TABLE OF CONTENTS

0.1. Disclaimer
0.2. Distribution
0.3. Future of this FAQ

1.1. Introduction
1.2. On the FAQ

2.0. The Game
2.1. Personnel
2.1.1. Designers
2.1.2. Engineers
2.1.3. Mechanics
2.1.4. Commercial
2.1.5. Drivers
2.1.6. Injured Drivers

 

 

 

 

 

 

0.1. DISCLAIMER

This document may be freely distributed in any way except in magazines, on CD-ROMs or other media which have to be paid for without the permission of the author.

This FAQ is unofficial, so the author has no contact whatsoever with Microprose or Edward Grabowski Communications Ltd.

The author is not responsible for mistakes or faulty data in this FAQ.

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0.2. DISTRIBUTION

This FAQ will be available on websites containing a GPM2 page, so if you happen to start one feel free to make this FAQ available but send me a mail so I can inform you of updates…

From now on all changes in this FAQ will become available on my WEBsite :

http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Castle/6772/gpm2.htm (Ian - on 4th May 2007, it dosn't appear that this website is running anymore)

Please check it now and then for new releases…

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0.3. Future of this FAQ

Eventhough this FAQ may be starting to look like a small manual it is far from complete and GPM2 is more complex then the simplified analyses in this FAQ. Therefore I would like to add as much data to it as possible but I can’t find out all this myself.
A mayor gap that would greatly enhance everybody’s strategy when it was to be filled is the testing.
Nobody seems to have more detailed answers then : try to reduce weight, get better quality and improve drivers aids. But exactly how much does weight, engine power, fuel and drivers influence your lap times. If anybody has tested this and has detailed information on this, please send it, I’ll be most happy to analyse it and reflect the results in this FAQ.

You can reach me at stefanbaert@geocities.com (unlikley this email address will be working anymore, any questions would be best directed in the forum)

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1.0. INTRODUCTION

Grand Prix Manager 2 is a simulation in which the player has the opportunity to manage a Formula1 team from the 1996 season on.
For more info on the game you can visit Microprose’s site at
http:/www.microprose.com
An update (v1.02) is also available there.

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1.1. ON THE FAQ

Release 1.00 (16/07/1997)

I started the idea for this FAQ as the normal concept, what are questions that might arise when playing this game, but as I typed my way through I started thinking that as the manual really explains a lot (at least the Dutch one does, don’t know about the English) and GPM2, if you simplify a lot, only is an animated database, that it would be most interesting to catalogue the whole thing. That’s why you’ll find here a detailed analysis on drivers, parts and engines. You shouldn’t focus too much on the numbers as they change over the season but it should give you the overall picture when choosing drivers and stuff.

Of course, since this is the first release, this FAQ is far from completed, e.g. I haven’t worked my way through all the parts so the more advanced are still missing (I’d be very grateful if someone could decode the .EDY files in GPM2 as they probably contain the names and specifications of those parts). I hope that in future releases the gaps slowly become filled.

Release 1.02 (22/07/1997)

Well, I’ve reached the 2004 season with my team (doing well, thank you) and so my car now has better parts which are filled in, in this FAQ.
I also start getting remarks on my FAQ and tips so they are also added.

Release 1.03 (25/07/1997)

Completed my first ten year campaign with McLaren and while being excited of doing so well I also feel sad
because there’s no way to recuperate this game as it just exits whitout an option to continue.
I now also have to start again focussing on other parts to complete the list.

Release 1.04 (10/08/1997)

I added a ‘Thank You’ section and expanded the Wish List.

Release 1.05 (21/08/1997)

Just a general review of this FAQ correcting some mistakes and adding a few tips for improved gameplay.

Release 1.06 (21/09/97)

Update on the parts section (thank you Vincent Seghers for the help)

Release 1.07 (05/11/1997)

The idea is to expand this FAQ radically with more data and more tips especially for beginners. This release is the first step. Coming soon also is the GPM2 – Editor from DJ ByteDisaster, I saw a few screenshots and it looks great! I’m also working on an automated budget manager but don’t expect it under your Christmas tree as I have a lot of work. So until I have the time to program this, please enjoy this colored FAQ ! The increased colors and tables make that this FAQ has grown beyond the standard TXT-like look of a normal FAQ. As this is written in Word, it is strongly recommended you read it there too. The only thing I can keep supporting is the Word95-format.
To all TXT and other format fans : Sorry folks… 


Release 1.10 (20/02/1998)

Well, great news: thanks to the cheat 'iamacheat' (see the Tips section) I finally could complete the Parts-section and also the marking system.

