This is my old GPL Links page, somewhat updated, but still shamefully out of date in places. I've kept it because some people may still find it to be a useful reference.
However, other people are doing a much better job than I of keeping track of the vast array of GPL Web sites with all the latest and hottest add-ons. See The Essential GPL Links to get to the current top GPL sites.
For the latest in GPL new car graphics, new tracks and track enhancements, and other add-ons, see Magnus Torme's superb GPL Track Database, Stefan Magnusson's terrific GPL++ The Addons, Race Sim Central, the GPLEA (also here), and the Ultimate GPL Links Page. Race Sim Central's GPL and Release Ready forums are particularly informative about the amazing amount of activity going on in the area of enhancements for GPL.
Ricardo Nunnini's GPL Foolishness has a wealth of wisdom about setup and about driving. Also here you can download an excellent GPL setup display/edit/print utility by Ian Withycombe. Don't miss this site!
The Pits has an ever-expanding GPL section, with add-on tracks, utilities and many other enhancements. It's the place to go for Dave Noonan's free tracks and converters. The US server is sometimes down, but there is a mirror site in Norway.
The Grand Prix Legends Preservation Society, AKA the GPLEA, has gorgeous enhancements for the Brabham and Ferrari as well as tracks and track enhancements, and more.
Peter O'Connor's GPL Workshop has some essential utilities.
Another site for Grand Prix Legends inforrmation and add-ons is The Fast Lane. Michaël Hompus, Sjon Stigter, Pete Lehtisyrjä, Phil Paterson, Matt Knutsen, and Marc Aarts have teamed up to create a great-looking and very useful site.
Bill Tillman's Turn 1 has carsets, sounds, historical information, a mailing list, a forum, and more. Bart Westra's "Tips, Links, and Files for Grand Prix Legends" provides modfied starting grids for GPL, and also presents an excellent discussion about online racing issues such as latency, warping, and bandwidth.
Patrick has published some wonderful engine sounds for GPL, derived from authentic race car engine recordings. Thomas Brown, who worked with Patrick, has published some enhancements and some new sounds of his own, available from The Fast Lane.
For help and the latest up to date information about many aspects of GPL, see the GPL Forum at Race Sim Central and the rec.autos.simulators Usenet newsgroup. Also check out the VROC Mailing List and the GPL Mailing List, whose archives contain a great deal of useful information and are readily accessible as Web pages.
General GPL and sim sites:
GPL-related sites:
GPL-related historical information:
Add-ons, utilities and projects (see also the latest top GPL sites, above):
Setups and hot lap replays:
GPL in other languages:
GPL racing series:
GPL racing teams:
Miscellaneous personal GPL sites:
AGN3D has the new GPL Demo. Randy Magruder's site has complete details about his new online racing series.
The Pits, The Sim Project and Sim Cyberworld are general sim sites with GPL sections which can be expected to grow. The Sim Project has the WinMip utility, useful for editing the bitmaps in the GPL cars; Sim Cyberworld has GPL Mip, which has similar functionality.
Dr. Hoad played a key role in the development of a shareware track editor for Microprose GP1/GP2, which has led to the development of over 100 tracks for these sims. The prospect of a track editor for GPL is indeed an exciting one, and Dr. Hoad seems determined to pull this off.
Mark Summer's site is notable for scanned copies of the original race reports from 1967, and a report about GPL by Eric Busch before he joined Papyrus.
Bart Westra's site has useful staggared two by two grids which really help cut down collisions at the start in online racing. Also Bart has published a paper about online racing, which discusses bandwidth, latency, and phenomena such as overly violent collisions and vanishing cars.
Jean Claude's Hall of Fame is notable for hotlap replays and setups by Wolfgang Woeger, George Sandman, Dave Mansell, and several other of the fastest GPL drivers on the Internet.
Opposite Lock has interesting information about the Nurburgring.
Edwin Solheim and Ken Tarvin are both conducting online racing leagues, in Europe and North America respectively.
Stealth Racing is a racing team site which features some of the fastest drivers on the Internet, and links to a number of other top sim racing teams and several racing leagues.
Dave Mansell has some of the fastest GPL hotlap replays available.
D. B.'s Grand Prix Legends Page has the Monza demo track, and some GPL-related surveys. Several of the GPL sites have copies of the new Monza circuit, which can be used with the original Watkins Glen demo. I believe D. B.'s page also has directions on how to install the Monza circuit into the older demo.
The Forix site has details about every Grand Prix ever run, including the grid, the fastest lap, and finishing order. It has information about every circuit ever used in Formula One, with maps of most.
Both Mark and Eddy have race reports from the 1967 season, and Eddy has some columns by Dennis Jenkinson and some beautiful photos as well.
Jeffrey Hunsberger writes:
"When I read in the back of Four Wheel Drift that "The Technique of Motor Racing" was out of print, a red flag went up for me. I had purchased the book recently from a Border's Book Store. It is published by Robert Bentley, Inc. Automotive Publishers.
"You can even order the book online!"
Brant Herbert, who recommended the Mail Order Central site, has this to say: "The 'History of Motor Racing: 1960s' video was very enjoyable to watch. Non-stop vintage film footage! Recommended."
Randy says, "Grand Prix Legends is a masterpiece of a car simulation. I'm addicted to it and expect to be spending many late hours immersing myself in it and racing against friends online. There is simply nothing better for capturing the ultimate driving and racing experience. But I also can't ignore the fact that the game feels somewhat incomplete, with a gameplay structure that is hostile to novices, and virtually non-existent driver development, saved mainly by the wonderful strategy guide."
Scott says, "I have no problem with saying GPL is the finest piece of software I have ever experienced. Highly recomended for any serious simulation racer."
Paul gives GPL five stars, and has this to say: "Grand Prix Legends goes beyond software; it’s a tribute to the brave souls who raced these machines. It’s not just a game, it is a work of art. Stop reading, get your butt down to EB, and buy the game."
There's an old but detailed preview at the Game Center (please ignore the incredibly silly use of the term "roadsters" to refer to Grand Prix cars!) See also the GP Legends pages at Papyrus' site for more screen shots.
Here's a quote from a Computer Gaming World interview with Mr. Kaemmer:
"We wanted to do the 3 liter formula because we just wanted to put people in a more powerful car. In the early '60s, the cars were using a 1.5 liter format and the cars couldn't reach the same top speeds as they could in the late '60s. So, we wanted to pick an era where the player could really drive something that was a monstrous car and we've succeeded. I think that era, before they put wings on the cars, but after they had moved up the 3.0 liter engines which in 1967 they were producing up to about 400 horsepower. The cars with 400 hp are extremely tricky to drive because you can get rear wheelspin, even at 120 miles per hour on a straightaway. So, you just have to be really, really, you know, careful with the throttle."
Here are sites with information about hardware and/or where to buy it:
Mail order sources for Sierra/Papyrus simulations:
Mail order sources for hardware and software:
Also see my Force Feedback page for sources for Logitech FF wheels and ball bearing kits.
These links are currently broken but may return: