GP4: ICYMI March 2024

Good news, this blog is back!

I don't entirely know what happened, but I'm glad it has been reinstated. It was nice to know it was missed, but I guess you should download what you can whilst it remains here. 

It's a good time to catch up with recent releases in the GP4 community. 

Check out my 2024 download sources for the current season downloads created by veterans of the GP4 modding scene. 

https://fongugp4.blogspot.com/p/gp4-2024-download-sources.html

This month we've seen an updated Red Bull RB20, Team Stake/Kick Sauber by Isaint and the Ferrari SF-24 by Excalibur released. We also have the awesome 2024 Engineers & Pitcrews in HD released by 32bobo32. 

2008 Helmet set by SkaningeN & Daimon
	The 2008 helmet set by Daimon has received a few tweaks and developments by SkaningeN and a little help from me. Just have a look at the list to see the incredible amount of work that has gone into this fine looking helmet set.
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2008 2D Rims & Tyres by SkaningeN & co
	The 2008 season gets the SkaningeN treatment with this lovely set of rims.
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2000 Season's Digital Revcounter by candle1252
	A nice little update for GPxPatch, the rev counter from the 2000 season. Nice work.
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Mod 1980 Engine Sounds V2.0 by jcgrj
	Jose (jcgrj) has been developing various sounds in GP4 and is improving with each release. Here are the Ford V8 and Renault Turbo V6 internal and external sounds.
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1993 Ford Engine Sounds by jcgrj
	This is the McLaren Ford sounds from the 1993 season by Jose.
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2023 Ferrari Engine Sounds by jcgrj
	Some more sounds from Jose, this time the 2023 Ferrari power unit sounds.
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Indianapolis Special - Fictitious track by Viking75
	A nice fictitious track basec on the original Indianapolis track. This is created by Viking75.
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MISCTSO F1 Trucks by xandy
	Xandy has created some excellent updates to the MISCTSO trucks and a great resource for track makers.
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I'm grateful to all the authors of GP4 mods and I hope to highlight some of the great work that continues to be added to this beloved game. 

Come back soon where I hope to show you some more of the things I've been personally working on. 

Happy racing. 

GP4: ICYMI February in GP4

ICYMI (in case you missed it) is a series of blog posts where I showcase some recently released works in GP4. These are not works by me, nor have they been previously featured on this blog, and not all of them have mirror links on this blog, however it's good to see new content being produced for this game in 2024. 

February might be the shortest month of hte year, but we've got a bumper edition of new downloads and new packs for your GP4. 

IMSA 2.7 - Ferrari & Porsche Expansion Packs by Meteoro405
	Meteoro405 has released, not one, but two expansion packs. I've featured the first on my blog, because I brought the Porsche 963 LMDH car into GP4, but now the pack contains the popular and beautiful Ferrari 499.  The link below contains both expansion packs but you will also need to download the base mod if you don't have it already.
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2007 Helmet set by SkaningeN
	SkaningeN writes:  A 2007 Helmet set based greatly on helmetset by MDBSnake & Fast_Alonso, with additional helmets painted by [>WHAT21A<], Montyn Stoffels, Raulongo, bluesky, apfonseca, Fongu & Locke.  A fantastic effort to put all this together, tedious work to make little changes to make the texgtures work with the various helmet shapes, but the results are excellent.  I'm happy to say I contributed a little, as well has helping a little on the mapping of the shapes, I also created a new helmet from scratch, the Kubica 2007 Monza helmet. I like it as it has 1994 Kronenbourg Larrousse vibes to it.
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2007 Tyres & Rims by SkaningeN
	This 2D rim set by EnzoJZ and Lee has been updated and customised for each team as seen in the 2007 season.
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2000 Tyres & Rims by SkaningeN
	Not content with releasing these rims for one season, we have them for the 2000 season as well.
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2011 Trackpack - compiled by Jcaranti
	Jcaranti has been releasing a huge amount of track updates in recent years, and he's compiled these trackpacks that contain his works and others. First up is the 2011 track pack.
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2016 Trackpack - compiled by Jcaranti
	This is a more complete 2016 track pack by Jcaranti than the one compiled by Phantaman. Full details of which tracks are included and the authors are in the links below.
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2017 Trackpack - compiled by Jcaranti
	and here's the 2017 trackpack...
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2018 Trackpack - compiled by Jcaranti
	and also the 2018 trackpack. A fantastic set of additions which means we have many trackpacks from the late 1980s through to 2018.
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Skycraft - non CSM Full GP4 standalone mod by davegp4
	You know I don't often post non CSM mods, but davegp4's theme mods have been a fixture for some years and now they are being updated to full stand alone downloads. First up, we have skycraft, a sci-fi based theme.  This comes with a 'for adults only' warning.
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Monster Jam - non CSM Full GP4 standalone mod by davegp4
	This theme is based off the 2016 Monster Jam series.  This comes with a 'for adults only' warning.
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1988 Engine Sound by José Gomes
	Internal and External sounds for 1988 mod.
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2024 Driver Teamart by maxmax
	Start updating your GP4 with 2024 content with this set of driver images for your in-game menus.
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Below are updates to previously released content.

