September 22nd, 2010 
I picked up a copy today of this anticipated game. I bought a PC version and would run it on my 2 year old laptop instead of the usual review where it is run on the latest state of the art PC that most people can’t afford.
So far I have found F1 2010 to be better than expected after installing it. But in saying that, the installation was very slow but no big problem. Once you start it up you are presented with a number of questions by the press. Right away you feel like you are playing a polished game and not starting up some half hacked unfinished mod. Once you have your profile setup then you can select what you want to do next. I decided to skip the career or championship modes for now and just get some laps down in the time trial mode.
So once in the time trial mode you can talk to your race engineer or you can go in and change the settings for the car. You can also check out your lap stats, track records and information on the history of the track. All very impressive stuff. You can also change control, audio and some graphic settings.
Once on the track in the default mode driving feels good and realistic, not on ice etc. But for experienced drivers you will soon want to pause the game and change some things. For me the first thing was to turn of automatic gear shifting and to turn all driver aids off.
So far I have set the car up a little but need to work out better settings for the Logic wheel. I like all the in car settings in the pit, looks like plenty of options for future tuning. From what a couple of people were saying online, I was not expecting anything so I’m surprised how much is there to tweak the car.
The only issue I have so far is the audio, it sounds bit tinny and even on my Sony Hi-Fi home stereo. The only drivers I have are software ones coming up in the audio settings, maybe that is all I have but will try a restart of computer and see if it changes anything otherwise check out some computer audio settings. I only have it running on my Toshiba laptop but it has a fairly good harmon/kardon audio system built in.
I have too much running on it so had to turn all graphics right down but I’m going to run it on a new profile later and clean up my computer as well. Now downloading new ATI drivers as well since I see mine are only version 7.1 while the current version is 10.8 so that could improve things I hope. Still, didn’t expect much from hearing that others said it was graphic heavy but from running through time trials at Bahrain I have really enjoyed it and can see it will be taking up a lot of spare time in the future.
I will be updating how things went with the graphics and audio later plus I will be writing a lot more later about the details on the car setup options as well as uploading some photos and pics….
Ok, I thought I should also post a pic of what is included in the DVD purchase. All you get is a DVD case, the DVD and a manual. The game manual is well put together. Here is the picture.
Where can I buy F1 2010?
Here is a list of places to buy online right now:
- PCMall.com – $67.99 USD
- OnSale – $67.99 USD
- Buy.com – PS3 – $58.99 USD
- Buy.com – Xbox 360 – $57.99 USD
- BestBuy.com – PS3 – $59.99 USD
- BestBuy.com – Xbox 360 – $59.99 USD
- Overstock.com – PS3 – $59.49 USD
- Overstock.com – Xbox 360 – $58.19 USD
- Wal-Mart.com -PS3 – $56.99
- Wal-Mart.com – Xbox 360 – $59.96
- GameStop – Xbox 360 – $49.99
- GameStop – PS3 – $59.99
- J&R Computer – PS3 – $59.99
- J&R Computer – Xbox 360 – $59.99
- Computers4SURE – PS3 – $54.95
- Computers4SURE – X360 – $54.95
- Tech Depot – PS3 – $54.95
- Tech Depot – X360 – $54.95
- Toys R Us – PS3 – $59.99
- Toys R Us – Xbox 360 – $59.99
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So far I have been experimenting with the setup using my Logitech Momo wheel. Currently I have the game setup with the following Logitech Wingman settings:
Use Special Force Feedback Device Settings – Yes
Overall Effects Strength – 100%
Spring Effects Strength – 15%
Damper Effects Strength – 15%
Enable Centering Spring – Yes
Use Special Sterrng Wheel Settings – No
Use Special Game Settings – No
I also downloaded the latest 5.10 version of the Logitech Profiler which seems to be better but I had to delete all Logitech drivers from my computer before it would install properly.
For the in game settings, I’m still experimenting but so far I’m setup like this:
Linearity: 50%
Deadzone 0%
Suturation 50%
I also turn All assists: OFF
Gears: MANUAL SEQUENTIAL
I have actually started a thread on the Codemasters forum to discuss Logitech wheel setups. http://community.codemasters.com/forum/f1-2010-game-1316/428914-optimal-logitech-wheel-settings.html
more soon, time to practice….
