Better known today as the developer of Skyrim and Fallout, Bethesda once had a well-respected racing game franchise and were deep into development of a licensed Skip Barber Racing title that never released.
As a direct ancestor of iRacing, the ‘Grand Prix Legends engine’ had multiple stock car racing false starts, before eventually releasing as NASCAR Racing 4. The original NASCAR 3, cancelled and replaced by one that used NASCAR 2’s engine, is barely remembered.
Infogrames have released a patch for GP4 that fixes a number of issues with the sim. Check out the details below.
Patch v4.0 - 5.56MBNote: This patch has been pulled. It was released by Infogrames, according to the official Web site, without the permission of Geoff Crammond. They promise a new patch will follow shortly…
Readme text:
Geoff Crammond’s Grand Prix 4
*****************************
Readme File (English)
Patch V4.00
August, 20021. How to install the patch
***************************Unzip the file named “Protected patch v4.0.zip” and run “setup.exe”.
“Setup.exe” will install the patch over the game.2. Patch fixes
***************.Sometimes on the track (any motor circuit), when the heat haze is actived, then the car who precedes (or who follows) the player’s car disappears. This bug is visible with the camera behind the player’s car and when there is some distance between the two cars.
*.The game will lock up and freeze during the sound calibration sequence. This is common with installed Sound Blaster Audigy chipsets.
*.Pit crew disappearing: When the pit crew pushes cars back into the pit, they sometimes disappear and reappear. Most seen from the helmet cam view.
*.Installer only checks the presence of DirectX 8.0: The installer check the presence of DirectX 8.0 instead of DirectX 8.1.
*.Game droppped to windows desktop
*.The game will install fully. When the player launches for the first time the Safe disk splash screen appears, then the program will drop to the windows desktop. Sometimes the program will show a full black screen before dropping out. This occurs on a wide variety of different PC system and so far there does not appear to be a common to any particular CD/DVD-Rom drive. This bug has been reported by the GB hotline.
*.Pits drop down monitor: In hotseat mode, while qualifying, when you change player, while viewing the drop down monitor in the pits, it displays the wrong laptimes/drivers.
*.Best lap time in qualifications: Sometimes the game will post wrong lap/qual times in the skybox messages. Skybox show a new fastest lap/pole time set by player A, but it displays the wrong lap time, the one just beaten. The displaying of the beaten pole time seems only to happen when the player beats a pole time he himself has set previously or set by an AI.
*.Car’s mirrors when changing player: If it is the second players turn, and the first was in the pits when play was handed over, the mirrors on the car are not updated properly in helmet camera view. The car changes, and it is placed in the correct garage, yet the mirrors will display the previous pit crew men and garage.
*.Strange viewing mode when auto-director activated: When the auto-director is activated with the Ins” key, it is possible to produce strange results. It makes a mixture of the visor view and the above helmet view. Moreover, the car is visibly running 20cm below the tarmac surface.
*.Green rev counter leds: Sometimes the green rev counter leds on the steering wheel go out when they should not. It is single leds that go out, not the whole string. It can happen any of the four green leds, and in any game mode. Seems to happen more often when, but is not limited to, traction control is activated. Has not been observed in AI controlled cars.
*.Marshalls staying on track’s side: Sometimes the marshalls forget to leave the track after they have cleaned up an accident. The yellow flag zone does go away but the marshalls continue to stand by the track side for the remaining duration of the race.
*.Damaged car graphics not updated: After a crash that damages the car, then when you are put back into the pits by a marshall or player uses Shift”+”Q”, the repair car routine doesn’t always work properly. The damage model is updated, but the graphics are not. Hence, the car still looks damaged.
*.Season 2001 cars and drivers: Alex Yoong has the wrong helmet in the game. He has been given Tarso Marques’ helmet. The BAR cars have swapped numbers. In the game Jacques Villeneuve car has number 9 and Olivier Panis number 10. In the actual entry list for the F1 season 2001, Jacques Villeneuve’s car was entered as number 10 and Olivier Panis’ car as number 9.
