IndyCar Racing II

IndyCar Racing II
Developer(s)	Papyrus Design Group
Platform(s)	MS-DOS Mac OS Win 9x
Release date(s)	NA 1995
Genre(s)	Sim racing
Mode(s)	Single player
Distribution	(DOS) CD-ROM

IndyCar Racing II is a racing game developed by Papyrus Design Group. It is the sequel to IndyCar Racing, and was released in 1995. A little over a year later, the game was re-released, with a few minor upgrades, under the title CART Racing. The name change came about as a result of the CART series losing licensing rights to the name IndyCar, after the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and IRL lockout in 1996. The game still used many contemporary drivers, chassis (Lola, Reynard, Penske) and engines (Ford-Cosworth, Mercedes-Benz, Honda). 15 circuits were included in this game with Miami (road course) and Indianapolis missing.

Gameplay

For further information see IndyCar Racing

Although they are different games, see IndyCar Racing for gameplay details of the series.

Development

This game is based on the 1989 game "Indianapolis 500" and on Papyrus' 1993 "IndyCar Racing". Little is known about the development of the game, but a demo for the game was released in 1995, and several patches for the DOS and Windows 95 were created after the game's release to improve it. This game could be run in SVGA (640x480) and had some other changes in comparison with "IndyCar Racing", such as allowing outside cameras by pressing the "F10" key. This was very good on flat courses like the airport Cleveland track.^[1] This game has reached a huge editing community and is still popular in a few circles. This game may still work under Windows XP or even Windows Vista using an emulator.

Game menus

With "ICR2" you can also use the Win95 version of the game. This is a description of only the DOS version of the game.

In "ICR2" the same menus that were used in "IndyCar Racing" are used:

Single race - Choose a track and have a whole race weekend there.

Championship season - Here you can start a new season or continue an existing season with the next race weekend on the Championship calendar. The calendar of the season can be changed in the main directory of ICR2. This file is to open with the standard "editor". You can change everything and add any newly installed track. Of course, these changes are only accepted when you start a new season because all options selected at the start of the season (weather type or race length) are always saved in the "season.bin" file.

Preseason testing - Choose any track and test there without any opponents or spectators.

Multiplayer race - This needs a modem connection between two computers.

Driver info - This menu allows you to alter your chassis or engine types. Also, all other drivers can be changed in their setup (names, setups, engines. That means that you could have the Team Penske have another name or have it to drive a Ford-Cosworth engine on a Lola chassis. If you have a read-only "drivers2.txt" where the names are included of course ICR2 couldn't save your changes. The "cars" directory in "ICR2" has normally the "Cars95" set. But you can install other carsets that were published in the net. If you put another carset in the carset directory this meant that you opened a new folder and named it the same way like the "*.dat" file was named (for example "Lola1993.dat" needs a directory "Lola1993" in the "cars" folder). If you don't like a carset you should be careful: Put in a normal carset that you don't want to delete. THEN delete the one you don't like. If you forget to do so, you have a problem with "gameopts.cfg" because in this file the name of the carset you last used is saved. I had a lot of different carsets in the cars folder and the game always worked.

Options - You can choose a lot in the options menu. Some of the most important options:

Controls Nowadays you also can use a Steering wheel.

Race length You can choose a value from 1% to 100%.

Opponents strength You can choose a value from 80% to 120%.

Exit

Editing

This game allowed lots of editing since the system was relatively easy to see through, because it used txt or similar files (cfg or unnamed file types). The main directory of "ICR2" included the calendar file which you could change to represent other seasons.

Different carsets with various directories could be installed. The informations of carshapes are saved in the *.dat file of the certain carset. Carshapes have been developed to represent a more realistic Lola or Reynard IndyCar or CART shape. Other carshapes were built to give the car a GTP car, a Lamborghini Countach or a Ferrari 308/328/348 look. Even a "IRL" carshape was published, which was relatively easy but evolved over time.

