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.
Asobo, known today as the Microsoft Flight Simulator developer, created groundbreaking technology for large scale maps that was intended to be used in a high quality rally raid title. It was never released and ended up as FUEL, a post-apocalyptic open-world racing game. What happened?
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