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07/24/2008, 576 pics, 35MB
Hey Guys! - Keep track of all those new GPL tracks that are coming out The BAPOM Way! Your hosts have been known to compulsively check these sites:
  • The Race Sim Central Forums - the best place to find out the latest on the patches, tweaks, tracks, utilities, and assorted whatnot that the GPL community cranks out. The RSC buttons on the download pages lead back to the "BAPOM Release" thread for that particular program set. If you like a set, how's about posting something to the corresponding thread. It always makes my day to see an old thread return from the past!

  • DDangermouse and the good folks at BCSims have been kind enough to put together the all-new Alternative GPL Track Database, which, as Magnus' GPLdb has disappeared, isn't nearly as 'alternative' as it once was. They've also volunteered (the fools!) to keep track of where GPL tracks can be downloaded. If you want to download a track, click the GPLtd buttons.

  • Stefan Magnusson's GPL++ Site, which is the list of tracks under development, released tracks, and third-party add-ons.

Click the page numbers to browse our catalog of award-winning GPL Program Sets, or use the pull-down.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

07/24/08: Four 'new' progsets, sort of. Two them came with their tracks, and one of the others is a real-life scan cleanup/twiddle... so, pretty much one really 'new' thing. But we're once again in sync with the GPLtd. At least until someone releases another track.

07/10/08: Something different - replacement 'layout' files (the various user-interface menu screens, etc.) for the GPL '66 mod. I think the originals were too contrasty, with the background pictures visually fighting with the foreground controls and text. This tweaked set is more sedate, more along the lines of the '67 originals.

04/24/08: One-stop shopping! Like the BAPOM 'thing', but don't have the time/effort to download and install all the progsets individually? (It would take hours, just given the number of the bastards.) You can now download a single 200MB zip containing all the BAPOM progsets. Unzip it to your GPL directory, and 'bam!', you're fully BAPOMized. Thrill your friends, amaze your wife, frighten your dog!

04/20/08: We are officially 'done'. Every single track in the freakin' GPLTD now has a BAPOM progset. And yes, I say that like it's a good thing.

A collection of eighteen new project-finishing-up progsets for tracks no one even has is now available. Along with twelve new MegaPosters, because if you're gonna draw something, you might as well draw the f**k out of it.

03/19/08: From the "Big Whoop" File, we've got alternate covers for the various Brent Adams Lime Rock tracks, for those who dig the new 'limey' cover, but would like it attached to a track you actually want to drive.

03/06/08: Hey, look here, it's another batch of 15 new progsets. As of this writing, there's only another 15 to go after this, and then we're actually finished. There are also seven new MegaPosters; they're like art, only bigger.

02/03/08: Okay, the two new Multi-Cover Posters are now actually accessable on the website.

01/30/08: Put up two new Multi-Cover Posters. Yeah, I know, the excitement is palpable...

01/22/08: Time for another one of our traditional semi-annual Massive Updates - twenty mostly-new progsets for some new tracks, some real old tracks, and stuff in between. And there's six new MegaPosters, 'cause that's the way I roll, G.

10/12/07: We've got a delicious, overflowing smorgasbord of twenty new fresh'n'zesty BAPOM originals for tracks that you've never driven. There's a reason for that, of course - the tracks are in various stages of completion, from "final in all but name only" to the alphiest of alphas. Hopefully I can enlist the aid of some like-minded folks who'd like to these alphas/betas finalized, already. Hey, I did my part...

Oh, and there's also three new MegaPosters, for those of you who 'play that game'.

09/24/07: As recently announced elsewhere, the skilled artisans of BAPOM are so collectively bored out of their minds that we've been forced to take on an Exciting New Initiative - we're going to 'finish' this project once and for all, by committing to covering every single damned track listed in the GPLTD (save a handful no-longer-available tracks ... and if someone wants to slip me those, all bets are off)!

New to BAPOM?  The first thing you probably want to do is download our progams for the 11 original GPL tracks! Then, go download everything else...it'll take a while!  Browse the many pages of our award-winning GPL catalog, or use the handy pull-down menu (above) to directly download the program set for a specific track.

We currently have an "ow, my brain hurts!" 569 complete program sets. No, really!

We also have 95 original, high-qualtiy large-format (20"x30" -ish) posters that you can download and have printed, if you so desire.

We do not typically do program sets for tracks that are still listed as 'alpha' or 'beta' on the GPLtd. Unless someone asks nicely. Or we just feel like it. Or we're bored, and there's nothing else to do. At any rate, every track in the GPLRank 'TotalRank' list should have a progset, and anything beyond that is pure gravy.


What Is BAPOM?
The BAPOM project began in August 2000 as a collaborative effort between Don Hodgdon (covers) and John Bradley (covers, maps, and the guy talking right now). Our goal has been to make a single, complete, and consistent collection of programs for the  Grand Prix Legends auto-racing simulation (PC).

Note that BAPOM is not a collection of nice program sets from random people. Every program set on this site was created by Don (way back when) and myself. Yes, there are some sets that feature real-life covers snagged from The Programme Covers Project, but even those have generally been 'breathed on' by one of us - and of course, they all come with my "uniformly 'the way they are'" map pages and newspaper pictures. All and all, it's a staggeringly large pile of work (well over 4,000 hours of Photoshop-ing), of surprisingly little utility.

Anyway, the key word here at BAPOM is 'consistent'. The project was born because I had a (figurative) hard-on for a consistent look-and-feel in GPL, and it really bugged me that some tracks had map pages (or whatever) that looked 'different'. Originally, I just intended to do the map pages, and let Don handle the covers, but Don retired from the GPL cover-making scene in 2001, and BAPOM has been a 1-man operation ever since.

Here's what you can expect to find in any BAPOM program set:

  • Great-looking covers, most of which are original designs. The covers tend to be period-authentic (or at least technically possible for their period), though to avoid drawing the same damned thing over and over again, there are some pretty 'out-there' designs in the collection.

  • Consistent, hi-quality track maps, stylistically identical to the original GPL maps.  We feel that the wonderful add-on tracks produced by the dozens of dedicated track creators out there should integrate seamlessly into the game. You shouldn't be able to tell where the 'real' Papyrus tracks end, and the add-ons start - though given that the original tracks are now hopelessly outnumbered by the add-ons, it's arguably a moot point!

  • Printable Track Maps (PTMs) - high-res single-page Adobe PDF files designed to be printed on 8.5x11 or A4 paper, for all your note-scribbling needs. A BAPOM exclusive!

  • Fixed 'track.ini' files for tracks that claim to have the wrong number of turns.
Last Update: July 24, 2008  -  Launched: Aug 13, 2000 232664