Carmageddon 64 FAQ/Upgrade Guide
By Kevin Christman (N64th Street)
http://n64thstreet.com
Version .85 (2nd Revision)
April 22, 2020
BOUNTY HUNT: Help complete this guide & get paid!
This guide currently has 77/90 upgrade locations listed.
If you find one I couldn't, please email
[email protected] with the info.
Each of them has a $10 bounty, paid out via Paypal. This is not a joke, you
will get paid for your trouble after I have verified the location specified.
We doubled the bounty as of the 2nd revision as we have had no submissions.
THE PURPOSE OF THIS GUIDE: A Roadmap to Ruin
Carmageddon 64 is generally considered one of the worst of the worst N64 games,
and while that's not unfair, car upgrades can greatly improve the game's basic
playability. In fact, even 1 of each makes a big difference- as does 3, 5,
10 of each and possibly beyond that, but once you hit 10 in any category
you're pretty much golden. This guide will get your car souped up big time,
but also contains other help & hints to get you over the pits & perils
you'll encounter along the way. Honestly, I find this game really fun and
I hope once you come to terms with what the game expects of you that you'll
have some fun with it too.
This guide is for the NTSC version- I have heard the PAL version is much less
playable, so keep that in mind if you're not playing the NTSC version.
Table of Contents:
[UT] Upgrade Types
[UL] Upgrade Locations
[MT] Mission Tips
[SS] Super Secret Bonus Area
[GT] General Tips (Please read if it's your first rodeo with Carmageddon)
[CT] Car Tips
[RH] Revision History
[CI] Contact Info
UPGRADE TYPES [UT]
Unlike the PC version where upgrades are purchased, you have to find them
in Carmageddon 64 after which the upgrade is permanent.
Armor: In theory, helps you take less damage. In practice, I'm not actually
sure it does much. The minimum damage remains the same, as in what you take
when you splat a zombie, so you still have to repair constantly.
Offensive: This determines raw damage done. Pretty simple. You can quickly
grind opponents into dust once you have at least 10.
Power: This is raw speed. The higher it is, the harder you can ram &
the farther you can fly.
You can probably skip the Armor if you want, but don't skip the other two.
UPGRADE LOCATIONS [UL]
1. Nice Beaver
Armor: In garages immediately behind & to the left of starting point
Offensive: At the end of Mission 2's ramp course (get power first)
Power: Island building interior
2. Rocky Too
Armor: Middle raised platform
Offensive: Behind rocks
Power: In pond cave (far side cliffs)
3. City Slicker
Armor: At the abrupt end of the upper freeway
Offensive: Behind island building
Power: ???
4. Twin Shrieks
Armor: ???
Offensive: Near cave checkpoint
Power: Rooftop right of start, use ramps
5. City of the Lost Giblets
Armor: ???
Offensive: Island building basement
Power: ???
6. Get Yer Rocks Off
Armor: ???
Offensive: On cliff face accessible by climbing over from the nearby hill. Can
be seen from middle platform. This is one of the weirder to get powerups.
Power: In crate cave (between exits for cave paths)
7. Home Sweet Groan
Armor: Top of parking structure
Offensive: Reverse at start and go left into the building
Power: Under ramp to upper platform in middle, bridge to streets is nearby
8. Timber!
Armor: On top of building in town, use metal roof building that ramp leads to
Offensive: Reverse at start and enter hidden cave, ascend ramp path up cliffs
Power: Behind waterfall
9. Stoned Again
Armor: Take the middle cave exit (blocked by course rail)
Offensive: Drive straight after picking up Armor
Power: Immediate left after entering cave from lower entrance (zombies nearby)
10. Piste
Armor: In pond up hill
Offensive: Turn around at "Finish" banner and hang right up the hill, in alcove
Power: Entrance to bob sleigh run
11. Shove Thy Neighbor
Armor: In tunnel center area under dirt hills
Offensive: On platform in middle
Power: Go left into building after 1st checkpoint, in hall
12. Woody Woodwrecker
Armor: Turn around at waterfall (facing away from cave) and drive straight
Offensive: In the train tunnel (right one facing away from the town)
Power: In cave (you can see from tracks above)
13. Unfair Funfair
Armor: In ring jump, off-center
Offensive: In waterslide tunnel
Power: Find a pair of ramps with a platform in the middle, it's on the platform
14. Snow Way Out
Armor: From bottom of bob sleigh, hang right and drop to closest rightmost roof
Offensive: ???