Great game, really enjoying it. thanks for your review, looking forward to reading more from you.
I had a couple of trys at Multiplayer today. The first attempt was quite funny. I started in a quick mode race, you can create your own race to. So we got underway after 4 players joined. There was not too much wait either but you do have to wait in the garage once the game starts for around 30 seconds while all players join. In this time you can make last minutes changes to your settings.
On the start I had a lot of problems, my graphics were too high and I was running into walls. So I had to quit.
Next game I decided to create my own and this was much better as I could choose to ban assists like traction control. I could also choose the track I wanted to run which is Singapore. Ths turned out to run much better after I turned the graphics down. But by the time I crossed the line in first place after just one lap of 3, all the other 3 cars had been disqualified or had retired.
I think MP will be a lot of fun once people get used to it and improve their driving skills. Codemasters have done a pretty good job with this aspect of the game and I plan to review this part in more depth later…
Some people say rFactor is more of a sim than F1 2010. Yes rFactor does have a lot more setup options in the garage but unless you have so much spare time on your hands or you have a degree in physics, who really has time to become an expert in this? I have just found the whole process to take out the enjoyment of sitting down with a wheel and being entertained, it seems more like a job to try and work all that out and then when you finally do you don’t have anything special graphic wise or as in game play. It’s ok if you want to do a number of laps on your own and try to get faster. As I said rFactor has been good but it’s now time to let it go for me and move on…
I consider F1 2010 to have more depth and features, I’m talking about the whole experience, not just the garage settings. We could include everything from making garage set ups more accessible, graphics, weather effects, game play, multilayer, career, time trials, track detail and quite a bit more. Yes there are some bugs and things that could be improved too so I look forward to future developments but I think this is a big step forward.
Last night I had a quick run with the Grand Prix mode. At the start you have some choices to set the game to your liking including being able to setup the race length, 1, 3 laps or maybe you prefer 10%, 20% or 100% race length. You can also choose if you want to include practice sessions, how many and qualifying or just go straight to the race.
Once in the game you will start in the garage where you have 3 main menu selections, the LCD screen, the Engineer or the Race Info menu. In the Race Info menu you will have options to skip the current session and decide which session you would like to progress to.
In the LCD screen menu you will be able to see quite a bit of information about the race, the history of the track and setup your car. Once cool feature is that you can press enter (on PC) when viewing the current times and you will be presented with what looks similar to the real F1 Live timing board. You can see a lot of details about other racers, what their sector times are and where they are right now. You can also press F2 (pc) to accelerate the session time to go ahead by X number of times.
With the Engineer menu you can now select which part of the track you want to join, it could be from the pit or at a certain sector which is handy if you say want to start on sector 3 and get right into putting a lap time down.
Saving Games
yes you can save a game, well at least in a Grand Prix game as I have yet to start a career. If you exit a Grand Prix competition then make sure you leave by going into the garage and selecting your Engineer and exiting the game through there. That way your game progress will be saved and you can come back to it later. This is in practice and I would assume it will be the same at the qualifying stage but I doubt the race itself could be saved once started but we will find out soon.
Here is a list of racing wheels and controllers that F1 2010 OFFICIALLY supports: There will probably be additional wheels/controllers in the future that will be supported and to get a full list then check at the Codemasters forum thread.
