rec.autos.simulators

I wanted to buy GP4 at the time,
but a lot of you made me change my mind...

How is the state of the sim WITH the patch ?

Thx all

i just read some reviews on bhr.  it doesn't look good.

I reinstalled it just to check it out, and while I honestly dunno what
was fixed I'm enjoying it more than I did before.  Probably because I
can set up my controller and navigate the menus now. =)

Now that I can actually use the game without pulling my hair out, I
like it.  It's flawed to about the same degree as F1 2002 imho, but in
opposite ways.  Both suffer from the same "floating over the tarmac"
feeling.  F1 2002 has incredibly unreailstic tracks with high
frequency bumps that the engine just doesn't handle well.  GP4 has
great tracks but are smoother than I would expect from a modern sim.
F1 2002 has high-polygon models with crappy textures, GP4 has
low-polygon models and bitmapped objects but uses much more
pleasant/"real" textures.  F1 2002 doesn't model the knife-edge of
grip in a modern F1 car as well as it could but is still fantastic - a
modern F1 car will drift and slide which is good but the line between
grip/no grip seems too wide to me.  When the tires break loose it
seems relatively easy to catch the car and keep going if you aren't
overdoing it, when most driver accounts that I've read (not just from
F1 drivers, either) indicate that once a high-downforce car is past
the limit there's no dragging it back.  GP4 seems good at modelling
the fine line between being on the edge and having no grip at all that
is present in modern cars, but I wonder if drifting (which is possible
if you're lucky/careful) might be a bit harder than real life.  Both
sims seem to model torque well (i.e. a duffer like me might as well
put traction control on if I don't want to stuff it into the wall
leaving the pits =) and each has pros/cons in the braking model.
Miscellaneous is a mixed bag between the two, F1 2002 models gearboxes
better at least in the sense of each car having a fixed number of
gears (dunno if they go into more detail gearing-wise besides the
number and ratios tho, it would be interesting to see a sim model the
gearbox in more detail) while the wet weather model in GP4 simply
can't be touched by anyone.  F1 2002 has individual steering wheels
for each car, while I find GP4's on-wheel LCD easier to use.  

It's a shame there's no demo, because I think it's largely a matter of
taste as to which modern F1 sim you'll like more.  Personally, I think
they're equally good and equally flawed.  Right now I'm having more
fun with GP4, it's just more my cup of tea, but I would recommend
trying both of the current modern sims if possible before buying
either.

Here's the readme for the patch FWIW:

---------------------------
Geoff Crammond's Grand Prix 4
*****************************
Readme File (English)
Patch V9.6
November, 2002

1. How to install the patch
***************************

If you've obtained the Patch V9.6 from a website, unzip the file named
"GP4_patch v9.6.zip"
and run "setup.exe". "Setup.exe" will install the patch over the game.

If you've got the Patch V9.6 on a CD. Insert the CD into your CD-ROM
drive. If autorun is enabled,
follow all on-screen instructions. If autorun has not been enabled,
you'll have to double-click on
the 'My Computer' icon on the Windows Desktop, then on the CD-ROM
icon, and then click on
"Set-up.exe". Follow all on-screen instructions.

If you already got the old patch V4.0 on your computer,
you need to uninstall the game and reinstall it to be able to install
this new patch.

2. Patch V9.6 fixes
*******************

The following problems should be fixed with the patch V9.6.
If some of them remain on your computer, please contact us through our

website "http://www.grandprixgames.com" or through our hotlines.

2.0.1 Latest Info
*****************
Controller navigation cannot occur unless the user goes to the menu
set up screen and enables the option.
It is possible to navigate through the menus with a controller if the
steering, brake and accelerator are on controller A.
(user should only enable the navigation option if steering, brake and
acceleration are all using controller A.)

2.0.2 Controller
****************
For Wheels controller information, please refer to the "read-me Wheels
controller GP4" and the latest FAQ

2.0.3 FAQ (Frequently Asked Question)
*********
You will find the latest FAQs on our website
"http://www.grandprixgames.com"

2.1. Microprose fixes
**********************

List of Bugs that have been fixed in V9.6:

1. The game will install and run perfectly well at the first launch.
If the player quits the game and then returns at a later date the game
will not run again.

2. In the Drivers' select screen, Panis and Villeneuve's names are
swapped: Panis's photograph is displayed with Villeneuve's name and
vice-versa.

3. Season 2001 cars and drivers: Alex Yoong has the wrong helmet in
the game. He has been given Tarso Marques' helmet.

4. 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.

5. After a user plays the game for a  while and then returns to the
main menu he will find the mouse cursor is unusable, flickering and
jumping uncontrollably across the screen. This prevents the user from
entering and typing in filenames and selecting any other options.

6. 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.

7. 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.

8. 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.

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 Kilometres Per Hour
(KPH).

10. Used tyres displayed in hexa-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 for in
hexa-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.

11. Car set up display: Car set up of two drivers are not displayed
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.

12. When the player has activated the dynamic light at the maximum
resolution, then when the game loads the race (for example Monte Carlo
race on non race championship mode during the qualifying or the race),
the player has a back to windows. GE FORCE 3 Ti500.

13. TV overlay bugs:

13.1. When cars went into the garages some driver names would
subsequently sometimes be displayed as a series of blanks(squares) and
no timing information.

13.2. The intermediate and finish line displays were intermittent.

13.3. If the pole holder went into the garages then other cars times
would be compared to their own times instead of the pole time, with
the driver name on both sides of the screen (implying that there is
not yet a pole lap)

13.4. There was no split time difference display for the intermediate
1 and 2 positions.

13.5. The pole holder name and data appeared on the right side of the
screen (left in real life) and so the "viewed car" data was displayed
on the left when the intermediate 1 and 2 screens were displayed.
However when the car crossed the line the FINISH LINE display had the
"viewed car" data on the right of the screen (as in real life). So the
"viewed car" data would be on the left for intermediates and on the
right when it crossed the line.

13.6. The times stayed on the screen too long (for 16 seconds) and
became too far away from the actual track positions. Real life
durations of 8 seconds have been put in.

13.7. This patch fixed a crash to desktop caused by missing pit-props
(objects that the pitcrew use). If the pitcrew was just out of sight
then it could cause a crash.

List of Bugs that have not been reproduced after installation of the
patch V9.6 (should be fixed):

1. 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.

2. Sometimes the pit crew will not let player/AI car leave the pit
stop. Happens only in race mode. As a result the car is stuck forever.
When the team-mate pulls in for a pit stop later in the race, he will
park behind you and wait for his turn to be serviced. Thus the race
can never end since the two cars will never cross the finish line. And
even if they could, the race is pretty much destroyed anyway.
The only way to continue is to leave by pressing "Esc" and clicking on
"Accelerated time", but in this case, you've been obliged to abandon
the race. The bug can happen on any track, and on any lap.

3. Sometimes on the track (any motor ...

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