How can I send files?

You can send by attaching them to an E-mail. Please refer to the documentation of your E-Mail Client program on how to use it.
Send them to marc@gprix2.com.

There are some "rules": You can read all about it on the Contribution page.

How do you make your images ?

These are all screenshots from GP2.

For grabbing screenshots from GP2 I use the util GP2lap

For editing I use the great shareware program Paint Shop Pro and Adobe Photoshop

General GP2 questions

Is Microprose working on an update?

Microprose/Hasbro is working on a succesor for GP2, namely GP3. Latest rumors suggest that it will be released around the first quarter of 2000. Nothing much has been confirmed yet.

Latest rumours; Grand Prix 3?

It will have 3d card and network support but is not likely to have the 1999 licence. The game will have an official FIA license, and will be developed once again by Geoff Crammond.

It never rains in my copy of GP2!

That's right. And there's not much that can be done about it. However some people created special 'Wetsets' which simulate a wet race. You can find them on the Miscellaneous page.

Is there a 3dfx patch available?

I can be short about that: No. There is no patch available. I suppose we will have to wait until GP3.

Where can I find a network patch?

Here: GP2Lap.

Speeding up GP2

I can't play Grand Prix 2 in full SVGA on my Pentium!

In order to be playing in SVGA on your PC you'll at least need a P133. A very fast video card (The Matrox Millennium 4MB WRAM for instance) is always useful either, allthough the Benchmark page (does not exist anymore) indicates that the main thing to focus on, is the processor speed. On a P133 you should be able to get at least 16-18 fps with most of the details on (except for the sky) in SVGA mode.

GP2 is not 3D card supported, so cards like the Intergraph Intense 3D and the Monster 3D will do little to speed up the game. Don't invest in these cards if GP2 is all that you play. If you plan on running GP2 under Win95 in a DOS session, it is highly recommended that you have at least a 32MB RAM system for the best possible frame rate. There is one advantage to all these high system requirements: The game still looks great in a couple of years from now. :-)

How do I get the max out of my Videocard?

On some systems an enourmous increase of performance can be achieved by using SciTech Display Doctor, formerly know as the UNIVBE driver. SciTech Display Doctor updates your graphics card to the latest standards so you can be sure programs will work correctly and will run as fast as possible on your system. There's also a number of other games that will achieve higher performances; Quake and Duke Nukem 3D and many more!

How can I increase the framerate?

The best way to speed GP2 up is by trying several graphics detail options. I get the best results when I turn as much detail on as possible until the Estimated Framerate reaches 18-19 FPS. When I then select a Manual Framerate of 16-17 fps, GP2 seems to run as fast as possible on my system.

Keep the occupancy below 100%

Keep in mind thought that your car will response best when you always keep your occupancy below or at 100%.

Racing in GP2

What's the best setup for my car?

There's no such thing as the best setup. Everybody has it's own driving style, so everybody actually needs his or her own setup. If you are having trouble creating a good one, then read the SRN setup guide. This will help you a lot. Another thing you can do, is download several setups from the Setups & Hotlaps page, and adjust them to your own driving style.

How can I make a good start without too much wheelspin?

Using a steering wheel (with pedals) or a joystick will make this easier. However, if you play GP2 with a keyboard it becomes a little harder. Probably the best thing you can do is holding down the space bar, then tap 'A' to keep half the number of REV lights lit, and when the lights turn green release the space bar. Another similar method is holding down the space bar, press and hold 'A' to full throttle. When you release the space bar but hold 'A' when the light are still red, you will notice the REV's will drop. Now it's a matter of timing. Make it so that when the lights turn green, half the number of REV lights are lit.

Installing tracks

How do I install new GP2 tracks?

I have compiled a Mini-FAQ about this topic. Read it here: Track Installation Mini-FAQ.

Editing Tracks

Can I edit the tracks or add new ones?

Yes, Thanks to Paul Hoads trackeditor we are finally able to edit our own tracks. For more information about the trackeditor see Paul Hoads Trackedit Project. New tracks can be downloaded from the Tracks pages.

Editing Sounds

Can I edit the sounds?

