r/carmageddon

This is something that has been on my mind since Rogue Shift came out, a game that has had a polarizing reaction in the community (I'm on the "I REALLY don't like it" side), and with the game not doing well at all, it makes me wonder what the series could do in a future game going forward to bring the series back? Or alternatively.....should the series be allowed to rest for good.

Look, as much as we love the earlier titles, that style of game may not hold up well to modern audiences in a highly competitive landscape, and it's very likely the old formula isn't going to work anymore. So I do wonder what the Carmageddon franchise could do to spice things up without losing the core of what made the series fun to begin with. Maybe it could be doing more with the characters and the world, or evolving the gameplay in some way to make it able to compete with contemporary games. I feel there are many ideas the series could do evolve the series without losing what made the early games popular to begin with. And it's not like new ideas aren't a bad thing, the concept of an event driven Carmageddon with roguelike gameplay is a neat idea on paper.

Rogue Shift ultimately was an attempt to modernize the series, but unlike other successful reboot attempts, they basically threw away everything that made these games have a fanbase in the first place, no matter how niche it may be, and didn't really provide anything new that was substantial to draw in new fans. I mean besides the loss of the series' dark/crude humor, dystopian setting and open world gameplay, the game lacked personality with it's bland zombie setting and zero characters (even compared to older games), had mid gameplay that got old and repetitive fast, and the poor handling on launch was just icing on the cake (seriously, for a game that tried so hard to be a serious racer in a franchise that was never a serious racer, good car controls should be the #1 thing to get correct right out of the gate, no amount of post launch patching will fix that).

But I also wonder if maybe Carmageddon just doesn't have a place in the modern gaming landscape anymore, especially with how the satire and carnage doesn't have the same bite as before, not to mention with how cynical the world, and media in general overall, has become. Running people over with a car isn't as novel to people as it once was, and sadly the series doesn't have as much staying power as other franchises, especially with it not having any characters that really stand out in comparison to other games. I genuinely thought Max Damage would be the end of the series for a long time, and made peace with that, but after seeing what we got when they tried rebooting it, there is a cynical, asshole part of me that wonders if Max Damage SHOULD have been the end of the series......

I love these games, but I do believe that if any future entries can't innovate without at least keeping the spirit of the classic games, then maybe it's time to let Carmageddon rest for good and let it be a find relic of the 90s......

Sorry for the depressing post that may or may not be poorly worded, but this is something that has been on my mind lately and I wanted to get these thoughts out to fellow Carmageddon nerds.......

Feel free to discuss in the comments, please just keep things civil.

I just got this game off of GOG, having fond memories of it as a kid in the late '90s, and am excited to play it. I installed the guy's mod off of Github and dove in - it looked and played well.

However, I quickly realized it's either really hard or I'm not playing it right. The big problem I'm having, as others have noted, is the handling. It feels less like you're driving the car and more like you're fighting to control it to go where you want to go. It's quite frustrating when the core mechanic to the game isn't just racing, but trying to specifically navigate your way into squashing people - when that precise navigation feels difficult you're left wondering what you're doing wrong.

I figured there would be some way to upgrade your handling, but that doesn't seem to be the case. I also can't figure out how to unlock more cars. I figured perhaps it would happen naturally I continued to play, but I'm having quite a bit of difficulty on the second track (the one with the loop-de-loop). Which led me to wonder: am I playing this game wrong? Is there something I'm missing? Perhaps it's just an issue with retro game design and you're supposed to bash your head against it, in which case maybe I should just jump to the sequel (have they fixed handling there)?

Perhaps you're just supposed to grind away at the first track until you can upgrade your car (does any of the three main stats help with handling)? Or perhaps I need to learn the courses better to speed through them quickly and get a better car with better handling?

Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks!

https://preview.redd.it/2lfvkcme7j9h1.png?width=1977&format=png&auto=webp&s=5eb6daa13f085d4f7ffa31a9342cbe0a8c9a1204