Midtown Madness 3

Published 9 January, 2003

Comments (77) Latest comment 10 years ago

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  • Errol #1 10 years ago

    Is the man in the first pick a vampire - only, he has no shadow.

  • Aka #2 10 years ago

    Looks better, those trees aren't bad. Still no shadows on moving odjects (cars, people).

    I would be nice to see people actually going into the shops (ie opening the door).
    Edited by Aka at 26/04/02 @ 11:39

  • Gestalt #3 10 years ago

    Nevermind the shadows, what about the poor guy in this picture who seems to be stuck inside the bonnet of a car?

    EDIT - Damn your fast typing fingers, Fezz!
    Edited by Gestalt at 26/04/02 @ 11:42

  • otto #4 10 years ago

    He's no poor guy, he's a mime artist! Someone should stick him in a transparent cube and throw him off a cliff

  • skalmanxl #5 10 years ago

    what about the poor guy in this picture who seems to be stuck inside the bonnet of a car?

    If you look closer, you'll see it's a mime artist, so he had it coming.

    I CURSE YOU OTTO!
    Edited by skalmanxl at 26/04/02 @ 11:47

  • skalmanxl #6 10 years ago

    Anyway is this supposed to be paris or something ?

    Paris and Washington D.C. is in the game.

  • Aka #7 10 years ago

    Everyone knows the French can't drive!

  • otto #8 10 years ago

    Why isn't there one game out there that has Brussels in it ?

    Because it's "Midtown Madness", not "Midtown Utter Apocalypse as Pedestrians and Cyclists are Mown Down By Insane Belgians Who Can't Drive" ;) Come to think of it, Carmageddon was set in Brussels wasn't it? But it was so similar to real life, no-one noticed...

    AKA - ever been to Rome ? Even worse then the french.

    LOL! But, FeZZ, you're... Belgian! Rearrange the following words: kettle, black, pot
    Edited by otto at 26/04/02 @ 12:02

  • Gestalt #9 10 years ago

    Having visited several European countries, I can say with a reasonable degree of certainty that the Belgians are the worst drivers of the lot. The French are pretty mad at times, but the Belgians are just utterly incompetent. I think I saw more crashes in two days in Belgium than I have done in all the time I've ever spent in France combined. They just don't pay any attention to what they're doing. It's scary.

  • otto #10 10 years ago

    FeZZ, I don't want to sound harsh here, and I understand my Belgian friends getting a bit narked when I go on about it, but Gestalt is 100% correct. I've driven in Paris, Rome, Athens, Delhi, Nairobi and I've been a passenger in Cairo, Mexico City, Bangkok & Jakarta and I can PROMISE you, NOWHERE will you EVER see driving as bad as you get in Brussels. NOWHERE! There are many, many reasons for this which I won't go into here, and I have my own theories, but it's a fact and the more time you spend out of Belgium, the more you will realise I'm right. Sorry m8!

  • Aka #11 10 years ago

    People in the UK generally drive cars better, but I believe we have the worse motorbike riders in the world!

  • Gestalt #12 10 years ago

    "Got a e-mail with some pictures of the magic roundabout somewhere in London or something"

    The Magic Roundabout is in Swindon. I was pretty freaked out when I found it on my way to a LAN party.

  • DocX #13 10 years ago

    "People in the UK generally drive cars better, but I believe we have the worse motorbike riders in the world!"

    I was in Bali a couple of years ago & the bike/scooter driving over there scared the crap out of me. Every bike had about three people on the back & a little kid in a basket on the front. I had a camcorder so I've got some footage of the overtaking manoeuvres going on around our taxi & it makes me cringe to this day.

  • otto #14 10 years ago

    FeZZ - I guess I'd best not say any more or I'll upset you ;) - Flanders is slightly better than Brussels, yes, but only because the roads are better organised and there's slightly more obvious policing...

    Heh, those roundabouts are a killer aren't they? There's one almost exactly like the one Gestalt linked to in High Wycombe where I grew up. The British make them to confuse foreigners. I once saw an Italian family in a Fiat going round a roundabout in Kent, I think they'd been there three months. (Note: I'm lying.)

