Grand Prix Manager 2 - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Grand Prix Manager 2 is a 1996

1996 in video gaming

-Notable releases:*January 29 — Duke Nukem 3D, successor to the simple side-scrolling originals, and a genre-redefining title for first person shooters....

Formula 1 management simulation for Windows

Microsoft Windows

Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...

systems and is based on its prequel, Grand Prix Manager

Grand Prix Manager

Grand Prix Manager is a Formula 1 management game released in December 1995 by MicroProse. It featured the 1995 Formula 1 season.- Description :...

. It was developed by Edward Grabowski Communications Ltd and published by Microprose

MicroProse

MicroProse was a video game publisher and developer, founded by Wild Bill Stealey and Sid Meier in 1982 as Microprose Software. In 1993, the company became a subsidiary of Spectrum HoloByte and has remained a subsidiary or brand name under several other corporations since...

, and it is licensed by FIA

Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile

The Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile is a non-profit association established as the Association Internationale des Automobile Clubs Reconnus on 20 June 1904 to represent the interests of motoring organisations and motor car users...

to have real statistics for the 1996 Formula One season

1996 Formula One season

The 1996 Formula One season was the 47th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1996 FIA Formula One World Championship, which commenced on March 10, 1996, and ended on October 13 after sixteen races...

. A sequel, Grand Prix World

Grand Prix World

Grand Prix World is the sequel to Grand Prix Manager 2 released in 2000. The game was designed and produced by Edward Grabowski Communications Ltd , and Microprose. It is based around the 1998 Formula One season, and is officially FIA licensed....

, was released in 2000

2000 in video gaming

-Events:* May 11–13 — 6th annual Electronic Entertainment Expo ; the 3rd annual Game Critics Awards for the Best of E³* June 26 — International Game Developers Association renamed from Computer Game Developers Association...

Gameplay

The game is composed of long and short term "contracts", long term games being made up of 10 seasons of F1 (in game from 1996–2005) whilst short term challenges dictated a specific outcome to be met over 1, 2 or 3 seasons, failure of these resulting in being fired and losing the game. In long term challenges, the only way to lose the game is that the player's team goes bankrupt. The game can be played on the same computer with one to four players in a hotseat

Hotseat (multiplayer mode)

Hotseat or hot seat is a multiplayer mode provided by some turn-based video games, which allows two or more players to play on the same device by taking turns playing the game...

mode, assigning turns for the players to make their decisions. Before the start of a long term scenario, the player(s) may freely edit the teams and personnel to their liking by using a simple in-game editor. Short term scenarios cannot be modified.

During the game the player(s) must hire & dismiss personnel, negotiate with sponsors to secure the team's finances, control the research of new parts to stay competitive, negotiate contracts with engine, fuel, and spare parts suppliers, control testing and
set up the car according to hints given by the drivers.

Before a race weekend the player(s) can choose whether he/she wants to see the different sessions or just skip them, thus allowing the game to simulate the results. The car setup can also be altered during these sessions. Before the race the fuel & tyre strategy of both cars has to be set, the game giving a suggestion to the player(s) which can be freely modified. Stirling Moss

Stirling Moss

Sir Stirling Craufurd Moss, OBE FIE is a former racing driver from England...

provides commentary during the race. After the race certain news stories based on the race's results and current game events are displayed.

Jacques Villeneuve

Jacques Villeneuve

Jacques Joseph Charles Villeneuve, , is a Canadian musician and automobile racing driver. He is the son of the late Formula One driver Gilles Villeneuve, and is the namesake of his uncle...

(a new driver for the real 1996 season) is not named or photographed in the original version of the game. He is instead replaced by 'John Newhouse', an English translation of the Canadian's name, having the correct statistics but a different picture. This was due to Villeneuve owning the copyright to his name and likeness at the time, unlike other drivers who were copyrighted with FOA. This occurred under various guises in all of the Formula One games released from 1996 until 1999, when the issue was finally settled.

Network Play

Network play was also introduced in this version of the game, via Serial Connection, Modem, or TCP/IP, expanding the playability of the game. It is still possible to play the game on-line via a software such as Hamachi. Originally it couldn't support any mods, but recent discoveries have allowed the use of modifications in network games as well.

Game Community

This game still has an active community built around it, providing updates of seasons past and present using both the internal and 3rd party editing tools. It has released quite a few mods, which are listed below.

Season Updates

This is a full list of updates planned or released for Grand Prix Manager 2, each based on a real Formula One Season. The first full modification for the game was released in 2004 and based on the same year's Formula One season. Ever since then a modification has been released each year for the contemporary season. There's also a lot of historical mods, based on seasons before and after the game's original season (1996).

