Throwback Thursdays – Indianapolis 500: The Simulation

Kiss the bricks and drink some milk in this weeks Throwback Thursday, where we are covering Indianapolis 500, the first title to be developed by Papyrus Design Group. This was one of the first titles to differentiate sim racing from more arcade-style racers.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJNW7b7wcjI[/youtube]

Indianapolis 500 was released as an Electronic Arts title in 1989 for MS-DOS, and in 1990 for the Amiga. The title simulated the 1989 Indianapolis 500, and included a full roster (though you replace Rich Volger, who qualified in last place for the race). Indy 500 also included features that were unheard of in previous games, such as running a full-length race, as well as the ability to tune your car in the garage. You could also run practice and qualifying sessions before the race.

In the sim, you can drive one of three cars, a yellow Penske-Chevrolet, a red Lola-Buick, or a blue March-Cosworth (the Penske has the fastest default setup, but all three can be tuned to be effective).

The race length also added a new level of difficulty as you scaled the race, with longer races adding yellow flags and damage:

• 10-lap race: No damage, no cautions
• 30-lap race: No damage
• 60-lap race: Damage and cautions on
• 200-lap race: Damage and cautions on

AI competitors could also crash out and retire from races, bringing out realistic yellow flags. A wrecked car usually stays on the track for 2-3 laps before being cleared off the track. Mechanical damage is also implemented in the sim. While the player’s car is limited to blown engines and damage caused from impacts, AI can suffer from random failures, such as the gearbox, oil leak, even CV joint failure.

You can extensively customize the car in the garage, which was new to racing titles. You could adjust the Fuel, Wings, Tire Compound and Pressures, Shocks, Stagger, Camber, and Gearing, with each adjustment dynamically affecting the car and how it performs on the track. You can also adjust the car’s turbo and anti-roll-bar on the fly while driving.

Two direct sequels came after Indianapolis 500, IndyCar Racing 1 and 2, which expanded on the innovation to bring simulation to a full season of racing. However, after IndyCar Racing 2, Papyrus shifted their focus to their NASCAR Racing series, leaving IndyCar behind.

Indianapolis 500 is definitely a landmark title in Sim Racing’s history, providing a lot of “firsts” to the industry. It was the first sim title for many racers, including our very own Darin Gangi. The beauty of the title is also that it is now available for free (since it is classified as Abandonware now), but you will likely need to use an emulator such as DOSBox to get it to work.

This is definitely a title that every racer should check out, to see where our hobby first began.

Download Indianapolis 500 Here

You guys have any ideas on what we should cover for next week’s Throwback Thursday?