F1 Challenge Driving Guide Version 1.0 First of all I should point out that this guide will not be quite as useful to the fastest drivers on the sim racing scene (Max Dell'Orco, Dom Duhan, Dominik Binz, Greger Huttu, Dave Nicol, Adam Dodd, Markus Kononen, Brad McGiveron etc). They are all extremely talented and they each know exactly how to set up the game (and car) to suit their own driving styles, I can't see anything in this guide been of great use to them as they are already driving on the limit of human possibility. Opening Comments. Setting Up The Game. Player (PLR) File Editing. Setting Up Your Steering Wheel.

Driving Aids. Traction Control. Choosing A Good Car.

Driving Techniques. Turn-In --9.4.

Apr 28, 2012. F1 2011 codemaster. F1 2011 codemasters setups: http://f1carsetup.com/. F1 Challenge 99-02 Setups At that skill level, you can probably gain a second per lap through skillfuldriving, but lose three times as much by setting up the car.

Hitting The Apex. Throttle Control - Finding The Limit.

Side Note - The 'Differential Lock'. Gear Selection. A Note From The Experts.

Driving Online. Replays And Telemetry. Closing Comments.

Useful Links. Opening Comments.

When I drive online against people who aren't quite as quick (or people who are really struggling) they often ask how certain lap times are possible. Normally I simply respond by saying 'I practice a lot, and I work on my setups'. Which is true but also a bit of a cheap way to end the conversation - I don't have to go into detail about anything and at the same time the advice of 'practice' is quite a good piece of advice to give. This sometimes leads to people asking for my setup and (depending on the current FSR league race) I'm normally happy to provide it. It's not always a useful quick fix though - yes there are times where I've given someone a setup and they have suddenly driven a lot faster but there are other times where it hasn't helped at all. When someone is driving 1.28's at the new Hockenheim circuit (with a steering wheel) and giving them a setup capable of low 1.15's doesn't help them go any faster it's obvious there is another reason for the lack of speed.

When I talk to people in this situation I often find that they haven't got a clue about setting up the game, how to make sure their steering wheel is set up correctly or on some occasions even use basic driving lines. That's why I decided to write this guide. I am not the fastest driver in the world - I can name many drivers who are capable of driving faster than I ever have, but I still believe I drive at a very competitive level.

I will offer all the advice I can and give all the information I have learnt; If this guide helps only one person to improve their lap times I will be happy. Setting Up The Game. For F1 simulations you really need a steering wheel and although not everyone has one I personally have used steering wheels since the release of 'Monaco Grand Prix: Racing Simulation 2' - as a result everything in this guide will be written assuming a steering wheel is the controller as that is my own experience. I drive without any driving aids. This is something I have always done and whenever I buy a new racing sim the first thing I do is turn off any available driving aids.

So I'm writing the guide from this point of view, I don't use Traction Control or Automatic Gears or anything else. I know a lot of people use those two aids specifically (as it matches to real F1 today) - hopefully they will still find some useful information. One of the things I love about the EA F1 games is that they have plenty of options to adjust in the menus and lots of scope for customising the game to suit many different people.

I will go through some of the more important options now; It is best to leave 'Tyre Wear' and 'Mechanical Failures' turned on as these are often used online and in Hotlap competitions. You can go a bit quicker if they are turned off but I think most people prefer realism and in real life the tyres wear out and the engines blow up (if pushed too hard). 'Fuel Usage' is another setting where it is better to have it turned on for two reasons; Obviously most online sessions have fuel usage turned on (as again it is realistic) but another reason is simply to get used to driving the car with fuel onboard. If you always drive with fuel usage turned off and then you suddenly have to drive a 15 lap race with fuel onboard it can be a huge shock - of course you would expect the lap times to be slower but the extra weight can really make you struggle as suddenly the car doesn't slow down in the same distances and it doesn't respond in turns the way it normally would.

Personally I often turn fuel usage off if I am testing a qualifying setup because it allows me to do lap after lap without having to stop for fuel (and when you drive a qualifying lap online you will only have 2 or 3 laps of fuel anyway), but I still do plenty of testing with fuel onboard (online and offline). It is definitely worth having experience of the car with a heavy fuel load and also to learn to adjust your setups so they last a race distance. Cockpit view or TV-Camera style onboard view.? I use the standard cockpit view myself and most of the fastest drivers seem to use the same (though there are some exceptions). For me it's mainly down to realism (I want to feel as though I'm in the car), but it's also down to turn-in accuracy - although you can see more of the track and upcoming turns with the TV-Cam view I actually find the standard cockpit view much more accurate when it comes to choosing a turn-in point.

