[SamuraiJake]

I know I've mentioned this alot, and some people might not know. But I have a leaked version of the original Unreal. The reason why I bring this up is because I never really did give out a full evaluation post about what was in it, and what was removed or replaced. If anyone who's interested and has played Unreal I can post some pictures and a ass load of info regarding this long lost piece of history ( I know some people have requested info regarding it, but I've only skimmed the details here and there).

Also, I do have a leaked beta version of Unreal Tournament (Which I've shared to a select few members). I can give off info regarding that too if anyones interested. Both of which I will post on this thread (The info and pics, that is).

[REdWiNGz]

whats different about these versions?

[][c1][GAB]

I dont know about the first unreal beta , but there were some pics of the ut beta in another post.

Here: http://www.chaptorone.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=34

Looks like Jakes pics are gone, but mine are still there.

I think theres 2 maps from that beta on servers 1 and 2.

I think i have a d/l for the ut beta in c1 private forum.

Sorry Gimp NO Mac version.

[SamuraiJake]

The Unreal 1997 beta has alot of content that was cut during development. They include (But not limited to) maps, weapons, monsters, textures, music, and sounds. It's about 60% complete as far as maps are concerned (All except for about two are in, the rest are either unfinished or not linked properly). The weapons are almost finished minus a few which are broken or don't function at all. Gameplay mechanics are finished but needs serious tweaking, deathmatch and bots are in but also needs some work, and lastly, the netcode is shoddy and doesn't function correctly.

Now, the Unreal Tournament beta is a much more completed product. While not as much cut content (Most of the stuff is hidden in the editor), it still has a neat line-up of what was removed. I did spread the UT beta around to show it off so people can look at what the game was going to be (A expansion pack for Unreal). Though only a select few got to see it.

I wish I still had the UT beta pics up, but those pics were on my other PC, but GAB's shots show some of the stuff that was cut.

[][c1][GAB]

No Jake those pics were on sgl and sgl forums are down , thats why they dont show.

From one of them:

http://www.shootersgl.com/forum/files/shotbeta3.jpg

If sgl forums come backup they should show again.

[SamuraiJake]

Ahh I see, well I could take some new ones and post them on here. But that all depends if anyone wants the info and pics.

[SamuraiJake]

So is anyone interested?

[SamuraiJake]

*BUMP*

Come on guys, I'd really like to share this interesting stuff. It would be a shame if no one was at least interested...

[Maggot]

OK share......

[SamuraiJake]

Alrighty, here it goes...

Unreal 1997 Beta

-How it was leaked: Not much is known as to how it was leaked, but Epic blamed 3DFX at the time because they were supposedly the ones who had the build at E3 1997.

-Story: It was back in Nov. 1997, Epic Games was still working on the "Vaporware" game that was Unreal. The developers missed several release dates due to the grand scale of the game, it was so late, that it was nicked "Vaporware" by some game sites.

By the time E3 1997 rolled around, people had high of Unreal, hoping it was near completion. It was not, as it was still missing maps and some planned features. Eventually, the development team realized that the game was far too big. They had way too many maps and features planned for the game, so they decided to cut out almost a dozen maps, a few weapons, and about three creatures. It then turned into the game we know today.

Years have passed, soon people wondered if they could solve the mysteries as to what the original plan to the game was. Official info sites went down, Epic claimed to have lost the assets years ago, people worried that the content was lost forever...

It wasn't. It was July 30th 2005 that a forumer on UnrealSP.org claimed that he had possession of the long lost beta, and revealed screenshots to prove his claim. Fans rejoiced at this awesome discovery, and soon after the Unreal beta was played and studied carefully. I myself was lucky enough to get a copy of the beta before the forumer's FTP site ran out of bandwidth, and I'm here to share just what the whole fuss was about!

-Info: I soon realized that after I got a copy of the beta that I saw that the game's engine was certainly structured differently. You see, Unreal used to consist of Macros for engine commands instead of the C++ code that it mainly uses now. Of course Epic soon found out that it was a slow method for issuing engine commands, and soon switched to C++.

Another thing that deserves attention is that when one starts up the beta via the Unreal.exe, it doesn't have a main menu of any sorts. It doesn't even have a intro! Instead the player spawns in a test map of sorts that contains all the items, weapons, and other pickups. It even was used to test out volumetric fog and warpzones. The only way one can load up maps is by using the open map command or by opening maps through the .exe.

After loading up the first map Vortex2, one who has played Unreal can instantly see the difference in level design. The levels are a little more low poly then that of the final product, which is a obvious because at the time the engine probably didn't use MMX calculations, which speeds up the engine quite a bit. Also one can notice the texturing is a little different in some places.

