Viper Racing
Encyclopedia
Viper Racing is a Dodge-licensed
3D
car racing game
, released in 1998 on the Windows
PC
platform. It was the first commercially-released game developed by Monster Games
.
Upon release, Viper Racing received the Editor's Choice award from PC Gamer
magazine.
In Viper Racing, the player could take control of a Dodge Viper, or of one of the few bonus vehicles, including a super car and a small airplane. The game featured several tracks, several pre-generated color/striping layouts, and a carpainter. This carpainter generated a template of the entire car, which could then be painted and decorated with decals and race numbers.
Another feature was the hornball, which was enabled via the options menu. If the player enabled it, and would press the horn while racing, a black/grey ball would be launched from the front of the car. The in-game physics engine simulated this ball as very heavy and made of a strong material. Cars could suffer severe damage if the ball crashed into them. A prior-launched ball would disappear though if the player launched another.
Next to the unusual hornball, the game featured a flip option for the car. Flipping the car depended on how long and how fast the button was pressed. If done properly, the player could make the car crawl through the water and get back on land, or could make the car flip around and land on its wheels. However, when on land, flipping caused damage, also if the car would land on its wheels.
While racing, the player could choose between around 7 or 8 cameras, including several chase and top-down views, a bumper camera, and a camera similar to the bumper camera, but with the front wheels and suspension visible. There was also an interior camera, but from the outside, players could not look inside the car.
The game featured a deformation-only damage model. Minor paint scratches could appear on the body, but eventually the damage model could make cars unrecognizable and undrivable. No parts would fall off however. Cars could even suffer severe damage by hitting signs, but driving into the water would have no consequences to the driving behaviour of the car.
Dodge Viper
The first prototype was tested in January 1989. It debuted in 1991 with two pre-production models as the pace car for the Indianapolis 500 when Dodge was forced to substitute it in place of the Japanese-built Stealth because of complaints from the United Auto Workers, and went on sale in January...
3D
3D computer graphics
3D computer graphics are graphics that use a three-dimensional representation of geometric data that is stored in the computer for the purposes of performing calculations and rendering 2D images...
car racing game
Racing game
A racing video game is a genre of video games, either in the first-person or third-person perspective, in which the player partakes in a racing competition with any type of land, air, or sea vehicles. They may be based on anything from real-world racing leagues to entirely fantastical settings...
, released in 1998 on the Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
PC
Personal computer
A personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator...
platform. It was the first commercially-released game developed by Monster Games
Monster Games
Monster Games, Inc. is an independent video game development studio in Northfield, Minnesota, USA that specializes in racing games. The company was founded in 1996.-Games developed:*1998 - Viper Racing *2000 - NASCAR Heat...
.
Upon release, Viper Racing received the Editor's Choice award from PC Gamer
PC Gamer
PC Gamer is a magazine founded in Britain in 1993 devoted to PC gaming and published monthly by Future Publishing. The magazine has several regional editions, with the UK and US editions becoming the best selling PC games magazines in their respective countries...
magazine.
In Viper Racing, the player could take control of a Dodge Viper, or of one of the few bonus vehicles, including a super car and a small airplane. The game featured several tracks, several pre-generated color/striping layouts, and a carpainter. This carpainter generated a template of the entire car, which could then be painted and decorated with decals and race numbers.
Another feature was the hornball, which was enabled via the options menu. If the player enabled it, and would press the horn while racing, a black/grey ball would be launched from the front of the car. The in-game physics engine simulated this ball as very heavy and made of a strong material. Cars could suffer severe damage if the ball crashed into them. A prior-launched ball would disappear though if the player launched another.
Next to the unusual hornball, the game featured a flip option for the car. Flipping the car depended on how long and how fast the button was pressed. If done properly, the player could make the car crawl through the water and get back on land, or could make the car flip around and land on its wheels. However, when on land, flipping caused damage, also if the car would land on its wheels.
While racing, the player could choose between around 7 or 8 cameras, including several chase and top-down views, a bumper camera, and a camera similar to the bumper camera, but with the front wheels and suspension visible. There was also an interior camera, but from the outside, players could not look inside the car.
The game featured a deformation-only damage model. Minor paint scratches could appear on the body, but eventually the damage model could make cars unrecognizable and undrivable. No parts would fall off however. Cars could even suffer severe damage by hitting signs, but driving into the water would have no consequences to the driving behaviour of the car.
External links
- Viper Racing at Game RankingsGame RankingsGameRankings is a website that collects review scores from both offline and online sources to give an average rating. It indexes over 315,000 articles relating to more than 14,500 games.GameRankings is owned by CBS Interactive...
- VRGT, new cars and tracks, updated game, utilities, on-line racing series, forum
- Misc files, tips, tricks, building your own cars and tracks — for Viper Racing
- Impreza WRX's Car Creation or Conversion Tutorial for Viper Racing