F1® 2018 – Closer To The Real Thing Than Ever Before

[Faya 1,190]

Hi all,

You can also find this on our blog here.

Not only is this week race week, but it’s officially release week, and what a way to start it off with the final part of our developer diaries for F1® 2018, the official videogame of the 2018 FIA FORMULA ONE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP™. In this diary, we’re talking about the improvements made to audio and visual aspects of the game, and you can watch it in full below, or head to our YouTube channel here:

https://youtu.be/Z3gwF4hZoQA

F1® 2018 presents a significant visual jump forward for the franchise, utilising physically based rendering to improve the overall look and feel of the game and get it as close to reality as possible. Visually the car models, character renders, the atmospherics, visual effects, cinematics and animations have all been overhauled, while on the audio front the engine sounds are closer to real life than ever before.

“The biggest win visually is in the atmospherics,” said F1® 2018’s Art Director, Stuart Campbell. “This year we've got a full atmospherics system that gives you a greater sense of depth from the scene, and it makes for some really stunning vistas.”

Stuart continued: “One of the most iconic things for me about F1® as a sport is seeing that heat haze on the start straight: the heat rising from the track and from the engine exhausts, and in the mirage effect that you see reflecting in the track. We’ve added a full heat haze and mirage system to our visual effects for this year, and it makes a huge difference in the replay cameras and on track when you're racing.”

That’s not all – we spoke to Brad Porter, Senior Audio Designer on F1® 2018, about the audio improvements this year: “We try to make the engine sounds as close to broadcast as possible, which is what a lot of fans ask for. We’ve been over to tracks such as Abu Dhabi, Barcelona and Paul Ricard over the last year, working directly with F1® teams, going into garages with them on test sessions, mic’ing up the cars onboard with our new radio gear, and then we're standing at the side of the track for external recordings. We’re also in the garages recording ambisonics, we’re out in the paddock, and we’re out in the pit lane.” Brad added: “From an audio point of view, the game is now sounding far more believable and far more authentic.”

F1® 2018 features all the official teams, the drivers and all 21 circuits of the thrilling 2018 season, including Circuit Paul Ricard and the Hockenheimring. As well as the current season’s offerings the game includes 20 iconic cars from the history of the sport. F1® 2018 will release onto PlayStation®4 computer entertainment system, the Xbox One family of devices including the Xbox One X and Windows PC (DVD and via Steam) worldwide on Friday 24th August 2018.

[Cap10 23]

it nice to see that the dev team never stops the progress and work hard to improves these areas every year. I Have to say they have made great work it looking sounding more authentic then last year good job keep it up! 

"perfection can never been achieved if you think you have achieved perfection means you have stop and gave up, there is always room for improvements to push things further" 

[Joethe155 8]

5 minutes talking about the importance of clouds, trees and it being important to get trees right, and only a bit over 1 minute talking about the audio which is a bit of a bigger deal.

What a waste. Seeing some of the threads on here and some reviews, it appears as if the Safety Car might still not be fixed and other issues still present.

But clouds and trees. Sign me up!

[UP100 1,151]

Joethe155 said:

5 minutes talking about the importance of clouds, trees and it being important to get trees right, and only a bit over 1 minute talking about the audio which is a bit of a bigger deal.

What a waste. Seeing some of the threads on here and some reviews, it appears as if the Safety Car might still not be fixed and other issues still present.

But clouds and trees. Sign me up!

Eh I was interested in both of them. Remember, Codies Southam made once a presentation about rendering grass.

[Operator1 4]

"...Atmospherics..."

"...The sky in our game can take up 30 to 50 percent of the frame, so we need to spend our budget on that..."

"...The new cloud tech makes our clouds much more believable..."

"...we've got something called subsurface scattering that depicts how the light moves through the likes of your ears and the edges of your skin and we've re-created all of that in our shader..."

"...for the 2018 game, we created a brand new cinematics department who worked exclusively on the game cinematics..."


To me, most of this video almost sounds more like a commercial for the EGO engine itself than for an F1 game.

