Prerelease:The Walking Dead: Season Two
This page details pre-release information and/or media for The Walking Dead: Season Two.
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Contents
Development/Release Timeline
2013
- December 12 - Telltale Games releases the full trailer for the first episode of Season Two, stating it will release "Very Soon".
- December 17 - Episode 1: All That Remains releases for PS3 in North America, and on PC/Mac worldwide.
- December 18 - Episode 1 releases on Xbox 360 worldwide, the PS3 in Europe, and on iOS worldwide.
2014
- March 4 - Episode 2: A House Divided releases for PS3 in North America, and on PC/Mac worldwide.
- March 5 - Episode 2 releases on Xbox 360 worldwide.
- March 6 - Episode 2 releases on iOS worldwide.
- March 12 - Episode 2 releases on PS3 in Europe.
- May 13 - Episode 3: In Harm's Way releases for PS3 in North America, and on PC/Mac worldwide.
- May 14 - Episode 3 releases on Xbox 360 worldwide, and for PS3 in Europe.
- May 15 - Episode 3 releases on iOS worldwide.
- July 22 - Episode 4: Amid The Ruins releases on PC/Mac worldwide, and on PS3 and PSVita in North America.
- July 23 - Episode 4 releases on Xbox 360 worldwide, and on PS3 and PSVita in Europe.
- July 24 - Episode 4 releases on iOS worldwide.
- August 26 - Episode 5: No Going Back releases on PC/Mac worldwide, and on PS3 and PSVita in North America.
- August 27 - Episode 5 releases on Xbox 360 worldwide, and on PS3 and PSVita in Europe.
- August 28 - Episode 5 releases on iOS worldwide.
Animation Reel Differences
An animation reel by character animator Omaikel Alfaro shows us a lot of differences, both major and minor.
Video | Notes |
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This scene depicts Clementine falling into the river after her scuffle with Winston and the scavengers in the forest, except this time Winston rushes both himself and Clem into the river. The close-up on Winston losing his footing on the rock may imply that it was accidental, but filenames for this animation left in the final game imply that it was indeed deliberate. This also implies that Winston would survive the walkers in the forest, if there were any to begin with, and was at least still alive up until falling into the river with Clementine. It's unknown if his fate was meant to be much different after this point. | |
This scene depicts Luke and Nick carrying Pete after he gets bitten. Notably, both Nick and Luke still use their earlier models here. Luke wore a hat, which was later given to Nick, while Nick's hair was more similar to Luke's in the final game, and his shirt was a lot more blue than black. This is also how their concept art depicts them. Based on the fact that Luke is present when Pete is bit, it's very likely that this animation dates from when the fishing scene was still intended to end out the episode. | |
This scene shows Clementine fighting the walker when she's locked inside of the shed by the cabin group. However, there are some interesting details to note. First off, Clementine's model. She has darker skin and Lee's blood is present on her hat, showing that this animation was made quite late in development, as all the other early animations shown, as well as concept art show Clementine lacking these details. Also, in the final game, Clementine stabs the walker twice with the broken wood piece, with the second stab ending with the walker getting impaled by the anchor. However, here, Clementine seemingly corales the walker near the anchor instead. | |
A scene of Luke stopping Clementine trying to get out of the cabin. Seemingly implying that Luke was supposed to catch Clementine snooping around while she's looking to patch herself up. Also, both Luke and Clem use their earlier models. In this scene, the front door is also shown to be open, and Clem ignores the door to her right. This is notable as that's how she enters the cabin in the final game. This possibly implies she was meant to enter through the front door originally. |
Early Episode Dioramas
Early versions of the Episode Select dioramas. These come from a website that had the portfolio of one of the UI designers for Season 2 on it, which has since been removed.
Episode 1: All That Remains
Early | Final |
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Unlike episodes three and four, All That Remains never had its diorama changed throughout the releases of the other episodes, and the same can be said for episodes two and five. In the earlier diorama, Clementine has more blood seeping out of her arm than in the final version. It's been speculated that this is because she would have been shot by Winston instead of getting bitten by Sam. This is also implied by the position she is holding her arm in. It's also worth mentioning that she looks more angry and determined in the early diorama, rather than the afraid and helpless look she has in the final version.
Episode 2: A House Divided
Early | Final |
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This episode was originally named Don't Look Back, rather than A House Divided. This can also still be seen in unused files found in the PS3 version. Besides the different name, this diorama arguably saw the least amount of overall changes, as everything essentially remained the same, only their positions were altered. With Troy, who was originally used to represent Carver as a placeholder, now appearing much closer to the camera, Johnny appearing to the right of him instead of to the left, and the sky, treeline, and ski lift being framed a lot lower. It is noteworthy, however, that even in the earlier image, Johnny is already used to represent Carver's group, despite concept art showing he wasn't originally meant to be a part of them.
Episode 3: In Harm's Way
To do: Replace the earliest image with a rip that's less... terrible. |
Earliest | Later | Final |
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This episode was originally named In Cold Blood. The earliest version has no distinguishable background, but it does feature a prominent shadow looming over Clementine and Rebecca. It's unknown if this shadow is supposed to represent anything or anyone specific, if it's meant to be purely symbolic, or if it even has any significance at all. The second screen was in use up until the actual release of episode 3, at which point it was replaced with the third variant. It originally depicted the truck stop bathroom. This version also features a prison bar overlay, which seems more overtly symbolic this time. The final variant removed the overlay completely, and now depicts Clem and Rebecca inside of Howe's Hardware.
