Editing Car Wars (section)

==Publication history==
''Car Wars'' was first published in a small ziplock-bag format in 1980,<ref name="HG"/> and cited [[Alan Dean Foster]]'s short story, "[[Why Johnny Can't Speed]]", as a primary inspiration. (Later editions also cited [[Harlan Ellison]]'s short story "[[Along the Scenic Route]]" and the movie [[Death Race 2000]].) The game won the [[Charles S. Roberts Award]] ([[Origins Award]]) for ''Best Science Fiction Boardgame of 1981''<ref>{{cite web
 |url=http://www.originsgamefair.com/awards/1981/list-of-winners 
 |title=Charles S. Roberts Award Winners (1981) 
 |publisher=Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts & Design 
 |access-date=2008-01-21 
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080217212147/http://www.originsgamefair.com/awards/1981/list-of-winners 
 |archive-date=2008-02-17 
 |url-status=dead 
}}</ref>
and was named to the ''[[Games (magazine)|Games]]'' magazine [[Games 100]] list in 1985.<ref>{{cite journal
 | title=The 1985 Games 100
 | journal=[[Games (magazine)|Games]]
 |date=November 1985
 | publisher=[[Playboy Enterprises, Inc.|Playboy Enterprises]]}}</ref>

As the game became more popular, there were a series of increasingly more expensive and elaborate editions.<ref name="HG"/>  ''Car Wars'' also served as the inspiration for the 1985 [[video game]] ''[[Autoduel]]'', published by [[Origin Systems]].<ref name="Savlov">{{cite news
 | last=Savlov
 | first=Mark
 | title=The Geek Behind the GURPS
 | work=[[The Austin Chronicle]]
 | date=2004-11-19
 | access-date=2008-02-15
 | url=http://www.austinchronicle.com/gyrobase/Issue/story?oid=238575 }}</ref>
Steve Jackson continues to express an interest in developing video games based on the ''Car Wars'' concept.<ref name="Pitts">{{cite journal
 | last=Pitts
 | first=Russ
 | title=Steve Jackson: The Escapist Interview
 | journal=[[The Escapist (magazine)|The Escapist]]
 | url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/issues/issue_65/380-Steve-Jackson-The-Escapist-Interview.3
 | date=2006-10-03
 | access-date=2008-02-15
 | archive-date=2008-10-12
 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081012112506/http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/issues/issue_65/380-Steve-Jackson-The-Escapist-Interview.3
 | url-status=dead
 }}</ref>

The game's popularity waned during the 1990s, and in response to slipping sales, Steve Jackson Games ceased support for ''Car Wars''. The last official ''Cars Wars'' material for the original game appeared in ''[[Pyramid (magazine)|Pyramid]]'' magazine (an article introducing High Torque Motors, by Robert Deis).<ref>{{cite journal
 | url=http://www.sjgames.com/pyramid/login/article.html?id=2211
 | title=Uncle Albert's 2051 Catalog Supplement
 | last=Deis
 | first=Robert
 | journal=Pyramid (Online)
 | date=2001-04-27
 | access-date=2008-02-15}}</ref>

Autoduel America, the setting for ''Car Wars'', was developed for [[role-playing game]]s (RPGs) using Steve Jackson Games' ''[[GURPS]]'' system (called ''[[GURPS Autoduel]]'').  That ''GURPS'' worldbook has seen two editions. A series of expansions for both the ''GURPS'' version and boardgame, ''[[The AADA Road Atlas and Survival Guide]]'', were published in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

In 2002, Steve Jackson Games released an entirely new version of ''Car Wars''. Redesigned for a new audience, it was called version 5.0.<ref name="HG"/> The new game's unusual marketing, scattering the game across several redundant products, met with mixed responses and the game's popularity has continued to wane. The 2002 products are still in print.<ref>{{cite web
 | title = Car Wars Products in Print
 | publisher = Steve Jackson Games
 | url = http://www.sjgames.com/carwars/books/index.html
 | format = FAQ
 | access-date = 2008-02-15}}</ref>

In October 2009, Steve Jackson Games made the ''Car Wars Compendium: Second Edition (Fifth Printing)'' available as a PDF from the e23 online store.

''Car Wars'' (both boardgame and RPG version) was translated into [[French language|French]] by [[Croc (game designer)|Croc]].

''[[Car Wars The Card Game|Car Wars: The Card Game]]'' was released in [[1991 in games|1991]] (with a 2nd edition in 2001), designed by Creede and Sharleen Lambard, and published by Steve Jackson Games.

