F1 Manager 96 (Jordan)

[lucasfawkes]

Hey there, fellow retro gaming enthusiasts! 🏁

I recently dived back into the world of classic F1 manager games, and my third stop on this nostalgia trip (you might remember my posts about GPM2 and Team F1/Pole Position) was none other than F1 Manager 96. Back in my teenage days, I had only dabbled a bit in this game and its famous successor, F1 Manager Pro. But I vividly remembered why I'd put it on the back burner: it was complex, yet utterly captivating, especially with its unique presentation and those snazzy 3D graphics in the design department. Everything in the game mimicked the real-life F1 scene, and it was mind-blowing. So, how well did I fare in my second shot at this game? 🏎️💨

Intro

Just like my previous reviews, and considering most of these games are set in the '95-'97 era, I decided to start my adventure with the beloved Jordan team. Why, you ask? Well, it's a moderately challenging choice that lets me ease back into the game without getting overwhelmed. Playing with a mid-tier team like Jordan has its challenges, but it's far less frustrating than going straight for the bottom-rung teams (obvious reasons, right?) or the top dogs that expect instant results. The middle-of-the-pack teams, on the other hand, allow you to learn the ropes and plan your rise to glory without constantly worrying about your finances.

In the fictional 1996 season of this game, I began by getting acquainted with its mechanics and features, which I'll delve into in more detail in the upcoming sections of this post. What's particularly fascinating about this real-time, non-turn-based game is how it challenges your time management skills and your ability to handle various aspects of your team, ranging from financial matters to technical and sporting aspects.

One aspect I found particularly enjoyable is that the game starts you off with the cars and parts readily available, leaving it up to the player to choose which components to use and set up the perfect configuration for each track. What's even more intriguing is the ability to conduct pre-season testing whenever you see fit, just like in those days of lavish spending compared to today's standards. Equally cool is the fact that the game simulates realistic testing locations, meaning you can only rent a circuit located in the same region as your F1 headquarters. In the case of Jordan, that means Silverstone, a medium to high-speed track, perfect for a pre-season warm-up.

Pre-season testing

I dedicated a considerable amount of time to mastering the art of car setups in the game. In fact, I found myself constantly switching between the in-game window and an Excel spreadsheet to record lap times, calculate average times, estimate tire and fuel consumption, analyze the average differences between tire compounds, assess the car's weight when fully fueled, and evaluate qualifying laps, among other things. This meticulous approach allowed me to draw some initial conclusions: the game's physics engine is quite realistic and functional. This means that adjustments like increasing wing angles, for example, increase downforce but also add drag. I used an experimental method, tweaking one variable at a time, to fine-tune setups.

In this game, you have the flexibility to alter not only the parts on the car, each with its unique attributes, but also the spoiler angles, suspension stiffness, tire compound, and fuel load. As with other managers, like GPM2, you can adjust how aggressively the driver approaches each lap, with a sliding scale that ranges from conservative and safe to full-throttle attack, with higher risks and car wear. Right from the start, I noticed how each driver reacts differently to setups. For instance, even though the aerodynamic load levels were generally similar for both drivers, they often had varying preferences for suspension stiffness. Unlike GPM2 and F1 Manager 2000 (EA Sports), but similar to Team F1/Pole Position, this game doesn't provide direct feedback from the drivers regarding setup, leaving it entirely up to you to decide what works best for each driver, circuit, and weather conditions, including the variable of rain.

Getting sponsors and other things done

After wrapping up the pre-season, I checked my personnel and contracts: everything locked in until the end of 1997, except for the drivers, which is a bit unusual. Most games grant you the freedom to recruit new team members for the second season right from the get-go. However, I decided to hold off on renewing Barrichello and Brundle's contracts until roughly midway through the season. I wanted to base my decision on my duo's performance and gather insights into other drivers' capabilities. In the meantime, I dived into planning the calendar, specifically contemplating the development path I should take.

