Proto:Halo: Combat Evolved/Speartest

This is a sub-page of Proto:Halo: Combat Evolved.

A build very similar to the MacWorld 1999 demo, Speartest is a modified build worked on by the digsite team that was intended for public release at some point. While it looks extremely different from the final game, a surprising amount of ideas would make their way into the final game.

Subpages

Characters Several cut and early characters and wild-life.

Weapons Various guns that never made it into the final game.

Vehicles Some vehicles eventually made it into the sequel, others didn't.

Interface

Upon opening the game, the player is greeted with a basic map selection screen, listing all the maps in the build. By default, the players name is "manhorsedemon". The screen also allows maps to be opened in the editor.

Gameplay

None of the enemies have any AI, and many of the weapons are hardly functional. Meaning the only thing the player can do is roam around the map and drive vehicles.

Editor

The build features a level editor. The editor allows the player to edit the height and materials of the island, in addition to placing units and items.

Islands

Rather than the .bsp format used by the final games maps, the game uses "islands", with simple height-map terrain, that can be filled with structures. There are three islands in the game.

Spasm

Spasm is the map seen in many early promotional screenshots for the game, it's a large mountainous island. The map was used for the famous MacWorld 1999 trailer.

St. Marcus

St. Marcus is a large terrain using default textures. It's likely named after one of the developers, Marcus Lehto.

Swamp

Swamp is a dark, ominous, swamp. Seen in a few promotional images for the game.