The menu system has been completely redesigned to give it a more contemporary look while retaining the basic structure of old. Experienced players will therefore be able to find their way around right away while new players are never more than a couple of clicks from getting out onto the track. The in-game graphics engine has also been completely rewritten, with hardware-only features like T&L, full screen anti-aliasing, environment mapped cars and environment sourced reflections in wet conditions. You"ll even notice heat haze from the engines. Of more interest to hardcore Grand Prix fans is the news that for the first time in a Crammond game the teams all have their own individual car shapes - GP2 and GP3 only supported a single, generic shape. This could be altered using third party editors but only one shape could be used at any time. Speaking of which, we"re assured the code will once again be easy to get into and edit which is good for the online communities.
The background buildings and scenery have more depth than before too and we are even treated to animated crowds rather than the non-descript patchwork used to populate the grandstands in previous versions. The data for the game is based on the 2001 season, and all 17 tracks raced on have been recreated using Global Position System for co-ordinates, while video footage and photographs provide accurate visuals. Also impressive are the new fully motion-captured animated pit crews - no longer is the car serviced by a static array of cardboard cutouts. Each member of the pit team is fully modelled in 3D and smoothly animated as they carry out their allotted tasks.