>It looks like we have a new F1 manager game available (at least in Finland).
>I saw a box of game labelled "F1 Manager" in a local computer shop. I didn't
>look it too closely, so I can't tell what it's machine requirements, etc are,
>but at least it has nice silver colored fonts in the cover;-)
>More seriously: Has anyone bought it, or read an review about it? How
>detailed it is, and in what areas? In my opinion Microprose's GP Manager
>seemed to be too technical (car setups). Driver selections and sponsor
>negotiations were on background, although they should be a major part of team
>managers work.
>Pasi.
The game is by Europress and is certainly available in the UK too. I
bet the publishers feel a bit stupid as they have Villeneuve plastered
all over it ;-)
I bought the game a couple of weeks ago but haven`t played it a great
deal. It certainly seems detailed as to building the car. Much like
GPM you select different modules for your car as you see appropriate.
Unlike in GPM you are given plenty of data about them including
weight, volume, downforce and stability. You can have your own parts
designed and built specifically if you have the resources or buy off
the shelf parts. As in GPM the actual set up is very limited being
just tyres, fuel load, wings and suspension. It seems like you should
be able to change brake balance but I haven`t found anyway to yet.
There appears to much more to managing your finances in GPM (where I
could often make 5 to 10 million pounds profit in a season.)
Negotiating with sponsors is much improved over GPM. You contact
potentials, they tell you how much they can afford, you tell them how
much space you will offer for that amount, they say whether they will
accept or not and so on. As to other aspects of finance I haven`t
played it enough to make a judgement.
During practice and races you do the usual driver management stuff of
deciding pit stratagies and telling your driver what style to adopt.
You can choose to let your mechanics do your pit stops or do them
manually (supposedly in real time). Races are viewed from TV style
cameras but a BIG disappointment is there is no collision detaction in
the graphics routine so rather than cars passing each other they
simply drive through one another. I`m guessing that this would make
tactics such as trying to block a car attempting to pass useless.
I`ve noticed a few innacuracies such as Lagorce driving a Forti and
the Jordan team being in 95 Livery despite the game being based on the
96 season. There is supposedly a huge driver data base including many
drivers from F3 and F3000 series although I am yet to see them. There
are plenty of ex-formula one drivers though.
Mark
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"..every lap I think `Oh bollocks!
This is dreadful..`" Damon Hill
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