GTR – FIA GT Racing Game

GTR is a sports car racing simulator developed by SimBin for the x86 PC. An Xbox version was announced very early on, but never materialized. In April 2006, an Xbox 360 version was announced. The Xbox 360 version of the game was to be published by THQ. However, THQ later announced they would no longer be working together with Simbin on the title. Race Pro was released for the Xbox 360 in February 2009.

As a racing simulator, it attempts to recreate real-world physics as accurately as possible, rather than exaggerating speed and handling abilities for the sake of easier gameplay. Some games that compare to the realism featured in GTR include Grand Prix Legends, Live for Speed and F1 Challenge. It has a full license from the FIA for their GT championship, so it features the original FIA GT Series cars and courses. All tracks were constructed from satellite data to improve accuracy, and the developers were helped by many teams in the GT- and NGT-classes. The game engine produces and outputs telemetry data in a format that is usable by the telemetry software i2 by MoTeC—a software tool used by real racing teams.

The game has three modes, one with full realism and the two others with reduced levels of realism for intermediate players and newcomers. The user is provided with a great deal of control over the setup of the car, e.g. dampers, springs, anti-roll bars, gear ratios, wings and brake pressure can be adjusted in detail.

Although the user is allowed to map the controls to e.g. a keyboard or joystick/gamepad, a wheel/pedal set is really a requirement for a complete racing experience. GTR fully supports the TrackIR device. StarForce copy protection is used to prevent illegal copies of the game from being produced.

Some consider the graphics to be only mediocre whilst others praise the attention to detail in both car modelling and texturing. What is certain is that GTR does lack some effects seen in contemporary games. However, GTR does enable the player to participate in races with over 60 competitors. The game has been criticized numerous times for poor netcode which often can result in an online game failing during the start. GTR also suffers from virtually no automatic enforcement of rules and regulations, and so "fair racing" is only seen by a few on public servers. The open nature of multiplayer sessions makes it easy for a single player to cause disruption for other players, or even to ruin the entire race. Consequently, joining a GTR league or community often proves beneficial for players who wish to participate in clean online racing. GTR's rating has been suffered by the comparatively long amount of time needed to load a race.

Vehicles
There are more than 20 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. Other classes included G2 and G3. However, with the ability to create your own content, more vehicles have been created by the GTR community.

Here is a list of the 20 models originally included in the game:


 * BMW Z3 M Coupe
 * Chevrolet Corvette C5-R
 * Chrysler Viper GTS-R
 * Ferrari F360 Modena Challenge
 * Ferrari F360 Modena GT
 * Ferrari F550-GTS Maranello
 * Ferrari F575-GTC Maranello
 * Gillet Vertigo Streiff
 * Lamborghini Murcielago R-GT
 * Lister Storm GT
 * Lotus Motorsport Elise
 * Morgan Aero 8R
 * Mosler MT900R
 * Porsche 911 GT2 (993)
 * Porsche 911 GT2 Bi-Turbo (996)
 * Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (996)
 * Porsche 911 GT3-R (996)
 * Porsche 911 GT3-RS (996)
 * Saleen S7-R
 * SEAT Toledo GT

Modifications and add-ons
The user community has developed several completely new cars and tracks for the game, including some total conversions (to e.g. Formula One). Simbin has also released an "add-on pack" called "Kings of Ovals" which contains a set of new oval-style tracks.