Video game development is full of names that have made groundbreaking steps you’ve never even heard about. Shawn Nash is a behind-the-scenes pioneer responsible for SODA Off Road Racing’s incredible physics, Papyrus’ graphical advancements and iRacing’s use of laser scan data for the physical track surfaces.
This interview with RSC, published in 2021, details his early life and career, through both his own company, Papyrus, Electronic Arts, to his time at iRacing.
As a direct ancestor of iRacing, the ‘Grand Prix Legends engine’ had multiple stock car racing false starts, before eventually releasing as NASCAR Racing 4. The original NASCAR 3, cancelled and replaced by one that used NASCAR 2’s engine, is barely remembered.
The 1994 McLaren MP4/9 was without the active suspension, power-assisted brakes, ABS traction control and Honda engines of the previous seasons MP4/8, and ultimately is considered an unsuccessful car. For the first time since 1980 McLaren failed to win a race, and this was mainly down to the Peugeot A4/A6 V10 engine and its chronic unreliability.
First seen in sim racing with GP2 (1996).