It’s almost 22 years since the original Carmageddon was released. And while that’s not cause for any particular celebration, one user has helpfully dug up a ton of old concept art from Stainless Games’ brutal vehicular combat racer.
A ton of concept art, primarily produced by Neil Barnden and Terry Lane, has been floating around on social media this morning. It’s courtesy of Belgian Carmageddon modder Bernard Boonen, who is also the person behind the Road Reaction fansite.
#Carmageddon 1 concept #gameart spam thread. Been meaning to post this for a while now. Art mainly by Terry “Tez” Lane and Neil @nobby_SG Barnden. #retrogaming #dosgaming #gamehistory
Starting with Industrial zone docks. pic.twitter.com/4mzlPhSRcY
— ᴛosʜiʙᴀᶜᵒʳᵉ (@toshiba_3) March 5, 2019
Now the City environment. That first painting was also used as the menu backdrop. (also blue complete Tanka in the bottom right corner)
Tez made concepts with a similar atmosphere 15 years later for Carmageddon:Reincarnation. pic.twitter.com/skvEvzSD8n
— ᴛosʜiʙᴀᶜᵒʳᵉ (@toshiba_3) March 5, 2019
Three other coloured pieces depicting an early Desert level (with the old GASSO sign (still in the files)), the Mayan Hotel (!!!), and the Sodburbs level with an early Fearrari F666 (that level evolved into the ski resort one). pic.twitter.com/rOfTfSAGQa
— ᴛosʜiʙᴀᶜᵒʳᵉ (@toshiba_3) March 5, 2019
City: the slums and commercial district. Again some parts of the level geometry are very similar to what we see here. pic.twitter.com/orS66YPmzt
— ᴛosʜiʙᴀᶜᵒʳᵉ (@toshiba_3) March 5, 2019
It’s fascinating seeing not only concept art from back in the mid ’90s – this would have been put together closer to 1995, if not 1996 when the game was in early development – but also the kind of vibe the concept art was going for. A lot of the colouring and city streets is closer to Blade Runner in parts.
The “Coastal” level: a famous bridge and a look at an early map design. Interesting how powerups were scarser, and the race wasn’t looping. pic.twitter.com/VDtvqpUtx6
— ᴛosʜiʙᴀᶜᵒʳᵉ (@toshiba_3) March 5, 2019
Early ideas also featured tracks with a start and end point, more like Outrun or Monster Truck Madness than the looping circuits that Carmageddon ended up shipping with. Having looping tracks meant cars were more likely to interact with each other, so the change makes sense, and I imagine having more powerups was mostly to help with balancing.
You can go back and compare all of the styles pretty easily, too: The Carmageddon mobile port is still really good. The game is more fun to control these days on your phone than with keyboard controls, I’ve found.
Some cars now. An early blue Feararri F666, a red Towmeister, what probably led to the Plow, and a couple of cars very reminiscent of Grunge Buster and Road Bratt (tyres!). pic.twitter.com/PwMNMLxH7P
— ᴛosʜiʙᴀᶜᵒʳᵉ (@toshiba_3) March 5, 2019
Early Eagle designs. And a strange badge that could have appeared on it (for a long time I thought this was related to cops). pic.twitter.com/pPgd5UfYaZ
— ᴛosʜiʙᴀᶜᵒʳᵉ (@toshiba_3) March 5, 2019
A more futuristic design (with a little batmobile vibe? The Batmobile inspired the Eagle Mk2 at least) pic.twitter.com/bUCgEPFPu3
— ᴛosʜiʙᴀᶜᵒʳᵉ (@toshiba_3) March 5, 2019
More vehicles! First one might’ve evolved into Fraud Broko? Second one has a serious Road Bratt look as well. The idea in the last one was used on PropShafter in Carmageddon 2. pic.twitter.com/vo3HSp2d29
— ᴛosʜiʙᴀᶜᵒʳᵉ (@toshiba_3) March 5, 2019
Final tweet. Some other oddities. Almost forgot to post the last one, Rig O’Mortis. pic.twitter.com/0qsF1SMBVB
— ᴛosʜiʙᴀᶜᵒʳᵉ (@toshiba_3) March 5, 2019
Thanks to THQ Nordic forgetting to change the prices, you can’t actually buy the original Carmageddon games on Steam. The Max pack is available through GOG for $13.79, but you can also get Carmageddon TDR 2000 for $6.
This story originally appeared in March 2019.
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