With just over three weeks until the release of F1 2019, Codemasters is showing off more of its official racer. The newest batch of images focus on the changes the team has made to nighttime driving.
When we played the game at a preview event last month, director Lee Mather told us Codemasters had put a lot of effort into improving the lighting system in 2019. Then we got a look at a night race at Bahrain, which drew a lot of double-takes from the community on account of its realism. But without a direct comparison, it was hard to tell what Codies had done to achieve this.
Well, wonder no more, as the developer has done just that: provided a direct comparison. Lining up still images of F1 2019 against last year’s title, it’s clear how the team has breathed life into the visuals. Take a look at the lead image or the one below:
The most noticeable change is one of atmospherics: there’s a palpable sense of fog, of air density in ‘19. The glow of overhead lights is now a lot brighter. This increased brightness bumps the contrast up over the darker parts of the image too.
Other aspects like the increased reflections and greater tire detail also stand out.
Taken on their own, these details don’t drastically alter much. But as a whole, they do bring F1 2019 up another level in terms of visuals. It shows there’s still life in Codie’s in-house Ego engine yet.
Other changes to this year’s game include the inclusion of the Formula 2 series and — somewhat controversially — microtransactions.
F1 2019 releases later this month on June 28. Those that pick up the special Legends Edition, which features the epic Senna versus Prost rivalry, will get to start their careers 72 hours early.
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