


        
        
        
        URS93 version 2.1
        1993 Carset for Grand Prix 2 by Microprose
        Copyright 1997 Martin Ursua
        All rights reserved.
        
        INTRODUCTION
        
             Given  that  URS93 version 1 was completed some  ten  months 
        ago,  it's understandable that the carset was beginning  to  show 
        signs  of age.  As most of my time had been occupied with  URS95, 
        it  was not until just three months ago that I took another  long 
        hard look at the 1993 season.
             The  graphics  of version 1 were not bad  for  a  first-time 
        effort.  At least, I think they weren't!  Regardless, proportions 
        were  wrong, anti-aliasing and shading were nowhere to be  found, 
        and  some  63  colors remained unused due to  a  conversion  bug.  
        These  problems  have been addressed.  And then some.   And  then 
        some more!  
             It also became painfully obvious that the AI for the comput-
        er  drivers had been influenced by a time-sweetened memory.   No, 
        Senna   didn't  routinely  capture  pole  in  1993  (only   once, 
        actually).  No, the Damon Hill/Williams combination wasn't slower 
        than Schumacher/Benetton.  And yes, Prost was indeed  untouchable 
        for  many  of  the races.  Significant amounts  of  research  and  
        calculator time were put in while coming up with new grip levels.  
             With  URS93 v2.0, I've tried to be as complete as  possible.  
        Every driver who drove in 1993 is included and rated in this set.  
        Booting  Michael Andretti out of the McLaren is just  two  clicks 
        away,  thanks  to Steven Young's editor  (apologies  to  Andretti 
        fans)!   Additionally, all major car variants are  available  in-
        cluding  the gorgeous Hugo Pratt Ligier.  Easily the  centrepiece 
        of  this new set, LIGRPRAT.BMP should be loaded at your  earliest 
        convenience.   Consult the file DRIVERS.TXT for further  informa-
        tion. 
        
                                                     Martin Ursua
                                                     martiurs@unixg.ubc.ca
                                                     August 24, 1997
        
        
        UPDATES
        
        v2.1: October 3, 1997
             -Performance  levels completely redone using  Olivetti  sum-
              maries from end of 1993.
             -Revised helmets and cars.
             -Now downsized as per GP2EDIT v1.70 specifications.


        CONTENTS OF URS93S20.ZIP
        
        URS93.GP2      Carset file for Steven Young's GP2Edit v1.60.
        *.BMP (8)      Extra car variants.
        README.TXT     This text file.
        DRIVERS.TXT    Guide to driver attendance and car variants.
        URS95.GIF      300SLR.
        
        HOW TO INSTALL URS93 IN FIVE EASY STEPS
        
        1.   Run Steven Young's GP2EDIT v1.60.
        2.   Under "File", select "Open Car Set".
        3.   Open URS93.GP2.
        4.   Select "Export to game."
        5.   So... that's it! Easy.
        
        IMPORTANT  NOTE:   Make sure that the "Fix green palette"  option 
        is clicked OFF under GP2EDIT's program configuration.  The greens 
        will  still  look brownish at Barcelona.  However, at  the  other 
        fifteen tracks some cars will look much better than they would if 
        "Fix green palette" was on.
        