Release 1.12 (25/04/1998) by Starfire Programming

The GPM2 Carset Editor is currently in the beta-testing. It is expected to be out before may. This FAQ is now part of this Editor and available as a Windows Help-File.

Release 1.13 (01/05/1998)

The GPM2 'community' (if I can use this term) is very proud on the GPM2 Editor by DJ ByteDisaster and as the author of this FAQ I'm very happy DJ wanted to add the FAQ to the Editor. To reach even more public I plan to publish new releases of this FAQ in HTML on my homepage http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Castle/6772/gpm2.htm (See Future of this FAQ)
In the classic Word95/6.0 which up to now you were used to and in the interactive Help-format as it was first published by Starfire Programming along with the GPM2 Editor 2.01a

I expanded theTips section in this release as well.

Furthermore I have great news for the experienced GPM2-fans. I have occasionally referred to it on my Webpages that I plan to release some GPM2 tools and information. Nothing big like the Editor of course but keep watching the Web, something's coming…

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2.0. THE GAME

2.1. PERSONNEL

Here you can choose the people who’ll work for you by signing contracts which state their salary, bonusses and the number of season they are bound to your team.

Always try to pick at least a 3-star personnel as less professoinal persons will seriously limit your progress.

When negotiating new contracts you should try to hook a good person for at least three years (that way you are secure for a few years as other teams snoop available personnel away very quick). They want a 7% raise on the average when staying with your team. When negotiating with a person who needs to change team, you should offer at least a 10% raise.

Personnel you hire are :

2.1.1. DESIGNERS

They are partially responsible for Drivers Aid’s and they design your next seasons car chassis.

2.1.2. ENGINEERS

Very important personnel as they do the research on car improvements and Drivers Aid’s.

2.1.3 MECHANICS

They set up your cars before the race and work out Drivers Aid’s

2.1.4. COMMERCIAL

Perhaps the most important section of your personnel as without a good team here you won’t see money thus no improvements nor stardrivers and no title. Don’t be afraid to pump 3,000,000 $ a year in this section as it will pay back more than double after time.
I don’t know whether this still is true for GPM2 but in GPM1 the highest category was almost twice as good as second class employees.

2.1.5. DRIVERS

The key is to get the better drivers who are not at all expensive. Why buy Schumacher for 10,000,000$ when you can have Hakkinen or Frentzen for 2,000,000$ and only a few stars less. If your car is good they’ll beat Schumi.

NOTE : I once saw Footwork buy Schumacher and Berger in the 1999 season. They didn’t score a single point and went bankrupt halfway the season sending Schumacher and Berger to the Experienced Pool !

Here is a list of all drivers in teams at the start of the 1996 season :

Watch out because these values change over the seasons. For example if you hire Newhouse/Villeneuve and keep him for 3 seasons long and test a lot with him he can become an overall 5 star driver !

The ratings% at the end of the lines do NOT refer to the real persons and are purely based on the data presented by the game. I tried to calculate these ratings as accurate as possible although other focusses could produce different results.

EXAMPLE :
Name (Age) Country Team Qualities : ChQuReWWStInAmLuLeExOvMo Drive%
Loan RaceWinBonus ChampWinBonus Overall%
So the upperleft% takes only the drive qualities into account,
the lowerright% also calculates the loan and bonusses you have to pay to get this quality.