[Worntoathread 865]

Operator1 said:

"...Atmospherics..."

"...The sky in our game can take up 30 to 50 percent of the frame, so we need to spend our budget on that..."

"...The new cloud tech makes our clouds much more believable..."

"...we've got something called subsurface scattering that depicts how the light moves through the likes of your ears and the edges of your skin and we've re-created all of that in our shader..."

"...for the 2018 game, we created a brand new cinematics department who worked exclusively on the game cinematics..."


To me, most of this video almost sounds more like a commercial for the EGO engine itself than for an F1 game.

It is, it's a video primarily about the game's improved graphics. And I have to say the difference is quite impressive. I wish the part about the audio would have been longer though, it felt a bit rushed in at the end, would have liked to hear some examples of the recording process etc.

[motorsportrc 0]

It looks amazing, we can‘t wait to start ;)

[Chromatic 127]

Worntoathread said:

Operator1 said:

"...Atmospherics..."

"...The sky in our game can take up 30 to 50 percent of the frame, so we need to spend our budget on that..."

"...The new cloud tech makes our clouds much more believable..."

"...we've got something called subsurface scattering that depicts how the light moves through the likes of your ears and the edges of your skin and we've re-created all of that in our shader..."

"...for the 2018 game, we created a brand new cinematics department who worked exclusively on the game cinematics..."


To me, most of this video almost sounds more like a commercial for the EGO engine itself than for an F1 game.

It is, it's a video primarily about the game's improved graphics. And I have to say the difference is quite impressive. I wish the part about the audio would have been longer though, it felt a bit rushed in at the end,

I agree with you on the graphics standpoint. but I do hate sometimes when people assume not yourself when graphics is the greatest thing on the planet. Gameplay will always matter more than graphics it's the main reason why some people still play Sega Mega Drive & Commodore 64 games. Fair play the audio, I agree that part should have been longer in these diaries. Just like the so called weather system.   

[sjsharp2010 225]

Chromatic said:

Worntoathread said:

Operator1 said:

"...Atmospherics..."

"...The sky in our game can take up 30 to 50 percent of the frame, so we need to spend our budget on that..."

"...The new cloud tech makes our clouds much more believable..."

"...we've got something called subsurface scattering that depicts how the light moves through the likes of your ears and the edges of your skin and we've re-created all of that in our shader..."

"...for the 2018 game, we created a brand new cinematics department who worked exclusively on the game cinematics..."


To me, most of this video almost sounds more like a commercial for the EGO engine itself than for an F1 game.

It is, it's a video primarily about the game's improved graphics. And I have to say the difference is quite impressive. I wish the part about the audio would have been longer though, it felt a bit rushed in at the end,

I agree with you on the graphics standpoint. but I do hate sometimes when people assume not yourself when graphics is the greatest thing on the planet. Gameplay will always matter more than graphics it's the main reason why some people still play Sega Mega Drive & Commodore 64 games. Fair play the audio, I agree that part should have been longer in these diaries. Just like the so called weather system.   

Indeed it's why I still pla older games  because I still enjoy hem just as much as I enjoy playing the latest triple a games at times. Also why I still play games like the earlier CM games like F1 2010 and 2011 because I still find them fun and enjoy racing some of the tracks that aren't used anymore like Valencia and Turkey even though they may not look as good as the newest games.

[Operator1 4]

Chromatic said:
["...I do hate sometimes when people (not yourself) assume graphics is the greatest thing... Gameplay will always matter more than graphics. It's the main reason why some people still play Sega Mega Drive & Commodore 64 games..."]

Totally agree. It's also the reason many people still develop, buy, play, & love newly-created retro-style games (like the popular hit Dead Cells, among many others). Nothing (not graphics, not audio, not features, etc.) can make up for bad gameplay. Gameplay eclipses everything else and (in my opinion) should always be the #1 highest priority in any game. Without good gameplay, it's just interactive software, not a "game."

