Proto:Quake II (PC, Xbox 360)

This page details one or more prototype versions of Quake II (PC, Xbox 360).

To do: The prototype feels very under-dissected on this page right now. Needs comparisons with the final game and a few screenshots/videos as well.

Much like Qtest1 for the previous game, id would release a test build of Quake II called Q2Test to gauge the compatibility of the hardware as of October 1997 (Rage, PowerVR, Rendition, Voodoo, etc.). It's a late production release, but there are still some interesting changes within.

THIS CHRISTMAS SEASON, YOU'RE GOING TO BE READING SOME SERIOUS STROGG ASS!

Levels

General

• Player spawn effect casts a dynamic light.
• The menus are completely reorganized.

demo1 (Outer Base)

• No radio voices.
• You don't have a crashed pod.
• The explosion when approaching the first door does not occur.
• The health stems that appear on the outside balcony are absent.
• The ship that passes by the window on the left side of the map does not exist.
• Similarly, the ship that passes above in the outside area is absent.
• The silencer secret has been replaced with a bandolier in this prototype.

demo2 (Installation)

• The explosion that occurs when the Enforcer turns the corner is absent.
• The button used to unlock the Machine Gun is entirely different. (This texture appears in both Mission Packs, albeit not animated.)
• The button to open the sewer pipe also uses the same different texture.
• The Secret Shotgun in the water is instead a Supershot Gun (The later 3.14 demo keeps this change).
• The area added for multiplayer are entirely absent.
• The exit elevator at the end of the map is replaced with a different door that houses a Tank Commander. (The later 3.14 demo keeps this change.)

demo3 (Comm Center)

• The area containing the elevator to Lost Station is present but lacks the elevator. Instead a Rocket Launcher is here. (The later 3.14 demo keeps this change but moves the Rocket Launcher over a bit.)
• The alarm button the Enforcer presses uses a different texture.
• The Berserker enemy is seen as a replacement for a few Guards near the end of the map. (The later 3.14 demo keeps this change.)

Pics

Changed

colormap

Q2Test	Final

The palette itself was still a work in progress, so palette indexes 48 to 51 were still white.

conchars

Q2Test	Final
QTest	Q2Test

Interestingly it borrows the same console font Qtest1 has and adds a brown color.

conback

Q2Test	Final

Reminds you that this is a TEST release.

i_bodyarmor

Has a bit more shading contrast near the chest center.

i_combatarmor

Combat armor is also red. It changed to yellow in the final.

Unused

w_bfg

Turns out the BFG wasn't originally a blue gun shooting devastating green stuff. This icon was touched up and recycled for Ground Zero's Plasma Beam weapon.

p_goggles

Not appearing in the final or the test release in any functional form, these goggles would also be revisited and touched up in Ground Zero as IR Goggles.

Unique

victory

The screen for completing the demo.

CONGRATUALTIONS!

YOU'VE ESTABLISHED THE COMMUNICATIONS LINK TO YOUR COMMAND SHIP. THAT MEANS YOU ARE THE BIG WINNER!

THIS CHRISTMAS SEASON, YOU'RE GOING TO BE READING SOME SERIOUS STROGG ASS!

(INSERT COOL CINEMATIC HERE)

Sounds

To do: Some unused and changed sounds.

All the sounds have been resampled to 11025Hz sampling rate, 8 bits per sample, in order to reduce the download size.