This is my first impression of playing a beta version of the upcoming CTDP 2004 mod for F1 Challenge.

I have to say, I was expecting a lot from this mod. In my opinion the RH2004 mod set a new standard and I was looking forward to what CTDP had in store. Especially that since their mod is out later, I got to expect more! To cut through it, I liked it a lot, and even though the beta contained some small bugs, it was still very impressive. The beta version contained a full grid of “early season” cars, so no B-versions. The menu, which was presented at BHMS couple of weeks ago, was still in works, thus there was no chance to evaluate it. The tracks in the mod are the standard F1C tracks, so this preview will only be based on the cars and the way they look and drive.

Cars:
The amount of details on the cars is amazing and they seem to be very accurate. The skins, resolution and helmets, are all highly detailed and look impressive, especially up close. The cockpits are modeled realistically as well, they contain realistic mirrors. The cars that have a LCD screen in real life have one in the mod and another nice touch to the cockpit are the drivers modeled legs, which is a real improvement compared to the strip that was painted as legs. Prozac delivered a good job, like always by making 3D motion blurred rims and very good wheels. Yet, I’m told that what you see on screenshots may be changed later – either with the release version or in a service pack (only wheels). But these rims will be appreciated by many.

Weather/effects:
Unfortunately I didn’t get to see much of that, but it seems these things were (still) untouched in Beta. A nice new touch in the mod is the fact that when your car bottoms out, it sends a small debris cloud from the back, that you often see on today’s F1 cars.

Replay:
The replay system had some nice revamping and it seems like every track is going to have a new realistic TV style coverage, the cockpit cam is realistic as I said before, but also the TV camera on the cockpit is good (a bit to the side) – although I would have liked it a bit further to the front of the car, so that I don’t see the seedpods that much.

Physics:
Starting with tires, we are no longer limited to the standard selection of F1 Challenge 99-02, but get a set of extra compounds. This aims at tire choice selection being an important factor in the game play – just like in real life. The lap times match the real ones closely, although I can’t honestly say I spent hours getting through Beckets and making sure I get the perfect line to shave off thousands of my lap record. The standard settings on the cars seem to have a tendency to understeer and were a bit easier to drive than the 2003 cars. I experimented a bit with the car settings and even the tiniest setup changes seems to make a noticeable difference. Driving the car with oversteer is always very good fun and it helped with improving the lap times. Although this of course depends on your own driving style, just like in real life. All this leads to a conclusion that perhaps a person will be able to drive a car that suits him best, not just take one universal set up and use it – regardless of style. The cars also seem to handle curves and chicanes realistically and in the replay you can really see them jumping and bouncing on the track.

The version we received, contained completed or nearly completed physics, nearly finished cars, except for the tire part as mentioned earlier and I’m really impressed by the things I saw. The final release will contain new tracks and improved textures, new menus and more.

Take a look on our screenshot section, since we have a lot of cars from the beta version listed there.