My choice? Crafting "medium" parts that would suit most tracks on the calendar, along with parts tailored for high-downforce circuits (e.g., Monaco and Hungaroring) and low-downforce tracks (e.g., Monza and Hockenheim). This is where the game gets intriguing because research and development consume time and money. The production of new parts, of course, can only commence once the basic research is completed. At the outset, another concern I had was that my cars lacked identical components. This not only affected the drivers' performance but also made it challenging for me to determine who was the superior driver. After all, only with perfectly matched equipment could I judge whether Rubens or Martin was the better pilot. Hence, my early focus was on manufacturing the existing parts from the catalog that I believed best suited the cars, ensuring that the production would soon make both cars equally equipped.

When it comes to the financial aspect, if my memory serves me right, the game starts with some cash in the bank. So, I felt secure enough not to rush into closing sponsorship deals right away. Instead, I invested time in negotiating a solid 5-star sponsorship, specifically with Mild Seven (referred to as Wild Seven in the game). The resulting contract turned out to be quite favorable, even though the company expressed skepticism and hesitance about the team's ability to deliver good results for their investment. Naturally, lower-star sponsors pay less but are content with mediocre outcomes.

As a result, I secured about 50% of the sponsorship quotas early in the season. I chose to explore whether further negotiation efforts with sponsors could yield more money for the same space on my cars. It seemed like it did, especially for the 5-star principal sponsor. This is how, as you can see in my illustration, I ended up with the Mild Seven Jordan Grand Prix. Being the game's 5-star main sponsor, I thought it was only fair to rebrand the team with the sponsor's name and its primary colors, blended with the traditional Irish green of Jordan. So, in this fictional 1996, Jordan, instead of its usual yellow/golden look, ended up with colors reminiscent of what the real Benetton F1 team sported in the 1990s.

Season summary - part one

Alright, let's dive into the season summary. Things kicked off a tad tricky for me. Besides the first race always being a challenge in a new game, I had to face the rain during the opening Grand Prix in Australia, at the now-neoclassic Albert Park circuit in Melbourne. Rain in the game doesn't let up, and the weather conditions stay consistent throughout the GP weekend. So, if it's raining on Friday, it'll be raining come Sunday... and I didn't know this!

Another factor that threw a wrench into my first GP with Jordan was tire choice. Before each race, you have the freedom to select how many sets of tires you want to bring for each car, ranging in tire hardness/softness, in addition to, of course, wet weather tires. Typically, I'd go for a diversified set of dry tires since I didn't know the track wear in advance. This meant I often took only one or two sets of wet tires for the entire weekend. However, for this first GP, I believed it was crucial to set up the car for the rain. The issue was that by using a set in practice, I'd only have one fresh set available for the entire race. This proved to be my Achilles' heel in the Australian GP.

Brundle and Barrichello qualified in 11th and 12th positions, respectively. During the race, if I recall correctly, I had some trouble figuring out how to make the tire change happen. It finally dawned on me that I couldn't switch tires because I only had one fresh set. Fortunately, the situation was eased by the fact that rain tires wear very slowly in this game. So, while it's possible, it's not advisable, but you could complete an entire GP with just one set of wet tires.

The other part that tripped me up was understanding the fuel calculation. The game provides an estimate of liters per lap, but it's not exact. It's recommended to keep track of how much fuel your cars are actually consuming during practice and the race. This knowledge would prove crucial throughout the season. It took me a while to realize that I should run with as little fuel as possible, I mean, literally, the bare minimum, even risking running out of fuel, because the trade-off of having a lighter car is definitely worth it. And so, the first race concluded with Rubinho in an unremarkable 11th place, while Brundle tumbled down to a bitter 16th.

