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The February 18th, 2000 prototype of Spider-Man was released by Hidden Palace on April 17th, 2021 as part of Project Deluge. This build was intended to be used by the press for
publications about the game. Being compiled nearly 6 months before the game's release, this build contains numerous differences when compared to the final build.
The title screen is completely different at this point, featuring an earlier version of the game's logo and a background similar to the one that would be used for the final game's
main menu. Comparing the background to the final game's main menu, the spider in the center is less stylized and features a lighter shade of red in the center rather than blue.
The rest of the screen has most of the game's main characters superimposed.
Proto
Final
Main menu
The main menu is very rudimentary at this point, featuring an earlier version of the game's logo, and having only New Game and two level select options, Select Level 0 and Select Level 1. The logo has a red to yellow gradient as opposed to the final game's blue one.
Proto
Final
Pause Menu
The pause menu, like the main menu, is also very early. The screen behind the menu does not get dimmed, and most of the graphical elements seen in the final game are missing. In addition, the "Select" text is the same shade of red as "Paused" rather than blue.
Proto
Final
Cheats
As the main menu is very rudimentary at this point, cheats are entered on the pause menu by holding down L1. In the final game, there is a cheat code menu which allows passwords to
be input. Most of these codes are also present in Neversoft's earlier game, Apocalypse.
Cheat
Effect
Equivalent in Final
Square, Circle, Up, Down, X, Square
Displays an FPS counter in later prototypes, however does not seem to be functional here.
Down, Up, Left, Left, Triangle, Up, Right, Down
Invulnerable
RUSTCRST
Triangle, Circle, X, Square
Unknown
Square, Up, X
Toggles the HUD
Square, Left, Up, Triangle
Unknown
X, X, X, X, X
Enables flight. While holding L1 + R1, use the D-Pad to move, Triangle to go up, X to go down
Triangle, Up, X, Down
Possibly a toggle for debug mode. Entering this code once removes the Select Level options from the main menu. Entering the code again replaces the logo on the main menu with the build date `Feb 18 2000`, adds back the Select Level options, and adds Autotest below New Game.
Possibly XCLSIOR, as this enables level select in the final
Square, Circle, X
Enables Skip to Restart on the pause menu
Down, Down, Triangle
Displays debug information
LLADNEK
Square, Triangle, Right, Up, Down, Left
Infinite Web
STRUDL
Left, Up, X, Triangle, Square, Triangle
Unknown
Triangle, Up, Triangle, Triangle, Up, Triangle
Unknown
Circle, Up, Left, Triangle
Big head
DULUX
X, Triangle, Circle
Restore health
DCSTUR
Free Camera
With a second controller plugged in, a free camera can be accessed. To do so, press R1 + R2 on the second controller. The game will pause when this is done. To control the free cam, use the following controls on the second controller:
Button
Effect
Up
Moves the camera forwards
Down
Moves the camera backwards
Left
Pans the camera left
Right
Pans the camera right
Square
Rotates the camera left
Circle
Rotates the camera right
X
Zooms the camera out
Triangle
Zooms the camera in
L1
Raises the camera
L2
Lowers the camera
R1
Tilts the camera down
R2
Tilts the camera up
Start
Resets camera to previous values
To turn off free camera, press R1 + R2 on the second controller again. Note that any changes made will remain while playing the game, however crawling on a wall will reset the
camera back to normal.
Skip to Restart
Each level has more than one restart that can be selected from the skip to restart menu once enabled. While some of these restarts are used for checkpoints, many are not used
within the prototype. Some restarts also load in alternate object placements that may require the level to be reloaded (ex. by dying) to be seen.
Get to the Bank!
Name
Description
Restart Death
Normal start point in story mode.
Re Restart01
Spawns Spider-Man next to one of the boxes on the far-right side of the roof at the beginning. Upon reloading the level with this restart selected, the Neversoft sign from the final game's time challenge version of this level appears on the New York building. It was moved to a different building in the final.
Proto
Final
Bank Approach
Name
Description
Restart Death
Normal start point in story mode.
Re Restart01
Spawns Spider-Man on the roof of the bank. Triggers a cutscene immediately while the enemies stay active. Without invincibility enabled, Spider-Man will be killed near instantly.
