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Twisted Metal: Harbor City (also referred to as Twisted Metal: Black 2 or Twisted Metal: Black Part II) is a cancelled title in the Twisted Metal franchise and was going to be the sequel to Twisted Metal: Black.
Description[]
Early Ghetto concept.
The game was produced and directed by Scott Campbell. The initial idea for the game was the concept of "Battle In Your Own Backyard",[1] with the game's world being based heavily on an American city (Seattle). This early idea can be seen in various pieces of concept art, early screenshots of levels, and some more colorful and less detailed car designs which would later be reused for Twisted Metal: Head-On.
Comparison between the earlier "Battle In Your Own Backyard" concept of Suburbs,[1] and a darker redraw.[2]
These early elements clearly suggest that Harbor City was meant to be its own standalone game not related to Twisted Metal: Black, being more colorful and taking place mostly on daytime, with a bustling city to destroy. At some point in development around the end of 2004 and start of 2005, indicated by the dates of several in-dev screenshots; the game became darker, locations were completely remade, and it was likely only then that it was changed into being a sequel to Black.
Sweet Tooth on-foot section.
Harbor City's main feature was its interconnected world, with the player being able to traverse between the levels from highways. Another feature was the Mission mode, which included on-foot segments, involving Sweet Tooth getting out of his truck and exploring various locations, while using weapons to fight against enemies and surviving death traps. The Preacher was also planned for this mode but was never implemented.
As both games were created around the same period of time. Some elements of this game were shared with Twisted Metal: Head-On. A very small and stripped down portion of the unused Harbor City content was eventually made available in a port of Head-On (Extra-Twisted Edition), which included a bonus game titled Twisted Metal: Lost.
Cancellation[]
According to Chad Liddel, the Art Lead of the game, Harbor City was cancelled the week after it went to alpha because executives felt in a post-GTA world a game without an on-foot presence would never be profitable.[3] This seems to be what led the development team to rethink some of the levels and start creating the Missions.
This is corroborated by another developer who wished to stay anonymous, who shared some information with a member from the Twisted Metal Alliance forum. They commented that the on-foot segments were last minute additions in an attempt to save the project after the game was already in the chopping block. However, by the time the Missions were implemented, it was already too late.[4]
Another reason leading to the game being cancelled may be due to Sony wanting them to make a Twisted Metal game for the PSP (Head-On) after they already started with Harbor City, which likely caused them to halt development on the game while working on the PSP project.
Story & Characters[]
Most of this game's story is unknown. The only known story beats are what's seen in the Mission Mode, as well as in prototype videos released by artist Ronald Padua, who also worked on the cinematics for Head-On. The videos were: a storyboard animatic titled "Becker's Island", a video named "Mask Test", and a style case study simply titled "Harbor City".[5]
The "Becker's Island" animatic takes place after "the final enemy has been defeated", and shows a flaming manor. In it, Sweet Tooth tortures a man known as Dr. Becker.
The "Mask Test" video shows Sweet Tooth atop a mountain of copies of his mask, a result of him taking them off his face, with another always being underneath. It's unknown what significance this would have in the game itself, if any.
The "Harbor City" style case study[6] seems to take place in the same location of the Becker's Island animatic, as it features the same manor. It also lists some characters names, such as: Needles, Mr. Grimm, Axel, Calypso, and Miranda (it's unknown if she was the same character from Head-On or not). Another character seen in concept art by Padua that isn't mentioned is Bloody Mary.[7]
Concept of the battle between Sweet Tooth and Preacher by Ronald Panua.[5]
Scott Campbell had initially planned to include Dollface, Preacher, Sweet Tooth and possibly Axel as playable characters in Missions. However, as they started scripting them, they realized it would be better to just focus on two of them, and the idea of a battle between Preacher and Sweet Tooth was what they decided on as they thought it would be cool.[8]
The character bios in Twisted Metal: Lost were made on the fly by David Jaffe when working on the Extra Twisted Edition of Head-On. They have nothing to do with Harbor City.
Vehicles[]
The Outlaw SUV from TM: Black in the Stadium.
Near the beginning of development, as seen in the first available build from September 2003, most of the cars were taken straight from Black, likely only temporarily. Most of these models were eventually replaced with new ones, but they were left in the files, not being selectable.
Twister and the early model of Hammerhead eventually used for Head-On.
The newer models created for the game were more colorful and much less detailed than the cars from Black, having lower resolution textures, and a much lower poly count. These newer models were seemingly created with the earlier "Battle In Your Own Backyard" concept. Most of these older, less detailed designs would soon be reused for their PlayStation Portable project: Twisted Metal: Head-On, when the development of that game started.
Old Pickup compared to one of the rejected concept art from TM: Black.
