Most sim racers have, at one time or another, played a title developed by Image Space Incorporated. With rFactor being one of the most popular sims for road racing, some people have wondered where ISI got their start. Well, in this week’s Throwback Thursday, I will be taking a look at ISI’s first sim racing title, Sports Car GT.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MIwrx2FfSjQ[/youtube]
ISI’s Sports Car GT was released in 1999 for Windows under EA’s banner, with collaboration with Westwood Studios (a PS1 port was developed by Point of View). The sim is viewed as a spiritual predecessor of sorts to rFactor. It featured 4 classes of racing, and included cars from Porsche, Saleen, BMW, and also some fictional makes. Tracks included Sebring, Laguna Seca, Mosport, and more.
The game featured a full season mode, where you could race in a 5-race season, and race for a championship. You start off with $50,000 to buy your first car, and work up from there. You can also tune and upgrade your car as the season goes. There are four main classes, and one “secret class” that you unlock upon completing the top class (GT1). The title also included a full arcade mode, where you could run individual races and tailor them to your liking.
One of ISI’s main features in their titles is the open-ended engine, and this title is no exception. Hundreds of cars and tracks were created and added to the sim, including FIA GT and BTCC championships. Sadly, with the collapse of Black Hole Motorsports, many of the mods were lost, but some mods can still be found via Google.
Does anyone here remember racing SCGT? What mods did you enjoy running?
One of my all time favorites. Raced with this title from 1999 until 2004 when GTR came out. The track in the video was always my favorite.