F1 2018

[B.Smooth13]

I know at least a few around the TGCT world play this game. How's everyone enjoying it so far? I've started a career with McLaren, AI on 90 without any assists other than corner driving line (zero depth perception on a 2D monitor), Alonso as my teammate, and just finished off a P9 finish in Baku. The new game is well done, not to dissimilar from 2017 tbf, but that's fine by me - I loved 2017. The only bummer for me is the ERS deployment, which is basically impossible to properly manage with a controller, but that's my fault. I'll get a wheel one of these days (only been saying that for about 18 months now).

Biggest things I'm struggling with aren't too different than 2017. I still suck at keeping engine wear down (about to blow through first ICE already) and tire management leaves a lot to be desired, but I have to push that car so damn much to be halfway competitive. I've played a few of the invitational events and tried out the new tracks, as well. If you haven't had a few laps around France, do yourself a favor and go try it out, tons of fun. Same with Germany, too, but some of the corners in France are just awesome to get perfect.

Anyway, since no one had started a thread on this yet, figured I'd go ahead since I know there's at least some interest in it amongst the group here. If nothing else, Crazycanuck1985 and team engineer TreeWood can keep us updated on the 100% race season progress!

[dh-nufc]

I'm still playing 2016, I'm a bit behind with driving games but I'll be looking at getting this in the next few months. Do you think I should get 2017 first andthen this afterwards or skip 2017?

[SmilingGoats]

I would say skip 2017. Unless you just want to buy it on the cheap.

I haven't bought 2018. I bought 2017 late when it was on sale and then my wheel broke. So, I'm just now getting to playing 2017 with my new wheel.

2017 career mode is far more in-depth than 2016, so I consider 2017 to be a substantial upgrade to 2016. From what I've seen, 2018 builds on that somewhat by allowing faster accumulation of resource points, adds ERS management, and the halo to the cars, plus the new French track. The AI is more aggressive in 2018, by all accounts...verdict is still out on whether that's an improvement or not.

All in all, I don't think I'll buy 2018, at least not until it goes on sale. But if I hadn't bought 2017, I would definitely want the upgrade from 2016 to 2018.

[B.Smooth13]

SmilingGoats regarding the new AI in 2018, I'd say it's pretty well improved over 17, in my experience. If you're on a flying lap during practice, for example, cars pulling out of the pit lane actually move! lol That's a nice improvement. And I can't put my finger on exactly why, but the in-race AI seems to be much more sensible, less cars just plowing into you for no reason (still can happen though), and moreover they just seem a bit "racier." The career experience is much improved, for me, because now it's actually possible to develop your car quickly with the increased resource points. The contract negations to get additional bonus points for things is another nice addition. I like 2017 plenty, but IMO 2018 is a pretty decent sized step up from 17 in several ways that just improve the overall experience.

[ProjectM4yhem23]

I got 17 for $15 a month before 18 came out to see if I would like it....liked 17 so much I got 18 the day it came out and would say it is better!! Wow what a great career mode. I don't have a wheel just drive with the controller....ERS management is a a little tough but worth getting used to...

[TreeWood]

Sept 4, 2018 15:43:53 GMT -5 ProjectM4yhem23 said:

I got 17 for $15 a month before 18 came out to see if I would like it....liked 17 so much I got 18 the day it came out and would say it is better!! Wow what a great career mode. I don't have a wheel just drive with the controller....ERS management is a a little tough but worth getting used to...

Jesus!  Still working on my morning coffee, so not awake yet..... I read your first words as I got it for "$15 a month"!   I know games are getting more expensive, but $180 a year would be crazy!!

[ProjectM4yhem23]

Sept 5, 2018 11:04:26 GMT -5 TreeWood said:

Sept 4, 2018 15:43:53 GMT -5 ProjectM4yhem23 said:

I got 17 for $15 a month before 18 came out to see if I would like it....liked 17 so much I got 18 the day it came out and would say it is better!! Wow what a great career mode. I don't have a wheel just drive with the controller....ERS management is a a little tough but worth getting used to...

Jesus!  Still working on my morning coffee, so not awake yet..... I read your first words as I got it for "$15 a month"!   I know games are getting more expensive, but $180 a year would be crazy!!

Haha....unfortunately we will probably get there soon enough....Fortnite is pretty much doing it now and crushing it so everyone will jump on the bandwagon.

[Deleted]

I am debating on whether to get this or not. The problem is I am not one for all the extreme details (most realistic) and just want to race a car around the track although you can't really call it a race if you are just 1st all the time

[paulus]

What’s the online like Justin?

[B.Smooth13]

Sept 7, 2018 4:59:40 GMT -5 paulus said:

What’s the online like Justin?

That's a great question lol haven't tried it yet. Didn't have a great deal of fun with online races in 17, but will definitely give it a try in 18 anyway - just haven't gotten around to it yet, have had too much fun with the career mode to even think about online yet tbh.

[B.Smooth13]

Sept 7, 2018 4:59:40 GMT -5 paulus said:

What’s the online like Justin?

Follow up report...

in a word: Infuriating.

lol it's just such a pain in the ass to get into a lobby, then try to do an entire race without getting taken out constantly by others, despite how safe you may drive. There's more enjoyment in it for me than there was in 17 based on the "ranked" modes, but if you have the patience to wait 30 mins to get into one of those, you'll still get @!$#ed by others trying to defend a ridiculous line and/or wildly flying across the track and you're unable to avoid.

[paulus]

Cheers. I expected as much - tho it's pretty standard for drop-in racing anywhere suppose. It's why iRacing can still charge a monthly sub, for what is essentially a 20 year old game.

Some of the best online racing I've ever had has been in ghost mode. Don't suppose there is such a thing in this game? Used to be pretty standard feature in racing games - kinda fallen out of vougue in recent years

[TreeWood]

Yeah, I tried 4-5 online races with F1 2016.... got fed up with the same thing -- yahoos deliberately taking guys out... waste of time. Oddly enough, Project Cars 2 was a different story -- Not always clean racing, but for the most part it was significantly better than with F1.

[B.Smooth13]

The damn thing is, people weren't purposefully t-boning me every lap or anything. I knew there would be a ton of dive-bomb passing attempts, ridiculous blocking of lines in more than one direction, etc., so I was consciously just staying behind people and waiting for a mistake that allowed me to quickly jet past them on a straight. Problem is, they would make their mistake, then just keep it pinned trying to save it, end up flying sideways across the track in a way that was impossible to avoid, thus knocking me out, too. That's almost more frustrating than blatant a##!0#ls who go in there just to take people out lol

[B.Smooth13]

Having gone through a wildly successful 1st season with McLaren - and building up the car to be a beast via R&D (love how much easier it is to do that in this version) - I decided to make a change in season 2 that I've never really tried before. I've always used the TV Pod camera, but for my 2nd season with McLaren I've decided to switch to cockpit. It's like playing a new game, so much fun. I've already gotten my moneys worth and more out of F1 2018, and making just that one small change has given me the feeling like I'm playing it for the first time all over again. I highly recommend giving it a try if you're as I am and hadn't played in that view before.