It’s the most controversial addition to modern F1 cars since the proboscis. The halo safety device is a divisive one — quite literally from a visual perspective — but F1 2018 players won’t have to deal with it if they don’t want to.
Sitting down with IGN to talk about the upcoming title at E3, game director Lee Mather shared the good news:
“A lot of the fans have been asking what we’re going to do with the halo. So what we’ve actually done is, the halo’s present on all of the cars. Y’know, we represent the sport correctly — that’s part of the sport, it’s one of the big additions this year. But if you’re playing in cockpit camera, obviously that can be quite an obscuring item in the front of your vision. So we actually allow the player to disable the central column of the halo.”
Some F1 drivers have went on record that the halo isn’t much of a visual impediment. “It’s a small thing in the middle and that’s it, I’m completely used to it and it’s fine,” said Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas during pre-season testing. Nonetheless, visor camera footage puts it on center stage, and examples like Pierre Gasly’s run through Monaco shows what autofocus will, uh, focus on.
The option to remove the pillar solves the issue. Players looking for the most realistic option can leave it intact, while those that can’t stand it can simply delete it. Win win.
Mather notes that the remaining upper portion of the halo frames the view quite nicely. We’re inclined to agree: like a modern LMP, it creates a narrow letterbox to focus on, but at least here you get the open air above the ring too. It feels much less claustrophobic than a prototype racer.
Of course, players hell-bent on removing the halo won’t have to worry about it on the classic cars. The Codies team announced yesterday that the entire F1 2017 lineup would be returning, in addition to the Brawn BGP-001 and Williams FW25.
With F1 2018 set for launch on August 24, expect more news on the game’s features (and more classics) sooner rather than later. Stay tuned!
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