Formula 1
Preview by Al Giovetti
Price: $60
Release: March 1997
Genre: Unique Graphic Adventure
Developer: Bizarre Creations
Designer: Bizarre Creations
Programmers: Martyn Chudley, Walter Lynsdale, Phil Snape, Jonathan Amor, Keith
Pickford, David Al-Daini
Art: Jon Dugdale, Steve Heaney, Halli Bjhornsson, Mark Akester
Music: Philip Morris, Music Manager; Mike Clarke, In-Game Music; Tim Wright
SFX and Intro Sound; Stuart Ellis, Lead Guitar; Studio Facilities, Sound
Company London; Joe Satriani & Steve Vai, licensed tracks.
Publisher: Psygnosis
Phone: 800-438-7794
Order Phone:1-800-GET-PSYG
Website: www.psygnosis.com
Requirements: Playstation; PC version will require Direct 3D, high-end
multimedia PCs
Company line: Experience the thrill of high-speed auto racing with Formula 1 by Psygnosis. Combining arcade action racing with detailed, accurate championship simulation, Formula 1 brings it all home in incredibly realistic detail. From the challenge of qualifying against the world's best drivers to the thrill of each Grand Prix. In Formula 1, speed, strategy, and authenticity combine to create an amazing home racing experience. Psygnosis would like to thank Who Works in Forumla One's Francois-Michel GREGOIRE for his assistance with this project.
Selling over one million units world-wide, Psygnosis' Formula 1 gears up for the new season with Formula 1 '97! Developed by Bizarre Creations, Formula 1 is the ultimate game for realistic racing excitement. Acclaimed for its blend of arcade action and authentic handling, Formula 1 '97 features the latest '97 statistics, all the teams and drivers of the 1997 season, 17 circuits, arcade and championship options, new tracks, and commentary by professional Formula 1 race veterans, Murray Walker and John Watson.
Experience the thrill, speed and excitement of the ultimate gaming challenge. Undergo the same dynamics, real car engine noises, pit stop tactics as any driver does in the world of F1 today by driving the painstakingly accurate representations of the world's finest tracks. Legendary locations like Silverstone (UK), Adelaide (Australia) and Monaco (Monte Carlo), along with 14 other tracks are featured. Formula 1 '97 offers a range of in-game options including steering and braking assistance, manual or automatic transmission, random and statistically correct weather conditions, multiple viewpoints and a comprehensive replay feature.
Players will also experience the fierce rivalry amongst teams and
racers as a built-in sophisticated artificial intelligence algorithm
crunches raw data such as car reliability and aggression level.
These parameters, based on real-life driving styles, give each gamer
a unique personality. Audio options include Dolby Surround and
Q-Sound support and definable ambient and engine noise levels (from
DAT recordings taken from a real Formula 1 race car).
History: This game will be released on the Sony Playstation first. Developer Bizarre Creations is a Liverpool-based development house headed by Martyn Chudley with a team of full time artists, programmers, and designers, Bizarre have spent more than a year creating Forumla 1. Responsible for such 16-bit classics as The Killing Game Show, Bizarre have been longtime partners with Psygnosis, and are already hard at work on new projects.
Game play: Formula 1 is the result of more than a year's worth of work by developers Bizarre Creations and Psygnosis. The goal of the design team is to create the most detailed, realistic racing game ever released for a home gaming system. Bizzare and Psygnosis have been working with a leading Formula One team to assist with the game dynamics, ensuring the game is accurate as well as playable.
Artificial intelligence: All drivers in the game follow an intellegent, realistic race strategy, and are constantly monitoring the situation around their cars. They are competitive but fair - back markers will pull aside to let the faster cars through.
The AI drivers each have unique personality factors, modeled on the real drivers. They are therefore not infallible, and can misjudge a situation like the rest of us!
Tracks: All seventeen (17) tracks from the 1995 Formula 1 season.
Cars: 26 Full Grid
Statistics: 13 Teams and 35 real drivers for amazing authenticity.
Modes: Choose from arcade mode or Grand Prix sim mode, with a variety of configurable options.
Views: Select to view (or race!) from in-cockpit, behind the car, helicopter view, overhead, beside the car, the official TV camera positions (pan and zoom) or the frightening nose-camera!
Controllers - Standard, NeGcon and the new Mad Catz analogue steering wheel and pedals combo. Memory card support - for best times, season details, car set-up and replays
Graphics: Tracks have been precisely modeled from the official surveyor's track maps, which give us accurate dimensions and heights for the circuits. Tracks (ranging from 3.3 to 7km in length) have 60,000 to 90,000 polygons and 256 color backdrops. All surrounding scenery - buildings, hoardings, grandstands, trees - have all been accurately added from carefully studying site photographs and over 100 hours of live video footage.
All 26 cars are uniquely modeled from team diagrams, photographs and video footage - all official logos and sponsors (except for tobacco and alcohol sponsors) are included in both car and circuit models.
Animation: Game runs at 30 frames per second on PlayStation, PC depends on hardware.
Voice actors: In addition to the music, the game also features the "Voice of the F1", Murray Walker. Murray's comments are context-sensitive, and designed to sound like his commentary during the F1 season. A tight AI sequence assembles proper sentences, and tailors them to the current race conditions.
Music score: Formula 1 sports more than 30 minutes of grinding, squealing, screeching guitar wizardry intended to help evoke the true feeling of speed and power associated with F1 racing. The musical tracks in this game are a mixture of tracks from guitar legends Joe Satriani and Steve Vai, as well as our in-house musical team, Overdrive.
Sound effects: PlayStation version: Mono, Stereo,Q-Sound or Solby Surround with real F1 race car sound effects.
Utilities: The game has a VCR mode that will allow you to record the race, your best laps or practice sessions and use the replay mode to view the whole thing (including all other cars) from one of the camera modes.
Multi-player: Two-player link option - or 1 player and TV coverage mode!
References:
Next Generation, "The most impressive 32-bit racer yet!"
Game Informer, "The most realistic and comprehensive racing sim ever to hit a
console!"
Glenn Broderick, Computer Player, volume 3, number 6, January, 1997, pg. 38.