Formula 1 2010 (Xbox 360)

Formula 1 2010 (Xbox 360)

F1 2010 is a new console game being developed around the 2010 Formula One season. It will be released in the middle of 2010 on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Microsoft Windows platforms.

F1 2010 is being made by Codemasters and has a £10,000,000 budget, including the Development team. Codemasters have even said that they are not trying to turn a fast profit on this game and will make it properly. The game was confirmed by Codemasters on April 23, 2009. The game engine is based on the Ego Engine that Codemasters used on both the Colin McRae: Dirt and Race Driver: GRID games and this was then enhanced for Dirt 2. Codemasters internal development team are developing the XBox 360, PS3 and PC versions of their F1 2010 new console game, which will run on F1's 2010 regulations.

The development team are said to have many steering wheel setups in their development space as well as game console demo pods with all the latest and greatest driving console games as well as simulations including rFactor. Hopefully they will learn from all the failings of games and keep all the good aspects to make the ultimate F1 game.

Because F1 will be as real to life as possible racing lines will be critical. You will also notice that the grip levels will evolve over the race weekend. Usually at the beginning of the weekend the track will be "green" meaning it has very little grip. As the session moves on more rubber gets laid down - called the rubbering effect. As the session moves on more grip is available on the track. Unless it rains and then the track will go "green" again and would need to be rubbered in again.

Weather will also be included in the game as this is a very important part of Formula One racing.

Track will have surface build up. Items you would expect to see over every inch of the track will be visible : rubber from the tyres, some stones from the gravel traps, marbles, water (including standing water) you should also be able to view the track drying out of conditions allow. You will get all the associated properties of grip and heat, so you will be able to run off the drying line in the rain to cool your tyres, as you would in real life. It is also anticipated that if a car breaks down and is spilling oil it will remain on the track until a cars tyres spread it around or the marshalls clean it up.

If you are racing on a race track in the desert, wind will push sand onto the track and so the first few laps of a session would just see cars acting as road sweepers! When/If it rains the levels of grip are even less than on a green track, especially if there is standing water on the track or rivers crossing the track in places.

In the rain the driving line, or racing line changes. The curbs become no go areas and so are the white lines due to possible loss of grip. You tend to go round the outside of corners rather than through the optimum racing line as due to less rubber being on the outside means there is actually more grip in the rain. If you follow a different line to the rest of the pack you will lose some grip and cool your tyres and if they get too cool may not operate properly. Also driving behind other cars in the rain is like driving blind due to the spray the car infront will be kicking up.

During the race, chunks of rubber are deposited off of the Formula 1 car's tyres and accumulate outside of the racing line. These chunks of rubber are called marbles and if you run off of the racing line they stick to tyres meaning you have less grip (one good reason to stay and also increase the weight of the tyre. This is not what is wanted when you spend millions of pounds trying to reduce the weight from all elements of the car.

At the end of a race or qualifying session the driver's race engineer will remind their driver to pick up rubber to increase the car's so if the FIA want to weigh the car there is additional weight.

Codemasters have spoken to F1 drivers about certain aspects of driving and certain courses to make the game not only as detailed as possible but also as true to life as it can be made. The drivers have said that on some of the bumpy tracks there are either periods or long sections of the track where you can't see properly if at all and are driving on instinct and from knowing the course, it's yet to be seen if hardcore items like this will be included in a helmet camera.

Tracks will be made from scratch for this game using gaming technology EGO tech and making it look better than DIRT and GRID. The formula one tracks will be fully researched, photographed, scanned etc. for accuracy as this will be essential for accurate lap times as well as visuals and feel.

Formula One is a technical sport and because of this it will be important to cater for the hardcore simulation market as well as having options to dumb down the game for the more arcadey type player. Remember games like Race Driver: Grid are not simulations they are arcade games for fun, if that floats your boat...

Codemasters have said they wil include full length races for the hardcore console gamer, but they will also make it possible to scale down the races to make them shorter, but tyre wear and pit stops would have to be factored in as they are crucial to Formula One.

F1 2010 First Dev Diary Video

A day or so ago, Codemasters released their first Development Diary of the new F1 2010 game. This has some great insights into the game and on first viewing it has relieved me and also made me very excited. The best thing for me was seeing Anthony Davidson (ex F1 driver and also AMLS driver for the current season) as Codemasters Chief Game Tester. Having a young ex-F1 driver on board is just what this games needs and should make the game ultra realistic. At the minute Anthony Davidson is tweaking the car handling and it should be the best handling in any car game, definately not like Grid or Grid 2 which was pure arcade. There will also be the most comlicated weather system ever developed for a driving game on a console. This as well as blisters on your tyres, marbles and being able to change your aero package. There will also be a full on career mode with car upgrades and challenges like having to beat your team mate. Anthony Davidson describes the game as, "way beyond any computer game I have played before" I just hope he is including the F1 simulators in that...

Below you can view the first Dev Diary of F1 2010.

Pre-order F1 2010

Codemasters reveal next generation of official F1 games

Extending the Formula One experience to further gaming formats, it was also announced that F1 2010™ is in development at Codemasters Studios and coming mid 2010 for the PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system, Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft® and Games For Windows®. F1 2010 is being created using Codemasters’ EGO™ Engine technology, which most recently powered the BAFTA award-winning Race Driver: GRID™.

Talking about the partnership with Codemasters, Bernie Ecclestone, CEO Formula One Management Limited, commented: “Codemasters..." Read full story.

Does Xbox make a Formula 1 game?

The hotly anticipated Formula 1 2010 for Xbox 360 is still being developed by Codemasters. Will it be the best driving simulator for any console? At the minute that title goes to Simbin's Race Pro. Many people are worried that the new console game of Formula 1 2010 xbox 360 will not have realistic driving physics, as previous titles in the Need for Speed series didn't have very good driving physics and in my opinion nor did Colin McRae Dirt or Dirt 2 on tarmac, especially if played with an official Xbox 360 steering wheel.

The nearest you can get to driving a Formula 1 car on the Xbox 360 at the minute is to drive one of the single seater cars in Race Pro. You can drive a Formula BMW, Formula Masters (DLC) or an F3000. Circuits in the game that will be on the Formula 1 2010 season are Monza and Spa (DLC). It would be a shame if Codemasters dumb this game down for the arcade audience and to make money, rather than just making an amazing Formula 1 game for the Xbox 360 that will stand the test of time. Usually with Formula 1 games on consoles when you race the AI you usually get beaten badly of win by a ridiculous margin especially if you race full race distance.