F1 Challenge '99-'02

F1 Challenge '99-'02

Developers
	Image Space Incorporated
Publishers
	EA Sports
Engines
	isiMotor
Release dates
Windows	June 23, 2003
Reception
Metacritic	91
IGDB	63
Taxonomy
Monetization	One-time game purchase
Modes	Singleplayer, Multiplayer
Perspectives	First-person, Third-person
Controls	Direct control
Genres	Racing, Simulation
Vehicles	Track racing
Art styles	Realistic
Series	F1

F1
F1 2000	2000
F1 Championship Season 2000	2000
F1 2001	2001
F1 2002	2002
F1 Challenge '99-'02	2003

Warnings

SafeDisc retail DRM does not work on Windows Vista and later (see Availability for affected versions).

GameSpy online services have been shut down (see Network for solutions).

F1 Challenge '99-'02 is a singleplayer and multiplayer racing game developed by Image Space Incorporated and published by Electronic Arts via their EA Sports brand. It is the licensed Formula 1 game and was the last F1 game to be published by Electronic Arts until the company's acquisition of Codemasters in 2021. (Where F1 games from F1 2021 onward were published by EA.)

As EA did not have a license for the 2003 Formula 1 season, the company included contents from 1999 through 2002 seasons into one game, effectively making it an updated release of all prior EA Sports F1 games.

It was released in Australasia on June 23, 2003, followed by the North American and European releases few days later on June 24 and June 27 respectively. The console versions of the game were titled F1 Career Challenge, but offer no unique content.

The game still has a modding community, but active projects distribute the whole game alongside the modified files.

Availability

Source	DRM	Notes	Keys	OS
Retail		SafeDisc v2 DRM

SafeDisc retail DRM does not work on Windows Vista and later (see above for affected versions).

Essential improvements

Skip intro videos

Move, delete or rename files
Go to <path-to-game>\Movies Move, delete or rename Eas.bik and EAintro.bik.

Game data

Configuration file(s) location

System	Location
Windows	<path-to-game>\Save\[profile name]\[profile name].plr <path-to-game>\Config.ini

Config.ini can be edited with a text editor.

Alternatively, car setup files and a FOV file are stored in in %USERPROFILE%\Documents\F1 Challenge 99-02.

Save game data location

System	Location
Windows	<path-to-game>\Save\[profile name]\

[profile name].plr can be edited with a text editor.

Video

External settings application

Game options

Graphics settings

Graphics feature	State	Notes
Widescreen resolution		Menus, FMVs and UI are Vert-. Resolutions can be chosen in 3DConfig.exe, but many are not listed.
Multi-monitor
Ultra-widescreen
4K Ultra HD
Field of view (FOV)		Fixed by default in camera views. See Field of view (FOV).
Windowed		No option to toggle windowed mode in-game or in the Game Setup. Edit the WINDOWEDMODE=1 and VIDEOMODE=1 line in config.ini.
Borderless fullscreen windowed		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Anisotropic filtering (AF)		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Anti-aliasing (AA)		No option to toggle FSAA in-game. Edit the FSAA=1 line in config.ini.
High-fidelity upscaling		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Vertical sync (Vsync)		Toggled in 3DConfig.exe under the Advanced section.
60 FPS and 120+ FPS
High dynamic range display (HDR)

Field of view (FOV)

Modify configuration file
Open default.cfg in <path-to-game>\Save with a text editor. Choose their camera views. Set Fov=(##.000000, ##.000000) to the desired value. Save the file.

Input

Key bindings.

Keyboard and mouse	State	Notes
Remapping
Mouse acceleration		Mouse not used outside the menus.
Mouse sensitivity
Mouse input in menus
Mouse Y-axis inversion
Controller
Controller support
Full controller support		External display settings and in-game menus require a mouse.
Controller remapping
Controller sensitivity
Controller Y-axis inversion

Controller types

XInput-compatible controllers
Xbox button prompts
Impulse Trigger vibration

Generic/other controllers		Steering wheels
Button prompts

Additional information
Controller hotplugging
Haptic feedback
Digital movement supported
Simultaneous controller+KB/M

Audio

Audio settings.

Audio feature	State	Notes
Separate volume controls		Music, SFX, Engine, Speech
Surround sound
Subtitles
Closed captions
Mute on focus lost
Royalty free audio

Localizations

Language	UI	Audio	Sub	Notes
English
French
German
Italian
Brazilian Portuguese				Fan translation. Audio and voice are also available. Some season racing teams, track infos and driver names are not fully dubbed.

Network

Multiplayer types

Type	Native	Players	Notes
Local play		Console versions only.
LAN play		8
Online play		8	GameSpy services have been shut down; see GameSpy for workarounds.

Connection types

Type	Native	Notes
Matchmaking
Peer-to-peer
Dedicated
Self-hosting
Direct IP

VR support

Devices	State	Notes
Tobii Eye Tracking		Works with Tobii EyeX tracker or Tobii EyeX 4C and 5 headtracker plugins for FaceTrackNoIR.[citation needed]
TrackIR		Supports: Yaw, Pitch.

Other information

API

Technical specs	Supported	Notes
Direct3D	8.1

Executable	32-bit	64-bit	Notes
Windows

Middleware

	Middleware	Notes
Audio	Miles Sound System
Cutscenes	Bink Video
Multiplayer	GameSpy

System requirements

Windows
	Minimum
Operating system (OS)	98, 2000, ME, XP
Processor (CPU)	Intel Pentium II 450 MHz
System memory (RAM)	128 MB
Hard disk drive (HDD)	1 GB
Video card (GPU)	Nvidia GeForce 256 / Quaddro / 2 (Go!) / 3 / 4 ATI Radeon PowerVR Kyro / Matrox G400 / Matrox G450 / Matrox G550 16 MB of VRAM DirectX 8.1 compatible