This is almost sure to happen on any Windows 7 x64 setup and was never addressed in any patch, including the final v1.50. In this system users are also prone to a non working “audio” options tab, which again causes CtD.

There is a workaround for playing, but not for an functioning audio tab:

(1) browse to the folder
“C:\Users\admin\Documents\Battlefield 2\Profiles\0001“

(2)
use notepad or any other text editor to open the file
Audio.Con

(3)
the 1st file will read
AudioSettings.setVoipEnabled 1
meaning VOIP enabled

change it to

AudioSettings.setVoipEnabled 0
meaning VOIP not enabled.

That is it.

The review mentioned that “F1 1966” for GPL was yet another very interesting game modification, so I decided to try them both, starting with “F1 1966”.

GPL is a 1998 game, that I played with a pair of 3DFX Voodoo cards, back then.

The day I installed Windows XP, the game stopped working for me and I uninstalled it. Today, I know that the issue was/is with the the NTFS file system: “indexing” must be on for all the game files.

I missed GPL. Now, years later, it is very easy to understand how ahead of its time this game was!

Playing the “F1 1966” mod required me to:

(1) get most indications from where to download the related files and what to do with them here:
http://1966gpl.speedgeezers.net/index.php?p=downloads

Regarding the tracks’ installation procedure, maybe a newbie, like myself, would have found helpful, to know that you either copy the uncompressed track folder to your gpl\tracks folder or – more often – you just activate the supplied “TrackInstall.exe” file, from the uncompressed files’ folder.

Unfortunately, some links for the tracks, were/are dead. Surprisingly, I managed to find mirrors, for all those cases.

The URLs I used are:

http://gplmz.bcsims.net/tracks/eastlndn_GPL.zip – for the 1967 East London track.

http://gpltd.bcsims.com/tracks/reims_gpl.zip - for the 1967 Reims track.

http://dixierunners.speedgeezers.net/brands1967/ - for the 1967 Brands Hatch track.

http://www.zenadsl5531.zen.co.uk/Tracks/Oulton/ – for the 1967 Oulton Park track.

http://www.dixierunners.speedgeezers.net/monza10k/ - for the 1967 Monza track.

1967 Syracuse track, from the “GPL Alternative Track Database”, which requires you to register & login.

(2) if and when having issues with Windows XP, this page might help:
http://eaglewoman.rscsites.org/gpl/faq-xp.htm

(3) in order to activate the “1966 mod”, the GEM software is required.
Get it here: http://gem.ebi-service.de/downloads.html

Along this process, I found some other interesting links, not required though:

http://gplmz.bcsims.com/index.php?showtopic=2287 – forum post regarding the “alternative track DB”.

http://andre-gpl-texture.speedgeezers.net/ – Andre is a creator of fine GPL tracks.

http://www.drivingitalia.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=37764 – General indications regarding the installation of the 1966 mod.

http://gpl.pc-gamers.eu/forum/viewthread.php?thread_id=8 - Same as above.

http://speedgeezers.net/ – Central point for many GPL related resources.

http://onlinecircuit.de-blog.jp/main/ – Related japanese blog.

http://www.trilon.com/bapom/ – GPL posters.