Proto:Shadow Warrior (1997)

This page details one or more prototype versions of Shadow Warrior (1997).

There are a number of prototypes of Shadow Warrior online. One was leaked out from 3D Realms shortly before release, while the others were officially released by 3D Realms and Devolver Digital as a curiosity in 2017, along with the previously leaked one in a legitimate fashion.

Sub-Pages

Prototype 1993-09-16 Proof-of-concept version used to pitch the game.

Prototype 1994-05-23 A very early build that's extremely different from the final game.

Prototype 1995-01-15 The first of the 1995 prototypes, featuring a shift to a much darker atmosphere, more final enemies, and a picture of a developer's face in a weapon sprite.

Prototype 1995-02-10 Quite similar to the above build, but with a lot more levels to explore.

Prototype 1995-09-08 A prototype representing the game before the internal 3D Realms team began to work on it. It is protected by an AEGIS parallel port dongle. Playable only via a frankenbuild from the October 31 source code.

Prototype 1996-06-11 Made after development was moved to 3D Realms itself. Many elements of the final game, such as vehicles and Lo Wang's powerful arsenal, are starting to appear.

Prototype 1996-06-27 Contains several changes from the June 11 build such as a new player sprite, weapons that are a little closer to their final incarnations, voxels that did not appear in the final game, and the introduction of the Railgun.

Prototype 1996-08-12 The final versions of some weapons are starting to come together, some weird graphics can be found, Lo Wang gets his own version of Doom Guy's radiation suit, and there's...90s Japanese porn in the texture files?

Prototype 1996-11-28 A demonstration made to the game's publisher. Pretty close to the final game, but has some unrefined mechanics and is still missing the wisecracking and bearded Lo Wang the final game is known for.

Prototype 1997-04-04 Leaked shortly before the game's release.