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.
(Header image F1 2019).
F1 2020 will feature the original 22-Track schedule. I don’t know if there truly was much doubt that this would be the case, but it’s good to have it confirmed in any case. This means we will get to run the new Zandvoort, and see what would have perhaps happened this year if the planet wasn’t under the grip of a global pandemic.
However, it seems that the teams shutting down has had an effect on the release date. It sounds like some have not yet delivered CAD to Codemasters for car modelling, and have shuttered operations. We may not see F1 2020 until at least a couple of months after the F1 teams go back to work.
F1 2020 is based on the COVID-19 affected 2020 Formula One World Championship, and features all content from the F1 and F2 schedule that was originally planned as well as some historic content.