''F1 Career Challenge'' (''F1 Challenge '99-'02'' for the Microsoft Windows version) is a

racing video game Racing games are a video game genre in which the player participates in a racing competition. They may be based on anything from real-world racing leagues to fantastical settings. They are distributed along a spectrum between more realistic rac ...

based on four seasons: the

1999 Formula One season The 1999 FIA Formula One World Championship was the 53rd season of Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) Formula One motor racing. It commenced on 7 March and ended on 31 October after sixteen races. The Drivers' Championship w ...

, the

2000 Formula One season The 2000 FIA Formula One World Championship was the 54th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It commenced on 12 March and ended on 22 October after seventeen races. Michael Schumacher became Ferrari's first World Drivers' Champion in 21 ...

, the

2001 Formula One season The 2001 FIA Formula One World Championship was the 55th season of FIA Formula One racing. It commenced on 4 March 2001 and ended on 14 October after seventeen races. Michael Schumacher won the Drivers' title with a record margin of 58 points, af ...

and the

2002 Formula One season The 2002 FIA Formula One World Championship was the 56th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It began on 3 March and ended on 13 October after seventeen races. In the Drivers' Championship, Michael Schumacher finished first or second in eve ...

. It was the last F1 game to be published by

EA Sports EA Sports is a division of Electronic Arts that develops and publishes sports video games. Formerly a marketing gimmick of Electronic Arts, in which they tried to imitate real-life sports networks by calling themselves the "EA Sports Network" ...

until '' F1 2021'', when EA purchased

Codemasters The Codemasters Software Company Limited (trade name: Codemasters) is a British video game developer based in Southam, England, which is a subsidiary of American corporation Electronic Arts. Founded by brothers Richard and David Darling in Octo ...

Background

After losing the official F1 license from Formula One Administration Ltd. to a multi-year exclusive licensing contract between FOA and

Sony Computer Entertainment Europe Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE), formerly known as Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE), is a multinational video game and digital entertainment company wholly owned by multinational conglomerate Sony. The SIE Group is made up of two legal co ...

(publishers of the competing Formula One series on PlayStation/PlayStation 2) in late 2002 that became active starting from the 2003 season thus barring any developer EA included to make a game centered around these later seasons, the decision was made to produce one final game using the four seasons that EA Sports had previously licensed. Because of the progressing potential of the game engine, several assets were re-imagined in order to make them more realistic than ever before as well as making the game more adaptable for less powerful PCs. The car models and associated textures were rebuilt from scratch, whilst the physics engine was significantly improved over prior releases to provide a simulation that was critically lauded. In order to provide a more authentic simulation, every track received minor changes for each season covered, including sponsor boards (barring tobacco and alcohol advertising) as well as external visual changes. The modding capabilities of ''F1C'', as it is occasionally referred to by its dedicated modding community, are extensive and since the game's release in 2003, has gone on to cover many different seasons of Formula One racing, as well as being able to simulate racing series outside of Formula One such as Le Mans Prototypes and NASCAR, among many others. This is due in part to the use of simple text files for several important game asset parameters such as the physics, cars, drivers, and tracks which has allowed the game to flourish on various online communities long since its release. Even a few of these developers and modders ended up years later as professionals in the videogame industry.

Errors and mistakes

PlayStation 2 and Xbox version

* On the Teams and Drivers mode selection, the BAR team in 1999 was mentioned as BAR Honda but in fact BAR's engine supplier was

Supertec Supertec was a brand of Formula One engines supplied by Dutch company Super Performance Competition Engineering BV, managed by Flavio Briatore and Bruno Michel. Supertec engines were updated 1997 Renault RS9 units, built by Mecachrome. In May 199 ...

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:F1 Career Challenge 2003 video games EA Sports games Formula One video games GameCube games PlayStation 2 games Video games developed in the United Kingdom Windows games Xbox games F1 (video game series)