Jean Alesi (31) Fra Ben 4 5 5 5 3 3 5 3 4 5 5 5 86,7%
5,000,000$ 100,000$ 100,000$ 73,33%
H H Frentzen (28) Ger Sau 3 4 4 3 4 3 4 3 2 3 4 4 68,3%
(2,000,000)$ / / 71,67%
David Coulthard (24) UK McL 4 5 3 3 5 5 5 3 3 2 3 5 76,7%
400,000$ 100,000$ 100,000$ 71,00%
Damon Hill (35) UK Wil 4 4 4 5 4 4 4 3 4 5 3 5 81,7%
6,000,000$ 25,000$ 100,000$ 69,17%
Martin Brundle (36) UK Jor 4 4 4 3 4 4 3 2 4 5 3 3 71,7%
750,000$ 25,000$ 100,000$ 67,92%
Michael Schumacher (27) Ger Fer 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 4 5 4 5 5 96,7%
12,000,000$ 100,000$ 500,000$ 65,00%
Gerhard Berger (36) Aus Ben 5 4 5 3 5 4 4 3 5 5 5 5 88,3%
10,000,000$ 100,000$ 250,000$ 64,17%
Mika Hakkinen (27) Fin McL 4 5 4 3 4 3 5 3 3 4 5 4 78,3%
2,000,000$ 100,000$ 500,000$ 63,33%
Gianni Morbidelli (28) Ita Jor 3 3 4 1 3 3 4 4 2 5 4 3 65,0%
500,000$ 35,000$ 35,000$ 62,42%
Olivier Panis (29) Fra Lig 3 3 5 1 4 3 4 3 2 2 4 4 63,3%
200,000$ 25,000$ 50,000$ 61,33%
Pedro Lamy (23) Por Min 4 3 4 1 2 3 4 4 3 2 2 5 61,7%
200,000$ 1,000$ 1,000$ 61,28%
John Newhouse (28) Can Wil 5 3 4 1 3 3 4 2 4 3 3 4 65,0%
500,000$ 25,000$ 250,000$ 59,17%
Pedro Diniz (25) Bra Lig 4 2 2 1 3 3 5 2 1 2 3 4 53,3%
(3,000,000)$ / / 58,33%
Rubens Barrichello (23) Bra Jor 4 4 4 1 3 3 4 3 4 2 3 4 65,0%
(3,000,000)$ 250,000$ 250,000$ 57,50%
Kelvin Burt (28) UK Lig 3 4 4 3 3 3 3 3 2 2 3 3 60,0%
50,000$ 50,000$ 100,000$ 56,58%
J C Boullion (26) Fra Wil 3 3 3 1 3 3 3 2 2 1 4 4 53,3%
(500,000)$ / / 54,17%
Jos Verstappen (24) Net Foo 3 3 3 1 4 3 4 1 2 3 4 3 56,7%
200,000$ 50,000$ 50,000$ 53,83%
Andrea Montermini (31) Ita For 2 2 2 1 4 3 5 3 2 1 4 4 55,0%
10,000$ 10,000$ 50,000$ 53,82%
Mika Salo (28) Fin Tyr 4 4 2 3 4 3 5 2 2 1 4 4 63,3%
400,000$ 200,000$ 150,000$ 53,50%
Luca Badoer (25) Ita For 3 2 3 1 4 3 5 3 2 2 3 4 58,3%
25,000$ 100,000$ 100,000$ 53,29%
Nicola Larini (32) Ita Fer 3 3 4 1 3 3 2 2 3 2 3 3 53,3%
250,000$ 15,000$ 50,000$ 51,58%
Emmanuel Collard (24) Fra Tyr 4 2 3 2 3 3 3 3 3 1 2 3 53,3%
250,000$ 50,000$ 50,000$ 50,42%
Ukyo Katayama (32) Jap Tyr 4 2 2 1 3 2 4 2 2 4 4 3 55,0%
50,000$ 50,000$ 150,000$ 49,08%
Jan Magnussen (22) Den McL 3 3 3 2 3 3 3 2 2 2 3 3 53,3%
100,000$ 25,000$ 25,000$ 48,58%
Norberto Fontana (23) Arg Sau 3 3 2 1 3 3 3 3 2 1 3 3 50,0%
100,000$ 25,000$ 25,000$ 48,58%
Johnny Herbert (31) UK Sau 1 4 3 2 4 3 5 2 3 4 3 5 65,0%
1,000,000$ 200,000$ 500,000$ 48,33%
Eddie Irvine (30) UK Fer 4 4 3 2 3 3 3 3 2 3 4 4 63,3%
750,000$ 200,000$ 500,000$ 47,08%
Ricardo Rosset (27) Bra Foo 3 3 2 1 3 3 3 2 1 1 3 4 48,3%
25,000$ 25,000$ 100,000$ 45,79%
G C Fisichella (23) Ita Min 2 3 3 1 3 3 4 2 2 1 3 3 50,0%
50,000$ 100,000$ 250,000$ 42,42%
Vincenzo Sospiri (29) Ita Ben 1 1 2 1 1 1 5 5 1 1 2 3 40,0%
25,000$ 25,000$ 50,000$ 37,46%


2.1.6. INJURED DRIVERS

A major improvement was made here in GPM2 as I sometimes had upto 9 injured drivers at a time in GPM1. Now I have only seen 1 sick driver for only one race so…

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2.2. SPONSORS

IDEAL BUDGET : Ca. 3,000,000$ a race if you want to act like a top team and invest in all the better parts and stuff. The minor teams should look for 2,000,000$ with 4 and 3 star sponsors.
There’s no need to invest valuable resources in merchandise (top of the screen) since it’s not very much, but you should try to buy all merchandise (bottom screen).

