Last updated - July 2008
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WHAT IS GP3?
Written by Geoff Crammond, GP3 (Grand Prix 3) is the latest in a series of modern Formula One based PC racing simulators and is an official product of the FIA Formula One World Championship. First, many years ago, there was Formula One Grand Prix (F1GP) otherwise known as "World Circuit". Then, released in 1995, there was Formula One Grand Prix Two (FIGP2 or GP2). Now, after an eagerly awaited gap, GP3 has arrived.
GP3 is based on the 1998 F1 season data. It has all the drivers, teams, cars, and sponsers from this period, and accurately depicts driving a modern F1 car. Indulge in a quick race, a practice session, a full race (including practice, qualifying, pre race, and the actual race itself), or go for the ultimate challenge, a full F1 season. GP2 was released just prior to the 3D graphics boom, and did not therefore support 3D effects. GP3 does support highly detailed software and hardware 3D effects.
The plan is to release regular "updates" to the GP series from now on, maybe even on an annual basis? So GP4 could be with us in about one years time, then GP5 in another year, and so on. These "updates" may be new full release versions of the GP3 program, or they may be "add-on" programs. Each upgrade should improve on the last, including updated graphics, team and driver names, season data, track information, etc. Hasbro has the official licence until 2002, so there is time for further updates, patches, etc.
SO WHATS INCLUDED IN GP3?
- Completely revamped physics engine, which allows 360 degree car spins in accidents.
- Variable weather effects, from light to heavy rain. And you can select the probability of rain in races. So you could start off with a dry race, which then turns into a wet race.
- Advanced 3D graphics and 3D sound effects.
- Force Feedback (FF) effects.
- Real crashes with *solid* parts falling/breaking off the cars.
- 8 driver aids, including auto brakes, gears, throttle & steering help, etc.
- Contact with pit crew via radio.
- Basic & advanced car set-up options, combined with realistic car handling and performance (Arrows F1 drivers said it was "spot on"!)
- Various camera views, both in the car, on the car, and external to the car.
- Drivers head moves as car accelerates or brakes, mimicking "G" forces.
- A virtual cockpit.
- GP3 developed with assistance from the Arrows F1 team.
Is the GP3 cars handling any good? - Well, the Arrows F1 drivers who tried GP3 said it was "spot on" so it must be pretty good. The cars performance is affected by your driving too, so if, for instance, you are driving hard, the engine may begin to overheat, so you will have to back off the throttle to allow it to cool down, or the engine may blow!
Whats all this about a virtual cockpit? - Well, the drivers view is constantly altered as the car drives along, the view is thrown forward slightly under heavy braking, and pushed back back slightly under hard acceleration, just like in a real car, altering the drivers view as it does so. Unfortunately, you cannot move the drivers head sideways, (like in GPL) but maybe that will become available in later version?
The cockpit also has a moving steering wheel, turn your wheel, and the on-screen wheel also moves. And the cockpit has many functioning features, just like a real cockpit. Engine rev lights to indicate when to change gear, Speed, gear, race position and current lap indicators, as well as car damage and fuel laps remaining indicators.
Solid parts falling off the cars? - Yep, crash and bits may fall or break off your car, and get this, they are solid bits, so if you (or anybody else) then drive into those parts they may cause another crash or damage the car or simply bounce out of the way.
The weather effects in GP3 are pretty awesome. Wet weather driving is great. The tracks have standing water in some areas, water spray in other areas. And a drying line appears after a while too, which means you have to drive in the wet parts to keep rain tyres cool!
The "Minimum" PC spec recommended to run GP3 is thought to be:
- Pentium 266Mhz Processor
- 32mb of Ram
- Windows 95/98/2000
- Compatible 3D Graphics card with DirectX 7.0
- 4x CD-ROM
- Sound Card compatible with DirectX 7.0
Forget it! In my opinion, GP3 will run pretty slow on this sort of system, and a lot of the graphic options will need to be turned off, you will have to use a low screen resolution and frame rates will suffer too.
The makers "Recommended" PC spec is thought to be:
- Pentium 400mhz
- 64Mb of Ram
- Windows 95/98/2000
- 8mb (+) 3D card support Microsoft Direct3D
- 4x CD-ROM
- Sound Card compatable with DirectX 7.0
However, people in the know, (EG: those with experience of F1GP & GP2) reckon a real ninja pc will be required to get the best from GP3. I have just built a new pc, and GP3 runs awesome on it, the spec is as follows:
- Athlon Duron 650 cpu (overclocked and running at 900Mhz):
- Asus A7V motherboard which supports Ultra ATA66 & 100/AGPx4/200Mhz busspeed:
- 256Mb PC133 "Crucial" SDram:
- 15Gb IBM hard drive supporting Ultra ATA66:
- 3Dfx Voodoo3 2000 graphics card (overclocked and running at 170Mhz):
- 17" SVGA monitor running in 32bit colour:
This set-up allows me to run GP3 at a decent resolution (1000 x 800) with pretty much all the graphics options on, and to run GP3 at the max frame rate (25) and the processor occupancy is almost always below 100% (except races starts, where it drops for a moment). This set-up is also great for my other PC driving games (GPL, TOCA2, Rally Masters, etc, etc).
