Carmageddon (e)

From: "Benn Rice" 
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action
Subject: Carmageddon FAQ
Date: 24 Apr 1997 10:36:16 GMT


-- 
Corpus Callosum
Springfield (Home of The Simpsons?), Mass.  USA
ICQ User (322297)

------- Unofficial Carmageddon FAQ ----- Last updated: 4-23-97
---------------

All are encouraged in contributing to this FAQ.  It exists for the sole 
purpose of advancing the cause of wholesale pedestrian slaughter and
general
callous disregard for the sanctity of human (and bovine) life as well as
wanton, gratuitous car/environment damage.
I'm just an avid player of the game and have no affiliation or real
communication with the makers of the game.  I do not speak for them, and
some
of whats in this FAQ may be wrong.  I'm not responsible for any damages
caused by the use of this FAQ, yada yada blah.  :)
It has very personal viewpoints and opinions rather than just simply
stating 
facts (as they are known to me).  
All are encouraged to post this without permission, and put it up on your
website and whatnot, just as long as you try to keep it current and update
it with a later version as I make them, and also please let me know your
URL and a way to get ahold of you to inform you of updates.

I've just found out that Kevin Podszebka (kgp@usa.net) started an
Unofficial 
Carmageddon FAQ on 3-31-97, beating me by 2 weeks.  But since I've already
put a bit of thought and work into my own, I'll continue my own FAQ (unless
he wants to collaborate with me or something).  His FAQ can be found on:
         The Unofficial Carmageddon Homepage
         http://www.aiusa.com/noyzrulz/carma
Go read his FAQ, he's got more info, and he talks with one of the
developers on
a weekly basis.  His FAQ mentions most if not all the keys used in the game
and such.  

 

- Newest items added (will be moved to appropriate section on my next
update)

Q.  Do I HAVE to run over people to get time enough to stay in the game?
A.  You can hit the "-" key on your keypad to turn on "Nice and Fluffy
Mode",
    however its not a REAL alternative in playing (in the BETA demo)
because
    then the only way you can stay in the game is to hit alot of green
barrels
    for time bonuses.  Seems like that'd be way too hard.  :)  The full
version
    has GOT to have a real alternative as there are countries that won't
sell
    it with any gore in it
Hmm, I've added quite a bit, but didn't think to put it all up here, so
this is just a marker for future updates.   There ARE new things added, but
you'll have to look thru this list ONE more time before I start adding the
new stuff at the top.  :)


- For those who've not experienced the Carmageddon

Q.  I hear there's a bogus time limit.  Why would I wanna play a demo that
    won't even let you fully explore 1 level?
A.  I was curious about that too.  Only SCI seems to think it was a good
    idea.  At any rate there are TWO cracks available for the game that
    are posted in comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action on a fairly regular basis.
    Thats also where I'll be posting this on a semi regular basis.  Both
    together total about 4k.  One removes the insane time limit (you still
    gotta earn time tho by bumping off the peds.  But since there are
    377 lambs for the slaughter (there's no LITERal lambs in the game,
    maybe in the full version :) ),
    its very easy to do, and you'll likely rub out more than you need.
    What encouragement do you need other than the screaming and 
    splatting?	The OTHER crack lets you use the other cars that you
    see in the game.  Even the police car (or whatever kinda vehicle it
is).
Q.  So, its very violent.  Well thats all fine and dandy, but is this a 
    gimmick or is there any gameplay in there?
A.  If they replaced all the peds in the game with stacks of newspaper and
    they just toppled over with a beep from my internal speaker, I'd still
    play the game 'til 9am in the morning (with no sleep that night, and
only
    4 hours the previous night).  Keep in mind this is only 1 level out of
    30 that are planned, and I've HATED solo playing (meaning not
multi-player)
    games for almost 2 years now.  I wouldn't have tried it probably if I
    didn't know that the full version would have net support though.
Q.  Are there weapons, oil slicks and such in the game?
A.  Not in the demo.  However when u waste a car and he's all bent up with 
    a few flames coming out, sitting in a pile of oil, go ram him off the
oil
    and have some fun slipping around in it.  You wouldn't think they'd
make
    the physics so good without adding the ability to use oil slicks in the
    full version would you?  Also, one of the pedestrians in the demo is 
    carrying a gun, and sometimes points it at the car, even tho he doesn't
    fire.  AND, the police cars are mounted with a huge machine gun on the 
    side of their vehicles even tho THEY don't fire.  Well, the demo DOES
    say BETA on it, so I'd assume there will be at least TWO firing guns in
    the game, and again, it'd be a waste not to use that programming on the
    player cars wouldn't it?  I'll just wait and see, and tell myself there
    won't be any weapons in the meantime (to avoid possible
disappointement).
    If they DO include weapons, they better give us a mode to NOT use them
    because it would make the gameplay totally different, and I personally
    would like to play both ways.  I think playing without might even be
more
    fun, cuz then you will be encouraged to get up close and bump the other