Queensland Raceway by AUS_Doug - updated by Viking75 & Turbolover
	AUS_Doug had originally shared an alpha version of this track in Australia and thanks to Viking75 and Turbolover, we have an updated and working version now to race on.
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1948 Silverstone by Carling - updated by Viking75
	Carling first created a beta version of the 1948 Silverstone track, but it was really quite buggy. Viking75 has done a lot of work in fixing it and adding some scenery and has released this great update.
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Sebring International Raceway by drt01- updated by Viking75
	Last month, drt01 released this brilliant track for GP4. It's now been updated with a new cc-line by Schueyfan.
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	Original Track New CC-Line by Schueyfan

That's it for this edition of ICYMI. Thank you to all modders for contributing to this 2002 game and adding fresh and exciting content to the GP4 legacy. There's some exciting previews that are works in progress, but modding takes time and love and dedication. So long as there's mods and updates being released for Geoff Crammond's masterpiece, I'll keep you updated. Happy racing. 

GP4: 2024 Helmets v1.0 by fongu

It's race week for the first race of the season for the 2024 season. 

Are you excited? 

To celebrate, I've been working hard to bring you a complete helmet set in anticipation for the season. 

These helmets, as always, are painted on Jvinu's templates and shapes, without them this wouldn't exist. Thanks to Superman77m for providing lods for the shapes in the pack this season. 

Here's a quick run-down of the helmets and some personal reflections. 

Williams
Albon A striking new logo, along with a very clear blue and pink livery, MDM Designs designed this bold new look, painted by Mad56. The blue on the top for Komatsu is slightly different shade to the rest of the lid, but it doesn't look out of place at all. I like the clean design, it does pop, but I'm not too big a fan of this shade of pink.	Sargeant Logan's helmet is once again designed and painted by Uffe Designs. This season follows a similar theme, but it's simpler and bolder than previous iterations, and makes it an altogether more striking in my opinion. Dark blue, red and white, a colour combination known to work well together with flashes of sky blue. I like it.

RB VCARB, Racing Bulls, Red Bull 2, Toro Rosso? Who knows.
Tsunoda Yuki's new helmet is an iteration from his previous helmet, but this time with a blue base. Designed by Adrien Paviot and painted by BS Designs painted on the only Arai helmet on the grid again this season. To be honest, it's not as striking as previous version in my opinion, besides Red Bull logos which are given space, the other logos are lost or jar with the design. I still like it though, it's just not as good as previous versions.	Ricciardo Danny Ric has kept his design theme from last season. Designed and painted by JMD helmets, this season the helmet sticks with one grey pallette, and I like it. There's room on the back for his personalised messages, but I didn't spot any during testing.

Haas
Magnussen This helmet is really a big advert for Oakberry, much like Alonso's helmets were all done with BWT backing in 2022. It's a nice helmet design, but I miss the distinctive big K on the side. Magnussen has already had two helmet designs, there was a big purple triangle on the side on the first version, but I've opted for the later version that doesn't have it in.	Hulkenberg Both Haas drivers have a white helmet base with purple as a secondary colour, so it's not going to be too easy distinguish them at a glance. Designed and painted by JMD helmets, it's a much tidier design from last season's paint splashes, this season we have green stars. On the right hand side, gone is the simple HULK text, and in is the awkward HLKNBRG. Considering some of the beauties from his Renault days, I'm really not a fan of this one, sorry. This helmet has two distinct versions in pre-season, one has an additional green outline around the purple outline, the other without. I have included the additional green stripe in my version.

Aston Martin
Alonso Fernando's classic design has its roots from his Championship winning days, and as last season, has the Aston Martin wings worked into it. Nice work from MDM Designs, with the helmet painted by Bell Racing. Nice continuity from last season.	Stroll Lance has departed from his helmet design of the last few seasons, and this design, done by Mark Antar, is meant to remind us of his junior helmet design. A trend moving in is more exposed carbon, not just in car liveries, but now helmets too. And this helmet has its fair share of it, a desperate attempt to save weight. Would have preferred another wings design, but a nice green helmet nonetheless.

