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.
Codemasters have deployed their final driver ratings update for F1 2021 and I assume this will also be their last update for F1 2021 of any real significance as well. Unfortunately it does still show that the car pace factors into their AI pacing for drivers. Because surely if a driver in a Haas is getting 100% out of his car he would be the same rating as someone in a higher level car, because the difference is the car, no? Instead, it seems the driver rating is just a variant to the car pace, and hiring a George Russell for your team doesn’t give you the 90+ level driver, it gives you a Williams-affected driver…
Anyway, here are those final ratings:
Announced October, 2019 with the extension of the F1 license until 2025. Developed and published by Codemasters, it will be the fourteenth title in the Formula One series developed by the studio.