Geoff Crammond's Grand Prix PC games series - Part 3

Competition for F1 games had increased by the late 1990s and into the early 2000s. Whilst Grand Prix 2 was the standard setting game, Grand Prix 3 barely clung onto that mantle. Much of the promised features, like a new graphics model were all missing from the already late game. So in 2002, Grand Prix 4 (based on the 2001 season) was released that gave us these promised features. Unfortunately, this would be the final game of the series of F1 games, as Infogrames went out of business, dispanding Microprose and Geoff Crammond's team. Still, nearly 20 years on, the game is still installed and regularly used on my PC.

The physics did not disappoint, having close links with Arrows Grand Prix team in its development. GPS maps were used to give us the most accurate tracks at that time. Motion capture was used for the pitcrews. The game is a development of the previous versions and once again sets the standard for F1 simulation games. Sadly, the game was riddled with bugs and a patch had to be released.

EA Sports was the main rival, with their final title, F1 Challenge (F1C) having a similarly devoted modding community. For me, and I speak of my own personal preference, I preferred GP4's graphics, I preferred driving in GP4, and so I never really devoted much time to that series of games.

I always drove on the keyboard, and it was fairly easy to pick up on GP4, but the main complaint was that it felt like it drove on rails. If you were on the racing line, it would be fine, but if you ventured too far off it, you were either dragged back towards it, or you were off the track. It meant you couldn't really find different lines or find much way to gain an advantage. It wasn't until many years later when I used a steering wheel that I began to truly appreciate the driving as a racing sim.

The graphics engine was new and there were separate car shapes for each car and a damage model that broke parts off your car depending on where you damaged it. Immediately, I was excited about the modding community and potential. I was looking forward to GP4edit, but it quickly became clear that it was not going to happen. SDI had produced the excellent GPXpatch which can be used for GP3 and GP4 that brought many great tweaks to the game. Updating the game was time consuming to learn, and the new graphics engine didn't run too great on my low-end PC. A new community grew at Grand Prix Games which is still active today, a place where I have spent many happy years being a part of:

www.grandprixgames.org

Initially, there were simply graphical updates to the cars, before zmodeler allowed car shapes to be edited. There grew excellent modding groups in the Netherlands and in Italy, and a group called CTDP produced some excellent cars for F1C and GP4 in the early days. It took a few years for tracks to be unlocked and to be able to be edited. GP4 tweaker and Zaz tools were also developed that allowed more and more of the game to be customised. 

I have dabbled in texture editing, but it's not really one of my strengths. My leanings were towards car shaping and around 2005, I decided I would learn how to use zmodeler. Initially, it was simply editing car shapes that existed, until I gained enough confidence to create my own models. I hope in future blogs to revisit some of the cars I have created as well as showing my most recent work. 

I suppose that writing now in 2019 that I am not the only one playing with a game that is 17 years old is a testament to Geoff Crammond and the Microprose team of the quality and scale-ability of this game. Though it was never the intention of the creators that such a modding community would tinker with so much of the original game, it has ensured its longevity. It's a shame the series stopped here after Infogrames went out of business, as many had hoped that a fine-tuned GP5 would continue to push the boundaries of F1 PC simulation games. It wasn't really until Codemasters took over the production of F1 games for the 2010 season that moved it forward - however, I can't put my models into any of those games, and whilst I love the driving element of the recent F1 titles, my love for car-shaping has lead me to stick with GP4 until now. 

Read Part 1

Read Part 2