Motorodeo 8-7-89

This is a very different version of Motorodeo that Steve programmed before the game was redesigned.  While in the final version the players race through a long obstacle course, in this prototype the players compete in seven different events in a row and the player with the highest score at the end all the events wins.  While there are elements of some of these events visible in the final version such as cars, jumps, and mud pits, the events themselves play very differently than the race in the final game. 

The controls this version are different the the released version.  In the prototype you start each event in the Neutral gear and must push down to switch to Low before your vehicle will start moving.  You can then push up to switch to High in order to gain more speed.  If you've lost too much speed you can switch back down to Low to regain momentum.  On events that feature an overhead view pushing left and right is used to steer your vehicle. 

In between each even the players current scores are shown with the graphics from the title screen.  Speaking of which, these graphics are completely different than the final version and are close up pictures of the vehicles with some very nice details.  It's a shame that these graphics didn't carry over to the released version.  While the computer AI isn't very good in this version, it is completely playable from beginning to end and features the two player mode found in the final.

Please note that due to the heavy amount of flicker this prototype uses that some elements such as car tires or cars in the Car Crush event may look like they're missing in these screen shots.  Rest assured that all the vehicles do indeed have two sets of tires.

Event 1: Sled Pull

In this event the player tries to see how far they can pull a sled before their speed runs out.  The trick appears to be in timing the shifting from Low to High, but in the end it seems to be more of a matter of luck than skill.  Steve noted in a memo that he was trying to make this event 'more fun' but hadn't thought of anything by the time this prototype was made.

Event 2: Slalom

This is one of the overhead view events where the player must weave their way through a set of nine flags and reach the finish line before their opponent.  There's really no skill involved and the flags are always positioned in the same pattern.  According to the milestone memo Steve was going to add some 'sliding code' which would have made it a bit more of a challenge.  The computer AI isn't very good for this event and often gets hung up on the flags.

Event 3: Water Jump

This event involves the player trying to jump over a water pit and bounce off the target in the middle.  If you screw up your car will sink head first into the water pit which is a nice touch.  As always, the trick is to come off the ramp at the right speed in order to fly over the water but land on the target.  It seems that Atari wanted Steve to add a second jump to this event but this idea was decided against due to a lack of screen space and the extra flicker it would have added.

Event 4: Car Push

This is another overhead event.  Here you need to slam your vehicle into the parked car and push it as far as you can.  Much like the Slalom event there's really no challenge here as the sliding code hasn't been added yet.  The computer seems to have issues hitting the car sometimes and will just keep looping until it eventually hits the car by luck.

Event 5: Car Crush

This event is sort of like the opposite of the old Stunt Cycle game.  Instead of jumping over a row of cars you're actually trying to jump onto them.  Ideally you'll want to use a slower speed so you hit more the cars (you get 10 points per hit) but the event is over the second someone crosses the finish line so if you go too slow you'll lose out on all those sweet sweet points as your opponent speeds off into the sunset.

Event 6: Hill Climb

This is similar to the Sled Pull in that it's all about take off speed and timing.  Here players see how far up the hill they can climb before their speed runs out.  Atari apparently wanted a smaller hill put in for some reason, but Steve thought it might add extra flicker.

Event 7: Mud Bath

This is the final event.  Here the player must jump through a series of  water filled pits (either that or it's the cleanest mud I've ever seen).  Each pit has a shallow end where the player can move but is slowed down and a deeper end where the vehicle will sink if they enter.  The trick is to move as fast as possible through the shallow end and jump over the deep end.  Careful manipulation of the gears and speed is required to successfully make it through the pits.

So why was this version scrapped?  According to Steve the reason was that some of the events weren't fun enough:

"The changes were due to Atari having final say.  The gameplay for some of the events (sled pull, for example) were deemed to be "not fun".  Or that the dev time to make them "fun enough" was going to take too long.  I may have even said "I can't get this to a place where I think it's fun". So we changed direction."

To Steve's credit, he's 100% correct.  While this version has a lot more variety in the gameplay, that doesn't mean it's fun.  Some of the events definitely needed more work, and it appears that Atari didn't want to wait for them to be tweaked (or Steve decided that he couldn't tweak them enough to meet their demands).  Interestingly a memo mentions that they had discussed making the game one continuous obstacle course but that they had decided against doing that.  Apparently sometime shortly after this version was made they reconsidered.