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Proto:Shadow Warrior (1997)/Prototype 1995-09-08
This is a sub-page of Proto:Shadow Warrior (1997).
The September 8th, 1995 / October 30th, 1995 prototype of Shadow Warrior is much farther along than earlier prototypes were. New maps have been added, enemies are functioning well, a full roster of weapons is available, the spell system has been fleshed out a bit, and several cut maps can be fully explored. This is the closest snapshot of development available before the Duke Nukem 3D team was assigned to work on Shadow Warrior after Duke 3D shipped, which prompted radical changes in the game's direction.
This prototype has a copy protection system that has not been cracked. Thankfully, a source code snapshot dated October 30th, 1995 has been found to play, although many incompatibilities happened due to it being made a month later, though it gets close, its assets in the Steam release are using the September 8th, 1995 prototype ones. The BUILD engine was also updated from September to October. Many sound effects, and graphics are not present as a result, in which the October build tries to load but only has September assets, so this is mostly a page about October 1995, but will also be about September simultaniously.
Some fixing can be done by taking cues of how things are loaded from the June 11th, 1996 prototype, making it closer to how it was intended, though not exactly. Making this prototype not really 100% clear as to how it was meant be loaded.
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Download Shadow Warrior - October 1995 Patch
File: SW-951031-Patch.7z (3.65 MB) (info)
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General
Multiplayer
There is "multiplayer" in February 1995, though it crashes the game. As of October 1995, multiplayer is already functional, it is a simple Death Match mode that always tries to load the map "-net.map", which is not present and is also an oversight.
It can be played up to 4 players, all Ninjas have different palettes of the same graphics. A scoreboard appears at the top of the screen, and looks like the final version's.
A command line "-coop" exists, though it does not seem to work.
HUD
This prototype contains a HUD that is very different from the final design. It's much more simple than the Duke 3D-inspired design that the final HUD has.
On the left is the kill count (represented by the skull), the keys the player has, and the player's health. The center has a working compass that is exactly the same as the final's. The right side has an indicator showing how much mana the player has (represented by the blue vial), ammo count represented by a single silver cartridge (which changes, depending on the weapon drawn), and a black box meant to print what spell the player has out at the moment.
The HUD has some bugs, however. The key icons will never change depending on what keys are picked up and the spell names will stack on top of each other, making it difficult to see which spell can be used. The spell name problem can be removed by removing the HUD with the + key. This will let only the active spell be printed on the right side for a few seconds.
| Prototype | Pre-release screenshot |
|---|---|
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Spell name bug in action, along with the key graphics.
Generic HUD graphic for ammo.
Shuriken ammo HUD graphic.
Uzi ammo HUD graphic.
Crossbow ammo HUD graphic.
Player
The player 1 is represented by a green version of the prototype's Ninja enemy. This can be seen by hitting the V key while playing to activate the third person camera, fully opening the automap with the Alt + A cheat, or looking at a mirror. Its palette varies depending on what player you are 1 - 4.
Automap icon.
Mirrors
Duke 3D-style mirrors are in the game, but will glitch out when the player gets close to one and will show the texture used to represent a mirror effect in the editor instead of the mirror effect.
Getting close to a mirror.
Close to a mirror.
Vomiting After Death
This prototype adds the ability for the player to puke after being killed. This happens only if the player was gibbed, with puke coming from his decapitated head. It actually does some damage to the enemies, so it's fun and amusing. Enemies will also seemingly kick, albeit not animated, decapitated head around.
Later prototypes update the puking head for the new player design, including the final Lo Wang design.
Vomit projlectile.
Side view.
Mouth open.
Menu
This is the first prototype to have a proper menu. It has the usual single player, load game, save game, options, and quit to DOS choices, along with an âOrder optionsâ menu.
The single player menu shows three episodes; Shadow of the Ninja, Fists of Fury, and The Necromancer. After that, five difficulties can be selected; Training, Easy, Normal, Hard, and Impossible. If a map is loaded, selecting the âShadow of the Ninjaâ episode will send the player to the E1L1 level in the prototype. Fists of Fury and The Necromancer will make the game crash because it can't find E2L1 for Fists of Fury or E3L1 for The Necromancer.
Some menu options, such as the âOrder Optionsâ selector, do not work. Several functions in the Options menu, such as End Game and Detail, do nothing as well.
Hotkeys that let one quickly pick an option are represented with a yellow character. This ability still exists in the final game, but the yellow characters are gone.
The selector icon is represented by a shuriken, which was animated in later prototypes and was eventually replaced in the final game with a rotating yin yang symbol. The full animation is in the prototype's files, however.
If a level has not been loaded while booting up the executable, no demos will play and the game will crash if the user tries to either start a new game or load a save file. Loading a game while dead will also glitch the game out, with the player having no weapons, not being able to pick anything up and enemies not being able to damage him.
The episode select works if you are in-game however.
Boot-up Screens
If the game is started without selecting a map, the game will show a red version of 3D Realm's logo with the word âAâ above it and âproduction' underneath it, then show a warning stating that this is a confidential beta version of the game that is not to be distributed, along with encouragement to report any leaks. On the left side of the image is the scrapped Lava Giant boss.
A red 3DR logo appears in a pre-release Duke Nukem 3D magazine article dated in the middle of 1995.
3D Realms logo.
Beta version warning.