Season	Status	Notes
1985 1985 Formula One season The 1985 Formula One season was the 36th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1985 Formula 1 World Championship which commenced on 7 April 1985 and ended on 3 November 1985 after sixteen races. World Championship titles were awarded for both Drivers and Manufacturers.-Season...	WIP
1989 1989 Formula One season The 1989 Formula One season was the 40th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1989 FIA Formula One World Championship, which commenced on March 26, 1989 and ended on November 5 after sixteen races...	WIP
1990 1990 Formula One season The 1990 Formula One season was the 41st season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1990 FIA Formula One World Championship which commenced on March 11, 1990 and ended on November 4 after sixteen races...	WIP
1991 1991 Formula One season The 1991 Formula One season was the 42nd season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1991 FIA Formula One World Championship, which commenced on March 10, 1991 and ended on November 3 after sixteen races...	Released
1992 1992 Formula One season The 1992 Formula One season was the 43rd FIA Formula One World Championship season. It commenced on March 1, 1992, and ended on November 8 after sixteen races...	Released
1993 1993 Formula One season The 1993 Formula One season was the 44th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1993 FIA Formula One World Championship, which commenced on March 14, 1993 and ended on November 7 after sixteen races...	Released
1994 1994 Formula One season The 1994 Formula One season was the 45th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1994 FIA Formula One World Championship which commenced on March 27, 1994, and ended on November 13 after sixteen races. The season is remembered as one of the most tragic and controversial seasons in...	Released
1995 1995 Formula One season The 1995 Formula One season was the 46th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1995 FIA Formula One World Championship, which was contested over 17 races from March 26 to November 12, 1995. For the second year in succession, the Drivers' Championship was won by Michael Schumacher,...	Released
1996 1996 Formula One season The 1996 Formula One season was the 47th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1996 FIA Formula One World Championship, which commenced on March 10, 1996, and ended on October 13 after sixteen races...	Released	An update on the original season.
1997 1997 Formula One season The 1997 Formula One season was the 48th FIA Formula One World Championship season. It commenced on March 9, 1997, and ended on October 26 after seventeen races.-Season summary:...	Released
1998 1998 Formula One season The 1998 Formula One season was the 49th FIA Formula One World Championship season. It commenced on March 8, 1998, and ended on November 1 after sixteen races.-Season summary:...	Released
1999 1999 Formula One season The 1999 Formula One season was the 50th FIA Formula One World Championship season. It commenced on March 7, 1999, and ended on October 31 after sixteen races. The season saw the introduction of a new event to the World Championship calendar, the Malaysian Grand Prix...	Released
2000 2000 Formula One season The 2000 Formula One season was the 51st season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 2000 FIA Formula One World Championship which commenced on March 12, 2000, and ended on October 22 after seventeen races...	Released
2001 2001 Formula One season The 2001 Formula One season was the 52nd season of FIA Formula One racing. It featured the FIA Formula One World Championship which commenced on March 4, 2001 and ended on October 14 after seventeen races. Michael Schumacher won the Drivers title with a record margin of 58 points, after achieving...	Released
2002 2002 Formula One season The 2002 Formula One season was the 53rd FIA Formula One World Championship season. It commenced on March 3, 2002, and ended on October 13 after seventeen races....	Released
2003 2003 Formula One season The 2003 Formula One season was the 54th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 2003 FIA Formula One World Championship, which commenced on March 9, 2003 and ended on October 12 after sixteen races...	Released
2004 2004 Formula One season The 2004 Formula One season was the 55th FIA Formula One World Championship season, running from March 7 to October 24, 2004. The season was dominated by Michael Schumacher and Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro...	Released	The first mod made for the game.
2005 2005 Formula One season The 2005 Formula One season was the 56th FIA Formula One World Championship season, contested over a record 19 Grands Prix. It commenced on March 6, 2005, and ended October 16....	Released
2006 2006 Formula One season The 2006 Formula One season was the 57th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 2006 FIA Formula One World Championship which began on March 12 and ended on October 22 after eighteen races. The Drivers' Championship was won by Fernando Alonso of Renault F1 for the second year in a...	Released
2007 2007 Formula One season The 2007 Formula One season was the 58th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 2007 FIA Formula One World Championship, which began on 18 March and ended on 21 October after seventeen events. The Drivers' Championship was won by Ferrari driver Kimi Räikkönen by one point at the...	Released
2008 2008 Formula One season The 2008 Formula One season was the 59th FIA Formula One World Championship season. It began on 16 March and ended on 2 November with eighteen Grand Prix races....	Released
2009 2009 Formula One season The 2009 Formula One season was the 60th FIA Formula One World Championship season. The season took place over 17 rounds, and started with the on 29 March 2009. It ended on 1 November 2009 with the inaugural ....	Released	Contains online play - a new feature.
2010 2010 Formula One season The 2010 Formula One season was the 61st Formula One season of World Championship motor racing competition. Red Bull Racing won its maiden Constructors' Championship with a one-two finish in Brazil, while Red Bull Racing's Sebastian Vettel won the Drivers' Championship after winning the final race...	Released

The season updates can be found at GPM2World and discussed on the site's forums.

Reception

The game received quite mixed reviews at the time of its release, others praising the relatively low learning curve and simplicity, while major criticism was aimed at the game for its relatively poor interface, high difficulty, poor driver simulation, poor financial simulation and lack of overall improvements over the original Grand Prix Manager. Despite this, the game remains very popular among F1 management game fans.

Gameplay

Network Play

Game Community

Season Updates

Reception

See also