My favorite Games of All-Time #5: Carmageddon - Originally published on 1UP - July 21, 2006

Carmageddon is the most vile and repulsive game on my list. It makes State of Emergency look like a walk in the park. My brothers were shocked to see how high it ranked on my list, more so when they found out that I ranked it above Burning Rangers. Carmageddon fills my criteria of a great game so perfectly that it is amazing I didn't rank it higher. If I were ranking games based on total time spent playing then Carmageddon is a top-three game.

I had to rank the games based on their importance to me. If I could only play one game for the rest of my days which one meant the most to me? Which game is my absolute favorite and which ones come close? Carmageddon is the closest game that any non-Japanese designers have ever designed. It is in the top-5, it is in a place of great distinction.

Carmageddon was inspired by the classic cult movie Death Race 2000, featuring David Carradine and Sylvester Stallone. If you can get the game to crash the error screen says "Terminate Death Race." There was also an arcade game called Death Race way back in the late 70's. The arcade game had nothing to do with the movie, it was a hot rod race around a cemetery where you ran over pedestrians and tombstones popped up. These peds were also called "gremlins" in some literature. The original arcade game was so repulsive that it was banned from most establishments. About 30 years later the legacy continued when Carmageddon was released and Australia banned the import and sale of the game.

Carmageddon (Carma for short) is repulsive and vile. It came out at the height of a congressional inquiry into violent videogames. Grand Theft Auto and Mortal Kombat were the other big games being dissected at this point. Carmageddon showed up and the debate exploded. The content and purpose of the game could not be argued. You were the participant in a death race, you acquired time and points by running over pedestrians.

After all, look at the play screen. All of the important information appears on screen. There is car position and lap position, in case you really were paying attention to the race. Number of opponents wasted, time, profits and pedestrian kills. You could finish the stage by either winning the race, destroying all of your opponents or killing all of the pedestrians.

The gore was through the roof in this game. Points were rewarded for how many people you could take out in a combo. If you clipped a ped and sent them spinning you might have gotten an artistic bonus, if you plowed through them you might have gotten a splatter bonus. Blood was everywhere and the image of the driver (Max Damage) in the upper left corner sums it up. He seems to derive pleasure from the violence. Congress was in a fit, they had all the evidence they needed to condemn videogames. Only real sickos could find any pleasure in this game.

Seeing as how 1UP is filled with murderous sickos then I feel right at home. After all, those that have been playing videogames for any amount of time are surely riding an immoral path. If you've played Silent Hill and are longing for a giant butcher knife with which to skin people alive then please raise your hand. If you've ever played Mario Bros and have taken magic mushrooms that allow you to throw fireballs then please... raise your hand.

Congress, and many people that "don't get it" see only the surface level of a videogame. They don't understand that the good majority of gamers know the difference between right and wrong. We know the difference between what we see on the screen and our actions in real life. This isn't a case of monkey see, monkey do. This isn't a case of de-sensitation to violence. Violence has been around for as long as human kind has, we don't have the luxury of blaming videogames for the wars we have engaged in. Some of us choose peace, and would rather play games with action or violence than engage in the real deal.

The first two Carma games were made by the people at Stainless Games over in England. SCi published the titles. The people that worked on this game seemed to be out of their mind while they were developing the title. With the debate raging in congress they had the audacity to not only create but market this game as the goriest title ever

While in development Stainless went to extremes to capture the sights and sounds for the game. Polyphony is famous for recording the engine sounds of more than 400 cars for Gran Turismo. On the other side of the planet Stainless participated in demolition derbies to get the authentic sounds of cars crashing. Then they recorded the cars getting hit by bats, bricks and cinder blocks. In order to get an authentic sound of hitting pedestrians they got a good friend, Tony Taylor, the actor that plays Max Damage, to put on a helmet and let himself get hit a couple of times by a slow moving car. Then they took a bat to his helmet and recorded those sounds as well. Some people suffer for their art, none more than those at Stainless.

The plot of the game was set, you started off as either Max in his Eagle, which was a take on a car in the Death Race. Or as the female counterpart, Die Anna, in her faster car, the Hawk. Carmageddon was a sanctioned race taking place all over the world. Anything was legal in this race, including taking shortcuts, running over opponents and pedestrians. There were temporary power-ups scattered over the map and many secrets to discover on the massive maps.

