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F1 Challenge '99 - '02
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Installation
and Setup
The installation
manuals contents are virtually the same between F1 2002 and
F1C. A few items of difference stand out. While the minimum
specifications remain relatively the same, look at the difference
in the recommended system requirements between F1 2002 and
F1C.
F1 2002 and F1C minimal system
specifications:
| Operating System |
Microsoft Windows 98, ME,
2000 or XP Pro/Home |
| Processor |
F1 2002: CPU - 400 MHz
Intel Pentium II processor, and for F1C - 450 MHz or better
Intel Pentium II or 100% Compatible |
| Memory |
128 MB or better |
| Hard Drive |
F1 2002: 250 MB plus space
for saved games, Windows swap-file, and DirectX 8.1, and
for F1C: 1 Gigabyte free space |
| CD/DVD Drive |
4x or better |
| 3D Accelerator |
16 MB or better DirectX
8.1 compliant |
| Sound Card |
Direct X 8.1 compliant |
| Game Controllers |
Direct X 8.1 compliant |
F1
2002 recommended system specifications:
| Operating System |
Microsoft Windows 98, ME,
2000 or XP Pro/Home |
| Processor |
500 MHz or faster Intel Pentium
III or AMD Athlon processor |
| Memory |
256 MB or more RAM |
| Hard Drive |
1 Gigabyte free space |
| CD/DVD Drive |
8x or faster CD/DVD-ROM drive |
| 3D Accelerator |
32 MB or greater supported Direct3D
video card |
| Sound Card |
Direct X 8.1 compliant |
| Game Controllers |
Direct X 8.1 compliant |
F1C recommended system specifications:
| Operating System |
Microsoft Windows 98, ME,
2000 or XP Pro/Home |
| Processor |
1 GHz or better Intel Pentium III
or 100% Compatible |
| Memory |
256 MB or better |
| Hard Drive |
1 Gigabyte free space |
| CD/DVD Drive |
4x or better (...that's
what the readme says) |
| 3D Accelerator |
ATI RADEON Series
Matrox G400, G450 & G550
NVIDIA GeForce Series
NVIDIA GeForce 2 Series
NVIDIA GeForce 3 Series
NVIDIA GEFORCE 4 Series
POWER VR KYRO 2 Series |
| Sound Card |
Creative Labs Soundblaster Series |
| Game Controllers |
Act Labs Force RS Racing System
(Wheel/Pedals).
Ball Racing Interactive Speed 7 (Wheel/Pedals)
Gravis Xterminator & Eliminator (Gamepads).
Logitech Momo Force (Wheel/Pedals) & Wingman Series
(Gamepads Joysticks & Wheels/Pedals).
Microsoft Sidewinder Series (Gamepads, Joysticks and Wheels/Pedals).
Saitek R440 (Wheel/Pedals), Cyborg 3D Force & X-45
(Joysticks).
Thrustmaster 360 Modena (Wheel) |
F1C was tested using the following
system:
| Operating System |
Microsoft Windows XP Pro,
Direct X 9.0b |
| Processor |
AMD Athlon XP 2700+ |
| Memory |
1 GB Corsair 3200 DDR |
| Hard Drive |
40 GB Western Digital,
WD400JB |
| CD/DVD Drive |
Creative 52x CD-ROM |
| 3D Accelerator |
ATi Radeon 9700 Pro 128
MB, v3.7 drivers |
| Sound Card |
Onboard sound (A7N8X Deluxe
mainboard) |
| Game Controllers |
Logitech Wingman |
The 56-page F1C reference manual has
some revised layout sections compared to F1 2002, but for
the most part it's the same. You still get the great car setup
menu references again wonderfully presented. Appendix A discusses
"Technique" and Appendix B presents "Vehicle
Setup". A hint about the setup section — it's a
good start but not enough.
If you have F1 2002, you know the
drill. The installation procedure is the same for F1C. You
still setup the graphics from the separate menu outside of
the main menu. On the test system, screen resolution options
went from 800 x 600 x 16 up to an eye-watering 1600 x 1200
x 32 on the test system....which is much more than this test
system can handle with full graphics and a full grid. For
the review, both 1024 x 768 x 32 and 1280 x 960 x 32 were
tested. 1280 x 960 x 32 was settled on as the final testing
resolution.
 Gone
is the option to select FSAA from the graphics setup menu.
F1C depends on you setting-up FSAA from the system's "Display
Properties". Matter-of-fact, EA recommends you don't
run FSAA at all due to the frame rate hit. The enclosed F1C
"readme.txt" states in the Trouble Shooting
section, "Users with FSAA enabled on video cards that
support this feature may notice occasional minor graphical
issues — we recommend that FSAA is disabled when playing
F1 Challenge 99-02. FSAA is enabled and disabled using the
video card application provided by the video card manufacturer."
So you'll need to test this out for yourself. But I can confirm
that 4x FSAA and 8x Anisotropic Filtering worked fine on the
test machine with all graphics set to "High" and
"Full" settings, full grids and the 1280 x 960 x
32 resolution. While F1C is surely going to tax your system
more than F1 2002 did, it's safe to assume you can have smooth
racing at a decent resolution. Surprisingly, the "Triangle
Rate" is slightly lower for F1C than for F1 2002 on the
same test system.
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