Hi-Octane
Encyclopedia
Hi-Octane is a racing
/vehicular combat video game released in 1995
for the PC
, 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”."
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-up
s 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. 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.
3 new tracks:
New game modes:
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...
/vehicular combat video game released in 1995
1995 in video gaming
-Events:*May 11 – Introduction of trade magazine GameWeek *May 11-16 — The 1st annual Electronic Entertainment Expo is held in Los Angeles, California...
for the 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...
, PlayStation and Sega Saturn
Sega Saturn
The is a 32-bit fifth-generation video game console that was first released by Sega on November 22, 1994 in Japan, May 11, 1995 in North America, and July 8, 1995 in Europe...
developed by Bullfrog
Bullfrog Productions
Bullfrog Productions was a UK computer game developer that was founded in 1987 by Les Edgar and Peter Molyneux. The company achieved recognition in 1989 for their third release, Populous....
and based upon their earlier Magic Carpet
Magic Carpet (video game)
Magic Carpet is a video game released by Bullfrog Productions in 1994. A revised edition, Magic Carpet Plus, included the Hidden Worlds expansion pack which added 25 levels and a winter-themed tileset...
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
Wipeout (video game)
Wipeout is the first in a series of futuristic racing video games developed and published by Psygnosis. It was originally released in 1995 for Sony PlayStation and PCs running MS-DOS, and in 1996 for Sega Saturn...
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
Dungeon Keeper
Dungeon Keeper is a strategy video game released developed by Bullfrog Productions under Peter Molyneux and released by Electronic Arts in July 1997 for the PC in which the player attempts to build and manage a dungeon or lair while protecting it from 'hero' characters intent on stealing the...
or Magic Carpet 2
Magic Carpet 2
Magic Carpet 2: The Netherworlds is a 1995 computer game, the sequel to the Magic Carpet. It was developed by Bullfrog and published by Electronic Arts .-Story:...
- but they weren't able to. So they released Hi-Octane, a quickly done game.
In Gamasutra
Gamasutra
Gamasutra is a website founded in 1997 for video game developers. It is owned and operated by UBM TechWeb , a division of United Business Media, and acts as the online sister publication to the print magazine Game Developer...
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”."
Details
The game offers a choice of six hovercraftHovercraft
A hovercraft is a craft capable of traveling over surfaces while supported by a cushion of slow moving, high-pressure air which is ejected against the surface below and contained within a "skirt." Although supported by air, a hovercraft is not considered an aircraft.Hovercraft are used throughout...
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-up
Power-up
In computer and video games, power-ups are objects that instantly benefit or add extra abilities to the game character as a game mechanic. This is in contrast to an item, which may or may not have a benefit and can be used at a time chosen by the player...
s 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
Video Graphics Array
Video Graphics Array refers specifically to the display hardware first introduced with the IBM PS/2 line of computers in 1987, but through its widespread adoption has also come to mean either an analog computer display standard, the 15-pin D-subminiature VGA connector or the 640×480 resolution...
resolution of 320x240 or SVGA
Super Video Graphics Array
Super Video Graphics Array or Ultra Video Graphics Array, almost always abbreviated to Super VGA, Ultra VGA or just SVGA or UVGA is a broad term that covers a wide range of computer display standards....
at 640x480 pixels, both 256 colors. Today, Hi-Octane can be run in a Windows 2000/XP
Windows NT
Windows NT is a family of operating systems produced by Microsoft, the first version of which was released in July 1993. It was a powerful high-level-language-based, processor-independent, multiprocessing, multiuser operating system with features comparable to Unix. It was intended to complement...
environment using a very specific DosBox
DOSBox
DOSBox is emulator software that emulates an IBM PC compatible computer running MS-DOS. It is intended especially for use with old PC games. DOSBox is free software....
setup. 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 MatchDeathmatch (gaming)Deathmatch or Player vs All is a widely-used gameplay mode integrated into many shooter and real-time strategy computer games...
(using a set or infinite number of lives) - Split ScreenSplit screen (computer graphics)Split screen is a display technique in computer graphics that consists of dividing graphics and/or text into non-movable adjacent parts, typically two or four rectangular areas. This is done in order to allow the simultaneous presentation of related graphical and textual information on a computer...
Single Race - Hot SeatHotseat (multiplayer mode)Hotseat or hot seat is a multiplayer mode provided by some turn-based video games, which allows two or more players to play on the same device by taking turns playing the game...
(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)