The opponents and cars in the game were all unique. Depending on your rank you could sometimes win their car if you destroyed it in the middle of a race. Each car had different strengths and weaknesses. Some were dainty and some were unstoppable. These cars were designed for the various styles of drivers. All of the cars could be upgraded, money won from the races could be used to purchase extra armor or horsepower.

Carmageddon was the definition of the impossible racer. The physics were good. The cars all handled realistically, more or less. It was what the cars that were capable of that made the game so much fun. The cars were almost indestructible. In any other game a car that hits a wall at 300 mph would explode. In this game it would just wreck the body a little. The cars behaved like Hot Wheel toys on some of the most fantastic tracks ever designed. These tracks had tunnels, massive jumps and drop offs. The cars could even operate under water, in acid, toxic goo, snow and lava. Some tracks were on raceways and others were on rooftops of massive skyscrapers.

Blind intersections where two cars could collide at high speed and send one of them flying a few hundred feet straight up were the rule, not the exception. This helped create a breakneck (no pun intended) pace for gameplay. Drivers and opponents were always willing to go full-tilt at each other or even at the police that patrolled the race because the cars would mostly survive the wreck.

Carmageddon is a great stress reliever. The more people you can get to join in a lan game the better it is. Within a few minutes any person that I've introduced the game to had the car up and running and was shouting "holy shit" at every crazed jump and high speed wipeout.

People often say that Carmageddon would be perfect if only it had weapons like Twisted Metal. I say that they are missing the point. The cars are the weapons. In Twisted Metal the cars don't behave like cars at all, they behave like FPS characters. The mass and momentum of real cars is lost in that game because the designers don't want it to weigh down the gameplay. Carmageddon is a pure game, the car is everything and it is the only thing. There is no more rewarding experience than catching up to a race in progress and wiping out the lineup with a runaway plow. Or dropping down on an unsuspecting opponent that is hobbling on his last three wheels.

Here's the part where you ask "well if this game is so great how come I've never heard of it?" Hell if I know. Stainless made this game back in the day when you could fit a Windows and Mac version of the title on one CD. Most reviewers that played the first fell in love with it. The game was mad hijinks and word of mouth helped it spread quickly.

A large community of gamers became dedicated to the game. Stainless released tool kits to let gamers make their own skins for the cars. The code for some cars that weren't finished with the release of the game were left on the CD. Budding programmers and modelers were allowed to finish the work of Stainless and were fully supported for example with patches that allowed gamers to play in ED-101's flying concept car.

The congressional hearings only helped make Carmageddon a more desirable game by all audiences. As the saying goes "even bad publicity is better than no publicity at all." Despite the negative attacks, magazine editors and gamers both agreed that this game was pretty damn good.

Stainless helped keep the momentum of the game going by releasing the "Splat Pack" shortly after the original was released. The new tracks and cars helped round out the overall experience. The Splat Patch helps cement this game in the top-5.

If this game was so great what happened? The sequel "Carpocalypse Now" was a fun game. The cars were far more detailed and could be pulled apart, pedestrians were no longer sprites but three dimensional models with their own weight and mass. Power ups were more weapon like now. The levels were just as massive and as interactive as they've ever been.

However the experience was less enjoyable the more realistic the game became. Cars could be destroyed far more easily. Some blind hits or explosive barrels could take you apart quickly. This turned a former full out crash and smash title into a delicate shadow of its former self. Realism is not meant for every game and definitely not this one.

Carmageddon 2 was good but not great. The third in the series was absolutely horrid. SCi had just acquired the rights to the Death Race 2000. The official name for the next title would be Carmageddon 3 TDR 2000, SCi figured that they could save some money by giving the game to a new developer and took Stainless off of the job. The game that came out was absolutely horrid.

Everything that was good in Carma 2 was gone. Any remnants from the original game were in name alone. TDR 2000 was panned by gamers and critics and a legacy that could have been was buried some years ago.

I still find the time to play the original game, although OSX on the Mac is making it harder to launch these days. The game holds up very well, even more against a human opponent. My brother was always a fan of Grand Theft Auto and Twisted Metal. There was one game that was more pure and enjoyable than either of these. I hope you get a chance to play it before your computer can no longer run it.