    players off a building, or piledrive them into the wall, spin them
around
    backwards, run your (wedge vehicles of course) car under them, carry
them
    then ram on your brakes when you reach the edge of the roof (or steep
    hill, or lava if they have any in the full version).  If there's
weapons,
    it will be more like Duke on wheels, and you'll try to stay away from 
    each other.  That would have its charms, but I'm pretty much satiated
in
    the shooting department.  :)
Q.  What kinda system does it need?
A.  The game suggests at least a P90 and I think thats accurate.  I've seen
    it on my nephew's P100, and I could have fun with it after turning off
    all textures (but the ground, I think I need that for a sense of speed)
    turning down the object complexity and shrinking the screen a bit.  HE
    was happy with it with ALL options on, but I like to have a smoother 
    frame rate myself.  I'm guessing his P100 was doing about 10 fps with
    all the options ON.
Q.  Does Carmageddon have a true 3D engine?
A.  Yes.  The cars, buildings and environment can all be viewed from any
angle.
    However, there ARE 2D sprites used in the game.  The pedestrians and 
    powerups (they look like color-coded trashcans) are all 2D bitmaps, and

    suffer the usual limitations of 2D sprites.


- Points of interest in the game

Q.  What kinda powerups are available in the demo?
A.  Instant Repair (there's also a keypress that will repair u, and u never
                    seem to have to worry about running out of credits
(what
                    repairing uses up) in the demo, however its a good idea
                    to learn where the Insant Repairs are for when that
joyful
                    day when we get to play it on the net for the 1st
time!)
    Instant Handbrake (no sliding, come to complete stop, even in midair!)
    Jelly Suspension! (even tho its mentioned as being only in the full
game)
    Hot Rod (your car becomes so powerful, any one of them will instantly
             do a wheelie to the point of making your back bumper spark 
             against the pavement, and you'll constantly gain speed on a 
             straightaway (until you slam into a wall or something) there
             are TWO Hot Rod powerups in the demo)
    Frozen Opponents
    Pedestrians Glued To The Ground
    Invulnerability
Q.  Are there secrets?
A.  Not like in 3D shooters.  But some of the buildings have narraw
passages
    that u can barely fit into, and some various powerups are in there.  
    There's even one building that is hollowed out.  To get into it, you
need
    to go to the end of the race course (but don't go thru the checkpoint
or
    you'll finish the race, preventing you from doing this), and fly
straight
    forwards off the building.  You'll land in the hollow, and in there are
    some powerups.  I even had one of the computer cars follow me in there
    when I did it.  a SECOND Hot Rod powerup is in here, and a ramp that
will
    jump you out of it.  I've also found catwalk-like thing with walls by
falling
    off a building onto it.  This ramp looks like a non-existant railroad
    track that makes an 'L' shape thru the map, yet which you can't see
when
    you're driving around on the ground.
Q.  Can you waste a police car?
A.  Yes
Q.  Do I get credit for peds that jump off buildings or are killed by other
    cars?
A.  The pedestrian count shows how many have been killed out of how many
possible,
    regardless of how they die, however you only get points for the ones
you
    run into