Quit Messages
Like Doom, this prototype shows several messages when you try to quit the game.
| Go ahead, leave, but while you're gone, evil will be taking over! |
all of japan is counting on you! only a loser could let them down now press (y) to quit, (n) to fight on. |
let's make a stealthy exit to dos! press (y) to quit, (n) to fight on. |
come back any time. We are always looking for a sack of ripper chow! press (y) to quit, (n) to fight on. |
| you do know that, while you're away, we'll be restocking Mt. Fuji with a million new monsters? press (y) to quit, (n) to fight on. |
this is too much! now where did I put those cheat codes? press (y) to quit, (n) to fight on. |
confucius say 'He who quits totally sucks! press (y) to quit, (n) to fight on. |
Cheats
Like any good prototype, the September 1995 prototype comes with a variety of cheats.
| Input | Effect | Image |
|---|---|---|
| Alt + G | God mode. | |
| Alt + I | All keys. | |
| Alt + W | All weapons, max ammo for each weapon, and max mana. | |
| Alt+ E | God mode, all keys, all weapons, max ammo for each weapon, and max mana at once. | |
| Alt+ R | Restarts the level with the player's current inventory and other effects, such as God mode. Health is reset to 100. | |
| Alt + A | Disables automapping in the automap, showing everything, including tags, props, the player's position, items, and enemies. | 
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| Alt + : or Alt + ' | Rotates the camera left or right. ; rotates left, ' rotates right. | 
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| Alt + M | Freezes all entities except the player, including projectiles. |  |
The prototype's in-game help menu lists âAlt + Uâ as a cheat that âpowers up weaponsâ, but this doesn't do anything.
Rippling Water
Interestingly, this prototype contains a rippling water technique in the level E1L3. This is broken in later prototypes.
Screenshots
This prototype comes with two screenshots. The first one shows what appears to be a bugged third person view, as it shows the player's green ninja sprite in the center of the screen while still holding a Katana. The second one is extremely stretched, but seems to show the player trapped in a spike pit found in a hidden part of E1L2.
First screenshot.
Second screenshot.
F10 to TITLE.MAP
When the player hits the F10 key, he will be instantly warped to a somewhat broken version of TITLE.MAP, a level found in previous prototypes.
Spells
This prototype, like previous ones, contains spells the player can use. What is different is that the spells are activated via the inventory instead of being traditional weapons. They also use mana to be cast instead of relying on a traditional ammo pool system. By hammering the âuse inventory itemâ key, the player can fire spells as fast as the key is hit. Mana refreshing pickups can be found in the world in the form of blue potions.
Spells can be found in the world as rotating scrolls, albeit the player already has them all to start with.
Spell pickup item.
MIRV
The MIRV spell is the first spell the player has. This spell shoots an orb that fires fireballs in a circular pattern that travels until it hits a wall. Despite its impressive-sounding name, the spell itself is quite weak and usually only tickles even a group of enemies.
While the spell itself was scrapped for player use, the Shadow Ninja enemy uses this spell against the player in the final game, where it is far more lethal than its September/October 1995 counterpart, along with better sprites.
It costs 50 mana to use.
Spiral
The spiral spell shoots another large orb, but this one has a band of fireballs surrounding it in a circular pattern as it travels. It will stop once it hits a wall.
Unlike the other spells, this one did not appear in the final game in any capacity.
It costs 100 mana to use.
Napalm
The Napalm spell shoots three fireballs next to each other. As these fireballs travel, they will cause explosions on the ground.
This spell was reused for one of the attacks from the Guardian Head in the final game, and a version of the spell with more explosions as it moves is used by the final's Shadow Ninja enemy as well.
It costs 200 mana to use.
Ring
It's hard to say what Ring spell does as projectiles are invisible. Perhaps it creates a few fireballs that rotate around player and spread out slightly. None the less, they somehow explode against enemies from the side, dealing splash damage.
It costs 100 mana to use.
Shadow
Shadow is a spell that's meant to make the player invisible to enemies while it lasts, but most of the time, enemies will ignore it and attack as usual, making it a waste of mana. The Smoke Bomb item in the final game does the same thing.
Shadow is obtained by picking up a special power that uses the âskull head in jarâ graphic seen in previous prototypes. This graphic also appears on the upper left-hand corner while the spell is active.
It costs a whopping 400 mana to use.
Item sprite.
Night Vision
It might sound odd, but a night vision ability can be activated via a spell. When the spell is activated, the screen will gain a green tint, making it easier to see in the dark. There is no way to disable it manually once it is activated. Activating it again will reset the expiration timer, allowing one to have it activated forever with good timing and using the âall weaponsâ cheat to replenish mana.
Strangely, the graphic for this item is the usual spell scroll, not something that would be expected, like a pair of night vision goggles.
It costs 50 mana to use.
This spell has a bug attached to it. If the player activates the spell, then restarts the map by any means, the lighting in the map will be permanently lighter when the player respawns.
Normal lighting.
Lighting after restarting the level while the Night Vision spell is active.
