After weeks of putting up with tirades of semi-disgruntled customers on their forum, Codemasters have released a patch for F1 2010. As we reported, there were some genuine problems that needed fixing, and it indeed looks like they have fixed them. So what has now improved in version 1.1 of the game?
(The Xbox patch is not available at the moment – it should be online on Monday or Tuesday)
Well, straight from the horse’s mouth, this is what they have fixed:
1. Corrupt Save Games – We have identified an over-zealous anti-cheating check that manifested as falsely identified corrupt saves, specifically the ones relating to practice and R&D upgrades, the save-games should now load without issue.
2. AI not pitting in dry races where a mandatory pit stop was required (20% or more) – This has been fixed.
3. Player held in pit-stop too long – We’ve improved exit logic so that it isn’t too cautious in holding players during a pit-stop.
4. Puncture frequency reduced – The likelihood of players suffering punctures has been reduced.
5. Pit-stop lock-ups – Fixed several instances which caused the pit crew to lock-up and not be able to service the cars.
6. Automatically updating race strategy – Selecting prime tyres from the tyre menu (over default option) now updates the strategy so that the pit-crew assign options during the pit stop as opposed to re-attaching another set of primes (in a dry race of 20% or more).
7. First lap calculates correctly – The lap time for the first lap of the race now calculates correctly, from the lights going out as opposed to the cars crossing the start line.
In addition to these fixes we’ve also made improvements to the game based on your forum feedback:-
1. OSD changes – showing split times rather than gap to leader – We’ve changed how the OSD timing information functions so that split times are now displayed on the OSD, showing race time and race time differences to the other cars – I.e. how far ahead/behind are at a sector boundary.
2. AI affected more by damage received – Damage sustained by an AI’s car will have a greater effect their handling characteristics, effectively slowing damaged AI down more. AI cars that cannot maintain a racing speed will naturally yield to faster cars & come into the pits for repairs. As before, If they receive too much damage, they will retire from the race.
3. AI yielding to other cars when not on flying lap in qualifying – Improved AI behaviour to move off the racing line or out of the player’s way when the player is on a flying lap.
4. Increased wheel support – Increased wheel support and force feedback tweaks (where applicable) for the following wheels; Thrustmaster Ferrari F430 Force Feedback (officially supported), Thrustmaster Ferrari GT Experience (officially supported), Thrustmaster RGT Force Feedback Pro Clutch (not officially supported but will work), Fanatec Porsche 911 Turbo S & GT3 RS2 (both officially supported).
5. Wet weather improvements – Rebalanced graphical and handling effect of cars driving on a wet track – the level of wetness has been increased as well as tyre trails being made more prominent.
6. Improved Damage Modelling – Tweaks to the damage system so that more damage is visible / received during lesser impacts.
7. Next lap invalidated time trial logic – In time trial the next lap is no longer invalidated for any offence committed in the 3rd sector. It is calculated per track and is predominantly based on the final corner.
8. AI: Driver Behaviours – Addressed some issues in driver behaviour balancing that were causing occasionally unrealistic finishing positions.
So, all in all, that all looks like a pretty comprehensive patch. Obviously some people won’t be happy as you can never please everyone, but provided these fixes work correctly it should iron out the minor flaws that prevented players’ full enjoyment of the gameplay, and more importantly, fix the corrupted game saves so that people can continue with their hard-earned career games.
Before you can enjoy the patch, you’ll need to buy a copy of F1 2010:
Amazon: PC, Xbox 360, Playstation 3.
(Currently with the lowest prices – £34.99 for new copies for Xbox/PS3)
Game: PC, Xbox 360, Playstation 3.
Gamestop: Xbox 360, Playstation 3.
Play.com: PC, XBox 360, Playstation 3
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