I’d like to hear your personal top-10, top-20, top fighting games, top sports games, or top games in any genre. Let me know in the comments section please. As always if you would like to sponsor me please visit my Patreon page and consider donating each month, even as little as $1 would help make better blogs and even podcasts!

My favorite games of all time, the story of Carmageddon part 6...

Stainless Games let their fans know that they were busy on a Carmageddon sequel as the reviews were rolling in. The buzz (and money) they created on the first, and Splat Pack would guarantee a second, if not series. They announced another game was in the pipeline to keep public interest going. From a business standpoint it made sense to cash in while the franchise was hot. They promised something completely new. The next title would not simply be the old engine with more levels. This was a shortcut that made a quick buck for publishers. The flip side of that was that audiences quickly lost interest if the sequel was too much like the original. More of the same wasn’t a winning strategy. The long-term health of a franchise required studios to take their time, and create a worthy successor. If you don’t believe me see how Activision drove the multi-million dollar Tony Hawk, and Guitar Hero franchises into the ground with annual sequels.

Stainless wanted to give audiences something worth their money. Carmageddon II Carpocalypse Now was most definitely it! Awesome name aside the game engine was completely redone. New models, new physics, new locations, new game play, and new everything. This included an entirely new Eagle, and Hawk. They were the third redesigns of the iconic cars. Each one now highlighted its specialty. The Eagle was bigger, and heavier, it was meant to take an impact. The Hawk was sportier, and much more suited for racing. Fans did miss the yellow livery on the Hawk, Stainless would return to that in the future. I made sure to pick it up as soon as it was released for the lab at work. My coworkers, and I were eager to see how the game had evolved. Our 1997 end of the year party with the Splat Pack was arguably the best of the LAN events during my time in college. We had faith that the next game released in October 1998 would add more hijinks to the next holiday party.

Right from the all CGI-intro we were not disappointed. The team at Stainless Games didn’t just add the cars, or tracks that were planned for the original. They gave the game as much dimension as possible. This started with the vehicles themselves. Stainless reviewed the vehicles for returning opponents, then created new models that were hyper detailed. In the first Carma the polygonal bodies could be deformed to represent vehicle damage. They would still however remain in one piece. Most of the vehicle panels in Carma II could be dented, but more important, they could be pulled apart. The fenders, wheels, doors, hood, trunk, and even engines could be broken off from the damage they received. It was possible to shear a car in half, lengthwise, widthwise, or even cut the top off. A car cut in two might still be drivable depending on how much total damage it received. It might not drive very fast, or just end up spinning in circles depending on the severity of the hit. The windows on the cars were not simply textures either. They were semi-opaque, they could crack, and even shatter. Stainless created driver models that could be seen in the cars. They looked like their character portraits; helmets, leather jackets, spikes, and all. 

Some of the vehicles featured killing devices, like spinning propellers, rolling spurs, and animated guillotine blades that moved up and down. These were expanded ideas from weapons featured on The Bear, and the Twister in the first game. These details would have been useless without pedestrians to try them on. The new engine meant the game needed new victims. This time Stainless didn’t have to run over Tony Taylor for research. Two dimensional sprites were dropped completely. The people, and animals (imagine PETA’s reaction) in the game were actual 3D models. They had complex animations too. They could walk, run, hide, fall over, and beg for their lives. They could also be pulled apart, just like the car models. This meant amputations of all four limbs, and the head. Hitting them did not mean an instant kill either. You could bump into one at slow speed, and watch them roll off the hood, crawl on the ground, get back up, and start running. Or you could knock off an arm, or leg, and watch them bleed to death. Earning a pedestrian kill was a little more challenging than in the original. Not only that, since these models had size, and weight, it also affected how cars handled. Cars could be thrown completely off course by hitting a large group. Smaller cars would bounce around, or spin out while trying to run over corpses.