Power: In pond (same as level 10's Armor)
15. West Side Gory
Armor: On raised platform in middle along with some crates & zombies
Offensive: Climb parking structure and fly to nearby roof. Climb incline slowly
and use next ramp to jump to next roof. You'll see it.
Power: ???
16. Runway Runaway
Armor: Search the river- it's in one of the narrow paths
Offensive: Jump over broken wooden bridge & collect in air
Power: Right next to Offensive powerup on same bridge jump
17. Scare D Pants
Armor: Ring jump, not unlike level 13.
Offensive: Search underwater near the stunt ramps. It's in the biggest pond.
Power: Roof of triangular building in red/yellow house area. You can use the
ramp near the barn with a guaranteed Kangaroo on Command inside, then use that
Kangaroo to get over to the rooftop. Or just use the ramp to get there.
18. Bob Slay
Armor: Brown tunnel near mountain top
Offensive: Bottom of bob sleigh run
Power: On top of bob sleigh run start's roof. Use road in front of brown cave
(assuming following the mountain up from starting point) to launch to upgrade.
19. Sea Scythe
Armor: Gas station among outer edges
Offensive: ???
Power: Reverse at beginning and search the docks. You'll find it.
20. Con Rod Air
Armor: ???
Offensive: Underwater, search around where Level 16's Armor upgrade is
Power: Near ramp to Mission 5's starting point
21. Roll Up, Roll Over
Armor: In ring jump, once again
Offensive: On roof, use ramp to left of barn near the entrance to the red/yellow
house section. Alternatively, Kangaroo up there.
Power: Same as level 13, jump to platform between ramps
22. Sheik, Rattle Roll
Armor: Top of pyramid with stairs (Stairamid)
Offensive: This one's hard to describe, but in the area with the pair of
pyramids, there's a street that goes through a canyon. Take that street and
look for a rocky hill you can drive up. You'll be on top of big red rocks.
Take a hard left and find a ramp up to a higher area of those rocks. Search
that area, you will find it.
Power: On island that has a bridge to it, on top of a raised area in the hole
23. Sandy Shandy
Armor: Take a right after the tunnel where the 2nd checkpoint is. When you
reach the part of the road where you can drop to another road to save time,
drop into dirt area with trees next to that road. A Timer Freeze & 5 Free
Recovery Vouchers are next to it.
Offensive: It's on top of the gas station. Kangaroo may be required. There
is a guaranteed Kangaroo down the road from Armor, near the dam, as well as
one on the Power upgrade island.
Power: Just after the tunnel, you'll see a big island you can jump to. It's on
the island. There are many such islands in this level covered in bonuses.
24. Airpain 3
Armor: Use ramp near start to get on top of terminal boarding passage. It's on
a platform nearby. You can also get to it by following the main race course-
you'll end up on the airport roof at one point, and there's a big drop onto
the boarding passage. Drop very slowly and look to your left or behind you
and you can't possibly miss it. The latter method is easier, and making the
jump on the ramp near the start is very tough, though Bug Meister makes it
much easier in my experience.
Offensive: There's 3 closed metal hangars near the main airport building.
It's on the middle hangar, use Kangaroo to get up there. You can also
jump to one of the outer hangars from the airport roof immediately up
the incline after using the ground ramp to get up there.
Power: From start, turn around and go through purple cave. Hang a left after.
It's on the road under an overpass.
25. Smash It Up!
Armor: In an alley next to a light colored building. Alley has a Dead End sign.
Offensive: Near the building where you found the Offensive upgrade in Level 7
is a black incline (kind of looks like solar panels) that leads to a ramp.