The key here is to gain as much money for the races who are coming up very shortly.
Try to persuade the better sponsors and you should be able to get this kind of money :

Red very expensive sections : 1,519,000$ for 4 races (max : 6,076,000$ for 16 races)
Green expensive sections : 869,000$ for 4 races (max : 3,476,000$ for 16 races)
Purple medium section : 576,000$ for 4 races (max : 2,304,000$ for 16 races)
Yellow cheap sections : 338,000$ for 4 races (max : 1,352,000$ for 16 races)
Blue very cheap sections : 169,000$ for 4 races (max : 676,000$ for 16 races)

That way you can make a big 3,000,000$ a race and you’ll need it if you want Schumacher on the team, and do research, and test your car, and pay your personnel…

Now how do you get this money, as the manual advises : don’t get to many sponsors. A good average is around 5. Always give them at least 5% of your attention. When a sponsor’s contract expires in one race increase your attention.

My personal system (for a top-team). Start investing in all $ $ $ $ $ (max) teams but one at a time. When you have all of these continue giving them 5-10% as long as they’re in the upper category. Invest what you’ve got left (40%) in expiring contracts to get longer deals for much money. When a new season begins and interests change reinvest in the now new companies of the upper category. That xay you’ll have at least 6 sponsors willing to pay lots of money (around 3,200,000$ a race).

MERCHANDISE : If you click them all you spend 36,000$ a race, which is not much and it really helps speeding up the sponsoring process !

THE OTHER MERCHANDISE : They are not worth it, they need an extra 5 tot 10 commercial people and they only give you around 50,000$ a race, it’s better to invest some more in sponsors.
(I’m not sure but you might want to invest in those when all your car and suit sponsoring is full but you can as well end up with a very low offer if these come to an end and then you lose up to 1,000,000 in one time destroying your smal profit margin, so like I said, don’t bother… )

Always try to provide as many merchandise products as possible (the ones you need to pay for !) If you have enough sponsors and enough time you can invest in merchandise you earn money for.

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2.3. THE BANK

2.3.1. PROFIT & LOSS

The first season it is normal to lose money as you have to search for your first sponsors and have to start testing your first chassis.

2.3.2. INSURANCE

Since it is now very unlikely to get one of your drivers injured (there is always a possibility of course) you don’t have tot take all the insurances but if you’re making a profit why not rest assured in case fate decides…

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2.4. DESIGN

An completely empty chassis should be around 270kg, add a motor and these parts and you’ll arive at your car weight.

You don’t have to use the most advanced parts to get better results. You just need to find a quick combination.

EXAMPLE : I drove a very good season in 2005 using EIBACH suspension just because it was lighter and still it’s only 1% rated.

Never go over 100kg of the maximum weight. This can be very hard ! (try fitting a fast Lamborghini or Honda motor and heavy wings in your car when minimum weight is 550kg, it’s not possible ; that’s why a Mercedes motor is so good : light, fast and quality)

2.4.1. CAR INTERNALS

Here is an overview of all parts

2.4.1.A. SUSPENSION

Eibach 1,000$ 1% 23kg 08
S-Pax 1,500$ 12% 25kg 08
Morgan 2,000$ 18% 25kg 08
Trakspar 2,750$ 25% 27kg 08
Mod. Coil 3,250$ 31% 28kg 08
Eibach Pro 3,750$ 37% 28kg 08
Bilstein 4,500$ 43% 28kg 08
Koni 5,000$ 50% 27kg 08
GP Struts 5,500$ 56% 25kg 09
Lamex 6,250$ 62% 24kg 10
Bilstein Pro 6,750$ 68% 23kg 10
GP Coil Over 7,250$ 75% 21kg 11
Lamex Racing 8,000$ 81% 20kg 12
Koni Sport 8,500$ 87% 19kg 12
Suplex 9,000$ 93% 17kg 13
In-House 18,000$ 100% 15kg 11

2.4.1.B. BRAKE SYSTEM

Dynamax 500$ 1% 11kg 09
Vent 1000 650$ 12% 10kg 10
Sturgeon 800$ 18% 10kg 10
XK413 1,050$ 25% 9kg 12
XK415 1,200$ 31% 9kg 12
Solid 2 1,350$ 37% 10kg 11
Dyna-200 1,600$ 43% 11kg 11
Vent 2000 1,750$ 50% 12kg 10
Mauser XX 1,900$ 56% 13kg 09
XK417 2,150$ 62% 15kg 09
XK511 2,300$ 68% 13kg 10
Solid 3 2,450$ 75% 12kg 11
Solid 4 2,700$ 81% 11kg 12
XK516 2,850$ 87% 10kg 12
Caterham 3,000$ 93% 9kg 13
In-House 6,000$ 100% 8kg 11