*.MPH displayed in KPH: If Imperial units are selected in the menu setup, then speed is shown in Miles Per Hour (MPH). If the player then watches a replay with TV overlays on, then the speed measured in the speed traps is displayed in the TV overlays in Kilometers Per Hour (KPH).
*.Used tyres displayed in hex-decimal on the LCD screen: When player selects used tyres from the steering wheel, the tyre menu displays the amount of laps the tyre has been used in hex-decimal. For instance, 26 laps is displayed as 1A. When the tyre is selected and the player returns to the main menu on the steering wheel, the number of laps driven is displayed correctly.
*.Disappearing skidmarks: When racing with race distance set to 100 %, suddenly all the trackmarks (the burned rubber from wheelspin and skidmarks etc.) disappears; The track is clean again and no new marks are added.
*.Wheel disappearing: Sometimes, while driving or after loosing a wheel and going for a pitstop , one of your wheels disappears. You can still drive as if it was there, but it is not displayed anymore.
*.Car set up display: Car set up of two driver are not diplayed correctly: for Pedro de la Rosa the car set up available in driver screen is Alex Young’s for Alex Young the car set up available in driver screen is Thomas Enge’s
*.Car failures on LCD screen: If your car has several failures, they are all displayed superimposed on the LCD screen of the steering wheel.
3. Web Site
************At Infogrames, it is a priority to ensure that you have everything you need to get the best
out of your product. In fact, our web sites are designed to enhance your playing or
learning experience and not just be there to help if you have a problem. Therefore,
Infogrames has a full and exciting web site dedicated to ensuring you can see the latest
information, obtain technical support, download the latest upgrade, read the latest hints
and tips and a great deal more.
You can reach the site at:http://www.grandprixgames.com
4. Credits
***********Geoff Crammond’s Grand Prix 4 Credits
For Simergy
Game Design & Programming
Geoff CrammondPerformance Analysis & Test Driving
David SurplusFor MicroProse
Studio Manager & Executive Producer
Nick CourtProducer
Phil GilbertSoftware Engineering Manager
Nick ThompsonArt Director
Andy CookLead Programmer
Gareth JonesProgramming
Neil Alford
Jason Barstow
Jalea Clements
Simon Michael
Matt Patterson
Duncan Rooth
Jeremy Sallis
Nick Thompson
Jason TurnerAdditional Programming
Neil Duffield
Julian Foxall
Steve Haggerty
Tim RoundAudio Systems & Programming
Nigel BrownLead Artist
Andy CookArtists
Pete Austin
Carl Edwards
Maff Evans
Eddie Garnier
Lisa Godwin
Jeffrey Miranda
Greg Shill
David SmithTrack reference surveys
Norman SurplusAdditional Artwork
Halli Bjornsson
Noel UcheAudio Producer
John BroomhallOriginal Music
James HanniganAdditional Location Recording
Pete GuppyMotion Capture Studio Manager
Tony WillsMotion capture artists
Dave Hingley
Andrew Lee
Rob Millington
Mick SheehanAll motion capture undertaken with
the kind assistance of the Orange
Arrows Formula One Team.GPAEDIA VIDEO PRODUCTION
Featuring
Mark Hemsworth
Script
Mark Hemsworth
Ossi Oikarinen
Andy CookSound & Original Music
John BroomhallCamera
Matthew GrantEditing
Matthew Grant
Andy GriersonDirected by
John Broomhall
Andy CookProduced by
Phil GilbertTHANK YOU…
John Cook
Laura McNamara
Andy Rogers of Jemlar (www.jemlar.com)
Nvidia
Logitech
Steinberg Software for audio production systemsSPECIAL THANKS GO TO
the Orange Arrows Formula One Team for all their help during the development of
this productOffice Manager
Christine UphamAdministration Assistant
Pat Edwards