Development:The Simpsons: Hit & Run/Core Game Design Docs

This is a sub-page of Development:The Simpsons: Hit & Run.

This article is a work in progress. ...Well, all the articles here are, in a way. But this one moreso, and the article may contain incomplete information and editor's notes.

This document appears to be the earliest of the game's conceptual stages, having the basic outline of elements planned out. Two revisions of the document exist, along with several abridged editions;

• The earliest found in the files is 1.1, titled FOX April 15 Core Design.doc, dated April 11, 2002, with a total of 116 pages.
• A later revision titled as 1.3, called Simpsons 2 Game Design.doc, dated June 14, 2002, with a total of 141 pages.
• Many of the files are duplicated separately in design/Core Design.

FOX April 15 Core Design.doc (1.1)

The front cover of the document

General Differences

• The plot had not yet been drafted nor written at this point.
• There were four districts planned rather than three in the final, one being the scrapped Industrial area. It would have contained the Nuclear Power Plant and a prison. Eight of Levels would reuse the same location twice, at different times of day.
• The game had a total of nine levels, eight of them being story-based and the last being a bonus level.
• There was a scrapped feature called Bullet Time; the gameplay would be in slow-motion where it would be easier to control the vehicle, in a similar manner to Franklin's ability from Grand Theft Auto V.
• The HUD was planned to be similar to that of Smuggler's Run 2, where the map, damage meter and counter would be shown all at once. The damage meter would loosely make it to the final in the form of the Hit & Run system, based on the amount of damage and mayhem caused in the location.
• Each of the levels would each have their own playable character, rather than five characters in seven levels in the final. The scrapped individual characters are Grampa Simpson, Ralph Wiggum and Milhouse.

Level	Location
Level 1	Evergreen Terrace
Level 2	Squidport
Level 3	Downtown Springfield
Level 4	Industrial District (Power Plant)
Level 5	Squidport
Level 6	Downtown
Level 7	Power Plant
Level 8	Evergreen Terrace
Bonus Level	Halloween (Unknown Location)

• The content was marked with TBD at this point.
• It was mentioned that voice recording must by done by September 15, 2002 in order for the game to not be delayed.
• The minimap in the pause menu was planned to be enlarged, but it just stays the same size.
• There was supposed to be dialogue relating to tutorial-specific elements, but it's reduced to the first mission of the game.

Gameplay Differences

• It was mentioned that you could find chases or escapes "on-foot", but no missions involving it happen.
• There were approximately 75 missions planned, but only a total of 56 appear in the final.
• The "Capture The Flag" mode from Road Rage would have returned, except the level would be smaller, and would have made use of the "Bullet Time" feature.
• "one-off" or "red herring" missions were planned at that point, which would make it to the final as Bonus Missions.
• "Generic Roadblock Vehicles" were planned for missions, where they would appear as obstacles for the player to get around.
• Vehicles were originally going to have a set of abilities, which are completely absent in the final game. Those abilities would have been found at specific locations (like the speed powerup near bases). Below are a list;
  • A "speed burst", which would likely form in the function of a turbo boost.
  • Oil slicks, that could cause vehicles to slide and spin around.
  • Bullet time feature would have worked there.
  • An "Exploding Duff keg", which would function like the bomb in Smuggler's Run 2.
  • And a smokescreen that would cause vehicles to stop steering.
• They were trying to find a way to switch vehicles in a way that doesn't seem like carjacking, which would be resolved in the final.
• A taunt button was planned.
• It was mentioned that music from Road Rage would be reused, due to them initially being doubtful that 20 new music pieces would be composed for the game. The character Game Over jingles from that game was also planned to be reused, with some entirely new compositions and victory stingers; there would be a total of sixteen, one for each of the eight characters. Neither of them ended up being the case in the final.
  • Additionally, jingles for unlocking new stuff were planned.
• Initially, there was supposed to be no music when the player isn't in a vehicle but music cues were planned to be used, where the latter would make it to the final. "Landmark sounds" were also planned at that point, where locations like the Duff Brewery and the Stonecutters Tunnel would have that feature.

