Flatout

[Erkki]

Yep, physics are great for a racing game. And the ragdoll is completely unnecessary and it is offensive to me. I'm not offended by Hitman in any way, or even Porrasturvat (Stair Dismount?) but I am by this game for some reason.

And did they really need that "Ragdoll Olympics" game mode where you throw the driver as high as possible...

[Lindset]

I'm not offended by the ragdoll, but it is annoying and pointless. I think multiplayer will be a blast

[Erkki]

Heh, the minigame is actually kind of fun. In the way that Misse&Murre is fun. Maybe I'm not so much offended, as sad that they are really not helping the bad rep games get for being too violent. And in this game it actually is completely pointless and gratuituous or what's that word.

If the drivers would get up after a crash or something, like all the bad guys in A-Team (hello, ), it would be more tolerable, but no, they look very dead and the slo-mo thing that goes with that flight etc., it's just bad taste.

But the other parts of the game seem ok. I'm lately not a big racing game fan though.

[ysbreker]

I think you're all over reacting a bit about the ragdoll drivers. You sound like a bunch of overprotective parents who want to ban all violence from the screen. If this game was the next carmageddon, then I could understand some of your reactions, but this title doesn't even show any blood, the driver doesn't loose any limbs.His facial expression doesn't even change when he's thrown 100 meters into the air So what is the problem?

[Huz]

Having played the demo now, I agree completely about the ragdolls - I got over being offended pretty quickly and am now just wondering why, man, why? Watching an unconvincing limp human mannequin fly unrealistically through the air is actually less fun than watching your car come to a crunching standstill, I think.

So I've gone from being offended by the ragdolls' mere presence to being offended by their pointlessness. They really add nothing to the game, other than perhaps a bit of notoriety and more "omg games are evil" denouncements, and as such are completely unjustifiable. Pffft.

Also I might take advantage of Game's 10-day return policy to 'rent' this game... ssh.

[Jaero]

I adore the game industry more than anything. It has great aim, an expert marksman you might say. As long as what it's aiming at is its own foot.

[Fum]

I have to say, once you get good at this game, it's awesomely good. The amount of detail is amazing, I love how the A.I. is as aggressive and reckless as the me, not caring about getting smashed up, or smashing other people up. And on the dirt course (my favorite) I really feel like I'm digging into the mud when I peal out and around corners. And then the physics and damage modeling is fantastic. This is probably the most fun I've had with a driving game since NFS: High Stakes.

[Erkki]

I have to say, once you get good at this game, it's awesomely good.

The demo seemed pretty difficult though. At least the dirt track. Driving on the asphalt was relatively easy, but on the dirt exponentially harder. Well I guess that's true in real life too. If I actually manage to get good at the demo, I might actually buy this game (still think those ragdolls are unnecessary and bad taste, but I can live with it if the game is really good)

[Fum]

Yeah, I was damn frustrated at first, especially on the dirt level, but I've had nothing better to do the past few days and I got pretty decent and gauging how much slippage I will incur at what speeds. A fairly steep learning curb, but once you start to get it down its wicked fun, it feels very raw and realistic. And I think I heard that in the full version you can strap a seatbelt on, or if I'm making that up, I'm sure they'll add that option in a patch.

[Kolzig]

Cool!

Play.com is getting faster every day, It took them 3 days to deliver me my copy of Flat-Out!

Goodbye demo, hello full game!

Woah, I immediately drove all the way through the Bronze cup... This is one addictive game.

BTW, here's an interesting quote from one of the designer's of the game from a forum.

"Why didn't we include the realistic sim mode? We simply didn't have time for it. The hardcore simmers that wants this are very vocal, but face the fact theres, maybe 10 000 in the world, that would buy the game, and some more that would pirate it.

So for the work it would have needed, and the delay of the release date, many of the deciding people didn't see it neccessary. If you ask me, then I would have had somewhat different priorities, but that's just me.

Additionally you might ask, why did we include this much helpers in the first hand? The answer is we didn't want to but were forced to. We had to change the physics multiple times to satisfy Sony America."

EDIT: Actually here's the whole post by Fred

http://flatouthq.planet-multiplayer.de/forum/index.php?showtopic=122

[Jayel]

I don't think I've ever watched a race where a driver gets flown out the wind shield. Man, this is totally over the top.

5 stars!

[Kolzig]

There isn't a easily accessible multiplayer in the game ye, except of LAN for up to 8 players of course.

But you can play normal multiplayer at the moment via direct connect to the host's ip

commandline is:

flatout.exe -join=THE IP HERE

flatout.exe -host

But by using the finnish fan made FlatOut Joiner.exe, you can avoid all that command line crap.

http://www.bob-game.info/flatout_joiner.zip

And there is a project in the making that will include a server list, and then you can see all the gameservers and connect directly, like in many games.

