- Sebastian Vettel leading Lewis Hamilton at this year's Australian Grand Prix. Photo Credit: Sporting News.

5 Things I'd Like To See In F1 2018

With speculation growing about Codemasters' upcoming entry into the F1 franchise, this writer lists five things he'd like to see in the new game.

Let's face it - the last two entries into the Codemasters F1 series have been quite good to say the least. After the disappointment that was F1 2015, the developers at Codemasters were under a lot of pressure to deliver with F1 2016. And they did - with a refreshed career mode and greater emphasis on the player rather than the cars - the game performed brilliantly commercially and critically. And they repeated this success with last year's entry, F1 2017 - with classic content being a big selling point for players.

But as the old saying goes, there's always room for improvement - and with that in mind, here's five things I'd like to see in F1 2018.

5) HAMILTON VS VETTEL - "BEST TO FIVE" CHAMPIONS MODE

Coming into the real life 2018 season, most of the headlines have consisted of Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel fighting it out for the F1 World Championship. Both drivers have four championships each to their name, so you'd think this season would be the tiebreaker.

Why not dedicate the Champions Mode of F1 2018 to this incredible rivalry? Imagine playing as either Hamilton or Vettel and going through a full F1 season to win the illusive fifth championship - it would be a good selling point for the game itself, and allows the player to relive moments such as the tangles in Baku last year and Vettel's first corner crash in Singapore.

4) MORE NARRATIVE TO THE CAREER MODE?

These two guys. Massive thorn in the sides of many F1 2017 players, but in a good way....

These two guys. Massive thorn in the sides of many F1 2017 players, but in a good way....

Career Mode has progressed massively in the past two entries into the F1 franchise. The introduction of Emma Jenkins (right) as the player's agent in F1 2016 added a sense of realism into the career mode. In F1 2017, a PR/sponsorship person named Jonathan (left) (I still don't know what he actually does) was introduced to give the player the opportunity to sample the classic content through a number of challenges.

But what if one of them turned on the player, and tried to sabotage their contract offers or race strategies? Or perhaps the constant PR showcases wore the player out and as a result their fatigue leads to a poor race performance or even a multi-car pile up at Turn 1 of Spa?

It's wild speculation at the moment, but I think something along those lines would certainly make career mode a lot more exciting.

3) THE HALO NOT COMPROMISING GAMEPLAY

Dreadful. Absolutely f**king dreadful.

Dreadful. Absolutely f**king dreadful.

I hate the Halo safety device. It's ugly, it doesn't suit an F1 car and the onboard views of the drivers have become distorted as a result. But of course, there is the argument of the safety of drivers, etc. So it seems we just have to deal with it.

This raises the question of what the halo might look like in the actual game. Well, thanks to YouTube user Scott van Breda and an Automobilista mod - we might not have to wonder any longer:

By positioning the onboard camera at drivers eye level, it looks like visibility isn't too much of a problem in the video. The driver can quite clearly see the track and cars in front of them, and thanks to the positioning of braking and DRS markers at the side of the track - players will not have any trouble navigating the course. I hope you're taking notes, Codemasters...

2) NEW TIMING SYSTEM + ON-SCREEN GRAPHICS

A board of F1's new on-screen visuals.

A board of F1's new on-screen visuals.

As everyone knows by now, F1 underwent a drastic rebranding late last year - most notably introducing a brand new logo. While the new look is certainly a point of contention amongst fans, there is no reason why Codemasters can't take advantage of that and refresh their own on-screen graphics for F1 2018.

It would make the game look and feel like a completely different entity to its predecessors, and if Liberty Media are hellbent on taking the sport into a new era - perhaps Codemasters taking the visual style of the F1 franchise into that new era will be a smart move.

1) MORE INCORPORATION WITH THE F1 ESPORTS SERIES

Since its introduction last year, the F1 eSports series has been a great way for F1 to put its foot in the lucrative eSports door. Last year's grand final was as dramatic as some of the real-life on track action, with 18 year old Brendon Leigh taking victory in a pulsating race around the Abu Dhabi circuit.

With the announcement of a second season for the eSports series - this time with the involvement of every F1 team (apart from Ferrari), is it time for Codemasters to truly embrace the series and make it a core part of F1 2018?

I think it would work. With Gran Turismo already doing the same with GT Sport's online racing - it's a no brainer for Codemasters. A potential idea would be every online race a player takes part in would score them points (bonus points for clean races, minus points for cheating, etc), and the more online races a player takes part in and the more points they accumulate - they would have the chance to qualify for regional rounds of the eSports series. It's a complicated idea that I don't really have the time to think of - but I'm certain it would keep people playing the game with the opportunity for them to qualify for the eSports series.

WHAT ARE YOUR OPINIONS?

So there is my list of five things I want to see in F1 2018. If I've missed anything out, let me know in the comments section. Thanks for reading, and I'll see ya later.

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Comments (3)

  • Hi congratulations - your post has been selected by DriveTribe F1 Ambassador for promotion on the DriveTribe homepage.

      3 years ago
  • It would be awesome if you could replay some races from the past, skipping qualifying and replaying the race, such as Hamilton in Bahrain

      3 years ago
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