So I will always use the cockpit view but I don't see anything wrong with people using the TV-Cam view in leagues etc - some people think the TV-Cam view gives an advantage as it is higher up but I've tested both and I didn't notice much difference in the lap times (I certainly wasn't faster with the TV-Cam view). One thing this game did make me realise is the number of people using 'kmh' for measuring their top speed. When I drive online and I mention a speed in 'mph' I nearly always get the response of 'what's that in kmh?' I live in the UK and I often forget that a lot of other countries use 'kmh' to measure speed - obviously you should use whatever is the standard in your country but it's best to know how to convert from one to another if you end up discussing top speeds online; To convert from 'mph' to 'kmh' multiply the speed by 1.6093 To convert from 'kmh' to 'mph' divide the speed by 1.6093 Another tip when setting up the game is to lower the Engine volume. By default they are set quite high but I find that lowering the Engine volume to 40% and keeping the Sound Effects at around 95% allows me to hear what the tyres are doing much more easily - I know when I am locking up, spinning the wheels or screeching the tyres.

It might not be as realistic to actually hear these sounds so well but at the same time you don't have the benefit of being in a real F1 car and feeling the behaviour of the car and the tyres on the circuit. Player (PLR) File Editing. There are many well known options you can change simply by using notepad to edit the *.PLR file (C: F1_Challenge Save YourName YourName.PLR). This is a list of the most popular option changes (the option numbers are already edited in this list so if you want the effect described here simply change the number in your *.PLR file to the same number from this list); Half Rate='0' - Enables a super-high physics rate which uses more CPU power to calculate extra vehicle physics parameters and gives a more realistic feel to the car. This will normally make your lap times slightly slower as the car is more difficult to drive quickly over the curbs. No AI Control='1' - The computer will never take control of your car (so you can still drive when the race has finished).

AutoBlip='0' - Removes the brake assistance icon from your telemetry laps (this is a bug in the game). Obviously this is assuming you don't actually use brake assistance. Tire Sampling='1' - Should make the car's reaction slightly more realistic over sharp curbs. Other Volume Ration='0.70000' - Lowers the volume of the other vehicle engines so they don't totally drown out your own (this was recommended by one of the game developers).

LCD Display Modes='7' - Allows you to see all pages on the in-car steering wheel display in the cockpit view (Lap Time, Pit Stop/Fuel, Tyre Temp, Driving Aids, Engine and Brake Temp). Locked Pit Cam='0' - Allows you can stay in the cockpit view during pitstops.

Crash Recovery='0' - The game will not automatically leave your car upright after a crash (you can end up stuck upside down for good). It is more realistic. Setting Up Your Steering Wheel. This is one of the most important steps when you are setting up a racing sim and in the EA F1 games it is more important than ever - these settings can easily effect the lap times you are capable of driving.

There are some general settings which seem to suit most steering wheels but these are the three steering wheels I have used with F1 2002 and F1 Challenge; Microsoft Sidewinder Force Feedback Logitech Momo Force Thrustmaster Ferrari F1 Replica; *Review link posted for the Thrustmaster F1 steering wheel as not many people seem to know about it; I must be honest and say I never noticed much difference between the three of them in terms of lap times but the Momo has slightly more degrees of travel until you reach full lock (it is also probably the most comfortable to use). First of all you should setup your steering wheel and pedals correctly using Windows 'Game Controllers' - each steering wheel has it's own unique page here and some have more options than others; some wheels also come with their own software (separate from Game Controllers) which you can use to adjust the axis properties. It's best to leave most of the axis, steering and sensitivity settings in this Windows based software at the default settings, however with certain wheels (Microsoft) you might want to increase the sensitivity of the actual steering wheel axis slightly as this can improve turn-in. Other than that the main thing you should do in Windows is make sure your pedals are setup to use 'split' (or 'separate') axis - this means each pedal will be assigned it's own separate axis and they will work independantly (meaning you can use both pedals at the same time for more advanced driving techniques). If you don't do this (and instead leave the pedals using a single 'Combined' axis) they will override each other and you will only be able to use one pedal at a time.

