Grand Prix 4
Windows - 2002
Description of Grand Prix 4
Microprose's Geoff Crammond knows a thing or two about creating decent racing simulations, a fact showcased by his sterling work from Revs all the way up to Grand Prix 3. At the same time, Microprose's publisher Hasbro knows a thing or two about milking a product for all it's worth, as we saw with the pitiful GP3 2000 Season Update.
GP4 carries the hallmarks of both these traits. Open the box and you'll find a solid racing simulation that has been developed firmly upon the GP3 / GP32K foundation. While the in-game mechanics are virtually unchanged, you'll also find that some of the weaknesses have carried over in the process, and long time fans may feel that there has not been enough of a progression to warrant paying another £30.
The GP4 experience gets off to a good start with the new interface styling, a swirly hi-tech affair that looks miles better than the previous photo-laden backgrounds from GP2 and 3. The menus retain the depth of options we're used to from previous editions, including the standard quick race, non-championship race, full championship etc., plus there's a little novelty in the quick laps option that made its debut in the GP32K add-on. This mode lets up to 22 drivers shoot it out for the fastest qualifying time, feeling like a rally-style competition around a grand prix circuit. The GP series has always catered for multiplayer 'hotseat' racing on a single PC, and this neat little extension is the next best option to split-screen play.
Heading out onto the track for the first time, you'll be hit by a triple-whammy of surprises. First, you're greeted by the sight of fully animated mechanics lowering your car and indicating that it's clear to drive into the pit lane. The second surprise is the quality of the graphics. Unlike the cartoony effect in the EA F1 games, GP4 goes for a clinical pseudo-photorealism and pulls it off with sharply defined objects, smooth textures and panoramic backdrops. Monaco is the perennial showcase of an F1 sim's graphical ability, and GP4 genuinely exceeds itself here - the detailing on everything from the casino to the docked yachts is nothing short of remarkable.
The third is the gorgeous engine note. Apparently sampled from the Arrows F1 Ford Cosworth, it comes across as raspy and seriously powerful. It's also completely different to the screaming samples in F1 2002. It's hard to say which is more realistic, but they both sound fantastic.
Every F1 game claims to employ GPS data to model the tracks, and every new incarnation seems to get closer and closer to the real thing (at least, as we see it on TV). GP4 is no exception, and the new breed of tracks feature more pronounced dips, crests and road camber changes (bankings) than those in GP3. All 2001 changes like the re-profiling of chicanes at Monza and the lower kerbs at Hungary are also present. F1 2002 is just as accurate but it exaggerates effects like bumps. That aside, the casual fan will notice little difference between the two.
Whilst F1 2002 goes out for maximum frills per cc, GP4 is good at doing the important things well, and in some areas it mops the floor with the opposition. The AI, already impressive in GP3, is simply stunning here. Negotiating starts is a fraught affair, with the cars possessing an uncanny spatial awareness and ability to take your space without crashing into you. The 2001 season traits have been modelled well, and often the Schumacher brothers will take the fight for the lead into the distance. In one race at Monza, Jarno Trulli tried an ill-fated out-braking manoeuvre on Ralf Schumacher's BMW Williams into Turn 1, sending them both into the gravel. Great stuff!
Equally wonderful are the replays, thanks to the replay editor first introduced in the GP32K add-on. Geoff Crammond has a creepy knack of replicating TV camera angles and the placements are simply perfect. To see the cars jostling for position down towards Les Combes at the end of the long Spa straight, or seeing them spear through Eau Rouge from a camera at the bottom of the hill, or to watch the AI battles courtesy of the 'directors cut' mode, is to witness PC racing perfection. F1 2002 doesn't even come close.
Another GP4 forte is the variable weather. This was one of the aces in the pack in GP3, and GP4 enhances it with its improved graphics (we finally get the raindrops-on-the-camera-lens effect for the first time!). Controlling an aquaplaning car in the wet is GP4's ultimate challenge, and it's sometimes worth following the AI until you get the hang of it. The informative force feedback comes into its own here. Grip? No grip? You can feel it in an instant.
GP4 retains the high fidelity telemetry and setup options that have been a hallmark (and a joy to serious simheads) throughout the series, and couples them to the improvements from the GP32K add-on. Every advanced setup option is now linked to an integrated GPaedia (which comes with informative video clips from Arrows Test Team Manager Mark Hemsworth), providing much needed guidance for relative newcomers, whilst seasoned pros have a new toy to tweak with, in the form of the differential.
