F1 2017 F1 2017 Beta Access up for Grabs

[Paul Jeffrey]

Codemasters have today opened up places for the upcoming Beta testing programme for F1 2017, with 300 slots each available for Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC players of the game.

The long standing British developers have confirmed the new Formula One 2017 title, the official videogame of the 2017 FIA Formula One World Championship, has been in development for a considerable period of time already and they are now in a position to open up beta testing positions for 900 people across the three release platforms (300 each platform).

Codemasters followed a similar route with last year's return to form release of F1 2016, however after finding the benefits seemingly directly affecting the popularity of the previous game, Codemasters have pledged to further expand their casting call for the new project.

"Last year, we ran a very successful programme of community testing and beta tests, in which you gave us some incredible feedback that helped us shape the game. We’re very excited to announce that they were so successful that this year we’re not only widening their scope, but we’re starting the process earlier as well" Social Media Manager Jenny said in a statement from Codemasters.
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In order to apply for a place in the new beta testing programme you will have to register your details on this link HERE, where you will be required to have a Codemasters forum account, working email address and of course a desire to help shape development of the only officially licenced Formula One game available in the marketplace today.

No doubt with a title that appeals to a broad gaming audience wider than just motorsport fans demand for a place on the programme will be far greater than the allocated 300 slots per platform, so if you want in on the action before anyone else, act fast or miss out!


Formula One 2017 will be the eight Formula One title by Codemasters since taking over rights to the franchise back in 2010. The game will be released for Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC during 2017.

Check out the Formula One 20** sub forum for all the latest news relating to the F1 series of games. We host regular racing events, have a strong archive of downloadable content and cover all the latest news with regards to all the games within the franchise. If you want a place to go and discuss Codemasters Formula One games, then head on over and get yourself in on the conversation!

Will you be applying for a place in the 2017 beta programme? Are you looking forward to F1 2017? Do you think the game could be the best yet for the series? What would you like to see included in the new title? Let us know in the comments section below!

 

[JayJayRaceinho]

ha? i don't understand, does this mean the beta i payed 40€ for f1 2016 is now over?

na, thanks. not again AmateurMasters....aeh, Codemasters

 

[Christian Moreau]

Wow, they're really on the ball lately. The community involvement in the development of F1 2016 was great to see and became easily the best iteration of the series they've ever released. To be honest, I didn't play much of 2016 since F1 has kind of waned on me over the past few years, but I know a lot of people enjoyed the title and it'll be exciting to see what improvements they have planned for this year.

2017 is going to be a good year.

 

[Paul Jeffrey]

I think this is a great initiative, my only hope is people with some actual knowledge on how to drive sim racing cars apply to help give it the best shot of being a "proper" racing title.

I watched some footage of people playing 2016 and they were all over the place, smashing off walls and bouncing around like silly buggers using a controller....

Obviously the game needs to cater for both controller casuals and those of us looking for a more detailed experience with a full rig setup adn I appreciate that of course. I'd still like to make sure enough of those of you who can drive the wheels off the thing get involved in the beta and pick out any flaws the driving model may have before it's too late.

I've applied for it, not that my actual skills will be any use, nor will I be able to talk about it here at RD, but I'm still hopeful of being able to have a blast on the thing and give my opinion - get ready for loads of comments on the CM forum from me saying "why does the game do that in game? In rF2 it does this..... "

 

[Doug46]

Paul thanks for all the updates you do for us on this site really appreciate your time and effort, if you ever get a chance to interview codemasters can you ask them from me why they cant fix the old games before moving onto the new games! its always the same with them, i wont to trust them that they are going to do a good job, but when its released we always find many issues that should of been addressed before release (having said that F1 2016 wasn't too bad on release it was the patches that put pay to F1 being unplayable in my view! I Like many here love all forms of Motor sport but out of all the games its F1 that has never really gone anywhere, codemasters should look back at GP4 (Geoff Crammond) that games is years old but everything about it brought you into the feel of driving in a F1 race (at that time) , ok it didn't have amazing graphics or sound but its play ability all those years ago was steps ahead, Codemasters should also take note of their own dirt game! they need to take note of what people are saying on the forums after all we also wont a great f1 game to play. I have brought all their F1 games over the years and with the f1 2016 i feel being my last i think!, i am not holding any hope any more ,feel really let down in the past i hope you all get my point, hopfully one day we will get that great f1 game with a great driving feel , the race excitement, a smooth running game with no bugs To all the new testers good luck!