2.4.1.C. STEERING SYSTEM

Revol 500$ 1% 5kg 09
Moto 600$ 12% 6kg 08
Tournier 700$ 18% 7kg 07
Revol II 1,800$ 25% 7kg 08
Moto II 1,900$ 31% 8kg 08
Tournier II 2,000$ 37% 7kg 08
Revol III 3,100$ 43% 6kg 09
Moto III 3,200$ 50% 5kg 10
Moto IV 3,300$ 56% 5kg 10
Tournier III 4,400$ 62% 5kg 11
Revol IV 4,500$ 68% 4kg 12
Revol V 4,600$ 75% 4kg 12
Tournier IV 5,700$ 81% 3kg 13
Moto V 5,800$ 87% 3kg 13
Revol VI 5,900$ 93% 3kg 13
In-House 11,800$ 100% 2kg 11


2.4.1.D. COOLING SYSTEM

238mm 250$ 1% 17kg 09
276mm 300$ 12% 18kg 08
300mm 400$ 18% 18kg 08
320mm 450$ 25% 19kg 09
335mm 550$ 31% 20kg 08
372mm 600$ 37% 21kg 08
418mm 700$ 43% 20kg 09
266mm 750$ 50% 19kg 09
319mm 850$ 56% 18kg 09
276mm LP 900$ 62% 18kg 10
300mm LP 1,000$ 68% 17kg 11
320mm LP 1,050$ 75% 17kg 11
335mm LP 1,150$ 81% 15kg 13
372mm LP 1,200$ 87% 13kg 13
418mm LP 1,300$ 93% 12kg 13
In-House 2,600$ 100% 11kg 11


2.4.1.E. GEAR BOX

Lita 5,000$ 1% 35kg 08
Vista 6,000$ 12% 38kg 08
Horizon 7,000$ 18% 41kg 07
Carter 9,000$ 25% 43kg 08
Kodas 10,000$ 31% 42kg 08
STK 11,000$ 37% 40kg 08
Brock 13,000$ 43% 42kg 09
VWK 14,000$ 50% 40kg 08
Eagle 15,000$ 56% 39kg 08
Ftech 17,000$ 62% 37kg 10
Ftech 2 18,000$ 68% 35kg 10
Cologne 19,000$ 75% 31kg 11
Kyoto 21,000$ 81% 27kg 13
Ftech 3 22,000$ 87% 26kg 12
Essex 23,000$ 93% 23kg 13
In-House 46,000$ 100% 21kg 11

2.4.1.F. TRANSMISSION

Fourtrax 100 1,000$ 1% 12kg 09
Trans 1000 3,500$ 12% 13kg 09
Univers A 6,000$ 18% 15kg 07
Model 4 8,500$ 25% 15kg 08
Linkman X 13,000$ 31% 16kg 08
Fourtrax 500 15,500$ 37% 14kg 09
Chase TXB 18,000$ 43% 13kg 10
Univers B 20,500$ 50% 13kg 10
Transmission 9 25,000$ 56% 12kg 10
Trans 2000 27,000$ 62% 12kg 11
Linkman XX 30,000$ 68% 12kg 11
Model 7 32,500$ 75% 11kg 12
Fourtrax 1000 37,000$ 81% 11kg 12
Univers C 39,500$ 87% 11kg 12
Trans 3000 42,000$ 93% 10kg 13
In-House 84,000$ 100% 9kg 11


2.4.1.G. EMS

Schek 100 750$ 1% 5kg 07
SSEEP-FR 850$ 12% 5kg 07
SSEEP-Com 950$ 18% 5kg 07
IEFP No. 2 1,050$ 25% 5kg 08
Schek 900 1,250$ 31% 5kg 08
IEFP Red 1,350$ 37% 4kg 10
HPEP 12v 1,450$ 43% 4kg 11
HNEP 6v 1,550$ 50% 4kg 11
HNEP 12v 1,750$ 56% 4kg 10
TTRP 12v 1,850$ 62% 4kg 11
RVF Turbo 1,950$ 68% 3kg 13
IEFP I 2,050$ 75% 3kg 13
FPA 12v 2,250$ 81% 3kg 14
IEFP II 2,350$ 87% 3kg 14
RVF II 2,450$ 93% 3kg 13
In-House 4,900$ 100% 3kg 11


2.4.1.H. ELECTRICAL SYSTEM

DVS Blue 500$ 1% 15kg 08
Auto 12 700$ 12% 15kg 08
Spark A 900$ 18% 15kg 08
Elect I 1,100$ 25% 16kg 08
Aegis 2,300$ 31% 16kg 08
DVS Red 2,500$ 37% 17kg 08
Elect II 2,700$ 43% 16kg 09
Meteor 2,900$ 50% 15kg 10
Spark B 4,100$ 56% 15kg 09
Marquis 4,300$ 62% 15kg 10
DVS Gold 4,500$ 68% 14kg 10
Tempest I 4,700$ 75% 14kg 10
Elect IV 5,900$ 81% 13kg 11
Spark C 6,100$ 87% 12kg 11
Tempest II 6,300$ 93% 10kg 12
In-House 12,600$ 100% 8kg 11

