Probably the most notable is that part of the map had to be cut due decrease the workload for the art department. A lot of unused content remains in game from this area.
It makes me wonder how the map would have played if the rich side wasn't blocked/cut off. I mean I imagine players could simply drive through Power Plant in those missions that required you to carry nuclear waste but in terms of exploring, it would have been interesting to access the areas that are cut in final game. I know there was a Restoration mod but all it did was mostly replace Level 7 map with Level 4 map with some minor edits. I hope someone in future (maybe once Map/Model Builder comes out) will make a proper Level 7 restoration mod.
There are only four traffic vehicles, due to the art team not having time to create art for more.
I don't think it would have been necessary to make more Halloween themed traffic vehicles, as much as I would have wanted more variety. There are 5 traffic vehicles per each level, one of which appears twice (in this case, the coffin car appears twice).
Four of the missions are the exact same thing, with minor differences involving different vehicles, the Alien Car (Ferrini - Black) giving the player a lose-the-tail or race segment, and the player having to drive to the school in two of these missions. The other missions feel rushed, with an exception of Rigor Motors, the first mission, which has the most variety.
This is true. Even if you wouldn't notice right away with first couple of missions (other than Rigor Motors, which is like you said, has more variety), the last 3 missions are the exact same mission as the third one, with just minor differences (the vehicle the player has to drive, avoid/race the alien car, etc). And the second and fourth are starting at school and has you reach the Power Plant (while following/avoiding alien car), with the fourth also having you to climb to reach on top to complete the mission.
Due to the map being cut down, the Wager Race found in this level is one of the easiest to complete. Luckily, the Collector Cards and Wasp Cameras are still fun to hunt down.
I agree. I found level 7 wager race to be much easier than the wager races in levels 4-6 that I had trouble to complete as a kid, which is why I never bothered much with wager races outside of the ones in first and last level (and maybe third since third one wasn't too bad either). Completing the one in level 7 can also bring you lots of coins quickly if you know which vehicle to use. Now I don't know what vehicle from Phone Booth would be fast enough to complete the race with the Hard difficulty (as most good vehicles at Phone Booth give you either Easy or Medium difficulty, which can give you 2x or 3x amount of money, while Hard would give you 4x), so you get 200 coins but as far as I remember from the tests I done back then in 2006 or so, only the Hearse traffic vehicle is the best one due to giving you Hard difficulty but still being able to make it under 1:30. The 70's Sports Car gives Easy difficulty, so you will not win much if you do that way, the RC car sucks and you can only make it to the Church before running out of time and mission failed screen appearing (due to ending up with 10-15 seconds more above the target time), the witch broom and coffin car traffic vehicles are fine I guess (not very sure about witch broom) but they give Easy or Medium difficulty so again you will not win much, the Ghost ship is too slow and won't make it just like with RC car. I don't remember what were my other choices but surely I haven't found anything better than the Hearse traffic vehicle to make lots of coins quickly, other than my other method using Monster Truck in level 5 with no police glitch to smash lots of cars and makes coins slightly faster than if you did wager races over and over again.
Also I don't think many people know but even if you can access what's on the other side of the blocked area with cheats (like the jumping car cheat), as a kid I found out how to get there WITHOUT cheats. I know I should write this in a separate topic but here is how I did it:
-First get the RC car and drive straight into those ramps
-After a while you should get launched into air if you position it correctly. It may take you a few attempts, if doesn't work right away keep trying until your car launches into air.
-If done well, you should land on invisible wall and now drive straight into the blocked area.
-You can go to right in the grass and fall through it, you will end up under the map!
Have fun exploring! I remember having a lot of fun discovering these glitches and all that was done without the help of internet, since at that time we just barely got internet (I think in 2004-2005 we first got internet) and there weren't too many SHAR videos shown on YouTube, most of them were just gameplays or cheats shown. While on sites like GameFAQs, the most tips shown there wouldn't help me as I already completed the game myself and figured on my own, so I wouldn't need tips like failing a mission 5 times to skip it or in missions where you need to use a vehicle, you can switch to another one with Phone Booth before getting into it.