Other effects work included an updated "effects.dat" with updated graphics saved in this file (smoke and dust).

The "rol.dat" saved in the "ICR2/rol" directory included the graphics of the cockpit that in the game is used. A lot of editing work gave the option of showing more than the original ICR2 cockpit. Updated cockpits were available and even in-car GTP cockpits were simulated.

The "sound.dat" consisted of the sounds that were used in the game, such as, the sound of the engine that was heard running, the squealing of the tires when going through a turn, and crash sounds hitting another car or a wall. Also some pit sounds are used in the game. As time passed, the editors found a lot of real cart pit sounds and included them into the game. Even some music played in a start sequence or the end credits is saved in the .dat file.

The biggest field of changes was the track directory. Even if some tracks were not included in the beginning, they were included 10 years later. Editors never stopped publishing newer versions of certain files. First, editors managed it to convert tracks from NASCAR Racing to ICR2. Later, they did the same thing with tracks from NASCAR Racing 2. After the game NASCAR Racing 3 was published by Sierra Entertainment, it took a little more time, but after that also these tracks were also converted to ICR2. Even tracks from Grand Prix Legends could be used in ICR2. Of course, a certain degree of graphical loss was given, but the fans of ICR2 were satisfied. In addition all this work, some editors knew how to create their own tracks or real tracks that were not published at all. For example, they published an entirely new version of the 1995 Miami road course.

The cockpit

In the cockpit of "IndyCar Racing II" you can choose between the speed, the rotations per minute or the amount of the laps that you can run with your fuel. You can alter all these values by pressing the letter "D". Other information that is given to you in the cockpit include your actual lap time, the fuel in your tank (gallons), the boost, the water temperature, the gear and the stiffness of the front and rear suspension. Also, the balance between the front wheel or the rear wheel braking is described in one column. A new feature when comparing "IndyCar Racing II" to the prior games was the ability to choose the level of your turbo. On the "9" your turbo was working on the maximal level. Switched to the value "1" it changed to the minimal level. This, of course, resulted in slower speeds that you could reach. Before pitstops, you can “radio” your pit crew (via your keyboard’s function keys) with requests for specific amounts of fuel, fresh tires (you can swap tire compounds, even change your tire “stagger”), wing-angle adjustments (which affect traction as well as aerodynamic drag), and repairs to collision damage.

Rules

"IndyCar Racing II" simulates the rules that prevailed in 1994, which includes no passing under full-course yellow-flag conditions and an 80-mph speed limit in the pits. This pit limit was able to been edited with the "PIT.LP" file. Changing it with a special editor makes this file on some tracks having a 50 mph pitroad speed for example. If you pass any car under yellow and the race goes green you will get the black flag. You'll have 5 laps time to pit. Speeding in the pits is also punished. You again have just 5 laps time to serve a "stopandgo". If you don't, you will be disqualified.

Paintkit, paint shop and carshapes

You can also customize the way each of the cars look. Using the game’s built-in paint facility, you can replace some or all of the car designs that come with "IndyCar Racing" using paint jobs that you develop. Using this paint facility is only possible with the original carshape that the game came with. Other carshapes (for example the "CART2K" or the "Reynard" carsets) that were published used "more complicated" car textures and could only been edited in other paint programs.

Reception

IndyCar Racing II received generally good ratings, such as 7.8 out of 10 by GameSpot, and 4 out of 5 by Computer Games Magazine. Some reviewers commented on the extreme detail and customization of the racecar, and the ability to change any part. Game Revolution remarked "There are thirteen different customizable characteristics to the car..." and "You could spend an entire week inside the garage just fiddling with the many ways to improve your car's performance."^[2] Finally some reviewers commented on the realism of the game, such as GameSpot, who noted "Even on the easiest of settings, driving an IndyCar is comparable to riding a wild bull."^[3]

References

External links

• IndyCar Racing II at MobyGames
• Indycar Racing II playable demo at DOS Games Archive
• CART Racing Headquarters The remaining active community site for the game