Shortly after the release of Grand Prix Legends the sim racing community looked forward to another title that promised to offer a similar insight into historic racing. Trans-Am Racing ’68-’72 ultimately never released, a victim of a publishers shady dealings, but as a part of my research I uncovered a VHS of a never-released trailer for the game. Watch the trailer and read about what sim racing missed out on.
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.
Updated news item:
Studio 397 Confirm rFactor 2 Code Not Licensed To Rennsport.
Original news item:
Today in a post on the Studio 397 forum entitled “Rennsport (Game) stole physic construction from rFactor2” user haunetal1990 posted that Rennsport appear to be using rFactor 2 physics.
He provided evidence, citing lines that mirror the rFactor 2 HDV file parameters within the Rennsport physics data.
The fact that rFactor 2 parameters exist within Rennsport has been known for a little while, it’s something I investigated and found myself by looking at the Rennsport files back in June. A response to the thread in the Studio 397 forum from Dennis Jordan asks haunetal1990 to “feel free to look into the tyre files” which also, confirmed through my own investigation, contain what at the very least would appear to be ISI lines and parameters of the TGM tire model. Anyone who has modded rFactor 2 or worked with the engine in any capacity can see this.
At the time I discovered this, back in June, 2023, I asked Stephen Hood of Motorsport Games whether any ISI or Studio 397 code were licensed to any other party. He said no.
Whether this means Rennsport uses stolen code, licensed code, or barely (badly hidden) rewrites remains to be seen, but Motorsport Games – owners of the rFactor 2 engine – didn’t appear to know about it when I asked. It was my understanding that ISI were no longer able to license rFactor to competing companies of Motorsport Games, or license rFactor 2 at all.
I will update on this story as things move forwards, which I think they now will.
Notes: TGM is “Terence Groening Model” and is a tire file exclusively used in rFactor 2 (and, I guess, will be used in Le Mans Ultimate). No other software would require those lines, especially something written from “scratch”. Should the forum thread linked ever disappear, here is an archived version.
2 replies
Loading new replies...
Join the full discussion at the Race Sim Central Community Forums →