- Tips for improving your car handling ability (or controlling the game
better)

Those change up & down controls you were wondering about in the control
setup
    screen:  Not sure what up is good for, but it manually shifts into a 
    lower and higher gear.  Holding down "change down" while gunning the
    accelerator and turning sharply will cause you to do donuts and leave
    round tire tracks.  It doesn't seem quite right, but get used to it,
and
    you have a good way of pointing your car in the direction u want
without
    having to speed up and then use the handbrake.  When your going very
    slow, or are stationary, it helps to use this to quickly point you
where
    you want to go
I was really annoyed at having to use my mouse to look at the awesome
replays
    and also that there seemed to be no frame advance or decrement.  Well,
    I finally read the README file, and GUESS WHAT?  The keypad has ALL the
    controls I wanted (more than the mouse icon bar).  Don't forget that
there
    are 3 different camera views.
    Panning (stationary camera's at regular intervals that follow your car)
    Action-Tracking (makes sure that you (almost always) get a closeup shot
        of a pedestrian as your car (in the background) maneuvres into a
good
        position for RAMMING SPEED!
    Standard (same camera as when your driving, which means that you can
        rotate the view with your arrow keys, and get closer and farther
away.
        There is a catch to this.  Doesn't seem to work well while the
replay 
        is in motion, but if you pause and use frame advance, you can
pretty
        much always see what you're looking for by using the arrow keys.  
        Every time you move a frame, you might have to reposition it
slightly   
        tho.  Hope they tweak this in the full version)
For a bit better vision, remove the "Prat Cam panel that shows your
character's 
    face responding to the driving.  Hit the "P" key to toggle this.


- Game Performance 

I've played it with 16 megs and 32 megs.  Both times under Win 95 (using 
    straight DOS seems slightly worse on my system, however alot of other
    folks and SCI themselves seem to say otherwise).  With 32 megs, you
    seem to get instant replay buffers that are at least 8 times as big as
    you get with 16.  I'm sure playing in straight DOS would give you
longer
    replays whatever your amount of memory.


- Future Features

There will be another non-beta Demo of the game near the 1st of May.  It 
	should have the new engine with the %30 frame rate increase
3DFX support is planned after the initial release
There will be Internet play
There will be SVGA modes
There will be joystick/steering wheel controls
New powerups will include
    Solid Granite Car
    Mega Turbo (for your car)
Game saving
30 different vehicles
30+ different races on
11 different courses
5 different environment settings for the tracks
Different sets of pedestrians for different environments (I'm assuming this
means
    5 or 11 differet sets of peds, not 30+)
Weapon and armour upgrades
Modification of physics such as gravity via editing a text file
(scripting?)


- Reviews

http://www.ukonline.co.uk/UKOnline/Games/reviews/carmageddon.html  
    Has screenshots I've not seen elsewhere, SVGA closeups even.  Although
    it sounds kinda negative, reviews like this will probably boost sales.
    He also begrudgingly admits to the awesome physics of the game.  Don't
    know why he seems to think that adding humour to the violence (like in
    the movie Death Race 200) makes the violence more acceptable.  :) 
Don't
    know why he calls Fear Factory grunge, when they are more like an 
    Industrial/Death Metal mix, and dunno why he seems to think the "%30 
    higher frame rate" means "higher than other companies' engines" when it
    obviously means "%30 higher than the BETA Demo".
http://www.ogr.com/previews/carmageddon.shtml
    Some small screenshots of full version vehicles such as the
Bronco/Blazer
    type car and the tow truck
http://web.ukonline.co.uk/keith.dumble/hopper/carmdr.html


