Carmageddon TV

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Carmageddon TV

Cover mockup
Developer(s) Visual Science
Publisher(s) SCi (Europe)
2K Games (North America)
Platform(s) PC, PlayStation 2, Xbox
Genre(s) Vehicular combat
Mode(s) Single player, Network Multiplayer
Players 1 - (unknown) players

Carmageddon TV (stylized as carmageddon.tv or CTV) was a game that was meant to be released for the PC, PlayStation 2 and Xbox platforms sometime in 2005[1]. Its existence was first discovered through a copyright application, it was to be published by SCi, and developed by Visual Science. Unfortunately, a fall out between Visual Science and SCi would damage their relationship, cancelling the game[2].

History

The earliest sign of the game's existence was in a financial report from 2003, which revealed that the next main entry in the Carmageddon series was in development. The developers were revealed to be Visual Science and the publishers were confirmed as SCi[3].

Little to no news was released about the game until spring 2005, when publishers SCi put development on hold for unspecified reasons[4]. The game had been canned, as no new press releases or information have surfaced since its postponement, and Eidos PLC moved on to focus on other projects.

The only information on the game before 2012 was very scarce, and most of it was fan speculation in forums. Because of this, the game was originally believed by some to be the same as the Gizmondo version of Carmageddon[5]. However, that was revealed false in 2020, after a post by Games That Werent detailed the entire game's concept.

Cancellation

The game was in development for two years, but was finally cancelled in 2005. A few anonymous members of the development team claimed that the last version of the game was close to the alpha stage, and that it had five near-finished levels, several cars with damage systems implemented, and hundreds of different types of pedestrians.

A few people who worked in the game, according to Pix'N Love magazine, believe that the reason for the cancellation was the project management, thanks to communication problems between the developers and the publisher. The developers claimed that at the start of development, no one was really responsible for the game design. Many of the levels were created by the team, only to be cancelled overnight for no particular reason. They weren't reworked or modified, but deleted altogether, before being replaced by others. The same fate was reserved for certain vehicles, characters, or gameplay ideas. They were developed, finalized and then abandoned, due to a difference of opinion between the publisher and the developers.

Visual Science aimed to offer an entry in the series where the universe contrasts the previous games, while SCi wanted an entry in the vein of its predecessors. However, this difference of opinion was only clarified late in the project's development, after several months of stagnation. By this time, SCi had apparently already lost all commercial interest in the title. Although the game was finally beginning to take shape at Visual Science, after two years of chaotic development, SCi cancelled it outright.

The publisher had this intention for some time, but the contract signed with the developers did not allow them to make such a decision earlier. The Carmageddon TV creative team, which numbered between 30 and 40 people at the peak of production, wwas utterly disgusted. The project looked promising at last, after a difficult start, and many talented people had invested a great deal of energy in it yet sadly it would never see the light of day.

Apart from the official announcement of its cancellation in 2005, the publisher and Visual Science never communicated on the title since. The cancellation of Carmageddon TV was a serious financial blow to the developers, who closed its doors in 2006[6].

Introduction

"Visual Science updates the violent granddaddy of videogames with CarmageddonTV for the console market. CarmageddonTV will feature more outrageous ways to kill innocent bystanders than the world has ever seen, and a wicked sense of humor that will slice its way through the red noise of the current glut of mindlessly violent videogames. Focusing vehicular combat and the mowing down of pedestrians into tightly designed events, all in the service of eliminating opponents and clearing an area of human life. Cars can be upgraded in-game with temporary weapon pickups or powerups for more effective kills, as well as customized with body modifications, colors, and decal sets to make that killing even more stylish. A wide selection of theme music makes the deadly shenanigans all the more cheerful. The game is as unapologetically satirical and critical as it is violent. If it’s wrong, we probably think it’s right for obliteration on CarmageddonTV. And if it’s right, we see nothing wrong in destroying that, too!"

Scenario

"Set in the not-so-distant future, society has been numbed by cushy, head-in-the-sand living. There’s no black and white, only a dulling grey as news veers toward entertainment, and reality programming no longer hides its fiction. CarmageddonTV splash blood red on it all: the Atkins diet is this year’s oat bran; the selfhelp industry only helps themselves to your money; vegetarians who eat meat on “special” occasions aren’t actually vegetarians. It’s all bollocks! as our neighbors across the pond say.

