F1GP/WC TRACK GUIDES
Note that not all of these tracks are present in the current FIA
calendar, and most of the ones that are have been changed somewhat.
Still, after getting familiar with the ones that are still raced at, you
should feel quite at home riding with Michael Schumacher or Damon Hill
via their in-car cameras.
This section is biased towards the PC version. The track descriptions
are mostly valid for the Amiga and ST too, but the replays won't work
and there are minor differences in the track layouts.
1. PHOENIX GRAND PRIX CIRCUIT, PHOENIX, ARIZONA, USA
Moving down Jefferson Street, you brake for a right-hander into Madison
Street, then for a left-hander onto Jackson Street. Then comes another
left-hander, a right-hander, and a short straight down to the hairpin.
Then there's a right hander leading to a very fast right-left
combination, exiting onto the back straight, Washington Street, followed
by a right-left combination onto Adam(s?) Street. Then comes another
left-right, then a long, accelerating left-hander leading back onto
Jefferson.
2. AUTODROMO JOS CARLOS PACE, INTERLAGOS, BRAZIL
Moving across the start/finish line, you brake into the left/right
Descida do Sol (now renamed the Senna S). This is a great place to try
an outbraking maneuver, but care should be taken not to tangle with
anyone leaving the pits, before entering the long left-hander Curva do
Solthat leads onto the Rete Oposta, a very long straight where there's
plenty of scope for slipstreaming. At the end of the Rete Oposta, you
brake for the Subida da Lago left-hander. You can try outbraking an
opponent into here but often they will simply drive into you. This
corner is followed by another left-hander taken at full speed, followed
by a short straight where you might be able to draft a car, before Ferra
Dura, a totally evil fast extended right-hander. This is followed by
Laranji, a slow right hander which is made tricky both by the AI cars,
who brake ridiculously early for it, and by the fact that there are no
brake markers, which will typically result in the inexperienced driver
under-braking and ending up mowing the grass. Immediately after comes
Pinheirinho, a slow left-hander where you may just be able to slip past
an opponenet, especially on the exit where you may be able to blast
through on the left before they move over for Bico de Pato, a right-hand
hairpin where late-brakers are again liable to end up on the grass. Then
comes Mergulho, a left-hander which with a light fuel load (or a
high-downforce setup) can be taken flat out. After a short straight you
come to Jun ao, a left-hander which exits onto Subida dos Boxes, the
segmented curves which form the start/finish straight.
3. AUTODROMO ENZO AND DINO FERRARI, IMOLA, ITALY (SAN MARINO)
After crossing the line you sweep left into Tamburello, a full-speed
left-hander. Then comes Rettifiolo, a right hand flick, and Tosa, a slow
left-hander. A right-hand flick leads into Piratella, a fast left,
followed by another left leading downhill to Acque Minerale, a
left-right-left combination. Moving back up the hill you flick left,
then pass through the fast right-left Variante Alfa chicane. Then comes
a full-speed right hander, another left-hander, before going back
downhill into Rivazza, a pair of medium-slow left-handers. Then comes a
short straight before Variante Bassa, a fast right-left chicane,
followed by Traguardo, a slow left-right chicane leading back onto the
start/finish straight.
4. CIRCUIT DE MONACO, MONTE CARLO, MONACO
The first corner is Ste Devote, a medium speed right-hander, followed by
a "straight", Montee de Baue Rivage, which winds left-right uphill, past
Roses Bar and into the Massenet left-hander, followed immediately by
Casino, a slower right-hander. Then comes a short straight leading down
to Mirabeau, a right-hander, followed Loews, the very slow left-hand
hairpin. Then comes a right-hander followed by another, Portier, which
exits into the tunnel, a long sweeping right hander. After that comes
Nouvelle Chicane, a left-right followed by a faster right-left, exiting
onto a short straight before reaching Tabac, a fast left-hander which
tightens suddenly into the swimming pool complex, where you weave right,
left, left, right, before sweeping left into the Rascasse double
right-hander. A tiny straight leads to Antony Noghes, a right hander
which exits onto the right-hand sweeping start-finish straight.