Well, I'll be back soon to share more about the remaining races, how I fared in my first championship, and of course, my verdict on the game's appearance, UI/UX, management features, and gameplay in F1 Manager 96. I hope you've enjoyed the read and the illustrations! Until next time, folks! 🏁🕹️

[lucasfawkes]

Things started looking up in the next race, the Brazilian Grand Prix. With my first dry weekend, I had the freedom to experiment with tires and setups without the fear of being stuck with a single set of tires for the entire race. Just like in real life, Rubinho performed exceptionally well at his home circuit, securing an impressive fifth-place start. Something definitely clicked during that qualifying session, as Katayama from Tyrrell and Diniz from Ligier also managed to break into the top 10. However, for some reason, Brundle struggled compared to Rubinho, starting in a disappointing 12th place.

But when it came to the race, my hopes were quickly dashed. Both Rubinho and Brundle seemed to struggle to maintain their pace, ultimately finishing in 8th and 14th positions. To make matters worse, Frentzen had scored points for Sauber, who would turn out to be my main rivals throughout the season.

The third race of the season, in Argentina, once again featured rainy weather. However, having learned from my mistakes in the Australian GP, I decided to train the drivers on dry tires. If I didn't push them too hard, they wouldn't make mistakes and would save precious sets of tires for the race. The car's performance was obviously affected, but I believed I could still fine-tune the setups. This approach paid off as Brundle surprised everyone, swapping roles with Rubinho from the previous race. He secured an incredible second-place start, while Rubens, who's known for his rain-driving skills in real life, paradoxically began in 17th place. Yet, all that didn't matter once again, and here's where I started to notice a pattern: although Rubinho sometimes fell behind, he displayed a much more consistent race pace compared to Brundle. He climbed from the back of the grid to secure a 9th place finish, while Brundle was a major letdown, ending up in 13th.

From that point onward, to keep it concise, the season essentially alternated between middle-of-the-road performances. Clearly, within my managerial limitations and the resources I had (drivers and cars), we were consistently ranked between the 4th and 6th team, depending on the circumstances. When we started further back in the pack, we often managed to finish a few positions higher due to opponents' breakdowns and accidents. When we began in the top 10 or even the top 5, it was nerve-wracking to witness the starts and early laps: invariably, my drivers would slip down the order and have to fight hard to regain lost ground. It was the case in Imola, one of my better weekends, with Brundle starting in 4th and Rubinho in 6th. In the race, however, Brundle dropped down but managed to secure our first point of the season in 6th, followed closely by Rubinho.

In certain races, though, I also gained valuable insights into car setups. Take Monaco, for example, a track that typically requires high downforce and soft suspensions. However, I didn't see improved performance when I adjusted the cars to these parameters. Through wind tunnel tests, I discovered, albeit a bit late, that there's a limit to the wing angles we can use: above 45 degrees, the cars become too slow and unstable. Nonetheless, using the higher downforce parts didn't guarantee better performance in this race.

Another unrealistic aspect was how overtaking occurred with relative ease regardless of the circuit. Monaco, in particular, witnessed an unusually high number of passes! Interestingly, when I looked at the minimal telemetry provided by the game, it became clear that on high-speed tracks, using less aerodynamic load significantly increased speed on the straights and overall performance.

Nevertheless, in general, it was during medium-speed to slow races and rainy conditions where I shone with the Jordan team. A perfect example of this was the Spanish Grand Prix, where I managed the remarkable feat of locking out the front row with my drivers, Brundle leading the way. As expected on race day, both drivers dropped back in the pack, but Barrichello salvaged an excellent fifth place. However, I also had good performances on high-speed tracks, like Hockenheim, and especially at Spa, where Barrichello started in third and comfortably held onto fifth place, while Brundle retired due to a rare accident.

In fact, as I mentioned in my previous post, I conducted simple statistical analyses to find correlations between track types and my cars' performance. My results were inconclusive: considering the concept of the 107% rule, which calculates the percentage difference between the average performance of my two cars and the pole position for each Grand Prix, I noticed a slight tendency for better performance on faster tracks. However, in the five wet GPs, the performance varied so much that it tended to balance out, with no possible correlation.

