F1CFan1804's Track Reviews

Hello everybody,

Because of a lack of time due to university obligations I will probably not be able to make any new tracks until this summer, so to keep contributing to the community I decided to do something else. In the next months I will just grab the wheel when I have time in order to review a random track, sampled from the many hundreds available. For these track reviews I will use a variant of the F11989 mod, with the cars performance-balanced according to the actual lap time percentages by me. The use of this mod has no particular reason, except that I really liked that particular era of F1, and the huge grid of 40 cars (I also added the non-running FIRST car) will give the opportunity to test how to run in traffic as well. I hope you'll enjoy these reviews! Please remember that, despite the marks I might give, I appreciate every track made for F1 Challenge, because every track makes the game more complete.

1: Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez (1986-2001 layout)

Track information

Location: Mexico City, Mexico
Length: 4.421 km (2.747 miles)
Turns: 14
Major series (this layout): Formula 1 (1986-1992); World Sportscar Championship (1989-1991)

Visual

Frankly, this track has nothing really special in the visuals department. The whole thing looks okay, but most things beyond the black stuff are pretty generic and low-detail.  So in short, it has the things a racetrack needs to have, but doesn't grant any additional eye-candy.

6/10

Driving challenge

Sector 1 is fast, with a couple of straights interrupted by a right-left-right chichane. This sector is relatively easy to drive, with a good car it shouldn't be a problem to consistently clock the same times. The beauty and challenge of this track lies in sectors 2 and 3. After a  fast lefthander leading to a hairpin, the drivers have to navigate a fantastic series of 7 esses. For these corners, it is key to nail the apex in every single one of them, making it incredibly easy to make a slight mistake which throws away several tenths. A small straight after esses leads to the daunting Peraltada, a wide-radius banked 180 degree corner, in which, again, taking the right line is pivotal. Overall, as seen from the description above, this circuit is rather challenging. It rewards precise driving, and because of that it is a fun challenge to drive.

8/10

Racing

The AI is performing as it should, making for nice racing. The one thing that compromises the racing is the fact that overtaking is very hard.  Only two places on the track are really fit to make a pass, the exit of the last corner, the Peraltada, or the end of the start-finish straight, into turn 1. The whole of sector 2, the esses section, is single-file, which means that it is very hard to pass, even if the car in front has mechanical issues or is a backmarker. As a result of this, cars drive around in so-called Trulli trains for a large part of the lap.

7/10

Total: 7/10

2: Lime Rock Park

Track information

Location: Lakeville, Connecticut, USA
Length: 2.41 km (1.5 miles)
Turns: 7

Visual

The track surface and run-offs are (barely, but still) sufficient, although the gravel traps give a bit of a clunky feeling. The pit building, however, is very small and looks like a Bobs Track Builder standard. The pitlane itself is not located at the right spot, as in reality the pit entrance is before the last corner, not on the start-finish straight. I recognise both these problems as being a witness of a track builder who worked out the basics of scratch building, but not with the finer details (like myself.). This is also visible in the slightly annoying 2D forest rim at the outer edge of the track. Barely any decorative details can be found, with even advertisement limited to the absolute minimum. Overall, not a visual masterpiece.

4/10

Driving Challenge

The layout of this 2.41 km track is rather simple. Lime Rock can boast only 6 corners (officially 7, but turns 1 and 2 are actually a single apex), but all of them are quite on the edge regarding the amount of road you use. Two of them also are blind uphill corners, adding the complication that you don't know what's behind the corner until you're actually there. This takes a few laps to get used to, but as soon as you get the trick, the circuit isn't the greatest challenge running on your own.

6/10

Racing

Racing on Lime Rock Park is survival! The small size of the track makes sure you're near other cars for the entire race, either racing for position or lapping backmarkers. This means navigating traffic is the key to success. To get past this traffic, there is no obvious passing zone. Instead, all 6 corners can be used to wrestle your way past the car in front, given that you accept that you might lose some bodywork in the process. (Trust me, I've been there ;P) If you don't accept this risk, you will be running behind the same guy for lap after lap. So, hard and aggressive racing will get you far on this tricky little track, but if you take it too far, you might just lose a lap replacing a wing (a lap only takes 45 seconds).

Note: AI needed to be adjusted before it was anything resembling competitive, so unfortunately a penalty point in this area.

8/10

Total: 6/10

De Lacrowe wrote:

It is interesting, however it would be better if you could also add images to complete all your acquired evaluation

Good idea, I was thinking about that last night as well.
Would the track layout, and a few in-game screen shots be enough?

