You will have to forgive my over exuberance at writing this particular post. I lost track of time and it was only when I noticed that the document was approaching 17 pages long that I put the brakes on (hoho). After Mad Cars was given away on Feb 3 and posts by a few community members that gave links to freeware/abandonware games that were similar I thought I’d focus my next freeware post on car racing or any wheeled type game (even though Freeware Fan has already posted two games with a car theme. The first five games are full version commercial games that are being given away for free, then theres a section of Abandonware games which you may require the DOSBox that Bovi mentions (link to download found below) as well as Xpadder that BuBBy has posted about (also link found below) I've then concentrated on loads of online flash games, many of which are really good to play, and a few can also be downloaded. Following that there's a largish section on the online free game Darkwind, which I think is prpbably one of the bvest games I detail here in this post. Then as a summing up there's several free CD games that I'm giving away, all based around wheeled games, mainly cars, but there's a bike game as well. First come first served with those. I'll close the offer once all the games have been claimed by posting in this link, So if it's a few months down the line and there isn't a post there's a good chance some of the games are still available. I posted a couple of months ago with offers of free games and none of those were ever claimed. (First Person Shooters)
If anyone knows of other free wheeled games, please post details of them here rather than separate the posts. That way it will be easier for the community to keep track.
Free Commercial Games:
Real Racing:
http://www.gametop.com/download-free-games/racing/
This is the same as Intense Racing below and it was also given away over on the game giveaway site as Race Cars: The Extreme Rally strong>:
Mad Truckers:
http://www.gametop.com/download-free-games/driver-truckers-download/
KGB Hunter:
http://www.gametop.com/download-free-games/car-kgb-hunter-download/
Intense Racing 2:
Images:
http://freegamepick.com/en/screenshots_intenseracing2.html
Download:
http://freegamepick.com/en/games_intenseracing2.html
Intense Racing:
Images:
http://freegamepick.com/en/screenshots_intenseracing.html
Download:
http://freegamepick.com/en/games_intenseracing.html
Thanks to Bovi for the link for Death Rally which was a DOS based game that is now abandoware, which looks very similar to MadCard, but with what looks like better environments. As it and others I’ve detailed below are DOS based games, you’ll need a program that allows you to play DOS games in an XP windows {or several other platforms}environment. Again thanks’ goes to Bovi for the link to DOSBox, which should allow you to play all of the non windows applications that I link to below. You can download Death Rally for free from the following German site. The second link takes you to a mixed bag of images, but you’ll find several that are from Death Rally and the third link is for DOSBox:
Download:
http://www.dos4free.dk/index.php?modul=description&id=37&t=Death%20Rally
Images of Death Rally
http://search.msn.co.uk/images/results.aspx?q=Death+Rally+game&go=Search+Images&form=QBIR#
You may need the following to play some of these abandonware games. It acts as a sort of sandbox that llows these older games to be played:
DOSBox:
Another game that is based on the above Death Rally game is called called K-Rally which is specifically made for phones and pocket PC’s. Unfortunately this one isn’t freeware and will cost you around $15 to buy. You can check it out though by following the links below
K-Rally’s game play is pretty typical combat racing: fly around the track as fast as you can, taking out enemies with your weapons, picking up bonuses and avoiding mines. K-Rally moves at a slower pace than other games of this variety, but that is actually a good thing since it makes it easier to focus on cornering and maneuvering around obstacles. After all, with the overhead perspective, sometimes you’ll need to reverse left and right to get around a corner
Donald also posted a few links to two abandonware games of this genre called Ignition (17.1Mb) a game released back in 1997, and Re-volt (58.7Mb) released in 1999.
Ignition
I could only find one images of the game online and don’t have the time to set the game up yet and take some myself. (maybe I will sometime soon):
Image:
http://free-game-downloads.mosw.com/ss/5817_0.jpg
Download:
http://www.abandonia.com/en/games/107
Quote
There are quite a few modes of play. The single player mode features championship, single race, time trial and pursue races. In championship, you race all available tracks and earn points. If you collect most points through all races, a new track and car get unlocked. Once you complete a championship, the game difficulty will automatically increase from novice to amateur. Of course, you can return it to novice, but in order to unlock new tracks and cars, you will also have to win championships in amateur and professional difficulty levels. Single race mode is just that - a single race with a car and track of your choice. Pursuit is similar, but with a slight twist - each time a lap is completed, the last car is destroyed, and thus kicked out of the race. This goes on until there is just one car left - the winner of course. Last but not least is the time trial mode in which you can race against the ghost car which shows how you drove when the track record was made. This is great for practicing. Single player mode is just the tip of the iceberg though. Multiplayer offers two more modes - splitscreen and network.