Episode 4: Amid The Ruins
To do: The PS3 European version shown here isn't quite right, as it doesn't contain the UI elements the others do, in the same vein, the earliest image is something else too, as the blood texture normally doesn't look like that. Fix this. |
Earliest | Final |
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PS3 European Version | Second PS3 European Version |
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The diorama for Amid The Ruins was changed a total of four times, a record amount the series would never reach again. All of these screens have subtle differences. The earliest version most closely resembles the European PS3 version, however, the early version is generally brighter, more zoomed out, and contains a Kenny-looking silhouette to the left of Clementine, rather than a Vince-looking one. The final version was originally seen on PC and iOS, and it always remained the same on PC. The PS3 versions use an earlier face texture for Clementine (affecting both her actual face as well as the blood she smears), and have blood on her palms as well. The second PS3 version also has a completely different Clementine pose compared to the first; this pose would be kept for the final release, however. By the time this episode was released, all the dioramas were updated to be the same across the board, and only feature the finalized image. Despite all the changes, Eddie from the 400 Days DLC, always remained present and visible on the slide. He appears as the hooded rightmost figure, despite not actually appearing in the episode, or the season, for that matter. The Vince silhouette-diorama isn't PS3-exclusive, it is also present in the free version of the Xbox 360 version.
Episode 5: No Going Back
Early | Final |
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This episode was originally named Better to Sleep. On the early version, you can see the silhouette of Clementine walking into the distance, and she appears to be holding AJ with her left arm. This seems to be a depiction of a removed ending where Clementine and AJ would get trapped in a blizzard in whiteout conditions, and Clementine had the choice to either stay with AJ, almost guaranteeing them to die together in the blizzard. Or they could leave AJ behind, ensuring his death so that Clementine could make it. On a lighter note, someone misspelled "soon" as "sooon" in the earlier image.
Concept Art
Concept art for Season Two was done by Lead Concept Artist Jesse Maccabe, as well as Molly Denmark, Molly Maloney, Gray Rogers, and Derek Stratton.
Jesse Maccabe
These artworks are all confirmed to have been made by Maccabe, as they're sourced from his personal ArtStation account.
Derek Stratton
This is the only known piece that can be definitively credited to Stratton, as it's sourced from his personal ArtStation account.
Art | File Name | Notes |
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derek-stratton-clementine-sketches.jpg | Basic design sketches for how Clementine could look at the start of Season Two. |
Definitive Series Art
The following pieces of concept art are sourced directly from The Walking Dead: The Telltale Definitive Series' concept art gallery:
Episode 1 Character Lineup
In April 2014, the New York Times visited Telltale's offices in order to conduct interviews for an article. Photographer Ramin Rahimian took a very interesting picture there, showcasing the character lineup for episode 1.
Developer Commentary Notes
The Walking Dead: The Telltale Definitive Series would also go on to include developer commentary alongside its bonuses. Some developers revealed interesting tidbits of which little to nothing else is known.
Episode 1: All That Remains
- During the commentary for this episode, Lead Designer Stephen McManus would state the following about Pete's original demise:
- "There was something actually very interesting about Pete's storyline. Originally, Pete was supposed to make it back to the cabin. [...] There was a thread where you had either told people he was bitten or you had not. And he was in bed, and potentially going to turn, and Clementine had to deal with that. And that was a lot of the space that ended up being filled by the dread of Carver showing up directly. And I believe, at the time, Carver wasn't supposed to show up until the third act. He was just a name that was bandied around. You know, the boogeyman, for most of the story. And we had more "Pete integration" into this part of the story. The question of "Who are we gonna tell?", "Do we keep Pete's secret for a while?", "Is he going to turn, here, at the cabin?" And I think we never expected him to go full zombie. [...] It was a threat, and he finally decided, much like he does in the current iteration, [...] he was going to have a heroic act of staying behind when Carver's people came. "If they show up, I'll deal with them." [...] He was always a decent guy [...] for the group or for Clementine in his last moments."
Assorted Staff/Developer Quotes
Staff/Developer quotes about assorted development moments;
- Developer Kent Mudle (who was a Cinematic Artist at the time of this Season 2's release, but later became Creative and Cinematic Director at Telltale) had the following to say about episode 1 on his Tumblr:
- "201 was one of the must [sic] tumultuous episodes I ever worked on. It was honestly pretty demoralizing, by the time I got to do my final scene (the bit where Clem arrives at the cabin and is put in the shed) I just wanted to be working on anything else. I did Clem arrives on the beach, and it was like, about dragging a boat to make a little shelter for yourself, all gone. I swear you met the dog there in an old version and he hung out with you for multiple scenes before the bite. I did a bit where when Clem fell in the river it was actually interactive, like pushing left and right to avoid rocks. I worked at least a little on that Clem/Christa in the woods scene, probably just the freewalk part. I recall when they added the log to burn instead of one of the two pictures. And that’s only my stuff, the rest of the episode probably has a lot of different horror stories of waste."
- In an interview done by The Walking Dead Wiki, animator Jessica Brezzo briefly talked about the removed fishing scene:
- "There were a lot of things scrapped from the game at one point, there was a whole fishing sequence in episode 1 that got cut. But it had some awesome Alvin lines where he was complaining about holding fish, and some pretty funny Clementine animations where she was trying to grab onto fish and put them in a cooler. [...] Well, similar to that whole fishing bit, the original ending of episode 1 had Luke and Alvin present as well. But we changed it to just be Pete, Nick, and Clem."
- Jessica also stated the following (in a now-deleted post) on the TTG official forums, in response to changed designs:
- "With appearances, no one other than Luke and Nick changed much - originally, they were both brown-haired white dudes, just one had a hat. As production went on, we realized we needed to differentiate them more. Other times characters will change appearance is if we cast a voice actor we like, and then realize their voice doesn't quite fit the model once you start seeing them in game - we had to thicken up Carver for that reason, he was originally a bit thinner."