''F1 2001'' is a racing video game developed by

Image Space Incorporated Image Space Incorporated (ISI) is an American Independent business, independent video game developer based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, specializing in the fields of video game development, Human-in-the-Loop, man-in-the-loop simulator architectures, ...

for the Microsoft Windows version and EA UK for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox version and published by EA Sports for

Microsoft Windows Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...

PlayStation 2 The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October 2000, in Europe on 24 November 2000, and in Australia on 3 ...

and Xbox. It is based on 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 ...

. A port for

GameCube The is a home video game console developed and released by Nintendo in Japan on September 14, 2001, in North America on November 18, 2001, and in PAL territories in 2002. It is the successor to the Nintendo 64 (1996), and predecessor of the Wii ...

was planned, but cancelled for unknown reasons, and eventually released with minor changes as F1 2002. A

Game Boy Color The (commonly abbreviated as GBC) is a handheld game console, manufactured by Nintendo, which was released in Japan on October 21, 1998 and to international markets that November. It is the successor to the Game Boy and is part of the Game ...

version was also cancelled during development. The gameplay focuses on a new training mode which allows players to improve their skills and eventually be able to unlock new modes as the progress of training is made. ''F1 2001'' was well received by critics and received a nomination from GameSpot for their Driving Game of the Year.

Gameplay

The game features the 17 tracks and a select choice of 22 drivers who competed in the 2001 season. The modes feature the quick race format where the player gains points to access the 17 Tracks. The premiere mode of the game is called "Grand Prix" which includes five distinct modes of gameplay including: a full championship season with all the 17 rounds of the 2001 season that includes the Practice and Qualifying sessions along with the Race itself, a single race weekend, a custom championship where the player chooses how many rounds he/she chooses to compete, a teammate challenge where the player must defeat every teammate in all the 11 teams, a domination mode where the player must win every round of the championship without conceding defeat. For the first time in a Formula One game, there is a training mode where players may hone their skills on the track. Such training includes: practice race starts, driving the car with manual gears, learning how to drive in changeable conditions such as rain, the handling of various types of corners such as a

Chicane A chicane () is a serpentine curve in a road, added by design rather than dictated by geography. Chicanes add extra turns and are used both in motor racing and on roads and streets to slow traffic for safety. For example, one form of chicane is ...

, how to deal with various types of damage sustained to the car and practice pit stops for the player to find out the time it takes to get into the pit lane to take on fuel and new tires before returning to the circuit. This game is unique as the more challenges are completed, the more game modes are unlocked in Grand Prix mode. This format is similar to the license tests in '' Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec''. Other features in the game are Team Radio, which helps the player with feedback from the driver's race engineer, a replay mode, which allows anyone to go back and view key moments within a limited amount of time, the inclusion of the official FIA rules and regulations, and the ability of all the cars to be fine-tuned as in previous games such as '' F1 2000''.

Development

The developers had collaborated with insiders who worked for

BAR Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar * Chocolate bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud * Bar (u ...

to help capture the essence of real life Formula One racing who provided real-life motion captures, feedback from key members of the race teams which became part of the game. The executive producer for the game John Rostron said that "they wanted to stretch the boundaries of motor sports gaming and shake up the racing genre all together". The game utilizes the same Engine used in ''

F1 Championship Season 2000 ''F1 Championship Season 2000'' is a racing video game based on the 2000 Formula One season, and was released by EA Sports for PlayStation, Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 2 and Game Boy Color. The game features the 11 teams and 22 drivers whi ...

''. The developers made alterations to the physics model of the cars to make the cars to make them react better to minor collisions and changes in the track surface. For track modelling, the reflections from buildings situated around the circuits were designed to be more realistic. The shadow code was rewritten allowing increased contrast to the shadows of objects. A new dynamic shadow system was added to move the location of a shadow which was dependent on the sun's position for weather changes. One major problem discovered upon release was that the graphics on the PC version would become distorted if newer computer drivers were used, thus rendering the game unplayable. EA Sports released a patch to combat the graphics issue along with fixes in compatibility in video cards. A port was planned for the Game Boy Color but was cancelled before release.

Promotion

Between 16 and 19 July 2001, EA held an event at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza race track that saw Ricardo Zonta race against the game's producers. On 25 July another event called Camp EA 2001 held at

Redwood Shores Redwood Shores is a waterfront community in Redwood City, California, along the western shore of San Francisco Bay on the San Francisco Peninsula in San Mateo County, California, San Mateo County. Redwood Shores is the home of several major techn ...

featured all of the latest games including F1 2001 on display.

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viewed a demo of the game at the event and praised the game for its smooth quality and fun playing style which was down to some of the developers who had worked on '' Quake III Arena''. As a sign of good faith, BAR carried the EA Sports logo on their cars at the

2001 United States Grand Prix The 2001 United States Grand Prix (formally the 2001 SAP United States Grand Prix) was a Formula One motor race held on September 30, 2001, at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana in the United States. The 73-lap race was the sixteen ...

. The Xbox version debuted at a pre-ECTS event in September 2001.

Teams and drivers

All teams and drivers are based on the

teams and drivers lineup. Pedro de la Rosa is featured in this game, but was not featured in the PS1 and European PS2 versions of '' Formula One 2001'' and '' F1 Career Challenge'' for the 2001 season mode.

Soundtrack

The game included the songs Sunstroke, The Drive Home and a remix of Nagasaki Badger by

which are played on the main menu screens.

Reception

The game received "favourable" reviews on all platforms according to the review aggregation website Metacritic. In Japan, where the PlayStation 2 version was ported for release on 20 September 2001, '' Famitsu'' gave it a score of 28 out of 40. Peer Schneieder of

called the Xbox version "a barely enhanced but still enjoyable Formula One racing experience". Ralph Edwards noted in the PS2 review that Formula One games were a "hard sell in the United States" but praised Electronic Arts commitment to appeal to Formula One enthusiasts. GameSpot nominated the game as one of its nominees for Driving Game of the Year for 2001.

Olivier Panis Olivier Panis (; born 2 September 1966) is a French former racing driver. Panis raced in Formula One for ten seasons, earning his first and only win at the 1996 Monaco Grand Prix for the Ligier team. He is the father of racing driver Aurél ...

tested the game at the

2001 Japanese Grand Prix The 2001 Japanese Grand Prix (formally the 2001 Fuji Television Japanese Grand Prix) was a Formula One motor race held on 14 October 2001 at the Suzuka Circuit. It was the seventeenth and final race of the 2001 Formula One season. It was the 27 ...

and commented that the game was close to real life Formula One Racing. In May 2012, the game along with the rest of the EA F1 series was rated the 4th greatest Formula One gaming series by readers of the website ''RaceFans'' winning 8% of the vote.

References

External links