Graphics, level design and sounds are also a story for itself. The perspective moves about as you storm through twisty roads, bridge passes, cliffs serpents and canyons. Calling it bird perspective would be an insult since the game offers a full-blown 3D engine that looks and performs amazing. The DOS mode will limit you to 320x240 resolution, but you can enjoy the stunning look in 800x600 when playing under Windows. There are 10 levels in total, and some will complain about this, but the level design is so diverse and beautiful, you won't be bored even after driving around for countless number of laps. Every track features special jumps, twists and shortcuts that can be passed in an infinite number of ways. Basically, every lap is an unique experience. Also, every car has a set of characteristics that determine how fast it goes, how well it handles and how quickly the turbo charges. The turbo? Yes, every car has a regenerating turbo that will give you a speed burst for a short amount of fun. Using those in the right moment is critical for winning races. Also, each car produces a special sound when using the turbo. For example, when driving the police car, its sirens will light up and sound the alarm, in school bus you will hear children screaming and cheering etc
Re - Volt
Download:
http://www.abandonia.com/en/games/908/Re-Volt.html
Images:
http://www.abandonia.com/files/games/908/Re-Volt_1.jpg
http://www.abandonia.com/files/games/908/Re-Volt_3.jpg
http://www.abandonia.com/files/games/908/Re-Volt_4.jpg
http://www.abandonia.com/files/games/908/Re-Volt_5.jpg
http://www.abandonia.com/files/games/908/Re-Volt_7.jpg
Quote
The first thing you’ll notice is the standard resolution of Re-Volt, at a low 640-480. Once you’ve made a visit to options, and you’ve set it all the way up to 1024-786, you’ll notice the beauty of this game. Reflective surfaces are everywhere they need to be, the clean floors of a grocery store, the sleek and shiny RC-cars, and the marble floors of a large museum. Effects are vibrant and colorful, not to mention pleasing to the eyes, everything from a flare impacting on another racer, or a oil puddle sending vehicles trailing off with oily skid marks, look perfect.
The vehicles in Re-volt aren’t exactly what you’d expect, instead of some Porsche that can speed over 200 MPH, you commandeer small RC cars that zoom around the interiors of various buildings. Although this might drive off the more “hardcore” gaming crowd with it’s initial childishness, missing this would be a foolish mistake. On harder difficulties, the computer racers are brutal and unforgiving, weapons you unleash on other vehicles are perfectly balanced and all serve a use, and there are even unlock able RC’s. Weaponry ranges from homing fireworks that you send after targeted enemies, rolling metal balls to speed down the path of oncoming opponents, and even a kamikaze like “self-detonation” weapon that’ll send nearby cars flying. Weapons aren’t merely here to be fired off in full blazing glory, each and every one of them has tactical purposes. Using oil-slicks in narrow doorways can force cars to run through the slippery mess, or maybe even using “self-detonation” to send other cars off the path. You’ll hardly find yourself bored in the various tracks that each offer another play method to perfect.
Sound is another joy. Your environment actually makes you feel small, like the little RC you are controlling, all provided by the echoing and humming of the large interiors. The exteriors are filled with the expected sounds, your RC grinds as it zooms across gravel, there’s a nice feeling of a Sunday afternoon as you race through a suburban neighborhood. My favorite atmospheric sounds though, is the little buzzing your RC creates. It’s a subtle yet perfect touch, and it never seems to grow annoying or repetitive. Always, that buzzing keeps me coming back.