2.4.2. CAR EXTERNALS

Here’s an overview of all parts

2.4.2.A. SIDE PODS

SP I 500$ 1% 40kg 10
SP II 660$ 33% 41kg 09
SP III 820$ 50% 42kg 08
SP IV 980$ 66% 41kg 09
SP V 1,140$ 83% 40kg 11
SP VI 1,300$ 100% 39kg 11

2.4.2.B. VANES

None 0$ 1% 0kg 11
Simple 1,500$ 33% 11kg 09
Vented 3,000$ 50% 13kg 09
Double 4,500$ 66% 14kg 08
Two 6,000$ 83% 15kg 08
In-House 7,500$ 100% 17kg 07

2.4.2.C. FRONT WING

Single 5,500$ 1% 10kg 11
Vented 7,500$ 28% 12kg 11
D-Vented 9,500$ 42% 13kg 11
Double 11,500$ 57% 13kg 10
DD-Vented 13,500$ 71% 15kg 08
Treble 15,500$ 85% 17kg 07
In-House 17,500$ 100% 18kg 07

2.4.2.D. REAR WING

Single 5,500$ 1% 23kg 11
Vented 7,500$ 28% 25kg 11
D-Vented 9,500$ 42% 27kg 10
Double 11,500$ 57% 28kg 08
DD-Vented 13,500$ 71% 29kg 08
Treble 15,500$ 85% 31kg 08
In-House 17,500$ 100% 31kg 07

2.4.2.E. AIRBOX

Standard 250$ 1% 12kg 10
Lateral 300$ 12% 13kg 08
Single 350$ 18% 13kg 08
Closed 500$ 25% 14kg 08
Horiz. 550$ 31% 14kg 08
Trad. 600$ 37% 13kg 09
Double 750$ 43% 14kg 08
Open 800$ 50% 13kg 09
Wing 850$ 56% 12kg 11
Vertical 1,000$ 62% 12kg 12
Sail 1,050$ 68% 13kg 10
Treble 1,100$ 75% 12kg 12
Large 1,250$ 81% 11kg 13
Quad. 1,300$ 87% 11kg 13
Variable 1,350$ 93% 11kg 13
In-House 2,700$ 100% 11kg 11

2.4.2.F. STEPPED BOTTOM

Very High 250$ 1% 8kg 07
High 500$ 33% 7kg 07
Standard 750$ 50% 6kg 08
Low 1,000$ 66% 5kg 08
Very Low 1,250$ 83% 4kg 09
Absent 0$ 100% 0kg 15

2.4.2.G. NOSE CONE

Conventional 5,000$ 1% 20kg 06
Raised 5,500$ 100% 19kg 11

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2.4.3. CAR SETUP

The most important screen when it comes to winning a race. If you have a good car then you can only beat the others by outperforming here. Keep testing until every setting is perfect.

The tricky part here is that when different drivers require different set-ups which makes it very difficult to give THE setup, however I noticed that drivers are divided in some sort of categories, so the stardrivers will all require the same set-up (given here). Also these set-ups are for sunny weather, small changes in wings and tyre pressure have to be made when it rains.

Other tips are : other less experienced drivers will want a softer suspension
Your front wing always needs to be around 7° lower than your rear wing.

Adelaide, Australia

G : Fairly Low
F : 55
R : 62
T : 3-4
S : Stiff
Stad

Buenos Aires , Argentina

G: Normal, even
F: 55
R: 67
T: 4 mid
S: Stad
Soft

Catalayuna , Spain

G: High
F: 51
R: 58
T: 2 mid
S: Stif
Stad

Estoril , Portugal

G: Average
F: 35
R: 42
T: 4-
S: Stif
Stad

Hockenheim , Germany

G: VHigh
F: 03
R: 10
T: 3/4
S: Stif
Stad

Hungaroring , Hungary

G: (V)Low
F: 64
R: 71
T: 4/5
S: Stif
Stad

Imola , San Marino
G: High, Even
F: 52
R: 58
T: ¾
S: Stif
Stad

Interlagos , Brazil

G: High
F: 27
R: 34
T: 2/3
S: Stad
Soft

Magny-Cours , France

G: High
F: 59
R: 66
T: 3/4
S: VStif
Stif

Monte Carlo , Monaco

G: Low
F: 61
R: 71
T: 2 mid
S: Stad
Soft

Montreal , Canada

G: High
F: 43
R: 50
T: 3/4
S: VStif
Stif

Monza , Italy

G: VHigh
F: 13
R: 20
T: 5/6
S: VStif
Stif

Nurburgring , Germany

G: Low
F:
R:
T: 5 mid
S: VStif
Stif

Silverstone , Great Britain

G: High
F: 43
R: 50
T: 3/4
S: VStif
Stif

Spa-Francorchamps , Belgium

G: Average
F: 41
R: 48
T: 3 mid
S: VStif
Stif

Suzuka , Japan

G: Average
F: 38
R: 45
T: 5 mid
S: Stif
Stad


2.4.4. FACILITIES

If you’re a top team immeadiately buy everything as they save a lot money later on, not to mention time when it comes to new inventions. Minor teams should focus on the cheap facilities (CAD and CAM)

