Re: F1 2023 Thoughts So Far
Well.
Many things to say, positives and negatives.
Let's start with the positives.
- Compendium : brings nice photos and stories about drivers, teams, circuits, kinda like it even if i'm watching every GP since many years and seek for infos on different websites
- Grip : finally we won't spin on 4th/5th gear just like real F1 cars
- Loading times between screens
- Countdown during online racing : implemented late on F1 2021, then removed on F1 22 so we could wait years someone who has not loaded before/after the race
- F1 World : the challenges (scenarios, time trial challenge, menus)
- Tracklist : EA Touch, very nice songs just like they do in FIFA series
Negatives
- Other stuff in F1 World : Supercars ? Customization with kinda ugly suits, gloves, helmets, fake sponsors.. Purpose of tech level ? Podium celebration ?? I mean come on, this is ridiculous, you'll never see pilots IRL celebrating like superman or making stupid dances
- AI straight line speed
- Rear light flashing under 10% ERS ? Where tf does this come from ? Can't we just have like real F1 cars and flash when ERS recovery is active ?? Why can't we barely see the two aditionnal lights on the rear wing where in real life it's so bright ?
- Engine sounds : was that too difficult to put some microphones and just record it ? How we went from not awful but correct engine sounds in F1 2021/22 to dumbest engine sound ever in F1 23 ?
- Pit stop animation : still ugly, robotic and non realistic
- Start from pitlane after component replacement before race ? Where is it ?
- Red sectors ?? Is that too difficult to just set as it is in real life : yellow, green and purple ? There is no such as red
- Track limits : some tracks you are punished for 1mm outside the line, some of them you can put the 4 wheels outside and slightly cut the turn to gain time and it's allowed (Austin turn 12, Suzuka turn 16 and many more..)
- Lack of good informations about how to create your own setup : for example dispose a graphic where you can see the effects of the settings you are modifying - level of grip, straight line speed, mechanical grip, understeery or oversteery setup, tyre degradation, ERS recovery etc..
- LED RPM : why can't we just customize our own leds and be able to have our setup in myteam, timetrial, online.. little bit tired of the same one by one led (just like Hamilton had in Mercedes from 2013 to 2017). Would love to create my own profile for engine rpm, pit lane limiter, VSC and SC, DRS available and open... And by the way on this subject. There is literally 0 F1 car irl which has blinking leds on high engine rpm, and they don't grow up in 8th gear.
- Halo HUD one day ?
- Spectating other drivers : how buggy it is, look like the guy is destroying his engine by overpushing the rpm. Years after years this is getting worse and worse.
All of this are slight details that would improve a lot our experience in this game, which i don't think it's hard to code, it's just a matter of doing something close to reality when you sell your game as "the official F1 game", then do it, for real. I even tried the F1 TV Style mod in racedepartment which is clearly more realistic but a little bit buggy and laggy, but it shows that it's possible with an external software (Simhub) to have a lookalike global HUD for free, so why can't developers in a billionnaire studio can't make it ? Seriously.
Last things and it bothers me since few years, I got the SF1000 wheel, and I'm sure it has to be thrustmaster issue or something in the game code which is not optimal : so many times after a long straight and heavy braking zone like turn 1 in Monza, turn 3 in Austria, downshifting often miss. I just can't downshift quickly (apparently, there is no issue like that with fanatec stuff), that make me often miss the apex, lose a lot of time / had to do and redo the lap in timetrial just because of that. This is soooooooo annoying. Years i'm trying to identify the issue, found nothing.
But all of those realistic improvements won't come anytime soon as for me, EA is just betting $$ over making a realistic game and listening to his community. Still the same graphic engine for years, so many improvements asked and only one came : red flags, inside the game files, still shows "Toro Rosso, Sauber, Force India, Sauber"... they just don't care.