Proto:Marvel: Ultimate Alliance (PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Portable, Wii, Xbox, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Windows)/Feb 24, 2006

This is a sub-page of Proto:Marvel: Ultimate Alliance (PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Portable, Wii, Xbox, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Windows).

  This prototype is documented on Hidden Palace.

This article is a work in progress. ...Well, all the articles here are, in a way. But this one moreso, and the article may contain incomplete information and editor's notes.

To do: Would be cool to have screenshot comparisons with the final version for all levels in the Act subpages. A deep research of the game files would make sense as well.

This early prototype of the XBOX version was leaked in June 13 of 2020 and it has many interesting differences. Some levels don't exist yet, some are ultimately unfinished, some are almost 100% different from their final versions and some simply can't be opened. There's no levels from Act 2 and no Castle Doom in Act 5. Several levels from Acts 1, 3 and 4 are missing as well. The prototype also has a debug menu. This prototype has many leftovers form X-Men Legends 2 and hence the title of this prototype - Marvel Legends.

Sub-Pages

Characters Information about every single playable character of the prototype.

Act 1 The info about every single level of Act 1 this prototype has.

Act 3 The info about every single level of Act 3 this prototype has.

Acts 4 & 5 Since Act 5 has only a few levels, Act 4 politely shared the page with it.

General Differences

• Since the game is basically a mod for X-Men Legends 2, there's a lot of leftovers from that game:
  • Unlockables
  • Cinematics
  • Some music
  • Heroselect
  • Golden techbits (were replaced by S.H.I.E.L.D. coins in the final)
  • Red and blue potions (the potion mechanic was replaced with flying orbs)
  • Some UI elements
  • Cel shading
  • Bridge building ability.
  • Some playable heroes were transferred from XML2 as well.
  • Hubs have shop, stash, trivia, extract maps and even info about heroes/villains.
• Some comic onomatopoeia appear when you grab attack enemies.
• Normal enemies don't have HUD pictures on their healthbars. Bosses, on the other hand, have, but almost always use placeholder pictures of other bosses from XML2.
• Playable characters can't double jump.
• Finisher combos use weird placeholder piano sounds.
• Thor in the starting team is replaced with Ghost Rider here for some reason.
• No collectibles were added at this point of development. The only collectible in this prototype is a simulator disk in one of the Shi'Ar levels.
• Most of the dialogues are different and they are often really hilarious here. Some dialogues either aren't finished or just missing at all. There's also tons of spelling mistakes.
• Lots of unfinished stuff: missing sounds, textures, levels, hero skills, behaviours and etc. Some actors either just untextured or use the model of Skrull Empress as the placeholder.
• Many maps have unfinished lighting and hence they are really dark.
• Super Soldiers use their "star spangled" outfit you could see on some prerelease screenshots and in trailers.
• The texture of Frost Giants is different and they have some purple clothes.
• AIM reavers use the model of AIM troopers.
• Most music is different and most likely reused from XML2 as well.
• Almost no invisible walls. You can fly wherever you want and as high as you want in levels like Heli1 and fall in some pits that weren't accessible in the final.
• Enemies could block your attacks. This was later scrapped, because the feature is really annoying.
• Stunned enemies get much less damage, making stunning them a rather unwanted thing.
• Ice powers affect the game framerate drastically making it basically a slideshow after several ice power usages. For some reason, a lot of bosses use ice powers here.

Debug Features

To do: A more detailed review of the debug functions is needed

The prototype has a debug menu you can access from the main menu or from pause menu. It can help to load most of the maps (some of them still aren't on the list), enable or disable some cheats or performance parameters, show statistics and other debug information, save/load your game and etc.

The most interesting option here is a free camera mode. To enable it, you need to enable options "DevInput Enabled" and "Allow Free Camera", then press the buttons for blue and red potion at once after you quit the pause menu. This will make your character a "ghost" and now you'll be able to fly through any walls. Pressing these buttons again will revert the effect.

Maybe this debug menu is still in the final version of the game.

Getting into inaccessible levels

Some maps can't be visited casually or selected in the debug level select, so you need to edit some files in order to load them. That's how it can be done:

1) Open the prototype folder. There's a "z" folder inside. Open it and extract all the files from "assetsfb.zip" to some other folder.

2) Now go to "scripts/loadpoint" and open "a4_skrull1.py" file in any text editor. This is a python code you need to edit. Just replace the path inside "loadMap("act4/skrull/skrull1" )" string to any map you need.