===Main editions===
The first four editions use a ground scale of 1-inch = 15-feet. ''Aeroduel'' introduced an air-to-air scale of ¼-inch = 15-feet. The ''Fifth Edition'' uses a revised scale of 3-inches = 15-feet.

;First edition
* ''Car Wars'' 1981–1984 (4" × 7" ziplock-bag or [[Pocket Box]])
** Cars, pickups, vans, and motorcycles. Turns have ten phases.
* ''[[Sunday Drivers (Car Wars)|Sunday Drivers]]''/''Crash City'' 1982 (Pocket Box)
** Added pedestrians, a small bus, and rules for buildings
* ''[[Truck Stop (Car Wars)|Truck Stop]]'' 1983 (Pocket Box)
** Added full-size buses and [[semi-trailer truck]]s
* ''[[Autoduel Champions]]'' 1983 (8½" × 11" book)
** Added helicopters, grasshoppers (flying cars), and superheroes (the last not canon for Car Wars)
** Introduced an alternative hex-based movement system–using 3-inch cars and 1-inch hexes–intended for use with role-playing games. This system was not used again in Car Wars, although the scale is the same as ''Car Wars: Fifth Edition''.
* ''[[Car Wars Reference Screen]]'' 1983 (3-panel 8½" × 11")
** Added "Advanced Collision System"
* ''[[The AADA Vehicle Guide]]'' 1983 (5½" × 8½" book)
** Added trikes (three-wheeled motorcycles) and off-road rules

;Second edition
* ''Car Wars Deluxe Edition'' 1985 (9" × 12" box)
** Combined and refined the various first edition rules, adding 10-wheeler [[truck]]s
** Note: Starting in 1990 the ''Deluxe Edition'' boxes contained the ''Car Wars Compendium: Second Edition'' rulebook rather than the original ''Deluxe Edition'' rulebook.
* ''Dueltrack'' 1986 (9" × 12" box)
** Added gasoline engines, metal armor, race-cars, and ''Chassis & Crossbow'' (rules for the primitive early history of Car Wars)
* ''The AADA Vehicle Guide: Volume 2'' 1987 (5½" × 8½" book)
** Added sedans, and campers ([[sport utility vehicle|SUVs]])
* ''[[Boat Wars]]'' 1988 ([[Pocket Box]]), 1990 (9" × 12" box)
** Added boats, amphibious cars, and hovercraft

;Third Edition
* ''[[The Car Wars Compendium]]'' 1989 (8½" × 11" book)
** Turns reduced to five phases.  Control Table revised.
** Compiled all the second edition rules (except race-cars) in one place
** Refined car movement, based more on the ''Turning Key'' than on a map grid

;Fourth Edition
* ''Car Wars Compendium: Second Edition'' 1990, 1996 (8½" × 11" book)
** Control Table revised again.
** Revised rules — including race-cars — with many updates and refinements. 
* ''Car Wars Tanks'' 1990 (9" × 12" box)
** Added wheeled military vehicles, tanks, and really big guns
* ''Aeroduel'' 1990 (9" × 12" box)
** Added fixed-wing planes and [[airship]]s with both civilian and military grade weapons
* ''Uncle Albert's Catalog From Hell'' 1992 (8½" × 11" book)
** Includes all previously published construction rules, weapons, and equipment, but the only play rules are minor updates to the CWC2E rules.

;Fifth Edition
* ''Car Wars'' 5.0 2002 (9 comic book sized pamphlets, containing the same rules with different car designs, any one of which is all that is required to play). 
** Back to just cars (pre-designed), with simplified play rules. Turns reduced to three phases.
** Scale change, with 1-inch = 5-feet instead of 15-feet
** No official construction rules published {{as of|2011|lc=yes}}, although a reverse-engineered unofficial version exists

The fourth edition has been re-released, and includes the auto creation rules and simplified rules for Role Playing.

;Sixth Edition

On Nov 29, 2019, a [[Kickstarter]] was started to create a sixth edition, similar to the popular OGRE kickstarter. It was funded as of Jan 6, 2020, with 3,936 backers pledging $652,995.<ref>{{cite web |title=Car Wars Sixth Edition by Steve Jackson Games |url=https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/sjgames/car-wars-sixth-edition-by-steve-jackson-games |website=Kickstarter |date=December 2024 |language=en}}</ref>