Video game development is full of names that have made groundbreaking steps you’ve never even heard about. Shawn Nash is a behind-the-scenes pioneer responsible for SODA Off Road Racing’s incredible physics, Papyrus’ graphical advancements and iRacing’s use of laser scan data for the physical track surfaces.
This interview with RSC, published in 2021, details his early life and career, through both his own company, Papyrus, Electronic Arts, to his time at iRacing.
As a direct ancestor of iRacing, the ‘Grand Prix Legends engine’ had multiple stock car racing false starts, before eventually releasing as NASCAR Racing 4. The original NASCAR 3, cancelled and replaced by one that used NASCAR 2’s engine, is barely remembered.
Debuting an all-new physics engine with US Legend Cars, Street Stocks, and Big-Block Modifieds along with 26 brand-new dirt tracks, Tony Stewart’s All-American Racing was an average entry into the genre in terms of overall quality on PC. It had a Career Mode, a paint kit, various race modes such as 25-player Online Multiplayer, Championships, Quick Race, and Split Screen.