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.
RSC contains a database of 153 developers, 467 software titles, 374 cars, 42 bikes, 242 tracks and more...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.
RSC Podcast Episode 7 – Management Simulations, F1 Managers, Always Used To Be Better?Join Jon Denton, Tim Wheatley, Simon Croft and guest(s) as they discuss sim racing and racing games past, present and future.
RSC contains a database of news items. Our #OnThisDay page shows current day and current week of years past...
RSC contains a database of videos back to the 1980s catalogued as intros, laps, trailers, unboxings and more...
RSC contains a database of emulated software you can play in your browser...
In a post on Reddit today, u/atyzer pointed out that a great number of reviewers on Metacritic are showing every sign of being bots with OriginalNames like RealPeople have, serving to inflate the Forza Motorsport rating with a 10/10 score.
While there is no indication that Microsoft or Turn10 are responsible, nor does it suggest every other positive review isn’t from a real user enjoying the product, this does explain the discrepancies between the very average reviews on Steam and other review platforms compared to Metacritic.
Steam: Mixed (2,330 reviews)
Microsoft Store: 2/5 (3.1k reviews)
Metacritic: 7.9 (582 reviews – skewed heavily with 10/10 reviews)
Here are some of the totally human reviews:
The first thing that caught my attention after entering the game and starting work was the warmer and more attractive user interface of the game, which had a more friendly and personal feeling.
Another complete human:
Wonderful and unique with the least possible defects, thanks to the production team.
Another very human thing humans say:
A valuable game and worthy of high grades.
Basically, don’t trust the Metacritic score at the moment. If you are considering a Forza Motorsport purchase, check your sources or find a specific reviewer you trust to have a similar taste in games to your own.
Should the Reddit thread be taken offline you can view it archived here. Should any of the user reviews be taken offline, here are a few screenshots:
Announced for Spring, 2023 release.
