[Feedback] F1® 24 - Share your thoughts

I echo so much of the previous comments so won’t repeat. But key: its a racing game!

But its also the little things that over the years that never improve and become so tiresome - its hard to put time in

So a few things 

No mention of force feedack - its been pretty much the same for a long time, and lacking in useful nuance

UI is tired and tedious - needs a revamp

Setups need better management, and seeing changes from previous adjustments when next changing would be really helpful

In cockpit view the screen on the wheel could be much better used. Even just a line of text along the bottom that had Diff, BB, ERS mode, Fuel mode indicators would save punching into the MFD, something like BB:50 D:30 E: Hot F:lean

AI slider needs to do more than just change entry and exit speeds, needs to reduce/increase AI consistency and add random mistakes

But these are all things that have been added to the suggestion threads for years so why not review those

I've been playing the game for about two weeks now (first experiences since the Beta), and I have a few thoughts that I think I can add to the overall list.

• F1 World. Now, this may be an unpopular choice, but I actually don't mind it. Still, locking the AI early to an easy level (35) is not a good choice by far. Tech Level Compensation doesn't help when the AI just back out of all moves because they are on Easy difficulty. Just give us an option to play against Easy (35), Medium (60), Hard (90) and Ultimate (105) opponents. Maybe even tie it in to Safety License level. Would be such a simple fix IMO, and you might not even need to use Tech Level Compensation.
• F1 Life (the wardrobe stuff) - just leave it for Driver Career. For Driver Career, you could spend your earned Career money to make your character more stylish for certain cutscenes, or your house where you hold all your stuff look a bit different. You can even keep the paid options there (buying certain stuff with PitCoin, if you wish). Nobody really cares about it in general, we're here to race in our cars and driving suits and helmets, not stick around trying to show off... something.
• Customization overall. Severely lacking this year. Also, not a fan of unlocking "real" helmets, I feel no real benefit of using someone's helmet online - I would rather use my own, but... I only have 1 option available without Podium Pass... And I have no PitCoins because I bought the Standard version of the game. I miss 2020-2021 days when we had a ton of customizable helmet designs... And we can't even use our custom gloves when using real F1 cars...
• Career mode. Nice to see a fresh coat of paint, but underlying issues are still there. R&D also seems to be rubberbanding somehow this year... Give us back the R&D tree (because the current menu is quite confusing...), remake some car upgrades, introduce new car upgrades, introduce more practice programmes (or even make different practice programmes for different sessions, for example, FP1 could have acclimatization and ERS tests, FP2 could have tyre wear and race strategy tests, FP3 could have fuel and qualy sim tests), make progression slower so that we could actually last 10 seasons, a more varied calendar is also a possibility. With the current progression, I think you can finish up with Career Mode after 7 seasons max, even with the modifiers. And also, I think it would be a rather quick fix to add F2 drivers from current season for Season 2 Driver Market of Career Mode.
• Handling. Oh boy. Where to begin... Well, it IS better than it was in the last Beta (speaking from gamepad experience). But still has some very weird moments. Slides feel way too easy to save. Steering input is sometimes weird. Oh and don't even mention the hidden countersteer assist... Can we tune it back for F1 25? That hidden countersteer assist is just not fun, and F1 23's version was better. I do like some changes, like the tyre model upgrade or the brake change. But the handling needs SERIOUS work for next year.
• Gameplay. At this point, feels dated. Weather system needs an upgrade with more variety and flexibility (bigger variations of weather, possible shorter bursts of rain, more slots for custom weather settings, more "Dynamic" options like "Dynamic Dry" (changes between clear, light cloud and overcast) or "Dynamic Wet" (changes between light rain, heavy rain, storm) and just overall more detailed weather), Safety Car is still not 100% reliable (and also still no unlapping after all these years), Red Flags need to be able to choose between Standing Start and Rolling Start (and also needs "Formation Lap" again), we still want a Cooldown Lap, and so on. We really need some major improvements to all the primary gameplay systems here.
• AI. Still feels very robotic. Some other sims have made AI feel much better and less robotic. I'm not sure what way would be the best to improve here, but the AI certainly needs to start being less robotic.
• ERS. Not necessarily a bad change this year (though I'm not a big fan of this). Qualifying should only have "None" and "Hotlap" (optimized for a track) though, to prioritize driver's skills instead. Race could have your usual "None", "Medium", "Full" (current hotlap, but renamed to make more sense) and "Overtake", with the "Hotlap" for qualifying unavailable during race. Also, should probably tweak regeneration for each ERS setting also.
• Online. Virtually unchanged from last year, which isn't good. More flexibility with lobby settings would be useful, like having specific rules settings, forcing certain assists for all people, using FOM car with 2024 liveries for Equal Cars to actually have Equal cars, more slots for lobbies (up to 24)... These are just some ideas.
• Bugfixes. I won't get into details but... So many bugs. QA needs to improve a little. Maybe your QA testers are low-skilled players at this point? No offense, of course - but some obvious bugs pass by way too easily.
• Improvements. Improvements to existing features are necessary. Spectator Mode feels way too limited, with not enough camera angles choices and limited data output. Replays are still unable to show other drivers in Multiplayer Replays (also can't even save them in MP if you don't finish, which is not good; also maybe you guys could add switching to other drivers in MP Race Replays if the drivers used "Public" Telemetry mode?) and Replays could benefit from Spectator Mode options like Leaderboard toggles or telemetry stuff. Highlights seem to be hit and miss since 2021 and this would be useful if improved. Voice Commands would benefit from improvements also, they like to not give the information necessary.
• Slight EDIT: I forgot to add - Modding. PC players would really thank you guys if you could actually start providing at least SOME modding support, as Modding keeps your game afloat for a bit longer. I'm not asking for much - but maybe some official documentation or some official file editing tools would be a good start.