Graphics
Removed Graphics
This prototype contains graphics that were removed from the final game. There is no defined sheet for October 30th, 1995 prototype graphics, so only the ones from September's will be listed. Many graphics from June 11th, 1996 are attempted at being loaded in October 30th, so it is about the same to that version's sheet, though they are not known to be from October whether they were revised or not in between that and this prototype.
| Graphic | Tile Number | Notes |
|---|---|---|
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3 | Located next to the lava bossâ sprite. |
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558-560 | |
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561-562 | |
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563-564 | |
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565-566 | |
    |
571-564 | |
  |
575-576 | |
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708 | |
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709 | |
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713 | |
     |
716-720 | |
   |
733-735 | |
 |
1681 | |
 |
1692 | |
 |
2361 | |
 |
2363 |
Changed Graphics
| September 1995 | Final Game | Tile Number | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
 |
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360 | Completely new texture. |
 |
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361 | Completely new texture. |
 |
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362 | Completely new texture. |
 |
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373 | Completely new texture. |
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|
360 | Completely new texture. |
 |
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410 | Completely new texture. |
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360 | Completely new texture. |
Sky Texture
The sky textures features various Japanese castles in the foreground and Mt. Fuji in the background. This appears to be a completed version of the WIP sky texture seen in the February 1995 proto.
This sky texture is oddly enough still in the final version.
| September 1995 prototype | January 1995 prototype |
|---|---|
|
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Controls Listing
Tile 1790 contains a list of controls and a breakdown of the HUD. This graphic can be called in-game by pressing the F1 key.
Beta Message
Tile 1781 is a message telling the user that this is a beta and not a shareware version of the game.
Older HUD Design
This prototype contains a graphic containing a HUD design not used in the prototype itself. It is similar to the one used in the proto, but has some differences, such as a much smaller skull icon and less room for the ammo icon.
| Unused HUD | Used HUD |
|---|---|
|
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Music
This prototype contains music that is completely different from the music in the final game. The game includes significantly more level music then the 6 pre-included. Many are not used in this prototype, some are loaded but no available levels.
The soundtrack was not composed by Lee Jackson like the final version, it was done by "Tyler Tullock".
If the game is started with the level selection menu from Steam's release, the game uses the INTRO12/INTRO131 music, but the game uses the normal music, if you restart the level with the SWWARP cheat, or start a new game.
EXL1 uses YOHOKA02 EXL2 uses NIPPON34 EXL3 uses KOTOKI12 EXL4 uses HOSHIA02 EXL5 uses EXECUT11 EXL6 uses SANAI EXL7 uses KOTEX EXL8 uses NOKI41
The audio embedded here was exported using the soundfont included with RAZE.
EXECUT11 (E1L5)
FANFARE2
HOSHIA02 (E1L4)
INTRO12
KOTEX (E1L7)
KOTOKI12 (E1L3)
NIPPON34 (E1L2)
NOKI41 (E1L8)
SANAI (E1L6)
SPOOK
TEST
TKYO2005
TKYO2007
YOKOHA02 (E1L1)
SPOOK in particular is interesting, as a midi with the same name appears in both 1995 prototypes before it, but it's completely different from the one that appears in this build. Neither of these MIDIs are anything similar to the SPOOK.MID from Duke Nukem 3D. The song is an earlier version of KOTEX/KOTEC2.
| SPOOK.MID January 15th/February 10th, 1995 | SPOOK.MID September 8th, 1995 | KOTEC2.MID June 11th, 1996 |
|---|---|---|
TEST.MID is a copy of "Spray" from Rise of the Triad.
Sounds
This prototype contains more sounds than the previous prototype did as of September, most are from Rise of The Triad. As of October 1995 (the playable version), the SW.GRP was created, which loads the sound files like the final game. However, in the Steam re-release the GRP from October was not included, making this build semi-silent. The closest it can get is by loading the June 11th 1996's SW.GRP.
Weapons
Katana
The Katana looks the same as the one seen in the January 1995 prototype, but the background has been removed, giving it a much cleaner look. This Katana also has the blurred movement effect play when it is swung, like in the final game.
In-game it works like it does in the final game, but with a noticeable difference; as long as the fire key is held down, the player will keep swiping the Katana to the left or right. That mean that, in theory, the player can hold down the Katana and slice everything to pieces, like a demented windshield wiper. The final version adds some cooldown if you swing a few times to swing again at the same pace without hitting something. The Katakana does not get bloody when you hit some one with it.
Any enemy killed by this weapon will be gibbed, no matter what. The final game changes it up by having some get gibbed, some not get gibbed, while the Ninjas get a unique death animation for it. Every enemy you hit with it always gets stunned.
This katana appeared in several pre-release images.
| Prototype | Final |
|---|---|
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Shuriken
The Shurikenâs first person sprites are the same as they are in the January 1995 proto, but with a cleaned up background.
In-game, the Shuriken behaves very similar exactly like it does in the final game, even though the first person sprite indicates that the player only throw one shuriken at a time, not three, but it does throw three. The differences are that shurikens do not stick on walls (and thus, cannot be recovered) and the game only uses one round of ammo when firing the Shuriken, not three, like in the final game.
Enemy Ninjas killed by this weapon will fly back a bit when killed.
Of note is that this prototype introduces a new projectile sprite for the shuriken instead of reusing the 1994 one. There are also sprites for the finalâs shuriken, even though the first person sprite looks nothing like it.
| Prototype | Final |
|---|---|
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| Prototype | Final |
|---|---|
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| Prototype | Final |
|---|---|
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Uzi
Artwise, the Uzi is the same as it is in the February 1995 proto.
It does low damage, making it a fairly poor weapon compared to its final counterpart. The ability to dual wield them is already present, and deals way more damage making it more usable, even tho it uses a lot of rounds.
Enemy Ninjas killed by this weapon will fly back a bit when killed.
Crossbow
The crossbow has gained an all-new sprite that appears to be a full-sized crossbow instead of the pistol-sized one seen in the January 1995 prototype. It has two frames; an idle frame and a frame of the weapon being fired.