        
        A LOOK BACK AT 1993
        
             By  no  stretch of the imagination did anyone  believe  that 
        1993  would  be a hard-fought season.  Having  departed  for  the 
        friendlier climes of America, Nigel Mansell had vacated his  seat 
        in a car that, to borrow the description of Jochen Rindt's Lotus, 
        a monkey could drive to the World Championship.  Although coveted 
        by  Ayrton  Senna, the Williams drive ultimately  went  to  Alain 
        Prost, fresh from his one-year sabbatical from Formula 1.   Prost 
        delivered as promised, never qualifying off the front of the grid 
        and  winning  eight  races during the season.  By  the  time  the 
        chequered flag dropped in Estoril, Prost had clinched his  fourth 
        WC  and announced his retirement from Formula 1.  His record  for 
        victories,  total  points,and fastest laps looks unlikely  to  be 
        surpassed in the near future.
             The biggest threat to Prost's championship run would be  his 
        old rival Ayrton Senna.  Senna's challenge would unfortunately be 
        blunted  by  Honda's withdrawal from F1 in the  previous  season.  
        While  McLaren toyed with the idea of Chrysler power for a  time, 
        the  team  eventually settled on the second-rate Ford  HB.   That 
        Benetton  received  the more powerful V8s was a  sore  point  for 
        Senna  for the whole season.  Despite being  underpowered,  Senna 
        could  take joy in what was one of the best chassis McLaren  ever 
        produced.  Combined with his unparalleled driving abilities,  the 
        MP4/8  brought Senna five victories.  Greatest of these  was  his 
        win at the wet European GP in which he went from fourth to  first 
        in the first lap, putting the rest of the field to shame.   Senna 
        also  managed  to finish the season in style by taking  pole  and 
        keeping the Williams pair at bay in Adelaide.  Sadly, this  would 
        be Senna's last victory.
             It  is  somewhat expected that a Williams driver win  a  few 
        races  in a season.  In Damon Hill's case, one did not know  what 
        to  expect  from the former Williams test driver and son  of  the 
        double  world  champion.   Over the course of  the  season,  Hill 
        affirmed Frank Williams' trust in his abilities, winning a splen-
        did three victories.  Although Hill's win at Monza was  inherited 
        after  Prost's car failed (Prost's sole failure of  the  season), 
        this  stroke  of luck was more than balanced by  a  heartbreaking 
        engine failure he suffered while leading the British GP.
             Following  an  excellent 1992 (only his first  full  season) 
        that  saw him finish third in the points, Schumacher  was  aiming 
        for multiple wins in '93.  Indeed, Schumacher was a regular sight 
        on  the podium for most of '93.  That is, for the times  he  fin-
        ished.   Inexperience  combined with reliability  problems  meant 
        that Schumacher would only complete half the races of the season.  
        His  only  victory came at Estoril, where he  narrowly  held  off 
        Prost's faster Williams for most of the race.  
             Several  new faces made their mark in '93.  An entirely  new 
        team  in  the form of Sauber-Mercedes appeared, courtesy  of  the 
        collapse  of  Group C racing.  Although JJ Lehto's sixth  on  the 
        Kyalami  grid was impressive, his performance was  largely  over-
        shadowed  by his younger teammate Karl Wendlinger. Rubens  Barri-
        chello  secured his spot as a rising star thanks to  a  brilliant 
        drive to second place at Donington.  Low fuel pressure sadly  let 
        the  Brazilian down several laps from the finish.  With only  two 
        races  to serve as his record, Eddie Irvine also managed  to  im-
        press by gaining a third of Jordan's '93 points.  
             Although not strictly a "new faces" other drivers  certainly 
        showed greater signs of promise.  Mika Hakkinen displayed a stun-
        ning turn of speed when he replaced Andretti for the final  three 
        races.   Having  outqualified  Senna at  Portugal,  the  ex-Lotus 
        driver  finished  a fine third at Suzuka.   Christian  Fittipaldi 
        coaxed  a reluctant Minardi towards five points.  Mark  Blundell, 
        in only his second season, finished on the podium twice.  
             With  all the winners in the season, there are bound  to  be 
        many  other disappointments.  Foremost of these was  Michael  An-
        dretti.   Plucked by McLaren from Indycars, Andretti's  only  re-
        prieve came with a podium place at his final race in Monza.   For 
        most  of  the  season, Andretti routinely  finished  outside  the 
        points or not at all.  Some defend Andretti as a victim of unfor-
        tunate circumstances while others say that he was responsible for 
        his  own fate.  Riccardo Patrese's drive at Benetton was  another 
        letdown as the ex-Williams driver simply could not come to  grips 
        with  the Benetton.  Team Jordan's #15 seat was a string  of  one 
        frustrating drive after the other.  Ivan Capelli, once the future 
        star  of March, proved how thoroughly decimated he was  from  his 
        Ferrari  experience.   The tired Thierry Boutsen  drove  with  no 
        motivation whatsoever, finally retiring at his home GP.  Scuderia 
        Italia also sank to the bottom as the season's worst team.   Once 
        a  Ferrari driver who was runner-up to the WC,  Michele  Alboreto 
        wasted an entire season either racing in the very back or  flying 
        home on Saturday nights.  Ditto for Luca Badoer who was so  prom-
        ising in F3000.
             The other drivers of the season may not have been  spectacu-
        lar,  but  they did finish with points and shined every  now  and 
        then.  Jean Alesi and Gerhard Berger were in team that was  still 
        in  recovery from a disastrous 1992.  However, Alesi put  in  the 
        effort when it counted, qualifying third and finishing second  at 
        Monza.   Martin Brundle finished in the points regularly,  though 
        usually out of reach of the podium.  Back from  Sport-Prototypes, 
        Derek  Warwick finished regularly, completing the  third  highest 
        number of laps after Prost and Hill.  Johnny Herbert also managed 
        several good finishes (always off the podium, unfortunately)  for 
        Lotus in its last good year of racing.
        