I could probably write more... But I choose not to. All I can say is - time to do better. And finally, time to rethink what is your target audience, because this game feels like it was made with people who never played racing games in mind, hoping to bring new audience in. I would say that the target, first and foremost, should be current F1 fan audience and current F1 game enjoyers. F1 is not your generic Need for Speed game. With your current choices over the past few years, you have not only not brought new audience, but you have made most of your old audience say "enough is enough".

first of all I tell you you really lack ideas and a real f1 base..... 

first of all you have to create a game that is the same between PC and console you can't have on PC the possibility of lowering fps etc to then have a different game this has been going on for years and you are making a fool of yourself... abandon the old consoles and use the new ones that are PCs...... differentiate rankings between those who run with aids and without....... custom race settings dg etc..... the setups that have been absent for 10 years the info in the race to be turned to mdf are nothing short of scandalous or we run or we look at them the same to understand if we have damage or not..... dynamic weather dynamic asphalt dynamic wind....... track limits and rules cuts like reality here too it's been 10 years bugs tracks not updated customization liveries and real pit couplings........ tire pressures temperatures etc to be completely redone..... a live dg would be top this too has been requested for years to make 2 versions of games one for the career etc another for those who want a simulation...... evident tire wear graining..... 

possibility to set basic ers without having to fiddle with the steering wheel, not all buttons have them... engine damage even in multiplayer races detailed setup view when I move something I need to visually see what I'm doing especially wings height geometry not random numbers.....setups must work on specific cars if I use mercedes setup on ferrari it can't work even with equal performances the player must find the solution.....the more dynamic you make the game the more passionate the player gets the word out that the game is great more sales if you reduce yourself to copy and paste the result is the mobile game of the 24th.......even the renunciation of making the game every year if a regulation lasts 4 5 years you have to update the game and that's it by only charging for those.....this is my feedback/advice... 

So, my first post was more at a high level, but after doing some more thinking, here are some ideas for actual gameplay changes:

1. Get rid of F1 World and use that extra development bandwidth to add F1 Academy.  By doing that, you create a game with three different classes of Formula racing.  Which leads to my next point:

2. The F1 games need to get back to focusing on racing rather than progression.  You can start this by getting rid of F1 World and the "Battle Pass".  A Battle Pass system works for games with high amounts of online players.  I'd wager the majority of F1 players are mainly playing offline at this point.  What the Battle Pass has become is a way for us to try to grind for cosmetics rather than any meaningful progression.  Do you want the money you'd get from Podium Pass?  Then put out more (and better) cosmetics in the store.  People will spend their money regardless if the cosmetics are good enough.

3. Core racing gameplay.  If you add a 3rd racing class with F1 Academy, gut F1 World and the Battle Pass, then you can use that bandwidth to dedicate more time to making the core racing gameplay unique and exciting.  F1 24 was a step in the direction of arcade racing, and that was not a good decision.  You can still get back to having a good simcade feel without alienating the player base.  And I'd actually argue that going more arcade ended up alienating more of the player base than anything.  Make the core racing experience fun, and people will pay money.  Make the racing fun, and people will overlook laziness.  Make the racing fun, and you'll get back the online community that you lost.

4. Custom driver commentary names.  How are we still using the same small list of spoken driver names, where half of them are complete nonsense?  For example, we have "Mx Monaco" but we don't have any Japanese names.  Even other EA Sports franchises like NHL have way more names to choose from.  Grab Alex Jacques for two hours during the off-season and have him record another couple dozen REAL names.  Continuing on with that thought train...

5. Driver country selection.  How hard is it in 2024 to just add every flag and country to the game?  There's no spoken commentary about country names; just the engineers mentioning pre-race if it's your driver's home GP.  It would require no extra dialogue, and maybe a few hours of dev work with minimal testing.  There's no good reason to not have done this years ago.

