Wednesday, 25 December 2024

GP4: F1 2024 mod v1.7 Christmas update - 2024 cars by fongu

I've got a special release this Christmas, and it comes in the form of the 2024 F1 mod update. 

I know, the last update was only yesterday and it seemed pretty complete, and it is. But this is Christmas, and I'm in a generous mood!

At the beginning of the season, I released the Red Bull RB20, but I've only released a handful of other 2024 cars since then, the McLaren and then the Sauber. 

For this festive season, I want to share with you every car I've made for 2024... and that is every car on the 2024 grid, with a heap of special liveries and track specific logo updates. I couldn't have done it alone, my thanks to GM25, Excalibur (Ferrari) and Paulo Derpich (updates to McLaren and Red Bull) for helping along in this process. 

I'm very appreciative of all the GP4 authors, and in no way do I want to replace any of the existing works already in the mod. But you can run none of my cars, you can run only my cars, or you can mix and match; this mod enables you to select each car author in the CSM menu, giving you hundreds of variations you can try, much like in my 2011 mod. 

Here's a quick preview of what you will get in this update:

Alpine A524

2024 Alpine A524 by fongu for GP4


Alpine ran a number of liveries over the course of the season, tweaking it as the season progressed. The team ran either the pink variant or the blue variant for most Grand Prix. At the final three races of the season, Alpine went 'all pink' with a plain livery. The team also ran two special liveries at the Belgian GP and the USA GP. Both were promotions for the Deadpool vs Wolverine film and the Indiana Jones game. As the livery and logo placements were tweaked through the year, I've attempted to create as many variants as I can. 

Aston Martin AMR24

2024 Aston Martin AMR24 by fongu for GP4

Aston Martin largely ran the same livery and sponsor combinations for most the season, with different partners being featured on the halo at each race (I've not captured all of these minor changes). The team ran additional Aramco colours on their wings at the USA GP, and the last couple of races saw the team run a white rollover hoop. 

2024 Ferrari SF24

2024 Ferrari SF24 by fongu & Excalibur for GP4

Ferrari reintroduced yellow into the main livery to match the endurance racing team, which was a really nice touch. The team gained HP sponsorship from the Miami GP onwards, with a special 'blue' livery ran at the US race. Both Carlos and Leclerc ran slightly different colour halos and car number outlines. The Peroni logo being replaced by Tifosi or Italia in the Middle East races, a nice reminder when the teams in the 1990s were creative with their non-tobacco sponsorship. The Italian GP saw the team celebrate carbon-fibre, and the driver numbers were made black to reflect it. 

This car was created by Excalibur, it's actually his RSCT template car, and I've simply painted on his template and releasing  it now with his blessing. 

Haas VF-24

2024 Haas VF-24 by fongu for GP4

Haas were one of the teams running minimal livery, the car being almost entirely unpainted carbon fibre. For the race in Austin, the team ran a special eagle inspired livery, whilst at the Las Vegas GP, there were more subtle changes made to the car. The team struck a partnership with Toyota Gazoo Racing towards the later half of the year and those liveries have been created for this mod. 

Mercedes F1 W15 E Performance

2024 Mercedes F1 W15 E Performance by fongu for GP4

The Mercedes have flicked between all silver or all black in recent years, and this year saw them run both. The red from the Ineos branding remains a constant, with the blue from Petronas becoming more prominent as the season progressed. The only proper special livery was at the Singapore GP where the silver and blue parts of the livery swapped to celebrate Petronas.

Red Bull RB20

2024 Red Bull RB20 by fongu for GP4

Whilst the opening rounds suggested the season may be a foregone conclusion, the team struggled to make the car competitive at every race. It meant that planned special liveries were cancelled except for the British GP where they ran a 'red camo' livery. Thanks again goes to Paulo Derpich for creating some of the other race variants. 

Sauber C44

2024 Sauber C44 by fongu for GP4

I already released the Sauber in the previous mod update. In this update, I've made the Stake logos a little larger and closer to real life. I've also created the flaming Las Vegas GP livery. As it was a night race, I've decided to emphasise how bright the green looks on occasion. 