        
        QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
        
        Q:   Aren't  the  car lap times in this carset faster  than  they 
        really were in 1993?  
        A:   Yes  and no.  Whereas the cars go about 2 seconds faster  at 
        Imola,  they also go three seconds slower at Spa.  Relative,  not 
        absolute, laptimes are what I've tried to reflect.  
        
        Q:   Aren't the random grip numbers a bit low?
        A:   Not at all.  It's my opinion that if you set the  randomness 
        past  1000,  you may as well forget any claim to  simulating  the 
        actual season.
        
        Q:   Why does Patrese's car have a number 5 on it?  How come some 
        cars don't have any numbers on them?
        A:   The majority of the cars in F1 do not have their numbers  in 
        the  position GP2 forces the numbers to be in.  Sometimes a  com-
        promise  can be met, but other times I choose to ignore the  num-
        bers completely to avoid ruining the design of the car.   I tried 
        to  do the latter with the Benetton, but found the  blank  yellow 
        space  on the nose distracting.  Since a five looks a bit like  a 
        six and Schumacher is the far more visible and important  driver, 
        both Benettons have fives on the nose.
        
        Q:   1993 was the year turning vanes were introduced to F1.   How 
        come none of your cars have turning vanes on them?
        A:   I reiterate what I said in URS95's README.TXT:
        
             Most  people  will notice the absence of turning  vanes  and 
        winglets that are prominent in rival carsets.  I had experimented 
        with drawing in the "barge boards" but finally decided on staying 
        true to the shape of the game's 3D model.  Frankly, the  illusion 
        just doesn't work for me. 
               Although  the  effect  is quite striking  from  the   side  
        view, the apparent depth vanishes at other angles. Personally,  I 
        get  the impression that a slab of carbon fibre has been  riveted 
        flush  to  the intakes.  Winglets drawn on  the  sidepods'   rear  
        sections  also  look equally wrong to me from any angle  but  the 
        direct  side view.
             Just  as I would not expect one to assume that  this  period                (.)  is a foot-long section of wire, I will not draw any  append-
        ages on the car and have the viewer assume that they protrude  by 
        a significant distance.  Here's hoping that someone can program a 
        GP2 3D model editor in the near future.
        
        
        THANK YOU!
        
             Again, I must thank Earl Ma for allowing my continued use of 
        graphics  from  his stunning 1994 carset.  Aside  from  providing 
        Fabrizio  Barbazza's helmet design, the scans Earl sent  me  were 
        crucial  to the completion of this carset.  There would not be  a 
        Hugo Pratt Ligier in this set without Earl's help!
             If  you  liked these amazing works of lettering,  check  out 
        Earl's  beautiful  carsets for ICR2 and keep an eye  open  for  a 
        forthcoming GP2 carset.
        
        The following are lifted or derived from Earl Ma's '94 set:
        Benetton: BENETTON SPORTSYSTEM
        Williams: ELF, MAGNETI-MARELLI, "0", "2"
        Ferrari: AGIP, MAGNETI-MARELLI, GOODYEAR, "27", "28"
        McLaren: CAMOZZI, "7", "8"
        Minardi: VALLEVERDE, BETA, AGIP, "23", "24"
        Lola BMS: BOSSINI, AGIP
        Footwork: "9","10"
        Jordan: SASOL, GLASURIT, "14", "15"
        Ligier: RENAULT, ELF, GOODYEAR, GITANES BLONDES, "25", "26"
        Lotus: HITACHI, FORD, SHIONOGI
        Sauber: "29", "30"
        Tyrrell: YAMAHA, "3", "4"
        
             Marco Apicella's helmet is based on a design found at  Bart-
        Willem van Lith's GP2 Helmet Page:
             http://www.geocities.com/MotorCity/7584/
        
             The  tyres included in this set are the default tyres  found 
        in Steven Young's GP2 editor.  Until someone can draw up a better 
        set  of yellow-rimmed O.Z. wheels, this is the best there is  for 
        '93.
        
             Material  for  this  carset was culled  from  many  sources.  
        Magazines  included  F1  News, Autosport,  Lui,  Sport-Auto,  and 
        Mercedes-Benz magazine.
             Books  used  are "Benetton Formula 1" by Chris  Bennett  and 
        Maurice  Hamilton,  "Fascination Formula 1" by  Rainer  Schlegel-
        milch, the "Williams-Renault Formula 1 Racing Book", "Remembering 
        Ayrton Senna" by Alan Henry, "Race Without End" by Maurice Hamil-
        ton, Eurosport's "World Sportscar Racing '91" yearbook, and F1 93 
        by Bryn Williams and Tom Roberts.
             Other  sources include the 1993 and 1994  Tamiya  catalogues 
        and several Minichamps models.
        