Using another metric, the FIA's prize money for both qualifying and, more importantly, race performance, I found the opposite result: the faster the track (calculated by the pole position's average speed), the less money I earned. In other words, on slower tracks or in cases of wet GPs, it seemed like there was a better chance of scoring points over the weekend, although this trend was still relatively weak.

The end of the season painted a very different picture from the real 1996. Schumacher simply dominated the competition in his first year with Ferrari, showing that he was the defining factor and quite overpowered in this game. After all, Irvine, who is considered a decent driver in the game, only managed to score an impressive 4 out of Ferrari's 136 points! Benetton and Williams had excellent qualifying pace and strong starts to races, but the prevailing theme I observed was the overwhelming presence of Schumacher, who won an astounding 12 out of the 16 races that year.

Interestingly, Villeneuve outperformed Hill in their first year, and Berger, even in the twilight of his career, had an outstanding season to finish in second place. McLaren's performance was rather lackluster in this story, despite Hakkinen's noteworthy efforts. Another driver who caught a lot of attention was Frentzen, who outperformed Herbert, scoring all 14 points for Sauber in '96.

This reminds me of something I forgot to mention: since I couldn't hire or fire my staff except for the drivers, I ended up signing Frentzen for '97. I wanted to keep Rubinho, but I made some mistakes in negotiations, and he, who initially seemed likely to stay, became frustrated as he wanted a slightly better contract. He didn't reopen negotiations with me for the rest of the year. I think when this happens, you should wait until the following season to start new negotiations. As for Brundle, I had no interest in renewing his contract: he had zero motivation in his stats at the end of his career, along with erratic performance on race day, despite being really good on Saturdays. So, I'm heading into '97 with Frentzen and... Panis! Yes, the French driver seemed like a good choice since he performed well and asked for a lower salary, offsetting my expenses with Frentzen. In the upcoming season, however, I'll have more freedom to negotiate my staff, test new parts and drivers, and, if all goes well, try to secure better engines.

So, that's it, folks. I hope you enjoyed the report and feel inspired to play this game and share your impressions. Until next time! 🏁🏎️

[lucasfawkes]

Hey retro gaming fam, check out Season 2: 1997!

So, for this second year in the game, I was way more prepared. I'd clocked how the gameplay rolls and started dabbling in different racing strategies. As I kept at it, I began spotting these setup patterns for the cars, seeing how they varied from track to track. Also, figuring out which tire range rocked for each track type (aside from the rainy ones, duh).

This year brought some changes, mainly my fresh lineup of drivers: Frentzen and Panis. Not exactly what I wanted 'cause having one from the previous year helps in comparison, but Frentzen totally rocked it all year round. Panis, on the other hand, whom I expected to perform decently/good, like Rubinho, well, that was a letdown. As for the cars, I decided to go for developing new parts that aimed to give more stability to the drivers, even if it meant sometimes dealing with more drag and crazy downforce. Simple idea behind it: more stability meant I could push the drivers harder throughout the race since theoretically, the car would be easier to handle.

On top of that, I went all in on crafting these new parts with top-notch quality and using up all the time available. This meant I had to use some parts from the previous car in the early races until all the shiny new pieces were made and set up. I also didn't skimp on fuel, went for Elf – the game's primo choice – even if it meant shelling out a bit more cash to juice up my Peugeot engine. Staff and sponsors-wise, not much changed. Like I mentioned before, the game locks in your choices for engineers, etc. Only the drivers can be swapped out.

Did it work out? Let's dive in.