PS3:
• DUAL SHOCK 3
• Logitech Driving Force EX/RX
• Logitech Driving Force Pro
• Logitech Driving Force GT
• Logitech G25 Racing Wheel
• Logitech G27 Racing Wheel
• Thrustmaster Run’N’Drive Wireless Rumble Force
• Thrustmaster Dual Trigger Rumble Force
Xbox 360:
• Microsoft Xbox 360 Controller
• Microsoft Xbox 360 Wireless Racing Wheel
• Logitech Drive FX Wheel
• Fanatec Porsche 911 Turbo S
PC:
• Microsoft Xbox 360 Controller
• Microsoft Xbox 360 Wireless Racing Wheel
• Microsoft Sidewinder Force Feedback Wheel with Force Feedback
• Fanatec Porsche 911 Turbo / Turbo S / GT3 RS Wheel
• Logitech Dual Action
• Logitech MOMO Racing
• Logitech MOMO Force
• Logitech G25 Racing Wheel
• Logitech G27 Racing Wheel
• Logitech Rumble Pad 2
• Logitech Cordless Rumble Pad 2
• Logitech Driving Force GT
• Thrustmaster RGT Force Feedback Clutch Edition
• Thrustmaster Ferrari 430 Force Feedback Racing Wheel
Advance Wheel Settings
Some people have been taking a lot about what the advanced wheel settings mean so I will try to write down what I have read and learned about these settings:
Deadzone: accounts for the middle few degrees of the wheel’s turning . For example a setting of 5 degrees would mean you’d have to turn the wheel a certain amount in either direction before right or left would be recognized. Think of it like an area that does not engage until a certain point. So Zero deadzone seems to be a preferred setup for most people.
Saturation: Increasing the saturation decreases while reducing it increases the response rate of full axis input. So if you have a high Saturation setting you would probably have to turn more physically to get around a corner. Decreasing the saturation should enable the car physics to be a lot more predictable and responsive.
I wrote this on the CM forum but I would like to add it here too as it addresses some important issues about the game.
From what I have read the three most annoying bugs can be totally avoided from my inderstanding.
AI No pitstop – Do not use Flashbacks which is said to cause the AI not to pit sometimes, in fact anyone who is using flashbacks is really cheating in a way. Sure when you start it would be fine but when you are serious about a career then using flashbacks seems to defeat the whole point of doing a career!
Pitstop Delay – Just pit before or after you are told to by your engineer, apparently this will help avoid it. I’m not sure about how to avoid it in wet weather but maybe just use dry tracks until it’s patched.
Saved Games issue – This is also avoidable by following the instructions in the thread about it here: http://community.codemasters.com/forum/f1-2010-game-1316/431849-corrupted-saved-game-potential-workaround.html
So really if these are the three main bugs that are causing most of the problems then they really are quite avoidable.
For me, I have totally enjoyed the game from day 1 and nothing has changed. Yes I do want to see patches etc too as I will be going into career mode at some point but not until I become good enough to not need to use Flashbacks.
Edit:
I have had not problems with realism, forceback with my momo wheel is the most realistic since I started with f1 sims sine the 90′s. Once you setup your wheel properly, config your system and game settings and most importantly tune your car to your driving style and the track in the garage then this is a great driving experience.
Time Trials
You might find them frustrating when you get an invalid lap for going off line etc but did you know that you can just press pause and then restart to be instantly on the 3rd sector ready to start a new clean timed lap?
Another good thing to know too is that if your lap time is canceled and the lap becomes invalid you can still see the sector times if you continue the lap. The times will merge on the top left time display as you pass the sector point. At the end of the first sector you will see the first sector time, at the end of the 2nd and 3rd sector the times will be inclusive. So you still get to see your final lap time as it would have been but only briefly, for a few seconds so be quick.
It is also worth knowing that the car is at it’s prime for each time trial, the tires are at their best and the fuel load is also light.
Someone was mentioning that they think the F1 2010 cars are assisted even with all aids off. I don’t find this at all and it just takes some time to setup your system. I think I should post here what I wrote on the forum:
It’s all about how you setup several things which all contribute to how the car handles, they are:
(this is for PC By the way):
Wheel settings in Windows, for Logitec check all your profilier settings and learn what each one is for and does. Experiment!
In Game Controller Settings: Setup your Satuartion, Deadzone etc (again learn what it all is and experiment).
In Game Force Feedback Settings (again learn what it all is and experiment).
In Game Car Setup: Go into the garage and adjust your car settings (again learn what it all is and experiment plus check out some of the ones others have uploaded).
Edit: BTW, I can spin all the time, my car is like a twitchy nervous animal. It’s all on the setup!