Flat-Out Carnage and Full-Throttle Destruction – “FlatOut” Takes Car Crashing to New Heights

by Louis Bedigian

“We made a decision to steer clear of licensed vehicles so we could focus on breaking everything as much as possible!”

Car, meet Destruction.  Destruction, say hello to Car.

Need For Speed: Underground, this is not.  If you enjoy games like Burnout (and who doesn’t?), you won’t be able to stop revving your engine for FlatOut.  FlatOut is all about driving and destruction, the two key ingredients that go into a destructive racing game.

But that doesn’t mean this is a Burnout clone.  The developers said that they wanted to stay away from the current generation of racing games, most of which have clean cars and a shiny paint job.  RalliSport Challenge 2 is the only racer I can think of that realizes a car can’t be pretty all the time.

FlatOut leaves the car wash to its competitors, getting down and dirty for some devastating results.  Executive Producer Alan Bunker goes over the damage, gives us a hefty repair bill, and warns us of an increase in our insurance payment…

FlatOut seems like a very physical racing game, with lots of dirt, dust, and flying body parts.  Talk about this.

Alan Bunker: We wanted to make a "down and dirty" racing game from the outset, moving away from the shiny, pristine current generation of racing games like NFS:U and Burnout. Very early on, we spent a lot of time researching how best to make the cars as destructible as possible. We also made a decision at this time to steer clear of licensed vehicles so we could focus on breaking everything as much as possible! After all, the most fun part of any destruction racing game is exactly that: destruction.

Every car reacts in a number of ways to force and direction of impact. We accurately calculate where a car is hit, what hit it and what force is applied. We then give the player realistic feedback to this in the form of breakable body parts, flying debris and car handling alterations with the latter tuned to make racing a fun experience regardless of levels of damage.

In reality, this is one hideous site.

In a game, it’s absolutely gorgeous.

Did the programmers study real racing physics or conduct any other research while working on the game?

AB: Our Lead Programmer is a physics genius! And all of the guys on the team have considerable experience of racing games, something which we think has helped make FlatOut as good as it is. We have studied car mechanics and engineering, simulating things like torque, suspension, tyre friction and more. We have then applied that to FlatOut and fine-tuned to give the player user-friendly handling.

FlatOut will include 45 tracks.  How do they differ?  What makes each one unique?

AB: There are five types of standard tracks across Forest, Winter, Pit, Town and Racing terrains. Each has its own characteristics both visually and physically. For example, Forest is full of - wait for it - trees and logs (ok, no surprises there!) and the track surface has been given less grip than, for example, the Racing tracks. Racing tracks are designed to look like circuits which could be true to life, while offering the player a track surface with much more grip and traction. Town is a combination of these, Pit is real off-road stuff and therefore quite difficult, Winter is very [slippery] but we are changing this a little as we speak to give them a shade more grip.

Specifically, each type of track also has certain design features to take note of. Forest is full of hazardous log piles and jumps over flatbed log trucks - something to do with the developer's Scandinavian origins! Pit has lots of bumps, jumps and machinery to avoid. Winter has lots of short-cuts and barns to bash through. Racing tracks are very fast so you absolutely have to have your wits about you. Town is a combination of dirt and tarmac with back alley short-cuts and some technically difficult sections.

In addition to these, we have three Arena tracks: an oval, a figure of eight and a head-to-head which features a straight with traffic coming in both directions! Then we have the Destruction Bowls which is a 'last man standing' mode where the player can earn bonus cash for his car upgrades. Here, everyone just smashes into each other - fantastic for seeing spectacular crashes and carnage.

“There SBC goes again, putting another phone line in the middle of the road.”

What can you tell us about the different environments in the game?

AB: As well as the different environments above, we have time of day settings including dawn, midday and dusk.

How extensive is FlatOut's vehicle upgrade system?

AB: We like to think it's pretty darn extensive! Each car can be upgraded a number of times to try and get absolute maximum performance out of them. These include multiple engines, tyre types, exhaust systems, suspension systems, bodywork panels (strength), tuning kits and more. And to top it all of, you can even change car decals.

What can players do to acquire new parts for their vehicles?  Must certain races be completed?

AB: Players must finish in the top three of a race to earn cash. The amount of cash is dependent on your final race position. With this money in your back pocket, you'll be able to purchase all the cool stuff and eventually buy new cars with noisier engines (and they go faster, too). If you're struggling to win races, you can always play the unlocked Arena or Bowls which present the player with alternate opportunities to earn cash.

I’ll bet that construction vehicle could do a lot of damage.

Tell us about the engine that was used to power the game's gorgeous backgrounds and all of the eye-popping effects.

AB: The engine allows us to run all the great physics with up to 3000 interactive objects on any track at any time and still maintain 30fps+. We also have specular highlights, mip-mapping, full screen anti-aliasing, rigid and soft body physics, real-time morphing, environment mapping, ragdoll drivers... the list goes on.

Can you give us a rundown of the mini-games featured in FlatOut?

AB: The Arenas and Destruction Bowls can be considered as mini-games. In addition, we have the ragdoll stunt arena. This is a specially designed athletics arena, if you like. Here, the player can take part in six different ragdoll mini games - Long Jump, High Jump, Bull's Eye, Bowling, Darts and Clown. The objective of each game is to drive the car like a madman and launch your driver in accordance with the rules of the game! Taking Darts as an example, you drive as fast as you can to the barrier just before the 100ft dartboard at which point you launch your poor guy. The idea is to score as many points as you can over three turns by adding up where your driver strikes the board! Treble twenties all round, ideally!

Our other favorite is 10-pin Bowling - drive up to the alley, throw your guy down it and try to knock over as many pins as possible! You can even play against your mates in multi-player turn-based mode. And no, we don't do helmets - this is a man's game.

When Sky Diving Goes Awry, on the next Real TV.

Give us the goods on the online play mode(s).

AB: We're still finalizing the online game modes. We would like to include Quick Race, Destruction and Stunt modes.  This will be for PC LAN, Xbox Live and Xbox system link.  We also have offline split-screen play for Xbox and PS2.  More on this as it happens!   

Thank you for your time.