Another interesting thing to note is that a lot of levels were changed during development, for instance the Chizra maps are now linked together instead of being two separate maps. This was done to help with the load times and calculations the PC has to do while playing the map.

And speaking of maps, Unreal had a hub system where the player can choose which levels to go to first and can go back to the previous level (Think Quake 2). An example is the second level, the player has to activate a series of switches to get a power generator started so he/she can access Dark Arena via a elevator. The player would have to go through Chizra and activate the water system first, and then through the Rrajigar Mines to activate the Pilot Light system in the generator to create the power to activate the lift. Which then the player would take the lift and proceed to the Dark Arena.

A bunch of maps were cut from the game during development, they include:

-Soledad: a Skaarj breeding temple, before the beta was discovered, it was speculated that the Skaarj were of a more primitive race that lived in temples. It was soon figured out that the Nali were of a more sinister race when the Skaarj first invaded Na Pali, and built those temples to dispose of Skaarj bodies and technology. The skaarj then came back and took the temples for themselves and used them for their own free will

-Cryox: a Mercenary base were the player would have to swim through pools of liquid nitrogen to navigate the map. The mercenaries played a much bigger role in the beta, various star ships can be found in the beta as well as Mercenaries.

-Aztec: A Nali temple deep in a jungle-like canyon. The level was later re-used in Return to Na Pali.

Various creatures, as well as creature skins, were cut from the game during development. The Krall had a more sinister and dark look the them (The skins are used in MH-Nexus). The Nali had a completely different model and skin in the beta, they had a more Indian style to them as well as a more frail look (Again, the skin is used in MH-Nexus). They also had a different voice, a more human-like Indian voice opposed to the jabber they speak in the final product.

Four creatures that were cut from the game are in the beta, two of them work completely fine. One works, but is a little awkward, and the last one doesn't work at all! The two that worked fine are the Fire slith and Nitrogen slith, and as their names suggest, they were varieties of the slith class that were able to withstand certain environments. The one that worked but acted oddly was the Chameleon, it was used in the only map (Aztec) and was able to climb on walls. The problem with it was that it acted like it was on speed! It ran all over the place and was able to run at top speeds underwater, but other than that it works. The last creature was the Halk, a pterodactyl-like creature that was supposed to fly around and attack the player. Unfortunately, it's model has no animations and no code to verify it's AI.

That's all for now, If anyone has any questions I'd be glad to answer them.

[SamuraiJake]

Continuing on with the articles...

Unreal Tournament Beta

-How it was leaked: Unknown, though I believe it was leaked by one of the game testers. Given the menu states the build as a private test build.

-Story: Months after the hit success of Unreal, Epic already had plans to make it even better. The main focus was to create an expansion pack that contains a majority of the cut content as well as having new stuff included. Epic gave the rights of the expansion pack development to Legend Entertainment. Epic, on the other hand, had a even grander idea of a expansion pack.

Unreal Tournament, originally a add-on pack that was to improve on-line gameplay as well as introduce new gameplay mechanics and levels, was turned into the behemoth we know today. Even in it's early development roots, it shows that Epic wanted to make the best online FPS created at the time. I have a beta version of the game we all play today, and I'm gonna share just exactly what was changed and what was removed.

-Info: Unreal Tournament, like Unreal, had a few things that were cut during development. Although one can only see a very small amount of stuff that was changed by playing the game, the real beef of the content is revealed in the Unreal Editor.

Unreal Tournament had one gametype that was cut during development, the gametype was called Command Control. In Command Control, two teams attempt to link up nodes with a orb that one player must carry from point to point in order to link up the points to the enemy's core. In other words, think of it as UT2004's Onslaught gametype except without vehicles and a orb that was needed to activate the points. However, this gametype is unfinished to the point that not a single line of code was even typed! The only thing that remains of the gametype is the actor that contains the rules of the gametype.

Various maps had received various layout remixes as well as whole maps being replaced by other, more different maps. An example of a map that was completely changed is DM-Liandri, the old version had players duking it out in a open mining station where players can access the basement as well as the outer area of the station. It was most likely cut due to it's layout not being up to snuff compared to the other maps in the game.

About two skins were cut from the game, they are called Retro and Purple Babe. Retro has a very old styled armor with a brownish tint to it, Purple Babe was...purple. Why they were cut is unknown, as they were both of a very high quality, although teamskins for them were not implemented.

Not much can be said about gameplay, it's virtually the same. Although I will say the air control is similar to Unreal's and that the view bob was also the same as Unreal's. Hinting even more of the expansion pack plan the game originally had.

That's all about the Unreal Tournament beta, not much as you can see. Feel free to comment.