1994 - version 4.1

I want to wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. 

Having released version 4 of the 1994 mod earlier this year, I've continued to chip away at 1994 content and there have been numerous updates since that release. Some of that work has been on hold whilst I was creating some 2022 content for you, but now I'm happy to present to you an updated version of the mod, version 4.1.

What's new? 

New Benetton B194

Shortly after the release of the 1994 Mod, I quickly started work on the 1994 Benetton B194. The car was completed and released earlier this year in July, and the car is now included in the mod. This comes with track specific textures from Spain to the end of the year, not previously released. Track specific shape updates have not yet been done, that will be at a future date. 

As well as the car and new liveries, I've added the external steering wheel and created a new internal cockpit, which are available if you choose to race as one of the Benetton drivers.

New Minardi M193B

Similarly, I completed and released this car (after the mod was released) earlier this year in September. Whilst this car only appears in one race in this mod (the Spanish GP), the car will provide a great base for the M194 when I eventually come to do that. But until then, you can enjoy this car in the mod. Like the Benetton, an external steering wheel has been added.

Updated Ferrari 412T1B

My Ferrari has had a few minor updates since I released the stand alone car in the v4.0 mod. This time, I've gone a little further. The mirrors and rear light are taken from my 1995 Ferrari, and the front wing pylons and all the bodylines have been refined. I've also completely recreated the textures, although they are very similar to the originals. Previously, I created the original textures in PaintShop Pro, and then I lost the original file with all my layers and vectors and with it my motivation, and that's when Kedy and Aus_Doug helped me over the line. 

I wanted to update some parts of the textures to bring them in line with my more recent cars, so it didn't take too long to recreate the whole car's textures. This includes a deeper red colour and a more accurate NT texture. Lots of little changes really, but overall I think it looks a lot better.

New Shoei helmet shape

I'm grateful to ASR Formula and EKO Sim Racing for allowing me to use their Shoei X4 helmet, and whilst I did a few shape additions initially, Oggo got his hands on it and made many impressive updates to bring it in line with his already excellent Arai helmet.

Alesi's helmet is from Oggo's excellent 1993 helmet set, but for all the other 5 drivers who used the Shoei helmets, I've remade these helmets from scratch and included all their track specific helmets in the mod. There are variations where drivers did not run a visor strip, and also a fully reflective version where you cannot see the face through the visor.

Shoei X4 helmet by Oggo, Fongu, EKO Sim Racing, ASR Formula and Alesi_Fan

Pit props

Thanks again to Oggo for opening up a whole new avenue of editing in GP4 and pitprops is one of them. So I've created new front and rear jacks, a new car stand, a new hose, a new lollipop and new wheel guns. With them comes new textures for most teams, not all, as photos are limited. Again, you have to choose a driver to see the different team specific lollipops and front jacks.

External Cockpit Camera angles 

With my cars, I've been trying to bring more and more detail to the cockpits of my 1994 cars. However you couldn't really see them in game, and my make-shift importing the dashboard into the internal cockpit isn't the ideal soluton. So I've updated one of the external camera angles on each car that serves as a driver's eye view. I based the view off some YouTube videos where cameras were attached to helmets. With that, I've started to do some more external steering wheels. These will probably be updated with better quality ones at a later date.

CSM updates

Thanks to all those who have either spotted bugs in the v4.0 release, or have offered recommendations for updates. In the CSM menu, I've removed the fogging option, and replaced it with an option to not run the new DirectX file from crossire, thanks to the community for the feedback on this one. There are also a number of fixes to various codes, track specific designations and some graphics. 

Steering Wheel Font

This is not really worth mentioning, but I have amended the steering wheel font colour, which will only be visible in qualifying and practice modes. Duffer has made a great little tool to edit this for the first time. I only really did this update because I can, not for any realism reasons.

GPxPatch Cinfo

I'm not entirely sure who the original author of the pre-race grid graphics via GPxPatch was initially, but I added a few Grand Prix in HD in the initial v4.0 release. I've now completed the pre-race grids for all races and amended it to now shows on all cameras. The data is based off real life qualifying grids, so it doesn't reflect the qualifying times in your game, nor does it necessarily reflect the drivers racing in game. But I still think it's a nice touch to have. 

GP4: 2022 McLaren MCL36 - Abu Dhabi Livery

Not content with one special livery this season, McLaren ended the season with this beauty.

2022 McLaren MCL36 Abu Dhabi livery by fongu

McLaren, in conjunction with their sponsors, hired Lebanese artist Anna Tangles (Anna Maria Aoun) to apply her signature artistic style towards the Abu Dhabi GP livery. Her art has a beautiful flow and elegance and works well on an F1 car. She's been helped by the Driven by Change programme, and the 2021 Abu Dhabi GP special livery was by another artist who is also a benefactor of that programme. 

The livery had its own special launch event and looked great at the Abu Dhabi weekend. 

