F1 2009 Developer Interview

Here at Square Go we are huge fans of Formula 1 and this year's season was about as exciting as they come. When we heard that Codemasters and Sumo Digital had accepted the daunting task of recreating these 17 races in a videogame we simply had to find out more! Jason Wakelam, the game's Producer, was kind enough to answer our questions:


SG: What research did you undertake for F1 2009?

Jason Wakelam (JW):  We photographed all of the tracks in meticulous detail in order to get the best reference we could when it came time to build them. We start by breaking down the track into sections and walking the track taking photographs very few meters. Then we go back and photograph all the other objects - the drain covers, the Armco, the rumble strips, the signs and buildings. Basically everything. On top of that we have all sorts of reference from the F1 engineering teams (videos, survey data etc.), so we are pretty well catered for in terms of research materials.

Regarding cars, we've had great support from the F1 teams. That's been the most pleasing and surprising aspect of the game for me - that even while they are building these fantastically complex cars and trying to meet extremely tight deadlines, the teams still have time to meet us and help us. For the most part we were given CAD data which we supplemented with detailed photography. All the teams have reviewed and approved their own cars, so when you're driving them in game you can be sure they are authentic.

SG: How much control does the FIA have over the product and did you hit any snags as things changed throughout the season?

JW: F1 is a fast moving show. Cars change, teams change, tracks change. Keeping up with all of this was a real challenge. For example, trying to build Abu Dhabi for the game before it had been built in real life certainly kept us on our toes.

SG: What were the design issues in creating a serious racing game for the Wii?

JW: The hardest part has been making a game that will appeal to people with widely different levels of commitment to F1. At one end of the spectrum you have serious F1 fans who follow the ins and outs of the sport and are often as interested in the technical aspects as they are in the racing itself. At the other are the more casual fans, who may watch the race on a Sunday but don't necessarily know what effect front antiroll bar has on the handling. To cater for both these groups of people, and all those in between, have tried to make a game that will be as complicated or as simple as they want it.

At the heart of the game we have the physics system that we used in all our racing games and has been developed over many years. Using that we can build a good simulation of an F1 car. Once we had that running we were able to add in a layer of driver assists to help newer players navigate the track. We've tried to make the game as flexible as possible in this respect. If you just want to pick up the controller and play a quick F1 race, without having to worry about the handling, or damage, or really learning to drive the car then you can do that. If you want to play a full F1 season with all the qualifying session, car setup, pit stops and tyre choices you can do that too.

SG: What were the reasons behind developing this game for only the PSP and the Wii?

JW: When we were granted the license to make and F1 game in the summer of 2008, we sat down and asked ourselves whether or not we could make a top quality experience for 360/PS3/PC in a little over 12 months. Even with all our experience making racing games, that's' just not enough time to make a game on those platforms. Wii and PSP were a different proposition - games for Wii and PSP just take less time to make.

SG: Have you implemented pit stops within the game? Surely there is potential for an entire Wii party game compilation there!

JW: We did think about adding the obvious pit stop mini games but decided against it in the end. We felt that there was a good chance they would be fun for the first few times you play them but rapidly becoming a chore. There's a lot to be said for not going down the route of ‘Well, it's a Wii title so let's stuff in some mini games'. There are plenty of party games that do a really good job of that sort thing. We wanted our multiplayer modes to be about racing, so we put our efforts towards making the split screen multiplayer as inclusive and balanced as possible.

SG: What online components have you implemented on the two versions?

JW: We decided not to introduce any online components for these two platforms. We wanted to focus on what we thought were the main reasons people bought these consoles. Had we been working on PS3 or Xbox, these online multiplayer would have been a given because that is absolutely why people buy those consoles.

On PSP we were mindful that when playing a handheld is not the same as playing in your living room. You're often on the move, and want your game in smaller bites, which is why we added the challenge modes. This provides a series of events that unlock as you succeed. For example, one challenge involves being the only driver on wet tyres when it starts raining heavily, you have a few laps to overtake a number of cars. Multiplayer is present in the form of local Wi-fi. You can play an entire season in two-player or quick races in four-player.

It's not that these consoles are not capable of providing a good online multiplayer experience, but we asked ourselves ‘are people that buy a Wii interested in playing online'. Some certainly are, but for the most part they are looking for a social experience that can involve all of the family. So we opted for split screen multiplayer in Wii and worked hard to make sure we cater for all skill levels. We have ended up with a game that allows player of varying skill levels (fathers and sons, for example) to complete an entire season in split screen mode, with appropriate drivers assists ensuring the contest is evenly balanced.

SG: Codemasters'  Racedriver: Grid introduced the world to the concept of Flashbacks where the player can rewind time to correct a serious error. This has since been adopted by most of the big racing games. Did you consider implementing it in F1 2009?

JW: That was something we wanted to include but the flashback system is relatively expensive in terms of performance. Having twenty cars driving around the tracks smoothly is no mean feat in itself and we just couldn't find a way to squeeze Flashbacks into these versions.

SG: Will the same team be working on F1 2010? If so are you hoping for a mid season release? If not then what's next for your team?

JW: The 2010 F1 game is being developed at our studio in Birmingham. It's slated for release on PC, PS3 and 360 during the 2010 season.


F1 2009 is out now, look out for the Square Go review here.