Video game development is rarely about one man, but if it was, then Terence Groening should certainly get a mention for his contributions to the genre as the man responsible for the physics of Sportscar GT, EA’s PC F1 and NASCAR games of the early 2000’s, rFactor, rFactor 2 and every title and rFpro simulator that spawned from ISI’s engine.
This interview with RSC details his early life and career, through to him joining iRacing in 2021.
Originally working in military simulator design, this Michigan-based studio developed Zone Raiders for Virgin Interactive before moving to Electronic Arts for publishing their second PC title, Sports Car GT, when Westwood Studios (their SCGT development partner) was acquired by the software giant.
Known primarily for their mod-friendly SCGT and rFactor racing platforms, ISI also developed Formula One and NASCAR titles on PC for Electronic Arts, but perhaps their lasting contribution to the genre was the licensing of the isiMotor engine that allowed studios such as 2Pez, Blimey! Games, KW Studios, Motorsport Games, Reiza Studios, SIMBIN Studios, Slightly Mad Studios, The Sim Factory, Tiburon and rFactor 2‘s ongoing developer Studio 397 to begin with or release on an evolution of their software.
Another fork of the isiMotor engine, rFpro, continues to be developed and is used by a wide array of automotive companies for both road and motorsport simulation.
Join Jon Denton, Tim Wheatley, Simon Croft and guest(s) as they discuss sim racing and racing games past, present and future.
Just a few days after v0.7C the LFS Devs have quickly released another revision of their software. The latest update includes some updates for the list of events on the entry screen.
The list of events now shows a countdown to a live stream if it will start within an hour. The number of racers on an event’s host is now displayed, either during the event or when it is open for practice. A lock icon is shown if you will need a password to join.
The other changes are mainly fixes for a few issues that were found in the recently released version C, and some user interface improvements.
Changes from 0.7C to 0.7D:
List of events:
Time to live stream is displayed if it starts in less than 1 hour
Displays current and max connections on host if any are connected
Live stream service links are now shown as icons instead of names
A lock icon is displayed beside Join button if password requiredMods screen:
If host has a limited list of mods the filters are set to show all
Page Up / Page Down keys move a whole page (5 lines instead of 4)
FIX: Selected mod’s name was not always identified as selectedForce feedback:
Change in force feedback code for devices that report two FF axes
– to fix a problem with some wheels with inverted FF turning leftInterface:
Click “Join” when no official cars allowed now enters mods screen
FIX: Crash after selecting a driver name from Join Specific Host
FIX: Assigned arrow keys adjusted brake balance (etc) while driving
FIX: Viewer button was available in garage during welcome sequence
FIX: Virtual keyboard full of question marks in Greek or Cyrillic
FIX: Corrected width of characters in text dialog code page view
LFS is a racing simulation developed by a three man indie team and is considered to be one of the most realistic sims of all time despite it’s age.