Great idea ! If I had more time, I would have developed some sort of F1C tracks encyclopaedia with name, mention of historicity or not, layout, a handful of in game pictures and this kind of comments. And a download link, of course ! Unfortunately, I can't do everything I fancy I would need more hours in a day !
Keep up this great thread !

F1CFan1804 wrote:1: Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez (1986-2001 layout)

Track information

Location: Mexico City, Mexico
Length: 4.421 km (2.747 miles)
Turns: 14
Major series (this layout): Formula 1 (1986-1992); World Sportscar Championship (1989-1991)

Visual

Frankly, this track has nothing really special in the visuals department. The whole thing looks okay, but most things beyond the black stuff are pretty generic and low-detail.  So in short, it has the things a racetrack needs to have, but doesn't grant any additional eye-candy.

6/10

Driving challenge

Sector 1 is fast, with a couple of straights interrupted by a right-left-right chichane. This sector is relatively easy to drive, with a good car it shouldn't be a problem to consistently clock the same times. The beauty and challenge of this track lies in sectors 2 and 3. After a  fast lefthander leading to a hairpin, the drivers have to navigate a fantastic series of 7 esses. For these corners, it is key to nail the apex in every single one of them, making it incredibly easy to make a slight mistake which throws away several tenths. A small straight after esses leads to the daunting Peraltada, a wide-radius banked 180 degree corner, in which, again, taking the right line is pivotal. Overall, as seen from the description above, this circuit is rather challenging. It rewards precise driving, and because of that it is a fun challenge to drive.

8/10

Racing

The AI is performing as it should, making for nice racing. The one thing that compromises the racing is the fact that overtaking is very hard.  Only two places on the track are really fit to make a pass, the exit of the last corner, the Peraltada, or the end of the start-finish straight, into turn 1. The whole of sector 2, the esses section, is single-file, which means that it is very hard to pass, even if the car in front has mechanical issues or is a backmarker. As a result of this, cars drive around in so-called Trulli trains for a large part of the lap.

7/10

Total: 7/10

This is awesome! Thanks for writing it, F1CFan1804!

Best wishes with your experiences in the University.

3: Road America


Track information

Location: Plymouth, Wisconsin, USA
Length: 6.515 km (4.048 miles)
Turns: 14
Major series: CART/IndyCar (1982-2004, 2006-2007, 2016- ), ALMS/IMSA (2002-2013, 2014- ), Grand-Am (2000-2001, 2011-2013)


Visual
Having watched many old CART races on this track, I have to say that I'm really impressed by the visual accuracy of this track! I could cross-reference many details from the F1C version on actual camera footage of the circuit. I can only image how many hours of meticulous labour went into this great, professional-level work. On a visual accuracy level, I think it's better than many of the original tracks. Two things bring it down a little bit. First, the resolution of the scenery textures isn't always that high, making some textures a bit blurry. Second, the real-life Road America is unfortunately not the most scenic of places, so despite it's a really good reproduction, it's still not the most pleasing to the eye of all tracks.

8/10



For a track known as one of the best road courses in North America, the first part of the lap disappoints me. The section from start-finish to turn 8 is essentially a series of middle speed corners connected by long straights. This means you have to time your braking points right, but to say that's something other tracks don't have on offer is rather nonsensical. After this early part of the lap, you get into a tricky set of corners. First, the driver has to clear the carousel, a follow-through corner in which it is pretty hard to keep your speed. Then, you accelerate up to The Kink. This turn is blindingly fast, and the wall is pretty close. Time your entrance wrong, and you'll probably damage your car. Having cleared this critical section, there is another long straight, with another big braking zone, Canada Corner. This is one of the best overtaking spots on the circuit. But be careful to really finish your move before the exit of Canada Corner, because the next corner is blind, uphill, and single-file. Furthermore, it is way slower than it looks on approach, causing the unprepared player to play lawnmower. Having cleared this hazard, one more middle-speed corner leads to the steep uphill start-finish straight. My feelings about this track are mixed. Although some sections are really good, I feel there is just not enough variation in corners to make it a real favorite of mine.

7/10




Gameplay
General racing on this track is okay, but the big lap and the long straights that enlarge the differences between cars make for a large spread of the field on the circuit. Furthermore, there are some issues with the AI. Qualifying times of the AI after finishing your session are too fast, leaving the player in the back of the field, even with laptimes that make you run in the top half in the race. AI cars  also slow down dramatically to go into pitlane, while non-pitting cars are quickly accelerating Result: a frustrating amount of stupid collisions.

5/10

Total: 6.5/10

Great review of one of my preferred tracks. I do not know precisely why, but it suits me great, and I love to drive 1975 F1's there.
What category of car did you use for your test? That might explain the different feeling.