Proto:Blood/Alpha Demo

This is a sub-page of Proto:Blood.

  This prototype is documented on Hidden Palace.

This page or section details content from the Blood Prototype Leak.

This page sucks. If you could make it suck less, that would be awesome. Specifically: A direct copy-and-paste from another wiki. At least half-ass it by putting in some images and properly formatting some things, rather than copy-pasting and then patting yourself on the back.

A prototype of Blood from February 6th, 1996 (commonly nicknamed the Blood Alpha by the community) is a build from nearly 16 months before the final game's release, when it was still being developed by Q Studios Corporation. This build was stolen from a developer's PC after it was sent to a repair shop.

Originally this prototype was leaked only with source code and a few other files before leaking in full.

To do: Serious clean-up of this article would be nice. Redo the differences if necessary. Much of it is copypasta from the Blood Wiki. Better organise everything here. Replace dead link in reference to weekly updates. Cover the BLOOD.TXT file, it contains a bunch of milestone updates up until February 3rd, 1996. Some of the files are as old as 1994, make note of this. Add images for much of the stuff described here. Cover source code in full on development page.

Sub-Pages

Developer Notes A whole bunch of personal notes from the developers.

Prototype Build Engine Screenshots Various screenshots of early versions of some Build engine games.

General Differences

• Caleb is a cultist/fanatic named Michael.
• Ophelia Price is named "Rachael", and only exists as a placeholder sprite.
• Movement physics are different, most notable with midair movement.
• There is no pause menu. Instead, pressing Esc' exits to DOS.
• This build utilizes a different map-file format than the final.
• While the art for the various armor is present, no armor system is present yet and no armor appears in any level.
• The crouch function doesn't work, although it does work while using mapedit.
• The Tilt view functions work, although they have no stopping points and will cause your screen to endlessly spin in a circle.
• All maps with mirrors have a strange mirror-like function when M is pressed.
• No key-locked switches, doors, or objects refer to the key they need in the display text.
• The Diving Suit automatically activates upon pickup, and is also completely useless since there are no maps with working underwater sectors at this point.
• The soundtrack is vastly different. Some of these tracks would remain in the shareware v0.91 prototype (unused), and final shareware release until all were replaced in the final.
• The format for episodes is different, using a .def system with secondary .defs for calling the map necessitates such as music. The final merges both into an .ini file.
• There's resources and a test map for a gate-like lock that is never used in the final.
• The tiles for art are sorted differently, meaning that map textures will end up jumbled if you try to load them using BloodGDX, which supports loading the alpha maps.
• Pressing F1 shows a "Player Profile" option.
• There is a "Beast" mode that would function under a bloodlust system, fueled by taking massive amounts of damage and/or doing massive amounts of damage to enemies.
• Connected to the above, there are indications that all four of the chosen were to be selectable and have their own separate Beast mode, which were most likely going to be the boss characters of the final game.

Weapons

To do: This section is missing a lot of graphics and info.

• Some weapons are located on different number slots.
• An unused "armor-piercing bullets" pickup and ammo type is present.
• The Life Leech does not exist yet.

Pitchfork

Likely for testing purposes, the Pitchfork has an alt fire which shoots an explosive fireball.

Voodoo Doll

Using the Voodoo Doll's alternative attack causes enemy infighting to occur.

Dynamite

The player is able to throw both a bundle of dynamite and a stick of dynamite. The final game only has single-stick dynamite being thrown by Cultists on lower difficulties. In addition, the prototype has a rougher sprite when compared to the final.

Stick	Bundle

Prototype	Final

The Proximity Detonator and Remote Detonator are only usable through the alternative fire. Attempting to throw them simply turns them into the default Dynamite Bundle.

Sawed-Off Shotgun

The sprite is different, with the overall gun being smaller and a hand visibly holding it. Rather than using unique firing sounds like in the final, the shotgun instead uses the same firing sound as the Cultists.

Prototype	Final

In addition, a unique sprite intended for the Guns Akimbo item is present. This same sprite can be seen in early prerelease media.

Ripped sprite	Pre-release footage

Tommy Gun

The Tommy Gun's alternative fire shoots at an increased fire-rate, rather than the left-to-right swing it does in the final (though sprites for the swing do exist in this build). The gun also uses different sounds.

Aerosol Can

Has different sprites, and the can has a darker tint. The fire it emits is represented by a stream of fireballs.

Prototype	Final

Speargun

An early iteration of the Tesla Cannon. While the general design is the same, it functions differently.

