FlatOut Titles Receive Major Modernization After 18 Years

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The FlatOut series has been revived from the dead. Image: ZOOM Platform
You read that right, the iconic FlatOut series has received a major modernization update on Steam. From Steam Workshop items to 18-year-old bug fixes; FlatOut is back!

The FlatOut series of games is a trilogy created and published by BugBear Entertainment. This iconic Finnish studio is also behind the modern iteration of FlatOut, Wreckfest. They have produced racing titles in famous franchises such asRidge Racer (Unbounded), and Rally Trophy outside of their destructive antics.

It is worth noting that FlatOut 3 Chaos & Destruction and FlatOut 4: Total Insanity are not included in this update. These titles were developed and published by different studios. Both titles underachieved greatly compared to their predecessors.

FlatOut I1.jpg

FlatOut's iconic ragdoll physics in action. Image: BugBear Entertainment

A bountiful update to one of the most famous arcade racing series ever was most likely not on your 2024 bingo card. Modernizing and reviving games like the FlatOut series is unbelievably rare in the modern gaming space. An example would be how quickly Polyphony cut the rope for Gran Turismo Sport.

What's New For FlatOut?​

So what has this update brought to the Flatout franchise? A rush of new players is clear to see and most notably, OpenSpy.net servers in the base game for FlatOut 2. This is a major step forward for the niche community that has kept the FlatOut games' player numbers hovering around 100 per day before this update.

Here is everything new in each of the three BugBear-published Flatout titles.

FlatOut​

  • Steam Deck Verified
  • Added Steam Workshop
  • Added Steam trading cards, backgrounds, emojis, and badges
  • Added Steam Cloud support
  • Added widescreen support (Up to 21:9)
  • Added Czech, Russian, Hungarian and Polish languages
  • Fixed texture issues with Blocker and Pepper cars
  • Higher quality music tracks
  • Improved model pop-in
  • Minor fixes and improvements

FlatOut 2​

  • Steam Deck Verified
  • Added Steam Workshop
  • Added Steam trading cards, backgrounds, emojis, and badges
  • Added Czech, Russian, Hungarian and Polish languages.
  • Added Steam Cloud support
  • Added Steam rich presence
  • Restored unused track: "Papa Roach - Blood Brothers"
  • Improved model pop-in
  • Improved FOV set by the game
  • Improved aspect ratio for widescreen monitors
  • Increased Lua memory limit
  • Increased buffer size
  • Enabled multiplayer hosted by OpenSpy.net

FlatOut: Ultimate Carnage​

  • Added Steam Workshop support.
  • Added Steam trading cards, backgrounds, emojis, and badges!
  • Fixed some Czech letters not showing up.

The Future of FlatOut​

All three games have been revived and revitalised for play in 2024, however, FlatOut 2 especially is looking like it's going to be the most prominent survivor. Online play was officially shut down in 2014 for the second instalment of FlatOut, but with the implementation of OpenSpy.net service players can finally race online again after over a decade of inactivity.

Online Multiplayer.jpg

28 healthy populated online multiplayer lobbies active at 7 am on a Sunday morning.

For those who aren't aware of what OpenSpy is, it is a service that provides supported servers for games that have had their official multiplayer servers shut down. Some of the big hitters from the OpenSpy catalogue are the infamous Tony Hawk's Pro Skater games and the original Call of Duty titles.

The hype and excitement around the FlatOut series is new territory in the modern gaming space. But not everyone is going to have heard of the franchise or have any experience with it. There is no better time to try it out than now, the FlatOut anthology collection is 89% off on Steam currently. The Anthology pack gives you the three BugBear-published titles plus the other two games from independent publishers.

What do you think about the FlatOut resurrection? Will you be giving the games another go? Let us know on X @OverTake_gg or down in the comments below!
About author
Connor Minniss
Website Content Editor & Motorsport Photographer aiming to bring you the best of the best within the world of sim racing.

Comments

Premium
Well, That's a bit odd.

Not what I had expected after a couple of years of silence from Bugbear, and I'm pretty sure the originals still hold up fine and are a testament to the period in which they were released, So I can't really see the point apart from a means to rustle up some cash maybe?

Where's the follow up to Wreckfest?

Edit-Probably a bit cynical on my part, it appears they have done very little apart from what was required for steamdeck verification. Games are still only a couple bucks, Still look identical, and if its already in your steam library then you get the update.

So, not even really a cash grab.

So...uh...Good stuff Bug Bear.Might as well install em on my deck.
 
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Well, That's a bit odd.
Not what I had expected after a couple of years of silence from Bugbear, and I'm pretty sure the originals still hold up fine and are a testament to the period in which they were released, So I can't really see the point apart from a means to rustle up some cash maybe?

Where's the follow up to Wreckfest?

Edit-Probably a bit cynical on my part, it appears they have done very little apart from what was required for steamdeck verification. Games are still only a couple bucks, Still look identical, and if its already in your steam library then you get the update.

So, not even really a cash grab.

So...uh...Good stuff Bug Bear.Might as well install em on my deck.
All the games had broken (or rather non-existent) ultrawide support, UC had the broken GFWL, that is already enough for me to be happy it got fixed. And now we also have Workshop mod support for all games .
 
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I'm currently playing with FlatOut 1, it's really enjoyable after some hardcore simracing, the game doesn't feel old at all.
I'm really happy about the refresh, especially added Hungarian language, however I'm not sure if it's for GOG too.
 
The original FlatOut has the best simcade phsyics ever made IMO. Used to play this with mates online using Hamachi years ago as it has no native MP.
 
Well, That's a bit odd.

Not what I had expected after a couple of years of silence from Bugbear, and I'm pretty sure the originals still hold up fine and are a testament to the period in which they were released, So I can't really see the point apart from a means to rustle up some cash maybe?

Where's the follow up to Wreckfest?

Edit-Probably a bit cynical on my part, it appears they have done very little apart from what was required for steamdeck verification. Games are still only a couple bucks, Still look identical, and if its already in your steam library then you get the update.

So, not even really a cash grab.

So...uh...Good stuff Bug Bear.Might as well install em on my deck.
Bugbear doesn't appear to be involved. The games now show "Copyright 2024 Jordan Freeman Group and Strategy First" in Steam. This is the same company who runs the ZOOM Platform, a competitor to GOG. The update notes in Steam are also signed by ZOOM Platform.

Looks like they bought the rights to the Flatout games and invested in this Steam update to capitalize on this investment and also get their name in the news. I'm not optimistic that the GOG copy will get updated too, now that they're selling Flatout on their own ZOOM Platform store. Funny enough, it doesn't look like their own ZOOM store version is updated yet either! I guess the Steam audience offers a bigger return to prioritize
 
Be warned that only the 2 first games support steering wheels, event UC doesn't support them properly for what I see, with vibrations instead of proper FFB (it's disappointing they didn't fix that in this patch...). So for wheel users, buying FlatOut 2, and maybe the first one, may be better than buying the anthology collection.
 
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Probably a bit cynical on my part, it appears they have done very little apart from what was required for steamdeck verification.
Making the game actually function at startup instead of needing to find and figure out community patches, along with mod support, improved pop-in (hopefully LOD distance, the default in FO2 had floating cars just a few feet away) and bringing back MP are all pretty worthwhile.
Like 2 weeks ago I had to help my buddy troubleshoot FO2 because it doesn't actually work by default and I didn't remember how to fix it.
 
Premium
So, flatout VR?

Assume its made by whatever studio made the last Flatout disaster. And it doesn't show an in car view.

 

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