SimHQ.com - Motorsports Zone - F1 2002 Mods

Other mod development team projects to note include the "M3 Challenge" mod which is in many ways similar to the 360 Challenge, but using the BMW M3. They handle very differently from any of the other cars and this mod is well worth close examination especially if you love close racing or touring car racing! It should be the first choice for the novice race driver not used to handling a racecar at the ragged edge of grip and oversteer. It has just enough power to provoke a minor level of oversteer on perhaps 30% of the corners but because you are going slower, in a heavier car, with a smaller engine, it's much easier to drift through a corner and catch it again ("loose" for you NASCAR guys)! Its physics show you exactly what is happening with the car since you have a softer suspension set-up than the GT cars. Bottom line — it's fun as heck for the novice and expert alike but also a great way for the novice to learn to handle these cars being simulated with such realistic handling.

Yet another is the BPR 96 mod which replicates the 1996 season. Featuring the Lotus Esprit V8 Turbo, the McLaren F-1 "road super car" (not to be confused with their substantial Formula 1 projects) the Ferrari F-40, and Venturi. This particular mod is ideal for people with lower spec computers as it was actually created on and optimized for use on a 1GHz CPU with a GeForce 2 video card. It works outstandingly and seeing those cars blast around the tracks is truly a sight to behold! One nice feature not seen in the other mods is the glowing disc brakes, and blurry wheel rims when the car is at speed. Again, if you have a old tired computer, this particular mod is the one for you but even if you've got the latest and greatest system, get this one anyway: It's free, it works as advertised, it has great physics and visual car models. You'll find you need to blip the throttle for downshifts though.

Although many sims and games have featured skins made by fans the quality of 4th party skins is nothing short of outstanding, equalled only by the Strike Fighters community in flight sims. Another issue that helps ensure the longevity of this group of mods is the number of tracks is increasing with 72 tracks currently available and many more in various stages of development. Contrast that with most commercial sims today that usually ship with 12 or less tracks, and that's something to consider.

What's next?

So you might wonder where this all leaves us for the future. First, there are a great number of mods in development which will be for the soon to be released sequel to F1 2002 named EASports F1 Challenge. It's developed by ISI and published by the big guys at EA. It will feature a number of improvements that will benefit these mod projects a lot. Not the least of which is still better physics, significantly better multiplayer experience because the code has been completely rewritten, a much better damage model, better graphics and some other details that will enable better implementation of historical mods. For instance, dial gauges for the cockpit...something that the current version doesn't support.

Mod projects you can look forward to with the successor to the core sim F1 2002, include (but most certainly aren't limited to: Historical Touring Car Championship (those old UK amateur car races in the 60's) , Classic Trans Am (monstrous V8 Fords, GM's and Dodge Challengers, circa 1970), a sequel to GT Racing 2002, the GTX5 (Capris, "Moby Dick" Porsche 935), and for you Formula Fans, "F1 77" the 1977 season including the JPS Lotus. There is also a couple of screens of classic CAN-AM Thunder cars, like the M8 McLaren monster so maybe a mod of that one will be forthcoming too. I hope so! With 72 tracks and many more are on the way, such as Australia's Bathurst and a more detailed better version of the old Nurburgring north track. Older tracks can be updated for F1 Challenge with a new utility from the Racing Sim Developer's Group (RSDG).

Bottom line...If you like racing, or racing games, or just like nice cars, you simply can't go wrong with this one. Particularly since the source game is now in most store "bargain bin's" and these mods are not only free but getting quite popular. Buy the game not only for Shumacher and Montoya but for all the amazing mods that are already done and the ones in development. No sim or mod is absolutely perfect but these come close. Certainly closer than we consumers have a right to expect from our fellow enthusiasts! In today's age when buggy sims are being forced to be released before they are ready, this whole community of mods makes for a breath of fresh air.

What do I need to get started?

Buy a copy of EA's F1 2002. It's now available in bargain bins for a really modest price, install it, configure the 3d settings, create a driver, take an F1 for a spin 'round a track, then you can look at installing GT Racing 2002.

At SBDT...

Download GT Racing 2002 (256MB) and it's v1.2 patch (51MB). Look in the "GT Racing 2002 Forum", where you will see the pinned threads at the top, "SBDT are very proud to announce GTR2002!!", and in the first post you will see links for downloading. It's a big file, so it's going to take a while. Also, some of the links may not work as well as others. I think I got mine from a FilePlanet link.
Installation: follow "GT2002 Installation procedures" thread just underneath the "proud announce" thread and follow to the letter. If you have problems, post the problem in one of those threads very quickly, with as much information as you can. You will likely have an answer quite quickly! Be sure to turn "pitcrew" to "low", as this seems to interfere with online session crashes.
Download: 360 Challenge (46.4MB), and it's own patch v1.1, all available on the main intro page. The help thread is in the same "GT Racing 2002 Forum".

Download the Nurburgring Nordschleife track...the king of tracks...21km of roller coaster mountain roads that the real GT cars do an endurance race on. Combining this with today's F1 circuit. It's seriously unforgiving to the tune of several fatalities per month...but to the speed freak, it's nirvana! Not a particularly pretty version, but a very wild ride it's the same track converted from GPL. I've tested it in GT, F1, M3 and BPR 96). More on the real Nurburgring track is located here and here.

Download extra tracks and take note of new mods for EA's F1 2002 here.

Download F1RST2 here. It's the most advanced online race management tool for F1 2002 and all it's mods. It is a complete replacement for GameSpy and the built-in game search lists

Visit "OldFarts" here for driving tips, tips on the physics of racing, and car setup tips and help.

Look at the real GT cars here.

Download BPR 96 Endurance Series mod, (59.9MB) here.

Download M3 Challenge here. The readme file for M3 is located here.

The SportsCarRacing mod is brand new and available here.

Many F1 2002 mods have active forums here at RaceSimCentral. It boasts the largest number of registered users for racing simulation sites. Mods such as CTA, BPR 96, M3, GTX5 and others have forums their.

This list is by no means complete, but it does offer a few links to get started.

Ferrari photo courtesy of "U-96". Special thanks to "U-96" for the Ferrari images the article pages. You can see more of his Ferrari photos here in the Forums.

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