Hi all,
I would like to collect interesting dates as well as the people related to this date and what they have done. Links/pictures would be great.

GPL was released in 1998 but since then Papyrus has done some great patches as well as the community.

Interesting GPL Sim dates for me are things like:

When and who converted the first track ?
When and why the GPL Rank has been founded ?
When and who was the first negative GPL Rank driver ?
When and who did the first track addon ?
When and who has done the first GPL addon ?
When and who did some major car updates ?
When and who created Vroc ?
When and who founded the first GPL league ?
When and who developed the BWPatch ?
When and who was the engine charger found ?
When was the first GEM released ?
When and who ...

This very little list of many things I don't know should show a little bit of what I'm interested in

It's because I would like to read a bit about the history of GPL. Second, I would like to use this as a kind of anthology for GPL, arranged and published on the GPLPS page

Thanks

Bernd

These are the only ones I can answer

When and who converted the first track ? D Noonan March 18, 1999
When and who did the first addon track? D Noonan March 13, 1999
When and who developed the BWPatch ? Bart Westra Jan 5, 2003
When and who was the engine swapper made by? Paul Thurston
When was the first GEM released ? Paul Thurston
Who made the original Track Database? Magnus Thome

These would make great quiz questions .
Ok I give up; what are the answers?

All what is needed are people which think: 'I know an important event in my GPL history. Saw the badges from Bruce and they have been great. From my memory Bruce had them first released in ....' and which adds those to this thread.

My questions without answer yet can be all answered and a lot more then and I'm pretty sure that we will like the result.


PS: Do you mean I know the answers yet

Ahh .. The good ole days.. If this might help, I'll share some stories about my best GPL buddies, the ones who did the "Firsts"

Bruce was the first in many aspects: he was the first to make "see-through" spoked wheels as well as editing the stickshift's base so that the "H" grooves don't show anymore..We were good buddies & I remember those, as I had asked him at the time if it could be done - Keep in mind that , at the time, no race sims had seethrough spoked wheels! He constantly edited the Honda's shape as well as worked on the engine's "spaghetti" pipes.. Therefore,was also the first to edit the engines..We would constantly send each other our respective work and would comment on it, trying to improve everything thru feedback.I mean; Bruce did SOOO MUCH stuff that no one ever got to see except Nene, Jay & myself as we would exchange files & ideas on an almost daily basis. Bruce was the original pioneer car editor/hacker.An innovator in the true sense of the word, and a great friend.

The first add on track was actually Sears 99, done by Tim McArthur with Noonan tools (Just read my sig, folks, for a coupla firsts!), if I remember correctly..Not that it got released the first, but I had it on my HD for quite a while before I let it out and it was thoroughly tested by Nascar drivers before it came out on the Nascar sim..If I remember well, Noonan got handed out these tools by the Papy Dudes and that's when he came out with his converter..Speaking of wich, for a while, I had on my HD a universal converter..Real hot proprety that enabled the user to convert to GPL ANY Papy Nascar tracks! Hot proprety at the time so Idecided to get rid of it..This is the converter that was used to create Sears99 from Nascar to GPL, by the way..

Stephan (Nene) was the first to figure out how to edit out the "invisible twin track wall" so that cars can go on the track on the other side on Avus like straights,although I don't know if it actually was used in trackmaking since.Nene did a lot as well, like Bruce, stuff that no one ever got to know about. He had one major flaw though: he actually beleived that Sweden had a better Olympic hockey team than Canada had..

Nazareth, technically speaking, was THE first add on track EVER..as it was created as a test base by the actual Papy guys when GPL was getting made.. same as Portland w/o the boot (I think it's that track.. not sure anymore as it's been soo long). These 2 tracks were released by myself as I figured that they should be enjoyed by all, but they do have archaic construction methods and I really did'nt have much to do with them beside some textures & releasing them. GPLEA's Snetterton was the first true add on track created with the tools being used today though..

Jay Beckwith was the first in a few aspects as well: editing the skid marks, the groove, and improving the smoke. He was also the first to pack an add on - Nurb84- in a self-extracting exe file,just like Nascar files..lol, as well as coming out with different helmet colours & modifying the driver suits. First snow track, with Mark Beckman & myself & first night track as well..

Mark Beckman has a buncha firsts as well : too many to list here and many are quite known, but little known fact is that he was the first to build trk's to my converted nascar oval tracks under the influence of too many Fosters.. The Man was clinically insane & would build an entire fun track to my request & send me the results within 24 hours almost everytime.We also were the first to purposely really piss off GPLEA by making & releasing our version of Clermont Ferrand, from start to finish, in less than a week's time! We laughed about that for quite some time.