[Worntoathread 865]

Chromatic said:

Worntoathread said:

It is, it's a video primarily about the game's improved graphics. And I have to say the difference is quite impressive. I wish the part about the audio would have been longer though, it felt a bit rushed in at the end,

I agree with you on the graphics standpoint. but I do hate sometimes when people assume not yourself when graphics is the greatest thing on the planet. Gameplay will always matter more than graphics it's the main reason why some people still play Sega Mega Drive & Commodore 64 games. Fair play the audio, I agree that part should have been longer in these diaries. Just like the so called weather system.   

Yes absolutely. Good graphics are a great bonus, but in the end its always the core gameplay that matters most :) Just wanted to point out that it's not necessarily bad that they dedicated one video out of a four part series to the subject, when we've also seen feature and gameplay diaries.

[sjsharp2010 225]

I just hope that the new graphics mean less frame rate stuttering as it can be rather annoying in 2017. 2016 never had a problem with that so I'm not sure why 2017 did.

[Icecream76 20]

closer, except in the pit strategies department.

AI still pit just before rain for dry tyres, instead of eeking them out  (and visa versa in wet to dry conditions).

AI still don't adjust their original pit stop, if they have a bingle and need to replace nose or blown tyre. (they will still pit their original pre planned stop)

AI still  keep their pre-determined pit stop under safety car, and pit after it (SC) ends.

and in ben daly's latest vid (monaco) AI cars still teleport back out of the pit lane to on the track (randomly).

totally closer to the real thing than ever. :/

[Joethe155 8]

I will say that David Greco seems a really cool fella and the third dev diary was excellent. He really seems to know exactly what he's talking about and how the driving should feel. Hope he goes on to better things than CM these days. Easily the best one with him, the rest were mildly interesting at best. Probably not helped by the people talking not being that great to listen to either.

[barca9 0]

Icecream76 said:

closer, except in the pit strategies department.

AI still pit just before rain for dry tyres, instead of eeking them out  (and visa versa in wet to dry conditions).

AI still don't adjust their original pit stop, if they have a bingle and need to replace nose or blown tyre. (they will still pit their original pre planned stop)

AI still  keep their pre-determined pit stop under safety car, and pit after it (SC) ends.

and in ben daly's latest vid (monaco) AI cars still teleport back out of the pit lane to on the track (randomly).

totally closer to the real thing than ever. :/

AI really keep doing all of that?? Welp, guess i'm waiting for F1 2025

[Icecream76 20]

barca9 said:

Icecream76 said:

closer, except in the pit strategies department.

AI still pit just before rain for dry tyres, instead of eeking them out  (and visa versa in wet to dry conditions).

AI still don't adjust their original pit stop, if they have a bingle and need to replace nose or blown tyre. (they will still pit their original pre planned stop)

AI still  keep their pre-determined pit stop under safety car, and pit after it (SC) ends.

and in ben daly's latest vid (monaco) AI cars still teleport back out of the pit lane to on the track (randomly).

totally closer to the real thing than ever. :/

AI really keep doing all of that?? Welp, guess i'm waiting for F1 2025

sadly yep.

a couple of the reviews linked on this forum talk about it, and all the 'career' youtube vids from Tiametmarduk, Matt212, Aarvaa show the

same old stupid AI doing the same old stupid AI things of 16 and 17. 

Its a real shame, since the more aggressive AI, new coat of paint, updated handling (still not a SIM) and media looks nice, but the RACING all falls apart because of the above problems. 

Fix them, and f1 2018 will be probably a great game (in single player, no one knows how multiplayer will be yet) .

[barca9 0]

Icecream76 said:

barca9 said:

Icecream76 said:

closer, except in the pit strategies department.

AI still pit just before rain for dry tyres, instead of eeking them out  (and visa versa in wet to dry conditions).