    Have you noticed though how in the last five to ten years, most European countries have started copying roundabouts? It happened in Belgium about three or four years ago, and since then things have definitely improved. The problem is, some roundabouts are English style, i.e. the person on the roundabout has priority, others are Belgian style (i.e. priority to the right), where the person *joining* the roundabout has priority. And there's no way of knowing in advance which kind of roundabout it is! Cue the usual carnage...

  • Nemesis #15 10 years ago

    Wahey, I've been on that one too, and it's confusing as bl00dy hell.

  • DocX #16 10 years ago

    "The British make them to confuse foreigners."

    Reminds me of that bit in National Lampoon's European Vacation when Chevy Chase is trying to get off the roundabout next to the Parliament.

  • ssuellid #17 10 years ago

    "I was in Bali a couple of years ago & the bike" I was there last October and it was nuts. I love the way that they use the hazard warning lights to indicate straight on. We saw a bloke with a big TV strapped to the back of his bike and he had his body drapped over the handle bars to keep the front wheel done. Last day there we saw a bloke with a kitchen sink on his bike. If you ever go again to Bali then go clubbing just to see how the Balinese women dance - fully clothed but exceptionally erotic.

  • otto #18 10 years ago

    Yeah but the thing about Indonesia is that the driving seems totally nuts at first but after a while you realise that there's a certain logic to it all. Once you understand that, it's fairly safe. I hired a pushbike & cycled all over Bali, ooh, ten years ago now. It's this logic that's missing from certain other places I could mention...

  • Gestalt #19 10 years ago

    "the person *joining* the roundabout has priority"

    I've never understood that one. How can you give priority to people joining the roundabout? Surely when it gets congested everyone just keeps piling on to the roundabout until it all grinds to a halt and nobody can move?

  • otto #20 10 years ago

    Er, yes, exactly.

    They don't have yellow boxes here you know. I've been stuck at junctions for literally hours on end because everyone just drives straight into them as soon as the lights go green, blocking all exits. Also, "priorité à droite" is the golden rule and you ignore it at your peril.

  • Gestalt #21 10 years ago

    Is it really that exciting?

  • Whizzo #22 10 years ago

    Is it really that exciting?
    He's Belgian give him some slack. ;-)

    Best name for a roundabout ever : "The Scilly Isles", near Sandown racecourse.

  • Whizzo #23 10 years ago

    Hands up anyone who really cares?

  • Whizzo #24 10 years ago

    I'm from England, not that that's very relevant. The only people that seemed to feel impressed that the European Union is based in Brussels appears to be Belgians, the rest of the EU population, from what I can tell, doesn't really care to be honest.

  • Whizzo #25 10 years ago

    Look Fezz I'm trying to be civil but if you going to become irrational because I'm not impressed with the news that Brussels is the "capital of Europe" perhaps you should grow up a bit.

  • ssuellid #26 10 years ago

    No thats our Prime Minister. The UK and US governments love to screw other countries together.

  • Gestalt #27 10 years ago

    Sounds like a dodgy porno movie. Kind of.

  • skalmanxl #28 10 years ago

    One good thing about belgium is our social and health system.
    Or hospitals are being flooded by english and dutch patients.

    Due to marmite poisoning?

  • LaundroMat #29 10 years ago

    Everyone considers him/herself to be a good driver. Including me. So who are all those bad drivers?

  • Aka #30 10 years ago

    >Everyone considers him/herself to be a good driver

    !! No they don't!

    I don't and know lots of people who dont!

  • ssuellid #31 10 years ago

    "So who are all those bad drivers?"

    - I suspect I am as I have never bothered to learn to drive.

  • Nemesis #32 10 years ago

    Everyone considers him/herself to be a good driver. Including me. So who are all those bad drivers?

    London bus drivers basically.

  • otto #33 10 years ago

    FeZZ, sorry it's probably my fault, I don't mean to be uncivil about my host country (*cough*) and there are many good things to be said about Belgium, its healthcare system for starters (seriously, it's a MILLION times better than the UK's sorry excuse for one), but driving is not one of your country's strong points. ;) Anyway, I promise to leave the subject alone so let's all be friends. Now about that xbox...

  • Nemesis #34 10 years ago

    Belgium man, Belgium.