RB VCARB 01

2024 VCARB by fongu for GP4

VCARB returned to the brighter blue as seen on the later Toro Rosso cars before they were briefly known as Alpha Tauri. The team ran three special liveries during the season, the first at the Miami GP known as the 'bubblegum' livery. At the Singapore GP, they celebrated denim, with ripped jeans look and a massive zip, (reminding some of the 1999 BAR). Having done a number of denim helmets in recent years, getting the effect and stitching wasn't too difficult. And at the Las Vegas GP, the team went all 'glitter' with another bright design. At the Saudi Arabian GP, the team honoured the female team-members with their names featured on the side of the car. 

Williams FW46


2024 Williams FW46 by fongu for GP4

The 2024 Williams continued to run a couple of shades of blue, but with an added touch of heritage with the red and white stripes for their main livery. The team featured the Duracell bunny on the rollover hoop at the Monaco GP, whilst for the British GP they ran a massive Union Flag (technically it's only called the Union Jack when it's on the seas) with team member names written on it. After Logan Sargeant was dropped, the team were bold to call up Franco Colapinto as his replacement and that brought a number of South American backers to the car. This lead to the return of the yellow engine cover, a nod to the late 1980's/early 1990s liveries. 

McLaren MCL38

2024 McLaren MCL38 by fongu for GP4

There's nothing new from me on the McLaren in this update, but Paulo Derpich has complated the late season sponsor merry-go-round and the Mastercard logos becoming more and more prominent with every race. Thanks to him for his hard work making sure every race is accurately represented. Thankfully for me, there's no new special liveries since my release of this car, but for completeness, I wanted to show them off again here. Congratulations to the McLaren team for securing the Constructors' Championship for the first time since 1998. 

Phew, that concludes one of my most ambitious projects I've ever taken on for a current F1 season, along with the entire grid of helmets and a selection of special lids already released, I'm glad to share the complete pack with you on this special day, I hope you enjoy racing these cars with their various liveries through the season. 


Installation Notes

This update requires 2024 F1 mod previously released on this blog here: 
https://fongugp4.blogspot.com/2024/08/gp4-f1-2024-mod-v10.html
  • Download both the 2024 CSM mod updates below

CSM update - 2024 CMU24 update 8 v1.7

 

CSM update - 2024 CMU24 update 9 v1.7

 

CSM update - 2024 CMU24 update 10 v1.7b

 


  • Open CSM
  • File | Install new carset template | select F1_2024_CMU24_update8_v1.7.cmu
  • File | Install new carset template | select F1_2024_CMU24_update9_v1.7.cmu
  • File | Install new carset template | select F1_2024_CMU24_update10_v1.7b.cmu



Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Below are some screenshots of the cars in GP4 at the Singapore GP, which featured a number of special liveries. 



Tuesday, 24 December 2024

GP4: F1 2024 mod v1.6 update



I want to wish you all a very happy Christmas. 

Here's an update to the 2024 mod that brings us to the end of the season. 

In this update we have another update to the Williams by Excalibur


Thanks to jcgrj, we have the 2024 McLaren MCL38 Mercedes sounds added as an option to the 2024 mod. 


Thanks to Ã–ggo for the visor colour tweak that was recently released. 


Thanks to Gitanes for the performance pack for the entire season. 


Thanks as well to Paulo Derpich and his many updates to every car this season, bringing many track specific liveries including Alpine, Ferrari, McLaren, Mercedes, VCARB and the Williams. Great work. 

From my side, I've added a few new helmets, Lando Norris' dark helmet used at the final three races, Verstappen's USA helmet that he ran at all three American races, and I've also painted his World Champion helmet with the four World Championship stars on the rear. I've created Hulkenberg's helmet that he used at night races and Russell's white helmet that he used in Qatar. There's also Hamilton and Russell's helmets from the Abu Dhabi GP, as well as Jack Doohan's debut race helmet in the Alpine. 