Magnus, of course, was always in the middle of everything. A great friend who got every file that everyone of us ever made as he was so organised & detailed, just in case we loose something, wich incidentally, happened all the time..He had quite an input on how things got developped as well as always asked our advices on his track database site.Of course, all of us secretly got Goodwood's Hillclimb track on our HD ; THE rarest GPL track of all...Still got it,actually!Great bonus, getting all these obscure, unknown tracks & the beta ones..

John Basara was the first to create complete texture makeovers for many original Papy tracks as well as someone else (Silverstone & Monza comes to mind),but forgot his name,unfortunately.As I was the first to do just that with Mosport though, As I considered John my major inspiration as I was in awe of his work - still am,actually..and it was quite something for me to get to work & develop a friendship with him.The very first add on I ever remember seeing, was a flag fix btw, if I remember correctly..The US Pits was the first place for us to get these firsts...and was also the best for a long time.

Dunky & myself were the first to use supersized textures on tracks (Limerock)..Wich means I was the first to make 'em voodoo compatible.. and Brent Adams, the first to use "traces" on the trk. Summit Point was the first track created for - and requested by - a Pro Driver (Allison Hine) who was racing there in a few months after asking me if I could have it made for her (thanx James Sowell for that one!) wich explains why it stayed at the beta stage as we had very little time to create it. Ali was the first to drive a GPL mod car, as she got the Papy guys to make her Cobra with proper physics in GPL. .

John Bradley was always THE FIRST to contribute to ANY new track being created..A huge inspiration to anyone building a track, he certainly is gifted with so much talent and professionalism, and humour, that his work always was - to me - one of the greatest source of motivation while working on a new project..As well as his invaluable advice on beta testing. Being there from Day One makes him one of GPL's most important contributor and IMHO, one of the major factor explaining GPL's longevity with his constant high quality work.. He set the bar.

As for me, I was the first to offer choices of optional skies on a buncha tracks/add ons I worked on (sun,cloud,evening,night). That came about for Smoggy's Daytona track, although we never got to make the 30 000 lights that goes with it.Then I figured that I'd add a sunny and an optional cloudy sky to almost every track I worked on for a long time..Oh yes: I was also the first - and only - to plaster cartoon frogs on a Lotus as well as having one pictured as a driver, on the release of Schottenring.. and I probably was the first to get a lifetime ban from the "other" racing site as well! I know I was the first to really upset Andre Streu after pestering him for a beta of Sachsenring while he was making it, as I realllly wanted to work with him - and he always said "no" as he's a one-man-show..only then to have me send him a near complete beta of it with a complete reworking of his textures and a note saying " I fixed a few things for you"..He completely freaked out, but we became great friends afterwards and had great laughs together about it while working on Schottenring.

Now as for dates..beats me..Seems like a long time ago! Ronnie Bresich..Oversteer..Brent Adams..mighty fine buncha gifted trackmakers.. GPL's gonna be 10 years old soon..If there's a sucker out there willing to invest time in trying to revive some of them oldtimers outta da mothballs for a special project like..say.. Taunus, I'll gladly pitch in some work!


Hope these weird stories makes you see that a lot of good people who went in & out of GPL had a lot of fun back then.

Eric, Trackwrecker (ret'd)


PS: man.. There are some REALLY emoticons here!! If this one could stand still. it could be..Dangermouse!

Great read and lots of information

Eric, do you have any contact with Bruce or can you arrange something to get in contact with him ? Would love to fill in some gaps.

To bad you don't have some times but well, I can be lucky if I remember my own birthday, so I'm used to the 'Wasn't it last month ? (me asking)?' and someone told me 'No buddy, it was 1 1/2 years ago !'

I can relate to that!
Wish I could help you.. or, I should say, willing to..But Bruce left GPL suddenly due to some major health issues and I have never heard of him since.
Quite frankly, we were close and I'd be extremely upset to find out that something real bad happened to him, so I never had the balls to write to him after he left GPL, except once, soon after it was anounced on threads that he had just suffered a massive heart attack..He had told me he was okay,but then..nothing.
He had a wife and a young girl,loved his motorbike..and I prefer to think of him as being "retired" from GPL doing other things..
There are certain things I just don't want to find out,you know.

Hey Eric !!!!

Geez, is there anything you did not do or help with ?? How have you´ve been ?? and How are you doing nowadays ??

I tried to contact Mark Beckman some months ago but got no answer from him. I guess David Fletcher received some CDs from him, but I am not sure if they are still in contact. Mark was busy with personal project in China the last time I heard from him. I guess he is still there, I mean, if one can get Fosters in China

Jay Beckwith is active and working on some NR2003 stuff and 1968mod for GPL for what I know. I will email him this weekend and I am sure he also has some things to add, a lot in fact

for spoiling this topic Bernd, but



It's good to see this track exist
I hardly dare to ask,
so I won't,
but I surly want it,
but it can't,
because of
"Made exclusively for the 2002 Goodwood Festival of Speed. Pity the agreement with the track people doesn't allow it to be released to the public, especially when thinking about how many hours has been spent by so many to make the GPL stand and merchandise come together."

