F1 2020 General Discussion ThreadF1 2020

[Jezza819]

I feel ya. Granted I haven't played a F1 game since the 2009 version, yet these cars spin out easily (at least in time trail mode) with 0% throttle saturation. I moved it up to 40% and it's manageable. I'm also running no ABS or TC. G29 user.

Last night I had to give in and turn TC on just to try and calm my temper down mainly and to try and get some enjoyment out of the game for now until I can figure settings, etc. out. I have throttle saturation at 50% but it would still want to spin out on straights even going into 4th gear.

 

[alx42]

Last night I had to give in and turn TC on just to try and calm my temper down mainly and to try and get some enjoyment out of the game for now until I can figure settings, etc. out. I have throttle saturation at 50% but it would still want to spin out on straights even going into 4th gear.

Hmm... Do you know if changing the ERS deployment (or whatever they call the MGU-K and MGU-H these days) makes a difference? I haven't ventured far into the game yet, as I'm still working through ACC.

 

[Jezza819]

Hmm... Do you know if changing the ERS deployment (or whatever they call the MGU-K and MGU-H these days) makes a difference? I haven't ventured far into the game yet, as I'm still working through ACC.

I don't know. It's all on automatic right now. There's only so much my brain can handle during the course of a race. Doing all of those changes on the fly is probably too much for me to handle. I lost a position last night trying to find what the alternative pit strategy was the engineer was suggesting

 

[terrible1fi]

Hmm... Do you know if changing the ERS deployment (or whatever they call the MGU-K and MGU-H these days) makes a difference? I haven't ventured far into the game yet, as I'm still working through ACC.

the extra horsepower you get from overtake makes a big difference. Not being able to control that manually would be a hindrance IMO. With that being said, it's a lot easier to use than it was last year, now you just push a button to turn on, and then again to turn it off

 

[losbuttcheeks]

Lol it's just like NOS button. But it's very effective and it tend to use it a lot at the beginning. During the middle I use it only to go down the longest straight. I try to let build up again for a final charge.

 

[EngieDiesel]

ERS is a whole layer of strategy in itself. You have to get out of the mentality of saving it till the "right time", since not using it wears out your battery faster and if your line is good, you'll recharge what you used quickly enough. But at the same time, if you get too dependent on the go-faster button then it really will be gone when you need it and you have to run a higher fuel mix to make up for it, which rarely ends well.

 

[Veinz]

I watched this 30 min setup video by TRL Limitless. He goes into detail about each setting and gives you base settings to start from. I tested the setup on Catalunya and it makes the car very easy to drive.

I highly recommend his channel, he does a lot of good informative videos. He has been my go to for the F1 games for many years now.

Setup from the vid

aero
4
9

transmission
50%
70%

suspension geometry
-3.00
-1.50
0.05
0.20

suspension
1
2
3
9
2
4

brakes
100%
56%

tires
21.4
21.4
19.5
19.5

 

[Jezza819]

ERS is a whole layer of strategy in itself. You have to get out of the mentality of saving it till the "right time", since not using it wears out your battery faster and if your line is good, you'll recharge what you used quickly enough. But at the same time, if you get too dependent on the go-faster button then it really will be gone when you need it and you have to run a higher fuel mix to make up for it, which rarely ends well.

The last race I ran I got a message I think later in the race along the lines of "you've got too much fuel mix 3 is available" or something like that. So if ERS and fuel mix, etc. is set to auto you're still going to get the messages I guess?

Which also brings up something I'm always curious about when new games come out. If I've got tire wear set to off, ERS to auto, DRS to auto, fuel mix to auto, basically everything set to auto. Are the AI using the same rules that I'm using? Or if there is an advantage in manually deploying all of those things, is that how they're doing it which puts me at a significant disadvantage to them?

My last race is what really got me wondering about these things because I had forgotten the rule about you start on the tires from your fastest lap in Q2 and I ran softs there instead of mediums so I had to pit earlier in my 50% length race at Silverstone. I was in the Red Bull. I think I started in P5. When the front runners pitted later and went to softs. LeClerc went past me pretty easily with maybe 8 laps to go and pulled away to about a 4 or 5 second gap but stayed there. Vettel passed me on the next lap but I was able to stick with him so much so that I passed him going into Stowe on the last lap to finish where I started P5. That's what got me to wondering if his softs were going off quicker allowing my mediums to hang right in there? Or maybe it was the 70 AI strength doing it as the race leveled out towards the end.

I think what I'm going to try next is to maybe run F2 or some of the older cars turn TC back off to try and see if I can get a better feel for throttle response without spinning out before I go back to the modern cars.

 

[Veinz]

If you do the race strategy practice program, it will automatically adjust your fuel load for the race depending on what engine setting you used. I do it with the standard setting and that gives me half a lap of extra fuel for the race and it does not change unless there’s a safety car. You can do this practice program in 3 laps. ERS is much more simple in this game, there is no reason to use auto ers.