Follow
the ramp course and the Offensive upgrade awaits you at the end.
Power: Circle the edge of the middle area until you reach an area where there's
mines along the wall and the ground is all dirt. It's a very small section,
but the area is relatively narrow. There's a hidden cave tunnel up there and
the upgrade is in it behind some mines. It is hard to describe the location
any more precisely, but you'll find it with a little effort.
26. Just Deserts
Armor: Same location as Level 22. Climb the Stairamid.
Offensive: On Oasis island. There's a red ledge with a cactus on it that's
perfect for launching off of.
Power: Near the location of the Power upgrade in Level 22. If you're on the
island facing toward the rest of the level, it's in the right pipe tunnel.
27. Crabs Ahoy!
Armor: At Level 23's starting point, it's in the area above the docks. Search
the streets blocked by course rails and you'll find it.
Offensive: ???
Power: In the really long tunnel, you can't miss it.
28. Plane Silly
Armor: On airport roof
Offensive: Search underwater, you'll find it. It's far downstream from the
bridge area.
Power: There's three small buildings with slanted roofs. It's on top of the
leftmost one. Around behind nearby are 4 20 second pickups, and a little past
that is a Kangaroo. Grab that and jump on to roof. Alternatively, get very
lucky launching from the brown hill just to the left of the Kangaroo box.
29. The Bruise Brothers
Armor: ???
Offensive: Do the ramp course from Mission 2 again, but on the final building
drop off and to the right. You'll see the upgrade before you do. Note that to
get to the second set of ramps, you'll have to use a Kangaroo to jump the gap.
Power: ???
Note: Freeze Timer is underwater near the ramp that has the Underwater
Ability crate behind it. Drop in and hang right, then search the crates/items.
30. I Want to Bereave
Armor: Find a Kangaroo. Climb to where you found the Offensive powerup in
Level 22. On the opposite side of where that was, you'll see two big rocks.
Go between them and look for an arch you can't otherwise reach. Jump off the
cliff toward the arch and use 2-3 Kangaroos to land on it.
Offensive: ???
Power: In tunnel, off of race path. Look for two course guardrails at a 4 way
junction- you'll find it around there.
MISSION TIPS [MT]
Mission 1: Beaver Patrol
Use a fast car, follow the course. Blue dots on radar are checkpoints. Easy.
Mission 2: Eye of the Beaver
If you got the Power upgrade in Level 1, you've got this under control.
Use a fast car and use Recover whenever you miss your next landing zone.
Be very careful not to miss any satellite dishes along the way.
The last ramp requires a long head start at this point.
Mission 3: Truck Me!
Use a strong car and ram the guy, repairing constantly. Easy.
Mission 4: Outbreak
This one isn't too hard, though it's easier if you search the town for a
Zombies on Radar powerup. Just make sure you search the train tunnels, cave,
and around the far cliff area near the ocean. The rest are in town or in the
meadow above town. You don't have to climb the ramp course, nothing's up there.
Mission 5: Fair Grind
This one can be a bit challenging to finish in time. The hardest mines to find
are the one in the pond, one on the elevated highway's banked turn, and the one
at the top of the very steep highway. 2 are in the water course and aren't hard
to find. Both stunt jump ramps (rings & platform) that had upgrades previously
now have mines. 2 are on the ends of the beach. Use the radar diligently.
Mission 6: Air We Go
This is one of the hardest missions, especially if you're not powered up.
I recommend Major Minor, and I generally jump from the ramp to the first roof,
then carefully jump to the next and then the last roof, roll down to the roof
edge then gun the gas and hit your Afterburner that you should have picked up
nearby. Only the glass facing you shatters so no need to worry about shooting
through the whole control tower, just get the height and momentum you need.
Easier said than done, granted, but Recover is (as always) your friend.
Mission 7: Revenge of the Exploding Dead!
This one isn't hard, just Repair constantly and do your best to not hit
the zombies. You have plenty of time so long as you don't have to Recover
too often.
