No, I’m not talking about F1 2009 the real racing series…I’m talking about F1 2009, the video game. It has been since 2001 that a Formula One game has been launched on Microsoft’s console, the Xbox (now XBOX 360). At that time, the  F1 game was developed by EA Sports (I will not go into how I feel about them in this blog. In short, I think their sports games are worthless, unoriginal and overpriced with very few redeeming qualities).

About a year ago it was announced that the FIA had licensed the Formula One media rights to Codemasters. Prior to the end of the Brazilian GP 2007, those gaming rights were held by Sony who obviously only released the game to their console, the PS2 and PS3. With Codemasters now owning the license to the game, it will be released across all platforms on Wii, PS3, XBOX 360, and PC. I’m writing this for a few reasons. One, I got my work done for the night and I’m bored but two, I think its important for Codemasters to hear a real F1 fan’s wants from their game. And it’s not just me wanting these things. Formula One’s global TV audience utterly dwarfs that of NASCAR and every other global sport EXCEPT futbol (soccer) and cricket. Weekly TV audience figures have been known to push a quarter billion people. And for sure, many of those fans are gamers with access to a console or PC and want to drive in a game, what they see on TV and to feel those emotions that make car racing, and particularly F1, unique.

So I’d like to propose a wish list. A list of things, that as a dedicated F1 fan, I want to see. Partially this list is a list of DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCE make the game like X. Feel free to comment at the bottom with your own suggestions and wants. So here we go. The list is in no particular order of importance.

Sound: GT5 Prologue is the most recent console game to feature a Formula One car in it. Built for the PS3, I was initially interested to hear that Sony had added an F1 car to the car list in the game. Upon further review, I was completely disappointed…mostly by what I heard in the car’s engine sound.

Below are two youtube links. The first is an onboard video of the F1 car in GT5 Prologue. The second is a real life F1 onboard video from the Ferrari F2008, which the Sony car F1 car’s engine is modeled after. Listen (most importantly) to the sound coming from it and the environment, ie wind noise, engine revs, downshifts, backfires, and general noise tones and levels.

WoW. Is it just me or is the sound of the car in GT5 absolutely pathetic? The engine notes are so smooth, the ptich is WAYYY too high and there is just no feeling that the car you’re riding with is running at 19,000 rpm and 750bhp at 215mph. Instead it sounds like my bed fan on super speed. Downshifts are way to smooth and fluid, it just doesnt even sound like an engine of any kind.

The next bit with sound that I’d like to see done well, is the sound from the “tv camera” angles in the replay. I realize the above video is of real life, but that is a goal to shoot for. The cars are painfully loud when they come by with a whole lot of volume and a variety of noises from a low grumbling low rev and idle sound to the scream (not GT5 squeal) of the engine at full tilt. It should be fun and realistic to hear the cars drive by instead of a variation of the in car sound as GT5 currently has it. rFactor, a PC racing simulation is as close as I’ve heard to good audio on a simulated F1 car.

Detail is another important factor. The little things are what is going to make this game sell and these are the things Codemasters should focus on. Waving Ferrari, Mclaren, BMW, Renault flags in the stands, different accents of drivers and pit audio, air horns being blown by fans, post race champagne celebrations, marbles and dirt getting kicked around on the track, variations in curbs by track (curbs vary by track quite widely) sparks from the undercarriage, flames, a living & breathing crowd that are not simply stationary figures that have a hand in the air as most previous games have had. Blue, green, and red lights at the end of the pitlane. Green to signal a clear pit lane. Blue to show oncoming traffic down the straightaway, and red to show a closed pit lane. Yellow flags being waved by track marshals. Little details that are not necessarily hard to implement will give the game SO much more re-playability in my book.

Another big one in the detail book is something that I personally enjoy most about the game rFactor is the ability to, should you choose, to control EVERYTHING your car does in the pitlane. Speed, direction…ect. Its you who is penalized for speeding in the pitlane and even on a video game, it is a rush to let the pitlane limited out and power out onto the track.

AI should be impeccable too. Formula One is the pinnacle of motor racing. The cars, drivers, engineers, and tracks are the best in the world. Drivers should race, draft, attack, defend and drive like a Formula One driver would. In a recent game called Race PRO, released for the XBOX 360, the game proclaimed it had the best racing AI released to date. After playing the game myself…its good, but not the best like it said. On tight tracks, the cars lock wheels with each other  (not in a racing way, but in a glitched way) hit walls because of cutting corners and don’t make any mistakes but just drive like computers that don’t really have much skill or variation in tactic. Not exactly challenging racing after you get good at the game.

