30 replies to this topic

[ShiftyDriver]

Does anyone still play this game? For me its the best sim I've ever played on the PC. I'm a keyboard driver and cant get on with any of the ea sports season games and keyboard driving. Will there ever be a GP5? Crammond is a legend!

[simpson]

I doubt it as Crammond hasn't been heard from for a long time.

Some Sims are made to allow easier keyboard driving it seems, so it's great if you've found one that you can enjoy that way, but getting a wheel and pedals for around $150 US would make any Sim much, much more enjoyable, I'd think.

[mahelgel]

heh, by chance i reinstalled this game last sunday, and it to be honest, i found it pretty poor. Guess with a keyboard, GPL, GTR2 and GTL probably isn't very drivable, so perhaps its the best option though..

If you do drive a bit, buying a wheel certainly is reccomended though...

[Hames Junt]

I still play GP3. I want to try GP4 but I don't believe it is available anymore.

[pingu666]

if u cant find it, you might be able to get it as abandonwear...

[ShiftyDriver]

Its a shame as the GP series were THE F1 sim games of their time. I guess they didnt win the license to make another. All others were very arcady, but I always though Crammond understood F1 and how it should be.

[rolf123]

GP series were the best. I used to love GP4. It still has an incredible following and people still mod it.

I have clocked up, I reckon at least 500 hours on the series over my lifetime. I used to often do full races. Now my PC needs a rebuild coz it just crashes for some reason.

I have found no other sim where I could be as consistent as a real F1 driver without practising for ages with a wheel. Gain a tenth of a lap on your rival in front of you is fantastic.

Also found no other game that got the slipstream exactly right.

Check out this replay of me on the absolute limit in Canada:

Onboard


Track Cam


And check out this incredible reenactment of Canada 2007!!


This chap has done loads more too, like this Senna - Mansell at Monaco

[ShiftyDriver]

Where can i go to find all these updates (cars etc.) that people have for this game? Some are amazing!

[noikeee]

http://gp4db.com/
http://www.gp4italia.org/

These are the sites with most of the stuff, but there are others like GP4 Argentina, Race Sims Pitstop, etc etc etc

I've got to warn you that modding it is a bit of a complicated process. You need to install like 7 different things before getting a mod to run, lol. I can help you with that if you want.

Recently I've released a fictional track for this game, so I recommend you try it. Name of the track is Autódromo da Madeira and it's available on GP4 Italia for example.

A couple of mods I'd recommend right now is the F1 2006 mod with the 2007 update, the DTM mod and the latest Formula Renault mod which handles, looks and sounds great. Get the trackpacks that come with it as well.

[Beatrix]

Hames Junt I have a copy of GP4 which I don't use if you'd like it?

[Hames Junt]

Originally posted by Beatrix
Hames Junt I have a copy of GP4 which I don't use if you'd like it?

Yeah, if you wouldn't mind mate, that would be fantastic. Check your PMs

[kurtiejjj]

Played it for years! Brilliant game! Chassis setup options were just class! As well as the option to drive with wheel and pedals. EA games of the time just couldn't touch it in any aspect. And if you've done DTM race driver 2, with that terrible pedals+wheel mode, you understand just how good GP4's setup was!

[NinjaMouse]

Hi All

I worked on GP4, and for me it is still the best driving game........and I mean driving...I recall late one night, about 3 in the morning I was still in the office....so I went over to one of the test machines that was still running, loaded on Monaco, and went for a cruise........

When you build the game, you generaly just do your work, and the actual testing of the game is done by specific test teams.......howevr, generaly, when we did have a go we did so using keyboard controls....

But I recall that night when I went to a test amchine, full pedals and steering set up.....and mad as this sounds for an F1 game, I enjoyed just cruising around in 2nd gear.......I must have done about 5-10 laps like that.....it "felt" so....well......"right"..... you just don't get that on a keyboard or from any other "sim" or arcade game out there......

