Full length versions of Isle of Man (37 miles / 61 kms) and the Sicilian Targa Florio — a whopping 72 kms per “lap” which dwarves tracks like the old Nürburgring or Le Mans La Sarthe by comparison, are in the works as the restrictions regarding track length have been overcome. Furthermore, the limitation of 64 tracks in the .ini files is also falling to the prying and indefatigable modders.
Arturo explains:
“Standard GPL can´t run these long tracks, but the recently released versions of the '65 and '66 mods can run them. Nigel Pattison and other guys are working on add-ons for the 69 and 67 cars to also run long tracks. By the time these tracks are released, all current GPL mods will be able to run long tracks. There are other track projects in the making too, like Enna-Pergusa and a multi-season version of Mexico. Also Le Mans Bugatti will be enhanced, as will La Sarthe.”
An Updated Installer
Bernd Nowak, the installer wizard is working with new GPL installers. They will include not only the 11 original tracks, but also all the tracks needed by the 65, 66 and 69 mods, like Clermont Ferrand, Montjuich, East London, Oulton Park, etc. Many track makers have been contacted and they gave the ok, though there are still some other that are missing, but it is hoped to get this done very soon.
A work-in-progress: CanAm Mod McLaren M8F and Lola T260
Cars
Talking with Royale who is involved with making the cars he mentions that:
"GPL to me is possibly the only historic race sim any of us will see for quite awhile. Maybe a real GPL2 will emerge or maybe something unexpected. Because I'm not betting on that, I want GPL to be a living history of 20th Century motorsports. We've always had the tracks, and with the '65 mod and the amazing '66 and '69 mods we had the first steps. When the wizards came up with GEM, rasterizers and improved physics, even more realism was possible.
The only problem was the cars. They were the choke point imo on realizing what GPL could represent. The original cars could be edited by the gifted, and amazing textures could be applied. But you were building off the original 67s. Gustavo of 65mod fame started some cars for a '55 mod, but conversions of 3ds max to GPL 3do was and is a nightmare.
Being a purist I wanted the right cars on the right tracks. And when Rory Gibson started his '67 Sports Car mod I was finally going to get to drive Le Mans. Rory was able to draw beautiful cars in 3ds, export to ASE and was clever enough to use Phil Flacks 3do converter to get cars on track.
Seeing that it could be done in 3ds inspired me to partner with Shaun Collins of C3D Graphics who does games and online applications. Shaun took pity on me and was able to quickly finish plans and drawings I would send him.
At that point I thought a worthy goal would be to become a freeware 3ds "Scalextric" model producer/ Hobby Shop for GPL 3ds models.
Our notion is to accurately simulate all the great racing era's; Grand Prix and Sports Cars. Combined with forthcoming conversion and editing tools from Nigel Pattison and Phil this would hopefully allow more people to help.
So Shaun and I have completed models for GPL '35, GPL '37, GPL '51, CanAm '66 and CanAm '71 and Prototype/GTs for '64. Great guys like "Luna", Sergio and Martin have done the conversions, and to see these cars on track is amazing.
Some of our mods (CanAm '66 for now) will be mini-mods. They will only have slots for three cars — the Lola, McLaren, and the Chaparral — as opposed to the standard seven — to get them released earlier. AI fields can still be 19 but the time needed to make all the online skins would be so much less. Also it's possible that some mini-mods (the '35 mod has four cars, the '37 mod has five for example) could be combined and expanded into a single mod of the 1934-39 formulas. This could also be the case with the 1950's sports car stuff. Finally it's possible that some mods either because they are close in time to other mods (say '65 or '68 Prototypes) or special interest (a "what if" 1941 carset) may not have online cars at all.
My guess is Rory's Sports '67 will be next out.
CanAm '71 and GPL '51 should be releasable within a year (or less) of Rory's opus.
In Phase Two (released one day) you could have CanAm '66, Grand Prix Cars for 1935 and 1937 but possibly 1939 and 1941 as well. In Phase Three (released eventually) you have Prototype/GTs for 1964. Past that we're currently planning models for Sports Cars 1955 and 1971, and Grand Prix Cars 55 - 60. I must also do a 1961 Sharknose Ferrari, just because....!"
A Grand Prix Vanwall
These things take time and from my own experience being on the inside of the ‘69 mod team as a test driver, I found that Shakespeare’s musings about even the best laid plans of mice and men could be upset by some unforeseen development is as valid as when he wrote those lines. In the case of the ´69 mod, it was discovered how to include downforce and lift into the physics, delaying that mod as the new discoveries were incorporated into it.
What should be evident from this article covering what is happening behind the scenes in relation to Grand Prix Legends is the fact that modding is progressing at unabated speed and that there is still a lot to look forward to for the fans of GPL.
If the evidence of the past is anything to go by I wouldn’t really be surprised if one day we should see a new sound engine replacing GPL’s original, or perhaps even a new DX engine being written for GPL.
So, with GPL entering its second decade late October 2008, and at the time of writing these words in May 2009, I can’t wait for the next 10 years of GPL!
There are many more recent alternatives to GPL as a driving simulation, far more advanced on paper, in implementation and in features, but in spite of GPL being 10 years old and lacking in some areas, it still provides a unique and satisfying experience whether you choose to play offline or online.
Click here to see a Flash screenshow of over 50 new GPL cars and mods now in development!
Below are videos of the work-in-progress GPL F1 1951 Mod, F1 1955 Mod, and the 1971 CanAm Mod.