After the concept of the game changed to be darker; new, more detailed vehicles were created: Stock Car, Old Pickup, Pit Viper, and the Ambulance being the only examples. Stock Car and Old Pickup's designs were taken directly from rejected concept art from TM: Black,[9] and it's possible this was going to be their approach with the other vehicles if the project continued, but that is unclear.
As indicated by the Harbor City case study video, and one of the concepts by Padua, Sweet Tooth's ice cream truck at some point had the design that was used for Head-On. However, at some point in development, it was changed back to the Black design.
The final build of the game has a combination of newer designs and older ones. Because of this, the vehicle selection in the available builds is not representative of what it would be like if the game was finished. Below is a list consisting of every vehicle considered for the game, with a description for each, and the latest date their file was modified in the format of YEAR/MONTH/DAY:
Selectable[]
| Vehicle | Driver (if known) |
File Date |
Description |
|---|---|---|---|
 Axel |
Axel[8] | 2005/08/08 | Reuses the model from Black. |
 Stock Car |
Unknown | 2005/08/09 | New vehicle. Later re-branded as "12-Pak" in Lost. It has working animations, but its Special is a copy of Spectre's as a placeholder. |
 Pit Viper |
Unknown | 2005/08/11 | Returning vehicle from the first Twisted Metal game. Has no animations, and its Special is a copy of Spectre's as a placeholder. |
 Mr. Grimm |
Mr. Grimm | 2005/08/08 | Reuses the model from Black. |
 Brimstone |
Preacher | 2005/08/08 | Reuses the model from Black. The car is labbled as "The Preacher" in the main menu, but in-game its name appears as "Brimstone". |
 Roadkill |
Unknown | 2005/08/08 | Uses a slightly different version of the model from Black, with new textures. |
 Old Pickup |
Unknown | 2005/08/11 | New vehicle. Has no animations and its Special is a copy of Spectre's as a placeholder. |
 Darkside |
Dollface[8] | 2005/08/08 | Reuses the model from Black. |
 Sweet Tooth |
Sweet Tooth | 2005/08/08 | Reuses the model from Black. |
 Thumper |
Unknown | 2005/08/09 | Vehicle returning from its absense in Black. It features its classic flamethrower special. |
 Spectre |
Bloody Mary[7] | 2005/08/08 | Reuses the model from Black. |
 Mr. Slam |
Unknown | 2005/08/08 | Uses a slightly different version of the model from Head-On. |
 Outlaw |
Unknown | 2005/08/08 | Has a new model. Uses the Taser special from previous versions of the vehicle. |
Mission-only vehicles[]
| Vehicle | Driver |
File Date |
Description |
|---|---|---|---|
 AMB |
Sweet Tooth | 2005/08/08 | Ambulance that Sweet Tooth uses to escape the asylum in Mission 2. |
 COPFOD |
Cops | 2005/08/08 | Unplayable cop fodder that attempts to stop Sweet Tooth in Mission 2. |
Not Selectable / Unused[]
These car models were left in the files, but can only be accessed by editing the game to include them. They have no special weapons of their own as they are not programmed to be in the game, and have likely been scrapped.
| Vehicle | Model/Dev Name | File Date | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Reuses the model from Black. | ||
 | Placeholder green model with "WART" written on it. The model has not been worked on since January of 2004. Trying to load it in the latest build will crash the game. An image exists showing it reusing the model from Head-On as well. | ||
 | Another model present in the files for the version of Outlaw from Black, likely only being a leftover. | ||
 | Another model present in the files for the version of Warthog from Black. | ||
 | Reuses the model from Black. | ||
 | Reuses the model from Black. | ||
 | Unique model. Slightly resembles the one from Head-On. | ||
 | Reuses the model from Head-On, when it used to be colored green. The model has not been worked on since June of 2004. Trying to load it in the latest build will crash the game. | ||
 | Placeholder green model with "GRASS" written on it. The model has not been worked on since January of 2004. Trying to load it in the latest build will crash the game. | ||
 | Reuses the model from Black. | ||
 | Reuses the model from Black. | ||
 | No model was ever created for it. Its name (CRIM) is visible in the character select screen for multiplayer. Assumed to be Crimson Fury. | ||
Map[]
Latest Build[]
Layout of the entire map in the latest build. Made by checking the coordinates from the debug menu.
In the latest build, the map was very unfinished, with only four battlegrounds (with the addition of a story location) being connected by tunnels. Those being: Ghetto, Downtown, Scenter, and Goth. The other levels in the build do not fit together with those four, with their coordinates overlapping at times (as an example, the sewer tunnel that goes from Scenter to Goth intersects with the ground at Suburbs unintentionally).
The reason most of the levels do not fit is because they come from earlier plans, and only the four levels above received redesigns that fit the newer plan.
