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Proto:Daikatana (Windows)/MPlayer Demo/Graphics

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This is a sub-page of Proto:Daikatana (Windows)/MPlayer Demo.

Graphics

Different Menu Graphics

The DM Demo menu uses a significantly different-looking style compared to the final version. Instead of being some sort of HR-Geiger theme, it uses a metallic/futuristic look.

Prototype Final
For some reason I like the icons. I still wanna know what is up with that fucking skull.

HUD

The MPlayer HUD keeps the final's layout, but the metal around the HUD is a different shape and much darker when compared to the final. The MPlayer Demo also uses a different font and the character's portrait doesn't have a lens flare effect on it.

The character portrait does not change, no matter how much damage the player takes.

Prototype Final
Mikiko does not care about this “HUD picture” shit at all. The Geiger knockoff shit has infected the HUD! RUN!
Prototype Low Health Final Low Health
Feels like nothin' at all. If only she had a washcloth to wipe that blood off of her face.

Unused HUD

Graphics for an unused HUD can be found in the game's files. They appear to be a futuristic-looking HUD meant for Episode 1, as indicated by its folder name.

This HUD appears in a few early Episode 1 screenshots, showing what it would look like in-game.

Strange-looking Score Board

Textures for a very unusual multiplayer score board design never seen in any pre-release screenshots can be found in pics/misc/scoreboard. This design has the pseudo-Japanese for “Daikatana” on the left side of the bar, a gigantic space in the middle, presumably for the player's name, and a character's face (default is Hiro) on the right-hand side. There are also faces for Mikiko and Superfly. There are a few versions of the Daikatana pseudo-Japanese with blood running down it, suggesting that it is supposed to be a rough estimate of a person's health.

Each character has a “plus 1” (character with a white thing around the person's eyesocket) and “minus 1” (person's face is bloody) face, though what would cause each face to appear is unknown, though it is likely based on frags/kills. There is also a “plus 2” (Hiro's face with a skull over it) and a “minus 2” (Superfly's very bloody face), which likely correspond to a large lead (Plus 2) and trail behind (Minus 2) in frags.

Unused Menu Textures

Textures from what appears to be a slightly earlier version of the menu seen in the DM Demo can be found hidden in the “skins” folder. It follows the DM Demo's menu style, but has red font and a metal grey background instead of the DM Demo (and final's) yellow text and dark background.

Unused Menu Texture In-Game Menu Texture
LED signs are always in style. Not anymore!

Messed up Windows NT Loading Screen

At least it wasn't ME.

For some reason, there is a messed up snapshot of Windows NT's loading screen near the end of the skins folder. Padding? Mistake? Who knows.

Loading Graphics

The Daikatana DM Demo uses completely different graphics for loading; instead of using the final's bar, it displays the text “LOADING...” on the bottom of the screen and a flashing version of the pseudo-Japanese for Daikatana on the upper right-hand corner.

Prototype Final
I can't see my progress! Now how am I going to know what stage of loading the game is at??? The load bar that never ends.

Console Backgrounds

The MPlayer demo contains four console backgrounds that switch every time the player changes a level, none of which appear in the final game. Of note is that the Mikiko design is an old one shown in 1998-era Daikatana promo images instead of the final's.

Stat Images

There are unused textures for graphical representations of each stat (power/attack/speed/etc). The icons are drawn similar to the pre-alpha's menu icons, suggesting they were made by the same person that made the pre-alpha menu icons.

Demon Knight Texture

A texture for the Demon Knight enemy can be found in the skins folder. Interestingly enough, it looks exactly the same as the final's, showing that its texture went untouched from March 1999 to when the game was released on May 2000.

Face in Options Menu

The HUD face for showing how visible the HUD is in the Options menu is off-center in the MPlayer Demo.

Prototype Final
Good job asshats. At least they fixed it in time for the final release.

Strange Hand Texture

That hand doesn't look healthy at all.

An unused hand texture named “shotcycler” can be found in the data\skins folder. This hand is designed in the same style that the final's unused Disruptor model does, suggesting that it is from an earlier stage of development than the current skins are from.