuffed the start of the second lap, then made another error on lap 3. Passed that program easily either way.

Second program is tyre management. I found it easy to get around the track keeping tyres in purple but I kept getting zero score. Took me way too long to realise it was because I wasn't hitting the target time! I picked up my pace and managed to get a 2 laps in green or purple and 2 in red. Not great but still passed. I was consistently right down the order of the timesheets by this stage. P13 whilst my teammate was in P8. I was starting to get a bit down about it all, that 'Hard AI' was too much for me and my controller.

Final program was qualifying practice. I bolted on some supersofts and went nuts. First two laps exceeded the target, the 3rd I stuffed up as the tyres wore off. It was enough to get me P2 in a torro rosso, much faster than I expected, however I was the only one in the session on supersofts. Believable results I guess, so I should stick with this difficulty until I get better. I wonder where I can stick it for qualy?

I never thought I'd have this much fun in a practice session... and I've still got 2 practice sessions to go! Real top notch way to make learning tracks fun.

After the session back in the team lounge area I got introduced to my race engineer (or something). Very nicely done facial animations really made me feel a part of this virtual team. I even recognised some of the staff mulling about in the background. Great work Codies!

[Kangawallaby]

I have started career as well. You've mirrored my exact thoughts of the practice stuff its fantasticly rewarding. I have started from the bottom at Haas and am running the same settings at you 25% race length and one shot qualifying. I'm wrapped how good the whole career mode is so far.

[Froggy]

Interesting. I am doing career as well but starting at th bottom with Manor lol, same shortened settings but AI on elite and auto to start with and low traction control and all else off. I couldnt get the Haas to turn into the corners well in Melbourne so just passed that challenge for 30 points in P1 and in P2 working on the tyres but I keep crashing trying to get near the laptimes. Might have gone too high a bar with the AI but Melb is one of my least favourite tracks so Im not sure. I am loving the game so far and the idea of developing a Manor into a competitive car

[Froggy]

Can't get my piece of shit Manor within 3 seconds of my team mate as we battle for 2nd last position the first 3 races, struggling to get within 5 seconds of the qualifying and tyre test lap times, car is a real POS.. really got my career off to a shit start.