2.4.5. MANUFACTURING

Here you can design car improvements instead of stealing them.

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2.5. R & D

2.5.1. DRIVERS AIDS

If you’re a top team then research everything or exchange it with other teams. You can also steal them.
If you’re a minor team then research the allowed stuff and focus on car improvements as they affect your car more.

2.5.2. NEW CAR CHASSIS

Try to make around 10% progress every race so you have 4 to 5 races left where you can fully focus on new car improvements.

2.5.3. ACQUIRE TECHNOLOGY

You should make an inquiry on a top team after every race because every new season all the computer teams get new improvements and you don’t. So take them, do not try to trade, chances that you’re caught are minimal.

Tip from Stuart Buchanan :
If you get caught, your fine is deducted from your expenditure so actually FIA gives you money. A bug that turns out good…

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2.6. TESTING

When testing car improvements never stop until they say « Results look good »
Always drive a few laps (e.g. 20) before a race.
Try to finish your new car chassis as soon as possible, until then when you test your car performance they’ll say « I can push harder »
If you’ve finished your next seasons chassis you’ll get « The eninge performs well when being pushed to the limit »

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2.7. RACE

There’s no need to turn on all phases. If you’re in a hurry then skip everything (notice your results as they will strongly improve)

NOTE : When I played Tyrrell I had great diffculties even trying to qualify when I did all things myself so I gave up and let the computer calculate everything. Result : Qualifications 16th and 18th and a 3rd and 8th place in race, now you can’t do that when you really watch the race, I guess.

TIP from Davin and Matjaz Pintar : When qualifying it isn't that hard to get a good qualifying time if you give your car the order to do or die in the final straight or by placing it directly in fromt of a faster car, this will then push your car to a better time.

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2.8. NEWS

Contains sometimes interesting news especially at the end and the start of a new season.

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2.9. RESULTS

Here you see your cuurent place in drivers and team championship.

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2.10. CONTRACTS

2.10.1 ENGINE

Choosing the right engine is perhaps the most important decision which affects an entire season.
Here is a list of the 1996 specifications and a desirability% so you can choose more easily :

The ratings% at the end of the lines do NOT refer to the real engines and are purely based on the data presented by the game. I tried to calculate these ratings as accurate as possible although other focusses could produce different results.

Renault 710HP 135KG 5* 79,248%
Mercedes 695HP 123KG 4* 68,114%
Ferrari 700HP 142KG 4½* 66,853%
Ford Zetec 680HP 130KG 4* 63,056%
Peugeot 690HP 133KG 4* 62,540%
Honda 720HP 153KG 4* 56,728%
Yamaha 670HP 125KG 3½* 56,537%
Hart 660HP 127KG 3½* 54,816%
MX v8 650HP 110KG 3* 53,425%
BMW 710HP 141KG 3½* 53,113%
Ford HB 685HP 130KG 3* 47,386%
RR v10 700HP 175KG 3½* 42,192%
Mugen 675HP 153KG 3* 39,887%
Ford 640HP 130KG 2½* 37,091%
Lamborghini 730HP 157KG 2½* 35,032%
Ilmor 640HP 126KG 2* 30,615%

2.10.2. OTHER

If you have the money, buy the best of each, only when it comes to fuel you could take up to the third best to match your engine.

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2.11. DESK

Keep track of you’re mail and the FIA rules. Admire your victories in your diary.

