Grand Prix (game series)

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Grand Prix Series
Formula 1 simulation
developer MicroProse
Publisher MicroProse
Designer Geoff Crammond
First title Formula One Grand Prix (1991)
Last title Grand Prix 4 (2002)
Platform (s) PC (DOS, Windows)
Genre (s) Racing simulation

The Grand Prix series is a computer game series about Formula 1 by MicroProse , which was programmed under the direction of Geoff Crammond . The games are racing simulations that try to simulate the driving physics of a Formula 1 car as well as possible according to the technical possibilities.

Parts

Formula One Grand Prix

In the early 90s, the British programmer Geoff Crammond was commissioned by Microprose to create a Formula 1 simulation that was as realistic as possible. The result was the first real Formula 1 simulation, Formula One Grand Prix (F1GP) in 1991, which was sold in the USA under the name World Circuit . The game was first published for the Amiga , and finally for the PC in 1991 . With outstanding graphics and very realistic physics for the time, the game became quite successful. It offered some interesting innovations, such as B. Rain racing. The possibility to network two PCs with a null modem cable and thus compete against each other at the same time was added to the PC version with a patch . In the multiplayer mode of the Amiga version, there were car and driver changes during the race. So you took turns driving. The vehicles of the other players were meanwhile controlled by the CPU . This mode was called " hot seat mode ". He can also be found in the newer parts of the series. Along with Indy 500 , it was the first racing game to use polygons .

For licensing reasons, the names of teams and drivers in the game are alienated, but can be identified using the vehicle numbers. For example, the McLaren - Honda team is called McPherson-Alpha in the game , and Carlos Sanchez and Kurt Langer are given as drivers instead of Ayrton Senna and Gerhard Berger . These names can be changed with an editor included in the game. The basis of the alienated data set is the then current Formula 1 season 1991 . In contrast to driver and team names, the racetracks included in the game are included with their real names. Curiously, the actual names of the drivers are given in the route information for the lap records.

Grand Prix 2

Logo of the US version of Grand Prix 2

The second part of the series followed in 1996: Grand Prix 2 (GP2) and Grand Prix II in the USA. The game was released for MS-DOS and Windows 95 and was developed and published by MicroProse. Geoff Crammond acquired the FIA license rights for this for the first time , in order to be able to use all original drivers, teams and tracks from the 1994 Formula 1 season .

What was new at the time were the very advanced 3D graphics , digital sound and simulated technical defects. In addition, it was possible to adjust the vehicle setup individually, which was possible in such a detailed manner that it came quite close to the original setups of Formula 1. Multiplayer games were also possible via modem or null modem cable as well as in hot seat mode.

The game was enthusiastically received by fans and the trade press and has long been the best-selling car racing game of all. It is considered to be one of the best racing simulations of its era. The downside is the lack of rain mode and the lack of support for 3D graphics cards, which pushed the hardware of the time to its limits.

Grand Prix 3rd

Grand Prix 3 logo

Main game

The third part, Grand Prix 3 , which appeared in 2000, was largely a further development of Grand Prix 2. It simulates the 1998 Formula 1 World Championship with all the original licenses (only Jacques Villeneuve is by the fantasy name John Newhouse replaced).

The game ran under Windows with DirectX , but the 3D graphics card support was only half-heartedly integrated. The game hardly made use of the capabilities of modern graphics cards. In contrast to its predecessor, Grand Prix 3 did not set any new graphical standards and could not completely convince the trade press on this point. Playing on the Internet was also unlike other games, such as B. Grand Prix Legends , not possible.

For this there was a unique weather system in the game; for the first time in a racing simulation it was possible for the weather to change in the course of a race. When it stopped raining, first the racing line dried and then the track realistically, even individual puddles were simulated. This significantly influenced the racing events, and the strategy became an even more important part of the simulation. This and other improvements made Grand Prix 3 a million-dollar hit, almost as successful as its predecessor.

Grand Prix 3 season 2000

Logo from Grand Prix 3 season 2000

A year later, Infogrames (now Atari), which had since bought MicroProse, released an add-on for Grand Prix 3: Grand Prix 3 Saison 2000 . With this add-on, Grand Prix 3 has been updated to the 2000 Formula 1 season .

In fact, it was not an add-on, but a stand-alone game that had some improvements over GP3, such as 3D sound and EAX effects, an improved physics engine (simulation of differentials) and an improved damage model (collision with debris ) includes. For the first time, the uniform car geometry was abandoned and different models were used. The pit radio, which was already available for GP2 but was not activated at the time, was also added. As a result, information from the pit about the planned or unplanned pit stop and congratulations on a successful qualifying or race could be heard acoustically. A new game mode has also been added that allows multiple players in multiplayer to compete against each other for the fastest lap. Furthermore, it was the GPaedia added a small encyclopedia about Formula 1 and the season 2000th

Grand Prix 4th

Grand Prix 4 logo
Meta-ratings
Database Rating
Metacritic 77/100
reviews
publication Rating
Eurogamer 10/10
GameSpot 8/10
GameSpy 4.5 / 5
GameStar 88%
GameZone 6/10
GBase 9.0 / 10
IGN 8.3 / 10
PC Gamer US 73%
PC Games 8/10
PC zone 8.6 / 10

Grand Prix 4 was the last part of the Grand Prix series and was released in 2002. The game simulates the 2001 Formula 1 World Championship .