They can strike at any time, do anything, like the guys in Jackass, only they are much, much more deadly in New York during a Parade, beneath the mountains majesty of the west’s national parks at the height of tourist season, opening night at a posh film festival. Anywhere. Any time. Anything. Behind murmur of the crowd, motors are heard racing. The sound grows. Then the cars appear. CarmageddonTV has begun a TV show that ambushes public events, cars racing around, performing stunts, mowing down spectators, all for broadcast on a pirate television broadcast that cuts into network programs. CTV has no sacred cows, and if they did, they’d be shish kebab along with the rest. It’s subversive, anarchistic, murderous and gets very high ratings. CarmageddonTV wakes people up. In an overstimulated world, the only thrill is the kill. Dying is the only way to live. And people want to see that. The government and the networks want to shut it down, because if the people pay attention to that kind of carnage, they might notice other things happening in the world.

The people who bring you CarmageddonTV say: “Get a life, or someone will take it from you. And it might as well be us!

Trailer

A short teaser trailer was officially released by Mark Knight (Sound Designer at Visual Science) at the end of 2008. The trailer does not show any gameplay, just the SCi games logo, and it cannot be confirmed if it was created during the game's development, as the game was cancelled long before this trailer was out.

Characters

By the end of development, only ten characters were said to exist. Characters which names are unknown are marked with a (*)

  • John Damage - Protagonist & son of Max Damage.
  • Keiko - Name is mentioned in a Truck concept, as a possible driver for it.
  • Chester - Commentator.
  • All American driver* - Driver of the Roadster.
  • Tattooed woman* - Unknown.
  • Red Armor driver* - Unknown.
  • Nutter - Early character; Dropped mid-development[7].
  • Babygro - Early character; Dropped mid-development[7].
  • Wrestler - Early character; Dropped mid-development[7].
  • Racer - Early character; Dropped mid-development[7].

Cars

According to the design documents, the game was going to feature 16 distinct vehicles to play as. Each car was planned to be customizable, with the player being able to change colors, decals, attach weapons, armor, and change parts of the car's body shape. These are all the known ones that were planned for Carmageddon TV, and some of them might have been scrapped for some time before the game was cancelled (it is possible some names are incorrect and may need further research).

  • Mustang (starter vehicle)[8]
  • Bandit
  • Caracharadon[9]
  • Clipper
  • Humvee
  • JCB
  • Kiku
  • Kodiak
  • Mayback
  • MRT
  • Pickup
  • Piranha
  • Roadster
  • SUV
  • Truck
  • Viper / NSX

Locations

The game was going to feature 8 locations in total, each of them being separated into groups.

Gallery

Credits (incomplete)

  • Ken Fee - Creative Director / Temporary Project Manager
  • Grant Clarke - Lead Developer
  • Pat McGovern - Design Leader
  • Iain Anderson - Lead Vehicle Artist
  • Jim Thompson - Level Designer
  • Mark Traynor - Lead Front-end (UX/UI) Designer
  • David Guthrie - Main Physics Programmer
  • Paul Walker - Freelance Vehicle Artist
  • Alan Redmond - Zoo Animals Animator[8]
  • Mark Knight - Audio Director
  • Andrew Parton - Audio Programmer

External links

References

Carmageddon games (cat)
Main titles Carmageddon · Carmageddon II: Carpocalypse Now · Carmageddon: TDR 2000 · Carmageddon: Reincarnation
Expansion Packs Carmageddon Splat Pack · The Nosebleed Pack
Console & Handheld titles Carmageddon (Game Boy Color) · Carmageddon (PlayStation) · Carmageddon 64 · Carmageddon (Mobile) · Carmageddon (Funsize) · Carmageddon: Crashers
Cancelled titles Carmageddon: TDR 2000 (Game Boy Color) · Carmageddon (Gizmondo) · Carmageddon TV · Carmageddon 4 Ever · Crude Awakening