Grand Prix Classics 1979. A well-loved rF1 mod simulating the cars of the 1979 F1 season. This is the original mod as released by the GPC team as version 2.1.
For an overview of the mod, I highly recommend GPLaps' video below:
NOTES
FYI there is an updated version for rF1 here on RaceDepartment - as pointed out by @Kenny Paton (thank you Kenny!) - with additional features. Arms, backfire, new models, and more. Recommended for use in 2022.
https://www.racedepartment.com/downloads/gp1979-by-grand-prix-classic-updated-edition.39708/
There's also a work-in-progress version updated for Automobilista 1, which can be found at the following link:
The accompanying trackpack for rF1 is available on RD here:
-------------- FROM THE V1.0 README -----------
CREDITS
Shutt1e (car, cockpit and track modelling);
Motorfx (cockpit textures, track modelling, editing and textures);
Tony (car and helmet model & textures);
Alesifan (tyre 3d model and textures);
Vassalfada (sounds);
Lord_Kamder (artwork);
Simioni (physics and general editing).
SPECIAL THANKS TO
Antonio "_Chacal__" and Alfredo "amrharry" for original creation and conversion of the excellent Jarama track;
Chris Squir, for providing the base for Watkins Glen conversion;
ferrari27, for the original conversion of Dijon to rfactor;
Vortex17, for several additional car and track textures;
Crusse, for Monaco textures;
Don from www.liveforspeed.net, for Monaco sky;
Cubits, for providing a couple of useful solutions in his work for the Caterham mod;
Hiroto, for his reflection cubemap.dds file made available at RSC;
Thorsten Reuter for work on Kyalami and Monaco cameras;
Pete Walsh from RfactorCentral for doing what he does so well;
Race Sim Central for providing the forum that helped the development of this mod;
ISI for the creation of RFACTOR.
We´d like to to thank the continuous support from the entire AutoSimSport crew, Team Redline, Eddie Matapayos and the whole GPLBR league.
We also take the opportunity to thank the contribution of our beta testing team: besides the aforementioned, Jack Ulstad, Michael Hausknecht, Steve Smith, Alison Hine, Aristotelis Vasilakos and Giuseppe Martini.
DEDICATORY
To our wives/girlfriends, family and friends for enduring with patience our months of long nights in front of the PC.
To the late Clay Regazzoni, a pure racer symbol of an era we all so dearly love. Godspeed Regga!
MOD OPERATION
V1.0 comes with two versions, Grand Prix 1979 HISTORICAL and Grand Prix 1979 UNRESTRICTED.
Grand Prix 1979 HISTORICAL is the 1979 is the season as it actually happened, with the various models and paintjobs appearing where they actually were (save for the few still missing in this build, and for driver changes which are not yet possible to simulate in Rfactor). This version does not allow the user to bypass historical accuracy; it´s not possible for instance to drive the FW07 at Kyalami, since in the actual season the car only debuted in Round 4 at Jarama. By attempting to do so, the user will find himself sitting in a Fw06. This version is optimized for offline play, and is the one that fully complements the spirit of the mod.
Grand Prix 1979 UNRESTRICTED provides more freedom to the user. Whilst it offers the same content as HISTORICAL, it allows the user to drive anything, anywhere. This version might be more suitable for online racing, but it doesn´t work as well offline since the AI cars will always be the default model of each team.
In both versions the user can pick whatever car he wishes in tracks outside the ones from he mod. In such cases the AI will always drive the default model of each team.
The user will have all cars in the vehicle menu, the different models and updates from each team (for those that have more than one) being available from the UPGRADE menu, under MODELS. Once he makes his selection, the user has to MANUALLY select the apropriate paintjob from the SKIN menu. Failure to do so will result in loading a screwed up paintjob if the skin doesnt fit the model. It's particularly important to make sure this is done properly when picking a car for online race, as a mistake will spoil the look of the car not only for the user but also for the others taking part on the race.
Also available from the UPGRADE menu for all cars are different options for steering assist and shifting styles (adopted from RSDG Megane and the Caterham mods respectively). Steering assist provides different levels of force feedback strength, default being the lighest (or least heavy
.
The shifting style upgrade provides an alternative from the default style which mimics the real transmission timings, allowing the user of gated or H-shifters to have a more responsive operation of the gearbox.
The tracks will be all within a folder called GPC79Tracks in the TRACK menu.
GENERAL TIPS AND INFO
- While the max number of opponents is 27, the actual grids in real life usually had only 25 slots. Since Rfactor does not allow a limit that eliminates slower qualifiers, the user can manually kick the bottom two from the grid if he so wishes.
