This page details pre-release information and/or media for Need for Speed: Carbon.

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Need for Speed: Carbon was first pitched in around 2004 as Need for Speed: Repo Man, before the release of Need for Speed: Underground 2. Development began on 3 January 2005[citation needed] and continued till late 2006.

Mid 2004#

Concept art by Al Kang for NFS REPO MAN, the concept that would eventually become 2006's Carbon. None of these characters appear in any build of Carbon, but the base idea of crews defined by a specific type of car remained.

Early 2006

Garth Buzzard#

Senior Concept Artist, Lead Texture Artist, World Lead, 3D Environment Modeler, Level Designer and Referee Photographer for Electronic Arts in 1999-2006.
Track Designer and Lead Concept Artist in Need for Speed: Carbon (first codenamed as NFS 07).

Portfolio#

Map Concept Arts#

Gath Buzzard uploaded both pictures into his flickr account, but only "Carbon" one into "Concept Art" album.

NFS: 07 Map Concept (Uploaded: February 28, 2009)

Need for Speed: Carbon Map Concept (Uploaded: May 2, 2012)

March 2006#

Drifting Track and Pursuit Breakers Concepts.

May 2006#

Final Map Concept (WorldMap_FINAL)

Other#

Differences#

Minimap north indicator was different.
Minimap track color was cyan.
The sky and graphics were different.
The mini map road texture had differences.
Earlier blocker role icon is present.
HUD is different than PlayStation 2 and Xbox Original demo and final game.
The Wingman, Nitro and Speedbreaker Bars are different.
The wingman, nitro and speedbreaker bars had positive and negative signs at both ends.
The font was slightly bolder.
The race barriers were still Most Wanted ones.
The race time counter was white.

Playmania 091 (March; before PS2 demo)#

Several screenshots of demo build were included in Playmania 091 magazine, and it has differences from the released PlayStation 2 Demo.

Differences#

The race route highlight was pure white, but as of that build, it is misplaced.
The panorama sky seen in earlier screenshots appears to be still used, however this time it doesn't have stars anymore.

Gallery#

The same demo circuit race, but with Camaro

GameSpot Gameplay videos (April 2006)#

The countdown is different.
The engine sounds of the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX MR Edition (CT9A) were slightly higher pitched and was similar to final game.
No sound plays when starting or finishing a race.
The camera system was reused from Most Wanted (2005).
Some menu sound effects are missing, and some of the sounds were reused from Most Wanted (2005) as a placeholder.
As of the build shown in the videos, race route highlight is glitched when the race is restarted.
The "OPPONENT PASSED!" popup is different.

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IGN Gameplay videos (Later April)#

The race barriers were colored cyan.
The target icon was different, and it's different than demo version for PlayStation 2 and Xbox Original, but it's similar to final game.
Speedometer number background uses 0 instead of 8.
Minimap has zoom-in and out depending on speed.
Player car icon is aligned slightly higher than center.

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Leipzig (July 2006)#

Differences#

Different Paint Window.
Some part names are not finished.
Different Event marker.

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Gameplay Trailers (Early September 2006)#

Differences#

The finish line minimap icon is different.

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