Pedestrians are one of the key features of the Carmageddon franchise. They wander around the levels aimlessly, or hang around in groups, just waiting for you to approach them. When they see/hear you, they will panic and start to run. Kill a ped for bonus time and credits. A level can be won by killing every single pedestrian in the area.
In Carmageddon & Carmageddon Splat Pack, they are 2D sprites based upon digitized photos of actors (the same method used in the Mortal Kombat games) and die when struck. Types of pedestrians include people, Grey aliens & cows. Splat Pack adds rams, demons and boars.
From Carmageddon II onwards (except in the GameBoy game), they are 3D, polygonal and can be dismembered. They can also be scared into jumping off cliffs. Dogs were added.
In Carmageddon: TDR 2000, they can attack vehicles with metal bars and molotov cocktails, but don't worry, they're still not much of a threat. These smarter peds can flatten themselves up against the nearest wall to make themselves harder to hit. To join the dogs, there are now cats.
Many of the power-ups that can be collected affect pedestrians rather than competitors - one obvious example would be 'Suicidal Pedestrians', which causes them to run towards your car rather than away from it.
Censorship
Due to the controversial nature of killing people for sport, in many regions the games were censored, swapping the humans with red blood for Zombies with green blood. Carmageddon games for sale in Germany received the most censorship, and therefore the strangest things to run over: In Carmageddon it was Robots that leaked black oil, Carmageddon II was reptilian aliens, and Carmageddon 64 had Dinosaurs!
The Carmageddon Max Pack included an uncensored version of Carmageddon. In these modern, post-GTA times, the games are now available to buy uncensored [confirmation needed].
Trivia
- The flagman waving the chequered flag to start the race is worth more points than a regular pedestrian. If he is still alive after the first lap, his points value goes up.
- The red swimsuit girl was based on the Ridge Racer Race Queen - An image in the game files shows the same girl holding up a sign saying 'start!'.