That setup above makes it (relatively) easy with no tc or abs. If someone is having a hard time with that then they are doing something fundamentally wrong.

 

[nuNce]

This is hands down the best F1 game I can think of. The balance between fun and simulation is perfect and they finally sorted out the handling. I tried getting to grips with F12019 for as much as I owned it, but never enjoyed racing there. The whole quick downshifts to rotate the car was ******** and I'm glad they moved towards a far more natural feeling. Honestly, I LOVE the handling and I think it's amazing how much feel I have now for braking and grip limits.

 

[EngieDiesel]

So as it turns out, trying to turn a competent lap at Monaco in a car with the aerodynamic profile of a small office building and chassis that weighs about as much as said office building is... kind of not possible. I think I would have done better if I were driving the transport truck that brought the car to the track.

But on the plus side, I did end up getting a podium at Hanoi after both Williams cars somehow managed to crash into each other and block the pit entrance just as I was coming out from my pit stop, following Hamilton and Leclerc. Everyone else either had to wait for the wreckage to clear, follow the safety car in and double-stack or stay out a lap too long and drive very slowly on probably blistered tires. I can only hope the real F1 race there will be as much of a glorious mess.

Which also brings up something I'm always curious about when new games come out. If I've got tire wear set to off, ERS to auto, DRS to auto, fuel mix to auto, basically everything set to auto. Are the AI using the same rules that I'm using? Or if there is an advantage in manually deploying all of those things, is that how they're doing it which puts me at a significant disadvantage to them?

The game will make its best guess as to what your fuel mix should be for any given situation, but it's never going to be as good at judging it as you are since it only cares about making sure you don't run out before the race ends, so learning to get comfortable with managing your fuel is always going to be a big advantage. Another benefit is that when you know how to do this you can start underfueling your car to save weight, which helps out even more in the early stages of a race. I can generally run my car with at least a half lap of fuel below race distance since I have a general idea of when it's possible to conserve. Alternatively, you could leave that fuel in and use it to be able to run a higher engine mode later in the race, if you feel the added weight won't be too much of a hindrance.

You'll eventually want to learn how to manage ERS as well, since again the game is just making its best guess on when it should be used. Concentrate on learning fuel management first though, since that's the more limited resource.

 

[losbuttcheeks]

The drs auto really should just be auto since it's only deployed during race and at very specific situations.

The ers and fuel is rather easy too. Especially now with the simple on/off overtake. I usually load my car with extra fuel so I can run hard at the start when we are tightly bunched up.

I start on rich and go for about 3 laps then I go to medium and use rich for overtakes and defense. If you get a little ambitious you can go lean mix to preserve and conserve.

I honestly haven't tried any of those on auto so I can say how effective they are. But it just adds to the glory of victory and defeat.

 

[ProjectWHaT]

https://formula1game.com/2020/news/f1-2020-week-one-update

F1® 2020 has accurately recreated the original 2020 season and includes both Hanoi Circuit and Circuit Zandvoort. Unfortunately, it is not possible to add new circuits to the revised 2020 season. The latest car liveries and team colours, including Mercedes AMG Petronas, will be added soon as a digital update.

The BLM livery for Mercedes is coming soon, but any new tracks, such as Mugello, will not be added

 

[MisterWaffles]

Driver transfers in my current My Team season has been pretty wild. I've had Raikkonen move to McLaren, Vettel move to Alfa Romeo, Verstappen to Ferrari and Ricciardo back to Red Bull in Verstappen's seat. Kind of makes me wish the driver transfers had a hint of realism to them, say Red Bull hangs on to Max for at least a few more years, but instead I'm getting silly season mid-way through 2020. It's kind of funny but at the same time it's really jarring.

 

[EngieDiesel]

Driver transfers in my current My Team season has been pretty wild. I've had Raikkonen move to McLaren, Vettel move to Alfa Romeo, Verstappen to Ferrari and Ricciardo back to Red Bull in Verstappen's seat. Kind of makes me wish the driver transfers had a hint of realism to them, say Red Bull hangs on to Max for at least a few more years, but instead I'm getting silly season mid-way through 2020. It's kind of funny but at the same time it's really jarring.

This all happened mid-season? I didn't know that the AI teams would be making driver swaps then, I had figured they would wait till the end of the season to do that. Now I'm really looking forward to what happens since I've got Austria (i know geography, shut up) up next in my season.

Dare I hope for the grand debut of Mahaveer Raghunathan? I mean I'm not hiring him, but maybe Williams really wants to fall off the bottom of the scale or something, I dunno.

 

[MisterWaffles]

This all happened mid-season? I didn't know that the AI teams would be making driver swaps then, I had figured they would wait till the end of the season to do that. Now I'm really looking forward to what happens since I've got Austria (i know geography, shut up) up next in my season.