With the WAV Extractor / Inserter made by Maracich Giorgio, you can extract the sounds of GP2 from the SAMPLE.CAT file and convert them to WAV files. This way you can listen to, and edit the sounds of the game. Some edited sounds can be found on the Sounds Page.

I can't hear all sounds I extracted from the SAMPLE.CAT file in the game!

That's correct. There are a lot of sounds (Black flag! Oil on the Track! etc.) that cannot be heard in the game. This is because actually the game wasn't finished at the time of the release.

Editing Graphics

Can I edit the graphics of GP2?

Yes! You can change almost everything. And that's what makes the game so great!
All graphics are stored in the JAM format and can be found in the GP2\GAMEJAMS directory.
First you need to download GP2JAM made by Trevor Kellaway. With this util you can convert the JAM files to BMP files.
These BMP files can be edited with a painting program.
After you changed the BMP you can convert it back to the JAM format to use it in the game.
More information on this can be found on the Converting JAM Files section.

What editor should I use when designing my graphics?

It is possible to make your cars/cockpits etc. in Windows Paintbrush, however the possibilities of this paintprogram are restricted.
The best graphics editor that is widely available as shareware on the net is Paint Shop Pro. The more recent versions, like v4.0, have been regarded almost as good as the commercial graphics editors on the market! If you want a wide range of features and editing options, then you should be looking at an editor like Adobe Photoshop or Corel Photo-Paint.

Editing Cars

by PK Arnall

How can I make my own car?

Probably the best shareware editor to use for editng a car is Paint Shop Pro (See the Editing Graphics section.)

How should I go about designing my car?

A step by step tutorial:

- At the top left of the bitmap there's a vertical row of 32 pixels, never paint over or remove these as the wheels of the cars will turn purple when viewed from a distance, if you have removed these just paste them back from another bitmap.
- GP2 uses, just like other games, it's own palette. So the first thing to do when painting a bitmap is to save the gp2 palette, you can then load the palette after working in 16 million colours and instantly see how it will look.
- It's always best to paint over a bitmap taken from an original jamfile (it doesn't matter which car it is ), then you can be sure it's a correct base to paint over. Always back this file up before painting as you'll need it after you've finished.
- Check your cars basic design in gp2 before you start any of the detailed work.
- Always pick your base colour from the gp2 palette, then you won't get a shock of the colours not looking correct when you convert back to the gp2 palette.
- Always make sure you've painted numbers on the rear wing and the front of the car, as sometimes gp2 doesn't paste the numbers onto the cars, you end up with car #1 with no numbers.
- Writing on the cars always looks better if it's painted using a technique called anti aliasing, you switch this on in the font menu, you have to be in 16 million colour mode to get the effect.
- Sometimes after working in 16 million colours it's better to reduce the palette to 256 colours and then load the gp2 palette, this usually works best if you've just painted blue writing on a white background.
- Don't worry too much about over painting the borders of the cars ( except of course the top left row of 32 vertical pixels ). This is where the backup bitmap comes in handy. - Use the magic wand to pick the invisible colour ( green )of the original bitmap ( use the SHIFT key ), when all the green is selected ( be careful !!!! ), copy and paste onto your new bitmap making sure it's aligned properly, you now have a finished bitmap. You don't have to do this but it looks neater.
- Avoid using the invisible colour as a substitute for black as at Monaco it will become green and red.
- Always save two copies when you work, makes sense!!!

The wheels of my selfmade car are purple!

That happens when you paint the vertical row of 32 pixels at the top left of the bitmap. Never change these! More about this in the above question.

Editing Cockpits

by James Ariz

Can I make my own cockpit?

Yes! The cockpits of GP2 can be found in the GP2\BITMAPS directory. There's the VGA cockpit (CPLOW.PCX) and the SVGA cockpit (CPHI.PCX). Just load the PCX file into a paintprogram e.g. Paint Shop Pro, and start editing!

How should I go about designing my cockpit?

