The Simpsons Road Rage E3

Dec 08, 2001  Electronic Arts will bring its Crazy Taxi-inspired arcade driving game, The Simpsons Road Rage, to Nintendo's GameCube console just in time for launch this.

The Simpsons: Road Rage is a clone of Crazy Taxi, but with Simpsons characters. It's so blatant, Sega even stepped in and sued all parties involved in creating the game for infringing on their patent. Way to go, Radical.

• 1Unused Graphics
• 2Placeholder Dialogue
• 4Unused Models
• 5Misplaced Objects
• 7Debugging Functions
• 9Console Differences

Unused Graphics

A large number of unused images are only present in the GameCube edition.

Chief Wiggum sprite

A leftover sprite of Chief Wiggum that would have been used in the character selection screen. This sprite is identical to the one used in the E3 2001 prototype. The image is titled LWiggum.png while the sprite that is actually used is located in the same folder and titled LChief.png.

Beer Bottles

Leftover beer bottles that were used in the HUD in the E3 prototype. They would have been used for the 'destroy stuff' and 'avoid the traffic' tasks.

Coin

A coin sprite that would have been displayed in the HUD next to the total money earned. This sprite was used in the non-E3 prototype.

Hourglass

An hourglass sprite that would have been displayed in the HUD next to the remaining time. Like the coin, this sprite was used in the non-E3 prototype.

GameCube Buttons

Graphics for the GameCube controller buttons. The font is different and the X, Y and Z buttons are the wrong shape.

Language Selection

Graphics for an apparent language selection menu, namely for English, French, German, Italian and Spanish.

Blackboard

A blackboard image inside a directory titled 'loading', which implies it was going to be used in the loading screen. In the non-E3 prototype, the loading screen does have a blackboard with Bart writing on it, but the image is less detailed.

Krusty Burger

Leftover textures for Krusty Burger which would have been used when the game had a more 'cartoony' look during development, as seen in the E3 prototype.

The Simpsons Road Rage E3 Files

Burns' Mansion

Leftover textures for Mr. Burns' mansion in the 'Springfield Mountains' level. Again probably used when the game was more 'cartoony'.

Placeholder Dialogue

Placeholder Pedestrian Dialogue

Located in the 'Female' directory of dialog.rcf in the GameCube release of the game, these robotised female voice clips are obvious placeholders for when a female pedestrian gets hit by or dodges your car. These clips bear a remarkable similarity to some of the placeholder voices heard in the non-E3 prototype. Interestingly, none of the female pedestrians included in the game have any voice clips, so these provisional files never needed to be replaced.

Unused Pedestrian Folders

Inside dialog.rcf, there are three subfolders inside sound/dialog/english named BGMurphy, Drzweig and Lurleen, referring to the characters Bleeding Gums Murphy, Dr. Zweig, and Lurleen Lumpkin, respectively. All three of these folders contain another subfolder named Pedestri, which contains an 8 byte .dlg file used as a placeholder. Both Dr. Zweig and Lurleen appear in-game as low quality, unvoiced pedestrians - Bleeding Gums does not, however.

Unused Music

Three unused tracks. Their filenames suggest they were intended for gameplay in 'Road Rage' or 'Head to Head' mode.

Unused Models

Dr. Hibbert

Dr. Hibbert who is untextured but has material. He was probably intended to be a passenger at some point.

Kent Brockman

Kent Brockman who normally only appears in the FMV cutscenes. He also has material but no textures.

Misplaced Objects

If the player uses the cheat for additional camera views, they can glitch out of the level boundaries using the 'Look Camera' option. The boundaries were put in place when the game was forced to shift from an open world design, instead having individual levels late in the development cycle.

Evergreen Terrace

At a distance behind the wreckage at the beginning of the level, there is an identical wreckage. This was most likely used to indicate where the level connects to the Springfield Mountains level.

Downtown

If one glitches out of bounds to where the Springfield Mountains should be, they should see an unused stream of water along with a misplaced dot. It's also worth noting that there are unused collisions and spawn points for the streets and terrain that can't be seen even with the routing cheat.