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3.0. WISH LIST

What could be improved when Microprose releases a patch or update :

1) A button where you can choose mph or kph would be interesting (just like in GP2)
2) Some more AI for the comments in the race (he keeps on repeating the order upto 40 times in a race)
3) It would be interesting if we could interact with FIA (request a ban to be lifted and so…)
4) Change the car colors instead of switching them (if I want to give the McLarens their silvergrey look I need a silver car which then becomes white-red after switching)
5) I don’t know whether it is supposed to be like that, but every new season all the other teams have quite an advantage over my team, it seems like they are cheating, even the lesser teams then suddenly have parts that outperform my one. Is this normal or fair ?
6) An option to continue the game after the set 10 years like many other games (Civilization, Colonization,…) would really come in handy.
7) Fixing of these bugs : « I think that results are calculated based on the lap before the last one and not the last one itself. For example : I was driving second at 30 seconds behind Alesi. We both go in lap 63 of 63 at the end Alesi will be flagged of and win the race but he spins out in the final lap and I get the movie that my driver wins the race. But the rankings show Alesi winning the race and my driver second at 28 sec. ? »
« The "Electronics Problem" still seems present ? ! »
« Sometimes you need to buy up to 6 times a season a new chassis for your test driver even if he
doesn’t even use it ! »
« The minimum weight of the car is far below the actual car (600kg in the first season and dropping in second
and third. I tried and you simply can’t build a car below 600kg so could we do something about that minimumweight ? »
Now that I see the real good parts you can fit the car with (75% and up), weight quickly drops but you don’t have access to these the first 7 seasons and might never because of the bans. So dropping weight limits in the first 3 season might more precisely be regarded as an imbalance and thus an easy to fix bug (not ?) 
8) The Link : I personally and many others think it would be a great idea to link GPM2 and GP2. And frankly it isn’t too difficult, the only thing needed is some sort of exchange file containing all data on the drivers and the performance of the cars. When I surf the Net I’ve seen many good editor’s for GP2 so it’s up to the makers of
GPM2 to provide a link-file…
9) People from MicroProse or Edward Grabowski Communications Ltd. who should read this FAQ, PLEASE contact me because a lot of GPM2 fans would like more detailed information on the EDY-files, the algorithms etc.
10) In Multiplayer : The option to let 8, 12, 16 or more people join so we could set up an actual championship (like in GP2). (Juan Molina)
11) In the interest of expanding and making this FAQ as complete as possible you could help me by sending any comments, tips, tricks, cheats you have and more important even : test results. If you happen to have test results that are useful to analyse for the different influence of parameters on the behaviour of cars, please send them.
3.1. UPDATE YOUR GAME

The EDITOR:

The most interesting way to update your game and change most variables in the game is by using DJ ByteDisaster's GPM2 Editor. You can download it from most GPM2 sites, so get it right away...

The CHEAT:

Just type iamacheat on the main screen and you get a menu with all sorts of cheats. Please note that use of this cheat will ruin the game.

Download the update for GPM2 : version 1.02
A few bugs were removed from the game, network play is updated and most of all the whole game was rewritten for use with DirectX Drivers, sadly still 256-color use and the Electronics bug wasn't removed either. (see tips)

Here’s a remark from Arthur Barhorst on Villeneuve :

QUOTE : Rename the D33true.wav file in D33.wav in your SPCHEXC directory and get rid of the old one. You will never here of Newhouse again ! ;-))

Another remark on Villeneuve from Thomas Van der Linden :

QUOTE : I heard the designers of this GPM2 game have made a deal with FIA to use all car and drivers names but Villeneuve has totally no commitment to FIA so they couldn’t give permission to use his name.

Own remark on Wish number 4 (more colors) :

If you look in the PCX-files you’ll see there are different pictures for every team-(color). So the colors are not filled in at the moment on colorless pictures. This explains why you can only switch colors and not actually choose from a pallet.
If you want to apply your own colors you’ll manually have to change it in the PCX’s.

Another thing I stumbled upon when playing the game :
Perhaps the most annoying thing about GPM2 is the 256-colors part, well in WIN95 you can activate a little icon in your statusbar where you can switch screenmodes in an instant without rebooting. So far nothing new, BUT if you switch back to 256colors, start the game and when it’s running switch to 16-bit colors, you can play the game without problems (at least I don’t have problems but don’t blame me if you might have).
It doesn’t seem to affect overall gameplay but in some screen some words are less readable…
Remark : You need WIN95 SR2 for this.

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3.1. THANKS

I would like to thank Microprose and Edward Grabowski Communication Ltd. for making such a fine game.
(Please contact me, I’d like to speak one of the creators of the game… )

Also thanks to Juan Molina for making my FAQ worldwide available and for making such a fine GPM2-webpage.

Thanks to Vincent Seghers and Chris Silles for adding my FAQ to his page and all the others who will in the future…

Special thanks to DJByteDisaster for the support, the great ideas, the Editor and making the FAQ available in his Editor as a Helpfile.

Thanks to Thomas Van der Linden and all the others for the reactions, I’ll add everything that’s useful.

You can reach me for all your GPM2 remarks at stefanbaert@geocities.com (See Future of this FAQ) or put it directly on my GPM2 MessageBoard which you find at my GPM2 Page http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Castle/6772/gpm2.htm (See future of this FAQ)

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