3) How to find the right path? Go to "packages/generated/maps". This is where you can see the path to the map you need. For example, if you want to load THIS level, the path will be "test/atvi_demo". That's pretty much it.

4) Now after you edited the file - save it and made a new "assetsfb.zip" archive out of all these previously extracted files. Then replace the original archive in "Marvel/z" folder with a new one.

5) That's it! Now you can load that load point from the debug menu of the game and the map will open. If it CAN be opened... Some maps simply don't load and that's alright. Maybe one day we'll find the way to open even these maps in some editor or so.

Test Levels

The prototype has some test maps that aren't present in the final version.

Swim Test

This one is to test swimming. As you can see, swimming mechanics work, but surprisingly you can still walk normally underwater. Also you can't fight while swimming, so the underwater fighting is normal as well, you just need to stand on the ground. The map itself is pretty small, generic and not really interesting.

Also in this video you can see the intro logos, menu and some debug functions of the prototype in action.

Atvi_demo Test

This test level has many different things to use. Some of them even didn't make it to the final release, like that laser QTE. To play it you need to edit game files.

Ryan Test

This is a super weird test level and most likely unfinished. There's no sound at all and the triggers don't work no matter what character you choose. By the way, there's a QA tester called Ryan Jackson credited in the released version of the game, so maybe this test level was made for or by him to test mechanics, hence the title of this level. You can't play it without file editing.

Unused Bifrost Simulator Arena

It looks like the devs planned to use this arena in some comic missions. It would make sense, because there's a lot of Asgard comic missions. This arena is big enough and it's unclear why it was cut later. You can't play it without file editing as well.

Review Unlockables

Because of the fact that this game is made out of XML2, all the cheats from that game work here. Cheats "Left, Right, Left, Right, Up, Up, Down, Start", "Left, Right, Right, Left, Down, Down, Left, Start" and "Right, Left, Left, Right, Up, Up, Right, Start" will unlock almost everything in the review menu. It's not a surprise that all of the unlockables are from XML2 as well...

Comic Missions

There are only 5 comic missions and all of them were used in the final version of the game. You can play them using this XML2 cheat - "Right, Right, Left, Left, Up, Down, Up Down, Start". The maps look almost exactly the same, but you can notice the effect of some weird formula for points. It decreases points if your level was too high.

Unused Characters

In z/assetsfb/packages/generated/characters there's tons of different files for different characters. Some of them not only aren't used in this prototype, but also didn't make it to the final game. However, the files for most of these characters are of the same size. It means the development of these characters didn't even begin and their files are placeholders. Below you can see the list:

• blackout_2501. Most likely that demonic being and a nemesis of Ghost Rider. Could be used in Mephisto's Realm.
• blastaar_2501. Blastaar is one of the most famous Fantastic Four adversaries. Could appear somewhere in Act 4. The files are placeholders.
• deathwatch_2501. Deathwatch is a foe of Ghost Rider. Most likely was planned to be used in Mephisto's Realm as well.
• demogoblin_2501. Most likely a demonic version of Hobgoblin. He made an appearance in the old Maximum Carnage game. Could be used as a boss in Mephisto's Realm.
• dococ_2501. Dococ definitely stands for Doc Ock, which stands for Doctor Octopus. Spider-Man could have more classic villains in this game.
• gladiator_5501. Could be that guy who's a Daredevil enemy.
• grimreaper_2501. Grim Reaper is the enemy of Avengers.
• hela_2501. Looks like Hela could be used somewhere in Act 3.
• manspider_2501. Hm... Might be the dark Spider-Man from act 5. Or not.
• screamingmimi_2501. Screaming Mimi is the old name of Songbird. She was originally a supervillain, so she most likely was planned as another boss.
• stygorr_2501. Stygorr is an enemy of Fantastic Four. He made appearance only in Fantastic Four Vol 1 231 and died in this exact issue. This is a very old comic, so it's unclear why the devs decided it's a good idea to remember him. He could most likely be a boss in Act 4.
• ultralizard_6101, ultrarhino_3701, ultrashocker_4201. Only Scorpion had his Ultra version in the final game. These Ultra Lizard, Rhino and Shocker files aren't placeholders, but they aren't used by the game at this point. It's unclear why they didn't make it to the final release.
• whirlwind_2501. Whirlwind is a classic enemy of many Marvel characters.