Relive DOS Era Racing in Automobilista With This Mod

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Formula One Grand Prix Mod for Automobilista.jpg
An updated mod for Automobilista allows players to experience what driving Formula One Grand Prix was like 30 years ago.

Niels Heusinkveld has released a physics update to the Grand Prix Evolution mod by Whillis that recreates the driving experience from Geoff Crammond's Formula One Grand Prix from 1991.

Many in the sim racing community are likely to have played the original Formula One Grand Prix from over 30 years ago, possibly as their first sim racing experience.

Geoff Crammond has game development credits going back as far as 1982, but is perhaps best known for 2002's Grand Prix 4. GP4 is considered by many to be the greatest racing title ever released.


Heusinkveld took Whillis' mod and applied revised physics that recreate the performance and handling of the cars from their DOS era.

The mod can even be appreciated with arrow keys or WASD on your keyboard, as it would have been in the early 1990's.

This is yet another example of the amazing creativity and attention to detail from our members here at RaceDepartment. If you like the mod, be sure to leave a like on the mod page and let us know in the comments below if this is something you're reliving, or something new to you.
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About author
Mike Smith
Mike Smith
I have been obsessed with sim racing and racing games since the 1980's. My first taste of live auto racing was in 1988, and I couldn't get enough ever since. Lead writer for RaceDepartment, and owner of SimRacing604 and its YouTube channel. Favourite sims include Assetto Corsa Competizione, Assetto Corsa, rFactor 2, Automobilista 2, DiRT Rally 2 - On Twitter as @simracing604

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M D Gourley
Premium
roadyroad said:
Not sure about this, I'm afraid I'll be disappointed. Maybe better just keeping good memories. Mmm curiosity!!! ;)
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Yes, I would have to agree with roadyroad on this one (personal opinion only)...as I am not a keyboard Sim Racer.:confused:, but this may appeal to those who do use keyboard only.

Great to see Mr Heusinkveld still keeping a hand in developing physics related Sim content that interests him.
...although I have not fired up AMS in awhile:) ...might have to now

P.S. No Steering Wheel support, No Buy....:rolleyes::redface::)
 
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R
M D Gourley said:
Yes, I would have to agree with roadyroad on this one (personal opinion only)...as I am not a keyboard Sim Racer.:confused:, but this may appeal to those who do use keyboard only.

Great to see Mr Heusinkveld still keeping a hand in developing physics related Sim content that interests him.
...although I have not fired up AMS in awhile:) ...might have to now

P.S. No Steering Wheel support, No Buy....:rolleyes::redface::)
Click to expand...
I think you can use a wheel. It is just that driving with a keyboard is effective as in the original game. Not sure there were wheel support in the original game, I used to play with a keyboard if I remember well. GP2 had wheel support. I still have the GP2 manual, explaining the driving lines on wet conditions. Nostalgia...
 
Jugulador
GP4 is considered by many to be the greatest racing title ever released
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Yeah... maybe Geoff Crammond's own mother or someone that has only played this game and/or the others in this franchise may think that. It wasn't the best neither when released... probably is not even the best in the franchise (considering that the first one at least was considerably advanced for it's time.

Anyway... if Niels made it, the mod should be really good.

Cheers!
 
K
Jugulador said:
Yeah... maybe Geoff Crammond's own mother or someone that has only played this game and/or the others in this franchise may think that. It wasn't the best neither when released... probably is not even the best in the franchise (considering that the first one at least was considerably advanced for it's time.

Anyway... if Niels made it, the mod should be really good.

Cheers!
Click to expand...
I always thought GP3 was the best.
 
Timothy Wheatley
That's a solid take. GP3 was absolutely great, but unluckily released at a generational leap in PC technology. Most of us at the time who kept up with technology still didn't have a PC capable of running it properly (people were only just installing video cards in their PCs, and you had 3DFX, NVIDIA, and more all squabling to give better performance). GP3 ran in slow motion for me upon release, and the game didn't handle that properly by allowing me to set a faster laptime in more real time than people whose sims didn't run in slow motion. This dis-credited it, bigtime.

The 2000 addon was also seen as a bit of a piss-take, being priced as basically a full game. Most of us at the time were downloading free mods, so a full-price addon didn't sit right.

GP4 is not that revolutionary compared to GP3, but it worked where GP3 hadn't upon release. People didn't go back and check GP3.
 
Jugulador
Kingkoenig said:
I always thought GP3 was the best.
Click to expand...
I liked GP2 and 3 even more than the original, but the original was way ahead from anything at the time. GP2 was way better than the original, but Papyrus had already launched two IndyCar Racing and one NASCAR Racing. At GP3 (that was a good evolution from GP2) launch, people were playing GP Legends, that still a good game.

GP4 wasn't that a great evolution from GP3 (is the game in this franchise that evolved less from it's predecessor). BTW: GP4 was launched at 2002... at the same year, we received Dirt to Daytona, that was way better in practically everything (if the player is into oval racing, that I know that is a deal breaker to a lot of folks).

But, to be pretty fair, I will admit that if we ignore completely the existence of GP Legends (because it's a vintage championship game), the Chammond games were the best F1 titles until the advent of Codemaster F1 series, with some parsimony, because this series only got really good a few years ago and already was EAzed... them, we got mods and games like AMS2 (that had a massive amount of F1 non licensed content). Overall, F1 games, maybe because use to focus on the average casual players, don't use to be made with real simulation in mind... just the Crammond's serie and GP Legends were pure F1 simulators with a decent commitment with realism. Still, will never say that GP4 is "the greatest racing title ever released"... very far from that.
 
