Grand Prix Legends Preview

Just when you think they can’t get any better, the gearheads at Papyrus are outdoing themselves again. Led by Papyrus co-founder and the father of PC racing simulation, David Kaemmer, the team behind Grand Prix Legends is taking the genre in a new direction – into the glory days of the past.

GPL will launch you back to 1967, to the days just before corporate sponsorship and high-tech aerodynamics invaded Grand Prix Racing. This was real racing – no chicanery, plenty of high-speed corners, and drivers who constantly risked their lives in the pursuit of victory. Including the actual teams, drivers, and cars from the 1967 season (such as the world-beating Lotus 49), GPL will challenge you to tame the greatest and most dangerous race tracks of all time.

And to ensure that this challenge is complete, Kaemmer has crafted an entirely new, fully 3D physics engine which will redefine the limits of vehicle dynamics modelling on the PC. The stated objective was to “put a car in the computer,” and that’s exactly what he’s doing. Highlighted by extremely accurate suspension and tire modeling – including wheelspin and locking brakes – this model will provide the most authentic simulated driving experience available.

The only thing more spectacular than driving these cars will be crashing them. GPL will make it possible for cars to be launched into the air, vault barriers, and tumble down hillsides. Disaster is never more than a few breaths away.

GPL will also feature the first full 3D cockpit in a racing simulation. Similar to the “virtual cockpits” found in flight simulators, this will allow you the most realistic perspective possible while also providing the ability to look left or right. And by modeling the forces acting on the player’s “head,” this view should communicate precisely what the car is doing at all times. Crest a hill and the cockpit drops down the screen, immediately telling you that the car is “light” and has less grip at that moment. Hit a wall and the effect leans more towards the dramatic than the informative.

To complete the experience, GPL is being designed for – though will not require – the latest generation of 3D accelerator cards, with native support for Rendition (such as Sierra’s Screamin’ 3D) and 3DFX chipsets. With this combination of features, GPL promises to immerse you in an experience more real than anything you’ve seen before.

Scheduled for release: Late 1997.