Gaming Age GPrixLegends Review

Watch any racing event on television, or attend one, and youll constantly be reminded of just how hard it is to control a car going at incredible speeds. Yes, it is a quite dangerous sport, but the risk the drivers put themselves at now is nothing compared to the earlier days of motorsports. Grand Prix Legends lets the player immerse themselves in the 1967 Grand Prix series, back when safety measures consisted of a small roll bar and a helmet. No computers, no traction control, no slick tires, sometimes no safety barriers on pit road. These men were really putting themselves at risk. The cars they drove had thin tires, volatile engines and no wings or spoilers for downforce. They were literally at the mercy of the track they were on. A great example of the inherent dangers of these old courses would be Monaco. A street course, the Monaco Grand Prix of 1967 was a risky one. Sidewalks along every street make the chance of hopping a wheel over the curb a pretty good one, which usually leads to a loss of control. If that werent bad enough, many of the lampposts remain on the racing side of the course barriers, head on collisions abound. Perhaps the most dangerous aspect is the fact that the only thing separating pit road from the racecourse is a painted yellow line. For anyone who doesnt know, pit row resides on the inside of a long, gradual turn at Monaco, meaning hugging the inside wall could lead to a multiple car pileup. Elevation changes on the course also pose a very real threat, as these cars seem to get airborne quite easily. Using Monaco as an example again, theres a small chicane after a very long straight that has a slight bump. This basically means you have to set up the turn quite early, hold on and hope for the best. The presentation of this title is phenomenal. Using a new 3D graphics engine, Papyrus has recreated the cars and tracks in stunning detail. This may sound strange, but my favourite aspect of the graphics is the tires. The white Firestone or Goodyear logos on your tires will spin in relation to how fast youre going, slowly becoming a blur as your speed increases. Hit a tight turn and your inside wheel will rotate a little slower than your outside wheel, which actually shows up in the game. It may seem like a small detail, but it means a lot to me, and its so realistic! The only other thing I would have liked to see them do with the in-car graphics would be to have the brake discs glow during heavy braking. To add to the presentation is the replay mode, and its gorgeous. At any time you can stop the race, practice, etc, and view a real-time replay of your event up to that point. It looks so impressive, and its possible to use different camera angles, save and edit all replays. Rounding out this impressive package is the sound. No music is present, and theres no announcer or pit-crew chief on the radio. Thats a no- brainer, considering these guys didnt use radios. What is there is the sound of your engine, and its superb. When you combine the authentic sound of this with the graphics, the sense of speed is second to none. You can also tell where opposing cars are by the sound of their engines, and also which make of car they are by the pitch of the engine whine. Papyrus has always been known for their incredible control of every aspect in their motorsports simulators, and Grand Prix Legends carries on the tradition. The physics model is totally new, the same one theyll be using in the upcoming Nascar 1999 Edition. The actual driving experience is very authentic. When navigating the various courses, you must take into account how thin your tires are, the fact they arent slicks and just how unstable and light your vehicle is. Going into a turn at top speed is almost always a fatal mistake, but learning to slow down just enough before each bend will get you around the track much faster and safer. There are multiple driving aids and difficulty levels to help the novice come to terms with the completely different way these cars handle. Featuring real drivers, real tracks and real cars, I really cant find anything worth mentioning that detracts from the incredible racing experience that is Grand Prix Legends. Formula One fans everywhere would be doing themselves a great favour by purchasing this title. My only suggestion is to buy a wheel/pedal combination, like a Thrustmaster T2, Microsoft or Guillemot Force Feedback wheel. Race fans will find the older cars a refreshing change from the myriad of F1 simulators out there. This is a game that even my race-sim-hating friends love. -- Greg Sewart *** Age Online is Copyright ? 1997. All Rights Reserved.