The realism was then applied to the world as well. Some buildings had breakable windows, and even breakaway doors. Gates, and barriers could be pushed aside. Offices, and residencies were filled with furniture, and equipment that could be tossed about. Enormous boulders (or snowballs) could be pushed down roads, flattening any vehicle in their path. Conveyor belts pulled material through the Beaver County Quarry. Cross traffic moved on the streets of Beaver City, whereas there were only static parked cars in the first game. Passenger airliners actually landed, and took off at the Beaver County Airport. Even more impressive were the fighter jets taking off, and landing on the aircraft carrier; the USS Lewinsky. Ski lifts took tourists up the Beaver Mountains. Trains passed through crossings in the Beaver Woods. Stainless was flexing its programming muscle, while at the same time repeating the sophomore humor that they were known for. There were plenty of sexual, if not sexist innuendos in the stage names. There was also at least one erect stone obelisk with two boulders, surrounded by bushes in the El Morte Desert. Dick jokes aside, the world Stainless created was filled with more life than other virtual environments. They were raising the bar for vehicle deformation, physics, animated NPCs, and world building. Remember that this was in 1998, they were certainly way ahead of Grand Theft Auto, and all their other contemporaries.

Carmageddon II was a fantastic game, but it also came with quite a learning curve. The focus on realism actually affected the game play. Gone was the indestructible “Hot Wheels” physics that had I enjoyed in the original title. One of the first things players learned was not to go too fast on the courses. The cars could be totaled, or even split in half if they hit an obstacle too hard. Instant game over, even if you were leading on a race. You did have the ability to upgrade the three elements of each car; the Armor, Power (engine), and Offense. However instead of buying parts you had to seek out icons hidden all over the map. This was great for exploration, and training audiences to memorize the shortcuts of a particular map. In order to give each stage replay value, and encourage the search, there was a potential 30 slots for each element to upgrade, meaning a total of 90 icons scattered over nine unique environments. By contrast in the first Carmageddon there were only five levels of upgrades. A car that was fully powered up did manage to capture the reckless energy of the first game. They wouldn’t explode if they hit opponents, or buildings too hard. With a full 90 slot upgrade it was possible to have a car that was too strong, and make for short matches. Stainless gave players the ability to reduce the strength, speed, and change the ride height of their car to make games more evenly matched. For some opponents a fully upgraded car would be just enough to level the playing field.

Stainless Games pushed the number of cars that could run in the tournament. The original game featured six cars in the race at one time, plus any police vehicles hiding in the stage. In the sequel up to 18 cars could hit the field. Most races had less. The library also included some of the biggest rides ever featured in a vehicle combat game. Psycho Pitbull drove a tow truck called the Towmeister in the original, in the sequel he had a gigantic earth mover called the Big Dump. Halfwit Harry traded in his Humvee the Lumberer for a massive log stacker called the Loggerhead. The wheels of these heavy machines were bigger than some of the opponents. It was hard to believe that even a monster truck paled in comparison. The introduction of these vehicles was done more than shock value. The majority of the stages in Carma II observed the rules of the original. You could win a level by either finishing all of the laps, destroying all of the opponents, or killing all the peds. Stainless then introduced timed missions to the end of each group of races. Some of these were fights against bigger opponents, but the majority had a story element to them. Such as run over escaped hospital patients, assassinate an evil admiral aboard his aircraft carrier, or kill the deviant circus clowns at the fair. Missions were a good way to unlock massive opponents. The Hawk, and Eagle couldn’t go into a head on fight with them. Beating the new library of vehicles, especially the big boys, required some thinking.

Even without upgrades it was possible to take on the giants. The strategy was hit, and move before they could react. Just about every vehicle could run circles around the juggernauts, save for the Deathcruiser, a tour bus powered by a missile. Having a time limit for each mission upped the challenge. Players did not have to complete the mission in order to continue. They could finish other groups of races, upgrade their vehicles, and try again later. Savvy players learned that every vehicle had a weakness. If you could get to the driver it would make the fight easier. Instead of wasting time running into the tires, or trunk of a car, a well timed jump directly through the windshield could kill the driver instantly. This was true for both the Loggerhead, and the Big Dump. Players learned to angle their cars just right, and leap into the cabs with the Kangaroo on Command power up. Speaking of which, the power ups were a complete game changer in the sequel. Stainless had gotten a lot of feedback on favorite multiplayer modes, and the benefits of certain power ups. In the original game the power ups either effected the player’s car, or were global effects for everyone. They were instant, or lasted a few seconds. Players could not control when they wanted power ups to kick in. In Carma II players could stack some power ups, and use them like weapons against the computer, or human opponents. The types of power ups were expanded to affect pedestrians as well, including a flame launcher, and ability to make them stagger around drunk. Again some were automatic, but many could be saved in reserve. They came in especially handy during the missions.