You will save yourself a few headaches if you first sketch out your planned design. This is important because the cockpit template in GP2 restricts how you will illustrate such things as the steering wheel.
Whatever concept you have in mind, you should always be aware that you are designing a 3-dimensional environment and all lines that are level and parallel to center converge to a vanishing point on the horizon line. It would help you a great deal if you understand the mechanics of one-point perspective drawing and you should be able to find info on this particular subject in any technical drawing manual.

How do I find the vanishing point in GP2?

To visually find the vanishing point on the horizon line, go into the game and check the actual height of the horizon line in relation to the center-most point of the cockpit (divide the cockpit in half). You should be located on a section of the track that is straight and level, and the lines and curbing on the track should help you find the point since they all converge to it.
Now, in your graphics editor you can mark this point along with the horizon line as a reference. Lines should be drawn from this point along the inner edge line of the head pads to check if your lines are correct. Also, any object that sticks outwards in the cockpit should also be drawn in relation to the point.
Using this method of illustrating will make your design look realistic and will definitely enhance the 3D effect even more since your linework is in synch with the actual 3D environment.
Download an example cockpit here to see what we mean.

How do I go about adding my own custom details in the cockpit?

Decide where your light source is coming from when illustrating your design and remain consistent in your drawing style so that all parts of your cockpit will look good as a whole. It is easy for one to get carried away with adding too many things to a design just to make it look 'authentic'. Consider that you have to drive with your cockpit for long periods, so aesthetics and legibility are very important factors to consider and sometimes 'less is more' :)

What colours can I use for my cockpit?

Grand Prix 2 uses a fixed palette like all games and you can see what colours are available to you when you load up the default cockpit in your graphics editor. If you use custom colour samples, rather than using the set colour swatches, it is advisable to constantly test your design in the game for colours that don't display well. Keep in mind that the primary colours (blue, red, yellow) are reserved for the parts of the cockpit that change colour by team in the game and should be avoided unless it is your intention to have changeable colours in your design.
There are three tracks that you should test your cockpit design with, as these tracks have a slight problem with the colour palette. Belgium, Monaco, and Spain all tend to display colours such as off-white, warm greys, and light shades of green in varying shades of orange. Try testing this effect with the default cockpit supplied with the GP2. You will notice the orange colour on the shadow portion on the main LCD particularly in Monaco and Spain and a little less so in Belgium. Also, certain shades of light grey will display darker than intended on some tracks, and you should check for this by running your cockpit in Great Britain.
Finally, avoid using special effects in graphic editors like smudge and airbrush tools, as these require you to save your cockpit in RGB Color mode, rather than Indexed Color (fixed palette), and you will end up getting unwanted results in the game. If you are going to use scanned images, make sure they are first saved in Indexed Color before you apply them to your cockpit design.

After I edited my cockpit, it looks terrible!

This happens when you change the palette of the PCX file. Make sure you only use the colours GP2 can handle. See question above.

Editing Helmets

by Nic Prins

How to create a helmet

Most of you by now would probably be familiar with the routine of updating JAM files using Trevor Kellaway's GP2JAM utility (if not, check Converting JAM files), and are probably wondering why I need to tell you how to make your own helmets, but it is not as simple as it may seem.

Which helmet is which?

The first thing to do is to convert 'HELMETS1.JAM' to a bitmap.
You will notice that there are 28 different parts of the the image that are mapped onto the the helmets of the different drivers within GP2. One helmet is made up of both the rectangular strip and the round section next to it. Going down each column, every pair of helmets corresponds to a JAM file.
For example, the first two mapped onto the helmets of the cars from WILLIAMS.JAM, the second pair for TYRRELL.JAM and so on. To work out the others, you will need to know the order of the teams from the default game settings (1994 season), which is worked out according to the numbers of the cars.

Editing a helmet

You will notice that for every helmet there is a column of pixels of the left of the rectangular strip.
The top left pixel should be the green background colour, do not change this. The column beneath it is what the game uses to light source the helmets. Don't worry about changing this, GP2 will do this itself when you convert HELMETS1 back into a JAM file.

Now it's almost time to go about designing your own helmets.
The first things to remember are that the rectangular strip is wrapped around the sides of the helmets, and the round piece is placed on top of the helmets, with the topmost part of this section placed closest to the front of the helmet.