Is this stil the case after 10 years ??

I am a GPL junkie I have driven all the available tracks (and some more) with all the cassis,
and am at the moment together with Darren Hosein the only one who have a Monster of TotalRank titel.


So is it maybe possible that, lets say Santa give's me a glance of this track?

Again sorry for spoiling this topic Bernd, but I just have to ask it ........................
And thanks Eric for the stories

Hi Arturo!
Ohh I loved helping out everyone & trying to get to work with everybody...Wich is kinda what I did except with the GPLEA bunch, unfortunately. Got to learn a lot of stuff & made some great friendships throughout the years. It sure is nice to see so many tracks out there getting released with various optional custom files as well as seeing snapshots of these GPL tracks looking like something I would've done..That certain natural, desaturized texture "look" that I started many years ago now seems like the standard thing in GPL and I'm extremely proud to have contributed something that influenced others & still holds today..I kinda miss GPL but I've never really recovered from getting publicly villified on the other site - especially in the way it was done - as well as got quite disapointed by a certain individual who I thought was a friend & did'nt step up to the plate for me at the time, since he was holding all the bucks with a specific purpose for it..It DID eventually go towards GPL server fees though..and that's what's important. Money from the GPL people should go to the GPL people and that's where it went..I did, however, learn an invaluable lesson about trust & friendship though and I have much better judgment now. "Know your friends"..

How am I? Been quite busy the past 3 years, driving a big 18 wheeler rig all across North America. Saw MANY tracks while doing so as well, ended up getting a pickup for US Salt, in Watkins Glen a few months back & it was a real blast going down that big bend with a 72 foot long truck; just like Glen48..identical!! So I've been busy basically working around the clock, getting divorced, buying me a nice cottage & a Mercedes, dating younger women when I have little time off after seeing my kids whenever I'm in town..Now I'm kinda taking a small breather as I REALLY overdid it..Then back at it, trying to make a buck every minute I'm awake..And you? How've you been?

Perdo: Sorry I can't help you with that one..

Hi Eric

Glad to know you are ok !! I am ok too No more taxes (I am, or was, an accountant), except when the time to pay comes but everything is going well here. Family is ok and summer is coming down here, money comes and goes though in similar proportions, health is ok too, though some overweight is always a present, but here I am, still driving our (I think we can call it this way after all these years) carsim

About the old stuff, I think it is time to leave some things in the past and move forward. I guess you have been following up many of the public GPL developements and how much this carsim has evolved since the good old days. What is done, is done and I also think it would be great to have you back helping to make some tracks even better

We meet frequently with dangermouse and other guys using Skype to talk about this and that, so if you can join us one of these days, it will be great to meet you too btw, my username is arturo.pereira1

All the best !!!

Arturo

Thanks mate!

And I thougt Rally Stavanger SS1/5/9 Circuit 2006 was narrow
I realy appriciate this Eric.

Greetings Pedro.

The GPL Rally 1 and 2 comes to my mind.


A offline challenge on one lap tracks with a new track every week .
The first one started in January 2002, my track download for Stage one says 06.01.2002



It was the first major GPL event for me. (bought GPL only one or two month before and had just registered the GPL Forum (now RSC) )

GPL's 1st Add-Ons sites:
There were 2 places that we could get our first add ons: There was a cool site called "The Fast Lane" ,and as mentionned earlier, there was "The US Pits".
The Fast Lane was my favorite: They has a LOT of stuff there! but it closed down relatively quickly,so everyone moved to "The US Pits"..A search enabled me to find archive pages of those earlier days and I thought you'd get a kick out of checking them out.The links,of course, are all dead..but the information as well as the dates that these add ons were posted, as well as a quick description, are still there:

https://www.thenorwaypits.com/2003_08/sims/index.html

This link goes even further in time: from the day that the GPL demo was available,if you scroll down at the bottom:

https://www.thenorwaypits.com/1999_04/index.html

Of course, there's no way that GPL's history and important people/dates/events can be complete without mentionning Ali's site! She has'nt updated it in years,but it's a pretty cool way to see all the activitities going on way back when GLP ruled the racing sim world :
https://eaglewoman.rscsites.org/gpl/index.htm

and her old links page brings lots of great memories:
https://eaglewoman.rscsites.org/gpl/web-2.htm

A lot of good links with dates there Eric.

Thanks Eric. It's great to see you back here occasionally.