Overall, I can’t give Re-Volt any negatives; most likely the only problem would be the loading length. Even on my high end PC, it took about 20 seconds to load a certain level. Another problem would be a incredibly rare bug, where the loading screen flips sideways from some reason, (The game runs normally though.) But these are all minor problems, and won’t detract from Re-Volt’s final score
Jello Cars
This is a windows based game so you don’t need to use DOSBox. Follow the first link to see a You Tube video. You can change the graphical style from Graphic, Croyon, Vector or Blueprint:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=fw9Wv96I3Wg or http://youtube.com/watch?v=_zvT2QZW8k4&feature=related
Link to authors page and download link
http://www.walaber.com/index.php?action=showitem&id=17
Grand Theft Auto 1:
Images:
http://freegamepick.com/en/screenshots_gta.html
Download:
http://freegamepick.com/en/games_gta.html
Grand Theft Auto 2:
Images:
http://freegamepick.com/en/screenshots_gta2.html
Download:
http://freegamepick.com/en/games_gta2.html
Here’s some links to online flash games The one called called Ignition 2, though bears no relation to the game above. I played all of them and found most were quite entertaining for short periods of time. There’s loads of different styles from top down, isometric and side scrolling games. Some have basic graphics like ignition and others are gorgeously rendered. These games are ideal for that short break you may have, or if at work, a sneaky few minutes relieving the stress of the day:
Knugg Rally
http://www.wellbored.com/play_game.php?game_id=992
Ignition 2
http://www.gamershood.com/flashgames/3357
Hummer Rally
http://www.wellbored.com/play_game.php?game_id=834
De-Molition:
http://www.wellbored.com/play_game.php?game_id=455
Police Bike:
http://www.wellbored.com/play_game.php?game_id=474
Max Dirt Bike:
http://www.wellbored.com/play_game.php?game_id=796
Amazing Race:
http://www.wellbored.com/play_game.php?game_id=839
Micro Racers:
http://www.wellbored.com/play_game.php?game_id=669
Peugeot Parking:
http://www.wellbored.com/play_game.php?game_id=92
Grand Prix:
http://www.wellbored.com/play_game.php?game_id=405
BMX Extreme:
http://www.wellbored.com/play_game.php?game_id=814
Miniclip Rally:
http://www.wellbored.com/play_game.php?game_id=546
Racer:
http://www.wellbored.com/play_game.php?game_id=498
Cone Crazy:
http://www.wellbored.com/play_game.php?game_id=281
Dune Buggy:
http://www.wellbored.com/play_game.php?game_id=1047
VXR Racing:
http://www.wellbored.com/play_game.php?game_id=639
City Racers:
http://www.wellbored.com/play_game.php?game_id=931
Road Carnage:
http://www.wellbored.com/play_game.php?game_id=569
Monkey Kart: (takes a minute or two to load)
http://www.wellbored.com/play_game.php?game_id=1031
Pursuit:
http://www.wellbored.com/play_game.php?game_id=800
Brekky Racers:
http://www.wellbored.com/play_game.php?game_id=480
Speed Camera Killer:
http://www.wellbored.com/play_game.php?game_id=632
Desert Rally Game:
http://www.wellbored.com/play_game.php?game_id=981
Desert Rally Racing:
http://www.wellbored.com/play_game.php?game_id=1046
Bennet’s Redline Racer:
http://www.wellbored.com/play_game.php?game_id=244
Monster Truck Trials:
http://www.wellbored.com/play_game.php?game_id=856
Carmageddon:
http://www.wellbored.com/play_game.php?game_id=559
Two Wheel Trauma:
http://www.wellbored.com/play_game.php?game_id=928
Wheelers:
http://www.wellbored.com/play_game.php?game_id=94
Thump:
http://www.wellbored.com/play_game.php?game_id=664
The Fast and the Furious:
http://www.wellbored.com/play_game.php?game_id=677
Shadow Factory:
http://www.wellbored.com/play_game.php?game_id=825
Bombay Taxi:
http://www.wellbored.com/play_game.php?game_id=864
Bombay Taxi 2:
http://www.wellbored.com/play_game.php?game_id=971
City Escape:
http://www.wellbored.com/play_game.php?game_id=459
Dune Bashing in Dubai:
http://www.wellbored.com/play_game.php?game_id=711
Motocross FMX:
http://www.wellbored.com/play_game.php?game_id=1016
Mountain Bike:
http://www.wellbored.com/play_game.php?game_id=717
Monster Truck Trials:
http://www.wellbored.com/play_game.php?game_id=717