While the physics itself was based on Grand Prix 3, but was improved, GP4 got a completely new graphics engine for DirectX 8. For the first time, the routes were reproduced in great detail thanks to GPS measurements. The cars were much more detailed than their predecessors. The 3D sound has also been further improved.

Despite all of these improvements, Grand Prix 4 was a flop, which eventually led to the MicroProse development studio being closed and Infogrames thus ending the GP series. A planned Xbox version was almost complete, but was never released. The reasons for the poor sales figures were the great competition from Formula 1 2002 from Electronic Arts and the numerous bugs in the game. Some functions required by the players, such as the safety car or the introductory lap, were also missing . The bugs and missing functions came about because Infogrames put the developers under time pressure and finally released an unfinished game in order to be ahead of the competitor EA on the market.

A successor to this series is not in sight and is extremely unlikely. The GP4 development team was disbanded shortly after the game was released and Geoff Crammond has not announced a possible sequel. Rumors that arose in 2003 about a possible Grand Prix 5 were never clearly confirmed or denied. In addition, Sony had secured the rights to the Formula 1 games and continued its own Formula One series , which only appeared on the PlayStation 2 , the PlayStation 3 and the PSP . After the contract expired in May 2008 (Sony hadn't produced an F1 game since the previous year), Codemasters finally took over the rights and has been producing its own series since 2009 .

Games of the same name

There are other computer games of the same name. One of the first appeared in 1977 for the Bally Astrocade console . In 1982 Activision released a game for the Atari 2600 , also from a bird's eye view. More games appeared for the Commodore 64 . Many games have Grand Prix in their title, such as B. Grand Prix Master (1988) and Grand Prix Circuit (1989, Accolade ).

Mods

Official add-ons were not planned by the developers (GP3-2000 is an exception). It was also hardly possible to influence the game due to the company's own graphic formats. Since Grand Prix 2 it has been possible to use graphics programs to give racing cars their own designs. Further setting options were only added through communities that endeavor to bring the series' games up to date every year. Thanks to these free Formula 1 modifications, it is possible, for example, with the 1996 Grand Prix 2 in the 2007 season. B. to compete in Istanbul with a Toro Rosso. Another possibility was the GPxPatch program , which was developed in 2001 and supports all program versions from GP3. This made it possible to replace tracks without copying, as this program did not originally change the game, but rather manipulated it during operation. This meant that you could theoretically load your own seasonal settings before starting the program. The program also made it possible to use 3D sound in GP3 so that (as has long been the case in other racing series) nearby competitors could be heard. The long-neglected news reports were replaced by realistic overlay. Many fans kept these up to date so that they came very close to the original TV insertions.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Power Play 4/96, [1]
  2. ↑ PC Player 4/96, [2]
  3. ^ Formula 1 Games History - The History of FIA-Licensed Racing Games , GameStar from June 13, 2000; Accessed March 9, 2019
  4. ^ Grand Prix II Review , GameSpot May 1, 2000; Accessed March 9, 2019
  5. ↑ PC Player 9/96, [3]
  6. ↑ Grand Prix 3 in the test , GameStar from September 1, 2000; Accessed December 30, 2018
  7. ^ Test: Grand Prix 3 , 4Players from August 8, 2000; Accessed December 30, 2018
  8. ↑ Test Test PC Grand Prix 3 , spieletipps.de from September 11, 2000; Accessed December 30, 2018
  9. ^ Test - Grand Prix 3 , Gameswelt from August 7, 2000; Accessed December 30, 2018
  10. ^ Pole position again , PC Games March 7, 2001; Accessed December 30, 2018
  11. ^ Geoff Crammond's Grand Prix 4 , Metacritic ; Accessed February 15, 2020
  12. ^ Grand Prix 4 , GameStar from July 1, 2002; Accessed February 15, 2020
  13. ↑ Designer legend Geoff Crammond is back. , PC Games July 5, 2002; Accessed February 15, 2020
  14. ↑ Geoff Crammond's Grand Prix 4 in the Gamezone test , GameZone from June 21, 2002; Accessed February 15, 2020
  15. ^ Grand Prix 4: Review , GBase ; Accessed February 15, 2020
  16. ^ Geoff Grand Prix 4: Review - concluding F1 week, Mugwum buckles up with an old friend , Eurogamer, July 7, 2002; Accessed February 15, 2020
  17. ^ Geoff Crammond's Grand Prix 4 Review , GameSpot, September 12, 2002; Accessed February 15, 2020
  18. ↑ Geoff Crammond's Grand Prix 4 , GameSpy, October 18, 2002; Accessed February 15, 2020
  19. ^ Grand Prix 4 Review , IGN September 12, 2002; Accessed February 15, 2020
  20. ^ Grand Prix 4 , PC Gamer on the Internet Archive ; Accessed February 15, 2020
  21. ↑ PC Review: Grand Prix 4 , PC Zone from August 5, 2002 in the Internet Archive ; Accessed February 15, 2020
  22. ^ Grand Prix 5 on the march , www.gamezone.de from May 11, 2003, accessed on April 17, 2010

Web links