If you ever played Papyrus’ seminal Grand Prix Legends then you’ve read his name. Rich began working as a tester on NASCAR Racing (1994) and was with Papyrus at the end. In this interview, published in 2022, we discuss his time at the legendary studio and the design of Grand Prix Legends, including initial feelings of hurt at not being asked to join iRacing.
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.
Studio 397 recently posted a deep-dive into their relationship with Goodyear. You can check it out fully below:
As a leading motorsport simulation product, rFactor 2 has to dig deeply into the advanced world of automotive physics in order to accurately portray many varied characteristics of real world driving and racing dynamics. In order to recreate real world behaviours in a simulation environment, the rFactor 2 software has to undertake a mind-boggling array of calculations from many varied aspects of the car, road surface, ambient conditions and more in order to present a precise and accurate experience to the end user.
Of these multiple calculations and dependencies undertaken at any given time, one of the key areas to ensuring a robust driving experience comes from the way the physics engineers at Studio 397 interpret tyre data and behaviour characteristics within the simulation. More than simply bolting a standard set of behaviours onto the tyres within the simulation across the full spectrum of cars, each set of tyres has been tailor-made to match their real world counterparts, both in terms of behaviour, but also construction, interaction with the car and surface, and of course how tyres react throughout a range of different potential situations and stress factors on track.
To help the physics team at Studio 397 understand the very deep and complex construction and reactions of racing tyres, the team have recently struck up an enhanced partnership with the world-famous tyre manufacturer, Goodyear. Working in close partnership as Goodyear seek to expand their own virtual tyre modelling capabilities, Studio 397 have benefitted from an exceptional collaboration and sharing of data and insight of late, data that has gone some way towards rFactor 2 yet further enhancing the already advanced tyre model within the simulation.
In this new insight video, we took the opportunity to sit down with Tony Ward, Motorsport Marketing Manager EMEA of Goodyear tyres, to discuss how things work with this new partnership and how Goodyear and pushing the team at Studio 397 to make even better and more detailed tyre model calculations going forward.
View this video on YouTube. Please consider subscribing to RSC’s channel.
rFactor 2 continues to strive forward with our intentions to enhance both the detail, usability and visual fidelity of the simulation in the weeks, months and years ahead. This close partnership with Goodyear is another major milestone in our development intentions, and already the benefits of this early collaboration are bearing fruit with our latest tyre model iteration – one that will continue to be enhanced and refined within rFactor 2 as we further progress with the rFactor 2 title moving forwards.
As such an important aspect of how a car engages with the racing surface, tyres are something that provide a critical impact into the overall driving experience – and working together with Goodyear, Studio 397 are presented with a fantastic opportunity to uplift the racing experience for all our players – one we cannot wait for you to fully experience out on the track!
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