The massive collection of new rides, each with their own strengths, and some with unique properties gave Carmageddon II fantastic replay value. Going through the stages with each vehicle was a completely new experience. The creative multiplayer maps, and changes to power ups, kept fans coming back. My coworkers, and I were having an absolute blast with the sequel. The holiday 1998 work party went off like never before! Did I forget to mention that heavy metal icons Iron Maiden were featured on the soundtrack? Along with instrumental music by Sentience, it was one of the hardest riding soundtracks of all time. The CarMod community kept developing new skins, and models to keep the game fresh. Some created realistic muscle cars from the late '60s, and early '70s. Some created cartoon cars from the old Hanna Barbera cartoons, like the Flintstones mobile, and the Hong Kong Phooeymobile. Every vehicle type was a welcome experiment. Any issues with the game they were negligible. Little things like traditional cop cars were used in the game, instead of the armored brutes from the original. Also the World War II German fighter plane driven by Heinz Faust, the Supastuka, really seemed out of place. His prior appearance had him in a tank-treaded car called the King Merc. Again these were minor complaints in an otherwise fantastic sequel.

News outlets repeated the same exaggerations about violent video games. Audiences completely tuned out any alarmist headlines this time around. Those curious about a sequel relied on word-of-mouth more than media reviews anyhow. Even then the gaming press enjoyed this one as much as the first. The most positive reviews were for the PC, and Mac. IGN gave it a 7 out of 10, GameSpot gave it a 7.8 out of 10, CNET Game Center give it a 8 out of 10, CGSP gave it a 4.5 our of 5, GameRevolution gave it a B+, PC Gamer gave it an 83%. The console builds were universally panned. Those were the fault of SCi for choosing the wrong studios for an adaptation. Or because they tried to censor the game features. Stainless had done the impossible. The tiny studio from England didn’t create the genre, but they certainly did master it. In two years they set the standard that would be copied by dozens of other studios over the next few decades. What happened to them completely floored the community. The series would continue, but it wasn't the same. We will talk about what happened with Carmageddon 3 in the next blog. I hope to see you back for that. If you would like to sponsor me please visit my Patreon page and consider donating each month, even as little as $1 would help make better blogs and even podcasts!

My favorite games of all time, the story of Carmageddon part 5...

In the history of Carmageddon, the Splat Pack expansion is always glossed over. It does not get nearly enough respect from game journalists, or game historians. Those that know could testify to how important it was in shaping the franchise. Carmageddon came out in February of 1997, the Splat Pack was ready by November of that same year. I consider it to be a more complete vision of what Stainless Games wanted to release on day one. It added eight new environments, with several levels dedicated specifically to multiplayer games. Plus it added 18 new cars, including multiple color version of the new Eagle, and Hawk. The version 2 cars had updated bodies. Many noticed that the Eagle was less aerodynamic. It now looked like a bruiser, closer to the Batmobile from the Batman Animated Series than a dupe of a '70s exploitation film. The Hawk on the other hand had all of its angles pushed further, making it more into a science fiction racer. 

They were not the only cars to be replaced for the drivers. Stig O’Sore previously drove the Volkswerker, an armored Volkswagen Beetle. In the Splat Pack he had the much sportier Carrerasaurus by Porky Motor Corp. It looked like a Porsche with metal Stegosaurus plates welded over the top. Fans enjoyed the changes to the game. The graphics had a bump thanks to the native support for 3D acceleration. There was also a patch to add 3DFX support to the original Carmageddon. For those that lived in a country with the “zombie" or censored version, the devs included a Blood Pack file to restore the game to its full blood, and guts glory. When it came to stirring up controversy Stainless wasn't messing around with the Splat Pack. There was a level that had you racing around a prison, running over inmates, and cops alike. The final stage of the game, the Ring of Fire, took place in a cemetery filled with mysterious hooded figures. A mausoleum portal took the racers straight to Hell which was made up of fire, brimstone, demons, and a disco club. If you reached the lowest point on the map you actually came across a gigantic model of the devil. Where he's seating in front of his P666 computer playing Carmageddon. Talk about being self aware! The media stirred up more controversy. Princess Diana had died in a car accident in August 1997, a few months before the Splat Pack dropped. The studio was asked to change the name of Die Anna out of respect. The studio did not.