That's a cool idea. I hadn't thought of that. I'm not sure if the brakes on cars in those days glowed like modern ones do though. Anybody know? If they do it wouldn't be hard to add in a future patch, if one is neccesary. Just a couple of new mips in the car files and code to implement them when the brakes are used. > The only other thing I would have liked to see them do with > the in-car graphics would be to have the brake discs glow during heavy > braking. -- Ed Benson

>realistic! The only other thing I would have liked to see them do with >the in-car graphics would be to have the brake discs glow during heavy >braking. Brakes at that time didn't do that. Cheers! John

Actually, proper implementation of glowing brakes would require computing the temperature of the disc rotor. The intensity of the glow would have to change with the temperature as well -- thats if you want to stick to the GPL philosophy. Just like the tires do no smoke if you spin them, but only when the *** reaches the proper temperature. Furthermore, the amount of *** left on the pavement changes from the aforementioned spinning of the tires. We would not want to spoil GPL by adding fake rotor glowing or fake weather -- like rain. IMHO, Jason (aka Clapper in GPL!)

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> That's a cool idea. I hadn't thought of that. I'm not sure if the brakes on > cars in those days glowed like modern ones do though. Anybody know? > If they do it wouldn't be hard to add in a future patch, if one is neccesary. > Just a couple of new mips in the car files and code to implement them when > the brakes are used. > > The only other thing I would have liked to see them do with > > the in-car graphics would be to have the brake discs glow during heavy > > braking. > -- > Ed Benson

-- -------- Jason Monds (Please remove 'no extra spork' when replying)

I am almost certain that they did not glow under heavy braking like modern day f1 cars. Where as a 1998 f1 car may brake from 200mph to 50mph in just 100 meters, the cars of 1967 could not do that. They didn`t have those sorts of braking forces. The tyres did not offer enough grip, and if the brakes did get to those kinds of temperatures then they would more than likely break and disintegrate (they were not made of carbon fibre remember). I think at the most, you could expect a dull dark brown color.

I would bet that they did for the simple reason that I've seen several of my friends' street cars cause the discs to glow under hard braking. Only visible at night though. You don't need carbon fiber brakes to glow--at the ChampCar race in Houston the cars were making the brakes glow -IN THE RAIN- and I believe they use iron or steel discs. Clark (ace29 on TEN <-- but who knows for how much longer)

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>I would bet that they did for the simple reason that I've seen several >of my friends' street cars cause the discs to glow under hard braking. >Only visible at night though. >You don't need carbon fiber brakes to glow--at the ChampCar race in >Houston the cars were making the brakes glow -IN THE RAIN- and I >believe they use iron or steel discs.

You don't need carbon but you _do_ need high coefficient of friction between (a) rotor and brake pad material and (b) tyre and road. Your friend's street car with modern pads and tyres would likely out-brake these old cars, especially for a given weight of car. Remember, disc brakes were at the time a recent innovation....35 years development and things come a long way! Ben

That response gets me thinking, what kind of lap times can modern street machines turn at the ring? Especially fast ones like the 911 Turbo S or the Viper GTS-R! It would be beyond awesome to see what this year's McLaren could do there.... Clark A. on Fri, 16 Oct 1998 16:17:10 +1000, "Ben Coleman"

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>>You don't need carbon fiber brakes to glow--at the ChampCar race in >>Houston the cars were making the brakes glow -IN THE RAIN- and I >>believe they use iron or steel discs. >You don't need carbon but you _do_ need high coefficient of friction >between (a) rotor and brake pad material and (b) tyre and road. Your >friend's street car with modern pads and tyres would likely out-brake these >old cars, especially for a given weight of car. >Remember, disc brakes were at the time a recent innovation....35 years >development and things come a long way!

hehe what WOULD they do.. the ring is not like that anymore remember damn pity >That response gets me thinking, what kind of lap times can modern >street machines turn at the ring? Especially fast ones like the 911 >Turbo S or the Viper GTS-R! It would be beyond awesome to see what >this year's McLaren could do there.... >Clark A.