New iGP First Look
By Jack Basford
Last updated: Thu, 10 Sep 2015 19:17
Steady progress is being made on the new iGP, though it is arriving a little later than originally hoped. I had mentioned our intention of launching at the end of September, but it is clear that this will not be possible now. Provided nothing unexpected happens, we will be launching in Q1 2016. With that announcement out of the way, let’s move on to the good stuff!
Today I am going to show you the first detailed screenshots and descriptions of a page in the new iGP Manager. We would love your feedback on what you see, but remember that the new game design is primarily aimed at mobile and tablet clients. The flexibility of mobile will revolutionise how we play iGP, and to accommodate these new platforms, the level of complexity will shift in various areas of gameplay.
The page I am demoing in this blog is the new race preparation page. As you will see, the process of setting up a car is more streamlined and efficient than it is today. There is even an option to purchase the ideal setup using Tokens (Tokens are not a new feature, they are the new name for the existing ‘Reward Points’ system). While preparation is simpler, the complexity of live races will remain or even increase in some regards, with more variables influencing performance in the race simulation.
New cross-platform, cross-device GUI design
The first thing you will probably notice about the new iGP is the totally new interface design. In previously released screenshots this was still in its infancy, but it is now reaching maturity and the images you see are pretty much how the finished game should look. This new GUI (graphical user interface) has been designed for and tested on everything from an iPhone 4 up to a 24” desktop monitor, as I will demonstrate in the screenshots.
New artwork
As you will also see, there is new, rich artwork for driver and staff faces, bringing the characters behind your team to life. A variety of faces and ethnicities are available, which we will expand further over time.
New streamlined race preparation
On to the race preparation itself, and the first tab is the ‘Race’ tab, demonstrated on a desktop monitor. This contains a breakdown of information for the upcoming event. The circuit attributes are displayed along with two buttons, one containing the familiar weather forecast, the other a new feature: Practice results. Clicking the ‘Practice results’ button launches a table of all practice lap times set by participants. Yes, this means that practice lap times are back in the new iGP. It also means you can compare your practice times with your rivals before qualifying!
The second tab is the ‘Setup’, demonstrated here on an iPad screen. This is where the practice laps are conducted and the new simplified car setup can be seen. It is most likely that a total of three practice laps will be granted per driver. If you are really pushed for time you can use Tokens (currently known as Reward Points) to purchase an ideal setup.
The final tab is the strategy tab, shown below on a Samsung SIII. Constructing a race strategy looks very different, but acts in much the same way as the current system. The tyre compound is the focal point of each stint but fuel is now specified in laps, rather than litres. This will make it more straightforward to calculate strategies, while continuing to offer maximum strategic variability. You can also select how many pit stops you want to schedule, and the table will update to reflect that, which is much cleaner than the current add/remove procedure.
If you’re wondering where Car Assembly and refitting parts has gone, it has been moved to a separate screen for managing your cars.
Simpler car setup and race strategy is not just making everything mobile-friendly, though it helps serve that purpose. Our long-term ambition is that a simplified race build-up will allow us to build in friendly races, which can be organised quickly, for friends to race together at any time. A friendly race feature will not be included in the first release of the new iGP, but we hope to add it in a later update.
We would love to hear your first impressions and feedback in the comments below!
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I have to join the voices concerned about simplifying iGP, like fuel calculations seems to be gone and setup cut down to bare bones.
I would much rather see the current system expanded upon- give us the lap times as feed back in the current system(instead of the current N/A), then maybe something the driver likes might not be the fastest, but maybe the faster setup increases the chance the driver will make mistakes and put in occasional bad laps for instance.
@Jack Basford
Ever thought about having to sign a gearbox & brake manufacter?
and there is nothing new about overtaking? since you can only advance with KERS or DRS, or if the tires are rival Red
some variable in the race, and get off track? collide to Maldonado? engine failure?
or is there any news about KERS?
I think the current car setup is WAY more better than it seems on the screenshots. Why take out the possibility to miscount fuel? The way this is going is getting this easier? Why? Setups should be more difficult than now.. not the opposite. And when you could make compromises on top speed or cornerspeed. Making it like every 6 years old can win is just stupid :P The harder it is the more rewarding it is to get on top.
cant wait for this. i hope it gets me addicted again. I lost my addiction after 1year of it
@Mike - I just answered this question on the forum: http://igpmanager.com/play/?url=forum-thread/5121#37373
Tracks? Any additions?
@Aaron - We are bringing iGP to mobiles and tablets as an app. This will include full live control of the races as you currently have access to on desktops. However, before the app launch it will be launched on igpmanager.com. Playing in the mobile browser will not allow live control, as it is currently. Mobiles and tablets will need to wait for the app release for full live control.
Jack what he means is like me when I am on my mobile phone I can only look at the timing view. we cannot on IE or Chrome view the live scoring that you can adjust things. I am not subscriber but even with the non 2d I can still control my team. In the timing view you are just along for the ride
@Adrian - I assume you mean that the Java viewer isn't working for you. Try using Internet Explorer or Firefox for now, because it has been blocked in Chrome and Edge. But yes, we are working on bringing support back to Chrome and Edge, with a new WebGL viewer, and ditching the old Java technology entirely. This may not be the first release of the new update, though. We want to release both at the same time, but it may not be ready by then.