6. Echoing what others have said (and have been saying for years), the AI is good, but also awful at the same time.  It isn't afraid to scrap with players, which is great.  But it lacks unpredictability.  More variance is needed in the lines it takes, the lap times it puts in, and the amount of REAL mistakes it makes (not just locking brakes).  This could maybe be tied to the AI difficulty level.  Adjacent to this...

7. Add a slider for AI aggression.  This is becoming commonplace in the sim racing world, and as with other things, this franchise has been falling behind on this.

8. I realize it would take too much processing power to have a full field of AI cars be held to all of the same physics data points that the player's car is, but at LEAST have the AI be affected by tire temps.

9. Rain rendering is outdated and nowhere close to being what it should be in F1 24.  There was spray from other cars in 23, and now it's gone in 24.  Why?  Additionally, rain drops on the car and visor/cameras just sit like the car is standing still, even when you're going 180mph.  Again, another piece where this franchise is falling behind other competitors, because the rain has existed like this for years with no thought given to actually updating it.

10. Features and miscellaneous things that inexplicably get removed from the games.  Why were dynamic race strategy changes in 23 but not in 24?  Why are dry-to-wet tire changes still broken?  Why are there so many good things that existed (and worked) in previous games that got removed the following year?  These are internal conversations that need to be had.  At best, it's human oversight and poor testing.  At worst, it's to re-add things into future games and sell them like they're new features, which is a deceptive practice.

11.  Scenarios and Pro Challenges don't need to be in the game anymore.  I'm curious to see what the actual numbers are of people who actually complete these and use the rewards, because I feel like it's not a high amount of players.  

12. Force Feedback.  It took a step in the right direction with F1 24, but the changes to the handling model made any kind of "sim" feeling go out the window for wheel users.  The tracks feel more lively now, but overall the FFB still feels numb.  I understand that the entire point of these games is to make the player FEEL like it's as easy as the pros make it look.  But there's just not any character or personality in the cars' FFB.  Again, the handling model in 24 contributes to this, as any time the cars start feeling jittery and lively, the game feels as though it's enacting a stability control assist or something, which feels very unnatural for wheel users.

13. Online penalties, bans, and player reporting.  I, and a lot of people, don't like racing online.  It's not because the online game experience is bad.  It's because most people who play online aren't held accountable for being idiots.  Add a reporting function, or instant DQ for someone who crashes into someone else at a certain speed differential.  After someone gets 3 DQs, have the game lock them out of online for a day or two.  After that, lock them out for a week.  Dedicate time and resources to holding dirty/clueless players accountable and keeping online racing fair, and more people will want to play it.  And the more people you have playing online, the more cosmetics you'll sell.

14. Decide what you want the game's identity to be.  Do you want it to be a career simulator?  Do you want it to be an iRacing competitor with multiplayer?  If you want the focus to be on career, then you need to TEST, TEST, TEST.  Pay attention to detail.  Let the devs put some passion into it.  Give it the time it deserves before you shove it out the door.  If you want the focus to be on multiplayer, then create a better penalty/reporting system for online, create a better skill-based matchmaking algorithm, and invest in the servers.  Consider adding private servers (yet another thing that your competitors are doing better online).

I think if nothing else, having three classes of Formula cars by adding F1 Academy could help breathe some fresh air into the game by removing game modes that have gone stale.  It will give players three different scales of speed and handling to play with, and having another slower class could help with online numbers, especially for people who want to ease their way into it. Add a better matchmaking system and penalty system for online, and I think you've got a good 1-2 punch to at least try something new to get players back.

This series has an identity crisis that it needs to resolve.  The last three games have been so frustrating because they have been stuck in a pattern of "better in some ways, and way worse in others".  It doesn't feel like anyone knows WHAT they want these games to be anymore.  Are they live service?  Are they multiplayer?  Are they offline career sims?  The series right now is trying to be all three things, and it keeps missing the mark in some way on all of those aspects.

Either way, this is likely the last post I will make giving feedback or reporting anything with this game or any future F1 game.  I say this as someone who has a lot of love for this series: I have zero expectation that anything posted in this thread will actually be addressed, and we'll be continuing to see the games become more lifeless and phoned in until EA gives up the license, or the player counts drop to unsustainable levels.  I truly hope that's not the case.

I mentioned my whole critic about the flaws of this game in the german forum. I dont want to repeat it again. But the german forum is ignored by EA, critique is ignored there as well and big bugs and flaws of the game are only recognised after months or will be silenced down. And the mods are...well, you are not allowed to criticize them, their work or EAs work and that shows enough.