It shoots explosive tipped arrows. They have a weak homing capability that seem to take place only after a second or so after the arrow is shot. It explodes on impact, dealing massive damage. The gun has a very brief cooldown between shots in order to reload, which is indicated by the gun retreating past the bottom of the screen.
This weapon appeared in some pre-release images.
| Prototype | Pre-release screenshot |
|---|---|
 |
 |
Firing sprite.
Item graphic.
Fired arrow graphic.
Arm Blade
This prototype contains an arm-mounted blade that has electricity coming out of it. When equipped, the blade makes a neat little swosh effect as the player takes it out. Firing it will release a small chain of electric balls that will stun and damage an enemy. While stunned, the target will have little lightning bolts around him. If a target is killed by it, he will explode into blue-colored gibs.
The weapon itself does fairly low damage, as it requires two shots to defeat a basic ninja. However, it has a primitive homing ability and it can pierce through a victim to hit other enemies. It seems to be able to home in on three enemies before the projectile starts to bounce around and dissipates. The projectile will also curve like the Crossbow's arrows do.
The item sprite for this weapon can be found and shows the arm blade mounted on a decapitated arm, complete with a frame of the hand twitching. Nifty.
An earlier, incomplete version of this weapon can be found in this prototypeâs files as well.
Interestingly, old promo art for this game shows a guy wielding a weapon similar to the Arm Blade on his right arm with a beam coming out of it and electricity near the blades on the side. This is very similar to the Arm Blade itself, suggesting the promo art was made while the Arm Blade was still in the game.
| Prototype | Pre-release screenshot |
|---|---|
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| Prototype | Old boxart |
|---|---|
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Part of firing animation.
Item sprite.
Unfinished first person sprite.
Guardian Head
The Guardian Head is in this game, and itâs got three different first person sprites for some reason.
The first head, which is used in-game, is hand drawn and fairly detailed. It has two sprites; one idle and one of it being fired. The second one is similar, but has a closed mouth and smoother skin. The third one is also hand-drawn, but more cartoony, less detailed, and held at a different angle compared to the other heads. What the third head for isnât 100% verifiable, but if the September 1995 protoâs art files are used in the June 10th, 1996 prototype, the game will use the second Guardian head for the Guardian headâs third firing mode.
In-game, it has only one firing mode. When the fire key is held down, the head seems to create a constant stream of explosives where it's pointed at. While extremely powerful, the downside is that the head chews through ammo like crazy. The alternate firing modes do not appear to be in this prototype.
This weapon also has a hand-drawn item sprite that has glowing eyes. The final item sprite for the Guardian head is pre-rendered and does not have glowing eyes.
| Prototype | Final |
|---|---|
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| Prototype | Final |
|---|---|
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| Prototype | Pre-release screenshot |
|---|---|
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Used head.
Alternate head 1.
Alternate head 2.
Item sprite.
Ripper Heart
The Ripper Heart has been implemented and has similar frames that are the same as the finalâs, but with the old ninja arm and a slightly smaller heart. When used, the weapon will take some time to charge up, with a frame of what appears to be a red lightning bolt coming out of it being mirrored until the firing animation is complete. After the warm up, the heart will shoot red projectiles at every enemy in the player's field of view, the projectiles having weak homing capability. When it hits something, the target will begin to spew blood as it takes constant damage, most of them getting stunlocked in pain state. This will happen for a few seconds. Afterwards, the target will either explode into gibs, or survive, having taken heavy damage.
This functionality was completely removed in the final game in favor of having it spawn a Railgun-equipped clone of the player.
| Prototype | Final |
|---|---|
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| Prototype | Pre-release screenshot |
|---|---|
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Charging sprite that is removed in the final game.
Projectile sprite.
Enemies
Generally, enemies in this prototype are much more passive than they are in the final game. They spend most of their time attempting to pursue the player instead of actually attacking. This makes them much easier to deal with than their final counterparts.
Ninja
The Ninja has received a new design in this prototype. He has a vest on and his hood has a v shape on top of it. Some prop sprites found in both the prototype and the final game use a variant of this design.
The default Ninja type comes in two types; blue and red.
Like their final counterparts, these ninjas can climb up ladders, jump and swim. Which was present since February / January 1995.
Both Ninja types have a very low chance of committing suicide with his gun, though it seems to happen more often after the Ninja has taken damage. They will also lose their unique colors if they hop into the water, resetting to the default palette due to being under-water has a new palette for everything.
The players use the same entity as the ninjas, with unique palettes.
| Prototype | Final |
|---|---|
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| Prototype | Final prop sprite |
|---|---|
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| Prototype | Final prop sprite |
|---|---|
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| Prototype | Pre-release screenshot |
|---|---|
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Back.
Side view.
Blue Ninja
The Blue Ninja's behavior is very similar to the Ninjas seen in the February 1995 prototype. He will prefer to throw a shuriken at the player, but will occasionally shoot his Uzi SMG.
His behavior is similar to the final's Brown Ninja, but reversed: the Brown Ninja is much more likely to shoot his Uzi than toss a shuriken.
Red Ninja
The Red Ninja is very close to his final counterpart. However, he prefers to shoot a powerful Crossbow arrow (which seems to behave similar to a rocket) at the player and will toss three shurikens instead of shoot his Uzi as his less-used secondary attack, like the final one does.
Coolie
The Coolie has been given another new sprite. The colors are closer to the 1994 design than the January 1995 design, but has been redrawn from the ground up.
