Crashday Preview

It's not every day that you see a developer that openly admits that the game they are making is inspired by Carmageddon. Carmageddon was openly insulting, controversive and revolutionary in it's own way, but when someone tries to give a new twist to the genre, bring in some new ideas and concepts to the table, that's when it becomes interesting. Moonbyte Studios is a small developement studio from Germany, and they've got a nice surprise in store for all of us.

In this preview, we bring you 7 exclusive screenshots of this amazing looking title, and an exclusive interview with Moonbyte's head of developement - Robert Clemens.

[Features] (from www.moonbyte.de)

General Features

• stunt racing game with realistic stunt physics
• absolute freedom of movement
• 14 different, varietal cars
• tuning kits & (optional) weapons
• physical/optical car damage (real-time)
• 5 opponents with 3 traits of character
• powerful track editor
• replay
• 3 game types:
  - single mode
  - career mode
  - multiplayer (LAN and internet)

Game Modes:

• stunt mode: points for stunts, jump, roll overs, flips, spins etc.
• wrecking mode: wreck your opponents before you get wrecked
• checkpoint mode: race through the track as first
• deathmatch: the endless circle of life and death :) (multiplayer mode)
• secret mode: ???

Visual Features:

• Moon Byte's PropsFXEngine (DirectX)
• Different settings for varying moods
• Detailed, photographed textures
• 3D objects based on real-life environments
• Vehicles with environment maps and damage maps
• Haze, corona and lens flare effects
• Particle effects for sparks, explosions, smoke or parts that fly around

As you can see, the game will have quite a lot to offer. It will offer four game types, plus a secret game mode which we know nothing about, a powerful track editor and replay engine to ensure replayability. Also, MoonByte have stated that they will further support the community with patches, editors and so on. The multiplayer mode will offer LAN support for off-line multiplay and internet support so you can bash your friends all over the world.

[Screenshots]

[Interview]

- Moonbyte is somewhat of a new name in the gaming world. How did Moonbyte come to be?
> We just started thinking about a nice game we could make and then we became game developers :)
No seriously, we don't really have a big, long history. Actually we started as a hobby development
team and now we're going to produce our first commercial title with Crashday.

- Where did the idea for Crashday come from?
> We were inspired by such great games as "Stunts" or "Carmageddon" and we really wanted to play a mix of those two games for ourselves. Stunts had a very powerful track editor and no game until today had this again, so Crashday was nearly born ;)

- The driving game genre is often overlooked by the 'bigger boys' in the industry, yet driving games often create quite a following. What's your view on this oddity?
> I think driving games are loved by many players and I'd personally like to play more titles in this genre. I don't know, maybe it's also that often developers/publishers think that you need expensive licenses for every sportscar in the world to build up a successful game, but I'm not really of that opinion.

- Computer speed has obviously increased over time. You mention a 500+ mhz system as a good platform to play Crashday. Looking at today's hardware, what's the system you'd reccomend for playing Crashday?
> We cannot really give any detailed information on this as we'll rework a lot on our engine soon and port to DirectX9.
This will probably _really_ change the requirements. A DirectX 8.1 card will be a must and the game should run fine with a 1GHz I suppose.

- This is mentioned on your website, but I have to ask - what about a playable demo? Will we see it anytime soon?
> A playable demo will come, but not yet soon :) Sorry.

- Have you ever shown Crashday on any game expos, such as the E3 or ECTS? If yes, what has the response been like?
> We've shown Crashday at Germany's GC last year (simultaneously to ECTS) and we've got received a lot of positive feedback there.

- The physics engine seems to be pretty powerfull. Will the cars bend accordingly to impacts in real time (like in Carmageddon), or is the damage model pre-made (like in GTA3)?
> It's all real time damage, so every dent will be where it is expect it to be. ;)

- Will the cars have interiors? The screenshots show only the exterior of the cars.
> Yes they will have interiors with drivers but we're not sure if we'll have completely modeled cockpits.

- Can you tell me more about the cars themselves? Any special features besides the weapons?
> You'll be able to buy several tuning parts like wings for them and you can install different types of afterburner systems (like NOS or even a jet engine)

- What cars that will be in the game?
> We'll feature a variety of sports cars, urban cars and some offroad vehicles, too. So the player will be able to choose a car that suits to next the racing modes conditions.

- How free will the enviroments be? Will we be able to roam freely around the tracks, or will we be limited to a predefined course/segment of the track?
> You won't be limited in any way except it's the world border. Seriously speaking, you can go up roofes, running over mountains and hills or jump from a kick-ass jump directly into your neighbour's house ;)

- Why no pedestrians? :)
> Emmh... :) No, we're focusing more on stunts and wrecking instead of running over pedestratians :)

- Will the game feature a multiplayer mode, and if yes, what game types can we expect to see?
> Of course there will be network and online gaming support. You'll be able to play all single player race modes
and maybe some slight variations of them for multiplayer.

- On the site, the SDK is mentioned as a way to edit/create tracks and cars. Will the SDK be come with the game, or will users be able to download it from your website?
> If the tools are user-friendly enough at the date of release we might ship it together with the game, the other way it would be available for download.

- Many developers/publishers make the mistake of forgetting about a game after it's release. Do you plan to support the community with update patches and bugfixes?
> Obviously! Patches and bugfixes are a must anyway, but we're also thinking about add-ons with new cars, tracks and track
pieces.

- The obvious question - when will we see the final product?
> I hope in 2003.

- And in the end, how do you see the future for Moonbyte?
> First we'll complete the title and then lay down for a break :) Maybe there's some room left for a follow-up
of Crashday in the future.

- Oh, and who drives the Astra in real life? :)
> Astra?! :)

You can find more information about the game, including more screenshots and movies at the game's official website - http://www.crashday.com. And in the end, I'd like to thank Robert Clemens for taking the time to answer our questions and send us the screenshots!