To make it short: every part of the game needs a complete overhaul. Every part of the game is worse than least year, even the parts that are ignored for years (myTeam). F1 needs a fresh start from the ground up with new engine, new ideas, complete new concept, new developer. Even the yearly 2K cash grab abominations are not as bad as F1 24.

I've already contributed by saying that we need the option for #1 in driver career but beyond that, the team needs to be on top of game-breaking bugs. For instance, Interlagos is only one of the most popular tracks in the game however, it's broken post 1.10. https://answers.ea.com/t5/General-Discussion/Interlagos-bug/m-p/14072208#M7841 if you want more. I bet someone on the team could easily simulate a season or even check season 1 of any career and see these problems. It's been reported for both Driver Career and MyTeam, and I feel like your main customers only play those modes. How nobody checks something as simple as playing a race is crazy, or even seeing if we can use #1. The lack of tracks and content for future career seasons is another thing, why did France get removed? We are lacking tracks enough, and full calendar customization would be nice too. These topics have all been hit though, can we just work on making the current game better? 

Hi there,

First of all, I really wanted to thank you for replying to this thread. You shared your thoughts extensively and you have made excellent points.

I cannot reply to you all individually, but I assure you I will collect all your feedback and escalate it to the game team.

Please, feel free to keep posting here, I will keep monitoring the thread.

-Groguet

I want to offer a different POV.

The POV of someone who has been loyal for 12 years and did not buy F1 24. 

Ive been playing the F1 games since 2010 on a yearly bases. Until F1 2019 i played on a controller and from 2020 onwards on a T300 wheel. In 2019 i started league racing and only played online. never touched singleplayer (except 2020-2021 my team)

Imo the games have gone massively downhill since F1 22. No more actual improvements have been made. All updates have pretty much made the game experience worse and worse. And then since 2021 every patch was not even an improvement anymore, but simply causing more issues. And that downhill spiral has increased a lot over the last years. The amount of carryover bugs/glitches we see is inexcuseable. 

I did not buy F1 24 because it was obvious to me that this game will be a massive step backwards. The handling is ultra unrealistic. The traction is not remotely like F1 cars behave. Anything about the driving is so far off reality that it really turned into a bit a joke. Things such as the delta time thru sector splits being gone since F1 22 is unbelievable. This is a racing game and I am not able to set the delta I want to see in a session. And not just that: but also the entire sector deltas being taken away shows me that there is zero interest to actually give drivers on a more competitive level adequate racing information. 

Lets talk about League Racing:

Even tho a minority of the players have engaged in league racing, this was the backbone of the F1 Game franchise! But thanks to all the bugs ingame you make competetive racing look unserious as hell. F1 Esports is laughable. Game issues deciding E-Sport Races is something I have never seen before. Same in league racing. I have been running a league for 3 years now. Its no fun at all. Because every week game issues affect results. And people practice for hours to have good results just to be screwed over by a broken safety car, broken delta time, invisible bump, weird track limits etc. By killing league racing you have lost a huge part of the playerbase. 

Overall its clear to me that there is no love from EA whatsoever. There is no interest in providing a game that moves forward. In fact, its the other way around. 

The games are being build on an engine from 2015. Essentially every year is the same game. Since 2015... EGO is fully outdated and broken. A developer friend of mine explained it like this: "you have a 10 year old engine that you try to improve every year by adding new things to it. The code is getting more complicated every year. At some stage you reach a point where every end is somehow connected to something on the other side that minor changes here cause massive issues there..."...

And this is exactly whats happening. A patch is supposed to fix tires or whatever. and that patch causing an invisible bump on a track. 
The amount of issues with these games cannot all be put into one answer.

if you want a solution then look at AC or GT. You can drive with controller but the overall game is  made for a wheel. and thats how it should be, as we are still in a racing game. Racing = driving = wheel. 

The focus needs to be more on realism. In F1 24 you drive without any assists and somehow it feels like you are having medium TC enabled. How the hell does that make sense? 

Then shift your focus back to the real community. The league racing community. We have seen it in the past. If league racing is happy = game is successful. 

Something else i want to mention about the ongoing Handling/Traction/Realism debate: 

I noticed a problematic issue in the ongoing debates about the F1 cars ingame. And that is about the assists people use. 

I see so many responses about how the cars behave but nobody mentions the assists they are running on. It makes zero sense in arguing about the behaviour of the cars, when people use different or no assist. If i drive with traction or ABS I am essentially playing a different racing game than running no assists. If we want a serious debate about car handling and everything that comes with it: The only baseline can be No Assists. Because No assists is what the game should really be. And then we can go into a more detailed perspective with having medium TC or ABS or whatever. 

And I think in terms of feedback for the developers this is also a serious issue. People are giving feedback about the cars but all of them run different assist settings so none of these arguments can be taken literal. Rather they need to be clustered. Because again: Full TC is a completely different game. ABS is a different game. And so on.