Proto:Syndicate Wars (DOS, Windows)

This page details one or more prototype versions of Syndicate Wars (DOS, Windows).

This page is rather stubbly and could use some expansion. Are you a bad enough dude to rescue this article?

To do: Gain control over the demo. Any non-engine differences (art, music, sound, etc.)?

A pre-alpha self-running demo of Syndicate Wars (called Syndicate: The Corporate Wars) from late 1995 was widely released on magazine covermounts in early 1996. This version can be downloaded from the Syndicate Unofficial Site.

General Differences

• Only one map is present.
• A .bat file is included to run the demo. If one tries to run the program with just syn2 -p1, debug text is shown on the screen. The .bat file puts that text into a debug file.
• By default, the camera constantly rotates.
• The game uses packet01.gam to control the demo.
• Loading the executable without starting the demo will load a load map screen. However, the game also crashes here due to a missing file named textwalk.dat. If you try to import that file from the final game, it only displays a black screen.
• No HUD is present, possibly except for two purple bars.
• No sound effects or music play during the demo. However, both are present in the sound folder: SOUND.DAT contains a handful of sound effects to be played at 22050 Hz, while MUSIC.DAT has a short song.
• Shadow effects are present on the characters, but moving the camera around reveals that everyone is using the default player sprite as a placeholder for their shadows.
• Explosions are incomplete. The debris left behind is just a squashed model of the building destroyed. In the final game, there's more debris and fire left behind after explosions.
• Buildings don't become transparent when the player walks in front of them.
• Some of the giant displays are playing part of the intro movie to Magic Carpet 2.
• The demo creates a folder called bullfrog.cd in the C directory. This includes a debug file used to track any errors and the demo control files.
• frames.h is present in the DATA folder, containing a list of the game's animations.

Commands

• -p1 - Start the game using packet01.gam.
• /map - In theory, this should be able to access a map. However, it defaults to map 0.
• /q - Unknown.
• /r - Unknown.
• /s - Session Name.
• /u - User Name.

Controls

• Arrow Keys - Control camera.
• I - Zoom in.
• O - Zoom out.
• G - Stop demo.

Unused Text

As the game is very incomplete and quite locked down, a lot of the options are not available normally.

Starting at D5BEC is what appears to be map editor stuff:

DELETE PEOPLE
RESET ROAD LIGHTS
LOAD MAP
SAVE MAP
COMPRESS MAP
AMBIENT LIGHT
LOADSA TEXTURE
SETBACK LIGHT
RECALC LIGHTS
SYNC TEXTURES
COMPRESS TEXTURES
SHOW MEMORY
CANCEL
SET GROUP NORMAL
SET BULB DEATH
GROUP TO FLICKER
GROUP TO PULSE
GROUP TO FLASH
TEXTURE FLASH SYNC
LIGHTS TO SPRITES
DELETE LIGHTS
EXIT
SET LIGHT NORMAL
SINGLE TO FLICKER
SINGLE TO PULSE
SINGLE TO FLASH
TEXTURE FLASH SYNC
LIGHTS TO TEXTURES
CHANGE LIGHTS COLOUR
DELETE LIGHT
SET AUTO LIGHT
EXIT

Also at D7466:

SELECT FACES
MODE
EDIT
QUADEDIT
TEXTURE
SET  GROUP

PAINT
COLOUR
OPAQUE
SEMI TRANS
DOUB SIDED
FUNNY MIRR
COL CYCLING
WALKABLE
SELF ILLUMI
DOOR
ANIM TMAP
CHOOSE
COLOUR
ALL
DONE
OP
ST
DS
FM
CC
WA
SI
DR
AT

Finally, some menus for the map editor at DF130:

 NEW MAP
 LOAD MAP
 SAVE MAP
 LOAD LEVEL
 SAVE LEVEL
 SWITCH MAP
 COMPRESS MAP
 ------------
 QUIT

 SINGLE TO FLICKER
 SINGLE TO PULSE
 CHANGE LIGHT COLOUR
 DELETE LIGHT
 SET AUTO LIGHT
 -------------------
 SET BULB DEATH
 GROUP TO FLICKER
 GROUP TO PULSE
 DELETE PEOPLE
 LOADSA TEXTURE
 SHOW MEMORY
 COMPRESS TEXTURES
 SYNC TEXTURES
 -------------------
 RESET ROAD LIGHTS
 PLACE AMBIENT LIGHT
 DEL AMBIENT LIGHT
 RECALC LIGHTS NS
 RECALC LIGHTS WS
 DELETE ALL LIGHTS
 
 FILE
 SPECIAL
 LIGHTS