Burnout

Burnout is the first game in the popular arcade-racing series, known for its highly exaggerated crashes and "risk = reward" gameplay mechanics. It was heavily influenced by the arcade driving game Thrill Drive, which is also where many of its elements come from.

Sub-Pages#

Prototype Info Prerelease Info

Removed Vehicle#

There are multiple references in the game's files to a removed, drivable Fire Engine.

There are no screenshots or footage of any kind in existence of this vehicle, although it probably looked very similar, if not identical to the Fire Truck in Burnout 3. There is, however, some information available regarding other aspects of the vehicle. For example, by using the following Action Replay code with the NTSC version of the game, it is possible to 'select' the Fire Engine in the car select screen:

H6Z6-Z6ZN-QD411
M29H-86XA-2G3PB

As the Fire Engine's model is not present in the final game, it will not be visible in the car select screen. The game claims the Fire Engine to be an Easy-type vehicle, though had it made it into the final game, it would more than likely have been a Special vehicle, like the Bus. Attempting to start a race with the Fire Engine selected will crash the game.

Unused Graphics#

Road Signs#

File Name: sign09_8

File Name: sign10_8

Two unused road signs that would flash on-screen to indicate characteristics of the road ahead e.g. hairpin turns and roundabouts. These two would be straight ahead and two-way traffic, respectively.

Credits Image#

File Name: credits7

There are seven pictures of the Criterion staff in the game's files. All of them should be used, but for some reason, the game only rotates through the first six, leaving this last one unused. Featured in the image is the composer of the game's soundtrack, Stephen Root.

Xbox System#

File Name: xbox

An unused graphic of an Xbox present in the Xbox port. In the same style as the controller graphics used in all versions.

Early Position Markers#

(Source: IGN.com)

Early	Final

File Name: pos

Earlier graphics for the position markers. Can be seen in some pre-release screenshots.

Dummy#

File Name: dummy

A dummy texture.

Unused Announcer Voices#

Game Over#

Was likely meant to be used when failing the race without running out of time. For example, when crashing in Survival mode, "Game Over" displays on-screen, but the announcer doesn't say anything.

Unused Music#

Intro Music#

The audio tracks splash.wav and introavi.wav, only in the Xbox version, are both an unlooped version of the game's menu music. Completely different to the unused audio track in the GameCube version, despite having very similar file names, although they were probably used for the same purpose.

Exclusively in the GameCube version is the audio track MItroavi.ulw/SItroavi.ulw.

Judging by the file name and content, it seems that an FMV intro would have played upon starting the game, instead of (or in addition to) the logo screens. Mysteriously, only the audio track for this video remains, with the video track having been completely removed. It may actually have been a shortened version of the "Don't Even Blink" trailer for the game, given that both audio tracks have auditory cues for text appearing on the screen.

Credits#

The music track that plays during the credits cuts off in-game after the 1:48 mark, with a whole other minute and 19 seconds going unused, significantly degrading the credits-watching experience we all enjoy so much.

Alternate Menu Theme#

An alternate menu theme, which is based on the credits theme from the PlayStation 2 version, found only in the GameCube version's files. This may have originally replaced the regular menu music after completing the game, as the file names, SMenux.ulw and MMenux.ulw (for Stereo and Mono, respectively) would suggest, or it may have simply been an earlier version of the final track that was kept on the disc, for some reason.

Musical Oddities#

For some reason, many songs in the game have minor melody differences when comparing Mono and Stereo tracks. Some songs have different intros or mixing, and the credits song is almost completely different in build up. For example, 66 Kicks has some missing notes 6 seconds into the Stereo version and seems to use different snare drums.

Unused Text#

Results Screen#

Unused text strings that would be used for the results screen at the end of a race.

Objects hit
Jumps taken
Shortcuts taken
Pedestrians scared

There are no smashable objects, jumps, shortcuts, or pedestrians, so these go unused.

Style#

"Ranks" that would be given to the player based on how well they drove.

Style

TOO SLOW
QUITTER
NUTTER
WASTE OF TIME
LAMER
SUNDAY DRIVER
DANGEROUS
FAMILY MAN
STUNTMAN
CONSIDERATE
RECKLESS
NEARLY MAN
BRAVE
ARTFUL
MENACE
COBBLER
THE BOY
WHITE LIGHTNING
BLUE SKY DRIVER
PILE DRIVER

Early Vehicle Names#

#Compact:      FrenteGL
#Coupe:        VenomSX
#Muscle:       ThunderboltGT
#Luxury:       LongbowEXC300
#Tow Truck:    Grizzly
#Pick Up:      UT500Jackhammer
#Soft Top:     Sabre
#J. Muscle:    TenraiVII
#Bus:          Hudson418
#Fire Engine:  FireEngine

Found in the grules.cfg file are car names that ended up unused, alongside the cut Fire Engine. These names are referenced in the final game and can be seen in early footage on the license plates. Namely, the ones that are still visible in-game are:

• Tenrai VII: "Tenrai" is engraved on the decklid.
• Hudson 418
• UT500 Jackhammer: "UT500" can be seen on the back of the vehicle.

Cut Traffic Vehicles#

This is the full list of traffic cars, along with the names assigned to their models. Police cars, scooters and motorbikes, as well as farm trucks and more were going to appear throughout the tracks. It's unknown why they were cut from the game.

