Mercedes steering rack, Circuit de Catalunya, 2020

Codemasters examining how to add Mercedes’ DAS to F1 2020

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Mercedes’ Dual Axis Steering system, the technical innovation which proved the talk of pre-season testing, could be replicated for players of the forthcoming official Formula 1 game F1 2020.

Codemasters’ Formula 1 game director Lee Mather confirmed his team are “currently in discussions” about whether they could add a simulation of the system to their model of the Mercedes W11 when asked by RaceFans.

DAS allows Mercedes drivers Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas to adjust the toe angle of the front wheels by pushing their steering wheel forward and back along the steering column. While modelling it in F1 2020 would present obvious complications, Mather said adding it is “not out of the question” for the game.

“The second we heard about it we were [thought]: ‘Is that real?’ And then we watched the video, you see Lewis doing his little push and his pull and you think ‘that’s incredible’.”

F1 2020 is due for release on July 10th. However extra functionality such as DAS could be offered at a later stage through a patch.

“I can’t give a definitive answer on whether [DAS] will be in or out at the moment,” said Mather. “That’s one of those things that because of the nature of when it came about we need to work out whether something we can achieve.”

Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, Circuit de Catalunya, 2020
DAS could be “worth a few tenths” to Mercedes at some tracks
“Obviously DAS came about very late – at the start of the season, so very late in the development for us,” he explained.

One challenge the game makers face is how players could control DAS, particularly when using a joypad.

“The implications of adding a feature that would require another button on a joypad is incredibly difficult when you consider that there aren’t enough buttons on a controller to allow players to have interactions with lots of things,” said Mather.

“The game’s now in the window of being submitted so to make sweeping changes like that, which would impact on physics and also input and how we present it to the player [and] inform the player about it, obviously there’s a lot of consideration to be had around DAS.”

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Note: All images and footage show the game in an unfinished state.

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    Keith Collantine
    Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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    17 comments on “Codemasters examining how to add Mercedes’ DAS to F1 2020”

    1. Not needed, LOL.

    2. ColdFly (@)
      20th May 2020, 8:19

      But then they have to build in as well that other teams might challenge the legality of the car post race ;)

    3. I don’t see the point. Especially when they bang on about not having the time for worthwhile changes. Its not even been raced yet!

    4. Biskit Boy (@sean-p-newmanlive-co-uk)
      20th May 2020, 8:56

      This is a piddling little issue. Other problems with the physics should be the priority. Modelling of structural dampening in crashes is really poor, something akin to a ping pong ball sometimes.

    5. I don’t see the point either. They are not doing a full simulation sort of game, it’s more arcade-ish, made for everyone. They always say so. Why would you need to spend so much time working this out when it’s already clear it’s incredibly complicated and probably adds nothing to the game?

    6. Easiest answer I think is just to have the Mercedes car do it automatically for you on the straights. It doesn’t really need to be controlled by a button; just have a little animation of your driver moving the wheel out and simulate the effect.

      1. Neil (@neilosjames)
        20th May 2020, 16:42

        This sounds like the most sensible solution.

    7. William Jones
      20th May 2020, 9:54

      I’m more interested in whether the likes of Fanatec will start building wheels and/or bases with this as an input

      1. My wheel doesn’t support it yet; I tried it and then pulled the whole wheel off the mounting ;)

        1. petebaldwin (@)
          20th May 2020, 21:26

          @coldfly – Lando has been testing it as well :D

          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQTQLQTvWMc

      2. They won’t. Its a feature that has at most 18 months of life and it would require games support it before it be added anyway.

        1. William Jones
          22nd May 2020, 12:36

          I don’t know – Fanatec just released a double clutch flappy paddle setup, to match their f1 wheels. 4 years after it was banned? And they added support in their controller software so the games didn’t need too – plus, either analogue or digital, how would the game know if you triggered that control by pressing a button or pulling your wheel – it obviously wouldn’t, it sees input and does the thing, so the whole “games need to support it” argument is doa.

    8. I’ve never driven it, but from what I seen, the track limits badly need to be fixed.

    9. Doesn’t seem to make much sense to be considering this, and I really hope they only answered this because someone asked about it and didn’t offer this idea on their own. There are issues with the game which have existed for several generations which should be fixed, or adding a feature such as VR which has been asked for by many people. For all we know, this could be banned after race 1. They’ve stated over and over again that features people ask for are too difficult for them to add, why prioritize this?

      1. I’m still hoping for some foolish mods.
        Choose number of laps on single race.
        Show all drivers positions and relative distances.
        Learn function for instant access of a favorite radio option.
        Night version for all tracks.
        Classic tracks.
        Display the name of the corners during practice.
        Better instructions for car setup.
        Ooh, and a track builder for dummies!

    10. Shivasundar S
      29th June 2020, 8:48

      I think we can think about it afterwards first of all i request CodeMasters to add an AI commentary in the replay modes or in the race itself, that would be more interesting and makes the game entertaining rather than getting bored of watching replays.

    11. Instead of adding just this innovative technology could possibly add innovative technologies to the R&D for suspension engine and aero with a 5% added speed if the F1A approves it like rush tech build

    Comments are closed.