Made the leap ...F1 2010-2016

[kcheeb]

All the racing games I've played I've used an automatic transmission. I had fewer thing to think about etc. and it was an easy way out.

After some gentle nudging from my F1 2010 Championship buddies, I started playing GT5 with a manual transmission and really started to like it. Except when it came to the race cars. The speed you had to shift at, especially in the lower gears, messed me and my lap times up. After a while, it started to get better and I now play GT5 with manual gears only.

Tonight I spent three hours playing F1 2011 Time Attack with manual gears. The first hour there was a lot of cussing and I almost switched back to automatic. But I toughed it out and I started to get the hang of it. I actually got some silvers in the time attack, sweet.

Long ways to go to be totally comfortable, but it's a start.

Thanks Shaggy, Tom, Ali_T, Ardius, DarkPSI et al.

 

[Sach]

One good way to start is to constantly say in your head what gear you are in, and to memorize corners by what gear you should be in when taking them. For example, if I'm in 7th and coming up to a "2nd gear corner", I know to downshift 5 times.

 

[kcheeb]

One good way to start is to constantly say in your head what gear you are in, and to memorize corners by what gear you should be in when taking them. For example, if I'm in 7th and coming up to a "2nd gear corner", I know to downshift 5 times.

Thanks for the advice Zilla, I've been doing the gear counting, and slowly getting better at remembering which gear to be in for which corner. Getting the gear and corner together will take some time, I've just learned the circuits.

👍

 

[Sach]

I understand completely. Being fast online is definitely based on ability, but a whole lot of it is also based on knowing the track inside and out, especially with F1 games. Braking points and driving lines are so critical for lap times.

 

[Pezzarinho17]

Is this with a controller or a wheel?

I really want to race with manual, but on a controller its another 2 buttons to think about... F1 2010 really used to get on my nerves when sitting on the rev limit for 2 seconds before each gear change, but it was better that than mashing hands wildly to drive the car, change gears, look behind, change my wing twice a lap and signal when I'm pitting in!

 

[Shaggy Alonso]

Thanks for the advice Zilla, I've been doing the gear counting, and slowly getting better at remembering which gear to be in for which corner. Getting the gear and corner together will take some time, I've just learned the circuits.

👍

You'll soon find that you're putting it into the right gear automatically - I rely on the sound of the engine. If it's a medium/high speed corner the engine should be singing rather than humming. It's hard to appreciate till you get the hang of it but you will, and you'll also be more consistent as a result.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

I can't even imagine what gears would be like with a controller - all my trigger and shoulder buttons are take. The left and right triggers are for KERS and DRS, the right shoulder is the car status, and the left shoulder is the look-back.

 

[Pezzarinho17]

I can't even imagine what gears would be like with a controller - all my trigger and shoulder buttons are take. The left and right triggers are for KERS and DRS, the right shoulder is the car status, and the left shoulder is the look-back.

Accelerate / brake with right stick? I saw someone else (Mr. S maybe) use this setup too, seems very odd to me but popular? I have right trigger for throttle and left for brake, and I used L1 or R1 for looking back... Will now set those for KERS and DRS with look back elsewhere. Quickly run out of buttons if you need 2 more (probably under right thumb somewhere) for gear changes!

 

[chromatic9]

I was half expecting by the thread title that you'd swapped 22fps console version and set up a modest PC and are now enjoying 60fps.

 

[jasjeet]

I was half expecting by the thread title that you'd swapped 22fps console version and set up a modest PC and are now enjoying 60fps.

lol thats waht i thought ahaha

Also OP, post #2 said work out how many down shifts you need to make, then while braking split them equally up till you reach the apex, that way you wont ever shift to early or late.

 

[Sach]

You'll soon find that you're putting it into the right gear automatically - I rely on the sound of the engine. If it's a medium/high speed corner the engine should be singing rather than humming. It's hard to appreciate till you get the hang of it but you will, and you'll also be more consistent as a result.

Yes, eventually you should definitely get used to the sound of the revs you want to have when taking on corners. For me it's a combination of hearing the engine tone, as well as having the corner memorized in terms of either downshifts or simply what gear I will take it in, for good measure. I mention that again because there is a difference in downshifting five gears all at once and downshifting five gears over a longer span of time, in terms of how effective the engine braking will be.


I would also strongly encourage you to do a race of at least 50% or higher sometime. When I'm racing like that and I hit about the 15-20 lap mark I just start zoning in to the game, and most of my shifting and braking points almost become peripheral.

 

[Mr. S]

Accelerate / brake with right stick? I saw someone else (Mr. S maybe) use this setup too, seems very odd to me but popular? I have right trigger for throttle and left for brake, and I used L1 or R1 for looking back... Will now set those for KERS and DRS with look back elsewhere. Quickly run out of buttons if you need 2 more (probably under right thumb somewhere) for gear changes!

Me? Using a pad? Outrageous.

But yeah, manual gears with a controller doesn't sound too good. Same for my DFGT...but hell, I'll either buy a new wheel (current tendency: GT2 Clubsport edition) or the addon paddles for my DFGT soon.

 

[kcheeb]

Is this with a controller or a wheel?

I really want to race with manual, but on a controller its another 2 buttons to think about... F1 2010 really used to get on my nerves when sitting on the rev limit for 2 seconds before each gear change, but it was better that than mashing hands wildly to drive the car, change gears, look behind, change my wing twice a lap and signal when I'm pitting in!

It's with a wheel, would be interesting to see it done on a wheel!

You'll soon find that you're putting it into the right gear automatically - I rely on the sound of the engine. If it's a medium/high speed corner the engine should be singing rather than humming. It's hard to appreciate till you get the hang of it but you will, and you'll also be more consistent as a result.

Funny you mention that Shaggy, I've been listening to the engine as closely as I can and have definitely noticed when I'm in too high a gear and too low. The timin of the shifts will get better over time, even the stint last night was markedly better at the end than the beginning.

I was half expecting by the thread title that you'd swapped 22fps console version and set up a modest PC and are now enjoying 60fps.

Well I do have an underutilized i7 with a smokin video card in it. It's also got a 240 GB ssd for the main drive I do have F1 2010 for all three platforms, may end up with 2011 the same if Steam has a sale

lol thats waht i thought ahaha

Also OP, post #2 said work out how many down shifts you need to make, then while braking split them equally up till you reach the apex, that way you wont ever shift to early or late.

Good advice, habit so far has been to slam em down pretty quickly. Thanks!

Yes, eventually you should definitely get used to the sound of the revs you want to have when taking on corners. For me it's a combination of hearing the engine tone, as well as having the corner memorized in terms of either downshifts or simply what gear I will take it in, for good measure. I mention that again because there is a difference in downshifting five gears all at once and downshifting five gears over a longer span of time, in terms of how effective the engine braking will be.


I would also strongly encourage you to do a race of at least 50% or higher sometime. When I'm racing like that and I hit about the 15-20 lap mark I just start zoning in to the game, and most of my shifting and braking points almost become peripheral.

I'll be working on spreading the downshifts out for sure. And will definitely do a boat load of 50% races.

One of the racing books I'm reading calls that phenomenon subconscious driving, would like to get there soon 👍 More reps needed.