Proto:Need for Speed II

This page details one or more prototype versions of Need for Speed II.

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A prototype of Need for Speed II was bought by ObscureGamers user "kanaka" and released on June 21, 2019. It is dated February 26, 1997, just over a month before the game's US release.

To do: Play the tournament mode.

General Differences

To do: Try to rip the audio (with PSound perhaps) to make comparision tables.

• There is a language select screen at the beginning which was removed in the final game. All of the languages are implemented, though...
• There is some debug text present during the game, with some XYZ coordinates. For whatever reason, the font for it corrupts after doing a race.
• The intro in the final game is nowhere to be seen, instead playing the showcase video of the Lotus Esprit S4. Not only that, but it is even the showcase video for all the cars and also the demo video.
• All of the tracks have a green gradient as a skybox.
• While the final game has three camera views (a chase camera, a closer chase camera, and an in-car view), this build has all of the camera views that appear in the replay menu enabled during the actual gameplay.
• The engine sound heard when starting the race is different.
• The "3, 2, 1, GO!" voice is completely different, and a higher quality version of it was later used in the PC versions of Hot Pursuit and High Stakes.
• The "final lap" voice is different.
• The "Congratulations!" screen after winning a race in 1st place shows a Ferrari F50's reflection in the mug, instead of the player's car.
• The AI do not have any names yet, and are labelled "AI 1", "AI 2", "AI 3", etc.
• The arcade physics have a bug where the player can spin endlessly in a circle after being hit.
• The dynamic music is implemented, but sometimes cuts to random tracks while racing.
• The game is unstable and can crash randomly.

Cars

• All of the cars in the final game seem to be present, even with the active spoilers being implemented.
• The showroom, pictures, and videos are also finished and identical to the final game.
• Some of the car colors appear lighter/darker and with much higher contrast than they do in the final (ochre, beige, etc.).
• The Lotus GT1 always appears as red, no matter what color is actually chosen for it.
• The Italdesign Calà's engine and horn sounds don't loop properly.
• The CPU version of the Ferrari F50 has alpha channel problems, and shows green where it is supposed to be transparent.
• The CPU version of the Italdesign Calà has corrupted textures. For some reason, this doesn't occur after the debug text font corrupts.

Cheat Codes

• The SHOTME cheat code which unlocks the Monolithic Studios track is called HOLLYO.
• The LILZIP cheat code which unlocks the Ford Indigo doesn't work.

Modes

Knockout

• The last two races in Mystic Peaks and Monolithic Studios should have two and one opponent respectively, although the game will load only one on the former and none on the latter, though the game will still think there are 3/2 cars on track.
  • In the last race in Monolithic Studios, the second opponent (which doesn't spawn) will always have a top speed of 0.00 MP/H and a time of 303:40.0 in the race summary.

Tracks

Proving Grounds

This track is fully finished, with only some graphical differences left.

• The green gradient skybox can be seen behind the background.
• The AI has some problems with this track and often crashes into the walls.

Outback

Almost unplayable and completely broken.

• Polygons that are close to the camera disappear for no reason. There might be too many polygons on-screen at once.
• There is a strange background in the track that doesn't appear anywhere in the final game, on top of the green gradient.
  • What is even stranger is the fact that there are random car textures in the sky, and they even scroll indepedently of the background. For whatever reason, this doesn't occur after the debug font corrupts.
• The guard rails alongside the curb that leads into the city zone have no collision, and you will either land upside-down and get reset or fall off the map and teleport into different places on the map after showing the underside of the map (which for some reason glitches the game).
  • However, if you are using the in-car camera view, you will land on an invisible floor which you can drive on.

North Country

Mostly complete, but has strange problems.

• The skybox is different, and the track is set at day instead of sunset.
• The tunnel reverb effect is enabled in the countryroad section for some reason.
• This track has very strange slowdowns, and audio/input delays. It seems to mostly occur after crashing into something.

Pacific Spirit

Fully finished and playable, just needs some polishing.

• The green gradient skybox can be seen behind the background.
• The game has some depth buffering issues with hairpin leading to the area with the shortcut through the woods, sometimes placing the sidewalls above the player's car and grass being seen through the road.

Mediterraneo

Also mostly complete, but quite buggy.

• The green-gradient skybox can be seen behind the background. Oddly enough, the gradient matches the one used by this track in the final game.
• This track is covered in shadows and is almost pitch-black, making everything (including the cars) nearly impossible to see. The final game does use the shadow effect in this stage also, but much less.
• There are a few holes in the map, but you cannot fall through them, as they do have collision data.
• The guard rails alongside the curb leading to the bridge and just before the windmill have no collision. However, unlike Outback, there are invisible walls preventing you from falling out of bounds.
  • Strangely, the scenery seems to actually have collision data, as you can drive on the rocks before hitting the invisible walls.
• The windmills don't have any collision.

Mystic Peaks

Somewhat finished and playable, but still very rough.

• Besides the mountains in the background it lacks a skybox whatsoever, and displays the same green gradient as all of the other tracks.
• Some of the polygons in the salt cave flicker.
• The bells don't chime when driving past them.
• The mountains in the track have a broken alpha channel, and are green where they are supposed to be transparent.
• You cannot fall off the track on the curb right after the bridge before the spiral section. You can't fall off the bridge, either.

Monolithic Studios

Obviously not finished in any way, although it is playable.

• All of the animated props are static as of yet.
• The T-Rex prop has broken alpha on its arms and doesn't growl.