Sierra Games

Indianapolis 500: The Simulation

Last updated: October 9, 2026

Overview

Indianapolis 500: The Simulation is a racing simulation of the Indianapolis 500. It was developed by Papyrus Design Group and published by Electronic Arts for MS-DOS in December 1989, and an Amiga version followed in 1990.12 It was the first game from Papyrus, the Massachusetts studio that David Kaemmer and Omar Khudari founded in 1987. Sierra On-Line bought Papyrus in late 1995, which is why the studio’s whole catalogue is covered here.34

The game models a single track, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and the field of 33 cars from the 1989 race.15 Kaemmer built it around a detailed physics model. In his words, “when you move the joystick, it does no more than change the steering angle of the front wheels”, and every change in speed or direction is then worked out “using gobs of Newtonian mechanics”.6 Players can adjust wings, tyre pressures, wheel stagger, suspension, gearing and turbo boost, and test each change in practice.15

Reviewers in 1990 rated it highly. Computer Gaming World called it “a hyper-realistic simulation” and “a valuable educational tool for any aspiring race car driver”. Several European magazines scored it above 90%.57 In 1996 Computer Gaming World placed it 122nd on its list of the best games of all time, saying that “the nascent Papyrus redefined the racing sim on the PC and Amiga”.8 Papyrus followed it with IndyCar Racing in 1993.910

Gameplay

Interface and Controls

The race is seen from the cockpit, in first person.16 The game supports keyboard and joystick control on PC, and the Amiga version adds mouse steering.103 Computer Gaming World found the keyboard workable “once one gets used to it”. With a joystick, the review said, “control is natural and transparent”, and steering felt “highly responsive, a pleasant surprise after so many recent sluggish driving games”.5

Players can call up an instant replay at any time. It has six camera angles: driver’s view, behind the car, track-mounted, grandstand, helicopter, and a leader/crash camera that shows events the driver could not have seen.5 Up to three car set-ups and one replay can be saved to disk, but a race in progress cannot be saved.10

Structure and Progression

The game follows a real race weekend: practice, a four-lap qualifying run, and the race. The qualifying position comes from the average of the four laps.110 Players can race 10, 30, 60 or the full 200 laps. The shorter options turn off car damage and the full-course yellow flag. The 10-lap race has neither, the 30-lap race adds yellow flags, and the 60- and 200-lap races add damage as well.101

The 32 computer-driven cars follow the starting grid of the real 1989 Indianapolis 500. The player’s car, number 17, takes the place of Rich Vogler, who qualified last.31012 There are three chassis and engine combinations. DOS Days describes the March/Cosworth as the slowest and easiest to handle, the Lola/Buick as faster but harder, and the Penske/Chevrolet as the fastest and most difficult.1012

Car Setup and Simulation

Setting up the car is the heart of the game. Computer Gaming World listed the adjustable parts: shock absorbers, wheel stagger, camber, anti-roll bars, tyre pressure and rubber compound, plus the wings and the gearset. It noted that these settings “interact so thoroughly that one has to remain constantly aware of their potential for cancelling effects on one another”.5 In practice any setting can be changed out on the track. During qualifying and the race, only a few changes are possible, and only in the pits.5 MobyGames notes that turbo boost “provides boost, but stresses the engine and uses more fuel”.1

Kaemmer explained the approach in 1993: “I spent a great deal of time researching race car dynamics, and the model includes hundreds of variables that influence the car’s handling, just as in real life.”6 The detailed manual covered the history of the race as well as car setup. Computer Gaming World noted that its gallery of photographs of past Indy winners “doubles as a clever anti-piracy device”.5 At start-up the game asks a question about a historical driver or car that the player answers from the manual.10

Reception

Contemporary Reviews

Autocross champion and racing steward Barry Werger reviewed the game for Computer Gaming World in May 1990 under the headline “A Driver’s View Of Electronic Arts’ Indianapolis 500”. He called it “not only a hyper-realistic simulation but a valuable educational tool for any aspiring race car driver”. He described the VGA graphics as “astounding”, but said every sound from the PC’s internal speaker was “annoying, at best, and unbearable at worst”. An editor’s note added that Ad Lib and Roland owners would not have that problem.5 Werger warned that “this is a game for those who take auto racing seriously. Gamers looking for immediate gratification should stick to Out Run.”5

European magazines gave it high marks. The Amiga Magazine Rack’s review index lists these scores:7

PublicationPlatformScore
Zero #5 (March 1990), Duncan MacDonaldPC94%
Joystick #2 (February 1990)PC91%
Joystick #11 (December 1990)Amiga98%
Génération 4 #26 (October 1990)Amiga96%
Amiga Format #17 (December 1990), Neil JacksonAmiga92%
Zero #13 (November 1990), David McCandlessAmiga92%
Computer + Video Games #108 (November 1990)Amiga90%
Amiga Joker (December 1990), Max MagenauerAmiga82%