Stainless was very much counterculture to the games industry, and for many they were counterculture to good taste. They seemed to love the fans, but not the business so much. Every chance they could they stuck their collective middle fingers up to the establishment. Studios were expected to submit a list of cheat codes so magazines could publish them. In Carmageddon typing a short phrase on a keyboard would enable a power up, as if the cars had driven over a barrel. Stainless made sure that magazines would have a hard time printing the phrases. Things like WEHATEMARIO, HAMSTERSEX, and SEXWITHFISH were just some of the individual codes you could enter. There was a master code that allowed you to type a number for a particular power up. This code was IBETYOUCANTPRINTCUNT. You can imagine that this didn't make things easier for publisher SCi. Players were very much on board with this brand of humor. Stainless reciprocated the love by dropping the dev tools to the modding community, which began calling themselves the CarMod Community. This was an international effort, as there were literally fans of the game all around the world. Their updates became CarModgeddon. People like CoffeyCup, and Crimson in the late '90s began releasing new skins for cars, and tracks. The Third Reich Mod for Carmageddon was arguably their most ambitious work. This patch replaced the theme for Bleak City, turning it instead into Berlin during World War II.

The modders went so far as to add goose-stepping Nazis where there were normally pedestrians. They replaced the Cops with SS APC’s, and added a few seconds of Hitler giving a speech on the projection screens in the game. The level had a story, somewhere in the city Hitler was giving a speech to his base, it was up to the racers to find out where he was hiding, and kill him. As if running over pedestrians wasn’t already fun, the mod made it a pleasure to mow down Nazi’s by the hundred. It was another example of the British humor that Stainless had built their reputation on. This time however, it came from fans, and Stainless gave it their blessing. I was eager to see what other changes the community would drop. Since I did not have a computer at home I had to wait to get to work to try out each update. My coworkers, and I got a chance to download every patch as it was released. If a new skin didn’t work, or was just plain ugly, it was easy restoring the original files from the CD. The one thing that many in the community missed was having access to the original Eagle, and Hawk. Yes, the new versions were nice, but so too were the first ones. The modding community released a patch that would allow players to choose any version. They then set their eyes on fixing what Stainless didn’t get around to.

One of the biggest disappointments in the original release was the car driven by Ed 101. It was a sporty Japanese-styled import called the Tashita Coupe. Fans didn’t have a problem with how it looked or handled. They didn’t have a problem with Ed’s design either. It was great storytelling that a robot went rogue, and entered the Carmageddon tournament. This wasn’t however the car that we were promised. In their website, and official material. It was stated that when Ed 101 went against his programming he stole a prototype race car for the tournament. This car looked like a UFO, the type of vehicle used in the F-Zero series by Nintendo. Of all the rides in the game, it was possibly the one I most look forward to stealing. You can imagine how disappointed I was that the car ended up looking like a Toyota Supra with a blade splitter up front. Again, it was fun in game, but not what I was promised. Stainless had meant for the car to be in the game all along. They just didn’t have the time to finish the model. 

Stainless actually left the textures for the flying car in the Devil's Canyon Mining Town game files. They invited the community to see what they could come up with. Modders found the file names, they were clearly labeled pieces for fins, a cockpit, and boosters. They got to work. Before too long they had a patch in place, and released it to the world. Players were welcome to use either of Ed 101's cars in game. The community figured out a clever way to make the prototype appear like it was floating. There were four wheels under the body, however they did not have a texture applied to them, so they were invisible. The only clue that there were wheels was when the car skidded out, it left behind the streaks from where the tires should have been. It was a clever work around, and remains one of the most fun surprises I’ve ever had in my time playing games. The community then set their sights on an even more complex file. They wanted to know if they could restore Tanka to its original design as well. I mentioned previously that Stainless couldn’t get the trailer mechanics working properly in their engine. So they cut out the back half, and left the cab to bounce about in the game. 

