Hi-Octane

Infobox VG
title = Hi-Octane


caption = Cover of the PlayStation version
developer = Bullfrog Productions
publisher = Electronic Arts
designer =
engine = Modified "Magic Carpet" engine
released = 1995
genre = Racing/Vehicular combat
modes = Single player, Multiplayer (Split screen, Hotseat or LAN)
ratings = ESRB: Kids to Adults
USK: 12+
OFLC: G8+
platforms = PC (DOS), PlayStation, Saturn
media = 1 CD-ROM
requirements = 486, 8MB RAM
input = Joystick, Keyboard

"Hi-Octane" is a racing/vehicular combat video game released in 1995 for the PC, Sony PlayStation and Sega Saturn developed by Bullfrog and based upon their earlier "Magic Carpet" game code.

It is notable amongst racing games for its wide and open tracks, and the resulting freedom offered to the player, and also for its excessive speed. It suffered in the marketplace due to thematic similarities with the better received "Wipeout" by Psygnosis and the generality of its graphics engine made for a very short depth of view compared to contemporary racing games.

"Hi-Octane" is rumored to begin life as something several Bullfrog programmers coded in free time, and then decided to improve the game and market it under the auspices of Electronic Arts. Another version of the legend is: EA set Bullfrog under pressure to release "Dungeon Keeper" or "Magic Carpet 2" - but they weren't able to. So they released "Hi-Octane", a quickly done game.

In Gamasutra article it was mentioned that "PC and Saturn racing game "Hi-Octane", was developed in just eight weeks using the "Magic Carpet engine", as a way to “fill a quarter that didn't have enough revenue”." [ [http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=13676 Gamasutra - Playing Catch Up: Flood 's Sean Cooper ] ]

Details

The game offers a choice of six hovercraft vehicles differentiated by their top speed, armour, firepower, weight and appearance. There are six tracks to race on, with names like New Chernobyl which hint at a bleak cyberpunk world, though the plot is never really explained in the game. The tracks offer different difficulties, various textures and types of landscape like wastelands and city streets.

The weapons available are minigun and missile. Minigun has unlimited ammo but warms up while firing and locks up for some time on overheat; missiles cause more damage but their ammo are limited. Fuel is spent while driving, a car with empty fuel has to wait some time until it is given a small amount of fuel. Shield goes down under fire, and when it reaches zero, the car is shot down and has to spend some time recovering. Death is not permanent but kills add to the player's score.

Booster allows to increase the car's speed for a short time, recharging with time. The boost uses small amounts of Missile ammo.

Certain parts of the track allow to recharge vehicle's fuel, shields or ammo, although at the cost of slowing down. There are also power-ups on the tracks, recharging fuel/shield/ammo (10, 100 or 200%) or upgrading the car's minigun, missile or booster, for more power. Other parts of the tracks changed in the course of racing, opening shortcuts or places with scattered upgrades for a short time.

The different vehicles display different attribute values. Though the vehicles appear different sizes, the collision volumes are all identical meaning that you are just as likely to hit something with the Outrider as you are with the Jugga.

There are four camera views, switched while playing: three of them are from behind the vehicle with one being further away than the other, and the fourth view is from the front of the car, with no parts of the car obscuring the sight.

The graphics in the DOS version are VGA resolution of 320x240 or SVGA at 640x480 pixels, both 256 colors. Today, "Hi-Octane" can be run in a Windows 2000/XP environment using a very specific DosBox setup. [ [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YieWKewTIK0# Hi-Octane (With guide to play it on your PC!)] - instructions at a Youtube page] It runs well in Windows 9x (speed of the game differs in different resolutions, VGA will play very fast on modern computers). A 80486DX2-66 will run the game very smooth with the least details.

Addon

Bullfrog later released an addon pack for "Hi-Octane" which included additional features made for the Saturn version and was also released for the PC. These extra features included:

3 new tracks:
* Ancient Mine Town (6 laps)
* Arctic Land (6 laps)
* Death Match Arena (5 laps), designed specifically for death match race

New game modes:
* Clone Race (the computer creates a clone of the player's car, programmed with the best ever lap. The best lap in each track is saved automatically)
* Death Match (using a set or infinite number of lives)
* Split Screen Single Race
* Hot Seat (allows up to seven players to compete in a race at once, each player uses the same control pad and plays for the set up amount of time. The other players are controlled with an autopilot while they are not in control). The one noticeable disadvantage about this game mode is that the number of players playing Hot Seat will all have the same car, instead of separate cars. An external camera view is added, however without control of the car. (You also hear your opponent's car sound while in this view even if there is no enemy car beside you)

Easter Egg: In the PC version, sitting under the eave and firing a missile just as a CPU car touches you will unlock a hidden CPU vehicle.

References

External links

*moby game|id=/hi-octane|name="Hi-Octane"
*" [http://www.segasaturn.co.uk/games/pal/H/hioctane/ Hi-Octane] " at [http://www.segasaturn.co.uk SegaSaturn.co.uk]