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, 468 software titles, 374 cars, 42 bikes, 242 tracks and more...First seen in sim racing with GP2 (1996).
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...
This was the first public simulator release from military simulation developer Image Space Incorporated, and was initially funded by Virgin Interactive with publishing assistance from Command & Conquer developer Westwood Studios. Prior to release Electronic Arts acquired both Virgin and Westwood, along with Sportscar GT.
Delays in release caused by the transition to EA gave ISI additional time to work on the product, which led to a number of unplanned features being implemented in the software. The delay also led to the open nature of the .ini files that gave an opportunity not only for last minute developer tweaking, but also for the sim racing community to create a wide array of mods upon release.
Fictional tracks:
Chatham
Desert Speedway (most likely Las Vegas Motor Speedway clone)
North Point
Sardian Park
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.
Most famous for their Command & Conquer real-time strategy titles, Westwood Studios involvement in sim racing is strictly limited to their collaboration on Sports Car GT with Image Space Incorporated.
Both SCGT and ISI moved under Electronic Arts publishing when Westwood were acquired by the software giant.
