When the gameplay was first revealed for the upcoming F1 Manager 2022 game, one of the key elements was the use of real-world audio clips to form the in-race radio chatter.
Should you tell Alonso to push, for example, it’s Karel Loos that delivers the call to the driver using a clip from a prior Formula 1 race, and then Fernando will reply with confirmation as he would in a real event. Most likely, complaining about Ocon’s defence…
It adds a layer of recognisable authenticity perhaps missing from other racing titles to date.
In the latest ‘Behind the Scenes’ video published by creator Frontier Developments, we can learn just how much went into the making of this feature.
“The dialogue system and specifically the radio comms system is all from the actual races,” said Robbie Mann, Senior Dialogue Designer on the game.
“We’ve been delivered around 25,000 lines of dialogue. There’s a number of events that can happen in-game that will trigger these real-life lines.”
In practice, when we had a brief hands-on with F1 Manager 2022 in June, this made the F1 nerd within us smile, but if the appeal plays out over multiple seasons remains to be seen. One thing is for certain, however, to get the system working has been a massive undertaking.
Pre and post-race, the experience is added to by F1 commentators David Croft and Karun Chandhok.
“The team of writers at Frontier put together a script of the scenarios that they can see unfolding in the game,” said Chandhok.
“We’ve had a collaborative approach. They’ve sent both Crofty and me thousands of lines and then we’ve tweaked and adapted them in a way we would use on a television broadcast.”
In practice, during a work-in-progress play session, it’s surprising how long they discuss the race – a full conversation as opposed to soundbites.
F1 Manager 2022 releases on 30th August 2022 – digital pre-orders land five days early – and we hope to have our final verdict later this month.
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