Also loved hammering through fast corners on the limit, and feeling the back end wobbling at 150+ mph......then "feeling" it as the car got pushed down and made stable as speed inscreased as you scream off the curbs......

Crammond is legend....

[johnbe2]

I play on Xbox 360 now because I just don't have the time to twidle around with all the awesome mods that exist for GP3/4. But I still have all 4 versions of this game in the original boxes on my shelf (World Circuit, GP2, GP3, GP4 and several add-ons) and I look at these boxes often with fond memories. I used to play with a force feedback joystick and racing wheel.
I wish codemasters would hire Geoff Crammond for their upcoming F1 2009 game. The fear of the community is that codemasters game will be too arcadie.

BTW, does anybody now why the xbox version of GP4 was abandoned? I remember an official announcement on xbox.com but then suddenly there was no news and I was never able to get an official reason as to why the game wasn't finished for the xbox.

[NinjaMouse]

Originally posted by johnbe2
I play on Xbox 360 now because I just don't have the time to twidle around with all the awesome mods that exist for GP3/4. But I still have all 4 versions of this game in the original boxes on my shelf (World Circuit, GP2, GP3, GP4 and several add-ons) and I look at these boxes often with fond memories. I used to play with a force feedback joystick and racing wheel.
I wish codemasters would hire Geoff Crammond for their upcoming F1 2009 game. The fear of the community is that codemasters game will be too arcadie.

BTW, does anybody now why the xbox version of GP4 was abandoned? I remember an official announcement on xbox.com but then suddenly there was no news and I was never able to get an official reason as to why the game wasn't finished for the xbox.

Hi John

In a nutshell, as soon as the PC version of the game was out the door and on its way to the CD press, Infogrames came in and shut us down.....The PS2 and Xbox versions were due to come out several months after the PC version as it had prooved to be harder than expected trying to get GP4 to fit on the quite useless consoles...PS2 more so than the X Box....

I saw the game run on the XBox a few times, and in a very cut down from PC version sort of style.......I can vaguley recall seeing a race being run, but the fps were poor, and it never got the chance to see a full development run....

PS2 hardly progressed past the graphics engine phase sad to say, though it did appear to run the graphics quite well (once they had been shrunk to fit the PS2s tiny little brain)......but agian, when Infogrames announced our doom, the team carried on to the last..but all for nought.....and I'm not sure if the PS2 would ever have run the graphcis and the race code......

We were the bastard child Infogrames did not want..I'm not sure of the entire story, but I gather Infogrames did a deal with Hasbro, where they would get the licence rights to many board games, and get a few names chucked in as well...one of them being Atari, which is what I think Infogrames was really after...a cool name....lol.

That combined with the F1 licence Games rights going up for sale and going to a single developer, and the cost of which rising into the tens of millions, it was decided that we were waaaay too expensive and not part of Infogrames/Ataris plan......

Still, never mind..was fun while it lasted....lol.

[johnbe2]

Awesome!! Thanks a bunch for that insight. I have been curious about it for years. I had no idea there was a PS2 version planned as well.

[TF106]

is 2008 mod ready yet ?

[alfa1]

Originally posted by TF106
is 2008 mod ready yet ?

if anyone wants to learn the Valencia circuit before next weekend, it turns out that there is such a circuit made for GP3...
http://rapidshare.co...lencia.zip.html

Its a 'drivers track', I think. Lots of tricky sections where I'm sure the driver skill will make a difference.

[simpson]

Valencia has also been made for rFactor.

[DVtriple6]

lol keyboard driver..?

Do yourself a favour and get a steering wheel.. even a cheap one

[ghinzani]

I still play Crammonds original F1GP and Stunt Car Driver on my Amiga's. Did he have anything to do with the excellant INDY500 that Papyrus had out before the F1GP series? There was a guy called Oliver who ran a great series and promoted a superb mod for F1GP. You could get 1500 hp out of the cars, awesome at places like Monza!