As far as graphics go, I will give it to GT5. It looks really good. Shine on the cars is great. Tracks look great and I think Codemasters can do better. Using the EGO engine, the game will for sure look graphically better then anything to date in any racing game. The details will make a difference again. Sun position, track shadows and rendering, the track details and dirt, grime, and rubber buildup on the cars will make a difference in whether this sells as a gaming blockbuster or a flop, like the last Codemasters game was. Weather too is important and completely necessary to nail in the details. Unlike NASCAR, F1 stops racing only for the most biblical of storms. Rain transforms an F1 race in every way. Tyres change, the cars look different, they drive different and the atmosphere changes on the track. In the game, fans should pop umbrellas, the cars should throw rooster-tails of water skyward over 15 or 20 feet visibility should drop to near zero in a racing pack. The rain should bead off the replay and onboard cameras of the cars and the track should become more slick as rubber washes off it. Of course changing weather conditions would be awesome too.

This doesnt exactly look easy does it?

Multiplayer is an aspect that should be given a great deal of attention. Racing AI is only so much fun for a while. At some point, gamers will crave  a race where the drivers theyre facing are thinking and feeling on a real time basis exactly the way they are, and only racing other people can deliver that. But as Atari’s Race PRO has so clumsily shown racing gamers, even a good game can be ruined by poor online play and reliability. Online race customization, full length races, good connection stability and lap time leaderboards are necessary.

I personally think that one of the game options aside from the usual “Quick Race” “Championship Season” “Mulitplayer” and “game options” menu should be a “Testing” game menu option. One of the most fundamental parts of Formula One, especially in the preseason, is testing. This is where the drivers can get miles under their belts, the cars get broken in and the teams can practice everything from pit stops to drafting other cars. Having open test sessions where a handful of teams and cars are screaming around the track is something I personally would LOVE to see. But the F1 circus visits a few tracks that are no longer on the race calendar that I feel SHOULD be in the final game as testing tracks. Spain’s Jerez, Portugal’s Algarve and of course Catalyuna are the three F1 testing hotspots each year. I think it would be great to be able to work on car setups, practice driving against the AI, and practice pitstops.

Savable replays are something that, since Forza 2, every racing game should have in its system. With a variety of camera views from TV cameras, to onboard helmet cameras, the generic engine intake cameras, and side pod and mirror cameras are all standard in F1 these days and of course should be in the game. But this option should include multiplayer races too. I want to be able to watch myself kick a friends ass online, or watch a sweet lap I had, or even watch what the competitor did to beat me.

Handling is what makes an F1 car unique. Its complexity is also unique. I’m not a game designer so I will leave it to them to figure out the details but 2009 cars are complicated beasts. Revving to 18,000 RPM, these cars have adjustable front wing flaps, a new power boost system called KERS and a variety of other wheel settings. The cars should drive like F1 cars do. I’m told Codemasters has enlisted the help of unnamed current F1 drivers to help make the cars feel true to life. In that light, lets see a simulation mode. Personally, I enjoy a good challenging racing game. I race with ALL assists turned off and I want the challenge of driving the car to be reflected in the game. Snap oversteer, understeer, tyre wear, graining. All the things that make pushing a car with that much power around a circuit fun and challenging. Of course not all gamers are as diehard and simulation pro as I am so having these assists is necessary for their sake, but for those that want to be an F1 driver but can’t afford it, are too old, and don’t have real world talent, I want to pretend I am one, if just in front of a tv screen.

Customization is something I’m torn on. While I feel it is necessary to have full customization over (most) of the intiquate details that make an F1 car handle as it does, I also think that customization in a different way could hurt the game. I would be a little turned off by the ability to design your own car (ie sponsors and colors) and would rather have that option for my personal racing helmet. Because I have played enough online to know how awful some people are at designing cars that look good, I think it should be left alone. I don’t want to see a hot pink car with a purple rear wing puttering around.

I think that’s about all I can think of. Im hearing that the game is coming along well and that much of what I have written about is actually included in the game but again, the devil is in the details. Race PRO is a great game, but it lacks in the finer racing details that make me want to play forever. I don’t really care how long it takes Codemasters to develop F12009. As long as it is done right and true to the sport, I’ll be a happy race fan.