Tom Fitch, Author at GRAND PRIX 247

Simming Memoirs – Part XV: The road starts here…

"And now, the end is near. Regrets, I've had a few, but then again, too few to mention..." As announced from the outset, this series of fifteen short pieces did never aim to provide an accurate overvie... Read More...

Simming Memoirs – Part XIV: The memories of a sim rig

As the end of these memoirs nears, it is about time we dedicate some time to "ze gear". Below is what my current sim-rig looks like. At the heart of it is still a computer. One that was built with... Read More...

Simming Memoirs – Part XIII: It takes an artistic touch

Over the years, sim racing has inspired an entire community to create some fabulous contributions. From fictive tracks to full fledged movies. "It takes an artistic touch to get the most out of any racec... Read More...

Simming Memoirs – Part XII: One to remember

My year 2008 was dominated by one single story: the struggle for ultimate dominance over season 7 of GBGPL’s Division 2. It is impossible to comprehend how sad Belgian November months can be without havi... Read More...

Simming Memoirs – Part XI: rFactored days and Grand Legendary dreams

Between 2005 and 2016, two sims – one old, one brand new – got under my skin. The Boss knew it all along: “From small things Mama, big things one day come.” In simming language, that reads something alon... Read More...

Simming Memoirs – Part X: A Weight Watchers cure called online racing

A pile of mid noughties' sims had me heading straight for serious simming overdose... And just then, a saviour of sorts appeared unexpectedly. Life moves in circles, they say. So, after a spell on the Pl... Read More...

Simming Memoirs – Part IX: The return of King Sim Obesity II

Becoming a father rekindles the child inside, Artroticus wrote. So when my first daughter was born, I developed a voracious appetite for a new generation of sims. During the first years of the new millen... Read More...

Simming Memoirs – Part VIII: My PS2 days

It has been said that a step back is often the best answer to a growing loss of perspective. So, when sim racing was getting overwhelming, I turned to Gran Turismo. As we neared the new millennium, thing... Read More...

Simming Memoirs – Part VII: The unbearable complexity of simming

As of the mid-nineties, ever-improving computers pushed sim racing to new levels of quality and immersion... But what seemed unimaginable in earlier years was slowly turning into reality: too much choice wa... Read More...

Simming Memoirs – Part VI: Ditching the keyboard

Somewhere in the second half of the nineties, arcade halls started invading my home office. So, I had been raking up all kinds of Formula 1 records. I even managed to bring a world championship title hom... Read More...

Simming Memoirs – Part V: Finally… Formula Uno

Just as the urge for the occasional right-hand turn became nearly unbearable, the doors to Formula One-heaven opened... slightly. By the spring of 1992, I had turned into a virtual Andretti, Unser and Me... Read More...

Simming Memoirs – Part IV : Unser, Mears… here I come

Europe and ovals... never has it been a happy marriage. But when I started simming for real, it was on the absolute king of ovals. It was in late 1990 that our house welcomed its first PC; a “white label... Read More...

Simming Memoirs – Part III: My very own Spanish castles

As the eighties roared on and the very first sims appeared, I went looking for racing thrills in amusement arcades and several other wrong places. In 1984, a man called Geoff Crammond released REVS. It s... Read More...

Simming Memoirs – Part II: The era of second generation game consoles

Moving on from a bicycle as race simulator... although a true simulator was still a far way off. Google Dictionary adds the following example to its definition of simulation: “the production of a computer model of something, especially for the purpose of study.”

Simming Memoirs: Improbable beginnings

Simming Memoirs takes you on journey through Tom Fitch's attempts at replicating auto-racing. From initial elementary attempts to the latest current sims on his computer. These contributions have no ambitio... Read More...

Author Tom Fitch