Electronic Arts’ 1990–91 catalogue quoted Automobile Magazine: “This might be the best-ever computer simulation of competition driving”.13

Modern Assessment

MobyGames lists a critic average of 84% from 22 reviews and a Moby Score of 7.6.1 Computer Gaming World ranked the game 122nd in its November 1996 “150 Best (and 50 Worst) Games of All Time”.8 GameSpot’s 2004 history of Papyrus, by Gord Goble, said it is “generally and justifiably regarded as the PC’s first true auto racing simulation”. Goble also noted that Geoff Crammond’s Revs (1986) had already offered a semi-realistic driving model on the Commodore 64.14

Later retrospectives agree. Top Gear’s Mike Channell wrote in 2021 that the game “could make a reasonable claim to being the first proper PC sim”, though he compared its crowds to “the world’s most painful magic eye puzzle”.15 The Highway Forever blog wrote in 2016 that “like all the best simulators, Indianapolis 500 balances accessibility and realism very well”. The same post called the DOS engine sound “a swarm of angry, metallic hornets” and found the computer drivers “a bit clumsy”.12

Development

Origins

According to Kaemmer, he and Omar Khudari founded Papyrus in August 1987, and he started work on the game in January 1988.6 The pair pitched several ideas to Electronic Arts in San Francisco in 1987 and mentioned a possible Indy 500 game. “Unbeknownst to us, Rich Hilleman at EA was simultaneously looking for someone to do an Indy 500 game, and so the ball started rolling.”6 The Boston Globe gave a slightly different version in 1994: EA rejected a first concept and then signed Papyrus to make an Indianapolis 500 game for $70,000.9

Kaemmer told GameSpot that Flight Simulator was his model: “Just as Flight Simulator let you climb into a Cessna and see what it was like to be a private pilot, I wanted to make a program that would show someone, as much as possible, what it was like to drive a racecar.”14

Production

The sources give different development times. The Boston Globe reported 18 months for the PC and Amiga versions.9 Kaemmer told Computer Gaming World in 1993 that it took “about two years for the Indy PC version plus another eight or nine months for the Amiga version”.6

For the track, Kaemmer said, “The only research I did at the ‘Brickyard’ was visiting the museum and riding around the track in a bus.” He also worked from “a lot of books, maps, and video footage”. The game shows the speedway as it was in 1988, before the 1989 resurfacing and the VIP boxes added in 1990.6

MobyGames credits Kaemmer with lead design and programming, Richard Garcia with programming, Wilfredo J. Aguilar with graphics, Nancy L. Fong as art director, Rob Hubbard with music and sound programming, Richard Hilleman as producer, and Scott Cronce as technical director.11 Kaemmer singled out Hubbard’s Ad Lib and Roland drivers. He said Indy “was one of the first games, if not the first, that used those boards for sound effects”. That is his own claim, and no other source here confirms it.6

Technical Specifications

MS-DOS Version:10

  • CPU: Intel 8088/8086 or better (DOS Days recommends a 386DX-25 for full detail)
  • Memory: 384 KB (512 KB recommended)
  • Graphics: Tandy/PCjr, CGA, composite CGA, EGA, VGA/MCGA (320×200, 256 colours)
  • Sound: PC speaker, Tandy, Ad Lib, Roland MT-32
  • Media: Two 5.25” 360 KB disks; 685 KB installed
  • Copy protection: Manual look-up

Amiga Version:3

  • Single floppy disk with manual-based copy protection
  • Mouse, joystick or keyboard control
  • Instant replays need a 512 KB RAM expansion

Version History

VersionDatePlatformNotes
1.0December 1989MS-DOSElectronic Arts, US. Disk files dated 22 December 1989210
—1990AmigaElectronic Arts, US2
—December 1990MS-DOSBrazil, distributed by Brasoft2
Budget1993AmigaUK re-release by Ocean under The Hit Squad label2

Computer Entertainer’s November 1989 issue announced the game for MS-DOS “next month” at a suggested retail price of $49.95. It described it as “the only Indianapolis 500-licensed computer game”.16

Legacy

Sales and Commercial Impact

The sources disagree on how well the game sold. In 1993 Kaemmer told Computer Gaming World that “Indy 500 never sold as well as we and EA thought it would”, and that for Papyrus “financially for us it’s been about a break-even”. He added that the game had helped the studio’s visibility.6 A year later the Boston Globe reported that it “sold more than 200,000 units, noted Kaemmer”, and GameSpot later gave the same figure.914

The game also helped pay for Papyrus’s next project. The Globe reported that Steven Dalton, an Indianapolis financial adviser and “a fan of their first game”, funded most of IndyCar Racing’s $550,000 development cost.9 GameSpot wrote that Indy 500 “was to form the nucleus for every Papyrus game to follow”.14 Papyrus followed it with IndyCar Racing (1993), NASCAR Racing (1994) and IndyCar Racing II (1995).10 Sierra On-Line acquired the studio in late 1995.4 Papyrus’s technology later passed to iRacing, and Top Gear calls Papyrus the studio “that eventually morphed into simracing behemoth iRacing”.415

