F1 Pole Position 64 / HUMAN Grand Prix: The New Generation
Contents
1 Introduction
2 Controls
3 Tracks
4 Drivers
5 Choosing Car parts
6 Hints and Tips
1 Introduction
Released on March 28th 1997, this is the 5th and final release in the F1 Grand
Prix series by HUMAN Entertainment.
It is a pretty boring game and was later eclipsed by F1 World Grand Prix. The
the simulation of F1 was somewhat impressive for the time. However contemporary
reviews complained about the abundant popup and lack of multiplayer. I noticed
the resolution dropping when the game lagged. I don’t think I've ever seen an
N64 game do that. The Japanese version also has a lovely grammar error on the
end screen;
“CONGRATULATIONS THANK YOU FOR YOUR PLAYING"
This game requires 70 free pages on a controller pak to save.
There are several game modes as follows
Championship Mode - The main mode
Battle - A one off race against the computer
Time Trials
Roster - Allows you to move drivers between teams
Record - View your best times
Configuration - Change AI and damage settings here
I completed the game on the easiest difficulty just to clear it quickly. On that
difficulty you don’t need to use the pit lanes, and crashing into other cars or
walls has no effect on your car whatsoever. Doing qualifying laps is also not
necessary. In fact if you have enough points you can retire from some of the
races, and still keep your ranking on the leader board. If you do this, you can
save a lot of time, and you don’t have to play as much of this dull game! It
took me 2 hours, 15 minutes and 12 seconds to finish the game.
2 Controls
The game allows you to play the game by holding the N64 controller in three
different ways. This shows that as an early N64 game, developers were still
trying to work out which would be the most comfortable and popular method. These
are the controls of the standard way, holding the middle prong with your left
hand the and the right prong with your right hand.
3D Stick/D Pad - Steer
A Button - Accelerate
B Button - Brake
Up C - Change the panel
Right C - Change the camera angle
Down C - Look behind you
R Trigger - Upshift
Z Trigger - Downshift
Start Button - Pause
3 Tracks
Championship Mode has 16 races, based on the 1996 F1 Grand Prix.
Australia Albert Park Circuit
Although it is the first course it is not an easy one. The ninth and tenth turns
feature a lot of gravel and it is easy to slide out there. Before the final
straight there are two 90 degree turns and very tight left so you really want to
go slowly at the other end of the lake.
Brazil Interlagos Circuit
This course is famous for being quite hilly despite having three very long
straights. After the third corner there is a very long straight followed by a
left turn. After the next long straight is a horrible chicane section that you
should take very slowly. After getting through the chicane you can really open
up your engine and blast down the rest of the track to the finish.
Argentina Autódromo Oscar y Juan Gálvez
You cant really start passing cars on this track until the 6th corner and even
then you should probably wait until the home stretch, after the 15th corner to
really try and gain positions.
Europe (Germany) Nürburgring
This famous course have several short straights but no back straight. The fifth
corner is a hair pin and its especially dangerous if you are going to fast. You
can start attacking on the 9th corner but bare in mind that there in no back
straight and the finish line is behind a right hand bend.
San Marino Imola Circuit
This is a fairly gentle course. You can try and overtake other cars until the
seventh sharp bend at the top corner. Then you want to wait until after the 10
bend when you can attack on the straight again. The straight is broken up by a
tiny right bend and ends in two 90 degree turns. After which you a pretty much
free to burn rubber all the way back to the seventh corner again.
Monaco Circuit de Monaco
Easily the hardest course in the game because it dares you to drive an F1 car
around tiny hilly streets. Rather than trying to win this race you should ensure
your car is fitted with durable parts and just try to survive it. The first
corner, a 90 degree right is very dangerous if you have just flown up the back
straight, so be careful after you pass the finishing line.
Spain Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya
This course features a long straight at the beginning and end. After the first
corner is a wiggly section, which ends after the 9th corner. After 4 more tight
bends the back straight opens up. Be warned that the starting straight is longer
than the back one so you should try to pass cars after passing the line.
Canada Circuit Gilles Villeneuve
This track marks the halfway point of the Championship. If you haven't built up
a comfortable points lead by now you might want to think about restarting. The
10th and 13th corners on this track are probably the worst. But otherwise this
track features several long straights and gentle bends compared to the previous
tracks. Just be careful of the devil's hairpin that is corner number 10.
France Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours
This a track with lots of long straight but few bends, meaning that it can be
quite hard to catchup on this course. The most dangerous area is the hair pin on
the 5th corner. This is a track where you can definitely favor max speed over
acceleration.
Britain Silverstone Circuit
The first part of this course is a little twisty, but after the 6th corner it
turns into a oblong style route. This means that you can build up a lot of speed
on the middle parts of the track. However like Nürburgring there in no back
straight and the finish line is behind a right hand bend.
Germany Hockenheimring
Running through a German forest this is my favourite track in the game. It is
almost an oval, apart from a sharp couple of bends just before the finish line.
Because of the lengths of it's straights you can really blast along it with max
speed parts.
Hungary Hungaroring
The start/finishing line is on the longest straight of the course so make sure
you make good use of it. The first and last bends are also quite long so it is
possible to overtake there if you get a good line on them. The 12 corner is a 90
degree right turn which gives me Monaco flashbacks.