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Hal Burns
I still have GP3 and GP4 disk in the box...ha ha...and GP Legends. Never used a keyboard, started with a joystick ( forward for gas, back for brake, left and right) Great way to develop an RSI. Moved up to ACT-Labs wheel and lost many hours of my life. Not sure I need to go back there, but good job!
 
R
roadyroad said:
I think you can use a wheel. It is just that driving with a keyboard is effective as in the original game. Not sure there were wheel support in the original game, I used to play with a keyboard if I remember well. GP2 had wheel support. I still have the GP2 manual, explaining the driving lines on wet conditions. Nostalgia...
Click to expand...
I meant that driving with a keyboard, although unnatural, was really well done in GP1, something hard to achieve in a sim. This may be really interesting when you can't have access to your wheel and want to enjoy a sim. Well done Niels.
 
S
At first - I'm not worthy related to all the fantastic 'real modders'.
However, my own experience regarding the fine AC recreations of early-mid 90ies Geoff Crammond's team work was a different experience related to my reboot of my old GP2 DVD's (including mod DVD's) of which I setup for more present day common sim rig. I don't dare to say it, but kicking up a 26 year old game 'as is' with modern sim hardware was far more a total BLAST for me than racing a 'replica' of the real deal. The far better graphics didn't deliver same "first time" feeling as booting up my old DVD with DOSBox just as keyboard diver.

NOT to take any credit from the excellent modders - you are fantastic!

But I might smell to it anyway but with purpose of VR driving the AC and AMS1 mod versions :)
 
BP
had to watch video in 360p...feels wrong for it to be so clear lol. Now if Niels would only drop the FPS to 15 - 20... :roflmao: I can feel the dedication to the original, but the modern track and interface kills the illusion for me...but it's a cool concept nonetheless.

Elaphe said:
I've always dreamt of a mod for Assetto Corsa that makes it look like Virtua Racing, with flat low-poly graphics and replicas of its tracks.
Click to expand...

Nice...my dream, If it wasn't illegal, is to see someone take Virtua Racing's Arcade ROM (or even the Super Monaco GP Arcade ROM) and mod it to recreate the 91 or 92 F1 championship, complete with real (but low poly) period-correct tracks, with color schemes and team/driver names to match the teams, but use the sounds and Wheel FFB of Virtua Racing.
 
R
Elaphe said:
I've always dreamt of a mod for Assetto Corsa that makes it look like Virtua Racing, with flat low-poly graphics and replicas of its tracks.
Click to expand...
You can use an emulator for that. Did it many years ago, it woked perfectly, and with a wheel. Should be easier to set it up now.
 
Jugulador
roadyroad said:
You can use an emulator for that. Did it many years ago, it woked perfectly, and with a wheel. Should be easier to set it up now.
Click to expand...
I tried some emulators to play Daytona USA, but was never able to have the same steering wheel feeling. Can you recommend an emulator and, maybe, a plugin that do it work as intended?

And the same goes for PS2 emulation, because I really want to review games as Enthusia and Dirt to Daytona (both have pour FFB support even with the original console... GT4 is way better with it, despite I don't liking the game).
 
calvindmah
This mod brought a smile to my face. To see someone so dedicated to making something so quirky that I might have thought of it is so cool. Thanks Neil for the mod, and thanks Mike for bringing this to our attention.
 
Richard Wilks
Jugulador said:
I liked GP2 and 3 even more than the original, but the original was way ahead from anything at the time. GP2 was way better than the original, but Papyrus had already launched two IndyCar Racing and one NASCAR Racing. At GP3 (that was a good evolution from GP2) launch, people were playing GP Legends, that still a good game.

GP4 wasn't that a great evolution from GP3 (is the game in this franchise that evolved less from it's predecessor). BTW: GP4 was launched at 2002... at the same year, we received Dirt to Daytona, that was way better in practically everything (if the player is into oval racing, that I know that is a deal breaker to a lot of folks).

But, to be pretty fair, I will admit that if we ignore completely the existence of GP Legends (because it's a vintage championship game), the Chammond games were the best F1 titles until the advent of Codemaster F1 series, with some parsimony, because this series only got really good a few years ago and already was EAzed... them, we got mods and games like AMS2 (that had a massive amount of F1 non licensed content). Overall, F1 games, maybe because use to focus on the average casual players, don't use to be made with real simulation in mind... just the Crammond's serie and GP Legends were pure F1 simulators with a decent commitment with realism. Still, will never say that GP4 is "the greatest racing title ever released"... very far from that.
Click to expand...
Well i can at least say that GP4's AI was miles better than the GPLegends one. The GPL one wasn't bad, but the life like behaviour and complexity of the GP4 was in another league.
 
Jugulador
Richard Wilks said:
Well i can at least say that GP4's AI was miles better than the GPLegends one. The GPL one wasn't bad, but the life like behaviour and complexity of the GP4 was in another league.
Click to expand...
It is true about all the GP franchise. The AI is not only good, but convince you that you are racing each one of the drivers with their own personalities. I can't even say a more modern game that pass that feeling to the player. But, overall, Dirt to Daytona was a better AI in all the other aspects (specially in racing strategy and pace).

What I didn't like GP AI (at any of the titles) is the tendency to be hit from behind randomly. I know that it's something that happens, but not with that frequency, specially in an elite racing category as F1 when there is no DeCesaris, Katayama, Montoya or Mazepin on the grid lol
 

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