Early Plans[]
In earlier plans, the map was incredibly large, with the addition of a giant freeway on the outskirts that was discovered by the YouTuber named Mad Agus, which was found by loading the map "Freeway" from the latest build (which is not selectable there) in the earliest build of the game (Rebuild-63).[10] This freeway had a few branching paths, and seemed to connected to at least the Suburbs and the Shipyard.
Three layout plans showing the earlier layout of the entire map exist. The first one, dated February 19th 2004, shows rough shapes of where they would all fit, and the routes were still to be decided.
The second one, dated March 2nd 2004, has all routes depicted, but the Freeway was still not properly conceived. The Estate and Bridge areas are also missing from this and the next one for unknown reasons.
The third one, dated October 8th 2004, details the different sections of the Freeway. In the latest build from August 11th 2005, the Freeway level's file date is from October 14th 2004, indicating that it wasn't worked on much at all after this map plan.
All Battlegrounds[]
Below is a list of every level in the game, including their file date in the format of YEAR/MONTH/DAY, and a description:
| Level | File Date | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Docks | Used to be much bigger in earlier builds. A couple of ships from this level were used in order to create Death Port in Lost. | |
| Ghetto | A dilapidated neighbourhood with a cemetery and industrial zones. Part of this map was used to create City of the Dead in Lost, which was only accessible via a code. | |
| Goth | A gothic-themed mall level. | |
| Railyard | A large train yard. | |
| Downtown | A large city where almost every building can be destroyed. Was severely reduced from previous versions, but was still quite large. Part of this map was also used to create City of the Dead | |
| Airport | An airport littered with planes with strange paintings on them. | |
| Scenter | Also known as City Center or Seattle Center, this level received a complete makeover in the latest build. A few parts of this level were used to create Carnival of Darkness. | |
| Shipyard | Very unfinished and glitchy level. | |
| Stadium | A massive stadium. A very reduced version named Stadium Slaughter was created for Lost. | |
| Suburbs | Suburban area. A reduced version named Suburban Terror was created for Lost. | |
| Freeway | Can't be loaded; its file format only seems to be compatible with older builds of Harbor City. | |
| Estate | Can't be loaded; level folder is empty. | |
| Harbor1 | Can't be loaded; file is a copy of the first part of the Asylum on-foot level. | |
| Harbor2 | Can't be loaded; file is a copy of the second part of the Asylum on-foot level. | |
Mission-only levels[]
Game Modes[]
- Single Console
- Online
- Death Match
- Last Man
- Fox Hunt
- Collector
- Team DM
- Team Last Man
- Team Fox Hunt
- Team Collector
Story Mode[]
The Story mode is this game's Tournament mode, it follows the usual format of older games: eliminate a certain number of opponents before moving on to the next area, the difference in this game is that the player has to manually drive to the next location instead of being instantly transferred there. It is only available in the latest build, but it is very unfinished, as it only has 4 playable levels (technically 3) before it simply ends.
The player starts at Ghetto, then after eliminating three opponents out of five is prompted to take a highway to the next location - Downtown, where they must eliminate 3 (sometimes more, depending if the player left some alive in the previous match) other opponents, and then once more to the next location - City Center, giving a "YOU WIN" message after beating it.
However, while not prompted to go somewhere else after clearing City Center, it's possible to travel to Goth, where the player is given the task to beat some more opponents.[11]
Available Builds[]
Currently, three builds of this game have been (unofficially) released, thanks to the efforts of the people at "TMAlliance" and the "CVLT OF OSIRIS" team.
- Sep 12th, 2003 prototype: The earliest build available.[12]
- In 2019, an early version of Harbor City was leaked online, title build 63. It included 5 levels that were not featured in Lost nor reused in any other game. The levels are titled by names that would have most likely have changed for the final game. They are Airport, Ghetto, Goth, Dock, Railyard and Scenter. All but Airport will run. This build can be downloaded for free and played on a emulator. The download contains loose files of the build and a rebuilt ISO, which the ISO is all that's required to play.
- Jan 29th, 2004 prototype: More playable than the last, but mostly the same.[13]
- Was made available at the same time as the next build.
- Aug 11th, 2005 prototype: The most recent build with several elements of the game being somewhat near completion. Can only be played with a devkit or a modified emulator.[14]
- In late 2020, a video of a much later version of Harbor City was showcased online, dated 2005-08-11. It showed a level, Ghetto, being played with a blue and white skin for 12-Pak and a few vehicles from Head-On and Black can be seen in combat. This build was later made available in 2021, however only running on a TOOL dev kit. On 2024, user Zombie from TMA was able to make the game playable on a modified version of PCSX2.[15]
Music Tracks[]
Harbor City never had a proper soundtrack aside from a few short loops of licensed music as placeholders. The music is disabled in the latest build, but plays normally in the earliest ones.