- It's recommended to set Relative Fuel Strategy="1" in the .plr file, otherwise pitstop for tires will result in fuel being taken out of the tank (refuelling during pitstops is not possible).
- The use of any aids incur a slight weight penalty to the player, so it's recommended to use as little of them as manageable.
- Auto Lift="1" and Auto Blip="1" in the .plr are considered as aids and do incur a weight penalty as well.
- The mod tries to simulate the bounciness of a single seater, so things can get very shaky in cockpit view. For those who wish to turn down such effect, there is a CockpitVibrationMag=0.006 parameter in the cockpitinfo.ini file inside each team's folder. Turning the value down will reduce the shaking or eliminate it altogether. Editing this file does not cause online mismatches.
- A lot of effort was put into making the AI as competitive and trouble-free as possible. At 100% strength the AI is ace level and it takes great driving and a good car to beat them, so there is no shame in turning it down to a lower value at first. The agression setting is recommended to be around 85% to avoid argy-bargy tactics by the AI drivers.
- The use of a formation lap is recommended to properly warm up tires and brakes and avoid first corner melees.
- Damage, engine and brake wear/heating has been carefully modelled, so treat the machinery with the respect it demands.
- After installation there will be a .zip file in Rfactor's root folder with a collection of setups developed by Greger Huttu.
- Some users might have problems with sparkly roads. There is .rar file inside locations\gpc79tracks that should be extracted to the same location in case such problem occur.
- Last but not least, take good care of adjusting the controller's rates and sensitivity in-game as well as the force feeback values in the controller.ini. There isn't a general rule as to what these adsjutments should be for the various wheels out there, but the mod (and Rfactor in general) will not be itself until this is fully sorted.
DISCLAIMER
GPC developed this mod for free distribution, but within limits and conditions that have been or might be defined by us. Any problems or issues derived from its installation is responsibility solely of the user.
---------------- MJQT's DISCLAIMER ----------------
This is not my mod. All credits go to the original creators. I've decided to upload this mod to RaceDepartment for the sake of the enjoyment of the community and archival preservation. More and more sources for rF1 mods are disappearing, and to ensure these amazing community creations are not lost forever, it is essential that they are preserved elsewhere on the internet - preferably in well-known, trusted locations like RD. Thank you to Tripp, who ran the TrippTeam server, the place where an incredibly comprehensive archive of rF1 mods was maintained for many years (and the spot from which I downloaded this mod). Should the original modders prefer that this be taken down, please let me know, and I will do so.
For an overview of the mod, I highly recommend GPLaps' video below:
NOTES
FYI there is an updated version for rF1 here on RaceDepartment - as pointed out by @Kenny Paton (thank you Kenny!) - with additional features. Arms, backfire, new models, and more. Recommended for use in 2022.
https://www.racedepartment.com/downloads/gp1979-by-grand-prix-classic-updated-edition.39708/
There's also a work-in-progress version updated for Automobilista 1, which can be found at the following link:
The accompanying trackpack for rF1 is available on RD here:
-------------- FROM THE V1.0 README -----------
CREDITS
Shutt1e (car, cockpit and track modelling);
Motorfx (cockpit textures, track modelling, editing and textures);
Tony (car and helmet model & textures);
Alesifan (tyre 3d model and textures);
Vassalfada (sounds);
Lord_Kamder (artwork);
Simioni (physics and general editing).
SPECIAL THANKS TO
Antonio "_Chacal__" and Alfredo "amrharry" for original creation and conversion of the excellent Jarama track;
Chris Squir, for providing the base for Watkins Glen conversion;
ferrari27, for the original conversion of Dijon to rfactor;
Vortex17, for several additional car and track textures;
Crusse, for Monaco textures;
Don from www.liveforspeed.net, for Monaco sky;
Cubits, for providing a couple of useful solutions in his work for the Caterham mod;
Hiroto, for his reflection cubemap.dds file made available at RSC;
Thorsten Reuter for work on Kyalami and Monaco cameras;
Pete Walsh from RfactorCentral for doing what he does so well;
Race Sim Central for providing the forum that helped the development of this mod;
ISI for the creation of RFACTOR.
We´d like to to thank the continuous support from the entire AutoSimSport crew, Team Redline, Eddie Matapayos and the whole GPLBR league.
We also take the opportunity to thank the contribution of our beta testing team: besides the aforementioned, Jack Ulstad, Michael Hausknecht, Steve Smith, Alison Hine, Aristotelis Vasilakos and Giuseppe Martini.
DEDICATORY
To our wives/girlfriends, family and friends for enduring with patience our months of long nights in front of the PC.
To the late Clay Regazzoni, a pure racer symbol of an era we all so dearly love. Godspeed Regga!