Melbourne, Australia, 1997. I was pretty stoked to see how my partially revamped Jordan Grand Prix would perform. What I didn't expect was to kick off the year so darn well. Sure, luck played a part too. My plan for the year, given last season's performance and expenses, aimed at snagging 15 points while saving a bunch. That way, I'd steer clear of blowing money on useless parts, having the dream setup from the get-go. And this strategy started paying off from the get-go. Qualifying was nothing extraordinary, Frentzen eighth, Panis tenth. Alright. The Williams were shining up front with... Hakkinen and Herbert? Seems like it wasn't just Hill getting the boot from the team in '96, as in real life... Barrichello was also making a smashing debut with my former nemesis from the previous season, Sauber, starting fourth. Hill tagged along, starting sixth. The Benettons and Ferraris seemed quick but shaky. Long story short, in the race, Frentzen had a spectacular pace, heading towards sixth or fifth place until a string of breakdowns and accidents gifted me with a spectacular second place right off the bat, albeit 49 seconds behind... Alesi, yep, from Benetton! I don't know what went down in this particular race, but such luck wouldn't repeat that often throughout the season. Maybe it's a game bug not replenishing worn-out parts and old engines from the previous year. But hey, loved that stroke of luck shining on me once.

From there on, I won't dive into specifics. With more than a third of the expected points already in the bag, Frentzen had an impeccable first part of the season, battling it out as the best of the rest. We left Sauber easily in our rearview mirror, although Williams, Benetton, and Ferrari (well, Schumacher) were cruising in a league of their own. That was the vibe for the season: Frentzen was lightning quick during the race, despite losing positions at the start, swiftly regaining them either early or late in the game. And when that happened, I made sure to watch the race in 3D to witness those overtakes in real-time. Reliability wasn't much of an issue; our car was solid enough to qualify in the top 10 and even pull off some stunts, like in the Spanish GP, where we started 3rd and 4th. Panis had a stronger showing in qualifying, but even though Frentzen outperformed him over the year in this aspect, Panis kept the hope alive. However, during races, he simply couldn't keep up, even when I applied the same strategy for both drivers. I tried different strategies for him sometimes, like a single pit stop or three stops. But it didn't make much of a dent, and at best, he managed decent top 10 finishes, still far from those precious points.

But none of that was necessary: I had a season worthy of Alpine 2023, solidly sitting in fourth place in the constructors' championship (thanks to Frentzen), far from the frontrunners and the mid-pack teams that were supposed to challenge me. Yeah, I managed to build a solid lead over McLaren and Sauber, who I thought would put up a stronger fight. Maybe they could have, but Frentzen made the difference. In fact, looking at the stats, he seems like the best bang for the buck, even though his annual salary was considerably boosted by the bonus clause for points. I must confess, I felt like intentionally tanking races at the end of the year just to save a few precious extra dollars for the '98 season, haha! Additionally, the data showed that this year, my car performed better on fast and medium tracks. Interestingly, it was a season with only one or two rainy GPs. By analyzing practice data and comparing it with other teams, I also noticed races where we seemed quick when looking at the 107% rule, but the grid was so competitive that we'd start, let's say, in 14th. In other grands prix, we were further behind the leaders, but compensating by being well ahead of the competition.

Ah, the physics of the game and how to tackle it! F1 Manager '96 and its successor might just be the games with the most training and setup freedom. Being a bit of a nut, I decided to split races to test out different approaches each weekend. With 4 free practices (including warm-up), early in the season, I focused on nailing down the best setups, jotting down in an Excel sheet the best combos of aerodynamic load and suspension stiffness/softness. The downside? Engines wore out super quick in that game (and back then too). Plus, they only allowed 12 hot laps per practice, basically ruling out any long runs. So, I could kinda figure out which setup worked better on average for the car and, more importantly, for each driver. Like I noticed in the previous season, it seems like there are drivers who perform better with softer suspensions and others with harder ones. It's not clear how much it impacts tire wear, for example; seems like it's close to nil. But what seems to matter is the aerodynamic stability of the car: stiffer cars are, if memory serves, less stable, although potentially faster, which totally makes sense!