Why don't my designs appear as I painted them when I use them within the game?

This is because of another one of those annoying little things that Grand Prix 2 is unfortuneately riddled with. For some reason not all of the pixels on the rectangular strip are used by GP2. The top and bottom rows are omitted, as well as a number of columns and a few bits on the top of the helmet. To save me going into details about exactly where these are, you can download a stencil that I created here.

How do I use the stencil?

Very simple really.
The areas that I have painted white are the areas that are used by GP2. All of the red areas are those that are not are painted red. The column at the left is painted black to show the strip used for light sourcing. I pasted a visor on to the stencil to give you an idea of where it should be on the helmet. The middle at the front of the helmet is 22 pixels from the far left of the image (including the light sourcing strip), whereas the middle at the rear of the helmet is 6.5 pixels from the right hand side of the rectangular image.

There are various ways that you can use this stencil, using it as a base and then pasting, copy parts of an existing helmet onto it, whatever works best for you.

Now when I say that the red portions of the helmet are not mapped on to the GP2 helmets, I tell a small lie, because if you were to paste this stencil directly onto HELMETS1 and see whether I'm lying or not, you will notice that from some angles there are some very thin vertical strips from these regions that are displayed on the helmet.

How to solve the thin vertical stripes?

When you create or modify helmets this way, don't leave the unused sections blank. Continue the designs from either side of these regions over to the other side.

What if a pixel on one side is a different colour to the pixel directly opposite?
Doesn't matter. but be consistent. It's best to choose one side and and take everything across from here. Yes, it will look funny if you have diagonal lines or other non-horizontal patterns, but don't worry, this is only to avoid having stray lines of colour within the game. For an example, you can download my 1995 McLaren helmet here.

Last but not least, remember that if you like to switch cars regularly or whatever, make copies of the helmet designs that you replace, you'll probably want to use them again!

Note: The original helmets that you will find on the CD do not take any of this into account either, so start painting!

Can I change the helmets in the driver select menu in the game?

A very short answer actually: Yes.
Use GP2Edit by Steven Young.

Converting JAM files

How can I convert the helmets, cars etc. I found on your site to the right JAM files?

If you're using DOS, you will need Trevor Kellaway's GP2JAM util.
But probably the easiest way to convert graphics is by using the fabulous GP2Edit made by Steven Young
Other options are JAM Managers.

If you can't use any JAM manager and want to do it all by hand you will need to do this:

- Unzip GP2JAM.ZIP to the GP2\GAMEJAMS directory.
- Then copy the BMP file you wish to convert to the GAMEJAMS directory too.
- Next type: GP2JAM [-bFILENAME.BMP] [-jFILENAME.JAM].
Example: GP2JAM -bMYCAR.BMP -jMCLAREN.JAM.

You can convert any car.BMP to any car.JAM.
For instance: GP2JAM -bFERRARI.BMP -jWILLIAMS.JAM is no problem.
However, in case it's not a car you want to convert and the name of the BMP file doesn't match the name of the JAM file and you don't know exactly which JAM file to use, it's becoming more difficult. You will have to find out exactly what JAM file has to be used for converting the BMP file. This can be done by converting all JAM files to BMP files and then view the BMP files to see which JAM file is the same as the new BMP file you wish to convert. If you found the correct JAM you can convert the BMP.

More details can be found in the readme of GP2JAM.

I'm using Pieter's carset and now I want to replace one of the cars.

The easiest way you can do this is by using GP2Edit by Steven Young.

Using ZIP files

How do I use ZIP files?

If you work with Windows (95) I advise you to download WinZip. This program lets you handle ZIP files very easily.
If you still work under DOS, you need the util PKUNZIP.
Put the ZIP file and PKUNZIP.EXE in the same directory (or put PKUNZIP in any path directory.)

- Then type: PKUNZIP -d ZIPFILE.ZIP DIRECTORY.
Example: PKUNZIP -d CPHI_JA5.ZIP F:\GAMES\GP2\BITMAPS
- This will unzip the file to the BITMAPS directory.