             The  cars  and helmets were created using  Deluxe  Paint  II 
        Enhanced  by Electronic Arts.  There is no better  paint  program 
        available for 8-bit graphics.
        
             The carset was assembled using Steven Young's GP2Edit v1.60.  
        Mr. Young's editor is the standard by which all other editors are 
        and will be judged.
        
             Thanks  to  Jim Dunphy for the regular  maintenance  of  The 
        Grandstand and for keeping an eye open for pirated carsets.
        
             Photograph  of  Alain Prost's Williams was  taken  by  Oskar 
        Schuler.  Check out his shrine to "Le Prof":
             http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/oskar_schuler
        
             Thanks to PK Arnall/Pieter Van Dieren for solving the secret 
        of  the green palette.  This carset would look a whole lot  worse 
        without those lovely dark greens.
        
             Thanking Trevor Kelloway is like thanking the Academy for an 
        Oscar.  Without his GP2JAM.EXE, none of this would be possible.
        
        
        
        DISTRIBUTION AND TERMS OF USAGE
        
             Please  feel  free to distribute URS93,  without  requesting 
        compensation,  in  its unmodified form containing all  the  files 
        listed in CONTENTS.
             Future updates of this and other URS carsets can be found at 
        the Grandstand: http://www.geocities.com/MotorCity/4211/gp2.html
             Use  of any graphics included in this file in other  carsets 
        is unacceptable without prior authorization.
        
        
        UNACCEPTABLE?
        
             If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then why  am 
        I so angry?  Next to PK Arnall's carsets, URS93 v1.0 is the  most 
        ripped-off carset on the web.  I've downloaded supposedly  origi-
        nal '93 sets from GP2 websites only to find my own artwork  star-
        ing  at me, signed by someone else.  Usually the carset has  been 
        "improved"  with awful-looking gradients (to make the  cars  look 
        falsely shiny) or equipped with fantastic-looking intakes,  aero-
        dynamic surfaces, and other additions that have no bearing  what-
        soever  with  reality.  In one occasion, I had  the  pleasure  of 
        finding  my  carset  completely untouched,  except  that  "Martin 
        Ursua"  had been replaced with the plagiarist's name.  What  pos-
        sesses someone to do such a thing is beyond me.
             Of course I realize that calling such an act  "unacceptable" 
        will  do  nothing to stop the theft.  However,  it  will  prevent 
        instances  in which the pirate apologizes, gives me  credit,  and 
        continues to spread his (my) carset unpunished.  With the cooper-
        ation  of the major websites, I hope to see pirated carsets  stay 
        off until the offending matter is redrawn.  In a fairer world the 
        websites  would never accept anything from the  offenders  again, 
        but I can only wish...
             As  stated earlier, I can still allow my artwork to be  used 
        so  long as permission is sought in advance.  This,  however,  is 
        not  a guarantee that permission will be given.  If someone  just 
        wants to make my carsets shiny and sparkling, then it's not going 
        to happen.
        
        
        COMING SOON?
        
             There could be an all-new carset in the near future, depend-
        ing on whether or not I receive certain scanned photographs.  No, 
        I'm  not  talking about blackmail.  What I'm  talking  about  are 
        photos  from a certain mustachioed man's championship  year.   If 
        anyone  has scans of ANY 1992 car, I'd be glad to add them to  my 
        measly collection.
             Then again, I may get lazy and just do a non-tobacco version 
        of 1995.  Zzz....
             **UPDATE:  Following much digging and several  purchases,  I 
        have begun work on URS92.  Expect the ultimate 1992 carset to  be 
        available in December at the earliest.
        
        
        THIS IS THE END, MY ONLY FRIEND
        
             I  hope you've enjoyed using this carset.  If you  have  any 
        comments or find any errors regarding the artwork, the driver AI, 
        or  the narrative, please send me an e-mail.  If you find a  ven-
        turi  in the wrong place or that Luca Badoer is winning  races  , 
        don't hesitate in telling me.
             So... that's it!
        
        Martin Ursua
        martiurs@unixg.ubc.ca
        Nigel Mansell RIP!
        
        Copyright 1997 Martin Ursua.  All rights reserved.
        
        Last update: October 3, 1997
