Grand Prix Legends

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Grand Prix Legends
Studio Papyrus Design Group
Publisher Sierra Entertainment
Erstveröffent-
lichung		 1998
platform Windows
genre Racing simulation
Game mode Single player , multiplayer (Internet & LAN )
control Keyboard , joystick or steering wheel / pedals
system advantages
preconditions		 Intel Pentium 90 CPU , 16 MB RAM , 100 MB hard disk , 2 MB graphics card
medium 1 CD
language German
information Latest patch: 1.2.0.2.

Grand Prix Legends (GPL) is a racing simulation of the 1967 Formula 1 season . It was developed by the game developer Papyrus Design Group under the leadership of Dave Kaemmer and Randy Cassidy and published by Sierra Entertainment in 1998.

Gameplay

The Formula 1 season of 1967 is simulated. It was chosen by the developers because experts consider it to be a turning point in the history of Formula 1. After doubling the displacement from 1966 to 3 liters, the cars were very powerful with around 400 hp, but still had no aerodynamic aids and still profiled tires with a relatively hard rubber compound. As a result, the vehicles were difficult to control.

1967 was also the last year in which the cars were completely painted in the colors of the country of origin before the appearance of the vehicles was changed by sponsors . In addition, the first fan-generating wings were added in 1968 , with the teams bringing different, sometimes adventurous designs to the start for each race.

Simulated vehicles

The racing cars simulated in GPL are the Lotus 49 , the Ferrari 312F1 , the Eagle T1G - Weslake , the Brabham BT24 , the BRM P115 , the Cooper T81 and the Honda RA300 . For licensing reasons, the Cooper was referred to as "Coventry" and the Honda as "Murasama" when the game was released.

Many setting options for real cars are simulated in GPL with their effects. Among other things, the camber, toe , the hardness of the springs and shock absorbers , tire pressure , brakes and the transmission ratio of each individual gear can be adjusted.

Depending on the setting in the game, the cars can be damaged in a collision, with the damage also affecting driving behavior.

Simulated racetracks

There are eleven historical routes included in the simulation.

Deviations of the simulation compared to the 1967 season

driver

The composition of the teams remains constant throughout the season. Some of the drivers included in the simulation drove only sporadically in Formula 1 in the 1967 season. The Frenchman Jean-Pierre Beltoise consistently drives a BRM in the simulation , whereas in reality he and only drove a Formula 2 car ( Matra ) took part in three races throughout the season (at that time it was customary to fill the Formula 1 field with Formula 2 cars).

stretch

With the exception of the French Grand Prix, the races in the game take place on the original tracks from 1967. For France, the developers chose the Rouen, which is more attractive in terms of driving and visual appeal, instead of the Le Mans - Bugatti course that was driven in 1967 .

Game modes

training The player has the free choice between all cars, routes and types of damage.
Single race In the single race mode , the player can compete against the computer-controlled opponents with a free choice of car, route and level of difficulty. The level of difficulty can be changed in six levels.
World Championship All races are run one after the other in chronological order (see section on the routes); the points achieved are added up in a scoring table.
Multiplayer In multiplayer mode, you can join a race on a server via a network connection ( LAN or Internet ) and race against up to 18 human opponents.

When racing in single player mode, the opponents are simulated by the computer. The AI contained in GPL adapts to the driving skills of the player. This is to ensure that the player is always in the middle third of the entire field in terms of performance. From today's perspective, the AI ​​is only of average quality.

System requirements

When GPL first came out in 1998, it required the most powerful hardware available. Only from a Pentium II CPU with at least 400 MHz and a Voodoo 2 graphics card or a Rendition Vérité did the game run at a consistently high frame rate .

With updates, the developer has ensured that GPL can still be operated on today's hardware (see following section).

Updates and Patches

In order to adapt the GPL to the advancing technical development, the developer brought out some updates and patches through which the following functionalities were implemented:

The last program version is 1.2.0.2. Since the Papyrus company no longer exists, this is the official final version of the game.

Modifications

Because there is no official Software Development Kit (SDK) for GPL, the software needed to edit the game files had to be written by oneself, after the content of the files had previously been analyzed using complex reverse engineering . Therefore, it took almost six years for the first full modification ( mod ) to appear.

Surname appearance
year		 Modifications
1965 F1 mod 2004 The mod recreates the Formula 1 season of 1965 including all tracks, cars and drivers as well as an adapted physics engine.
1969 F1 mod 2005 This mod recreates the Formula 1 season of 1969.
Thundercars Mod 2005 This mod is not based on a real racing series, but simulates an assumed CART series in the early 1970s with big-block V8 engines, wings and wide slicks .
1966 F1 mod 2006 This mod recreates the Formula 1 season of 1966.
1967 GT mod 2010 This mod recreates the sports car season of 1967.
1969 Xtra mod 2011 This mod also recreates the Formula 1 season of 1969, the driving dynamics are adapted. This mod is much more realistic than the 69 mod.
1967 F2 mod 2011 This mod recreates the Formula 2 season of 1967.
1971 Can-Am Mod 2012 This mod recreates the Canadian-American Challenge Cup series from 1971.
1966 Can-Am Mod 2016 This mod recreates the Canadian-American Challenge Cup series from 1966
1955 F1 mod 2017 This mod recreates the Formula 1 season of 1955
Legends of GPL Mod 2018 Mod released for the 20th anniversary with the best racing cars from the other mods
1967 GT-Mod EXTRA 2018 New edition of the 2010 GT-Mod. The driving dynamics are adapted. There is another racing car and revised graphics

Other modifications

The graphics of the original tracks and cars have been improved over and over again. The original sounds have also been edited or completely renewed to come as close as possible to reality.
There are currently 593 racetracks and countless smaller patches and updates, e.g. B. improved OpenGL and Direct3D renderer to use current screen resolutions.

The GPLSecrets package , which consists of GEM + 2 the launcher for GPL and the various mods and iGOR, the online server browser, is irreplaceable.
The most famous tools are probably the GPLPS installer with which you can easily create a completely updated Grand Prix Legends installation from the original files on a GPL CD.
GPLshift with which steering wheels are better supported ( e.g. gate shift from Logitech G25 / 27/29) and with which TrackIR is also supported.
Pribluda with which lap times, tire temperatures, speed, gear display and more can be configured and displayed in the game. These two tools are installed with the GPLPS installer when installing.

Web links