The mod has also been updated with Jack racing at the final race in place of Esteban Ocon, and you'll find all the usual updates to team arts, CSM previews, performance files etc. 

Thank you all for your support in 2024, I hope you enjoy this update.

Installation Notes

This update requires 2024 F1 mod previously released on this blog here: 
https://fongugp4.blogspot.com/2024/08/gp4-f1-2024-mod-v10.html
  • Download both the 2024 CSM mod updates below

CSM update - 2024 CMU24 update 6 v1.6 

 

CSM update - 2024 CMU24 update 7 v1.6 

 

  • Open CSM
  • File | Install new carset template | select F1_2024_CMU24_update6_v1.6.cmu
  • File | Install new carset template | select F1_2024_CMU24_update7_v1.6.cmu


I hope you all have a great New Year, where we look forward to another exciting F1 Season as well as more progress in GP4 modding. 

Happy Racing. 

Sunday, 10 November 2024

GP4: F1 2024 mod v1.5 update

The 2024 mod was only released in August, and two months later, we're already on the fifth update pack. That's in large part due to real life driver changes, but also thanks the great community pumping out quality updates to add to this mod. 

Thanks to Excalibur for his most recent update to the VCARB car, with Liam Lawson's number 30 skin now added to the mod. 

2024 VCARB by Excalibur


I've now completed the 2024 version of Liam Lawson's helmet, designed by MDM Designs and painted by BS helmets onto the Bell helmet with a solid wing. I've also added the team-art for Liam. 

2024 Liam Lawson helmet by fongu


I've also taken the liberty to add this special helmet of Franco Colapinto from the Mexican GP (and used at the Brazilian GP too). He's racing with a tribute to Carlos Reutemann's classic helmet design. I don't know about you, but it took me a while to realise the FC on the front of his helmet stands for Franco Colapinto, not some other franchise.

2024 Franco Colapinto Mexican GP helmet by fongu

Ollie Bearman once again stood in for Kevin Magnussen (this time through illness) and he wore his alternative Haas helmet. This is basically red instead of yellow, a different colour visor and slight detail changes. 
2024 Oliver Bearman Brazilian GP helmet

Lewis Hamilton had the privelege of running in a 1990 McLaren at the Brazilian GP, and ran a special Senna inspired helmet for the whole weekend. I couldn't help but add this to the collection. 
2024 Lewis Hamilton Brazilian GP helmet

As promised, my McLaren MCL38 has now been added to the mod. In the mod, there is a new selection for which McLaren you want to use, mine or Isaint's. Below is a screenshot of my version of the Monaco GP livery, the Senna tribute. 

2024 McLaren MCL38 Monaco GP by fongu

... and the Legends livery used at the Singapore GP,

2024 McLaren MCL38 Singapore GP by fongu

... and the shiny Chrome livery used at the US GP at the Circuit of the Americas (no off-track overtaking happened in the creation of this screenshot).

2024 McLaren MCL38 US GP by fongu

Thanks to Paulo Derpich and his epic work to complete all the sponsor changes on my McLaren. There's also more track specific liveries, including the Singapore GP Mercedes, VCARB liveries and the latest Williams liveries, including the yellow engine cover. There's also some cockpit updates to the Mercedes, VCARB and McLaren.
Super job! 





There was a request to add a new weather option, 33% chance of rain, so that's been added to this 2024 mod. 

Other than a missing CSM preview picture, some performance file updates and fixes, fixed alpha channels on the Red Bull, that's all for this update. 


Oh wait you want more?

I'm sharing with you my all new version of the Sauber. It's a bit less toxic green than Isaint's version, and comes with Stake and Kick livery variants. 

It's a shame the livery is so vile because I quite like the shape. Well, at least the car is pretty much confined to the rear of the grid and mostly out of sight. Anyway, the car gets its exclusive release as part of this mod update, but I do plan on releasing the car separately soon. 

2024 Sauber C44 by fongu for GP4



Well that's really it for this update. The file size suggests there's more in this mod update than there are in some mods. 