Dare I hope for the grand debut of Mahaveer Raghunathan? I mean I'm not hiring him, but maybe Williams really wants to fall off the bottom of the scale or something, I dunno.

Yeah, it should happen some time before the British GP, which was when my second driver tried to renegotiate their contract. It seems like it happens to every team on the grid. Danny Ric just won in Hungary with Red Bull and he had Sainz backing him up for the 1-2.

Who knows, you may very well see our lord and saviour Mahaveer get his seat at Mercedes and dominate the back half of the season.

 

[MagpieRacer]

Driver transfers in my current My Team season has been pretty wild. I've had Raikkonen move to McLaren, Vettel move to Alfa Romeo, Verstappen to Ferrari and Ricciardo back to Red Bull in Verstappen's seat. Kind of makes me wish the driver transfers had a hint of realism to them, say Red Bull hangs on to Max for at least a few more years, but instead I'm getting silly season mid-way through 2020. It's kind of funny but at the same time it's really jarring.

Interestingly I didn't have any mid season moves at this point.

 

[MisterWaffles]

Interestingly I didn't have any mid season moves at this point.

I wonder if how it works is similar to how your second driver’s negotiations work. Perhaps one of the other teams was unsuccessful in rehiring one of their drivers and the other teams in the game freaked out and started signing drivers left and right to grab the best ones they could in some huge domino effect. Maybe in your game the one team successfully rehired the driver and the market didn’t go crazy. Either way it’s really interesting to hear that didn’t happen on your play through.

 

[tonybarnaby]

A bit annoyed by the intermediary traction control. In some tracks, it seems it makes the car brakes, how is that possible? The esses in Austin, the right in Suzuka after 130r, you don't need to brake , the car will for you. What a strange system. I would expect it to work on corner exit at low/medium low speeds, why would I need a traction control at 200 km/h+?

That things does a lot more than traction control, helping you staying on the best line in long corners for instance

Other than that, a bit annoyed by the starts of the races. Way too easy to win 8-10 positions, will need to start a bit slower to fight by my williams/haas/alfa in the back (My team mode). Otherwise you're just P6-7 after lap 1 and basically you cannot overtake anyone but manage to keep everyone behind you, even at difficulty 90.

Extremely discouraging to read this last part. Same thing happens in project cars 2 where you can gain a ton of positions because the AI start so slowly. I remember F1 last year it was impossible to find a balance. So many times I would basically be a rolling roadblock. The drivers behind couldn’t pass me, while the cars ahead rocketed by. Then you have tracks like Canada and Austria where the AI is absolutely dreadfully slow. I like the game, but so far I have resisted buying this years at full price.

 

[Jezza819]

I wish there was a way you could do practice starts. I guess you could do it by getting off the racing line in practice and doing it. The assisted start in this version is too assisted in my opinion. F1 2017's assisted start felt like it only assisted just enough to keep you from spinning at first throttle input then back off into 2nd gear and up so you could get a smooth start. F1 2020 seems to want to keep control longer so that I can't really feel any throttle input and the car bogs down badly and the AI cars go whizzing by. Winning pole is pointless if by turn one I'm out of the top 10. I guess I'll try a fully manual start just for laughs to see how that is.

 

[MagpieRacer]

I wish there was a way you could do practice starts. I guess you could do it by getting off the racing line in practice and doing it. The assisted start in this version is too assisted in my opinion. F1 2017's assisted start felt like it only assisted just enough to keep you from spinning at first throttle input then back off into 2nd gear and up so you could get a smooth start. F1 2020 seems to want to keep control longer so that I can't really feel any throttle input and the car bogs down badly and the AI cars go whizzing by. Winning pole is pointless if by turn one I'm out of the top 10. I guess I'll try a fully manual start just for laughs to see how that is.

Manual starts give you full control so if yiu find assisted is too assisted then its the way to go.

 

[PJTierney]

Speaking of Manual Starts, this might be useful. It's certainly a skill worth mastering as it gives you a big advantage in Multiplayer:




Also, here's an official guide I worked on today, enjoy

https://formula1game.com/2020/news/f1-2020-week-one-update

The BLM livery for Mercedes is coming soon, but any new tracks, such as Mugello, will not be added

Yup. There was a quote somewhere that it takes a year of man-hours to build a new circuit from scratch. Codemasters started on Zandvoort before the banking even existed in real life.

 

[Dan Hill]

I was doing a 25% F2 Feature Race at Catalunya yesterday and on the straight in the middle sector in the final lap I ran out of fuel. As F2 cars don't have changeable fuel mix is this meant to happen or is it something to do with what you do in practice sessions?

So far with F1 2020 it's the most enjoyable F1 games I've played for a long time. I love driving Zandvoort in these cars.