- Problems with Carmageddon

Q.  There are certain letter keys that it won't let me redefine.  Whats up?
A.  It reserves certain key presses such as "S" and "P" for things such as
    sound and the "Prat Cam" panel that shows your character's face (toggle
its 
    existence).  
Q.  Every now and then the sound goes out for no apparent reason. 
Occasionally
    it will come back on for no apparent reason, but usually I have to exit
    and run the game again.
A.  Are your playing keys near the "S" key?  That key will toggle the sound
    on and off.  Otherwise, I don't know.  :)


- Suggestions for the game?  Send them to bcrice@map.com, and I'll include
them 
- in my own list if I like them.  I plan to bug SCI with them in lots of
e-mail

--- Most important additions/improvements

Allow us to SAVE our replays!!!
Allow us to mark breakpoints and cut and paste sections and rearrange them
easily 
    so we can make one big long replay file with all the cool clips we've
made.
    Like someone in the action games newsgroup said, there will be lots of
sites 
    packed with awesome stunts that users have made.    
Give us an analog looking speedometer (like how the tachometer is done), or
a
    color-coded bar so we don't have to be trying to read fluctuating
numbers
    and taking our eyes off of the jump ahead.  I know there is a bar in
the
    cockpit mode, but I think everyone will be playing 3rd person for the 
    majority of their time, so it needs to be there too
Make the cars be more controllable in reverse.  They all seem to whip into
    reverse donuts way too quick, making it impossible to drive them
backwards
    and control where your headed.  
Split screen options for both 2 players at one machine or 2 on one machine
netted
    with 2 on another machine (all 4 in the same game)
Pedestrians
    There's gotta be some RESISTANCE when you hit them and they should slow
your 
    car down a bit.  Add this to the cows tenfold, and even to the 
    normal folks a little bit.  Running into people esPECIally at high
speeds is
    definitely gonna slow you down in real life, so model it in the game. 
It Will
    give you a better sensation of really having hit someone.  Also make
the cars
    rock and bump over them realistically.  The cars (as it is now) runs
over them
    as if they were just totally flat pancake.  Give us some really obese
people
    that will give alot more resistance than the normal ones.  Also make
the peds'
    bodies fly thru the air more than they do.  

    

--- These would be great

Add some icy patches or icy streets to the levels
Support for the cheap (don't they practically give them out when a 3D show
or 
    movie airs on TV?) red & blue lense (err, plastic wrap :) ) 3D glasses.
    This would include adjustments for the red and blue elements of the
screen
    to match the exact shades/hue/tints of the lenses.  If they're not 
    properly tuned together, you never get a good 3D effect with both eye
    views going to both eyes or both to at least one of the eyes (like in 
    Duke 3D for me and MY glasses).
Lockable camera positions.  I wanna back up and see whats in front of me,
    from the 3rd person view
Customizable camera position in relation to car position.  Pointing in any
    direction, and positioned at any distance and angle away from the car's
    centerpoint
Let us redefine ALL keys, even the sound, and character animation toggles.
Further modification to the replay saving.  Allow us to save ghosts of
ourselves 
    driving thru a level.  Perhaps make those ghosts spawn other ghosts
(such
    as streetlights and poles being knocked down.  Then we can play a game
and
    either pass thru these phantoms, or they could plow thru anything and
    their course would not be modified.  Having the option of either would
be 
    nice.  Then let us play along with these ghosts.  We could try to beat
it
    if it was a good run that you'd had when u record it, or you could use
this
    feature to make your own movies.  So you could "act" with each car
seperately,
    but see them altogether in one time, so you can have limited
interaction
    (visually at least) with your other recorded selves (ghosts).
Targetting of pedestrians and cars in the replays.  Sometimes I wanna see a
    closeup of something cool another car did in the distance, and it'd
    be great for those times when you send a streetlight skittering across
    the pavement into some peds.  :)  It'd be nice to lock the camera on
    to these other things if we want
Give us a mouse freelook option.  The ability to spin your view 360 degrees