BMW Racing:
http://www.wellbored.com/play_game.php?game_id=402
Stunt Dirt Bike:
http://www.wellbored.com/play_game.php?game_id=882
Alex Trax:
http://www.wellbored.com/play_game.php?game_id=893
Attack Time:
http://www.wellbored.com/play_game.php?game_id=710
Rural Racer:
http://www.wellbored.com/play_game.php?game_id=308
Motorama:
http://www.wellbored.com/play_game.php?game_id=152
Four Wheel Madness:
http://www.wellbored.com/play_game.php?game_id=739
Drifting:
http://www.wellbored.com/play_game.php?game_id=179
Nighttime Driving:
http://www.wellbored.com/play_game.php?game_id=633
Skidoo TT:
http://www.wellbored.com/play_game.php?game_id=561
Diesel and Death:
http://www.wellbored.com/play_game.php?game_id=86
4x4 Rally:
http://www.wellbored.com/play_game.php?game_id=159
Quad Squad 2:
http://www.wellbored.com/play_game.php?game_id=1009
KGB Hunter: (also a full version download available – see elsewhere in this post)
http://www.wellbored.com/play_game.php?game_id=817
Crazy Taxi:
http://www.novelgames.com/flashgames/game.php?id=69
Parking mania:
http://www.novelgames.com/flashgames/game.php?id=134
Hovercraft Racing:
http://www.novelgames.com/flashgames/game.php?id=10
The novel games such as Crazy Taxi above can be downloaded to play on your computer offline.
I could spend all night posting links to flash games of this ilk. They are easy to find. Most of the ones I’ve linked above were found by looking at the links below the game window.
The following is probably the best of the bunch as far as re-playability and enjoyment Is concerned, though it is a dedicated online game. You can download the client for free and play virtually every aspect of the game for free, though there are tournaments and wilderness races that are part of a subscription based game where you can use your own customized cars as opposed to the ones provided in the public game, of which there are loads. See belo for details. The article hasn’t been written by me. I only intended spending an hour on this post, but it’s stretched into over 5 hours and I’m tired, so decided to cut some corners and just lift the whole article rather than write my own.
Darkwind:
Screenshots:
http://search.mmosite.com/jsp/search/searchpic.jsp?pageno=1&channel=10003&kdid=21667
You Tube video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m5sCHEi3uuE
Home address:
Darkwind: War on Wheels is an independently developed 3D turn based racing and Vehicle Combat MMO for Windows and Mac OS X (a Linux client is also planned). It is inspired by the tabletop game Car Wars and the Mad Max movies, but set in its own original universe.
Here’s what the Wikipaedia says about the game:
Story
A disastrous solar event in 2019 and 2020 leaves the world devastated, with only small pockets of human survivors scratching out a living in a bleak, irradiated world. Largely fuelled by the stockpiles of hardware left behind by a dead civilization combined with the desperation of a new world order, the gladiatorial death sports begin, around 2035. The vast expanses of wilderness between the towns are menaced by gangs of road pirates armed with heavily armed cars and trucks, and travelled by equally well armed trade groups, making a living by carrying food, fuel, and other specialist equipment between the towns.
Gameplay:
The focus of the game is on vehicular combat - cars with guns - both in the wilderness and in manmade arenas and racing circuits. Game play is split between a web interface (for strategic management) and a 3D interface which supports Windows and Mac OSX (for control of your characters and vehicles during a combat or race).
Web interface
Through the web-interface the players can manage the recruiting, finances and the gangs vehicle garage.
Characters can be trained in a combat and non-combat skills such as driving, gunnery, mechanic, or scouting, which adds RPG elements to the game.
It is also worth mentioning that character death in Darkwind is permanent. In addition to perma-death Darkwind has a complex injury system with long-term (broken bones) and permanent (limb-loss). However replacing dead gang members is easy making is usually just a minor setback.