For the Microsoft and Logitech wheels this 'split'/'separate' axis setting is normally found in the Windows 'Game Controllers' page but for the Thrustmaster Ferrari F1 wheel this setting can only be changed by using the profiler software that comes with the steering wheel (installed from the CD). Now I will go through the in-game steering wheel settings from the F1 Challenge Controllers Options pages; The Calibration page is quite simple - you use it to assign your pedals, steering wheel, clutch button and any keyboard commands you might want. One thing you should do here is remember to calibrate your pedals two or three times in a row (click on accerator, press the pedal, click on brake, press the pedal and repeat a few times) - this should make sure you have full pedal travel. You need full pedal travel - in other words when you press the accelerator down very slightly when stationary in 1st gear the car should react and start creeping forward straight away - if you have to press your throttle pedal halfway down before the car does anything your pedals are not set up with full travel. On some wheels (Microsoft) the game will only recognise half of the pedal travel the first time you calaibrate them but if you calibrate them a second time it often recognises your pedal setup properly (split axis etc) and then gives full axis travel for each pedal.

So it's worth doing this to make sure your pedals are setup correctly.

The sport of Formula 1 has changed a bit over the course of the last few years. Drivers and teams have come and gone, rules have been altered, and some of the circuits have even undergone design changes. Electronic Arts' latest Formula 1 game--as its title suggests--features accurate information not only for the current season, but also for the three previous seasons. F1 Challenge '99 - '02 doesn't offer a four-season career mode like F1 Career Challenge for the PlayStation 2, but it does allow you to climb into the cockpit of no less than 44 different F1 cars from the stables of 14 different teams. The game features a slick, TV-style presentation. Before playing F1 Challenge '99 - '02 for the first time, you're required to create a player profile that'll keep track of all of your race statistics as you progress through the game. It seems a little strange that before you're presented with a game options screen, you're required to choose which season you want to race in and which driver you want to race as, but these choices determine the appearance of the subsequent menus, and switching to a new season or driver simply requires you to edit your profile.

All the in-game options screens are color-coordinated according to the team you've chosen, and you'll immediately have access to a model of your chosen vehicle that can be rotated manually in real time, should you wish to inspect details such as sponsor logos, the name of the tire manufacturer, or even the plank on the underside of the vehicle, before taking it out onto the track. Many of the game's camera angles are purely for show. You'll probably want to get your chosen car onto a circuit as quickly as possible once you've navigated the various menu screens, and thanks to Electronic Arts' numerous driving aids, you can do just that. The driving aids available in F1 Challenge '99 - '02 include steering assistance, opposite lock assistance, braking point assistance, stability assistance, spin recovery, invulnerability, auto shifting, traction control, antilock brakes, pit lane assistance, and clutch assistance. With all the aids turned on to maximum effect, the game requires you to do little more than accelerate and turn the wheel. This is a good way to start playing, and as your confidence grows, you can choose to either increase the intelligence of your opposition or make things a little more difficult for yourself by switching individual aids to a lower setting or off altogether.

It's a shame that no training mode or series of license challenges have been included in the game for novice players, but the driving aids make for a mild learning curve, and they have the added bonus of allowing you to drive competitively the moment your first race gets under way. F1 Challenge '99 - '02 can be comfortably played exclusively with the keyboard, as the visuals and audio do a good job of providing you with feedback on your car's handling, and after a few practice laps on any given circuit, you should be more than ready for the qualification and race ahead. There are quite a lot of controls for you to remember once you start ramping up the game's difficulty--such as letting your team know that you'd like to make a pit stop, and then activating your rev limiter manually when you go in--but initially you'll be able to get by with just steering, accelerating, and braking. Tweaking your car's setup doesn't have to be complicated. The opposition in the game seems quite intelligent for the most part, although we haven't really been able to study their movements closely enough to know whether or not individual driving styles have been replicated successfully.

As your own racing skills improve and you turn more and more of the driving aids off, F1 Challenge '99 - '02 also affords you the opportunity to get involved with your car's setup. Like with the driving itself, the game allows you to become involved in the car setup options gradually by first presenting you with a screen that consists of nothing more than four sliding bars representing downforce priority, balance, gearing bias, and suspension stiffness. After experimenting with different setups in this way, you can eventually attempt to optimize your car's performance by tweaking everything from radiator and brake-duct sizes to tire pressures and rebound damping. It's not strictly necessary to go that deeply into the car setup options to win races, but if you're out to set record lap times or take advantage of the game's multiplayer mode against friends, there's every chance that doing so will improve your times to some degree. As far as the visuals are concerned, F1 Challenge '99 - '02 looks very impressive.

