F1 2010

Overview

Formula One 2010 is developed by Codemasters as the their first next-generation multiplatform Formula One release following their acquisition of the license which had previously been held by Sony. Because the game is now multiplatform it is the first F1 game on the Xbox 360; the first truly next generation F1 game on the PS3 (as the previous F1: Championship Edition game was developed on Playstation 2 hardware) and the first officially licensed F1 game on the PC for over a decade. The PC version of F1 2010 will be a Games for Windows Live game.

Previously, Codemasters had announced that this game would be released in 2009 as F1 2009, but this was scrapped and F1 2009 was brought out as a Wii and PSP release.

On September 27, 2010 it was announced via the Codemasters' forum that a patch was in process of development and would be released soon.

EGO Engine

Formula One 2010 is developed on Codemasters own EGO Engine, which has powered other Codemasters racing games such as Colin Mcrae: Dirt 1 & DiRT 2 , Race Driver: GRID and the Wii version of F1 2009, as well as other Codemasters developed games like Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising and Bodycount.

The EGO engine has been improved specifically for F1 2010, unofficially dubbed 'EGO 1.5'.

Teams and Drivers

Formula One 2010 includes the real life cars and drivers of the 2010 Formula One season, letting you drive any of the 12 teams cars as any of the 24 drivers of the season. The line up features the following teams and drivers:

• Mclaren

1. Jenson Button (2009 Formula One Drivers Champion)
2. Lewis Hamilton

• Mercedes Grand Prix (2009 Formula One Constructors Champion as Brawn GP)

1. Michael Schumacher
2. Nico Rosberg

• Red Bull

1. Sebastien Vettel
2. Mark Webber

• Ferrari

1. Fernando Alonso
2. Felipe Massa

• Williams-Cosworth

1. Rubens Barrichello
2. Nico Hulkenberg

• Renault

1. Robert Kubica
2. Vitaly Petrov

• Force India

1. Adrian Sutil
2. Vitantonio Liuzzi

• Toro Rosso

1. Sebastien Buemi
2. Jamie Alguersuari

• Lotus Racing

1. Jarno Trulli
2. Heikki Kovalainen

• Hispania Racing Team *

1. Karun Chandhok
2. Bruno Senna

• BMW Sauber **

1. Pedro De La Rosa
2. Kamui Kobayashi

• Virgin Racing

1. Timo Glock
2. Lucas Di Grassi

Notes:

* Sakon Yamamoto and Christian Klien are not availble as drivers for Hispania Racing Team even though Yamamoto has replaced Chandhok and Senna during the 2010 FIA Formula One Championship.

** BMW Sauber are actually powered by Ferrari engines and only have the BMW name due to having to take over the old BMW Sauber team name when the team changed ownership at the start of the season. Also Nick Heidfeld is not a driver on the BWM Sauber team even though he replaced De La Rosa during the actual season.

Circuits

The game will feature all 19 circuits that are on the official F1 2010 calendar which are:

Bahrain International Circuit , Sakhir, Bahrain Laps: 49 Track Length: 6.2km

Albert Park, Melbourne, Australia Laps: 58 Track Length: 5.3km

Sepang International Circuit, Sepang, Malaysia Laps: 56 Track Length: 5.5km

Shanghai International Circuit, Shanghai, China Laps: 56 Track Length: 5.4km

Circuit de Catalunya, Montmelo, Spain Laps: 66 Track Length: 4.6km

Circuit de Monaco, Monte Carlo, Monaco Laps: 78 Track Length: 3.3km

Istanbul Park, Istanbul, Turkey Laps: 56 Track Length: 5.3km

Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, Montreal, Canada Laps: 70 Track Length: 4km

Valencia Street Circuit, Valencia, Spain Laps: 57 Track Length: 5.4km

Silverstone Circuit, Silverstone, Great Britain Laps: 52 Track Length: 5.8km

Hockenheimring, Hockenheim, Germany Laps: 67 Track Length: 4.5km

Hungaroring, Budapest, Hungary Laps: 70 Track Length: 4.3km

Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium Laps: 44 Track Length: 7km

Autodromo di Monza, Monza, Italy Laps: 53 Track Length: 5.7km

Marina Bay Street Circuit, Singapore (night race) Laps: 61 Track Length: 5km

Suzuka Circuit, Suzuka, Japan Laps: 53 Track Length: 5.8km

Korean International Circuit, Mokpo, South Korea Laps: 55 Track Length: 5.6km

Autodromo Carlos Pace (Interlagos), Sao Paulo, Brazil Laps: 71 Track Length: 4.3km

