Patrick Giranthon recently sat down with the head honcho of Reiza Studios, Renato Simioni, and other leading developers to talk about the release of their latest PC simulation Game Stock Car 2012. In a series of interviews that can you view
here,
here and
here Patrick asked the devs about their roles, backgrounds and love for sim racing.
Today one of the interviews was updated with an extra question talking about the Ayrton Senna Game that was
announced last year.
You said that you grew up in the Senna era. I was in front of my TV on the 1st may of 1994. I am not Brazilian but I was shocked. I suppose you were as well. Can you talk about this legend and more about this "Senna Project" wich seems to be very important for you? Why deciding to give half benefits to the Senna foundation?
We dont decide to give anything to the foundation (or rather the Ayrton Senna Institute - the Senna Foundation is a separate institution operating in Europe) - the IAS exists for the purpose of raising funds from the Senna "brand" through product licensing agreements such as ours, and redirecting these funds to the various philantropic activities they promote - mostly towards promoting education and oportunities to brazilian children. So it´s not our option, but certainly a noble cause we´re very proud and happy to be contributing to.
Having managed to get their approval is also something that I´m very proud of, as they dont just license any product for any company that comes knocking on the door - the project has to suit the IAS "ethos" in some way, and they all are individually and personally approved by Viviane Senna, Ayrton´s sister. We were very careful about approaching it the right way, and also at the right time as Reiza is still a very small and young company, and one has to produce the trust we have what it takes to do the Senna name justice.
I suppose part of the reason we got it is precisely because it means so much to not only me, but I´d say everyone in the team, brazilian or not, and to some extent that ends up showing. Not only Senna is a racing legend, but the whole era of motorsports around his time is something that resonates very strongly to this day - and to myself and most in the team it´s represents the origins of our love for the sport. To get the chance to recreate the era, or a chapter of that era in a sim as well and to as large an extent as we possibly can is an ambition that goes way back, even before Reiza itself was originally formed.
That does present some major hurdles however as one can imagine, but we´re working towards piercing all the fundamental parts together. It was very important to get Senna, as even though the project goes way beyond him and the IAS alone, through them we manage to get through a few important doors. It´s by no means an easy road but we´re slowly making progress!
And of course all this has to convert into a Game that is worth all that. There too, we´re making slow but good progress. I wouldnt want to raise expectations too high, not least because there´s still a long long way to go and a few fundamental bits still to be put in place. I suppose underpromising and overdelivering is an approach that has served us well so far, so I´ll stick to it until we´re closer to the finish line.
The insight I could offer I guess is a memory from way back in 1992, as a 12 year-old playing Crammond´s World Circuit, or GP1 for the first time and just being overwhelmed by excitement. It felt like being there - this in a 386 running 8 FPS or whatever it was it could manage back in the day, before the infamous processor occupancy shot over 100% and everything slowed to a near halt! Wouldnt it be something if a sim could raise that sort of excitement again with today´s technology. That´s what we´re looking for - that magic that only a great immersive sim can produce!