Most of the tracks (aside from "TEST" and "TEMPTEST") are also in the files of early builds of Head-On, and most of them were created for that game.
Below is a list of all songs used in Harbor City, not including the ones meant for Head-On:
| Track | File Date | Plays in |
|---|---|---|
| Plays at the main menu in the 2003 build. It is a small part of the full song "Drunk In The Morning" by Kid Rock. | ||
| Plays at Docks. It is a small part of the full song "Terror" by KMFDM. | ||
| Plays at Goth. It is a small part of the full song "Inertia Creeps" by Massive Attack. | ||
2004/04/05 (TM_AMB) | Has another copy named "TM_AMB". It is the exploration song which plays for most levels in the latest build. | |
| Battle song which plays in most levels in the latest build. It is also used in the Deathmatch version of levels from the PS2 version of Head-On. It is actually a small part of the full song "I Do Not Want This" by Nine Inch Nails. | ||
| Plays at every level in the 2003 build besides Docks and Goth. It is a small part of the full song "Who Is Tyler Durden?" from the movie Fight Club. | ||
| Does not play. Part of the "TEST.VPK" file, which includes two tracks. Small part of the full song "Alright Hear This" by Beastie Boys. | ||
| Does not play. The other track from the "TEST.VPK" file. Small part of the full song "Bombtrack" by Rage Against The Machine. | ||
| Does not play. Test track with random animal noises. |
Credits[]
The people known for developing and/or had an association with the game are listed below. Bear in mind that the list is not complete:
| Executive Producer and Director | Scott Campbell[5] |
|---|---|
| Creative Director | Kellan Hatch[5] |
| Technical Director | Randy Zorko |
| 3D Artists | Chad Liddell (Art Lead),[3] Corey Kruitbosch, Miles Woods, Kevin Pulley |
| Programmer | Kirk Baum[3] |
| Senior Designer | Manfred Neber[3] |
| Designer & Q/A Lead | Mike Snow[3] |
| Vehicle & Environment Concepts | Donald Yatomi |
| Character Concepts & Cinematics | Ronald Padua[5] |
| Associate Producer | Angelic Quintana[5] |
| Cinematic Visual Effects and Post Production | Cinematic Solutions Group - San Diego[5] |
| Game Visual Effects | Incognito[5] |
| Music By | Sony Sound & Audio[5] |
Trivia[]
- A popular theory that went around the internet was that Harbor City eventually became Twisted Metal: Head-On. This was due to the two games sharing some assets between each other, and having a similar engine (the PS2 port uses the same engine from Harbor City, while the PSP version uses a modified one). However, that theory cannot be true, with the most obvious evidence against it being that the most recent build of Harbor City (August 11th, 2005) is dated five months after the release of Head-On in the US (March 25th, 2005). Another evidence is that both games had an alpha build from January 29th, 2004, suggesting they were being developed at the same time.
- Funnily enough, Harbor City's latest build is also dated after the fake "plane crash" that allegedly took place on March 13th, 2005, as described in the intro to Lost.
- Series co-creator David Jaffe was not present in Harbor City's entire development as he was busy with God of War. In 2008, he went on to "retrofit" some of the levels for the Lost version. That is, making them feel more like Twisted Metal levels in his eyes.[16]
Gallery[]
Videos[]
Images[]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Sweet Tour
- ↑ The Art of Twisted Metal booklet
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 https://chadliddell.tumblr.com/post/43227854671/did-you-know-the-above-image-is-a-screen-shot
- ↑ http://temp.tmalliance.com/?num=1366271919/15
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 5.7 5.8 https://www.paduadesigns.com/#/102886/1005564/
- ↑ https://www.paduadesigns.com/#/102886/1005564/
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 https://www.paduadesigns.com/#/102886/1012781/
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 https://web.archive.org/web/20080121050021/http://www.gameinformer.com/News/Story/200801/N08.0116.1848.18064.htm?Page=2
- ↑ https://dangerousonion.artstation.com/projects/rAeDVa
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UzNl28BLYmc
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghWULPIhA1w
- ↑ https://hiddenpalace.org/Twisted_Metal:_Harbor_City_(Sep_12,_2003_prototype)
- ↑ https://hiddenpalace.org/Twisted_Metal:_Harbor_City_(Jan_29,_2004_prototype)
- ↑ https://hiddenpalace.org/Twisted_Metal:_Harbor_City_(Aug_11,_2005_prototype)
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CsVuhl4aBHA
- ↑ http://criminalcrackdown.blogspot.com/2007/09/level-design-mix-and-match.html