Focusing solely on setups does have its downside; you don't get much time to figure out the best tire and fuel strategy. Plus, in this game and its successor, there's no actual feedback from the drivers, unlike Grand Prix Manager, EA Sports F1 Manager, Motorsport Manager, and more recently, the official F1 manager reboots since 2022. That's why, on tracks where I was more certain about the setup direction – like Monza and Hockenheim (definitely low downforce) – I started bringing sets of tires to assess the pace for 5 laps on each compound, with each driver on a fixed setup. Obviously, I matched fuel loads according to each compound's duration to figure out if a long stint was worth more than a short one. Then, I'd crunch numbers in Excel to estimate the race's end time, taking inspiration from the way the current F1 Manager simulates these scenarios for players (I find it even more fun tabulating the data myself!).

Overall, I found that softer tires weren't always the winning ticket, although the hardest compound of all was practically useless due to being painfully slow. Throughout the season, I leaned towards one-stop strategies. I probably should have noted down Ferrari's strategies since, surprise, surprise, they dominated again with Schumacher...

My plans plans for '98 sound seriously ambitious! Throughout the season, I've hired 4 and 5-star engineers, meaning I'll be revamping my parts for the year with top-notch quality. I'm sticking with the best fuel (ELF) and carbon fiber materials too. Naturally, I've renewed with a happy Frentzen, whom I'm betting on to challenge the big guns and fight for wins. The reason for this optimism? I've switched my works contract from Peugeot after two years to become a Renault customer. That's an extra 20 horses of power with a slightly lighter, five-star engine. Sure, it'll come at a cost, but after two seasons, I've learned the game's economy and it's totally doable to handle this investment. It'll surely open doors for a rock-solid '99. I even considered other options but decided to give Rubinho a second shot, a solid and cost-effective driver. I believe Frentzen will come out on top, but Rubinho will surely bag some points, something Panis couldn't manage. In fact, Panis abruptly lost motivation during the season according to his stats in the driver data section. Getting crushed by your teammate really doesn't help, just ask Checo Perez...

Finally, let's talk sponsors: couldn't lock in Mild Seven, a five-star sponsor, for '98. They were only willing to cough up a measly $2.5 million, when they dropped $15 million in both '96 and '97. Initial shock sorted itself out with smaller deals from 4-star sponsors and up. I've gone back to the yellow with Benson & Hedges. But the design for the next car and the rundown of next season's adventures? Gotta save that for the next post. Hope y'all enjoy the sketch and paint job I did on my fictional '97 Jordan: rocking the name and colors of the main sponsor, plus the works engine supplier. Next year's gonna be way different since I'm a customer, not obliged to sell the visual identity of my car since I'm footing the bill... actually, now it accidentally looks like... that Sauber vibe from the Petronas and Red Bull era. Oops! At least Frentzen seems stoked with his over-branded jumpsuit and helmets, a real mix of references and contract showdowns.

That's a wrap, folks! Hope y'all had a blast with this lengthy saga. I had a blast playing the game and now I'm geared up for F1 Manager Pro. Gonna dive into a realistic '97 mod, swapping pics and names of teams, drivers, engines, you name it. But this time, I'm starting from scratch with my fictional team, taking over from Lola Mastercard after their Australia disaster. Stay tuned for the next episodes!

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[lucasfawkes]

Postscript: Totally slipped my mind to mention how in this game, the fuel calculation isn't as accurate for long runs. It took me a while to notice that back in '96, and learning that might've made a difference for the better in '97. Why, you ask? Basically, fuel tends to stretch farther during race pace, well, at least with my car. This means it's better to gauge the consumption per lap during the actual race and then calculate how many liters you'll need for each stint. Still, I goofed with silly calculations at Spa, a high-consumption track, missing the chance to score points with Frentzen. Nothing major would've changed, I was comfortably in 4th place in the constructors' championship. But hey, yeah, aim to carry as little fuel as possible (i.e., lighter car) and only refuel what's necessary (pit stops can cost ya). Good luck, adventurers and racers!