It took years but modders Carnage / Crimson eventually figured it out, as did Toshiba-3. Not only that, fellow community member Trent took up the challenge to get the tanker up and running in the later release of Carmageddon Reincarnation. The community that modified the games had as much passion for the IP as the people that created it. In some instances Stainless did reach out to the best modders, and offered them work. They would actively listen to the fans, and run polls on fan favorites. This helped shape the direction of the series. None of this would have been possible if the Splat Pack, and the modding tools had never been released. It opened our eyes to the possibility of changing an already published game. It’s certainly rare for a developer to have an open dialogue with audiences today. Most studios are insulated, and many online forums have devolved into shouting matches. For what it was worth the ones coming together under the Carmageddon banner seemed to vibe well together. This was something that never came up in any "making of" articles.

The Splat Pack had many other things going for it. Stainless never stopped working once Carmageddon went gold. There were many ideas that they had written down that they meant to be released in the original game. Several cars, and characters that appeared in the Splat Pack were in the works from the very beginning. Time, money, and resources just meant that they were left out. The success of that first game, plus the audience reception, gave them the push to complete the Splat Pack, and finish the vision they had originally. The additional vehicle types provided a bigger cross section of the Carma experience. Other studios may have been content to just draw up race cars with spikes for an expansion, and call it a day. Stainless was anything but an ordinary company. The vehicle types often came out of left field. An ambulance coated in blood, driven by the mad surgeon Sawbones was listed in the early concept drawings. The Blood Mobile was now official. The Ramraider, an SUV with a battering ram  driven by USA sports fanatic Big Daddy was now plowing through opponents. Other cars were jabs at Stainless' contemporaries. A blue, and white-striped muscle car, the Stodge Barger, driven by Carkey, and Clutch, was a direct call-out to the Picard Piranha, and Groove Champion from Interstate ’76.

The Splat Pack made the monster trucks bigger, like Herman Monster and his Monster Masher. The 10-foot tires were based on the tires used by Bigfoot V, and Bigfoot VII. It added a rampaging diesel truck to the lineup, Mother Trucker, and her Rig O’Mortis. It added full-blown race cars like the Fearari F999 driven by Ashteroid. The studio also expanded on the Auto Scum gang member rides. The Mech Maniac got the smallest car in the expansion, the slippery little Grunge Buster. Sports cars, trucks, just about anything with wheels was well represented. One of the influences for the studio, and a movie that isn’t always given enough credit for in car circles, was the Italian Job. I’m talking about the original from 1969, not the remake from 2003. The scene stealers were three Mini Coopers hauling a ton of stolen gold out of Italy. The stunt driving was amazing, and the producers made it look like the little cars were unstoppable. It inspired the Killer Coop, driven by Mike O’Kane (Michael Cain was the star of the film). It stood to reason that the mighty British Cooper with a jousting lance attached to the door would symbolize Britannia in the game. It would surely slay the giants of the tournament, and bring home the glory.

At the end of 1997 there was no argument. Carmageddon, and the Splat Pack were certified hits. In spite of all the negative publicity the outlets came to a consensus. This was a great game. To help get the title on as many computers as they could SCi bundled the game, and expansion together as the Max Pack. It was uncensored, as the developers had originally meant it to be. The bundle was nominated for Computer Action Game of the Year in the 1998 D.I.C.E. Awards. The awards given to Carmageddon were numerous, here's a sample; Winner - Best Action Game - Ultra Game Players, Game of the Year - PC Zone Magazine, 5 out of 5 - Computer Life, 4 out of 5 - Next Generation, 4 out of 5 - C:/Net’s Game Center.com, 9 out of 10 - Computer & Net Player, GameRevolution - B+, GameSpot - 8.8 out of 10. The quotes in the reviews did the team at Stainless proud. “Very playable, and addictive" - PC Gamer, “A complete blast to play" - Computer & Net Player, and “It’s been a long time since a driving game has been as much fun as Carmageddon." - Computer Gaming World. This was vindication for everything the studio had gone through in the prior three years. With everything they learned from Carmageddon, and the Splat Pack they were ready to go even bigger in a sequel. We will talk about that in the next blog. If you would like to sponsor me please visit my Patreon page and consider donating each month, even as little as $1 would help make better blogs and even podcasts!