Formula One Grand Prix

MicroProse · released 1991 · discussed in 4,221 posts, 1993-2011 · overall tone positive

Posts per month

Timeline

• 1993-12-09 The Internet World Drivers Championship, run in Formula One Grand Prix v1.05, published its Round 1 results from Monza. post post
• 1994-01-24 America Online announced IndyCar Racing and World Circuit simulation series open to internet entrants by email. post post
• 1994-01-26 The Internet World Circuit/F1GP Championship was revamped and opened to anyone under a new rules package. post
• 1994-01-31 An internet F1GP championship for Amiga owners began organising. post
• 1994-02-12 A new anonymous FTP archive opened with IndyCar Racing and F1GP patches, editors and league files. post
• 1994-03-12 Hyper Stimulator showed its Indy-F1 Clubman cockpit for IndyCar Racing and F1GP at the Melbourne Motor Show, priced at A$1495. post
• 1994-05-20 F1GP-Ed V1.0, the first shareware F1GP editor for the Amiga, was released on Aminet. post post
• 1994-06-24 F1GP-Ed V2.00 was released on Aminet with rewritten code, World Circuit support and many new features. post post
• 1994-10-10 MicroProse re-released F1GP on its UK budget label. post post
• 1995-04-19 Trevor Kellaway released GPEditor version 4 for Formula One Grand Prix and World Circuit. post post
• 1995-10-24 The F1GP/World Circuit PC Hall of Fame closed to lap-time submissions and was frozen. post post

Key threads

• Survey of legendary racing simulations 2000-04-18 · 54 posts
  Tim Wheatley surveyed readers for a planned history of landmark racing sims. Nominations included Revs, Indy 500, Accolade Grand Prix Circuit, F1GP, NASCAR Racing, ICR2, GP2 and GPL, along with Pitstop II, Hard Drivin' and Chequered Flag. Doug Milliken and others recalled 1960s model-board driving simulators.
• F1GP versus IndyCar Racing: game or simulation? 1995-10-24 · 46 posts
  A claim that F1GP was still the best driving sim set off a long debate. F1GP fans praised its atmosphere, editors, wet races and keyboard playability, while IndyCar Racing supporters argued its physics and detailed setups were far more realistic and that F1GP was arcade-like. Participants also argued over whether simplified car setup suits a 'driver's' sim, citing Geoff Crammond's view that the player is a driver rather than an engineer.
• F1GP car setups and a long brake-bias physics debate 1994-04-28 · 29 posts
  A player complained that downloaded F1GP setups did not suit him, and others advised building a setup around personal preferences. The discussion turned into a lengthy physics argument about brake bias, weight transfer, downforce versus weight and centre of pressure, citing Carroll Smith's 'Tune to Win'. Gordon Bell posted the F1GP/World Circuit FAQ v1.01, and a short meta-debate followed about whether vehicle-dynamics talk belonged in the group, with some arguing it was relevant to judging simulator realism.
• Debate over GP2 cockpit view and visible front wheels 1995-11-08 · 51 posts
  Discussion of the Grand Prix 2 cockpit view, which hid the front wheels and showed an animated steering wheel, split into F1GP and IndyCar camps. Some argued unseen wheels give better perspective, while others said they make judging curbs hard; a PC Zone interview was cited in which Geoff Crammond praised Papyrus's IndyCar Racing. Jim Sokoloff and Rick Genter of Papyrus explained that keys such as 'A' could not be remapped in NASCAR and ICR II because they were hard-coded, and the thread drifted into F1-versus-IndyCar racing arguments and memories of EA's Ferrari F1.
• PC Gamer's GP2 review sparks debate over F1GP physics and gravity 1996-01-25 · 41 posts
  Fraser Mun summarised PC Gamer's early review of Grand Prix 2, including claims about graphics and frame rates on a P90. Readers were sceptical of a first magazine review, and a question about whether F1GP modelled gravity turned into a long physics argument over mass, inertia, weight and friction. Fans of the Papyrus sims and of Crammond's games traded jibes about missing features such as clutch, stalling and cars rolling on hills.
• How to corner faster in World Circuit 1995-02-21 · 33 posts
  A player asked how to match the computer cars through corners in World Circuit. Replies recommended more front wing, rearward brake bias, braking in a straight line and pulsing the throttle, with debate about oversteer and track-specific technique; GPPerf .prf telemetry files were suggested as a way to compare driving. David Gymer called for track guides for the FAQ and Glenn Durd wrote a lap description of Adelaide. Late posts noted mail-order firms advertising 'World Circuit 2' prematurely, with posters confirming the sequel was not out and was expected later in 1995.
• World Circuit beginner questions on tyres, steering help and frame rates 1994-04-07 · 27 posts
  A new owner of World Circuit (F1GP) asked about tyre squeal, damage and turning off steering help. Richard Quer and others explained where the steering-assist option lives in the control menus, and a MicroProse reply was relayed saying tyre squeal indicates how hard the car is being pushed rather than skidding. The thread widened into a comparison of frame-rate settings and CPU occupancy across 286, 386 and 486 machines, with the 'O' key tip for checking processor load, plus a side note that IndyCar Racing ran far slower than World Circuit on a 486/33.
• Grand Prix 2 requirements spark F1GP versus Papyrus flame war 1995-12-12 · 22 posts
  Asked about Grand Prix 2 hardware requirements, a poster quoted MicroProse's minimum of a 486DX2-66 with 8 MB, while rumours said it needed a P90. The thread became a heated argument between F1GP loyalists and NASCAR and ICR II fans, spilling into insults about F1 and NASCAR fans, with a few posters saying they enjoyed all the games.
• Where to get GP1, and abandonware versus warez 2001-11-28 · 22 posts
  A request for Geoff Crammond's original Grand Prix (World Circuit) for a laptop was answered with a link to an abandonware site. Txl called this hypocritical given the group's stance against warez, and others defended abandonware for titles no longer sold, while some pointed out that GP1 was still available on budget compilations and from retailers. GP2 was suggested as a better option for a laptop.