- Check the processor occupancy (PO) - When in the car, press the "O" key and this shows you the processor occupancy, eg: how busy the processor in your pc is. Ideally you want the PO to be less than 100%. If the PO is constantly above 100% the graphics will stutter and the actaul time taken to complete a lap will actually take longer than indicated by your laptime, cos the computer effectively slows everything down to match the desired frame rate.
- Ensure you have high frame rates - This will help you to drive faster, high frame rates are better than pretty graphics. Try to ensure you have the maximum frame rates possible (25 fps by default) as this keeps the graphics smooth and you can see whats happening and react faster, and generally have better control of the car. If the frame rates are low, the graphics will be stuttering and the car will be jumping all over the place and is much harder to control accurately. If necessary turn graphic details off or down.
- Drive smooth - If you drive smooth, you will go faster, try to ease off the throttle and ease gently onto the brake, and accelerate and brake progressively, rather than just stamping on the pedals!
- Don't slide the car around too much - it looks good, but it isn't fast! Try to drift around corners without too much wheelspin or sliding, and look for the best line through corners.
- Learn how to set-up the car- The default car set-ups will only get you so far, and they are not very quick. As a general rule you can take off some downforce (reduce the amount of front and rear wing), lower the car (Reduce the ride heights) and increase the gear ratios to gain extra speed.
- You *HAVE* read the GP3readme.txt file in the GP3 directory haven't you? No? well go and have a look, cos it just might solve your problem...
- General graphics problems - Graphics corrupted? Screen flickering? Black triangles on the track? First, try updating your graphics card driver, (especially if you have a V3 card or a GeForce card) this will cure most problems. The GP3 CD has lots of graphic card drivers on it, so use them!
- Voodoo 2 card problem - This card is sometimes not recognised by GP3. Check the cards.txt file in the GP3 Directory to ensure the V2 card has been recognised, also try updating the V2 drivers (there are drivers on the GP3 cd). Also try the Voodoo2 Patch from HERE, look in the download section.
- Force Feedback (FF) effects not working properly - If you have a MS FF wheel, go to the download section below for a link to a MS FF GP3 set file. It may also help if you have Directx 7a installed, rather than Directx 7, as this provides better support for FF wheels. Also try turning *OFF* the "map Y forces to X axis" in your FF set-up screen/utility.
- FF latest: looks like an official patch is on the way? See above (Latest GP3 News)....
- Steering feels weird - Turn off steering help. If you have an analogue device (joystick or wheel) you should not have steering help turned on, it is designed to be used with digital devices only. You can turn it off from the driver aids function key [F8] while in the car, or from the main menu, options, driver aids screen. You may also want to adjust the steering low sensitivity zone setting and the reduce with car speed setting (see manual for descriptions) from the main menu, options, controls, advanced screen. NB: you must also turn off steering help from the main menu, options, controls, advanced screen. Set the steering help slider fully to the left (off) position.
- Really slow starts - This usually means you have too many graphics options turned on, or you have too high a screen resolution selected for your computer to cope with. At the start of a race, there is lots happening and lots of cars to draw, so its where your pc is working at its hardest. If its struggling to keep up, the start is where its gonna show up! Turn some of those graphics options OFF, and turn the screen resolutionn DOWN. You should aim for 25fps and PO of 100% or lower.
- AI cars not realistic - Set the AI cars to 1998 Level in the main menu, options, race options screen. If you have the AI set to random or all the same you can get ANY driver winning. If you want it realistic, keep it at 1998 level.
- Weird Replays - If you are using the "Increase GP3 Frame Rate" hack, this program may cause the replay feature to malfunction.
- Want to get rid of the intro sequence - Simply delete (or rename) the Intro4.bik file from the GP3\Anims directory.
- Want the GP3 no-cd Patch. FF set-up. 2000 Season updates. Increase frame rates, etc, etc - Get these utilities, files, and patches from
NB: These utilities may affect your GP3 replays!
www.grandprix3.com
- www.alphaf1.com
- B H Motorsports
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