Re Restart01
Hostage Situation
Name
Description
Restart Death
Normal start point in story mode. Doesn't work correctly after level has already loaded.
Re Restart L1A3
Spawns Spider-Man inside the control room.
Re Restart L1A3 2
Spawns Spider-Man in the room he normally spawns in, with two hostages on either side of the doorway. Since hostages normally do not normally appear here in normal conditions, they will run back and forth in the hallway outside of the room rather than head to the elevator. Despite this, the level can still be completed normally. When opening the door to the second area, the two guards that normally run into the room do not appear.
Re Restart L1A3 3
Spawns Spider-Man in a cubicle in the second area. As there are enemies and hostages nearby, a hostage will be killed very soon after starting the level.
Re Restart L1A3 2
Stop the Bomb!
Name
Description
Restart Death
Normal start point in story mode.
Re Restart L1A41
Spawns Spider-Man in the room next to where the vault is, with the enemy normally there not present. Due to this, the cutscene where a thug runs out from the adjacent room instantly triggers. Likely used to quickly test the bomb event.
Race to the Bugle
Name
Description
Restart Death
Normal start point in story mode.
Re Restart Mid
Spawns Spider-Man near the top of the building where two thugs have a conversation. Appropriately located roughly halfway through the level.
Spidey Vs. Scorpion!
Name
Description
Restart Test
Spawns Spider-Man in the center of the first room. As this doesn't trigger the intro to the level normally, Scorpion and Jameson will remain static for the duration the normal dialogue.
Restart Death
Normal start point in story mode.
Police Chopper Chase
Name
Description
Restart Death
Normal start point in story mode.
Restart Death
Spawns Spider-Man on the final building before the end of the level.
Missile Attack
Name
Description
Restart Death
Normal start point in story mode.
Restart L3A2
Spawns Spider-Man at the level's checkpoint.
Building Top Chase
Name
Description
Restart Death
Normal start point in story mode.
Scale the Girders
Name
Description
Restart Death
Normal start point in story mode.
Spidey vs. Rhino!
Name
Description
Restart Death
Normal start point in story mode.
L4A1 Retest
Spawns Spider-Man in the level without Rhino present or the electricity connecting the generators.
Catch Venom
Name
Description
Restart Death
Normal start point in story mode. For some reason Spider-Man uses the line "leave him alone, chuckles!" from the intro to the Scorpion fight, and repeats it once. He uses this same line for all his dialogue throughout the level, however does not say it during the intro usually.
Re Restart01
Spawns Spider-Man on the rooftop of the "girder maze." Moving over to where Venom would be, the window to the office building breaks and you can swing in to begin the normal cutscene. Likely used for testing said cutscene.
Sewer Entrance
Name
Description
Restart Death
Normal start point in story mode.
Re Restart01
Spawns Spider-Man just before the tunnel leading out of the first large cavern.
Sewer Cavern
Name
Description
Restart Death
Normal start point in story mode.
Sewage Plant
Name
Description
Restart Death
Normal start point in story mode.
Re Restart01
Spawns Spider-Man near the first switch of the titular water puzzle.
Debug Text
Debug text appears on the screen during specific situations. When an enemy detects Spider-Man, a single exclamation point will appear above their head. While attacking, this will change to three exclamation points. When an enemy has detected Spider-Man and a nearby enemy has not, a question mark will appear above the nearby enemy. In the bank, when a thug detects a hostage, the text "FUCKFUCKDUFUCKFD" will appear for a few frames.
The exclamation marks. The thug in front is attacking Spider-Man, while the thug in back is alerted.
The question mark. The henchman on the left detects Spider-Man.
A thug notices a hostage escaping.
Gameplay Differences
Quitting returns to the title screen rather than the main menu.
In the level "Stop the Bomb!", the bomb acts the same as any other object Spider-Man can pick up. When thrown, it will rotate and stick to the spot it lands. In the final game, the bomb stays level at all times and slides along the ground for a bit after landing.
Rhino's sound effects for getting electrocuted are not played
Texture Differences
To do:
Many texture differences are present throughout the game. Might be best to cover them in two sections - by level and by object.