Logo Screens Text#

Acclaim Entertainment, Inc. Presents
A Criterion Games Production

© 1998 - 2001 Criterion Software Limited, All Rights Reserved
Burnout is a Trademark of Criterion Software Limited
Distributed by Acclaim Distribution, Inc.

Text intended for the legal screen after the initial loading screen. The above strings are integrated into the legal screen video/texture, leaving their text form unused.

© 1998 - 2001 Criterion Software Limited
Developed with Renderware

Two additional strings, the second likely being a placeholder for the RenderWare (incorrectly capitalized Renderware, here) logo screen.

Your Brand Name Goes Here

Obvious placeholder text for any additional logo screens.

Old Vehicle Config#

Present exclusively in the Xbox version is the config file playcars/luxury/luxury1.cfg. It is, strangely, an old config file for the Sports Coupe, dated December 1st 2000, almost a full year before the game's release. In addition to many property values being different, there are also many properties that were either renamed or are not present in the final game's config files. Conversely, many properties exposed in the final game's config files are not present.

Early Credits#

MISC/FAKECRED.TXT in the PS2 version is a slightly earlier version of the credits text, predating the final credits by five days. The final version of the credits is in video form, though they would switch to text form again for the Xbox and GCN versions.

The only notable differences are Mike Humphreys being miscredited as "Mike Humphries", and artists Chris Walley, Pete Lake and Rasmus Jørgensen being uncredited.

Removed Japanese Track#

A sizable amount of references and content from a removed Japanese track can be found exclusively throughout the Xbox version's game files.

Name#

#USA East City:     EastCoastDowntown
#USA Freeway:       WestCoastFreeway
#USA Big Country:   BigCountry
#Europe Euro City:  RiversideDrive
#Europe Country:    CostaAlta
#Orient City:       MakazeCity
#
#Marathon 1:        EuroTrek
#Marathon 2:        USAEndurance

According to this early track list in grules.cfg, the track was initially called Makaze City. "Makaze" (魔風) is a Japanese word that roughly translates to "storm caused by the devil." This word can also be seen in concept art for the track, on a sign.

Music#

Both music tracks for Makaze City - the normal and "tragic" music - are still present on the disc, under the names track5.wav and track6.wav, respectively. The tracks were not given actual names until the Xbox version of Burnout 2: Point of Impact, where they are called J Rock and Orimental (the actual file is erroneously titled "Oriental Mental.") J Rock would later also appear in Burnout Paradise, as Tokyo Nights.

J Rock#

Orimental#

Unlock Criteria#

The "(Standard)" tag beside a track in the above list means that track would have been available out of the box; the fact that Makaze City does not have this tag means it would have been an unlockable track. How exactly this track would have been unlocked, however, is not known, as no unlock criteria for the track is present in the files, unlike with the rest of the tracks. This may have been the very reason why it was cut; the developers just didn't know what to do with the track.

Traffic Vehicles#

OrientTaxi              = {25000.0, 15500.0, 0.0}
OrientPolice                = {50000.0, 15000.0, 0.0}
ThaiPickup              = {20000.0, 15000.0, 0.0}
Orientbus               = {80000.0, 50000.0, 0.0}
Orientnon               = {25000.0, 17000.0, 0.0}

Also present in grules.cfg are the names of a few Makaze City-exclusive traffic vehicles, alongside the cut police cars. The models and textures for a select few of these vehicles are still present in the files, and can even be made to load in the car select screen via file replacement as seen in the video below. These vehicles also can be driven in-game, albeit with messed up suspension.

Watch on YouTube

Network Play#

Network Race
Network Battle
Connected as Player %d
Awaiting other players
Waiting for other players to load

Judging by text found in the game's executable, it seems the game was going to have network play. The Burnout series would not see the inclusion of such functionality until Burnout 3: Takedown.

CNetwork::SendMessage(CNetworkMessage*)
CNetwork::Update()
CNetwork::Init()

Additionally, the above functions are defined in code and are named in the September 12th prototype. However, they have been stubbed out, meaning they no longer do anything. Whether the game was intended to ship with network play functionality, or if it was just for testing purposes is unclear. Burnout 2 has similarly unused functionality.

Debug Functionality#

Debug Info#

Use the following codes:

Car Viewer#

Watch on YouTube

Oddities#

Environment Map#

The source imagery for the car select's environment map is actually of a render of a room that shows no similarities at all to the actual car select screen, which is just a blue, low-res, in-game screenshot with the currently-selected car hovering in front of it.

Probably due to hardware limitations, only the fifth image is used for the GameCube and PS2 versions' environment map, resulting in less detailed reflections in contrast to the Xbox version, which utilises a cube map formed from this file, hence the name cubemap.dds.

Version Differences#

Oncoming Counter#

The counter displaying the current distance in oncoming reads "Oncoming Traffic" on PS2, but is shortened to "Oncoming" in the GCN and Xbox versions, as well as every subsequent entry in the series.

Acclaim Logo#

PS2, GCN	Xbox

For some reason, the Xbox version uses the 3D-style Acclaim logo, despite releasing simultaneously with the GameCube version. This logo is also used in Burnout 2: Point of Impact.