GTR 2 – FIA GT Racing Game

GTR 2 – FIA GT Racing Game
European cover art
Developer(s)	Blimey! Games Ltd. under license to SimBin / Sector3 Studios
Engine	ISImotor
Platforms	Microsoft Windows
Release date(s)
Genre(s)	Sim racing
Mode(s)	Single player, Multiplayer

GTR 2 – FIA GT Racing Game is a sports car racing simulator developed under license by Blimey for SimBin for the x86 PC and is a sequel to GTR. Since its release in September 2006, it has received widespread acclaim. The game simulates the 2003 and 2004 FIA GT Championship racing series.

Gameplay

GTR 2 offers many different game modes - Championships, Single Races, Practice, 24hr Races, Time Trials and the Driving School. The Official Championships consist of the 2003 and 2004 FIA GT Championship series. However, unlike its predecessor, GTR2 offers smaller unlockable championships as well as the ability to create custom championships.

Another major addition to the game series is the inclusion of a driving school. This teaches the user racing techniques, and allows the user to practice them.

The 24hr races demonstrate the new dynamic day and night cycles. The transition between day and night is seamless and steady, unlike in the original where the race had to be paused whilst the new time of day was loaded. The day and night cycles can also be experienced by changing the speed of which the time of day passes during a race weekend. Selections here can be accelerated up to 60x.

Vehicles

There are more than 27 models of car included, spanning all the classes involved in FIA GT racing. They range from 600 hp GT class, to 400 hp NGT class vehicles. With the ability to create your own content, many more vehicles have been created by the dedicated GTR2 community.

Ferrari and Porsche cars are not available in the version purchased via Steam.

Tracks

Included with GTR 2 are 15 real-world tracks, with 34 different variations to choose from. Highlights include Spa, Monza, Imola and Barcelona

There are hundreds of add-on tracks available. Highlights of these included the legendary 22 kilometer Nürburgring, Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, Macau, Circuit de la Sarthe (host of the Le Mans 24 Hours), and Bathurst.

Modification

One of the reasons GTR 2 has been so popular is the ability to create custom content for the game. This has led to a large community of players who create new vehicles and tracks to race with.

There have been several user community mods released to the public:

• FIA GT 1997: features most of the cars of FIA GT's inaugural season.
• Power and Glory: features authentic GT racing from the 1960s and 1970s. (Converted from GT Legends)
• SCC Prototype mod v2.41: Features Le Mans Prototypes such as the Zytek 045, the MG Lola EX257, and the Audi R8R. and the (LMP1 and LMP2) from 1998–2008
• Super GT GT500/GT300: features cars from Super GT since 2005, currently features all GT500 cars and partial GT300 cars in these seasons, mod released in separate category.
• V8 Supercars 2006: features V8 Supercars championship in Australia.
• World Super GT: features 7 GT cars - Aston Martin DBR9, Aston Martin DBRS9, Ferrari F50 GT, Ferrari FXX, Maserati Trofeo Light, McLaren F1 GTR Longtail and Ultima GTR. Completed in high quality.
• GTR2 Reborn: a full rework of the default physics and AI of GTR2, by the Independent Rebels Group (IRG).

Other than GT/Touring Cars, several open wheelers mods are also released. Some popular examples are:

• F1 2009: All Cars from the 2009 Formula One Season.
• F1 2008: All Cars from the 2008 Formula One Season.
• F1 2007: All Cars from the 2007 Formula One Season.
• Champcar 2005/2006: Features all the cars off the Champcar 2005 and 2006 season, converted from rFactor by RMi
• F1 1979: Features all the cars and some tracks of the 1979 formula 1 season, converted from rFactor by RMi, a beta has been released, featuring 4 cars. (A conversion by Goresh is also available for download with more cars)
• North American Grand Prix (NAGP) American Lemans Series version 4.0 (ALMS V4.0) complete mod. This modification to the game adds a whole new scope to the GTR 2 racing simulation, including a new home menu layout and custom background. This mod includes several addon cars, including the LMPC P1 and P2 class cars, GT 1 and GT 2 cars, as well several additional ALMS tracks.

Awards

• IGN's award for Best PC Racing Game of 2006.
• GameSpot's award for Best Driving Game of 2006 as well as the Best Game Nobody Played of 2006.
• GameSpy rated it the 9th best PC game of 2006.

External links

• GTR 2 official website
• GTR 2 at DMOZ