5. CIRCUIT GILLES VILLENEUVE, MONTREAL, CANADA
Accelerating across the start line, you sweep left round T1 at full
speed (unleess you see computer cars trying to draft each other),
braking just for the Island Hairpin, a tight right-hander which is a
good place for outbraking. A short straight follows where you might be
able to pass, then you flick through T3 and T4, which form the first
chicane, a very fast right-left comination, followed shortly by T5, a
right hand flick. Brake into T6, slowish left-hander, followed
immediately by T7, a faster right hander. It is possible to outbrake
someone into T6, but a better plan is to wait until the straight that
follows T7 and slipstream past them, or outbrake them into T8, a
right-hander which, with the left-hander T9, forms the second chicane;
watch out for the computer cars trying to outbrake each other here, as
one of them usually ends up on the grass. The next straight has a
left-hand flick, after which you can get a tow and outbrake opponents
into the Pits Hairpin, a slow right-hander. If you're still stuck behind
someone, now is a good time to try to out-drag them because the track
narrows and sweeps at full speed through the rapid right-left-right
combination of T11, Casino Bend, and T12, before coming up on the pit
entrance. Finally you fly through the tricky final chicance, T14/T15;
watch out for computer cars trying to slipstream each other here, as it
invariably ends up with one spinning.
6. AUTODROMO HERMANOS RODRIGEUZ, MEXICO CITY, MEXICO
You fly down the very long main straight before coming into a medium
speed left-right-left combination where with skill you can outbrake
other cars. If you are still behind someone upon exiting, you can get a
tow and pass them on the subsequent short straight, and perhaps try
another outbraking move as you enter the nasty fast right, slow left
combination waiting at the end. Then there's another short straight
followed by a slow right-hander, which leads into the Esses, a series of
increasingly fast turns going left, right, left, right, left, right,
left before exiting onto the back straight, to move past the
pit-entrance and into Peralta, a terrifyingly fast right-hander which
leads back onto the main straight.
7. CIRCUIT DE NEVERS, MAGNY COURS, FRANCE
Moving across the start/finish straight, you sweep left at high speed
round Grand Courbe, where it's not advisable to try and get alongside an
AI car as they're likely to move over into you. Then comes Estoril, a
right-hander which leads onto the main straight, Golf, which is divided
by two slight right-hand kinks where you do not want to be alongside an
AI car. At the end of Golf you come to Adelaide, a very sharp right-hand
hairpin where it's easy to outbrake a whole load of AI cars at once. A
brief burst of acceleration must be curtailed whilst you pick your way
through a right-left-right combination called Esse. A short straight
leads to N rburing, a right-left chicane taken at full speed, followed
by the unimaginatively titled 180 Degrees, a left-hand hairpin. Next is
another straight where it's possible to do some more slipstreaming, but
be careful to get back over to the left of the track before Imola, a
high speed right-left chicane followed by Ch teau d'Eau, a moderately
slow right-hander where you may be able to outbrake one or two cars
before exiting onto a short straight which leads to Chicane, a
right-left chicane just before Lyc e, the very sharp right-hander which
leads onto the start/finish straight.
8. SILVERSTONE, NORTHAMPTONSHIRE, GREAT BRITAIN
Crossing the starting line you approach the famous Copse, an extremely
fast right right-hand bend followed by a short straight. Weave through
the Maggots/Becketts right-left-right combination. The Becketts
right-hander is followed by Chapel, which leads to the long Hangar
straight. Coming next, sitting atop a rise, is Stowe Corner, a double
apex right-hander followed by the Vale complex (a short straight and a
fast left-hander and slow right-hander), then by Club corner, a fast
left-hander, onto Abbey straight, followed by a left kink onto Farm
Straight and a very fast right called Bridge. Then there's a slow
left-hander, Priory, followed by another, Brooklands, then an anonymous
right hander, and Luffield, a second right-hander leading onto Woodcote,
a flat-out right hander which forms the grid and leads back onto the
start/finish straight.
9. HOCKENHEIMRING, HEIDELBERG, GERMANY
The start line is followed by a flat-out right-hand flick onto a long
straight leading to Schikane 1, a slow right-left chicane followed by a
sweeping right hander leading round to the second chicane, a medium-fast
left-right followed by the Ost Kurke, a fast sweeping right-hander. Then
another straight leads to Schikane 2, a very fast left-right chicane and
a left-hand flick at the exit. Another straight leads down to the
Agipkurve, a fast right-hander, followed by Sachskurve, a slow
left-hander. Then you wind through the Stadium complex, right, right,
and right through the Opelkurve and back over the
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F1GP/WC QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
WHAT MACHINES IS IT AVAILABLE FOR?
The game was first released on the Amiga and ST with the PC version
following around a year later. The Amiga and ST versions can both be run
of disk and do not need hard drive installation.
