Carmageddon

Carmageddon
Developer(s)	Stainless Games
Publisher(s)	SCi, Interplay
Engine	BRender
Platform(s)	Microsoft Windows (1997), Macintosh (1997), PlayStation (1999), Nintendo 64 (2000), Game Boy Color (2001)
Release date	June 30, 1997
Genre(s)	Vehicular combat
Mode(s)	Single player, multiplayer
Rating(s)	ESRB: M BBFC: 18 OFLC: MA15+ ELSPA: 15+ (cut) USK: 12 (cut)
Media	CD-ROM

Carmageddon is the first of a series of graphically violent driving-oriented video games produced by Stainless Games, published by Interplay and SCi. It was inspired by the 1975 cult classic movie Death Race 2000.

History

The game that became Carmageddon started out as "3D Destruction Derby", a banger-racing (stock-car) sim prototyped by Stainless. This was signed by SCi in 1995, but the banger-racing angle was soon dropped and for a while the game was to use the Mad Max license. This fell through, and was replaced by the Death Race 2020 license, as a sequel to the original film was at that time planned. This introduced the running-over of pedestrians into the game.

When this license also fell through, SCi and Stainless took the decision to proceed with the game anyway, without a license. The name "Carmageddon" was coined, and development proceeded with the designers allowed unusually free rein with regard to the content of the game.

Description

In Carmageddon, the player races a vehicle against a number of other computer controlled competitors in various settings, including city, mine and industrial areas. The player has a certain amount of time to complete each race, but more time may be gained by going through checkpoints, collecting bonuses, damaging the competitors' cars or by running over pedestrians.

Races are completed by either completing the course as one would a normal racing game, "wasting" (wrecking) all other race cars, or running over all pedestrians on the level before anyone else.

In many countries (including Germany and, for a short time, the UK), the game, when released, contained zombies or robots instead of people, as running over the undead was considered more acceptable by their respective ratings boards. In the UK SCi wanted to gain publicity for the game by submitting it the BBFC to get an 18 rating, even though this was not necessary as the game contained no video footage. This backfired when the BBFC refused to certify the game unless all blood and gore was removed. After 10 months of appeal, the BBFC certified the original version.

In some countries, the game was banned completely, including Brazil. In Australia the game was passed completely uncut with an MA15+ rating.

The game was notable for its realistic and ground-breaking physics and for its in-game movie making features. It was also one of the earliest examples of go-anywhere 3D driving games, and may have influenced other later games including Driver and the Grand Theft Auto series.

The game featured a music score version of Fear Factory's album Demanufacture, with the song 'Zero Signal' being used in the opening theme.

The instruction manual for the PC CD-ROM version included a tongue-in-cheek dedication on the first page, which read as follows: The founders of Stainless Software Ltd, Patrick Buckland and Neil Barnden, would like to dedicate this game to their wives, Janet and Pauline, and to Patrick's children, Julianne and Sean, who all suffered from the hours needed to put this product together. However, dedicating something so sickly depraved and violent as this diabolical piece of soul-poison to them just wouldn't seem a very nice thing to do. So we won't.

Ports

Carmageddon was originally released on the PC (for DOS) in 1997, but was eventually ported to Microsoft Windows (1997), Macintosh (1997), PlayStation (1999), Nintendo 64 (2000) and Game Boy Color (2001). The PlayStation and Nintendo 64 versions of Carmageddon are more similar to Carmageddon II.

Expansion pack and compilation

Carmageddon Splat Pack is an official expansion pack released in 1997. The expansion pack included new tracks, vehicles, environments, network levels and 3Dfx support.

Carmageddon Max Pack, also released in 1997, bundled the original game and its expansion pack into one package. As a bonus, it also included a strategy guide, mousepad, and a leather car key chain with Carmageddon's logo on it.

Sequels

This game was successful enough to spawn several sequels. The other games in the series are:

• Carmageddon II: Carpocalypse Now
• Carmageddon TDR2000
• Carmageddon TV (never released due to Gizmondo's demise)
• Carmageddon 64 (Nintendo 64)

Series downfall

SCi had originally planned Carmageddon 4 for a late 2005 release, but later postponed it indefinitely. Little to no news was released about the game prior to the announcement of its cancellation, with SCi (whom Eidos recently gained ownership of) putting development on hold for unspecified reasons. Fan sites and discussion boards for the series retain a majority of information available on the game, most, however, being mere speculation. The fate of its development is unknown, as no new press releases or information have surfaced since its cancellation, with SCi and Eidos currently focusing on other projects.

See also

• Death Race
• Roadwar 2000

References

1. ^ Bradley, David. "Carmageddon 2 review - History of Carmageddon", PC Format, Future Publishing, January 1999, pp. 81. Retrieved on 2007-11-04. 
2. ^ Games A-D | Refused-Classification.com
3. ^ Carmageddon 4 halted. Eurogamer.

External links

• Carmageddon at MobyGames
• DMOZ directory