Proto:Doom (PC)/Doom 0.4

Compiled on April 2nd, 1993, there are many changes to the engine, though the game is still very different. It should be noted that there is no sound at all.



Changes from Doom 0.2

 * A spinning 3D title screen has been added, but it was removed from the final game.
 * A menu is in place, but it is nothing like the final version and can only do basic things such as selecting a level.
 * The engine can now render areas with different floor and ceiling heights, and different light levels.
 * There is still no frame rate limit, so the game will run at 70fps on fast hardware.
 * Doors are finally present, and they can be opened.
 * The HUD has been reduced to fit only the bottom portion of the screen. However, it still does not function.
 * Only two weapons can actually be used - a bayonet and a rifle. Sprites for the player holding a machine gun, a shotgun, and the chainsaw do exist in the game's data.
 * Enemies still cannot be damaged, and they still walk in place. Items are now placed in the maps, but they cannot be retrieved.
 * There is a high-color graphics mode, but it does not seem to work. Support has started; while colors12 and colors15 lumps are present in the .WAD, no further work appears to have been committed past this build.
 * An ANSI error message is present, but it was also not kept in the final build.

Controls


1 to 9 (at the main menu) - Select a level

Esc - Main Menu

Q (at the main menu) - Quit

Arrow keys; Number Pad(2, 4, 6, and 8 keys) - Move

Control - Shoot

Right Shift - Run

Alt - Use; Strafe

1 (in-game) - Use Bayonet

2 (in-game) - Use Rifle

Q - High Quality

W - Medium Quality

E - Low Quality

R - Glitchy Mode (Presumably high-color mode)

T - Causes the player to turn in order to measure the rendering frame rate ...and crash the game after five seconds

P - Start a profile (written to profile.dat); Pressing it a second time causes Doom to crash.

Z - Render Ceiling, Wall, and Floor textures

X - Render Wall and Floor textures

C - Render only the Wall textures

M - Causes the player to shrink down to floor level. Attempting to climb something while in this mode will crash the prototype.

Weapons
Weapons cannot be picked up at this point of development. You also cannot use your fists as weapons.

Bayonet

This would have been used a melee weapon, but it was ultimately dropped. It has no pick-up sprite.

Chainsaw



It looks pretty much the same as the final version.

Shotgun

Aside from a smaller barrel and a different handle, it appears to be quite similar to the final.

Machine Gun

The machine gun looks much less bulky and 'futuristic'.

Missile Launcher

This also looks very different and has a lazily-applied gradient.

BFG (2704)

Pick-up sprites are very preliminary. Like the Missile Launcher, this weapon also features a lazily-applied gradient.

Dark Claw



Pick-up graphics exist for this weapon, but it is unusable and there are no sprites for the player using this weapon.

Items
Mega Armor

The Mega Armor has a different, possibly temporary, graphic present in the .wad file, which is nothing more than the typical armor with boots.

Health Kit

The sprite used in the alpha is very preliminary, due to the lack of detail. It is very different.

Shells

The graphic is also very different and it was probably changed because of the amount of ammo. Note that the prototype sprite looks similar to the one used in Spear of Destiny, except the box is colored brown.

Clip

The clip is big compared to the final version and also has some distortion.

Stimpack

The stimpack has a very different graphic.

Box of rockets

The box of rockets has no top and is less detailed overall.

Box of Bullets

In this alpha, the developers duplicated the clip graphic to represent more ammo. This was changed to a box in the final version, possibly to make its purpose more obvious.

This graphic may have been intended for the lost soul, even if it is obviously temporary.



Various graphics for the power-ups; all of which seem to be temporary sprites.

The light amplification visor looks quite different, and was likely changed because it looked ridiculous.

These sprites were found in the data, but they seem a bit out-of-place.



These are treasures that were removed later in development, but not before most of the graphics were changed.

Enemies
Imps

Their graphics are identical to the final version.

Demons

Their graphics have yet to be updated from Doom 0.2.

Barons of Hell

Their graphics are identical to the final version, but they have yet to implement walking frames.

Lost Souls

Their sprites can be found in the .wad file, but they are very preliminary and are not seen in the game. They even have an explosion graphic.

Zombieman



Only an obviously temporary sprite is in the data.

General Artwork
For whatever reason, iD felt the need to put office chairs throughout the game. These, obviously, did not make the final cut.

The exit sign was given a gradient.

This bezel has slightly more subtle shading in the final.

This graphic is slightly smaller in the final version.

This graphic is very rough in the beta and has a temporary gradient, whilst the final version has very pretty-looking artwork.

The wall is slightly wider in the alpha, but is identical to the final version, otherwise.

The sewage graphics were completely re-drawn in the final version.

These light textures are a little less detailed, and look a little less like gradients.

The steps are made much more obvious in the final version.

The pattern was removed from this floor.

Aside from the removal of separators, this floor appears to be identical the final version.

The door was re-drawn a little bit, and enlarged.

This door is completely different in the alpha version; even the UAC logo was changed.

This wall was changed completely to change it from a holey wall to a more generic wall.

The UAC logo changed here too.

The gradient was altered here to seem a bit less jagged.

This texture was completely changed from a texture showing a card game being played to a generic stone squares texture.

Several of the walls had tiny little alterations, mostly to remove green and white spots.

Levels
Levels 12 and 13 are mentioned in the readme file, but they are completely absent, here. Also, by default, you can only access the first nine levels. In order to access levels 10 and 11, you need to type DOOM E1Mx, with 'x' being any number between 1 and 11.

Level 1
There are a couple of marines sitting around a desk, playing some cards. It's an early version of "Spawning Vats"

Level 2
An early version of E2M2.

Level 3
Became E2M3; has some temporary textures.

Level 4
Became E1M7; it's mostly a layout of how the level might look like.

Level 5
Became E1M6; It is largely identical to the final version, but there is some octagon structure that mostly got cut out.

Level 7
This eventually became E1M4; however, this version has showers with demons hiding in them.

Level 11
This level did not make it into the final game.