In a time when big budget gaming is often about safely pumping money into ‘performing’ franchises, it must be difficult to be a sporting game. Anchored to a sport where little but its players have changed from the previous year, developers must find new ways of delivering the same experience to their fans. Codemasters’ Birmingham Studio is at a point with its fledgling franchise where there seems to be very little left to change. Can F1 2012 retain its pole position?
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I'd love to see challenges that are part of history, but with a twist... For example, the famous race where Gilles Villeneuve got a puncture and basically ripped the suspension off getting back to the pits - it'd be cool to be challenged to get back without causing the damage, but not losing too many places.
Or maybe the year Mansell hounded Senna over the last few laps of the Monaco GP - there could be a challenge to be Mansell and overtake, and another as Senna to stay ahead.
Or some challenges of more recent times... Buttons drive through the field in Canada and pressuring Vettel to make a mistake on the last lap would be awesome.
I'd also like to see much more interaction between pits and driver on the radio. So the team would include the driver in strategy decisions, and adjustments to the car. Team orders would also be good. I'd like the HUD to be minimised so that gaps to drivers would be removed (I think this can be customised anyway), but in it's place needs to be realistic pit boards, and the ability to ask the pits for updates.
On a different tangent, I'd very much like to see a proper F1 Management Sim. I remember playing one years and years ago, but no one has tried to emulate it.