Having tried various techniques whilst painting various helmets for the past couple of years, I decided for this one to crop some photos onto the livery and then paint on top of it. I was tempted to amend the photos, crop them, warp them etc but I decided I wanted to do it from scratch. It's really a simple pattern, though each shape is different and it was just a matter of perseverance. I'm really pleased with the end result and I hope you like it too. 

2022 McLaren MCL36 Abu Dhabi livery by fongu

The livery has been added to the car pack and you can download and play it now. 

GP4: 2022 Helmets pack complete!

Here it is, the final update to the 2022 pack. 

As is now customary, over half of the grid raced with special helmet designs in Abu Dhabi, especially those who are not returning to the grid next season. I've created 13 more helmets. For one last time this season, let's get into it.

Alex Albon  2022 Abu Dhabi GP helmet

Alex Albon has replaced the white regions of his standard helmet with a chrome effect. The helmet itself is a simplified version of his standard helmet. In most pictures, there was a slight red tinge to the chromed reflections, so I've added a bit of red hint to some areas. The helmet also features Latifi's name, in honour of his last race. 

Fernando Alonso 2022 Abu Dhabi GP helmet

It was a bit of a surprise that old rival Fernando Alonso was so sentinmental at Vettel's last race. He decided against fighting him in the first few laps of the race whilst also running this tribute helmet. He will replace the German at Aston Martin next year. The helmet is still largely title sponsor BWT influenced, but the German flag strip across the front is simple and iconic. 

Pierre Gasly  2022 Abu Dhabi GP helmet

Pierre Gasly is not only ending his time with Alpha Tauri but also the Red Bull family, and so this helmet is half his old Red Bull helmet and this season's Alpha Tauri helmet. There are messages of thanks in various languages. 

Lewis Hamilton 2022 Abu Dhabi GP helmet

Lewis Hamilton ran another variation of his helmet with the rainbow flag at the Abu Dhabi GP. 

Nicholas Latifi 2022 Abu Dhabi GP helmet

It's not really a new helmet for Latifi, but with a message to Seb, and the new Williams visor since Interlagos made this a quick job. 

Charles Leclerc 2022 Abu Dhabi GP helmet

Charles Leclerc has also gone chrome, with silver and red chrome. But this helmet is a tribute to all those working at Gestione Sportiva and trackside, with all their names printed on the Italian flag across the front, top and rear of his helmet. There were some angles where the names weren't clear in the pictures and blueprints I had, so there may be some alternative names on there. 

Kevin Magnussen  2022 Abu Dhabi GP helmet

Kevin Magnussen has a lightly altered helmet from the one that he ran since the Monaco GP, but for the Abu Dhabi GP, he's also gone with a full on chrome effect, and the K on the side of his helmet is now white instead of red. 

Lando Norris 2022 Abu Dhabi GP helmet

Lando also ran a new lid with a glittery green/purplish tones. Not much was made of the helmet online that I could see, but it looks nice anyway. 

Daniel Ricciardo 2022 Abu Dhabi GP helmet

Daniel Ricciardo was another driver who would not have a full time drive on the 2023 grid. His final helmet with McLaren is given to sponsor OKX and has been cyberpunked. The livery is based on his standard livery by Ornamental Conifer, and MDM Designs has done a lovely job putting all that together in this shiny number. 

Carlos Sainz 2022 Abu Dhabi GP helmet

As last year, Carlos ran a glittery version of his standard helmet at the Yas Marina circuit. 

Mick Schumacher 2022 Abu Dhabi GP helmet

Mick Schumacher doesn't currently have another F1 drive lined up for 2023, but instead of running his own helmet design, he dedicate his final helmet to Seb's design, which Seb stole off Mick's dad to be fair. Mick's regular design is embossed into the helmet, similar to his Japanese helmet. He'll be missed.

Sebastian Vettel  2022 Abu Dhabi GP helmet

Seb Vettel went from pantomine villian at Red Bull, to a bit of an embarressing flop at Ferrari towards the end, to being the most likeable, kind and mature driver on the grid in his Aston Martin days. Everyone was overflowing with their tributes to his last drive and his helmet was about giving back. Dubbed 'the Final Lap', he let fans buy places on his helmet, with the proceeds going to environmental projects. A great driver leaves the grid. 

Zhou Guanyu 2022 Abu Dhabi GP helmet

Whilst it was probably fitting to leave Seb's helmet last, I've decided to mostly stick to alphabetical order for this post, so that leaves Zhou's helmet, which is actually the final helmet I painted for the 2022 season and so it's fitting it belongs here. Inspired by vintage Chinese ornamental floral patterns, the patterns already exist on his standard helmet at the top and around the bottom, but this helmet extends that design all the way around the helmet. Very nice design from KV Designs. The pattern was painted from scratch, so it took a bit of time, but I like the result.