 

[Paul Jeffrey]

Thanks for the kind words @Doug46 It's my pleasure

I'm currently working on securing an interview with Codies at the moment so I'll be sure to include that in the questions

Sadly getting an interview from Codemasters is about as rare as rocking horse It's my birthday in 7 days and the wife's bought me a new mic so I'm itching to get it used somewhere Codemasters are based in the UK so that sounds like in interesting option to push harder on... I'll see what I can do

Watch this space fella and let's see what we can rustle up for the good readers of RD

 

[-Alf-]

I like the way Codies had been working lately, getting more involved with Community, and listen all the feedback. It started with DiRT Rally, and since then theirs games had been much better, and more popular/sucessful.
It can only improve, for them ( financially ) and for us players ( better games ), if they keep working like that.

 

[Colin Knowles]

Just wanna echo Doug46. Thanks for ALL the great articles you guys & girls bring us. It really is appreciated

Geoff Crammond = Legend no doubt
But f1 2016 for me surpassed it by along way I don't know how anyone else played it but on the PlayStation with a wheel, pedals & mic it was simply outstanding. The voice recognition deserves an award in itself and the flags and SC and also VSC i think they did a far better job than they were rightly credited for

Ask Codemasters if they will break the testing down in to views too 100 cockpit users, 100 T-cam users & 100 chase cam drivers please.

Could you also tell them I'm available to test the PSVR 'Be the Driver' mode... Oops

 

[Doug46]

Thanks for the kind words @Doug46 It's my pleasure

I'm currently working on securing an interview with Codies at the moment so I'll be sure to include that in the questions

Sadly getting an interview from Codemasters is about as rare as rocking horse It's my birthday in 7 days and the wife's bought me a new mic so I'm itching to get it used somewhere Codemasters are based in the UK so that sounds like in interesting option to push harder on... I'll see what I can do

Watch this space fella and let's see what we can rustle up for the good readers of RD

Ill be watching, with a web site like this that promotes all racing games they should be more than willing to give a interview! i also i agree with you Colin gp4 is long gone but at that time it was really good with the technology they had, all i am saying is with today's technology codemasters could of done better, yes they did get many things right but for me they turned a reasonably playable game into a non playable game for me on pc with a patch they cant put right (shame you cant turn back a patch if the game was running well before) as they have already moved onto 2017 , look at games like ams on a low budget what they have done is simply amazing , dont get me wrong i am not condemning their game as i myself found 2016 good up to that point, but my argument is they haven't addressed a big issue thats been reported on so many forums since patch 1.7 which i feel they owe it to the people who buy their games in the first place. I really hope we see a Great f1 game soon, but not holding me breath!

 

[JayJayRaceinho]

someone who was working since f1 2009 on a f1-series i expected a looooot better in the Wheel/FFB department. What they offered with f1 2016 on PC was major BullSh*t, like a devs first try to connect to a wheel-base, "OH, it works, it works, we got it! Wheel-Support YEAH!!!" ....a major dissapointement. Besides several AI issues... in the first 3 races i encountered 3 different AI strengths in the same ai-difficulty i could go on..

 

[Alex Townsend]

I've applied. But for Xbox One as I'm in another country away from my beloved simrig... [sniff]

But hoping to get on and see if we can help shape the new title.
Will see how many proper sim racers real life racers manage to get in.

 

[Doug46]

Just wanna echo Doug46. Thanks for ALL the great articles you guys & girls bring us. It really is appreciated

Geoff Crammond = Legend no doubt
But f1 2016 for me surpassed it by along way I don't know how anyone else played it but on the PlayStation with a wheel, pedals & mic it was simply outstanding. The voice recognition deserves an award in itself and the flags and SC and also VSC i think they did a far better job than they were rightly credited for

Ask Codemasters if they will break the testing down in to views too 100 cockpit users, 100 T-cam users & 100 chase cam drivers please.

Could you also tell them I'm available to test the PSVR 'Be the Driver' mode... Oops

someone who was working since f1 2009 on a f1-series i expected a looooot better in the Wheel/FFB department. What they offered with f1 2016 on PC was major BullSh*t, like a devs first try to connect to a wheel-base, "OH, it works, it works, we got it! Wheel-Support YEAH!!!" ....a major dissapointement. Besides several AI issues... in the first 3 races i encountered 3 different AI strengths in the same ai-difficulty i could go on..

Yes some of the Ai issues really needs to be addressed, and agree with you on ffb, hopefully they will look at this forum and take notes!!!! i suggest to any one who reads the above article by Paul to express their concerns, as well as what they got right on these pages, then maybe Paul if he gets his interview can put forward our suggestions if he is willing to take it up on our behalf ill be willing to help if needed as i know many on here will also. Lets also not forget what the mod community have done in making that game better many of those things they did you have to ask yourself why codemasters didn't do in the first place.!

