Hard Drivin'

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 This article does not cite any references or sources. (December 2007)
Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed.
Hard Drivin'
Flyer
Developer(s) Atari Games Applied Research Group, Tengen, Sterling Silver Software, Domark
Publisher(s) Atari Games
Distributor(s) Electro Source
Designer(s) Atari
Platform(s) Arcade, Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari Lynx, Atari ST, Commodore 64, DOS, Sega Mega Drive/Genesis, ZX Spectrum
Release date Arcade in 1988, Amiga in 1989, Amstrad CPC in 1989, Atari ST in 1989, Commodore 64 in 1989, DOS in 1990, ZX Spectrum in 1990, Sega Mega Drive/Genesis in 1990/91, Atari Lynx in 1991
Genre(s) Driving, Racing, Simulation
Mode(s) 2 players
Input methods Steering wheel, Pedals
Cabinet Sit-down
Display Horizontal Raster, 504 x 384

Hard Drivin' is an arcade game that invites players to test drive a high-powered sports car on stunt and speed courses. The game features the first 3D polygon driving environment via a simulator cabinet, rendered with a non-dedicated PC architecture.[citation needed] The steering wheel was also the first in arcade gaming history to provide force feedback on car impact.[citation needed] The force feedback, car physics simulator, game design and most game programming were done by Max Behensky.

Contents

[edit] History

Hard Drivin' was originally meant to be a high speed chase simulator for police, but when the government no longer wanted it, the people at Atari added a Stunt track and sold it as an arcade machine.[citation needed]

[edit] Gameplay

The gameplay resembles a driving game, featuring a car similar in appearance to the Ferrari Testarossa. To separate it from other driving titles of that era, stunt loops and other road hazards were added. The game generally consists of 1 or 2 laps around the stunt track. In certain modes, the player races against the computer controlled car, Phantom Photon. The game challenges the players in a daredevil fashion and broke away from traditional racing games like Out Run or Pole Position. Stunts, a racing game produced later, has similar visuals, controls and tracks.

It also features a realistic manual transmission mode and force feedback steering wheel , in which the driver would have to properly operate the car as they would in real life.

[edit] Sequels

  1. Race Drivin' (1990)
  2. Hard Drivin' II - Drive Harder (1991, Atari ST, Commodore Amiga)
  3. Hard Drivin's Airborne (1993) (unreleased)
  4. Street Drivin' (1993) (unreleased)

[edit] Ports

In total, there were 15 official releases for the arcade, counting 11 cockpit and 4 compact versions, including various British, German and Japanese versions. The game was ported to various 8- and 16-bit platforms in 1989/1990, and to the Gamecube, Playstation 2 and Xbox (Midway Arcade Treasures 2 collection) in 2004.

[edit] Similar games

The PC and Amiga game Stunts is quite similar to the Hard Drivin', series, featuring car acrobatics, a 3D polygon environment, and user-designable tracks.

[edit] Physics

The engine, transmission control, springs and cabinet physics were modeled by Doug Milliken who was listed as a test driver in the game credit. In the 1950s his father William Milliken of Milliken Research was considered one of the world's leading experts in car modeling.[citation needed]

[edit] Easter eggs

  • One of the buildings along the speed course, a small camouflage-painted building, if approached from behind (a non-trivial task, given the off-road time limit) has a sign above its normally-unseen door that says "The Hut".
  • If the driver made a hard left turn at the start of the game, a 'secret' track was available. The track was a long straight road leading to a very short circular track (a skid pad test track) around a tower.
  • If the driver slowed down and stopped in front of one of the buildings, a 'keyhole' appeared on the building's door.
  • Running into a cow will result in a "moo" sound to be played.

[edit] Miscellanea

 Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines.
The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.
  • Prior to the release of Hard Drivin', Namco had acquired a controlling interest in Atari games by 1986. The sharing of R&D information would spawn many games using the same polygon engine years later.
  • A free, playable version of Hard Drivin' was displayed in the Franklin Institute Science Museum in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1989.

[edit] External links