AI still don't adjust their original pit stop, if they have a bingle and need to replace nose or blown tyre. (they will still pit their original pre planned stop)

AI still  keep their pre-determined pit stop under safety car, and pit after it (SC) ends.

and in ben daly's latest vid (monaco) AI cars still teleport back out of the pit lane to on the track (randomly).

totally closer to the real thing than ever. :/

AI really keep doing all of that?? Welp, guess i'm waiting for F1 2025

sadly yep.

a couple of the reviews linked on this forum talk about it, and all the 'career' youtube vids from Tiametmarduk, Matt212, Aarvaa show the

same old stupid AI doing the same old stupid AI things of 16 and 17. 

Its a real shame, since the more aggressive AI, new coat of paint, updated handling (still not a SIM) and media looks nice, but the RACING all falls apart because of the above problems. 

Fix them, and f1 2018 will be probably a great game (in single player, no one knows how multiplayer will be yet) .

The problem is it is not something you can fix, it's about game's DNA and how it is built. And they clearly have built it like previous ones

[vincenzo19 19]

Icecream76 said:

barca9 said:

Icecream76 said:

closer, except in the pit strategies department.

AI still pit just before rain for dry tyres, instead of eeking them out  (and visa versa in wet to dry conditions).

AI still don't adjust their original pit stop, if they have a bingle and need to replace nose or blown tyre. (they will still pit their original pre planned stop)

AI still  keep their pre-determined pit stop under safety car, and pit after it (SC) ends.

and in ben daly's latest vid (monaco) AI cars still teleport back out of the pit lane to on the track (randomly).

totally closer to the real thing than ever. :/

AI really keep doing all of that?? Welp, guess i'm waiting for F1 2025

sadly yep.

a couple of the reviews linked on this forum talk about it, and all the 'career' youtube vids from Tiametmarduk, Matt212, Aarvaa show the

same old stupid AI doing the same old stupid AI things of 16 and 17. 

Its a real shame, since the more aggressive AI, new coat of paint, updated handling (still not a SIM) and media looks nice, but the RACING all falls apart because of the above problems. 

Fix them, and f1 2018 will be probably a great game (in single player, no one knows how multiplayer will be yet) .

.....soon

Body is 7 patches too short

[SpringbokGamer 86]

Its called Copy Paste Coding.

You just add onto the existing code each year , and call it a new version.

Meaning if you dont actively go and look for whatever causes the Bugs , then each year you will get the same thing ...

[scottishwildcat 187]

No software company anywhere throws large chunks of their code away and rewrites again every year, that'd be mental. I've worked on software in the recent past that still had code in it from the 1980s, still doing what it was built to do. If you're not writing code in such a way that you can use and extend it again next time, you're usually doing it wrong.

[SpringbokGamer 86]

Point taken Scott.

Now if they could only go back into their code and fix all the irritations , then I dont think anyone will moan about re-using code.

Makes perfect sense , not having to re-invent the wheel every couple of years.

To someone that doesnt know silch about Coding  , it unfortunately just looks like laziness if old known issues are not fixed in new game versions.

[ShawnApaul 0]

Hi Codemasters,

Please fix the pit stops ?. The F1 cars still appear to be floating into the pit box on an impossible angle. It would be nice to polish up the physics in this area of the game so that it is even "closer to the real thing than ever before!". Hope that's not too much to ask for in a future update. 

[Operator1 4]

scottishwildcat said:

...I've worked on software in the recent past that still had code in it from the 1980s, still doing what it was built to do...

Yes, but code that's not doing what it was built to do should not continue rolling over into future iterations.

[ChristerHiort 1]

I did the Event at Spa and I have to say that I loved it. Hard to explain but the driving feels more natural and the graphics that people said was talked about too much, are simply stunning and helped me with the immersion.

[ShawnApaul 0]

Hi Codemasters,
Please fix the halo ?! But first can we do an experiment?!  :) stand about 6ft to 8ft away from a ? (painting/picture/poster), now extend your arm out in front of your body with your index finger pointing straight ☝ up. Now focus on your finger for a second then focus on the ? behind your finger. Now that the ? is in focus does your finger block what the ? looks like? Didn't think so...now without focusing back on your finger try to make out what it looks like. Got it!? Great now wouldn't you expect the halo ? to look the same when racing?

?