Unusually for a Microprose sim, GP4 makes some concessions to the casual player by introducing some snazzy eye-candy. The animated pit crew is one such feature, as are the animated track marshals and spectators, and the fully functional car-mounted TV display that lets you track the qualifying session (who needs Sky Digital when you've got this?). For those of you put off by the claustrophobic cockpit view, GP4 features new roll-bar and chase-car camera views that come complete with digital displays and a dinky little Rally Championship-style track map.
Bearing in mind that much of the above is already available in the GP32K add-on, there are a few other problems. The new style menus, for instance, are a pain to navigate, a good case in point being the once-clear all-inclusive car setup screens having been split into several sub-menus. In addition, GP4 uses your game controller to navigate the menus, but it couldn't properly calibrate our MS Force Feedback Wheel and this led to a lot of frantic cursor chasing. The game is also buggy, at least under Windows XP, where it would frequently crash back to the desktop on our test machine.
GP4's main competitor, F1 2002, contains several exciting features like separate car performance characteristics and cockpit designs for each team, smarter driver aids and a training school facility to help get to grips with the car handling, along with the 2002 season data. The car physics feel more realistic too. GP4's cars are stable and predictable, even with the driver aids switched off. The F1 2002 breed is considerably more dynamic and exhilarating, with the superb driver feedback letting you feel for and control the power-induced slides.
Finally, the graphics engine powering GP4 exhibits the same problems as the one in GP2, dating all the way back to 1996, despite supposedly being completely new. Unlike in other games where overloading the processor leads to jerky framerates, GP games attempt to artificially compensate to provide a continually smooth frame. The result, though, is that a game simulating a car at speeds of 150mph in the rain somehow manages to look like it's really simulating 15mph, and adjusting detail levels hasn't helped. EA's title in comparison maintains a super fast speed throughout.
Whilst we gave GP3 the benefit of the doubt two years ago, the competition has advanced leaps and bounds since. GP4 has a limited scope and attempts to do its job well, but is let down by a lack of innovation and a gutless graphics engine. F1 2002 meanwhile very nearly matches the quality of the GP4 core features and also advances the genre further with its technically superior game engine and inventiveness. GP4 is worth a look, offering a rock-solid racing experience against some well-crafted AI, but it doesn't add anything significantly new. As a result, it only fully justifies its price tag for Microprose completists and those with very high spec machines.
Review By GamesDomain
External links
Captures and Snapshots
Comments and reviews
AleSauih 2024-03-26 0 point
A versão FullRip, ainda pede o cd, para que esse erro seja corrigido execute o patch desta página:
The FullRip version still asks for the CD, for this error to be corrected, run the patch on this page:
https://github.com/Lassii-/gp4nocd/releases/tag/v1.0
Lord_Snoodles 2024-03-18 -1 point
I tried @Diabolical Jim's advice on Win10 and it did not work. I hope the 16 people who upvoted had success...
herbian 2024-02-20 -1 point
gamecopyworld has a lot of files for this game, be nice to know which version this is, assume v1
gp4wonder 2023-10-23 0 point
Hi All, check my post:-
https://www.grandprixgames.org/read.php?4,1167449
GP4 EAX environmental sound option enabled, engine reverb in Monaco Tunnel, no CTD. GPXPATCH use CPU ALL
Date: October 21, 2023 03:21PM
Posted by: gp4wonder [ PM ]
GP4 EAX environmental sound option enabled, engine reverb in Monaco Tunnel
There are 2 dll's that need to be put in the GP4 main directory folder:- dsoal-aldrv.dll and dsound.dll
d/l it from here:-www.moddb.com
look for:- DSOAL - True 3D Sound for Headphones (HRTF mod) v1.4
The GP4 ingame sound option can then be set to EAX, uncheck the rest.
set Use CPU: All in gpxpatch after just enabling eax, the game will not crash to desktop. no ctd
set the compatibilty on gp4.exe to windows xp sp2
EAX enabled videos:-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-mn3zp-WtY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=caB7GNV0SSc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SzCGk1h9uAs
Game running on windows 11 at 4K res apologies for video quality as I did this with external camera
It's just to give you an idea
Install gpxpatch from here:-
https://www.sdidit.nl/
Lookup and install 2001 hd tracks:-
2001 HD tracks: Silverstone | Monza | Suzuka | Monaco | Imola | A1 Ring | Hockenheim | Spa-Francorchamps [released]
The above stopped the CTD issue with Use CPU "All" in gpxpatch.exe
Again just enable EAX only in the ingame sound option after copying dll's mentioned above.
c_gpg 2023-08-23 3 points
if you have troubles installing it, try this installer: https://www.mediafire.com/file/qvusl0ov88w434y/GP4_Installer.iso/file
monza 2023-08-10 3 points
Hello,
I try to install it on my computer with has windows 10. So finally I've got the game 3 times but....as I execute the files gp4.exe, the game start I can see the screen who tel me to play. I clic to play and nothing more happens. Did you have any Idea?