    Can someone explain to me why the French don't like 'em? Is it chocolate envy or something?

  • otto #35 10 years ago

    Nemesis, just don't go there OK? I gave my word to FeZZ...

  • Nemesis #36 10 years ago

    ok then. I'd ask my ex French girlfriend, but we parted on bad terms after excessive personal hair references upset her.

    Anyone else wanna pitch in, Otto is being candid for the 1st time ever

  • otto #37 10 years ago

    eh? I'm always candid! Anyway, I'd happily share my views with you over a nice glass of Belgian beer but I've probably done enough stirring on these boards today ;)

  • Nemesis #38 10 years ago

    ;-)

    Well, I've done enough marmite gags to last a lifetime, I'm bu66ering off to go look at iBooks.

  • Khab #39 10 years ago

    On-Topic
    The cars in those shots look veeeerry pre-rendered if you ask me...
    /On-Topic


    I think everyone drives like shit. Except me of course. :P
    Edited by Khab at 26/04/02 @ 19:35

  • Nobby #40 10 years ago

    Excuse my utter ignorance but where does the word 'flemish' come from? Always confused me.

    From my experience, having never been to Belgium, Italian drivers are pretty terrible.

    There are two obvious groups

    Cars - The red light is some sort of mystical legend. It seems to be down to individual discretion if, or where, they bother to stop at traffic lights. They all seem to have some problem viewing the speed limits, 30 becoming 70 all too often.

    Motorbikes, scooters etc. - Everywhere. Everywhere you go. And the roads aren't required, pavements are also an integral part of their travel plans.

    All this creates a rather dangerous atmosphere for pedestrians, although saying that Italians seem to have developed a 6th sense that allows them to cross the road at any point, blindfolded and skipping, while missing every car by around 3mm.

    And now that I've made friends with all the Italians on here, may I add that other than the drivers, it's a great country.

  • Khab #41 10 years ago

    Prerendered without shadows ?
    I think NOT
    I didn't mean to say that the whole shot looked pre-rendered, only the CARS - which would explain why they have no shadows, and which would also be an evil way of making this look a bit better.

  • otto #42 10 years ago

    <swot mode>

    Nobby - like FeZZ said - Flemish is the adjective describing 'Flanders', Flanders being a Dutch-speaking part of the Low Countries, most of it's in Belgium though there is a bit of Flanders in the Netherlands and there's even a bit in France (though they don't speak Dutch any more there, surprise surprise). A 'Fleming' is someone who comes from Flanders. The region of Flanders is roughly the same as the old Duchy of Flanders which straddled present-day France, Belgium and Holland. 'Flemish' is also used to describe the dialect of Dutch spoken in Belgium.

    </swot mode>

  • Nobby #43 10 years ago

    So despite years of playing games like civ and europa universalis I still don't know these things. You learn something new every day.

  • otto #44 10 years ago

    FeZZ, anywhere beyond their own back garden is unknown territory for most British people ;)

  • Gestalt #45 10 years ago

    And if you'd seen my back garden you'd know why. ;)

  • otto #46 10 years ago

    ...or in Gestalt's case even your own back garden is unknown territory ;)

  • Gestalt #47 10 years ago

    Well, the far end of it is, anyway. I think there's a greenhouse down there somewhere. Or at least, there was when I moved in. Last I saw of it there was a tree growing out through the roof...

  • otto #48 10 years ago

    Gestalt, you could do a Miyamoto and set a game in your back garden. An RPG or something along the lines or Wasteland? It could involve badgers!

  • Gestalt #49 10 years ago

    I've already told you, I don't have any badgers in my back garden, just foxes. :p

  • otto #50 10 years ago

    OH right, sorry, forgot. OK, a game with foxes. Now where have I heard of a game with foxes? ;)
    Edited by otto at 28/04/02 @ 10:41

  • Gestalt #51 10 years ago

    Coming soon - Star Fox Adventures : Gestalt's Back Garden. Meet strange lifeforms hitherto thought extinct, navigate your way through lethal bramble, and eat all Gestalt's strawberries to power up your health.

    Or something.
    Edited by Gestalt at 28/04/02 @ 11:57

  • Whizzo #52 10 years ago

    The fox on the left looks very low poly to me.

