Monster Truck Madness

Monster Truck Madness is an off-road racing game developed by Terminal Reality. It is part of the Microsoft "Madness" series of racing games, including Midtown Madness and Motocross Madness. The game engine of MTM2 was further developed into a open-wheel racing simulator, CART Precision Racing, and shares its lineage with the arcade combat flight simulators Terminal Velocity, Fury³ and Hellbender.

The Monster Truck Madness games are notable for their complex physics engine and detailed terrain, as well as the fairly unique premise of full-tilt monster truck racing. MTM features licensed USHRA trucks like Bigfoot and Grave Digger, while the sequel features updated USHRA trucks, as well as custom trucks based on WWF wrestlers such as Hulk Hogan, highlighting the marketing partnership between the two sporting entities at the time of the game's release.

The series was also ported to the Nintendo 64 by Rockstar. Monster Truck Madness 64 features 4-way split-screen multiplayer, several new tracks, new gamemodes such as Monster Truck Soccer and Ice Hockey, as well as the addition of powerups and weapons to the standard races.

All games feature the voice talent of stadium and TV announcer Army Armstrong, whose unforgettable lines still echo in the ears of MTM players to this day.

ARE YOU READY FOR SOME DOWN AND DIRTY RACIN'?!

Monster Truck Madness

• Originally released: Aug. 31, 1996
• Features standard races, long rallies, and PENDA Point Series drag racing.
• Download here!

Monster Truck Madness 2

• Released: April 30th, 1998
• Features standard races and the special, multiplayer-only mode Summit Rumble for 8-WAY MONSTER TRUCK WRASSLIN'!
• Download here!
• Download content pack + updates here!

Monster Truck Madness 64

• Released: June 30th, 1999
• Features standard races, Summit Rumble with AI, Monster Soccer, and Monster Hockey
• Download Romfile here! (Requires N64 emulator, Project 64 recommended.)

Multiplayer

Even though the MSN Gaming Zone is long gone, MTM1 and MTM2 support multiplayer over LAN, modem, and IP and can even be played over 56k. Configuration is very simple and similar to other games that can be played over IP direct connection.

• After proceeding thru Driver Check-in, hit the Multiplayer tab
• Click "Connect"
• To host a server, click "Host" and then "Internet TCP/IP connection for DirectPlay" (use whatismyip.com to give other players your address)
• To Join a server, click "Join" and enter the IP of the desired game room.

Notes

Ports to open for MP:
MTM2 DirectX	2300:2400	Both
MTM2 Chat	6667	TCP
MTM2 DirectX_1	6073	TCP
MTM2 DirectX_2	47624	TCP
MTM2 Net Pass	443	TCP

• The game is very sensitive to NAT conditions, best performance can be achieved by setting up router DMZ.

Modding

Thanks to Terminal Reality's foresight, addon tracks and trucks are very easily-created, and the modmaking community for MTM2 is still active as of September, 2014. MTM2.com is the Internet repository for nearly every track and truck ever made for the game, with over 10,000 individual files. As editing the game's POD.INI file (an internal table of contents that tells the game which files to load) can get quite tedious, it's recommended to use a program like Cowpod to mount addons. This also has the added benefit of making it easy to remove addons, as some high-poly models or buggy trucks can cause the game to crash or run poorly.

"Now, what part of the word "Checkpoint" do you not understand?"

MTM2 features several easter eggs and secrets, including a hidden track. To access the hidden track, "The Pit":

• Start a race on Sidewinder Canyon
• Drive to the 4th checkpoint, then proceed across the bridge, around the two left-hand corners and across the 2nd bridge
• At the end of the 2nd bridge, there is a trail to the right, marked with barriers
• Drive through the barriers, down the trail, across two bridges, and into the campground where the game will inform you that "The Torture Room is open, restart the game to enter"

Breakneck Ridge also has a giant tire sunken in the lake just past the 2nd checkpoint. Racing here with Snow weather turns this section of track into a Monster Hockey rink!