 

[shimon.ifraimov]

i'v applied for pc too, iam playing f1 2016 now and its great but has its issues

 

[Boby Kim]

No F1 game for me...way too much console flavour.

if you ever get a chance to interview codemasters can you ask them from me why they cant fix the old games before moving onto the new games! its always the same with them

Well, they run a monopoly on the F1 license and how crap their F1 game is, there isn't another option for F1 racegame lovers and they will sell their game big time. Hence they could make it 100 euro's and it would sell. The new release is the "fix update" of the previous version. Console Codies all the way sir

 

[Hygge]

Sorry to spoil the party but F1 2016 for me is an awfal game. It may have all the bells and whistles but the most important thing - the feel of the cars is simply awful. The FFB is a joke. I bought this game against my better judgement hoping it would be better than the earlier iterations but I was so disappointed. If I didn't actually see that there were F1 cars on the screen it could just as well be a hovercraft simulator. I hope someone else than Codemasters get the license or that they let the guys who made Dirt Rally take over the developement of future games. For now - if I want to take an F1 car on the track I stay with AC or AMS - or even reinstall F1 Challenge.

 

[Paul Jeffrey]

I hope someone else than Codemasters get the license

Well maybe that's the "not rFactor 3" ISI are working on right now?

As for the interview, I've dropped an email over again tonight and if I am sucsessful in getting in with them I'll for sure put up something on the front page asking for any stuff people want me to find out about

From experience I reckon it's more likely I'll get something back from the DiRT folks rather than the F1 side of the team, but we shall try.

As my gran always used to say - if you don't ask, you don't get.

 

[Alex Townsend]

Well maybe that's the "not rFactor 3" ISI are working on right now?

As for the interview, I've dropped an email over again tonight and if I am sucsessful in getting in with them I'll for sure put up something on the front page asking for any stuff people want me to find out about

From experience I reckon it's more likely I'll get something back from the DiRT folks rather than the F1 side of the team, but we shall try.

As my gran always used to say - if you don't ask, you don't get.

Thanks for all the hard work on these reports, Paul. Really enjoyable to read the articles and giving us up to the minute and sometimes exclusive looks at future titles. Greatly appreciated.

 

[Hygge]

Well maybe that's the "not rFactor 3" ISI are working on right now?

Paul, you certainly have a way of making posts that get my attention.
Always enjoy your articles and looking forward to the coming ones.

And just to clarify, I don't want to upset anyone who thinks Codemasters has made a great game. It's just my opinion and I would love a great F1 game just as anybody else and I'm willing to pay whatever it cost to have that game. Having spent 15 000+ laps in F1 challenge back in the days I would simply love to have an astonishing F1 game again. And I recognize the hard work and many great parts of the Codemaster F1 game but the most important thing - the feel of the car just isn't there. If they manage that - and I hope they will - I'm gladly buying that game.

And it's not like Codemasters hasn't done great games. I remember when the first Colin McRae came out about a hundred years ago. It was the first car game where I could actually feel the weight of the cars. And at that time I was playing it with my keyboard but still you could get the sensation of handling something with an actual mass. So Codemasters - I know you can. Give us enjoyable physics (it don't have to be 100% accurate - just something that feels like your driving an actual car) and I willingly buy your game.

 

[JayJayRaceinho]

No F1 game for me...way too much console flavour.


Well, they run a monopoly on the F1 license and how crap their F1 game is, there isn't another option for F1 racegame lovers and they will sell their game big time. Hence they could make it 100 euro's and it would sell. The new release is the "fix update" of the previous version. Console Codies all the way sir

well, i never bought any f1 game before ... just bought it because of a full career-mode, all the features, like MFT, Pitstops, Dynamic Weather etc. etc. to race a full season with my wheel. The last time i followed a Formula1 Season on TV was when Michael Schumacher was still active But agree, the 'Hardcore F1 Fans' will buy it neverthless.

 

[Paul Jeffrey]

Personally I don't see why the FIA / FOM or whatever are so bloody keen to keep the Formula One licence exclusive anyway.

In my opinion fine, keep it with Codies and let them make the games they make, massively popular on console with all the bells and whistles like it has now, and reasonably popular on PC too. Then let a serious simulation developer have a licence for PC only for example, where they can create a no-holes barred full on 100% difficult as fek simulation of the Formula One season. Then everyone wins Console gamers get the massive sales & revenues from the licence with a nice polished semi-sim game including driver likenesses and all that fancy career stuff, and PC gamers get a full on next best thing to doing it in real life style simulation that makes your hair turn grey and gives you goose bumps every time to manage to nail Eau Rouge flat on a full tank of petrol.

Now that PC game probably wouldn't make anyone a multi millionaire, but man would it do Formula One as a sport a whole load of good in terms of pleasing its target audience - the youngish IT / tech savvy financially stable crowd, which lets be honest is probably the PC gaming crew we get on here, as we all know its not exactly dirt cheap to sim race, and I would suspect a good portion of the "main" sim racing audience are between 20 and 45, with a reasonable income and likely to spend money on motorsport related stuff. Probably.

That would be my dream, but I'm probably having a wee wee in the wind on that hope...