The Simpsons: Road Rage (Alpha 3) - Going start-to-end on each map

[@DoctorInk20]

I always used to think _Hit & Run_ had the better Springfield, but the overall _Road Rage_ map has such an impressive scale and detail to it. I seriously used to feel this game was barren and lifeless, but there's actually a nice buzz about the urban areas and a serenity to the natural environments. It's been a long time since I've played it, or even seen gameplay footage, but I have no idea what made me think _Road Rage_ was just made up of randomly placed locations from the show. There's a cohesion to the places that feels organic, mostly due to the space, which on reflection makes _Hit & Run_ feels more cramped together. I still like _Hit & Run's_ layout, but the sprawl on display here - be it fully or partially interconnected - is something I'd like to see in a cartoony game again.

[@therealzachmanawesomeness]

After looking through how these maps connected, I can definitely see why the devs had to chop the entire map up into the six levels we got for the final game. Though the transitions to each level were really cool to see, there were some spots where either the terrain or the models in the map were looking a bit funky. For example, the Springfield Mountains to Evergreen Terrace transition has part of the road being distorted. Also you could see the mountains behind the Evergreen Terrace section by going there from the Mountains in this build, though the mountains' textures appear stretched. While this map looks almost like the final and not the earlier E3 build in regards to the textures since the textures , the levels were still chopped up from what I can see but the current and the next level after it are still connected, for example the transition between Springfield Dam and Nuclear Power Plant with that barn in the middle to mark where the two maps connect. It kinda reminds me of Road Rage Returns, where those two levels were connected in the same way. That transition had some funky collision since there was a slight jump when exiting the barn. The transition from Downtown to Springfield Mountains was really cool, actually. I saw what looked like a country club of sorts during the transition before the ascend to the actual area where you spawn at Springfield Mountains. Judging by the fact that the surrounding area looks incomplete, maybe the Downtown or Springfield Mountains level was going to include that specific building before all of the levels were chopped more by the time the game released? Still, being able to explore more than one map almost like the earlier E3 prototype is rather interesting but at least in this prototype the devs installed barriers at this point in development so that you can no longer go out of bounds in that way. The early E3 prototype did include all three maps to explore but the Dam level was incomplete and the barn that acts as the end of the Dam level for the final game doesn't appear to be made yet and the player could go into the void and fall forever. Then in the final game the levels were assumed to have chopped up a bit more. All in all, this was a very cool prototype of a great Simpsons game.

[@DonJuan-xe5pd]

Mostly the portion had to be cut because of the technical limitations that occurred in the PS2 version, where it couldn't load the entire map of jointed levels sharply like what the Xbox did.

[@Minchken]

I feel like that Dam and Downtown should switch spots.

[@Journey_to_who_knows]

I really wish they expanded on this for the next game, the race track layout for shar held it back. Spots like 2:00 just feel so organic and plausible to exist in.. though the transition to downtown was pretty jank so I guess they just ran out of time to bridge them properly and gave up.

[@JesusMartinez-rr2ry]

This is the closest thing to all 6 Road Rage maps being connected I would ever find.

[@evanhanley6437]

Great to see you back man. Managed to find some old trailers for this game. Will share them one day.

[@Edness]

Yeah, been a surprisingly long time since I last uploaded, huh

[@glitchedblood]

I wonder why Downtown crashes so much in this build. Too many objects?

[@TheDarkwingj]

If Simpsons road rage gets a remake but never will they should combine all the maps into one big map

[@MikesTOONTOWN]

Quick question, will this work on a Softmodded Xbox or is it only made to run on Development Hardware?

[@Edness]

It can run on a softmodded Xbox, if you have Phoenix BIOS Loader set up to load devkit firmware. I can't remember whether it ran without it or not.

[@MikesTOONTOWN]

@@Edness I just tried it on a softmodded Xbox without that Loader and it works. The only issues I can name are Mission 3 crashes every time you leave it. (making the Car Built For Homer Impossible to unlock in this build) and if you score over $10000 The game will freeze at the part where Mr. Burns is supposed to say something.