Springfield Mountains

There is an unused, cheaply made sign saying 'Soft Shoulder, Blind Curves, Steep Grade, Big Trucks, Good Luck!' placed behind the wreck at the beginning of the level. In this area, there is also a Burns Transit Bus Stop, a power line and a speed limit sign.

Unused Spawn Points

In Downtown, there are two unused spawn points that cannot be accessed without glitching or cheating out of the map. The first spawn point is behind the crashed truck at the beginning at the level at the other end of the tunnel, which leads to nowhere. The second one is located out of bounds on an invisible hill near the other exit of the level near the unused river stream.

Debugging Functions

Collision Debug

In the options menu, enter one of the codes below (depending on platform) to enable debug collison lines and boxes during gameplay.

Debug Display

Enable Action Replay Code

in the European GameCube version to add a debug display to the bottom right of the screen. This code also enables the above mentioned collision debug.

Development Text

All files determining the properties of individual vehicles start with the following comment:

The file traffic.cfg includes a number of comments:

Console Differences

Additional Ending

Upon completion of the game, a cutscene where Mr. Burns admits defeat will play on all three console versions. However, an additional cutscene featuring Kang and Kodos appears only on the GameCube and Xbox versions. The cutscene reveals that the two aliens were playing Road Rage, but have grown bored and decide to play an 'alternate game', namely a version of PONG as their spaceship flies off. It was removed in the PlayStation 2 version for unknown reasons.

Removed Passengers

In the PlayStation 2 version, a passenger in Evergreen Terrace (Barney, Captain McCallister or Squeaky-voiced Teen) will be standing outside an alleyway and will ask to be dropped off at Smithers' apartment. However, they don't make an appearance at all in the GameCube and Xbox versions. This is most likely because the distance between the passenger and the drop-off location is so short that the player can take advantage of this by using these passengers to rack up an unlimited amount of money without running out of time.

The Simpsons Road Rage Cheats Gba

This page details one or more prototype versions of The Simpsons: Road Rage (GameCube, PlayStation 2, Xbox).

A prototype of The Simpsons: Road Rage available on an Xbox Alpha Development Kit and made sometime after the E3 2001 Demo.

Main Differences

• The game opens with a cutscene of Homer jumping into his car and reminiscing about a scene in the Simpsons episode 'El Viaje Misterioso de Nuestro Jomer'. The scene, which uses 3D animation like the rest of the game, features Marge and Homer arguing about Homer going to a chilli cook-off.
• The logo at the beginning of the game is different to the final version. It is very similar looking to the Simpsons Racing placeholder logo, but shows Homer and Mr. Burns looking angry at each other.
• The loading screen shows Bart at a blackboard writing lines in the same style as the show's chalkboard gag that appears in the opening credits.
• Like the E3 demo, the title screen shows the game's boxart. The screen also notably shows the game's final logo, instead of the aforementioned prototype logo.
• The selection screen provides a 'Quick Start' option.
• The Head-to-Head selection screen shows an image of Ganesha holding gasoline pumps.
• The Mission Mode selection screen shows Apu holding hot dogs next to the words 'Hotdoggin Around'.
• The Entertainment District level is called 'Moe's'.
• The graphics are in the same cartoon style as the E3 demo.

Gameplay Differences

• Characters do not have lines and instead speak with robotic placeholder lines such as 'Homer driver start of game 1'. An exception to this is Mr. Burns.
• A thumbs up appears over characters who want to be picked up.
• The drop off location is indicated by a UFO instead of clouds.
• Like the E3 build, Mr. Burns' limo is stronger than the player's vehicle.
• Like the E3 build, the Road Rage mode music uses the same music as Sunday Drive.

Map Differences

The Simpsons Road Rage E3

• The Evergreen Terrace level has a broken bridge at the beginning which appears to be used to cut it off from the Springfield Mountains level.
• The HUD map is green and brown instead of blue in the final game.
• The Springfield Dam level is incomplete. There is no water and the player can drive out of the map.

The Simpsons Road Rage Emulator