Unlike the final Coolie, this one cannot be gibbed to prevent a ghost from spawning. In addition, the odds of a Coolie Ghost spawning from a dead Coolie is always 100%. Coolies will also charge straight away at the player at a consistent speed instead of occasionally speeding up and will not make any noises.
This design appeared in several pre-release images.
| Prototype | Final |
|---|---|
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| Prototype | Final prop sprite |
|---|---|
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Coolie Ghost
This prototype introduces the Coolie Ghost. This version of the Coolie Ghost is hand-drawn, looks to be made out of flesh instead of being a mix of flesh and bone, and wields a stick he beats a target with when the target is in melee range.
The animation used for a Coolie Ghost coming out of a dead Coolie is more detailed and longer than the final animation.
The Coolie Ghost is generally much easier to fight in this prototype. He lacks the ability to fade out to avoid damage entirely, swerve around if he is targeted, only shoots one projectile at a time, and is much slower than his final counterpart. Furthermore, the red star projectiles that they shoot do no damage.
This design appeared in several pre-release images.
| Prototype | Final |
|---|---|
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| Prototype | Final |
|---|---|
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| Prototype | Pre-release screenshot |
|---|---|
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Side view.
Baby Ripper
This enemy looks the same as he did in previous prototypes in September. As of October, his sprite sheet is the same as the next prototypes / final version.
The Baby Ripper is much more cautious than in the final game. He prefers to jump and stay on walls than attack the player. Their avoidant nature tends to get them killed by other enemies' attacks or traps instead of actually keeping them safe from the player.
A Baby Ripper will occasionally stop moving a single frame of him holding out one of his claws. This animation is very similar to the âholding beating heartâ animation the Baby Ripper will play after killing the player in the final game, but this one lacks the heart.
When a Baby Ripper is killed, he will use a single frame of what appears to be his jump animation from the rear instead of his proper death sprite.
Orange Baby Ripper
The Orange Baby Ripper appears in this prototype as well. He always appears with packs of Baby Rippers.
He behaves the same as his gray counterpart, for the most part, but is more willing to attack if the player is near him. He will occasionally enter an area too small for him and glitch and become stuck in one location because he has far less room to jump around.
The Orange Baby Ripper shares the same death sprite bug the Baby Ripper has.
Guardian
The Guardian looks the same as he does in the January and February 1995 prototypes in September 1995. By October 1995, his graphics were changed to use the final Guardian model, though it is not the case in the Steam release, as his sprites are all incorrectly loaded by using the September 1995 sheet.
His behavior is very close to his final counterpart,. When he sees the player, he will get on one hand, take a second, then shoot a pair of three and fast-traveling fireballs at the player. If the player gets next to him, he might swipe the player with his axe, which has a little blood effect come from the player, but even at point-blank range, he tends to prefer shooting his fireballs.
He will never drop his head when gibbed.
Skeleton Priest
A green creature in a karate GI with a headband, called the âSkeleton Priestâ after his similarity to an enemy that was mentioned in pre-release material but did not appear in the final game, appears in this prototype.
This enemy has an arm blade that looks extremely similar to the arm blade weapon found in this prototype. His primary attack is to shoot an electric ball at the player. If the player is in melee range, he will swipe the player with his blade.
He will occasionally teleport away. He'll reappear soon afterwards in a nearby area. What triggers his teleport is unknown.
When a Skeleton Priest is gibbed, his gibs will be green instead of the usual red.
| Prototype | Pre-release screenshot |
|---|---|
|
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Side view.
Back view.
Part of teleporting animation.
Bee
The Bee enemy is in this prototype, but is much, much slower than he is in the final game. In addition, he will simply go straight towards the player instead of buzzing around in an attempt to throw off the player's aim. He is also much larger than in the final game, making it easier to hit him.
Accursed Head
The Accursed Head makes its first appearance in this prototype. They act like mines, waiting for the player to get close before popping out of the ground and exploding, while in the final game they pounce toward the player as well.
Serpent God
The Serpent God is much more fleshed out in this prototype than he was in the previous ones. He now has his final sprite, but it's lighter than the one in the final game.
His behavior is exactly the same as the behavior the final one has.
| Prototype | Final |
|---|---|
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Dragon
This prototype contains art for a large dragon enemy that was removed from the final game. Based on its art, this enemy was meant to be a boss.
He is a large, armless dragon that has his sprite cut off seemingly at the middle of his body. He has a full set of rotations for idling and what appears to be an attack animation of him stretched out while opening his mouth. What his attack was supposed to be was unknown.
This boss contains art of him reeling back and one of his head exploding. The first one is likely to be a pain animation, while the second one fits perfectly as a death animation.
A pre-release image contains two of these bosses in a lava pit.
| Prototype | Pre-release screenshot |
|---|---|
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Side view.
Lava Boss
This prototype contains a single sprite for a removed boss called the Lava Boss. This same sprite appears in later prototypes and as an easter egg for a movie poster in the final game.
This enemy is partially functioning as of October 1995, which makes it easy to identify his projectile sprites in this prototype.
Projectile fired by the lava boss.
Items
Red Syringe
The red syringe is self-explanatory. It restores 10 health when picked up.
Red Potion
The red potion is a red potion bottle with green stuff coming out of it. It restores 25 health.
Blue Vial
The blue vial is a vial containing a blue liquid in it. It restores 50 mana points when picked up.
Blue Potion
The blue potion is a large potion-sized bottle containing a blue liquid. The shape is similar to the red potion. It restores 100 mana when picked up.
