Like every year, there will be a new F1 game in 2022 as well. This is going to be the first F1 game after the major regulation changes. As expected, most of these regulations and changes will be present in F1 22 game. Fans are quite excited to see these changes action and it seems like that this year’s F1 game is going to be great.
In an interview with SegmentNext, the game developer discussed different topics about the game and how they have tacked some of the problems in the last Formula One game. The interview is as following:
Q: We are really excited about the F1 Life feature of the game, especially the ability to drive supercars around the track, can you expand on that?
The inclusion of the supercars as part of F1 Life is that they’re cool items which the player can collect, drive and showcase in their own personalised F1 Life hub location. From a gameplay perspective, we were inspired by not only drivers owning such vehicles, but also the Pirelli Hot Laps which take place over the race weekend. A professional driver takes a journalist, celebrity or dignitary out on track and showcases their skills, the track and the performance of the car. We saw this as a great opportunity to introduce something new and fresh to the F1 series. It’s also a great breather between F1 race weekends, to give the player a chance to kick back and relax before leaping back into the intensity of racing an F1 car.
Q: This is the First Formula 1 game after major regulation changes, how are those changes going to mold the game as compared to previous one?
With such significant changes being made to the cars this year, we worked really closely with the team at Formula 1 to help us understand what they were looking to achieve with those changes. We already built the cars as per the rules, but wanted to understand the expected outcome of the changes. Not only did we replicate the shift to ground effect aero, but we also did further work on the transmission, suspension and tyre model. The significant change to the way the cars feel in F1 22 is partly due to the rules changes, and partly because of the advances we made in our physics tech.
Q: Apart from a clear top 2 every team is struggling to extract the maximum out of their cars, how has this effected car potential in career mode in F1 2022?
We had obvious concerns going into this season that we wouldn’t be able to get a clear picture of the team performance orders, and we were certainly wrong footed by Mercedes not being at the front. We’ve worked to ensure the vehicle performance is reflective of the current live season at launch, and will continue to update and refine post launch, as we gather more data on team performance.
Q: We saw the new damage system in F1 2021, can we expect more in that regard in F1 2022?
The main changes to the damage system in F1 22 relate to the more vulnerable underbody parts of the car and chassis. With less downforce generated by all of the additional wings and adornments we saw in previous years, avoiding damage to the floor is important in F1 22.
Q: With a host of new features coming to F1 2022 the one standing out to us is ability to play the game in VR. What was the prime motivation behind the introduction of VR?
We’ve always known that F1 would be the perfect game to experience in VR. We’ve also got a great track record with VR in our titles, with the DiRT series and Driveclub all being available in VR. We didn’t want to bring it to F1 until we were confident that we could really do it justice. This year we had the opportunity to partner with the team who delivered VR for the DiRT series of games, so we knew they would be able to deliver an incredible VR experience.
Q: It was always a headache to play against a 110% AI. What improvements can we expect from a new adaptive AI in F1 2022?
We’ve always said that 110% AI isn’t for everyone. Anything beyond 100% and they’re getting a little extra help beyond that which is available to the player. Adaptive AI is designed to work at the opposite end of the spectrum. Adaptive AI has two settings. The first allows players who are getting to grips with the game to be able to experience exciting wheel to wheel racing against the AI, with the AI adjusting their pace live during the race. The second setting is a little more extreme and is designed to help players who are struggling with the circuits to keep them in the race with the AI. In this setting, the AI will actively slow down significantly. As you can see, Adaptive AI is very much for new players, or players who are looking for a different on track experience.
Q: F1 has come to the EA sports family, will we expect more time and resources to expand the E-sports scene? How has EA helped Codemasters overall when it comes to game development?
Becoming part of the EA Sports family has been a fantastic experience for us. From day one we knew we’d be left to our own devices, as we were already producing great racing titles, but we were also made very aware that the vast resource available within EA would be ours to pick and choose. We’ve gained help from a number of teams and departments within EA, some may be obvious, others would be more significant to the dev team themselves. A great example of something obvious would be the Hard Rock Stadium is an asset which we gained from the Madden team.
We’ll be discussing the plans for the F1 esports series later this year.
Q: With F1 2021 Multiplayer stability was a major issue at launch with Invisible cars, host advantage and many other things effecting the experience in multiplayer can we expect a more stable multiplayer environment at launch?
Multiplayer has been an area of significant focus for F1 22, with the addition of Crossplay being added to the title post launch. Multiplayer features and stability are an ongoing endeavor, and something which we will continue to drive forwards.
Q: The game is also coming to PS5 and Xbox Series. Can you share with us differences the old and new console versions will have? Also, what sort of Ray Tracing elements can we expect on consoles? Will the console versions have the same Ray Tracing effects as the PC version?
One of the most noticeable differences between PS4 and Xbox One and PS5 and Xbox Series X/S is in the ground cover. We’re able to increase the density and quality of the ground cover to create an even more realistic environment.
With regards to the use of ray traced transparent reflections and ray traced ambient occlusion, these are both new to the latest generation of console, and will be enabled in replays, cut scenes and in the front end. They’ll be enabled when racing on PC.
You’ll really be able to admire the addition of Ray Traced Ambient Occlusion within the F1 Life environment.
F1 22 is scheduled to release for PC, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 4 on July 1st.