Installation Notes

This update requires 2024 F1 mod previously released on this blog here: 
https://fongugp4.blogspot.com/2024/08/gp4-f1-2024-mod-v10.html
  • Download both the 2024 CSM mod updates below

CSM update - 2024 CMU24 update 4 v1.5 

 

CSM update - 2024 CMU24 update 5 v1.5 

 

CSM update - 2024 CMU24 update 6 v1.5

 


  • Open CSM
  • File | Install new carset template | select F1_2024_CMU24_update4_v1.5.cmu
  • File | Install new carset template | select F1_2024_CMU24_update5_v1.5.cmu
  • File | Install new carset template | select F1_2024_CMU24_update6_v1.5.cmu


As ever, happy racing. 







Thursday, 31 October 2024

GP4: 2024 Helmets v1.01 by fongu

From today, you can download my 2024 special helmets in this updated pack. Most of these helmets have been included in the 2024 mod, but a few of you wanted them seperately, so this ones for you.

It was always going to be difficult to keep up with the pace at which I created helmets in the previous years, so I did take a concious decision to cut back for the 2024 season, and devote more time to other projects. However, I have done a batch of them, and I've surprised myself with just how many I ended up creating. I'm sorry if I havent' created your favourite from this season, my criteria was based around how quickly I could get it done, whether the helmet had a good story behind it, or whether it marked a memorable moment in the race. Also some helmets were used for more than one race. 



Albon - Chinese GP

Inspired by the giant panda that is so important to Chinese culture, Albon has this cute and brilliantly designed helmet by MDM Designs and painted by Mad56. 


Bearman - Saudi Arabian GP

In the first of two stand in performances, Ollie ran a version of one of his 2023 helmet specials. Ollie stood in for an ill Carlos Sainz in the Ferrari and did a great job, scoring points on his debut. Designed by Brandon Seaber, this helmet has an O on one side and a B on the other, his initials of course. 


Bearman - Azerbaijan GP

Bearman's second stand in appearance was in place of Kevin Magnussen in the Haas, who was banned for amassing too many penalty points on his license. His second race in F1, for a second team, produced a second points scoring finish. His Haas helmet has the O on both sides to incorporate the Haas logo on each side. 




Colapinto - Standard helmet

Colapinto replaced Logan Sargeant in the Williams from the Italian GP and has done an impressive job, despite knowing his seat will go to Carlos Sainz next season. His helmet has a great mix of colours and proudly representing his home nation of Argentina. 




Colapinto - Mexican GP

Colapinto ran this tribute to fellow countryman, Carlos Reutemann for the two South American races, a reminder of the simpler, yet more striking helmets of old compared to the various designs of today. Franco's done a great job since replacing Logan Sargeant and has generated some additional sponsors to the Williams team. 



Gasly - Emilia Romagna GP

One of several Senna tribute helmets, Gasly chose to run it at the track that claimed the Brazilian's life 30 years ago. This simple design merges well with his own design, and I love the nod to the Rothmans sponsor that he sported on the Williams back in 1994. 


Gasly - Belgian GP

Alpine ran a promotion for the Deadpool vs Wolvering film at the Belgian GP, and it was a nice touch to have each driver run helmets inspired by the two heroes. Designed by Adrian Paviot, this is clearly the Wolverine helmet along with the trademark claw marks on the side. 


Lawson - Standard helmet

Liam's design is an evolution of his previous helmets, with more Maori inspired art and a new comic style personal logo. Designed, once again, by MDM helmets, Lawson has a chance in the RB to stake his claim on the second Red Bull seat for 2025... or earlier. 


Leclerc - Miami GP

Here's a batch of Charles Leclerc helmets, designed by Adrian Paviot. They're all based around his design for 2024, mostly with changes in colour and slight details. For the Miami GP, both drivers ran blue helmets in recognition of their new partnership with HP and a convenient nod to the historic blue Ferrari that once raced on US soil. 


