SimHQ.com - Motorsports Zone - F1 2002 Mods

Ever clicked a shortcut to a mod just to find that the original F1 2002 starts instead? Or maybe the 3Dsetup program launches when you double-click to start you favorite mod! If you install many different mods on top of the same F1 2002 installation, you’re very likely to be experiencing one or both of these circumstances sooner or later. Before we look at this, let’s see what actually happens when you install a mod, where do the files go, etc.

Most mods come with an installer. Just double-click it, point to your F1 2002 folder and press ok. That’s it. There are some mods which you have to install manually. I won’t get into those here since there should be a readme file that explains what to do in detail.

Unique folders

So you have installed a mod and let’s use GTR2002 for our example. If you take a look in the F12002 folder you’ll see that you have lots of new sub folders, named...

“GTR2002anim”
“GTR2002log”
“GTR2002options”.

As you can see, there are folders called “anim”, ”log”, ”options”. Same names, but without the “GTR2002” prefix.

The GTR2002 mod has its own folders for everything. All the mods use F1 2002's original "F12002.exe" file to run the game but they use their own files and folders for cars/ tracks/ saves/ setups and so on. This is what makes it possible to have lots of different mods installed at the same time — they all use their own unique set of folders.



Screenshots from Virtua LM's LM93

The "ini" files

The mods add a shortcut to "F12002.exe" and at the same time add an extra "ini" file reference on the command line. You’ll find this reference by right clicking the shortcut, choosing properties then looking at the line saying“Target”. The command line for the original game looks like this on my PC:

”C:\games\F12002\F1_2002.exe”

When checking the shortcut for a mod it would say this:

"C:\games\F12002\F1_2002.exe M3config.ini”

This tells the program to use the "M3config.ini" instead of the original "config.ini". And what does the config.ini do? Simply put, it tells the game which folders to look in for the cars/ tracks/ saves/ setups/ etc. Also, it saves the information acquired from the 3Dsetup program.

So there are two main things to check when the mod doesn’t work (where xxx is the name of the mod)...

Does the shortcut to the mod have the added "xxxconfig.ini" on the command line?
Is the mod's "xxxconfig.ini" correctly configured?

GTR2002, for example, doesn’t have the GTR2002config.ini added to the command-line. This mod
has its own .exe file that starts the mod.

Answers to some common problems

Q: When I try to start the mod, the 3Dsetup starts instead. What should I do?

A: Most likely, the config.ini for that mod doesn’t hold the correct information for your graphic setup. The easiest solution is to copy this information from the config.ini file (F1 2002's original config.ini that's just named “config.ini”) and paste it into the xxxconfig.ini.

The lines you should copy/paste are these:

CPURATING=4
SYSTEMRAM=512
VIDEORAM=167
OBJDETAIL=3
TEXDETAIL=3
VIDEOGUID=D7B71E3E-41C0-11CF-2B67-02B000C2CB35
(Not this line, read below)
VIDEODRIVER=0
VIDEOMODE=63
WINDOWEDMODE=0
RUNBENCHMARKS=1
FSAA=0
VSYNC=0

The line: GAME_DATABASE=GAME.GDB which you’ll find where I’ve put (Not this line, read below) should not be copied since it shouldn’t be the same as F1 2002's original. Just keep it as is.

When you’ve pasted these lines, just close the xxxconfig.ini and click "yes" when it asks if you want to save the changes. Just to be safe, it's always a good idea to backup the .ini files beforehand.

Q: When I try to start the mod, F1 2002 starts instead! What should I do?

A: First, make sure the command line holds the info I mentioned earlier. Right click the Shortcut and look at the "Target" line. At the end of the line you should see a “xxxconfig.ini”.

Again the reminder...not all mods have this — only those that do not have their own .exe files.

Next thing to check is the xxxconfig.ini for the mod. The first ten or so lines of the .ini file
tells the program where to look for game files. Here's an example from GTR2002...

[COMPONENTS]
SEASONDIR=GTR2002SEASON\
SOUNDDIR=SOUNDS\
VEHICLESOUND=SOUNDS\CAR\
OPTIONSANIM=GTR2002OPTIONS\ANIM\
OPTIONSFLAGS=GTR2002OPTIONS\FLAGS\

The sound folders are shared with F1 2002, but the season/options and so on, folders are different. If it just says...

“SEASONDIR=SEASON02\” or “OPTIONSANIM=OPTIONS\ANIM\”

...in your xxxconfig.ini then it’s corrupt. This can be fixed, but it’s not easy. Unfortunately, the easiest "fix" is probably to reinstall the mod.

A suggestion. I backup my config.ini files as soon as I have the mod working. Then I can always copy/paste this information into the .ini if things go wrong.

If all seems ok in both the command line and the ini file, then try doing what I explained in the previous "When I try to start the mod, the 3Dsetup starts instead." question. You could also try to run the 3Dsetup program again. Possibly you have new drivers for your graphic card and that updated info hasn’t been recognized in the mod's config.ini?

Q: I’ve downloaded a new track for F1 2002, where should I put it?

A: Tracks are very simple to install. When you download a track, you’re probably sitting there with a .zip file. More often than not, you can just unzip it to the F12002/ season02/ tracks folder and you’re set. However, to be on the safe side I usually unzip the file to a temporary folder and check it out first.

If you want to be able to drive the track in a mod, just copy the folder of that track and paste it in the F12002/ ”modname”season/ tracks folder and you’re set.



Screenshots from RSDG's Sports Car Racing

Some additional tips to avoid problems

Here's a few more things you can do to lessen the risk of running into trouble with your F1 2002 mod installations.

Install F1 2002 multiple times! That’s what I have done. I have one installation running solely F1 2002 unchanged so I can use it online or for hot lap competitions. I have a second installation with all the mods installed. Just start another installation from the CD from scratch and install it to a different location on your hard drive.
Start the game after every new installation! Sometimes this is a must so that certain files are created such as save files, playerfiles and so on. This is also true after applying patches.
Make a backup of the config.ini files, that way you can go back if you run into trouble.
"Scandisk" (if you use Win98SE or WinME) and "Disk Defragmenter" are two programs you should use frequently. Defragmenting your hard drive takes a while, but it’s worth it! You’ll find them in accessories/system tools on the start menu.

Helpful links

Here’s some popular web sites if you need help or just to visit — they’re worth it!

Virtual Racer's Edge has lots of help and tips in general, and a very good section about GTR2002 called “GTR User Guide".

Simbin Development Team, the makers of the GT Racing 2002 mod amongst others. The site also has a very good forum where it’s easy to get/search for help.

The forums at RaceSimCentral. A good place to ask for/search for help. They have a section called “EA Games Simulation Discussion” which you'll want to visit.

There are more mods released than those mentioned previously. F1 2002 HQ is a good source if you want to see what’s currently available and what is in development. Lots of links to extra tracks too!

Click here to go to top of this page.