AND the best of all, you CAN turn off the ragdoll feature in the multiplayer if the host wants so!

I tested the multiplayer with a friend of mine and there was no lag, everything worked smoothly, and it was superb to race without the ragdoll!

[Fum]

My financial situation has turned out to be allot better then I had thought, I'm definitely going to place an order for this tonight.

[Kolzig]

Here's a 0.2 beta version of the server list program I mentioned.

http://mirror.paha.net/FlatOutNet.zip

http://koti.mbnet.fi/juzaria/FlatOutNet.zip

And this is finnish fan made too.

It's still not working very well, but if you give the makers some time, it'll be a great program.

[Huz]

OK, fine, this game is pretty awesome. Anyone want a game over the interweb?

[Erkki]

Finally managed to come second in the dirt track. The computer drivers were better than me at some bends (or curves? or what do you call em?), but I managed to block their way often.

But in a big crash I always seem to be the loser i.e. the one who ends up facing the wrong way And this game is one of the few where I've seen computer drivers crash without my involvement (I don't play that many racing games any more though, NFS Underground was the last I played, and Porche Unleashed before that, plus some demos every now and then). And one driver aggressively tried to push me against some object on the side of the track.

This game is good. How many tracks are there in the full game?

[edit]Oh, 45 tracks. In 8 locations.

Some of the cars are front wheel drive, right? I never really liked to drive rear wheel drive cars in games.

[toblix]

The biggest flaw in this entire game is the focus on the utterly lame ragdoll effects. Whenever my car crashes spectacularly and starts twisting and bouncing all over the place, I want to see it, preferably in slow motion. I do not want to see some half-assed man figure being tossed into the woods acting all unrealistically.

[Kolzig]

Because of the lameass publisher Empire Interactive, ,many features were cut from FlatOut.

Like bonus tracks, bonus cars, car repair screen, a fully supported internet multiplayer with lobby and maybe even the ragdoll on/off switch in single player among other things.

Empire wanted the game out right now before christmas and not next spring. But still the game is great, and the community just keeps on getting bigger everyday.

Now there's also another server list program out there, Flatout Launchpad.

www.flatouthq.com is good site for unofficial add ons and stuff for FlatOut.

How many tracks are there in the full game?

[edit]Oh, 45 tracks. In 8 locations.

The game has 36 tracks + 6 ragdoll tracks and 3 destruction bowls and 3 dirt tracks.

And 18 cars if I counted correctly.

[ysbreker]

Bad move by empire interactive.. They should have waited till spring next year, Because the game would have been sooo mcuh better if it had gotten that extra few months for the final polish. This game is clearly rushed and is basically not finished. Shame on you empire interactive! Shame! on! you!

[Erkki]

Wait, so the game IS out already? I seemed to read that earlier in this thread but couldn't find that place... and GameSpot still says Q1 2005.

[Kolzig]

Well, if you haven't noticed it earlier, gamespot is a *dumbass* american site.

In USA Flatout is out in Q1 2005, but in Europe it's been out since 5th of November.

www.play.com £17.99

[Erkki]

How's that for a realistic car-accident:

In this pic I've already fallen down a bit so I was even higher. And the accident happened about 150-200 meters away, not on the road that is visible here.

Damn it, I tried to go to sleep but the sand man was taking a vacation... now I'll probably sleep till noon once I fall asleep...

[Kolzig]

http://www.homelanfed.com/index.php?id=27522

Oh yeah! 90 points!

Graphically the PC version of FlatOut is, quite simply, outstanding. The cars are highly detailed and Bugbear has an excellent damage model that can really render the dents and destruction of the vehicles. The environments are also well done as well.

The game is already out in Europe and is due for release in the US in early 2005 and based on our playing with the European final version of the game we think it could be a big sleeper hit.

[Erkki]

Wohoo! Ok, as I've said already I've not played that many racing games lately, but FlatOut is one of the best I've ever played! Seriously.

At least the actual driving is the best ever! it just looks great, feels great, sounds great, has great physics and AI etc. etc.

Is BugBear's previous game (Rally Trophy was it?) any good? Hmm... seems to be. GameSpot says it's Racing Game of the Year 2002. And avg. score is 83.3% Gotta try a demo.

[Erkki]

To hell with Half-life, I can't stop playing this one! A bit disappointed by the winter tracks. They look better than any winter track I've seen in other games, but it just doesn't feel like snow & ice. It seems to me the traction is nearly identical with the dirt roads. (Colin McRae rally games do the snow & ice pretty good I think)

But the crashes are just lovely against that white. Seem to happen more often with the computer opponents in this track.