Belgium Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps
After a very sharp first corner, the track develops into a very long up hill
straight which ends in a sharp corner (number 7). After wiggling around, you
will be free to open up your engines after the 16th corner. Just dont foreget
about the tiny sharp right and left bend before the finish line.
Italy Autodromo Nazionale di Monza
An infamously fast circuit in Italy that begins and ends with a nice long
straight. The 6th and 7th corners are quite sharp so don't get too speed crazy.
After slowing down for them you can speed through most of the rest of the
course, only slowly down for the last long bend before the finish.
Portugal Circuito do Estoril
This course resembles the one in Spain in that it has a start/finishing line on
a very long straight while the rest of the course is quite bendy. After the 4th
bend this are two pretty long straights in a joined in a V shape. The last bend
is quite long so make sure you get a good line in order not to lose position
before blasting down towards the finishing line.
Japan Suzuka International Racing Course
The final course, and one of the most difficult! Well done for making it this
far! This is an unusual track in that it features an overpass which turns the
track into a figure of eight.
After the first corner a series of s curves slows the pack down before the sharp
right 9th corner and the hairpin 10th corner. After rounding the 14th corner you
can speed up along the straight overpass until you reach the tiny sharp right
and left bend before the finish line.
4 Drivers
These are the drivers from the 1996 season, which was won by Damon Hill. As far
as I know your choice of driver has no effect on how the car handles. However
your driver is attached to a team, and their car has it's only settings.
Michael Schumacher
Eddie Irvine
Damon Hill
Jean Alesi
Gerhard Berger
Mika Häkkinen
David Coulthard
Olivier Panis
Pedro Diniz
Rubens Barrichello
Jacques Villeneuve who came second that year appears in the game as "Driver-X"
as it was not possible to obtain his licence. Similarly Driver 2 in the Roster
screen actually has the data of Ralf Schumacher, Michael's brother. He did not
start his professional racing career until after the game was released.
5 Selecting car parts
The Ultra 64 Podcast joked in their review of N64 F1 games that the car part
selection screen is impossible to understand for non-motor heads. I completely
agree, but after reading through the manual it seems that you mostly want to use
the most balanced parts. Depending on how you like to drive you may want to
focus on max speed or handling. Certainly for some tracks such as Monaco, max
speed settings will only send you smashing into walls.
Just finishing a race is sometimes better than trying to win, particularly on
the dangerous tracks like Monaco. Many other racers will end up crashing out of
the race, so it would be worth your while to choose parts which can take a lot
of damage on the more dangerous courses.
There are 2 types of tires, Slick and Rain tires which come in 4 different
grades A-D. A grade tires last a long time but have poor grip. D grade tires are
the opposite, they grip well but wear out quickly.
Steering, Transmission and Gear types are all dependent on how hard or soft you
wish the steering to be, and if you prefer to change gears manually.
With Manual or Semiautomatic Transmissions you can start at maximum speed by
up-shifting as the 5th lamp turns off and your engine rev reaches the red zone.
Soft Suspension means the car is hard to turn, but it is also hard to spin out.
Hard Suspension has the opposite effect, easy to turn, easy to spin out.
Your wings have a similar effect Top Speed wings make the car hard to turn but
increase it's maximum speed. Down Force wings make the car easy to turn but
decrease it's maximum speed.
The car's handling is also effected by how much fuel you have in the tank, what
tires you have installed and the current weather. If it begins to rain, and you
are playing on a higher difficulty, it would probably be a good idea to get your
tires changed. Only put in enough fuel you need for the remaining laps.
6 Hints and Tips
Crashing into other cars will not only stop you dead, but it will also damage
your car on most difficulties. You must avoid hitting other cars and barriers as
much as possible if you want to win. The only exception to this is if cars hit
you from behind. For some reason your car seems to be equipped with rear armor
as being hit by other cars only pushes you forward. Use this to your advantage
and block other cars if they seem to be trying to pass you.
In order to pass other drivers safely do so on straight sections of the course.
If you are about to spin out, a warning sound will play. Release the A Button of
let the 3D Stick go back to a neutral position to prevent the spin.
When refueling your car in the pit lane you can adjust how much fuel is put in
your car using the L and R Trigger buttons. Using the pit lane obviously takes a
lot of time and should be avoided as much as possible. You can save time by
having your tank filled and parts replaced at the same time. If your car gets
damaged you should bare the following data in mind;
A tire change takes 8 seconds
Filling your tank to full takes 12 seconds
Replacing a wing takes 15 seconds
The condition of each part is displayed in the bottom left of the screen, next
to the fuel bar, in the following order
Wings
Tires
Suspension - Cannot be replaced in the pit lane
Brakes - Cannot be replaced in the pit lane
Gears - Cannot be replaced in the pit lane
Your engine will blow out if you do not change gears fast enough when it is in
the red zone.
Points are awarded for positions in the following way
First - 10 points
Second - 6 points
Third - 4 points
Fourth - 3 points
Fifth - 2 points
Sixth - 1 point
If you beat the Championship mode and save your data, you can unlock a secret
car. When you turn on the game hold the A and B buttons when the "Please wait 4
seconds" message is shown to unlock the car.