Shadowgun/Ectoblaster

It appears the Napalm Launcher was originally a different gun. The ammo pickup sprite calls it "shadow gun", while display text refers to it as "EctoBlaster". While the overall sprite is fairly similar to the final, it's overall darker and has a wire attached to the left hand. The build's source code suggests this weapon was supposed to shoot skulls, though the functionality is broken.

Prototype	Final

Flare Gun

The Flare Gun's alternative fire only uses one flare and shoots them in a round target-like pattern. Commented-out source code suggests that the weapon could be reloaded.

Beast Claws

Present in the "0" slot. It lacks both an alternative fire and attack definitions, and is only acquirable using the "QSAMMO" cheat.

Enemies

Cultist

In addition to the unused jumping sprites present in the final game, the Cultists also have some sprites where they are crouched.

A variant where they fire their gun while crouched is also present:

The bodies of Cultists don't melt away upon death.

Gill Beast

The Gill Beast has a set of alternate-color sprites, showing it with bright white eyes and a more "zombified" appearance.

Phantasm

Phantasms use an earlier design.

Tchernobog

The big bad only has a measly temporary sprite.

Doom Sprites

Some front-facing sprites from Doom are present, for whatever reason.

Graphical Differences

• Voxels are not present at all, only sprites.
• In third-person mode, Caleb is dressed in gray fanatic robes rather than a black cowboy hat and trench coat.
• An unused HUD damage sprite set, showcasing the appearance of three bloody scratches on-screen.
• The wine bottles have an unused sprite set where they bob up and down while in water.
• All destructible vases have a "destroyed" sprite and can be bounced around with explosives.
• The limited invisibility item's pickup sprite is different.
• Key sprites have a blue glow around them.
• Life Essences use a placeholder sprite.
• The Guns Akimbo pickup sprite has dark, black-tinted shotguns. The weapon itself has no effect in this build.
• First-person sprite view bobbing more so resembles Doom's than the slower-paced bob movement of the final game.

Unused Items

• Asbestos Suit - Protects against floor-based lava, which would be useful except there are no lava floors that damage you at this point in development.
• Clone - No in-game effect. Sprites for it exist in the art tiles.
• Doppelganger - No in-game effect. Represented by a tiny spherical smiley face.
• Decoy - No in-game effect.
• Black Chest - No in-game effect.
• Wooden Chest - No in-game effect.
• Raven Flight - No in-game effect.
• Gas Mask - No in-game effect.
• Shadow Cloak - No in-game effect.
• Skull Grail - No in-game effect.
• Silver Grail - No in-game effect.
• Wine Goblet - No in-game effect.
• Wine Bottle - No in-game effect.
• Rose-colored Glasses - No in-game effect.
• Rage Shroom - No in-game effect.
• Grow Shroom - No in-game effect.
• Shrink Shroom - No in-game effect.
• Delirium Shroom - Screws with your interface upon picking it up, causing the screen to get hazy as well as twisting and contorting.
• Red Potion - Restores 2 health upon pickup.
• Feather Fall - Allows you to fall slower and minimize falling damage.

Enemy Differences

To do: Move into Enemies section.

• Neither the Axe Zombie nor Bloated Butcher have alternate death sequences when killed with the Voodoo Doll.
• The Fanatic can lob singular sticks of dynamite.
• The Axe Zombie doesn't have any fake death sequences.
• The Bloated Butcher has no vomit attack yet.
• The Hell Hound, Stone Gargoyles, and Gill Beast can all be gibbed with explosive weaponry.
• There are no green or red Spiders, and the Spider enemy has no blinding or delirium-inducing effects.
• All Stone Gargoyle statues will transform into a Gargoyle when attacked.
• The Bloated Butcher has an alternate "fire" death animation, although it is not implemented due to fire death issues.
• The Axe Zombie seems to have an alternate "crushing" death animation, although crushing hasn't been implemented at this point.
• The Bone Eel has a set of sprites that indicate it was once going to be able to jump out of water.
• There are no Innocents.

Model Renders and Mockups

Present in the PICS/MISC folder are a variety of photos which include some early logos and renders of items and weapons. In particular, there are renders of the diving helmet, Speargun, remote detonator, and Tommy Gun.

An unused HUD is also present. It appears to be an earlier iteration of the HUD which predates this build. Some notable aspects of this early HUD include:

• Slots 7 and 8 appear to have ammo icons for the Speargun.
• Some sort of red meter is present on the right.
• Likely mimicking Doom, the main character's face is present in the bottom-left, featuring a pained or enraged expression. Early screenshots indicate that the face has numerous expressions corresponding to different scenarios (for example, low health).
• The heart graphic in the bottom-right is flipped and appears different.

Unused	Used