Dusty But Trusty: GT Legends

To qualify for a Dusty But Trusty article, a game must be old enough to vote in Nicaragua, buy tobacco in Djibouti, and make the beast with two backs in Nepal. More importantly, it must be demonstrably super, smashing, great, ace, wizard, bonzer, the knees of the bee, the testicles of the dog, and the whiskers and pyjamas of the cat. You don’t need rose-tinted pince-nez or a cutting-edge pixel pump to enjoy 24 karat golden oldies like… GT Legends.

Picture a movie starring Michael Caine, Robert Redford, Paul Newman, Steve McQueen, Sophia Loren, Audrey Hepburn, Charles Bronson, Clint Eastwood, Lee Marvin, David Niven, Sean Connery, Roger Moore, Edward Fox, Julie Christie, Jane Fonda, Leslie Phillips, Stanley Baker, Britt Ekland, Peter Sellers, and Benny Hill. The race sim equivalent of that movie is SimBin’s 2005 excitement factory GT Legends.

Because this belter simmed the FIA Historic Racing Championships for Sixties and Seventies GT cars, and Ian Bell’s dev team cared deeply about verisimilitude, purchasers wound up with one of the most colourful, charismatic, and diverse selection of steeds ever to grace a racing recreation.

This is a game where hulking American muscle cars regularly rub Dunlops with shrunken European city cars. Where piccolo 1000 cc motors moon through permanently propped-open bootlids at snarling, spitting V8s. Where the view in the rear-view mirror sometimes makes you feel like you’re being pursued by a horde of TV detectives.

Thanks to a simple but effective campaign structure, you aren’t overwhelmed by the ensemble of automotive idols* at the start of the game. Initially supplied with just a sure-footed Italian Job escapee, the player must buy or win additional rides by achieving podium places in various cups. Top-three finishes swell your bank balance and sometimes earn special vehicles not available at the in-game dealer.

* That ensemble in full: AC Shelby Cobra, Austin Healey 3000, Chevrolet Corvette, Ferrari 275 GTB, Ford GT40, Jaguar E-Type, Lotus Elan, Lotus Elite, Mercedes 300SL, Renault Alpine A110, Shelby Daytona Coupe, Shelby GT350, TVR Griffith 400, BMW CSL, Detomaso Pantera, Ford Capri, Ford Escort RS2000, Porsche 906, Porsche 911, Porsche 914, Abarth 1000TC, Alfa Romeo GTA, Ford F Sprint, Ford Mustang, Jaguar MKII, Lotus Cortina, Mini Cooper S.

The ability to set the skill level of the opposition, and replay easier competitions to amass funds, mean the only things standing between you and pricey/prestigious motors like the Shelby Daytona and Porsche 911 is time and effort. Judicious SimBin inject enough inertia into proceedings to ensure unlikely love affairs blossom, but not so much that yearned-for rides feel maddeningly out of reach.

Unlike some of the titles I considered for the first Dusty But Trusty race sim, GTL doesn’t look down its nose at the inept, the inexperienced, or the ill-equipped. A suite of eight toggleable driving aids (automatic gearbox, automatic clutch, steering help, braking help, traction control, anti-lock brakes stability help, and damage) all with their own convenient hotkeys, mean even truculent tearaways like the TVR can be tamed and enjoyed by the cack-handed and the keyboard-reliant. Inevitably, the aids do leach some character. However, strong gMotor2 physics and evocative audio, mean a car’s personality is never completely obscured.

Almost as unusual and diverse as the vehicular line-up is the sim’s selection of circuits. All European, these range from pocket-handkerchiefs like Monza Junior, Magny-Cours Club, and Anderstorp North and South, to GP-suitable tracks such as Spa-Francorchamps, Imola, and Hockenheim. The smaller circuits are great levellers, denying the game’s sleekest and speediest grand tourers the opportunity to exploit their advantages on lengthy straights. Fed into the campaign slowly via the cup competitions, the longer tracks, especially when paired with high lap totals and large grids (the Quick Race mode supports 35-car grids and 60-lap races) effortlessly produce that Zen-like state of concentration in which hours zip by and everyday concerns evaporate.

Splendidly combative, the game’s silicon drivers defend and attack with real gusto, and have too much self-respect to surreptitiously slow down if you fall far behind because of a prang or unplanned spot of off-roading. At lower difficulty settings, their slightly conservative braking habits often provide tempting opportunities for advancement at corners especially if you don’t mind losing some paint or headlight glass, but in most situations they’ll endeavour to close the door before you nip through.

Maybe they could be a tad more accident-prone. During the last few days, I don’t think I’ve seen any car but my own spin, roll, or plough into a barrier.

As the sort of relics that contest the FIA Historic Racing Championships are far too precious to hazard on wet tracks, the sim’s inability to reproduce rain and its aftermath isn’t, I feel, a massive issue. And considering how difficult it can be to keep some of the RWD cars on the tarmac in dry conditions, it’s probably a mercy it never pisses down in GTL.

Although I’ve been using a vanilla Steam install this week, there are countless ways to expand and enhance SimBin’s golden oldie. Stocked with around 700 additional tracks and 320 extra cars German site www.altbierbude.de seems to offer the best selection of fan-made content. I probably need to investigate the Anniversary Patch distributed by www.overtake.gg too. Its primary focus looks to be visual tweaks, but it also makes changes in areas such as AI and audio.

Unfortunately, the game doesn’t support mouse steering so if you’re wheelless and feel a gamepad or keyboard doesn’t provide sufficient precision, you’ll need to turn to vJoy or something similar. The makeshift THC driving rig – CH pedals and yoke – works surprisingly well with GTL, but does produce moments of disorientation from time to time. Nearing the end of long straights I occasionally get the urge to pull back rather than apply brakes!