Trivia / FlatOut

• Copiously Credited Creator: The third game credits Ronnie Nelis as producer, lead designer, lead artist, UI artist, animator, visual effects artist, and co-composer. The only major role he isn't listed for is programming. On top of that, one of the selectable characters is an Author Avatar named "Silen Einnor".
• What Could Have Been:
  • The Street class cars in 2 were originally planned to have racing numbers on the car just like the Derby and Race class cars, but this was removed at some point. There's a strong probability that its removed late in the development as the car numbers can still be seen in the game's intro and the image used for the Street class cars in Career Mode's dealership, the latter of which were retained for all of its remasters.
  • The opponents that you faced in 2 and its remasters (Ultimate Carnage, Head-On and Collector's Edition) had some interesting what-if's in their concepts:
    • All of the drivers introduced in 2 had different names early in the development, with the exception of Frank Malcov. Interestingly, all of the names used were opponents from the original (with the exception of Seth Bellinger, whom Malcov replaces completely), indicating that they were all going to return before Bugbear decided to make an all-new cast instead.
    • Malcov manages to retain most of his characterization, as his concept of being a former top racing driver that has now became erratic was retained in his loading screen bio. However, the original story only involved one accident (stated to be caused by Frank Benton, i.e. Jack) whereas the final game has it be caused by too many of them. His original design also didn't have the Eagleland motif that he would be associated with.
    • Jack Benton was originally going to be Frank Benton. Benton also manages to retain most of his characterization, but his design changed a lot. While he kept his yellow-and-black motif from the start, he originally looked younger and didn't wear the leather jacket that was featured. The leather jacket itself also went through at least two revisions before Bugbear stuck with the final design.
    • Sofia Martinez was originally Tania Graham and apparently she was also named Valerio Vega in development. As the name changes suggest, Martinez was originally Caucasian before she was changed into a Latino. Her original design was missing her open-buttoned jacket and featured a white-and-orange color motif instead of the silver-and-blue that she had in the final game.
    • Jason Walker was originally named Paul McGuire. Walker's concept design was practically unchanged, but his characterization was originally conceived as a daredevil hippie that ensures that he won't endanger other opponents.
    • Sally Taylor was originally Katie Daggert and had her farmgirl aspect made more prominent instead of her happy-go-lucky personality. Taylor retained most of her concept design, but she originally had none of the white motif that she would have in the final game.
    • Ray Carter, originally Ray Smith, had the greatest deviation in characterization as he was originally designed as a Caucasian spy driver in the style of Agent Smith, a far cry from the Jamaican Brilliant, but Lazy, laid back driver that we got in the game. Carter's physical features remains the same from his concept, but he missed his signature maroon jersey.
    • Katie Jackson was originally Sue O'Neill. Like Malcov, Jackson retained most of her original characterization and concept design, with the only thing different being the red sub-motif as it was added later in the development.
    • Out of the four added in Ultimate Carnage, Jill Richards◊ is the one whose design changed the most. She originally◊ wore a long sleeved shirt with a tie, a jeans instead of a skirt and a long pants, and had a more androgynous hair. However, Jill is also the one who had the least changes in personality, as she was the only one to have her AI profile to have matching names with the name in the final game.
    • Curtis Wolfe's design is practically unchanged from the concepts. Only one thing was changed: The headgear, being changed from a cap◊ to a beanie◊. However, his AI profile name is listed as Jack Benton Jr., suggesting that he was originally related to Jack before Bugbear gave him a completely new characterization.
    • Lei Bing◊, the final replacement of Esco Parpala (see below), originally wore an outfit that was more revealing◊ in the concept art. She also wore a more stereotypical cowboy boots.
    • Lewis Duran's design is also practically unchanged, with the only thing different being his hoodie being worn up◊ in the final art◊. However, Duran was conceived as a female at first as his AI profile name was named "Victoria McManara". It's presumed that McManara was changed to Duran after Parpala was replaced by Lei (see below).
    • Datamining the files revealed the existence of two cut drivers: Bellinger and Esco Parpala. Bellinger was conceived as a jock that likes to brawl with other drivers, while Parpala was designed as a 60-year old driver that was starting to show his age. Bellinger was presumed to be cut because his characterization was too close to Walker, while Parpala's was cut as it was too close to Malcov's. Interestingly, Parpala's name was in Ultimate Carnage as the AI profile name of Lei Bing, indicating that he was scheduled to made his debut in Ultimate Carnage before Lei replaces him completely.

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