White Potion
The white potion is similar to the blue potion, but has a white sparkling substance in it. When picked up, it will bring the user's health to 200, regardless of his current HP.
Fire Potion
The fire potion is an orange liquid with a fire in it that is contained inside a potion bottle. It acts like the red spark bottle and the yellow potion does, but it has no effect on the player. It lasts around 30 seconds.
Yellow Potion
The yellow potion is another powerup in the vein of the red spark bottle. It is a yellow potion bottle, similar to the white potion, but with a yellow substance shooting out of it.
This powerup doesn't seem to do anything when picked up. It lasts around 30 seconds. Like the red spark bottle, a graphic of it will appear on the upper left-hand corner while it is active. It will begin to flash when it is low.
Hawk
The Hawk lets the player float for 30 seconds. It behaves more like Rise of the Triad's flying power up than Duke Nukem's jetpack. Oddly, a flying ability very similar to Duke's jetpack is already usable when hitting the F key.
Red Spark Potion
The red spark bottle is a bottle containing a red substance with a spark in it. When picked up, it will make the user invincible for about 30 seconds. The red spark bottle's graphic will appear on the upper left-hand corner to show that it is active. When it's about to run out, the graphic will begin to blink.
Blue Bottle
The blue bottle is similar to the spark bottle in the previous prototypes, but cannot be picked up.
Shuriken
This prototype marks the first appearance of a shuriken item that can be picked up. A single shuriken gives 5 rounds for the Shuriken weapon when picked up.
Crossbow Arrow
The single crossbow features a completely different design, having explosive tip, and is facing upwards instead of downwards in this proto. When picked up, it will give 5 arrows.
| September 1995 prototype | January 1995 prototype |
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Crossbow Arrow Bundle
The crossbow arrow bundle ammo pickup has also been updated to use the new arrow design. When the players grabs one, it will reward him with 10 arrows.
| September 1995 prototype | January 1995 prototype |
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Uzi Magazine
The Uzi magazine sprite has been updated to use a mini version of the Uzi magazine seen in the Uziâs reload animation instead of using a hand-drawn sprite. The sprite is much more detailed and shinier than the one used before.
It gives 50 rounds when picked up.
| Prototype | Final |
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Explosives Box
The explosives box from previous prototypes can be found in some levels. However, it cannot be picked up.
Key
The key has been redesigned in this prototype. The color door the key opens only appears on the keyâs back. The rest of it is silver.
The key colors in this prototype are still the same as the keycard colors seen in the final game.
Levels
The prototype contains six levels to play, along with a âbonusâ level.
Most of the levels appeared in pre-release images, which will be pointed out below. Many levels were made after September and are included in the 1996 prototypes, though they will not be listed in order. The game already is capable of loading Episode 1, Episode 2, Episode 3 levels, All episodes have 8 levels.
The "V7_" in the names of these levels are from the Steam release, September 1995 levels used v5 for levels, as of October, they use v7, hence the altered name. The Steam release also includes the original v5 levels for September, which are titled without "V7_"
TITLE.MAP
TITLE.MAP from the previous prototypes is still in the game, but busted. When the player spawns in, he can move around and shoot. There is no way to escape the level. In the January and February 1995 prototypes, the camera's location was fixed and using any key would send the player to the next level.
Presumably, in September 1995, this was still being used as the title screen, but we can not say for sure as it is not playable.
Spawn.
All of TITLE.MAP.
E1L1 / $PALACE1
E1L1 starts off with the player on a ledge with a pool of water behind the player. Getting off the ledge will lead you to a large double door. Past it is a large room with several enemies, a hidden door that reveals more enemies when a nearby spell scroll is picked up, a side room that leads to a teleporter containing a power-up, and two doors; a smaller one containing a key, and a very large one that leads to another area.
The next area is a large room with a rotating walkway in the center of it. Underneath the center of the walkway are some spikes in case the player gets too close. The rotating walkway can be used to reach a goodie and enemy-filled room and a secret area on the right side of the room. For the secret area, the player must jump on the ledge found on the right side of the screen while the rotating platform is near it, then climb up and walk through the wall once the top of the ledge has been reached. There is also an optional room that can be accessed from the floor underneath the platform. It ends at a dead end past a room filled with traps, but the automaps indicates that the end might be able to be opened..
The intended goal is to ignore the platform entirely, take a left as soon as the player enters the room, go up a slope, and find a door that is unlocked with the key found in the small room. Opening it will lead to a room with a rotating cylinder that has several dead civilians hanging above it, some Baby Rippers, and the exit switch.
This map appeared in some pre-release images.
Spawn.
Secret area entrance.
Secret area.
E1L2 / $OUTPOST
E1L2 takes place around a courtyard. The player will start at the bottom of a small slope and quickly reach a room with a statue in the center of it, along with some bad guys. The first goal in this level is to reach the room with blue key indicators around it. There are three ways around it; the short way, the long way, and the courtyard way.
The short way has the player take a left at the statue. The blue key indicator door will quickly be found.
The long way has the player taking a right at the statue. This will lead the player into a room with a blade-covered pillar that goes forward and backwards along a preset route. Enemies will eagerly walk into its path and get smashed to bits. This room also has a side path that leads to a small sewer that ends in a way back to the main path and a small room with a mirror for some reason. Past the pillar room is an outdoors area with a flying blade trap that seemingly flies wherever it wants, some bad guys, and a huge double door. Past it is an entrance to a tight hallway that ends with the blue key indicator room. There are two areas above the entrance as well.