Location Differences

• The document said that the world would have animated objects, such as drawbridges or ferries for example. While the element would make it to the final, none of the examples mentioned appear.
• The suburbs, the most planned of the four locales, (which would be Level 1/4/7 in the final) had some changes;
  • Evergreen Terrace had the four district themes (Evergreen Terrace, Pressboard Estates, Hicksville and Suburban Ghetto) planned as the final, except that the Power Plant wasn't present.
  • The time of day mentioned almost matches that of the final, except that it's set during the morning in Level 1 rather than midday, and a full moon is displayed instead of a half-moon in Level 4.
  • The world sphere was supposed to have "a city in the distance with rolling hills and road networks", but the skybox graphic in the final is just mountainous land.
  • Some parts of the world were planned but got changed, starting with Evergreen Terrace;
    • There were originally open garages, but no garages are seen open in the game at all with the exception of a stunt jump near the Simpsons House.
    • It was mentioned that there would be kids selling lemonade by the roadside, but it doesn't appear with the exception of the Windows version, albeit without kids and as a breakable prop.
    • Mrs. Glick's House, Dr. Hibbert's House, Rev. Lovejoy's House, Up Up and Buffet restaurant, Prof Frink's House, Sha-boom Ka-Boom Restaurant and Christian School were planned to appear in Evergreen Terrace but were cut.
  • The Hicksville area also got some changes;
    • Dogs were supposed to appear near doghouses, along with tar pits, sheep farms, diner, auto wrecking yard and "kids selling roadmaps and squirrels by the roadside" but were cut.
    • The Springfield Speedway, Drive-in Theater and Burlesque House were also planned but did not make it to the final. The Cemetery was also planned for that district rather than Evergreen Terrace, but would end up being placed right at the bridge bordering to that location.
  • The apartments area approximately bordering Land Lard Donuts and Springdale Elementary got some changes, and was likely supposed to be larger;
    • Apartments for Waylon Smithers, Squeaky-Voiced Teen, Apu, Hans Moleman, Patty and Selma and Mrs. Krabbapel were planned, along with Fiesta Terrace Apartments but none of them play any of a role in the final.
    • There were originally supposed to be more businesses such as the Used Car Lot, Try-N-Save Montro-Mart, Center for Geriatric Medicine and Big Box. The Try-N-Save would appear in Level 2/5.
• Downtown Springfield (Level 2/5 in the final) received some changes, despite having the town center, financial district and "wrong side of the tracks" districts locales planned in the final;
  • The districts were originally planned to be separated by a river than buildings and a highway intersection.
  • The Police Station was originally located in the Town Center than the planned Financial District in the final.
  • The Android's Dungeon was originally supposed to be located in Downtown while Moe's Tavern was supposed to be in the Squidport. The locations would be switched in the final.
  • The lower end district originally planned to have "XXX theaters", but were cut from the final game to avoid raising the age rating.
• The Squidport Wharf (Level 3/6 in the final) received a few changes, despite the locales matching that of the final in the document;
  • The Squidport locale was supposed to be visited at night first, then sunset. The order is reversed in the final.
  • There was originally a "Ventura Beach CA" rollarcoadter planned for the beach.
  • Out of the landmarks leading out of the eastern side of the location, Rancho Relaxo did not appear.
  • Locations such as The Happy Gypsy, Snuggler's Cove, Sir Putts-a-Lot Merrie Olde Fun Center, Shot Kickers, Family Fun Center, Who's to Know Motel, Larry's Chinese Theatre, Capt. McAllister's Lobster Academy, The Big T Theater did not appear in the final.
  • It seemed that there was supposed to be an area dedicated to motels, rather than just Ye Olde Off Ramp Inn appearing as a location. Planned businesses such as Toy Land, Aphrodite Inn, Bates Motel, Budget Lodge, Happy Earwig Motel, Hotel Pillowmint, Motel 6, Springfield Cozy Court Motel, Springfield Palace Hotel and Worst Western were considered as locations.
  • A similar thing could be said for the nature area separating the Springfield Dam and KrustyLu Studios, where landmarks like Miss Tillingham's School for Snooty Girls and Mama's Boys, Discount Lion Safari, Merriage Retreat, Mt. Swartzwelder Historical Cider Mill, Murderhorn, Mt. Springfield, Mt. Useful, StoneCutters Secret Club, World's Largest Toilet, Ghost Town, Springfield Zoo and Botanical Gardens, Widow's Peak Mingled Waters Health Spa were planned.
    • The World's Largest Toilet and StoneCutters Secret Club would appear in Evergreen Terrace.
• Perhaps an interesting scrapped locale is the Industrial Area, it would have the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant, a train yard, and the Springfield Mall. It also would have had lots of interiors and ways to navigate through the location. Despite being scrapped altogether, several elements of the location would appear in the other three finalized locales;
  • The Springfield Nuclear Power Plant would appear in Level 1/4/7, acting as a looping transition point to the Rich Area with the exception of the latter.
  • The Train Yard would be repurposed for Level 2/6, along with some of the apparent planned factories seen in the background (Slide Factory, Fireworks Factory and Box Factory).

Character Differences

• The document said that "over 50" characters would appear, but only 42 appear in the final.
• "Special Guest Stars" were mentioned as characters, but none appear.
• Within the Characters and Passengers section, those who don't appear in any form are Itchy, Scratchy, Reverend Lovejoy, Bumblebee Man, and McBain.
• Those who only appear via answering machines and Gags are Rodd & Todd.
• Chief Wiggum, Lou and/or Eddie were considered as Police drivers, but only generic cops appear in the final.
• Not only dialogue lines were planned to reused from Road Rage, but from The Simpsons Skateboarding too. No lines from the latter would appear.
• Dialogues were supposed to be expanded for the "3rd passenger in car", but no such feature appears.
• Mission-specific failure or success animations were planned for characters, rather than just cutting to a black screen with a retry prompt. Each would've had their own line of dialogue and animation for each character, and the car would skid and stop to show the character if they were using a vehicle.
  • Homer would either bash his head against the steering wheel or raise his fist in victory.
  • Grandpa would get mad at the driver, but no success animation was planned at that point.
  • The rest of the animations were left blank, likely meaning they were not planned out as of yet.

Vehicle Differences

• The game had a total of 16 vehicles at this point, with varying level of damage but the final has way more.
• "Fat Tony's Pretzel Wagons" (from The Twisted World of Marge Simpson) were mentioned as appearing as AT chase vehicles, but don't appear in the final.
• Frink's vehicle was tentatively titled a DeLorean, where it would be a completely different hovercar in the final.
• Homer and Apu's vehicles were tentatively titled the Barracuda and TransAm, the real-life vehicles that were based on in the final.
• McBain would have had a hummer vehicle, while Ned Flanders would have had a Motorhome vehicle (likely based off the RV from The Call of The Simpsons episode). Neither of these two vehicles appear in the final.
• Other vehicle explosion effects were considered, such as camera shaking, huge explosion sounds that would break the sound barrier, controller shaking, exploding car parts and the AI driver being flown out. The last option was marked as a lower priority due to having to get approved by FOX.

FOX April 15 Core Design.doc (1.3)

The front cover of the document