Level Differences
At this point in development, the game is incomplete with the final two levels (l8a5, l8a6) absent entirely. In addition, not all levels present in the game's files are accessible by normal means or even complete. That being said, when starting a new game, the game can be played up to the Venom Chase level. Venom disappears after the cutscene where Spider-Man chases him through a building, leaving meaning this level cannot be completed. Three of the sewer levels can be played as well via level select.
General differences
Most of the billboards present in the final game are missing at this point.
There are no comic books present at this point, and hidden areas designed to house them are absent
While the texture for the Spidey-Armor pickup is present in this build, the model for the suit itself is absent. As such, the pickup isn't present in any level.
Level Names
The prototype level-select screens list levels by their filename and use earlier, more generic names for them. While only 11 levels are selectable here, more are playable in the prototype.
Prototype
Final
L1A1 Bank Approach 1
Get to the Bank!
L1A2 Bank Approach 2
Bank Approach
L1A3 Bank Interior 1
Hostage Situation
L1A4 Bank Interior 2
Stop the Bomb!
L2A1 Daily Bugle Approach
Race to the Bugle
L2A2 Scorpion Fight
Spidey Vs. Scorpion!
L3A1 Building Top Chase 1
Police Chopper Chase
L3A2 Chase Climb 1
Missile Attack
L5A3 Sewer Entrance
Sewer Entrance
L5A5 Subway
Subway
L5A6 Water Puzzle
Sewage Plant
Get to the Bank!
The piping on one of the machines near the starting area extends down further in the prototype.
Proto
Final
Race to the Bugle
A timer is present in place of the meter with Scorpion and Jameson on it.
The lighting is darker, and the building in front of Spider-Man at the start of the level is missing its antennas.
Proto
Final
Police Chopper Chase
Green Goblin's Hideout is not yet present.
Building Top Chase
Hidden alcove that would be used for a comic book in the final is missing.
Spidey Vs. Rhino!
Barrels cannot be lifted
Group of barrels placed out of bounds
Sky texture is glitched
Catch Venom
No meter to indicate distance
Death barrier missing from bottom of level
Incomplete. Venom disappears after the cutscene chase through the office building.
A floating desk rotates in midair outside the office building where the chase cutscene occurs. A second one will be present after the cutscene is played.
Placeholder dialogue during the chase cutscene with Spider-Man only using the line "leave him alone, chuckles!" from the Scorpion fight multiple times.
Sewer Cavern
Missing cutscene where Venom opens door
Goes to Sewage Plant rather than Subway
L5A4
Not accessible by normal means
Unfinished copy of the second area of Sewer Cavern
Spider-Man spawns in the tunnel between the first and second cavern
The tunnel has no collision toward the part that's normally connected to the first cavern, so Spider-Man will fall through the floor
Unlike the actual Sewer Cavern, the end of this level leads to Subway.
Subway
Skipped over in normal gameplay of the prototype, but present in level select.
No meter to indicate distance
Moving backward from the beginning of the level using flight, an unused warp to L5A4 can be accessed.
Sewage Plant
End of normally accessible levels, end of level loops back to the start of this level.
Audio Differences
Dialogue Differences
While Spider-Man is already using most of his final voice clips, many of the other characters present in this build are using earlier recordings of their dialogue. While most of these recordings have the same script as in the final, there are some differences.
To do:
There are many dialogue differences. Upload the prototype and final files for comparison. Sort by character / enemy type.
FMV Differences
Only four of the FMVs from the final game are present in this build, though the only one that actually plays in-game is Choppers Down. All of these FMVs are early and have differences from the final game. Of note, the prototype's filename for "Choppers Down" is still L1M2 (Level 1, Movie 2) as it is in the final. This suggests that the introduction FMV was already created at this point, but purposely left out so as to not reveal plot details. Apart from Choppers Down, these FMVs are all using an earlier model of Spider-Man than the one seen in this demo. This model is used in the demo found on the disc "Euro Demo 62".
FMV
Proto
Final
Choppers Down
Scorpion's Here
Scorpion Attacks
Get Him Officers
Additionally, there is a test version of Choppers Down present named TEST01. Compared to the version used in the demo, the audio is much rougher, and the contrast is higher (coincidentally making it appear closer to the final version).
This prototype is documented on Hidden Palace.
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