Many of the aspects of Darkwind run to a realworld timescale. It takes days or weeks for the players characters to heal from their injuries; it takes hours or days to repair/upgrade vehicles, and it takes hours to travel between towns. This makes strategic decisions carry real importance, and gameplay aspects such as trading take real time and effort, which allows them to work properly as part of the dynamic economy. The availability of hardware in the markets is a carefully balanced gameplay factor - if wilderness pirates are not kept under control, for example, then rare chassis types and weapons will not be easy to find.
A carefully developed economic model based on systems dynamic simulation ensures that the control and distribution of key resources unperpins a realistic, dynamic economy, providing real opportunities for trade to be used as a gameplay strategy, and control of key resources to be used as part of long term feuds and warfare. The actions of the player gangs and the victories and defeats of the computer-controlled pirate and trader gangs directly impacts the availability and cost of resources and vehicle hardware at each of the towns in the game. Lucrative trade routes are therefore not static but must be continually devised and modified.
Game client
The main turn based tactical gameplay which is the core of the game done though a freely downloadable game client
Darkwind features several different event types - races, deathraces, arena combats, it is possible to compete in each in either leagues or ladders.
In Darkwind, turn-based gameplay racing becomes purely about the tactics of entering and exiting corners, passing opponents, and generally breaking down the nuances of driving that normally become automated in a traditional driving game. As real world professional racing has much more to do with tactics than reactions (for example F1 or Nascar races), the turn-based nature of Darkwind allows players to race more professionally by letting them battle it out tactically rather just waiting to see who's first to make a mistake. Darkwind's turn-based system also allows for highly detailed rules and strategy, as players have more time to assign orders to characters and vehicles.
As of October 2007, Darkwind has 46 unique vehicle chassis including subcompacts,sedans,muscle cars,SUVs and larger vans and trucks. 14 different engines and 37 weapons ranging from rams and flamethrowers for close combat to rocket launchers and mortars for long-range mayhem. Each of the chassis and weapons offeres different advantages which allows players to create a range of unique and interesting vehicle designs. The weapons have detailed statistics underlying them: recoil, close range and ranged accuracy, damage factors, psychological 'fear factors', ammunition, and so on.
Four towns are currently open to players, each offering distinct race tracks and wilderness combat maps around it. Darkwind currently has 15 racetracks in total with more under development.
One of the main gameplay elements revolves around travel and combat in the wilderness between the towns. Players can gain fame and accumulate looted hardware from their defeated adversaries (who may be either computer-controlled or player-controlled), but risk suffering horrible defeats and the lives of their gang members. Wilderness actions are frequently performed by multi-player squads: by joining together, players can greatly increase their chance of survival.
Future updates
Features planned for the future include: psionik abilities, performance-enhancing drugs, characters on foot and player-owned camps and alliances and more.
FINALLY:
Thanks to Bubby for his link to XPadder which he posted in the comments section on the 3rd Feb when the game Mad Cars was given away.
The following is a link to gamespot, where you’ll find several pages detailing more Racing games/car games available today. They are only walk through,s, but these should give anyone interested a base line as to where to start searching for more racing games:
http://uk.videogames.games.yahoo.com/pc/walkthroughs/racing/
Okay, this is definitely my final paragraph
I have a few CD racing games to give away which if anyone wants I‘d be quite happy to post them onto them. You’ll have to request my email address from the admin’s so that you can Email me your address for me to post them onto you. I’m giving them away, so no charge. They are just gathering dust on my shelves. And it seems a shame that someone else may find a use for them as I wont be playing them again as I have more up to date car based games. The only older ones I intend to keep are the ‘Madness Series i.e. Motocross Madness II and Midtown Madness I & II:
Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit (1998)
Screamer 4x4 (2000)
Super Taxi Driver (?)
Taxi Racer London 2 (?)
Motocross Mania (2000)
Colin McRAE Rally (1998)
TOCA 2 Touring Cars (2000)
London Racer (?)
All are in DVD boxes, but to save on postage I will only send the actual disc in a paper disc holder and the paper DVD cover. If there are loads of requests I will only let you have 1 or 2, so please let me know which you prefer. I’ll won’t send out any discs until Easter to give everyone that’s interested time to contact me. If only a few contact me I’ll split the lot between whomever. :)