Sauber Sorry, I mean Team Hinwil
Bottas  This helmet is inspired by the Northern lights also known as the Aurora. Designed by Tiffany Cromwell and painted by Daniel Designs at Stilo helmets, this is a nice helmet design that works in the black and green car. It was a pain to paint and I'm not entirely happy with my effort here in all honesty, but it looks good enough - I hope you don't mind. Maybe this helmet will get an upgrade later in the year, we'll see. At one point in testing, Bottas ran a plain carbon helmet with logos on, but I didn't think it was fair on you to put that helmet in this pack.	Zhou  Zhou Guanyu has a familiar design, done by KV Designs, but it's now in black, with blue and holographic trim. It's also got some of the china pottery designs appearing in a few places. On the back, the skyline of Shanghai. A nice development, with a nod to his past helmet designs, I think it looks great. In testing he ran a version of the helmet with plain grey replacing the holographic effect, which took away a little of its charm for me, so it's the original launch spec I include in my pack.

McLaren
Norris  Lando has taken his helmet design in-house and has come with a completely new concept for his helmet design. The neon yellow remains, now with black blobs (with a slight green shadow). In testing, he arrived with an updated design, but it's the launch spec helmet design that's in this pack.	Piastri  A very similar design from his 2023 helmet, and keeping the same colours, albeit with the black strip to house the new Monster logos added in. Another nice helmet from MDM Designs, painted by BS Designs.

Alpine
Ocon  Esteban has come up with another red helmet, because he's a Schumacher and Spider-man fan. It's quite a clever design, with EO and 31 worked together into the design on the side, with more exposed carbon worked into the design. I like the design and concept from MDM Designs (and painted by Bell Racing), but the exposed carbon doesn't work for me.	Gasly  This season's helmet is now all sky blue, designed by Adrien Paviot. The design itself has continuity from previous designs, but with a lot more gradients and shapes added. I'm really glad that the logos plastered randomly all over the helmet are gone, this lid should stand out from Esteban's nicely.

Mercedes
Hamilton  With the shock news that Ferrari had signed the seven-time World Champion, I suppose we are all the more eager to see what helmet design he will have when he goes there. Until then, we have this Mercedes GP helmet. Thanks to KV Designs, this helmet is an iteration from the previous seasons design, with more purple and less neon yellow. Whilst it might not pop as much in the cockpit, it is still distinctive, so no complaints from me here.	Russell  George's helmet is a clear development from his previous year's helmet. Amazingly, there's relatively few shots of it around the internet, so I've had to take a litte artistic license on the rear of the lid. He's also ran two different lids in pre-season, one with more blue gradients and sharp black lines, the updated version (included in this set) has a plain blue base, but with slightly blurry black edges. I've not been able to ascertain who designed and painted the helmet yet.

Ferrari
Leclerc  Another helmet from Adrien Paviot, Leclerc's helmet has a deeper red worked into his now familiar design. His name and his number are worked into the background, making it more busy than previous helmets. The deeper red is slightly shiny metallic, so looks better in real life, but I have to say, I'm not a fan of this one.	Sainz  Carlos has his helmets designed and painted by Dave Designs, and has the familiar red and yellow strips rearranged for the new season. A nice new element are the stripey parts on some of the red and black parts that just add a bit of shade.

Red Bull
Verstappen And last but not least, Max's helmet is a rehashed version of this Monza helmet from 2023. Inspired by his father Jos' helmet colours, the colours are more bold and vibrant. Done by KV Designs and painted by JMD helmets, Max also ran two slightly different variants of this design in testing. The silver strip was repositioned and worked into the main blue section on the updated design, but I've included the original iteration in this pack.	Perez Checo has his helmets designed by MDM Designs and painted by Jens Munser (JMD). This season has another Mexican inspired pattern on the blue base, and whilst it was a bit of a pain to do, looks nice. The Mexican flag is a fixture on the top of the helmet, and a deeper yellow has been worked into the design. It's familiar enough, yet tweaked enough to make it distinct yet recognisable as Checo's helmet - not an easy task to achieve.

Phew, that's it! 20 new helmets and a brief run-down on each one. 

Which is your favourite, or which one you do you like least? Comment below. 

Thank you for your support. Happy racing.