Hard drives had recently arrived on the scene, text-based adventures were commonplace, and PCs had only begun to hit the mainstream.

It was the mid-1980s and the home-based computer game business was still very much in its infancy. In the interim, let's explore just what it was about this Massachusetts studio that propelled it from its relatively humble beginnings into arguably the most respected computer racing game designer in the world. This is great news for fans of the ultra-authentic Papyrus style, and certainly worthy of the closer examination that we'll give it later in the article. If all goes as it should, that technology will resurface in the not- so-distant future within a different framework and under a different name. In fact, as of this writing, founder and driving force David Kaemmer had just emerged from discussions with VU wherein he successfully recovered the rights to Papyrus' venerated racing simulation technology. Papyrus founder David Kaemmer on the left.įortunately, the standard-setting Papyrus racing concept is not as dead as some might think. Indeed, to say that the last decade and a half of computer driving would have suffered had Papyrus not been at the wheel is a serious understatement.

Changing the face of PC racing was its ongoing goal, and it was something the Boston-based company did very well throughout its entire run. But mere survival wasn't the only plan in the Papyrus books.

That Papyrus managed to survive for 17 years-an incredible stretch for a comparatively small design studio in a business increasingly dominated by heavily staffed juggernauts-was an amazing feat in itself. Rarely in this flighty, roller coaster industry has a single developer so mightily impacted its chosen genre. When Papyrus Racing Games released its final installment in the storied NASCAR Racing series in February of 2003 and was then officially shut down by publisher Vivendi Universal in May of this year, one of the most remarkable tales in all of computer gaming was seemingly brought to a disappointing and premature standstill. Papyrus' Grand Prix Legends is still considered to be one of the finest racing games of all time.

Papyrus simulator