GB: As far as I know there are two version of the game for the PC, F1GP
on floppies, which is supplied on 4 high density disks with optional
upgrade disks, and F1GP on CD, which is EXACTLY the same game but on a
silver disk. Do not buy this unless you don't have a floppy drive, since
it costs more and has no extra features. Quite what MicroProse is
playing at is unknown, but the CD version represents bad value for your
money.
The game is now reissued by Digital Integration on the PowerPlus budget
label.
DG: Having played both the Amiga and PC versions, I noticed some
important differences. First, some of the tracks are physically
different, Monaco and Imola at least. Second, perhaps because of the low
frame rate or different control routines, the car is much, much harder
to set up on the Amiga than the PC; it's very hard to feel whether the
car has any under- or oversteer. It's also much harder to time the
turn-in points properly, as Ivanhoe's explanation of frame rates above
predicts.
WHAT SORT OF PERFORMANCE CAN I EXPECT ON MY PC?
Here is a rough table of machine against performance:
Machine Memory Detail Process Speed
-----------------------------------
P90 8mb 4d T 35% 25fps (DG's tower of power w/ PCI K64)
486dx266 8mb 4d T 70% 25fps
486dx266 4mb 4d T 60% 25fps
486dx266 32mb 4d T 53% 25fps (Pete F's Dan4Win w/ Spea V7 VLB)
486dx266 16mb 4d NT 35% 25fps (Nigel Bovey's)
486dx266 ? 4d T 70% 25fps (MBP's under OS/2)
486dx33 ? 4d T 90% 25fps (Graham A's)
486sx33 4mb 4d NT 66% 25fps
486dx250 24mb 4d NT 95% 25fps (Paul Smyth's w/ ISA ET4000-W32)
486sx25 4mb 4d NT 100% 25fps (a DELL)
486sx25 ? 4d NT 80% 25fps (Nightshade's oldie)
486sx25 4mb 4d NT 100% 23fps (Ben Lester's)
486sx25 2mb 4d NT 100% 21fps
386dx40 4mb 4d NT 100% 20fps
386dx40 2mb 4d NT 100% 20fps (possibly optimistic)
486dx250 24mb 4d NT 100% 18fps (Paul Smyth's w/ ISA S3-924)
386dx33 8mb 4d NT 100% 17fps (DG's old faithful w/ T8900CL)
386sx20 2mb 1d NT 100% 15fps (Max Behara's)
386sx25 2mb 4d NT 100% 14fps (Stingray's)
386sx20 2mb 4d NT 100% 8fps (Max Behara's)
It appears that as long as you have at least 2mb of RAM, the actual
amount makes absolutely no difference. The difference between the two
DX2/66s above is attributable to graphics card alone; see the difference
between Paul Smyth's machine with two difference graphics cards
installed. DG: IMHO if you have a 486SX/25 or better with a VLB or PCI
graphics card you should be able to crank the frame rate right up
without texture; a 486DX2/50 or better will add texture without any
penalty.
The details level is shown by the amount of detail around the track, 1d
being the lowest level and 4d the highest, the other detail option is
the track shading, this is shown by T (track shading on), NT (no track
shading). The process column show the average processor occupancy as you
go around any track. This is just a rough estimate, but really shouldn't
go above 100% very much. The final column show the speed in frames per
pecond that this set-up allows.
Even on similar machines, several things will affect speed. A machine
with some external cache will outperform one without; the actual amount
of cache is probably not going to make much difference. Graphics card
performance also makes a big difference; a local bus card will run much
faster that an ISA card, and some cards have better DOS performance than
others (Cirrus Logic based cards are good, ET4000 and derivatives are
even better).
The general consensus seem to be that people would rather have it
running smoother, but with less detail, this shows one of the main
advantages of F1GP over IndyCar, in that it runs quickly on a slow
machine and smooth graphics are possible quite easily.
The Amiga version runs at a similar speed regardless of the machine's
capacity, about 3-5 fps, depending on circuit, even in the fastest 68060
system.
Does the performance vary on an ST? Mail me if it does.
So how does this affect lap times?
Short answer: it doesn't.