Busiest threads

• F1GP versus IndyCar Racing: game or simulation? (35 posts about it)
• Debate over GP2 cockpit view and visible front wheels (24 posts about it)
• Anger over reports of no Grand Prix 2 update (16 posts about it)
• World Circuit beginner questions on tyres, steering help and frame rates (13 posts about it)
• PC Gamer's GP2 review sparks debate over F1GP physics and gravity (12 posts about it)
• Where to get GP1, and abandonware versus warez (11 posts about it)
• Grand Prix 2 track accuracy and 1994 chicanes (11 posts about it)
• F1GP Senna & Tamburello. Driver Error? (10 posts about it)
• Indy or F1GP (10 posts about it)
• Nostalgia for Geoff Crammond's Revs on the BBC Micro (10 posts about it)
• More ICR gripes (9 posts about it)
• *** F1GP-Ed V1.0 *** (9 posts about it)
• WC or ICR? (9 posts about it)
• Agressive Computer Cars in F1GP? (9 posts about it)
• How to corner faster in World Circuit (9 posts about it)

Sentiment by year

Each post that discussed the sim was rated from −2 (very negative) to +2 (very positive).

Who talked about it most

Michael E. Carver · 112 Dave Gym · 85 David Paul Gym · 72 Dave 'Gizmo' Gym · 65 Greg Cisko · 63 Oliver Rober · 59 Steve Smith · 54 ymenard · 52 Jo Helsen · 52 Doug Reichl · 42 John Wallace · 38 Stephen Ferguson · 36 John Slad · 36 Dave Henrie · 31 Wilfred van der Dei · 25 Brian Fergus · 24 Bruce Kennewell · 23 Fraser Mun · 23 TOBY BRANFO · 22 Peter Burke · 21

Search the archive for Formula One Grand Prix