Leclerc - Emilia Romagna GP

For the Emilia Romagna GP, his helmet is clearly inspired with the red, white and green of the Italian tricolour flag. 


Leclerc - Monaco GP

Leclerc took his first victory of the year at his home race in Monaco. This helmet is unique from his other designs in the year, but I wanted to celebrate Charles finally achieving his child-hood dream with this special helmet design. 


Leclerc - Spanish GP

Charles celebrated having 16 million TikTok followers on Instagram with this gold glitter encrusted number. 


Leclerc - Italian GP

At the Italian GP at Monza, Ferrari wanted to celebrate carbon fibre for some reason. Nevertheless, you know already if it's black and yellow, I'm in. 
It's always special when a Ferrari takes the chequered flag at Monza, Leclerc couldn't have won in two better places in the 2024 season than at Monaco and Monza. 


Leclerc - Singapore GP

This helmet was made to look good under the floodlit Singapore track, with a shiny dark red with geometric shapes. 


Norris - Monaco GP

Lando's Quadrant group have taken ownership over his helmet designs for 2024, and this one mixes Senna's helmet with chrome, fused together by his 2024 helmet design. As Piastri also ran a Senna inspired helmet, both in a Senna helmet liveried car, it at least made the two drivers distinguisable. 


Ocon - Belgian GP

As mentioned earlier, Alpine were running their Deadpool movie promo at the Belgian GP and Ocon ran this Deadpool helmet. He ran a similar design in 2023 in Las Vegas, and whilst that had more of a comic, animation style, this one is a bit more live-action super hero inspired. Ocon's helmet are designed by MDM Designs this season.


Perez - British GP

Sergio wanted to mark 20 years of Red Bull in F1 with this classic Red Bull can inspired lid. Once upon a time, all Red Bull drivers had helmets like this, and the first Red Bull test car also looked like this. Vettel ran a similar design when Dietrich Mateschitz passed away. Anyway, I liked this design and couldn't resist giving it a go. At times I wish I hadn't with the chequered design causing me a lot of pain to get right over the seam. 


Piastri - Monaco GP

Oscar's helmets are designed by MDM Designs and merges Senna's helmet design and colours with Oscar's current design. The helmet looks great with the special liveried McLaren and race suits for the Senna tribute weekend in Monaco. How has it been 30 years since that fateful day already.


Ricciardo - Singapore GP

Whilst Daniel has run more striking designs in 2024, this helmet stands out because this was his final helmet before, what is likely to be, his retirement from F1. Sadly his last three seasons have simply not delivered the drives we had grown accustomed to seeing. We have all probably been spared the heartache of what would have likely turned out badly had he replaced Perez at Red Bull. We'll miss the honey badger for sure. 


Sainz - Miami GP


As mentioned earlier, the Miami GP for Ferrari was all about blue, so Dave Designs and Carlos appeared with this patched denim number. When I started, I thought it was similar enough to his 2024 design, but in the end I this helmet had more new parts than anticipated, but I'm happy I persevered with this. 


Sainz - Italian GP

This helmet was to celebrate carbon fibre with the rest of the Ferrari team, not that they pioneered it, nor did they introduced it to F1. Still, the material has been a mainstay in F1 since the 1980's, owing to it's strong yet light properties. I appreciate the simplicity of this design, but having said that it wasn't that straight forward of a design to recreate. 


Verstappen - Italian GP

Verstappen wore this shiny orange helmet at three races this season in support of the Dutch Mens National football team at the European Championships. KV Designs has been doing Max's helmets for the last few seasons, with clear inspiration from his father's helmet. 

The early races saw Max run a slightly different helmet to the launch version, it's in the pack, but so subtle is the change it's not worth adding it to this post. 



I hope you've enjoyed this update post, and running these helmets in your favourite game. 

I'm indebted to Jvinu for his helmet shapes and templates, and these helmets are compatible with ACSPRH version 1 where other games support it. 

Thanks for your on-going support. I'm off to carry on prepping for the next 2024 mod update. Stay tuned.