Yas Marina Circuit (twilight race), Abu Dhabi, UAE Laps: 55 Track Length: 5.5km

Career Mode

Like previous Codemasters racing games, Formula One 2010 features a career mode. The career mode is similar to that of GRID, where it's based around the experience of being a race driver. Because of this, the career mode emphasizes the importance of out performing your own team-mates like a real F1 driver, as well as racing for team based targets. Beating your team mates will allow you to become more popular and to be seen as a better driver, thus enabling you to move up to better teams as you progress through the career mode.

Formula One 2010 features different career lengths that will affect the start of your career:

• If you choose to do a 3 season career you can choose to start with one of the top teams (McLaren or Ferrari, for example)

• If you choose to go for a medium long career (5 seasons), you will have to start with one of the smaller teams, though not the worst ones, and try to work your way up to the bigger teams via meeting team objectives

• If you choose to compete in the 7 seasons long career, you'll be assigned to one of the generally considered worst teams on the paddock, thus not being expected for you to win the championship anytime soon. Instead, and just like on the medium long career mode, you're given modest set goals to achieve, something that your bosses feel you can realistically achieve with the car you're currently driving. Meet or surpass the given goals and you'll be able to transfer to a bigger team, and hopefully reach one of the top ones before the 7 seasons go by.

Multiplayer

Formula One 2010 features online multiplayer on all three platforms; over Xbox Live on the Xbox 360; Play Station Network on the PS3; and through Games for Windows Live on the PC.

Real Time Damage and Dynamic Weather Effects

Formula One 2010 features a more advanced simulation of damage than previous racing games. Similar to Codemasters' own DIRT and GRID; damage is calculated in real time, giving a much more naturalistic look to the cars when they are damaged, as well as in how the car will handle when damaged.

F1 2010 also features what Codemasters are claiming as the most advanced weather effects of any racing game to date. Like the damage in F1 2010, Weather is also calculated in real time as well as being dynamic. This leads to a much more realistic simulation of how an F1 car handles in the rain around a circuit. Some of the different weather effects the game is calculating are:

'Rain' Filter

When racing in the wet in "F1 2010" a filter is applied to the players camera in order to simulate rain that would be hitting the camera or similar to the rain hitting the drivers visor. This will make driving in the wet much more of a challenge than any other racing game as it will be harder to see the track clearly due to the globules and drops of water that block your vision.

Procedural Water

Standing water on the track can be dispersed or 'moved' by the car. An example of this in racing is when a 'dry line' is developed by the constant movement of the cars going around the circuit lap after lap; the tires pushing the water away from the contact point of the rubber tire and tarmac surface. This technology is not only aesthetic, but will also affect the handling of the car is a way that is representative of real life racing.

Water Cooling

Standing water in the game has the ability to cool off your tires. If you are in a situation where your wet tires are gathering too much heat due to a dry line forming, you can drive off-line in the laying water which will cool down the tires to prevent overheating and grip loss.

Trivia

Formula One test driver Anthony Davidson was the technical adviser for Codemasters for the development of F1 2010. Anthony is an experienced F1 test driver for Honda and Brawn and has also raced in F1 competitively for a small stint in 2007 for Super Aguri. He has also driven competitively for the Peugeot Sport Team in the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the 12 Hours of Sebring.

Official Licensed Soundtrack

The tracklist for the in-game F1 2010 licensed music can be found at the end of the user manual.

PC System Requirements

Minimum Requirements

• Operating System: XP / Vista / Windows 7
• Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo @ 2.4GHz or Athlon X2
• Memory: 1 GB RAM (2 GB Vista / Windows 7)
• Hard Disk Space: 12.5 GB
• Graphics Card: GeForce 7800 / Radeon X1800
• Sound: DirectX Compatible Sound Card or Motherboard audio
• DirectX: DirectX 9.0c

Recommended Requirements

• Operating System: XP / Vista / Windows 7
• Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo @ 2.66GHz or Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 4200
• Memory: 2 GB RAM
• Hard Disk Space: 12.5 GB
• Graphics Card: GeForce 9800 GT / Radeon HD 4850 or above
• Sound: DirectX Compatible Sound Card or Motherboard audio
• DirectX: DirectX 9.0c or above

Other Requirements: Online play requires log-in to Games For Windows - Live.