Mission 8: From Dust 'til Dawn
This one's cake. Use a fast car and follow the radar, and Recover to save
time after crashing into the derricks (or Donkeys, as the game calls them).
Mission 9: On the Piste
This mission sucks, but isn't terribly hard. Follow the radar and try not
to go through slalom gates you already have- you'll lose 15 seconds on your
already tight timeline. If you Recover, take note of how high you're sent back
up the mountain because chances are you'll move back several gates. If the gate
is not on your radar, avoid it at all costs.
Mission 10: Carmageddon!
Use a strong car like Bug Meister and this will all be over quickly. No real
tips for this one, it's just ramming-jamming action. Keep an eye on your
health gauge, though.
SUPER SECRET BONUS AREA [SS]
El Norte Desert's pair of pyramids (pairamids) have no roof, and driving to the
top will drop you into a secret alien area. I suspect the Level 30 Offensive
powerup has something to do with this, though it is accessible on all
levels using that map. There are many bonus crates inside. I find it easiest
to climb the top part of the pyramid by driving into one of the corners and
slowly glitching up to the roof, though sometimes you can just scootch right
up the sides like the other two lower sections.
GENERAL TIPS [GT]
-Carmageddon, both on PC & N64, plays by its own rules of physics and general
game structure. If you come in with preconceived notions of how a car game
should play, you will not have a good time. Use Repair constantly and
Recover whenever you miss a jump or otherwise get set back. I cannot
stress enough the importance of using Recover to save time and/or teleport back
to dry ground. If your first Recover doesn't get you back to where you want,
simply use Recover again. Great for warping back to places quickly.
-Unlike every car game you've ever played, the levels are huge open worlds.
This plus the long draw distance and zero fog means occasional performance
issues but significant dips generally occur in the same places (airport
terminal for example). You are expected to explore the levels thoroughly.
-Don't bother finishing any stages by anything other than destroying all your
opponents unless you're feeling especially masochistic or the checkpoint path
is relatively simple. If you're a speedrunner type, I think you'll find
Carmageddon 64 very runnable.
-Reverse at the beginning of every race to do some damage and get free time.
Your opponents will generally go into fight mode at this point, after which
slamming them head-on is easy. Take advantage of opponents reversing, as
they'll almost always back up the exact same amount before going forward again.
With practice, you can time this for maximum damage & a ton of free time if
you hit them head on.
-Kangaroo on Command (aka Kangaroo in the guide) is the most important
non-offensive item in the game if you're going for upgrades. You can use it
multiple times in air to leap large gaps. Don't waste these!
-Afterburner is the 2nd most important item, albeit rarely required unless
mentioned. Save for when you need a little more oomph to go the distance.
You get 10, so you can also use them to help deal even bigger damage &
get even bigger time bonuses if you're lucky.
-Virtually all other items are pretty self-explanatory, but try to use the
zombie killing items around groups of them to maximize your damage. Each
shot of Zombie Repulsificator or the Zapper can take out up to 3. You should
be able to pull off fairly big combos for free time & credits simply by
using them around groups mindfully.
CAR TIPS [CT]
-ED101 will be your best friend in the earlier levels, once acquired.
Great for the ramp courses you'll face.
-Wideboy is very well-balanced, both fast & powerful. Great until you get
Bug Meister, at which point he's pretty obsolete except where Bug's
wheels cause problems.
-Bug Meister is phenomenal for destroying other cars and, for the most part,
pretty dang good for collecting these upgrades. Highly recommended for
difficult jumps, such as the Airport's trickier ramps.
-Major Minor is my other go-to in the later game. Very good for reaching places
Bug Meister is either too big or too awkward to reach. Could be stronger but
a great all-around vehicle.
-Stalker is great for big jumps and super fast generally. Typically the last
car I choose to keep around.
REVISION HISTORY [RH]
84: Intial Release
85: Corrected minor mistake in Mission 2 (Wrote Offensive instead of Power)
CONTACT INFO [CI]
Email:
[email protected]
Twitter: @n64thstreetgifs
Website: n64thstreet.com
You can do whatever you want with this guide except plagiarize or sell it.