MOD OPERATION
V1.0 comes with two versions, Grand Prix 1979 HISTORICAL and Grand Prix 1979 UNRESTRICTED.
Grand Prix 1979 HISTORICAL is the 1979 is the season as it actually happened, with the various models and paintjobs appearing where they actually were (save for the few still missing in this build, and for driver changes which are not yet possible to simulate in Rfactor). This version does not allow the user to bypass historical accuracy; it´s not possible for instance to drive the FW07 at Kyalami, since in the actual season the car only debuted in Round 4 at Jarama. By attempting to do so, the user will find himself sitting in a Fw06. This version is optimized for offline play, and is the one that fully complements the spirit of the mod.
Grand Prix 1979 UNRESTRICTED provides more freedom to the user. Whilst it offers the same content as HISTORICAL, it allows the user to drive anything, anywhere. This version might be more suitable for online racing, but it doesn´t work as well offline since the AI cars will always be the default model of each team.
In both versions the user can pick whatever car he wishes in tracks outside the ones from he mod. In such cases the AI will always drive the default model of each team.
The user will have all cars in the vehicle menu, the different models and updates from each team (for those that have more than one) being available from the UPGRADE menu, under MODELS. Once he makes his selection, the user has to MANUALLY select the apropriate paintjob from the SKIN menu. Failure to do so will result in loading a screwed up paintjob if the skin doesnt fit the model. It's particularly important to make sure this is done properly when picking a car for online race, as a mistake will spoil the look of the car not only for the user but also for the others taking part on the race.
Also available from the UPGRADE menu for all cars are different options for steering assist and shifting styles (adopted from RSDG Megane and the Caterham mods respectively). Steering assist provides different levels of force feedback strength, default being the lighest (or least heavy
.The shifting style upgrade provides an alternative from the default style which mimics the real transmission timings, allowing the user of gated or H-shifters to have a more responsive operation of the gearbox.
The tracks will be all within a folder called GPC79Tracks in the TRACK menu.
GENERAL TIPS AND INFO
- While the max number of opponents is 27, the actual grids in real life usually had only 25 slots. Since Rfactor does not allow a limit that eliminates slower qualifiers, the user can manually kick the bottom two from the grid if he so wishes.
- It's recommended to set Relative Fuel Strategy="1" in the .plr file, otherwise pitstop for tires will result in fuel being taken out of the tank (refuelling during pitstops is not possible).
- The use of any aids incur a slight weight penalty to the player, so it's recommended to use as little of them as manageable.
- Auto Lift="1" and Auto Blip="1" in the .plr are considered as aids and do incur a weight penalty as well.
- The mod tries to simulate the bounciness of a single seater, so things can get very shaky in cockpit view. For those who wish to turn down such effect, there is a CockpitVibrationMag=0.006 parameter in the cockpitinfo.ini file inside each team's folder. Turning the value down will reduce the shaking or eliminate it altogether. Editing this file does not cause online mismatches.
- A lot of effort was put into making the AI as competitive and trouble-free as possible. At 100% strength the AI is ace level and it takes great driving and a good car to beat them, so there is no shame in turning it down to a lower value at first. The agression setting is recommended to be around 85% to avoid argy-bargy tactics by the AI drivers.
- The use of a formation lap is recommended to properly warm up tires and brakes and avoid first corner melees.
- Damage, engine and brake wear/heating has been carefully modelled, so treat the machinery with the respect it demands.
- After installation there will be a .zip file in Rfactor's root folder with a collection of setups developed by Greger Huttu.
- Some users might have problems with sparkly roads. There is .rar file inside locations\gpc79tracks that should be extracted to the same location in case such problem occur.
- Last but not least, take good care of adjusting the controller's rates and sensitivity in-game as well as the force feeback values in the controller.ini. There isn't a general rule as to what these adsjutments should be for the various wheels out there, but the mod (and Rfactor in general) will not be itself until this is fully sorted.
DISCLAIMER
GPC developed this mod for free distribution, but within limits and conditions that have been or might be defined by us. Any problems or issues derived from its installation is responsibility solely of the user.
---------------- MJQT's DISCLAIMER ----------------
This is not my mod. All credits go to the original creators. I've decided to upload this mod to RaceDepartment for the sake of the enjoyment of the community and archival preservation. More and more sources for rF1 mods are disappearing, and to ensure these amazing community creations are not lost forever, it is essential that they are preserved elsewhere on the internet - preferably in well-known, trusted locations like RD. Thank you to Tripp, who ran the TrippTeam server, the place where an incredibly comprehensive archive of rF1 mods was maintained for many years (and the spot from which I downloaded this mod). Should the original modders prefer that this be taken down, please let me know, and I will do so.