 

[Peter.]

Last night I had to give in and turn TC on just to try and calm my temper down mainly and to try and get some enjoyment out of the game for now until I can figure settings, etc. out. I have throttle saturation at 50% but it would still want to spin out on straights even going into 4th gear.

I know exactly how you feel about this, the cars seem to lose traction and only want to go sideways, regardless of your speed or how straight you are going, just from going even a little bit over the limit of traction. There's no point where you adjust steering angle or slightly adjust throttle and retrieve stability at the rear, you basically have to lift entirely. I've only really driven my own MyTeam car so far which is still a heap of rubbish, but this did annoy me until I got used to it. I haven't adjusted throttle saturation, though.

 

[alx42]

I know exactly how you feel about this, the cars seem to lose traction and only want to go sideways, regardless of your speed or how straight you are going, just from going even a little bit over the limit of traction. There's no point where you adjust steering angle or slightly adjust throttle and retrieve stability at the rear, you basically have to lift entirely. I've only really driven my own MyTeam car so far which is still a heap of rubbish, but this did annoy me until I got used to it. I haven't adjusted throttle saturation, though.

I misspoke when I mentioned throttle saturation. It's actually throttle linearity. I have mine set at 40%. After looking at PJ's video, he mentioned starting off at 60-70%, then lowering it over time (if needed). However, this all may vary depending on your setup.

I also found out that opening the diff around 50-60% helps. Now if you're running full TC, you can bump that up to 80-90% to take advantage of the TC. You can still spin out on medium and full TC if your steering angle is too aggressive on 1-2 gear corners.

I really need to do a few test race weekends, to see how the suspension setup, rake angle, tire pressures, ERS deployment, and aero balance, affect throttle application and corner rotation.

 

[Jezza819]

I know exactly how you feel about this, the cars seem to lose traction and only want to go sideways, regardless of your speed or how straight you are going, just from going even a little bit over the limit of traction. There's no point where you adjust steering angle or slightly adjust throttle and retrieve stability at the rear, you basically have to lift entirely. I've only really driven my own MyTeam car so far which is still a heap of rubbish, but this did annoy me until I got used to it. I haven't adjusted throttle saturation, though.

I drove the F2 cars for the first time last night with TC OFF and outside of one spin I was able to handle them much better which is as it should be with less power. But with them it seemed to be much easier to feel where the edge of traction was and to not go over it. I'm off of work all next week so hopefully I should have plenty of time to get more experience in and try to figure some of this complicated stuff out.

 

[EngieDiesel]

So I'm curious: has anyone else been following a particular development strategy for their MyTeam car? I had presumed that the first year would be a bit of a write-off and it would be best to lay some groundwork for the next season, since the cash influx from meeting the sponsor goal and the constructors' payout will help really get things going. With that in mind I decided to prioritize reliability since all our engine parts are Autozone bargain bin specials, with a secondary focus on tire wear and fuel efficiency to improve track strategy. Financially all the upgrades have been on increasing resource point production, including relevant driver perks. Also, increasing your second driver's experience stat means they successfully complete more practice programs, which gives you more resource points. So it's worth investing in that first simulator upgrade early on.

Coming up on the season break it's showing some results. Every other team except mine has been hit with at least one grid penalty for engine components, carrying less fuel into the race is improving the overall pace of the car and I'm noticing there's definitely more grip at the end of each stint, so less time lost fighting the car on old tires. I think by the end of the season I can reliably finish in the points each race if things continue on this course. Can't rely on safety car shenanigans to give me any more undeserved podiums like I got in Vietnam, after all...

 

[Jezza819]

When your engineer tells you there is an alternative pit strategy available, do you have the chance to see what it is before you agree to it or does the X button (or whatever button on your platform) just approve it and you're stuck with it?

I ask because I just ran a 50% race at Hungary and I started (P5) on softs. First stop we put on mediums but the front three put on hards for a one stopper. Several laps later they told me there is an alternative pit strategy available but since I didn't know how to look at it I just let it go. I came in for stop 2 and they put mediums on again. But since I have tire wear turned off, to me I wasted a stop and should have just stayed out. It would have kept me closer to those front three cars. As a result of that 2nd stop I finished about 35 seconds back of the P3 car.

 

[EngieDiesel]

When your engineer tells you there is an alternative pit strategy available, do you have the chance to see what it is before you agree to it or does the X button (or whatever button on your platform) just approve it and you're stuck with it?

If you press your radio button it'll pop up the new strategy and your current one. You can choose either like you would a radio command, or just not respond and after 30 seconds you'll stay with your current one.

 

[Jezza819]

If you press your radio button it'll pop up the new strategy and your current one. You can choose either like you would a radio command, or just not respond and after 30 seconds you'll stay with your current one.

Great. Thanks for the tip.