The circuits all look extremely realistic, the car models and textures are incredibly detailed, and the overall presentation of the game is of the quality that fans of EA Sports games have come to expect. Perhaps our only criticism of the game at this point would be its lack of different gameplay options--notably of the career mode being incorporated into its PS2 counterpart--but if you're after a realistic F1 racing game, it's difficult to see how you could go wrong with F1 Challenge '99 - '02. Every aspect of the four racing seasons covered by the game has been re-created in detail, including the very same weather conditions that were experienced in real life--which pretty much sums the game up at this point. F1 Challenge '99 - '02 will be released later this month.

The back of the box brags about the sound as if it were some kind of new feature. It doesn't sound much different than previous versions, which is good, but not quite as nice as the sounds in, say, the PS2 version of Grand Prix Challenge, at least from within the car. The game modes number all of 4: Test Day, Race, Championship and Multiplayer. Each one does exactly what you think it does, with nothing in the way of extras. For your 'average' PC racer, the level of detail in each mode might feel overwhelming, so EA has done some things to make your life easier. As with last year's version, there is a 'simple' version of the setup screen that just lets you adjust 4 sliders to improve car handling.

You can adjust oversteer/understeer, softness/stiffness, acceleration/top speed, and grip/speed. With these four settings you can at least come into the pits and tweak a bit at a time without understanding a thing about telemetry, dampers, ride heights, differential lock, and so on. My problem with this implementation is that if you so much as go into the advanced screen to dial down the fuel load, when you come back out to the 'simple' screen, you see no slider position, only the 4 slider backgrounds with 'Custom' written inside. So where was the slider last? You can't know.

Does the game make 'center' the 'current' setup you're working on? Or should the slider be where you left it? Again, you don't know. The only way to get the slider back is to click on it, and then you're back to starting from the middle, but you don't really know what your starting point was. Add to this the fact that ANY adjustment to fuel load causes this to happen, and this becomes a nuisance.

And what if you should adjust the wing up or down a couple of degrees? Again, you get the 'Custom' in the sliders, and if you choose to soften the suspension after manually tweaking the wing, you don't know whether the middle of the slider means 'where I left off' or 'back to this setup's default'. Although there are 5 coarse levels of difficulty which flip the various options on and off to provide an aggregate difficulty level, dialing in the right difficulty level for each individual person is nothing but trial and error. Take a guess, do a race, Take a guess, do a race, and so on. There is nothing in the way of adaptable AI here. The AI is a straight percentage slider. The 5 difficulty settings will adjust this, of course, but trying to find the right combination of realism, aids, rules and AI settings is time consuming and tedious.

The fact that you have to actually go out and experiment on the track to see just where you stand just makes it more so. EA could definitely have broadened the appeal of their title with some 'auto-sensing' difficulty capabilities that would monitor practice laps for average time and consistency, and provided you with a few options that would give you a good challenge. In their last NASCAR Title, Sierra has an AI option that will slowly adjust the AI difficulty percentage in real time while you're on the track, and this will be persisted across racing sessions on that track, so just by playing the game your skills and the AI skills will converge. Not so, here. You're on your own.

There are some nifty features, such as head panning which will turn your head to look into turns automatically the more you turn the wheel, and that works pretty good for me, although some people find it a bit disorienting. It's a slider, as well, so you can dial it back partially or all the way, depending upon your preference. Once you finally find the level of difficulty that's right for you, and the aids that will allow you to drive the car around the track without it spinning around on your for no discernible reason, the game comes into its own. Running a race requires focus and commitment. The AI aggression level is another tweakable option (with a slider, of course!), and the AI generally does a good job avoiding you even when you're side by side in a corner with them.

They will dive into openings if given them, again, based upon their personality and AI aggression level. Even if you are loathe to tune your car at all and just want to drive default setups, you can just experiment with aids and difficulty level to find yourself a challenging race level, and it's realistic and fun to stalk someone lap after lap, drawing ever closer, and finally making the move on him to make the pass. This is how Formula One racing really is (although admittedly their favorite method of passing is known as 'the faster pit stop').

But again, there are just a number of small things that EA did wrong which prevent this simulation from being F1 nirvana. The inability to accelerate time during qualifying is absolutely painful. You have to just choose to end the session or play it out in real time. They did add the ability to 'hop into' another car from a camera perspective during qualifying so you can monitor your opponents as they qualify, and if this helps you or provides enjoyment, that's fine.

An option to accelerate time until some condition is met would have been great. Imagine saying 'drop back to real time if I get knocked off the pole', or 'If I lose 4 positions on the grid, drop to real time'. Now that would have been a lot nicer than the all or nothing approach EA took.