S.C.A.R.S.

• Title — S.C.A.R.S. • Developer — Vivid Image • Publisher — Ubi Soft • Released — PlayStation Nintendo 64, Windows • Genre — Racing • Modes — Single-player, multiplayer • Platforms — PlayStation, Nintendo 64, Microsoft Windows • Producer — Gérard Guillemot, Mevlut Dinc • Composer — Gregory Heath • Programmer — Dave Cantrell, Harrison Bernardez, Paul Hope

• Illustration — Gameplay on Nintendo 64: the HUD displays the current and reserve weapons on the top-left corner, while the right hand side indicates the player's position Set in year 3000, the races are "simulations" created by supercomputers, with each supercomputer having its own car based on an animal and its own unique weapon. The nine available cars are based on: lion, elephant, rhinoceros, shark, praying mantis, scorpion, cobra, cheetah, and panther. There are 10 tracks, each with hidden shortcuts. The power-up weapons range from turbos to shields and time bombs.

While working on the various ports of Street Racer, Vivid Image and Ubi Soft decided it would be a good idea to create a 3D racing game specifically for the next-gen consoles. Mev Dinc, who headed Vivid Image, developed a concept of cars based on wildcats and other animals, with tracks that reflected their natural habitats. Ubi Soft loved the idea, and provided some of their own graphics and sound design resources to help fill the otherwise strained team. Originally, the game was going to be called Vivid Racing. After some iterations, they instead decided on S.C.A.R.S. As development progressed, the coders struggled with balancing the high level of detail and performance with the space limitations of the tracks. Courses needed to be shortened, and as a result, many of the technical turns and obstacles were condensed, creating a much more challenging experience than they had originally planned. The title comes from Super Computer Animal Racing Simulator.