Thanks a lot
AtC91MB 2023-07-29 2 points
Thanks you very much!! Really thanks a lot for uploading the game! I love this game since my childhood! The best vibes really!
GavrilBarstow11 2023-07-25 -1 point
How Do I Configure The Screen? Try To Help Me Before I Google How Do I Do It
Diux 2023-07-18 0 point
eu consegui instalar o jogo sem problemas no meu Windows10, porém estou encontrando dificuldades para jogar, tipo o meu parece uma versão demo que eu só consigo assistir a corrida mas não consigo controlar nada muito menos guiar o carro, alguém tem alguma dica.
helder do amaral oliveira 2023-07-13 0 point
Fiz 9 temporadas nesse simulador e fui 9 vezes campeão com 208 vitórias
ice 2023-07-10 2 points
i fixed it!
but on the gpx patch key binds setting i can't find key binds for accelerate brake and turning, where can i change it?
ice 2023-07-09 10 points
i run gp4.exe it says no cd, i run setup and autorun it says class not registered, i run gp4 patch 9.6 .exe it says grand prix 4 is not installed to this machine.
i'm still trying to fix it.
if anyone have a suggestion?
KNz 2023-05-28 0 point
(WIN 10) Or you could convert the .bin and .cue files to an ISO (I used winiso7, it's shareware but you can convert it to iso) and mount it with win10. This works like a charm, because it looks like the no-cd crack doesn't work in win10. This is done with the "FULL RIP" version (so you need both).
lothburn 2023-01-29 0 point
Run a fake CD-ROM, double click any .iso file you have. Windows auto mounts as a CDROM drive.
RUN the game as normal and it will work.
I simply ran my GPL iso and launched GP4
Senator Blackfish 2023-01-20 -1 point
I have spent hours just trying to 'install' this game, much less get it to work.
I first downloaded the RIP prepatched version and tried for a very long time to install it.
I kept on getting the error message: "Setup failes to launch installation engine: not registered class" whenever I attempted to install the game.
I then spent hours researching this error and was falsely led to believe that my system was corrupt -- and that I needed to re-install Microsoft C++ binaries and re-register DLLs, running dskchk, sfc scan now among many other things.
After doing all of these things, which did not fix the issue -- I discarded the RIP prepatched file -- and downloaded the ISO version here at abandonware.
Lo and behold the ISO version DID SUCCESSFULLY INSTALL! My only logical explanation is that the RIP prepatched file must be 'pirated' or 'corrupt' whereas the ISO version is not.
Now that I have the game successfully installed and have overwritten/replaced the GP4.exe with the no CD patch -- I still can't get the game to start because it asks for the CD: Hence the no CD patch absolutely does not work. I even downloaded the no CD patch from archive.org; same result.
Why does the noCD patch not work on this game???
RACING ADDICT 2022-11-05 0 point
How do i change the driving aids? I cant adjust those and the difficulty.
MARCOS TADEU 2022-10-05 -5 points
Hello good afternoon! I can't install the NO-CD! A message appears that binkw32.dll was not found. Please can you help!? Thanks!
TONTI 2022-05-10 4 points
GREAT! OK guys this is how to do it without problems:
1. Download RIP pre patched and unzip to preferred folder
2. Download patch and unzip to the new game folder you created in step 1
3. Download NOCD file and unzip to the same folder you created in step 1
4. (Not sure how necessary this step is but it's what I did) - as Rixutti said download and install Daemon Tools Lite and "add drive" on it so a virtual disk drive is on your pc
5. Run .exe as admin
how 2022-04-21 3 points
how to use the french version (in the ldata folder there are all languages files, how to use them?)
Thiago Rocha 2022-03-28 -2 points
If you want the best mods and tracks for GP4, visit www.gprace.com.br
Josef Schwarz 2022-01-19 1 point
My Tipp to get the Game working, is to modify the f1graphics.cfg to set the windowed mode on true:
1 ; [RELEASE] Run in a window
For me, this solves the problems with my ultra-wide-screen. The game didn't start - keept on black-screen and quitted with an error. With this settings the game runs in a window without problems. You can try out different Resolution-Settings in cfg.
For this I've set the
1 ; f1graphics.cfg controls all settings (default 0)
on true.
Don't forget to start the game with the GPxPatch.exe.