Collections

MobyGames lists the game in several compilations: Air●Land●Sea (1992), Sports Collection (1992), Sports Masters (1992), Power Game II (1993), Electronic Arts Top Ten Pak (1994), Formula 500: The Ultimate Racing Five Pack (1995) and Top Ten Pak II (1995).1

Downloads

Purchase / Digital Stores

  • Not sold on any digital store. GOG lists it only on its “Dreamlist” of requested games.17

Download / Preservation

Manuals & Extras

See Also

Indianapolis 500: The Simulation was Papyrus Design Group’s first game. Its physics-first approach carried into the studio’s IndyCar and NASCAR games, which Sierra published after buying Papyrus in 1995.

References

Footnotes

  1. MobyGames – Indianapolis 500: The Simulation – December 1989 DOS release, Papyrus developer, EA/Ocean publishers, official description (33 cars, setup options, race lengths, qualifying), critic average 84% (22), Moby Score 7.6, compilations ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9 ↩10 ↩11

  2. MobyGames – Indianapolis 500: The Simulation, releases – DOS Dec 1989 (US), Amiga 1990 (US), Brazil Dec 1990 (Brasoft), UK 1993 budget re-release (Ocean / The Hit Squad) ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8

  3. Wikipedia – Indianapolis 500: The Simulation – first Papyrus game, player’s car replacing Rich Vogler on the 1989 grid, Amiga version details (single disk, mouse control, 512 KB for replays) ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  4. Wikipedia – Papyrus Design Group – founded 1987 by Kaemmer and Khudari, acquired by Sierra On-Line in late 1995, code later sold to FIRST/iRacing ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  5. Computer Gaming World #71 (May 1990) – Barry Werger, “A Driver’s View Of Electronic Arts’ Indianapolis 500”, p. 38 – review: setup parameters, practice/pit rules, six replay cameras, graphics, PC speaker sound, controls, “stick to Out Run”, $49.95 ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9 ↩10

  6. Computer Gaming World #108 (July 1993) – Gordon Goble, “An Interview With David Kaemmer Of Papyrus Design Group” – physics model, development time, track research, credits, founding dates, EA deal and sales comments ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9

  7. Amiga Magazine Rack – Indianapolis 500 review index – review scores from Zero, Joystick, Génération 4, Amiga Format, C+VG, Amiga Joker and others ↩ ↩2

  8. Computer Gaming World #148 (November 1996) – “150 Best (and 50 Worst) Games of All Time” – Indianapolis 500 ranked 122nd ↩ ↩2

  9. The Boston Globe, 18 May 1994, p. 46 – “Race Cars, kings & castles” (Newspapers.com clip) – 70,000 EA contract, 18 months development, more than 200,000 units, Steven Dalton funding IndyCar Racing (550,000) ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5

  10. DOS Days – Indianapolis 500: The Simulation – system requirements, media, copy protection, race formats, cars, save options, version 1.0 December 1989 disk listing, later Papyrus titles ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9 ↩10 ↩11 ↩12 ↩13

  11. MobyGames – Indianapolis 500: The Simulation, DOS credits – Kaemmer (lead design, lead programming), Garcia, Aguilar, Fong, Hubbard, Hilleman, Cronce ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5

  12. Highway Forever – “Indianapolis 500 (Papyrus, 1989)” (16 May 2016) – 1989 grid and Rich Vogler’s car, car choices, retrospective assessment of handling, sound and AI ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  13. Electronic Arts 1990–91 catalogue (MOCAGH scan on Internet Archive) – catalogue entry quoting Automobile Magazine; IBM and Amiga availability ↩

  14. GameSpot – Gord Goble, “History of Papyrus Racing Games”, p. 2 “Born to Race” (2004, Wayback Machine) – Kaemmer quotes on Flight Simulator inspiration, “PC’s first true auto racing simulation”, 200,000 units, nucleus of later Papyrus games, Revs comparison ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  15. Top Gear – Mike Channell, “Remembering classic games: Indianapolis 500: The Simulation (1989)” (16 July 2021) – retrospective, “first proper PC sim” claim, iRacing lineage ↩ ↩2

  16. Computer Entertainer, November 1989 (Vol. 8 No. 8) – pre-release announcement: due next month for MS-DOS, MSR $49.95, “only Indianapolis 500-licensed computer game” ↩

  17. GOG Dreamlist – Indianapolis 500: The Simulation – listed as a requested title, not sold on GOG ↩

  18. Internet Archive – Indianapolis 500: The Simulation (MS-DOS) – preserved, browser-playable DOS version ↩

  19. MyAbandonware – Indianapolis 500: The Simulation – release regions (US 1989, Brazil 1990), Amiga availability ↩

  20. Race Sim Central – Indianapolis 500: The Simulation – sim-racing database entry, browser-playable DOS/Amiga versions ↩

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