Long answer: it doesn't... directly. DG is in the fortunate position of
having both a P90 and a 386DX/33 on his desk (well, okay, the 386 is
under the desk...), and loaded identical copies of the game up on both
machines. The first and most obvious difference was that the game does
not do a good job of matching "real time" (measured on a stopwatch
during laps on qualifying tyres at Monaco). The first tests were done on
the 386. With 100% to 130% occupancy, the game's timer runs slow, being
about three seconds behind reality. With all the detail turned off and
the occupancy down to about 70% to 110%, it was about three seconds
ahead of reality. With the frame rate reduced and occupancy between 45%
and 75%, it was about 4 seconds behind. Then testing moved to the P90.
With maximum detail and about 33% to 44% occupancy, the timer was about
4 seconds fast.
Now, here's the crunch. Despite these differences, the lap times
reported by the game were very close, all in the 1:14.4 range. The game
was noticeably easier to play at higher frame rates and lower
occupancies. However, with very high occupancies (more than 200%, such
as on the 386 with texture turned on), the difference from real time
becomes very noticeable; the whole game runs in slow motion, and is
potentially easier to play as you get much longer to react. Ivanhoe
Vasiljevich came up with the superb (and very lightly edited)
explanation below.
[...] a high frame rate [as opposed to occupancy] may have its
advantages (my opinion, not proven!):
Using a frame rate of 25 fps means that you have 25 possibilities to
perform an action (eg. braking, accelerating) every second, whereas
driving with 16 fps only allows you 16 `slots' per second, to brake,
for example.
Assuming that a typical braking maneuver begins at 300 km/h (188
mph), this equals a speed of 83 m/s, so that at 25 fps you can take
action (brake) every 3.3 m as opposed to every 5.2 m when using 16
fps. (Using an even lower frame rate naturally worsens the
situation. At 8 fps the distance between two points of action is
10.3 m!) During a normal lap including many braking maneuvers, this
may affect the overall performance, not to mention techniques like
pulsing the throttle.
In my opinion it would be best to turn off as much detail as
necessary and increase the frame rate as high as possible. (It may
not look as cool, but honestly, who has got the time to enjoy the
beautiful panorama when chasing a new lap record?)
WHY DOES THE INSTALLATION FAIL ON THE PC?
When installing the game unpacks some large files. On a fragmented hard
disk there might not be a large enough free block for them and the
Installation will crash with a very unhelpful message. Just run a
defragmenter on the hard drive, such as Norton Speed Disk or the one
supplied with MS-DOS 6, the game should then install no problem.
Another potential problem pointed out to me is that the game copies all
the Data files onto hard disk before decompressing them, and this
effectively doubles the amount of space it uses at installation time, so
make sure you have plenty of free hard disk space, as this will cure
both this problem and the one above.
WHY DOES THE FADE BETWEEN SCREENS TAKE SO LONG?
We don't know, but it's awful isn't it? DG: On the Amiga I believe there
is a patch to help cure this; on the PC I run from a Windows DOS box
with the Exclusive option selected, which for some reason speeds it up.
I think it must have something to do with timer emulation because under
Windows NT I have Hardware Timer Emulation turned on and it fades slowly
again. Version 1.03 and earlier on the PC seem to use a different fading
technique to later versions (bitmapped rather than palette) which is
faster on faster machines. The Technical FAQ has some C source to remove
the fading on the PC.
WHY DOES THE GAME SOMETIMES SLOW DOWN?
The graphics for generating the pit-lane are quit complex and so your
occupancy will always rise when in the pits, though this isn't usually
too much of a problem. The only other place where the game seems to slow
is the back straight at Phoenix and the second straight at Hockenheim.
The slow down at Phoenix is probably due to the large buildings it has
to draw, the one at Hockenheim because of the number of trees. Turn down
the detail if you notice a slowdown and don't like it.
WHO DOESN'T IT SAVE MY LAP RECORDS & SETUPS?
Qualifying records are only saved after a complete event; if you aren't
interested in the race, you must still go to it, then immediately press
escape and accelerate time. After a quick race, you must wait wait until
it says "race over" and goes to the post-race menu. In both cases you
will be able to select the "lap records" option and should see
"(Record)" in yellow under any new records. Race records set in races
shorter than 100% distance will not count. To actually save them for
posterity, you must exit to the main menu, go to "load/save game", and
select "save track records". On the Amiga, you must load them by hand
every time you start the game; on the PC, there is an option called
"startup files" which
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: ....Best of all, have user profiles, so that several people who share
: the game on a single machine don't have to change the options all the
: time.
You can do this with WCLAUNCH. Each person can have their own preference
file (f1prefs.dat) and load it before playing.
You just can't do it from within the game.