The courtyard way has the player go north past the statue in the first room. The player ends up in a courtyard that connects all of the areas. Jump down a balcony, then cut through some bad guys. Past it is the flying blade room mentioned earlier, and from there the player can enter the blue key indicator room.
The blue key indicator room has several paths and a seemingly-useless switch. One path leads to an Uzi, while the other leads to a yellow key that's on the areas above the entrance to the tight path.
After getting the yellow key, the level can be exited. Go back to the flying blade trap room and open the double doors. The player will enter a red-bricked room with enemies, some side paths that lead to goodies, and a non-functional switch. At the end of the room is a door you can use to enter a large, water-filled area that has a bridge in the center of it. The sides of the water-filled area have various goodies and lots of enemies. If the player falls down into the water, a ladder on the left side can be used to get back up. On the other side of the bridge is a door that's activated with the Yellow Key. Opening it will reveal the exit switch, along with Baby Rippers.
One of the most interesting parts of this map is that several parts of it appear in the Monastery level found in the final game. The rolling blade room is very, very similar to the starting room in Monastery (complete with the sewer side path), the statue room the player starts out in is the hub area that leads to the exit area in Monastery, and the final room is the final room in Monastery, but lacking the secret area.
| E1L2 | Monastery |
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| E1L2 | Monastery |
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| E1L2 | Monastery |
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| E1L2 | Monastery |
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Spawn.
E1L3 / $SHRINE
Like E1L2, this map has both a direct and a scenic route. The player will start the map facing a pool of water with some Baby Rippers in it while in the center of a trangle-shaped decoration.
For the direct route, simply go through the water in front of where the player starts. The player will end up in a courtyard filled with lots of enemies and a structure in the center of it. Opening the door in the structure will reveal a powerup and some Baby Rippers. On the other side of the courtyard is a hole in the wall that is used to reach the next part of the level.
The scenic route has you take a little detour. At the start, go right and the player will enter a somewhat dark hallway filled with enemies and items. At its corner is what appears to be a sacrifice room with a Coolie dangling above a fire pit, with another one in a cage. There is a switch in front of the pit, but it cannot be activated. Follow the path and the player will end up in a small water pit with two Ninjas. To the left of it is the courtyard found in the direct route. Everything is the same after that.
The area past the courtyard is a large room with water in the center of the room and a structure in the center of the water. On the left is a door that needs a blue key, while the back of the room has a door that requires a yellow key. Pillars in the center of the room will shoot fireballs. Diving underneath the water in this room will reveal two things, the blue key and a passage to a secret area. The secret area contains a Crossbow and ends in the water pit the scenic route ends in. This route can also be accessed from the water pit.
Anyway, go back to the water room and enter the blue key door. The player will find it's filled with the flying blade traps seen in E1L2, Baby Rippers, and Coolies. Unfortunately, the enemies in this room have no sense of self-preservation and will likely be killed by the traps before the door is even opened. It's likely the player will only run into the Coolie Ghosts spawned by the dead Coolies once entering this room. Behind a gong in the center of the room is the yellow key.
Opening the yellow key door reveals a room with the exit switch, a lot of health pickups, and a Baby Ripper.
Spawn.
E1L4 / $PALACE2
E1L4 starts outside with the player facing a large door with some items scattered here and there. Opening the door will reveal an elaborate hallway with some enemies. Past it is a square-shaped room with two levels. The upper level has a door that cannot be opened, a blue key door, a cubby hole that reveals a blue key when a switch in it is pressed, and some windows where bad guys can be seen roaming around. The lower level features a structure similar to the one in the center of the water in E1L3, along with some bad guys and items to pick up, including a spell scroll. Slopes connect the two levels.
Unfortunately, the blue key door is bugged and cannot be opened, even with the blue key. The only way to advance is to use the F key to hover above a window and go through some hallways until reaching a large red room.
The second half of the map is centered around a red brick-textured room with a slightly raised portion containing a spell scroll in the center of it. The area is filled with enemies, making navigation difficult until they're all killed. This area serves as a hub that links the rest of the level together. It contains a yellow key door on the left and a red key door in the back. There are several entrances to rooms that could be seen in the square area. One of them has a pillar that will go down when in the room, revealing some mana potions and a switch. The switch will open a nearby door, which contains...nothing!
To continue, the player will have to take a right in the red room and keep going until he falls into a swampy area. A little bit into the swampy area is a shrine-like area filled with Rippers of all shapes and sizes, along with some Bees. On the right side of the shrine is a room that contains the red key. The back of the shrine area, containing a Buddha statue, appears to have a spell scroll embedded in the floor that can be seen for some reason.
Past the shrine area is a walkway embedded on the wall that leads up, along with a non-functional boat and an illuminated statue. At the top of the walkway is a red key door that can be opened and a small cave that leads back into the red brick room, but must be crouched through in order to go through it.
The area past the red key is filled with bad guys and has the electric blade weapon in it. There is also a room with red lighting that can be seen when entering this room. To access it, there is a pathway that also has the red lighting in the electric blade room. The red lighting room has the yellow key and some enemies.
There is a door in this room that is supposed to be opened with the red key and lead back to the red brick room, but it, like the blue key door earlier, is broken. The only way to get back without using the fly cheat is to crawl through the cave near the initial entrance to the red key room.
Once back at the red brick room, the yellow key door found earlier can finally be unlocked. It reveals a room with two blade-covered cylinders, some items, Ninja enemies, and the exit switch in the back. Like in E1L3, the Ninja enemies will be killed long before reaching the room because they'll run into the traps early on and get killed.
