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...
Sega have announced that the Windows 95 release of Sega Rally Championship will begin shipping today. The title includes six cars and four courses, requiring a 75 MHz Pentium, 16 MB RAM and Super VGA video card with 1 MB of video RAM.
Press release:
PC Gamers Buckle Up And Brace Themselves For The Ultimate Off-Road Arcade Racing Game
–Sega Entertainment Releases Arcade Hit Sega Rally Championship Optimized For PC And Featuring Head-To-Head Network Play–REDWOOD CITY, CA – February 19, 1997 –
Sega Entertainment is bringing the thrill of off-road arcade racing to PCs today with the shipment of “Sega Rally Championship PC.” With an arcade-perfect translation delivering all the authentic racing fun of the original game and new features like network play, novice and expert PC gamers will have a blast with the game’s challenging courses, customizable cars and realistic graphics as they race to the finish.Game Features
Optimized for Pentium-powered PCs with Windows 95, “Sega Rally Championship” offers head-to-head action with network gameplay possible with TCP/IP, IPX and Modem Link. “Sega Rally Championship PC” also features 3D polygon-based graphics and backgrounds that actually render-on-the-fly. The game provides two racing perspectives, six distinctive cars that can be customized through the CAR EDIT feature, and four challenging courses – desert, forest, mountain and a bonus lakeside course – for off-road racing at its best.
“‘Sega Rally Championship PC’ is the second title under the Sega Racing brand following, ‘Daytona USA,’ and it truly showcases the awesome racing experience the PC can offer,” says Jill Braff, product manager, Sega Entertainment. “No other PC racing game delivers this type of arcade racing to the home PC and, with network play, gamers can enjoy unending replay value.”System Requirements
The game requires a 75 MHz Pentium processor/Window 95 with 16 MB RAM and Super VGA video card with 1 MB of video RAM. Sega Entertainment also recommends a Sound Blaster, or compatible sound card, and 640 x 480 high resolution graphics with 16-bit colors for greater impact. For additionally superior gameplay, Sega Entertainment recommends a Pentium 133 or higher, Super VGA video card with 2 MB or greater video RAM and a 4X CD-ROM. “Sega Rally Championship PC” is also compatible with PCs with MMX technology.Consumer Sweepstakes and Contest With Toyota
To support the launch of “Sega Rally Championship,” Sega Entertainment is conducting a national “Win A Toyota Rav4” consumer sweepstakes at 130 CompUSA stores nationwide. Because Toyota cars are featured in the game, the sweepstakes is a natural tie-in. An online contest is also open for consumers to enter by playing the “Sega Rally Championship PC” demo posted on Sega Entertainment’s website followed by completing a quiz about the demo. After the quiz, online contest participants will be entered into a drawing to win a trip for two to the Toyota Grand Prix and a day at the Fast Lane Racing School, the “official racing school of Toyota Motorsports.”Sega Entertainment, Inc., is a joint venture between Sega of America, the arm of Tokyo, Japan-based Sega Enterprises, Ltd. Responsible for the development, marketing and distribution of Sega videogame systems and videogames in the Americas, and SOFTBANK Holdings, Inc., one of the world’s largest distributors of computer software, peripherals and systems, as well as Japan’s largest publisher of computer-related magazines and books. Sega Entertainment is responsible for creating, marketing and distributing PC-based entertainment which utilizes Sega’s arcade and console-based games and characters. The company is headquartered in Redwood City, California. entertainment experiences both inside and outside the home.