    instantly even tho your car is of course only able to move in the
direction
    that its pointed in.  So many people are used to the Duke and Quake way
    of being immersed in a world.  Let us see things like we really could
    from within (or hovering above) the car.  A 3D car interior mode would
look
    very nice for this, but since 2D cockpit art is used, I guess that'd be
    too much work to ask of SCI to redo it all in 3D :).  Well then,  limit

    freelook/mouse-aiming to 3rd person views.  
Give us some traintracks to cross, populated with real trains to avoid. 
It'd
    be great to be able to push damaged cars onto the track and watch the 
    train cut them in half or totally demolish them.  Also make some of the
    peds hang out near there so you can herd them onto the tracks in time
for
    them to get iced
Oil slicks and mines.  You BETTER give us oil slicks at least!  The oil
    patches that the damaged cars leave behind are great fun to drive in!
Ability to open your driver side door to slam extra peds without altering
    your course
Powerups that we can collect then use when we want to
Blood that spatters on windshield, and has to be washed away with wipers
    and fluid
Powerups
    Ghost Car 
        Other cars will run right thru you, into a wall or off a 
        building
    Ramps and walls
        You can drop these behind you and your pursuer will either crunch
        immediately into a wall, or hit your ramp and fly over you (if you
        slam on brakes) into a wall or off a building, the possibilities
        are endless
    Jump Jets
        Used to jump up onto buildings, or onto cars for massive damage, or
        maybe over trains, or pileups that block the road
    Flying Car
        Maybe take it 1 step further, and just let us really FLY for a half
        minute or so.  Ramming folks from the air would be great fun, as
        would turning off the flying and dropping on them from
        way up high



--- Ideas that are lower priority, or would be too much work to implement
--- at the moment possibly
Have more sensible placing of peds, and maybe even some routines that they
    go thru to simulate them being real humans that your killing  ;)
    How about a flashing 25mph School Zone sign with kids streaming out of
    a recognizable schoolhouse?  :)  A bunch of old people milling about on
    the front lawn of a rest home.  Those business people coming out of 
    office buildings and heading for cars parked in indoor garages or
    outdoor parking lots (all populated with nice cars to smash into).  How
    about hospitals and ambulances that cross town with sirens blaring to
get
    to them?  Even better, have them pick up some of the peds that you've
    injured.  It'd be great to run an ambulance off the road.  And have
those
    kids streaming out of school get into a bus that makes its rounds, and 
    stops every now and then to let out a kid who of course looks carefully
    both ways before crossing (to no avail).  ;)  It'd be great to see some
    kids flying out of the bus windows when its smashed and to hear the
whole
    group of them screaming.  
Have some cars & vehicles tooling around that aren't part of the race
    or destruction (until you start ramming them for no other reason than
cuz
    its fun).  Motorcycles would be great, would love to send the riders
flying
    before backing over them.  How about some construction vehicles that we
    could get into and start driving around.  Special "pancake pedestrian"
    graphics could be drawn for when you get behind the wheel of a
steamroller.
Let use get to the options to redefine keys while we're actually in the
    game.  Its annoying to have to quit your game in order to go in there.
Let us knock over or ram jagged holes thru the billboards
Parachute powerup (that can be used when needed).  Drop off a tall building

    floating down, so your looking directly at the road below. See a car
coming
    and detach the chute too drop on it for massive damage
Grappling hooks ala Rocket Jockey, that you can shoot out the side of your
car
    so you can grab pedestrians and drag them to their deaths





People who have contributed (idea and info wise) to the this FAQ:

David Jenkins (he contributed ALOT of ideas, most of them EXcellent)
Colin
Rob Dunlop
Jared Betnar
contributed ALOT of ideas, most of them EXcellent)
Colin
Rob Dunlop
Jared Betnar