  • otto #53 10 years ago

    lol! wild strawberries presumably. wot no mushrooms?

  • skalmanxl #54 10 years ago

    GTA 3 to Xbox now!!!!!

    NEVER! Hohohoh.

  • Blerk #55 10 years ago

    GTA 3 to Xbox now!!!!!

    You've got more chance of Bill giving you all his cash as a goodwill gesture.

  • Razz #56 10 years ago

    "midtown madnes "

    Period.

    -Razz

  • Errol #57 10 years ago

    Most recent shots look quite a bit better than the ones seen previously. I still find it mildly disturbing that the persons contained within the aforementioned screenshots seem to have no shadows.

  • Blerk #58 10 years ago

    This looks.... cack. And it seems that horrific jaggies aren't PS2-Exclusive! after all. :-)

  • Merefield #59 10 years ago

    Cool, clearly will include a "Classic Police Car Chases Mode", this one showing OJ Simpson trying to escape the cops...
    Edited by Merefield at 29/10/02 @ 12:03

  • Blerk #60 10 years ago

    Can't be OJ - that car has clearly worked up enough speed to make skid around a corner, whereas OJ never got out of second in his 'chase'. :-)

  • otto #61 10 years ago

    Or perhaps Gamespot's crappy captures came from the same source. Just a thought. o_O

  • Whizzo #62 10 years ago

    They're probably just the same screenshots that have been sent out to everyone from MS. The Gamespot "watermark" couldn't be overwritten with a transparent one very well could it?

  • BartonFink #63 10 years ago

    This looks.... cack. And it seems that horrific jaggies aren't PS2-Exclusive! after all. :-)
    Agreed that does look truly awful, thought for a minute this was a PS2 game, are you lot sure these are not PS2 shots :p
    Nope the jaggies ain't PS2 exclusive but the PS2 does give more jaggie for your money loads more. ;)

  • pjmaybe #64 10 years ago

    I love these lego racing games (that shot is blockier than a game of tetris!!!)

    Peej

  • Razz #65 10 years ago

    Possible chitty chitty bang bang remasterd version
    Edited by Razz at 21/11/02 @ 11:46

  • pjmaybe #66 10 years ago

    What's this? The "results" page of the "Spot the mini" competition from the Daily Mirror?

    Ugh...I hate new minis too...

    Peej

  • sam_spade #67 10 years ago

    Is this set in Heaven?

  • Merefield #68 10 years ago

    Hey, don't knock it...they've been working on this highly realistic physics engine for months and months...g

  • sam_spade #69 10 years ago

    This is looking a bit better.

  • Phreedh #70 10 years ago

    Still looks a tad empty though... Oh well... "work in progress", right?

    Hopefully the streets and environment will be a bit more lively than Project Gotham. Sweet looking graphics, but it lacked in "fluff" details. Digital Illusions have always been good at adding fluff, so let's hope they can do it better than Bizarre.

    /Phreedh

  • Tipsy #71 10 years ago

    This looks excellent, graphics-wise at least - any idea if MS might release this on the PC?

  • pjmaybe #72 10 years ago

    I don't mind if this has more fluff than Project Gotham but I'd love to see the same handling in this as in PGR..

    Peej

  • lost_soul #73 10 years ago

    "this one going to have the spring-rocket pedestrians? those were impossible to hit. was that midtownmadness2 or 1?"

    I don't think you could run over the pedestrians in eithere game, most annoying!

    How do they get such hi-res screenshots?

  • st3ph3n #74 10 years ago

    Anyone know what cities are in this?

    I'm still looking forward to project gotham 2 having edinburgh in it. Almost close to home. Glasgow in the next one please.

  • skalmanxl #75 10 years ago

    Anyone know what cities are in this?

    Paris and Washington afaik.

  • Khab #76 10 years ago

    2279x1755? On a console.

    HARDLY.

    Would someone please tell the devs that this is ridiculous, the game will have a resolution that's less than a quarter of that shot...

  • BLACKSHEEP #77 10 years ago

    "2279x1755"

    xbox supports that on HDTV

    Bullshit it does and HDTV only does 1080i at it's highest resolution.