What is going on with the game?
Dear Community, I am relatively new here, so I am learning my way. In December 2023 I have purchased F1 2023 and was very happy with it. I was my first F1 game and I spent time playing it. I have pr...
Forum Discussion
No-So-Short version: New person was brought in to take over the handling/physics model. A decision was made to completely overhaul the handling model from F1 23, and there wasn't near enough testing that happened between the physics changes and track limits. People were cutting the track in ridiculous ways at launch and the handling model was so fundamentally broken that it was allowing people to gain speed while driving on the grass.
Update ensues. Times are reset because of people clearly taking advantage of the track limits and physics being totally broken in some areas. Handling is slightly better, but still not good (especially for wheel users). Playerbase continues to voice their disapproval.
Another update ensues. Times don't get updated. Handling is better for some and worse for others. New handling update prevents the players from reaching the previous times from the last patch. Playerbase continues to voice their disapproval, and times get reset again because they are not achievable with the new update.
The entire reason this is happening repeatedly in F1 24 is because the handling model was completely changed when it had no logical reason to be changed. F1 23's handling model was solid and stable, track limits worked the way they should, much better than previous entries, and therefore that game was able to get away with only one reset while the rest of the issues in the game could be worked on.
The more the handling model keeps getting updated and changed in F1 24, the more risk there is that the boards will continue to be reset. From my experience, this is not a common thing that happens in this game franchise. F1 24 was a special kind of broken at launch, and it will take more time to get it fixed (provided it can be fixed before the dev team(s) get forced to start working on F1 25, whereupon this game will be effectively abandoned, eventually de-listed, and we start this cycle all over again).
@GrumpsMcDumpsEach game has a two year developement time. They started 25 over a year ago if they are still following the cycle.
It’s commendable that they’ve tried to overhaul the handling, and in theory the dynamic handling with suspension and virtual wind tunnel should have been such a great change!! If it worked as intended it could have been revolutionary….
We shouldn’t slam them for trying to improve the game; but the problem is a complete lack of testing, care and attention to detail. I took part in the closed beta tests before launch and the feedback I saw from the community was so varied. Some liked it, some didn’t. Some feedback was useful and some was pointless….
But the loudest voices were of people saying “I’ve played this game for 10 minutes now and I’ve had enough….”
Well, how much have you really ‘tested’ the game in 10 minutes. I’d bet that most people tried their F1 23 setups and are outraged when they don’t work…You think you should have perfect handling right out of the box? Without the need to work on a setup? You think you can just steal someone else’s setup and expect it to work for you?? But then moan that the games not realistic enough? 😂
People treated it as a preview instead of a test…
I think there should be a degree of competency required to be a beta tester. Not just the quickest esports guys, but experienced league racers for example: people who have invested a lot of time over the years on these games. Can’t the devs approach the real F1 test and development drivers for a few days of feedback? You don’t necessarily need a Verstappen or Norris to test: they’re time is limited and when they endorse a game like Max does, he’s not going to be overly critical is he!
Software testing has test points to evaluate, reports on behavior etc. Were people signed up to evaluate specific features and performance and report back?
Doesn’t sound like it.
So having an unstructured open beta test is really just doing the minimum - it IS just a preview that will get opinions, maybe surface some critical issue, and log some issues for later. A wasted opportunity at best
So as done, would not have really made much difference to what was released
Test management is a big effort. The right people need to be found, NDA’d, then issues managed, tracked and reported and ranked. EVERY software development effort compromises the testing schedule when development falls behind. Schedule suffers because scope exceeds resources. Mgmt sets those. But the core game features were not prioritised properly. Result - more shoes anyone?
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