F1 2020 F1 2020 | New Update For Consoles Deployed

F1 2020 The Game (Codemasters)

Paul Jeffrey

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Codemasters have released a new Xbox One and PS4 update for their F1 2020 racing game
  • Console specific update deployed.
  • No current PC patch anticipated.
  • Minor updates and fixes post release.
F1 2020 | Watch our game review: Click Here.

The latest inclusion into the world of official Formula One games was dropped into the public domain by Codemasters back on July 10th, and having already received a warm welcome by a large majority of the sim racing public, Codies have been quick off the marks to bring about optimisations and improvements where needed - with the first console update drop deploying today for Xbox One and PS4.

F1 2020 Middle.jpg


Xbox One Update Notes:
  • Fixed a crash when using the Schumacher or RaceNet items going into My Team
  • Reduced the penalties given to players during safety car periods to the correct values to prevent unfair disqualifications
  • Addressed an issue where a number of players or AI would be disqualified incorrectly after passing the safety car
  • Addressed an issue where race results could be incorrect after disconnecting and re-joining an online session
PS4 Update Notes:
  • Fixed an issue specific to PS4 which caused Leaderboards to appear blank and could cause a perpetual load in certain circumstances.

F1 2020 Middle 2.jpg


Codemasters have made no mention of any impending patch for either the PC or Google Stadia versions of the title at this point in time, although a fresh build is expected in the near future to at the very least update the various new liveries that have yet to be represented within the title.


F1 2020 is available now on PS4, Xbox One, PC and Google Stadia.

Got questions about the game? Start a new thread at the RaceDepartment F1 2020 sub forum here at RaceDepartment, and let the community help you out!

F1 2020 Footer.jpg
 
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How is the handling of the cars this year?

Nice, very nice. You really get the feeling that you can push hard when needed this year. With 2019 I always felt like I was teetering on the edge of a meeting with the barrier on some corners thus I never felt I could really push.

It's also really easy to get into a rhythm and start nailing consistency compared to last year.

Braking is also feels better with less tendency to lock, but you'll still lock if your braking lacks finesse,

Basically I can approach 2020 it with more confidence than I could with 2019. That's not to say you're not going to bin it, and when a binning situation comes it happens fast, but there's more of a sense of limit than last year, and that's a good thing.

All in all it's a very pleasurable drive, with good FFB, at least on my T300.
 
I have to say I'm really enjoying this one. I hardly played 2019, I thought it was pretty pants to be honest with the weird changing down a gear oversteer and numb FFB.

Although I've found a number of very annoying bugs with timing, in particular qualifying a tenth faster than my teammate who was put on the grid ahead of me and stole my spot (Grosjean, so it's probably a Haas plot against me). The odd crash as well but only in time trial.

Once the problems are sorted I can see myself putting a lot of time into it.
 
We have both the PC and Xbox One versions and it's good to see the consoles get the 1.03 update. The launch console version AI cars were much more likely to divebomb in slower corners, hopefully that will now be more like the PC version as they race much more fairly.

My Team remains the gem, it has bugs and flaws but overall it is superb. Both at home with the kids and comparing with friends we've now run a few different first seasons (at 25 and 50% race lengths) and they've all played out superbly well. There is almost always some close racing against the near rival cars and it can get quite tense toward the end of races.

Playing against the 100% AI the first year in My Team can feel punishingly tough in the practice sessions. It's often difficult to pass any of the practice programs (unless you are amazingly fast at F1 of course!). The race pace of the cars even early on feels better but scoring points in a race still feels like a real victory.

The best things we've noticed are:

+++ The AI use their ERS intelligently if you watch the mirror gap timing you can see when the AI car is deploying ERS for an attack and can respond. This can become quite a rhythm of attack and defend over several laps. Managing ERS badly can easily leave your car a sitting duck.

+++ The chasing AI car will drop off for a lap or 2 to charge their ERS and have another run at the player car.

+++ The AI cars do a great job of staying within the 1 second DRS range, it really is often difficult to drop a similarly paced car.

++ AI team development matches and sometimes exceeds the player My Team, it's as much about keeping up as gaining an advantage.

++ Some of the upgrades make a huge difference to car performance, the upgraded energy store gives a huge ERS boost.

++ Without spoilers, the unexpected events towards the end of the season keep things interesting.

+ AI cars on an out or in lap get out of the way in practices and it's the same during the race under blue flags. (See bugs tho..)

The bugs:

--- "You haven't used both sets of tyres" message 2 laps from the end is frustrating when you clearly have used both a soft/med or similar combination. It only happened to me once but a 50% race was lost.

--- Some game crashes after races are completed - it's best to make a mid-session save toward the end of the race in case this happens.

-- Gearbox wear seems to be bugged for some people (both PC and Xbox), one replacement gearbox I fitted showed 60% wear after just one wet race (this was with 2 durability upgrades completed too). As a result, I ended up using 6 gearboxes during a season. I thought it was something I was doing with the manual gearbox but it happens with auto gears selected too so it's probably a bug.

- In practice sessions, if both the player and the AI cars are on an in/out lap the AI cars refuse to overtake the player car and hover alongside.

The strange:

-- Some of the interview questions make little sense or refer to incidents that didn't happen!

-- Having to contact your 2nd driver every 6 months and seeing their contract demands double when they've scored no points doesn't make much sense.

--Podium Pass microtransactions - at least they give back enough Podium Points in the pack that you never have to pay for this if you don't want to. (assuming all editions of the game get the initial 15000 coins?) All 30 levels popped for me in a 50% season playthrough so it's easy enough to get more cosmetic items if you want them. Having the Podium Pass screen pop up after each race is a bit annoying but so be it.

Overall it's superbly immersive and the races are genuinely tense especially as the tyres wear. Hanging on to 10th place for that precious point never felt so good.
 
I lasted 40 minutes and requested a refund due to the constant "contacting online services". I'm on high bandwidth connection as well.

What a terrible user experience. Game looked great otherwise, but I'm not wasting my time waiting on screen saver network messages. AMS2 and ACC it's just jump in and play, Even DR2 lets you cancel the online connection, and it wasn't as intrusive as this.

I'll pick it up again in 6 months on sale, but I'm not paying full price to put up with that.

Gamepad didn't feel that much different from F1 2019 either tbh, very flat on the road even with the newish road detail/tire feedback on the triggers. ACC V1.5 reworked gamepad feedback is subtle but works well.

Also, not impressed with the My Team UX. Just thought I'd have a quick look at it and there was no way to exit any of the screens, It forces you to walk through the whole My Team setup before I could exit it. What sort of bonehead design is that?

Not having VR wasn't an issue, or the fact the it's on EGS...oh, wait, no I bought it on Steam and refunded it!
 
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