JTubeYT 2021-10-29 0 point
can't change driver, un changeable steering assist, randomly can't control the car and the computer takes over, car keeps spinning for no reason and none of the settings make sense.
rixutti 2021-08-24 3 points
Hi everyone,
If NoCD patch would not work, try the following: it might be because your computer does not have a disk drive. For me the game worked when I installed a virtual disk drive with Daemon Tools Lite. After that the game run perfectly and no more asks for CD.
blask 2021-07-15 0 point
Guys download "full rip pre patched version" extract it and start the game from GPxPatch.exe (NOT from GP4.exe)
If you still have problems, try different compatibility settings - Win XP sp2, Win XP sp3, Win 7, start as admin - for one or both of the exe files.
Eddie 2021-06-20 1 point
Ok, resolved the no CD issue. But the game won't run - the initial screen opens, but when I select 'play' it just won't run. I've tried all the compatibility modes, and just nothing happens. Any suggestions? Thanks.
Eddie 2021-06-19 2 points
Very glad to find this classic game. Downloaded it with the NOCD patch, replaced the exe but it still won't run - it just asks for the CD. Tried the whole process over again and the same thing. Any suggestions? Thanks.
RYZEN 2021-03-26 0 point
Will this game work with a modern wheel? i really like it and would love to play it with my wheel
help me pls 2021-03-20 0 point
the game works its just that the controls are dumb! the original controls for keyboard are already stupid enough but I cant change the controls myself! please help me out thanks.
bakerace 2021-03-20 0 point
Jim, tried your solution and it's not working for me using vista. Any help please?
Diabolical Jim 2021-03-18 14 points
Okay folks, so you don't make the same mistake I did, and try unsuccessfully to install the game, here's what you do. Download the "Full RIP Pre Patched 512MB" file. Unzip, or just drag the "Grand Prix 4" directory from the zip file, to the location of your choice (in my case it was J:\Games\), and then create a shortcut on your desktop to GP4.exe located in said "Grand Prix 4" directory. Double click the shortcut, and play the game. I did adjust the screen res from the default 1024x768, upped all the graphic details, and turned down the music, and that was all I needed to do to enjoy some old school GP racing.
Argon 2021-03-14 2 points
I put the NOCD to my game but its still wanted the CD, what shoud i do?
Chris Schönfeld 2021-03-10 -9 points
My Formula 1
Monaco Grand Prix Racing Simulation 2 and Racing Simulation 3 and F1 Racing Championship.
No Crammond
Chris Schönfeld 2021-02-10 -13 points
Crammond is a Stinker
Monaco Grand Prix Performt wirklich vom aller feinsten.
3 XP Systeme, AMD FX 4100 und zwei Athlon, 5000 und 6000+, 3x 6670, Saitek PS 2700 und 3x P1500 Gamepads. 2x NEC Multisync LCD 1970NX. 1x Fujitsu Siemens Szenicfiew P19-2, 1x dell ultrasharp 1908fpt. 1x NEC Multisync LCD 1760NX. Extreme 500, Superbike World Championship, Superbike 2000 und 2001. Mercedes Benz Truck Racing, Monaco Grand Prix und F1 Racing Championship.
PetePeter 2021-02-05 0 point
I've installed it, patched it, and applied the NoCD patch. Does anyone know how to get it to work properly in Win10? What compatibility settings are needed? Thanks
BULLy 2020-11-14 2 points
@GREG Please try to be more supportive of others next time. We are all gamers and can learn from each other.
@MAKO An ISO is an image of a cd or set of files in a similar way as a ZIP compressed folder. You should be able to "mount" the image in a Virtual CD drive, and run it as if you had the real disc in.
GP2engine 2020-07-01 2 points
Hey, when I click on "setup" for the installation it says "Setup failes to launch installation engine: not registered class". And when I tried "Autorun" and clicked on "Installation" it just do nothing. Any ideas on what should I do?
RubyVolt 2020-06-09 1 point
Thank you for putting the NOCD file. After burning and installing the ISO, just copy the NOCD over the original and race.
supertomcat 2020-06-08 4 points
Also try the no cd at the bottom and then put the patch if that doesn't work. I may do a step by step guide.
RubyVolt 2020-06-07 0 point
I downloaded, burned with Nero, installed. When I try to run, it says, "put in the CD" when the CD is in there. OH WELL....
supertomcat 2020-06-07 0 point
Get an iso mounter and if you have windows it should work. (this is a windows game not dos) If it doesn't work on windows 10 set up a virtual machine running Xp
MAKO 2020-06-07 1 point
So, this is my first time downloading a game. I'm stuck and I'm not being able to play it. How do you run iso? I'm trying with DOSBox but it never works...
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