[NinjaMouse]

Originally posted by ghinzani
I still play Crammonds original F1GP and Stunt Car Driver on my Amiga's. Did he have anything to do with the excellant INDY500 that Papyrus had out before the F1GP series? There was a guy called Oliver who ran a great series and promoted a superb mod for F1GP. You could get 1500 hp out of the cars, awesome at places like Monza!

Soz, could'nt say.....I got to Microprose as GP3 was in it's final stages, and GP4 was just getting undway.

Though I was aware of Crambos Legendary status...I'm not sure what else he worked on in the past. Only met him once, some road near Heathrow as I dropped his Brother in Law off after our trip to Monaco.....our offices were in Chipping Sodbury then Chippenham,...and he was near London I think......so we did'nt see much of him.....

I'd love to hear if he is working on something again, hearing the stories of how he used to work out the physics (sometimes balancing a ruler on a pencil, then thinking for hours as he stared at it, and twanged the ruler a few times...)....I mean, the man was/is genius....would be a shame if the Computer Games world lost him......

But I think he did VERY well out of the GP Series....so may now spend his time on a golf course...I would...lol.

[canon1753]

In defense of keyboard driving- err... I'm better at it than with a wheel. I love GP2. I haven't gotten past there yet. When I get a computer (not a netbook) built after 2002, maybe I can run something more advanced... I'll still be awful though....

[rjk]

This is the only F1 game I play and yeah with the keyboard Enough for me - the casual gamer

Im trying to mod it, but the update is giving issues. Tonight will be one more try

[Barry Scott]

I love the GPx series - if I could get GP3 to work on newer machines (and by that I mean XP), I'm sure i'd still play it now. Love how simple it was to mod. I've got GP4, and recently swapped my F1 2007 mod for the 1991 package - what a cracker that is. I've started a 50% race distance season with Alesi, great fun.

Unfortunately I gave up hope a long time ago of Crammond ever doing another F1 game, guess we're stuck with whatever Codemasters comes up with for now. Hope it's at least enjoyable, and doesn't feel too horrible to play

[Darrenj]

You guys are kidding right!
You can get a mod for about ten different seasons in GP4 including tracks, performance, helmets, carshapes, drivers for each year. The 2009 mod is in progress. Thousands of people still play this game including myself.

the main base for this game is grand prix games .org
http://tmp.grandprix....org/list.php?4

But installing the updates and cracks is not child's play, it can be a bit frustrating and a lot to read. But, just look at the screen shot sections!!

[rjk]

Finally got the 2006 and 2007 mods to work

Now to get the 2009 and GT ones

[rolf123]

As GP4 stopped working on my PC for some reason, I've recently got back into GP2.

Runs like an absolute dream and people are still modding it. There is a new carset after every race thanks to two cool Dutch guys!

Over the last 2 weeks I completed an entire season as Massa on 100% race. Great stuff!

I love the keyboard too. Makes it so accessible.

I mean, I have rfactor and a G25 steering wheel but I prefer to play GP2 with keyboard!

[rjk]

As GP4 stopped working on my PC for some reason, I've recently got back into GP2.

Runs like an absolute dream and people are still modding it. There is a new carset after every race thanks to two cool Dutch guys!

Over the last 2 weeks I completed an entire season as Massa on 100% race. Great stuff!

I love the keyboard too. Makes it so accessible.

I mean, I have rfactor and a G25 steering wheel but I prefer to play GP2 with keyboard!

I have GP2 also and I used to play that as my old PC didnt support GP4

The GP4 modded versions looks awesome though. They have improved even the physics
Hats off to the Modders

[brabhamBT19]

GP4 was born dead. Too hard on CPU killed that game in 2002. It started running smooth only in 2005,2006 when the faster machines were available, but by then its graphich standards were outdated. Besides physics sux

[Frans]

Loved it, and still do.