Spawn.
E1L5 / $WATER1
E1L5 starts in a dark and swampy area. The initial area contains a pool of water in the back with a small waterfall feeding it, a cave on the left that contains a Crossbow, and a cave on the right that leads to a door that advances the level. The area is filled with Coolie Ghosts and the bouncing skull mines occasionally found in the final game.
Diving in the water area will reveal some goodies and a secret path. A little bit into the secret path, one will see an electric bolt-shaped outline in the water. Diving up will have the player in a hidden and small swamp-like area with a walkway leading to a yellow potion. Most importantly, it features the first appearance of the scrapped Skeleton Priest enemies in the prototype! Heading back into the water will reveal a shortcut that leads to a part of the level that will be visited later.
Heading back to the main swamp area and taking the right cave entrance will lead to a small area with some Baby Rippers and a door. Past the door is a large, water-filled area with a shrine in the center of it, a double door that does not open on the left, a cave entrance on the opposite side, and another cave entrance on the right. The water can be dived underneath, revealing walkways connecting the unopenable door and the cave the player came from. This, along with some other signs later in the map, suggests it's designed to be a flooded shrine area.
Both caves will lead to a large indoors area, but the right cave leads to a larger cave that has some waterfalls, a switch, and some Coolie Ghosts.
The large indoor area appears to be a regular area that has been designed to look flooded. The upper parts of the room has a part of dry land containing some Ninjas and a Guardian's Head. Grabbing the Head will reveal a room with red lighting that has a Guardian and a red bottle in it. The room also has two hidden rooms; one is opened with the switch in the cave area, revealing a Guardian and a Ripper's Heart. The other will be opened after going through a vital path. Diving underwater will reveal a floating blade trap, a door that leads to the Skeleton Priest path mentioned earlier, and a yellow key door.
In one of the paths leading to the large flooded room, there are two waterfall-like side rooms. Both of them will teleport the player to a large room containing the yellow key, a lot of Baby Rippers, and an Orange Ripper, but how close the player will be to the keys and Ripper party depends on the teleport selected. One teleport leads right into the key and Ripper room, while the other leads to a small room nearby that requires the player go through a waterfall before entering the Adventures of a Key and Rippers. The yellow key is on a raised platform. The intention is to activate a nearby button to lower the platform and grab the key, but the key can be easily accessed by jumping. After grabbing the key, the way to escape is through the waterfall and up a ladder that will teleport the player into a secret room that leads to the large flooded room.
Past the yellow key room is a dark but medium-sized room containing Ninjas, a mirror, flying blade traps, and the exit switch.
Spawn.
E1L6 / $COMBAT1
E1L8 is centered around a circular room the player spawns in. The center of the room has a Guardian's Head, along with some enemies and pickups. The player can clear out the area to make things easier, but it is not necessary.
There is a path directly behind where the player spawns. This leads to a hallway containing a floor moving in a wave pattern with blades on the roof, with some gruesome details on the blades, like an impaled Coolie. The intention seems to be that the blades would harm the player when the floor is at its peak, but this does not happen. Past the wavey floor room is a small room filled with enemies that has a floor that's constantly going up and down, but is not synchronized with the wavey floor room's floor. The player can reach an ammo cache containing a set of Crossbow arrows and Shurikens when the floor is at its peak. There is a pathway leading from the moving floor area to a hallway filled with Ninjas that leads to a ledge overlooking the circular room. The ledge has some Ninjas and an Uzi on it.
Getting back to the circular room and going where the player spawned, there are several doors that lead to various areas. Going counter-clockwise will lead to the first door.
Past the first door is a small room with logs the player can hop over and Baby Rippers hopping around. Underneath the logs is water the player can safely land in. At the other side of the room after hopping across the logs is an area inside a large tree containing various goodies and a teleporter, which leads to the next area that will be visited.
The next room visited is to the left of the log room. Past a door is a medium-sized room containing a birdge over water, ledges on the edges of the walls the player can walk on, and a lot of enemies. The player has to carve through the baddies in the area and walk along the ledges. At a ledge near the entrance to the room, the player will have to jump over to continue. After hopping over, the player will end up in a small room with some goodies and a teleport. The teleport in the log room leads to this area. However, the player cannot use the teleporter in the water room to head to the log room. The water can be dived in and will lead to the water in the log room. However, it's impossible to reach the actual logs this way. To escape the water in the water room, there is a ledge near the main entrance that can be jumped onto to get back onto dry land.
The last room is located to the left of the water room's entrance. After going through the door, the player will enter a hallway with an electric-shaped symbol made out of a special brush from the room above, a tree on the left side, and Skeleton Priests! Past the hallway is a larger room containing a gaggle of Skeleton Priests, an electric blade weapon in the center, and a door in the back. The back door leads to a small room with a little bit more Skeleton Priests, some health pickups, and the exit switch.
Spawn.
E1L7 / #SHADOW
The map is not present, though the October 1995 prototype tries to load for E1L7 a map called "#SHADOW", which does not follow the pattern of other levels in how they are nammed. Oddly enough, the June 1996 prototypes include a map called $SHADOW for E1L1 (and older versions in the folder), but it is most likely not the same map that was being used at this time.
E1L8
In theory, the previous version's E1L9 level was used as E1L8 here, in the June 11th Prototype it is called $COMBAT3, it is a more complete version of the same level, and is seen in pre-release screenshots of this era. Though it is not present.
