K Project (REZ) [Dreamcast - Beta / Prototype / Unused]

K Project was a testbed for the game that would eventually become REZ. The developers United Game Artists came from the now defunct Team Andromeda, which produced the Panzer Dragoon games, and it was from this pedigree that K Project would draw its basic gameplay style of an on-rails shooter. Playing the game consists of guiding a cursor around the screen and locking on to enemies (up so several at once) by holding down a button and releasing it to deliver attacks. However whereas both the Panzer Dragoon series and K Project are both on-rails, K Project lacks certain abilities found in those games; namely being able to change your view at will and branching paths.

Heavily influenced by the works of surrealist painter Wassily Kadinsky, K Project’s unique visual style was an attempt by the developers to invoke synesthesia; or seeing sound. In order to achieve this the only soundtrack in the game consisted of a looping beat playing in the background, and the sounds made by the player as he shoots items and enemies. Nearly all of the music in each level is of the techno or trance variety. Indeed those two genres are so ingrained in the games design philosophy that the final title of the game was said to be inspired by an Underworld song of the same name.

Originally the team had concepts of the playable “character” being in a big chair with crazy woofer speakers and a much more hip hop soundtrack. Then REZ went through a very organic phase, undersea microscopic creatures and stuff, which kind of survived the transition into the current form (as in the final level).

The final version contains tracks that were not in the beta, all of them custom made for the game as opposed to original artist made tracks in the beta. Also visually the finished game has a greater emphasis on a wireframe aesthetic and several different avatars.

Thanks to Jake we found that there was a file in the beta, called 0GDTEX.PVR it had the K-Project CD cover design on it, it was purple and had some purple airplane thing with a human rider and said KPRJ, whereas the same file in the final was green and purple, had a butterfly on it and said Rez.

Also, Jake extracted every single texture from REZ and the beta, finding some more differences. It seems that at some point REZ was going to have a difficulty display on the area select menu. A list of the music artists that were originally meant to be used in the game was also found:

N—-World was Underworld, their music was implemented in the beta, but was never allowed into the final.

Richard.D.James (Aphex Twin)’s music could not be used, and was not implemented.

Ken Ishii’s music was not implemented yet.

The Chemical Brothers are the same as Aphex Twin.

Adam Freeland is the same in the final.

While there were some ideas to make the game a bit deeper, using 2 or 3 buttons, Mizuguchi insisted it stay very minimal so everyone could enjoy it. Thats also why they included the trance mode, where you basically cant die so even people who suck at games can enjoy the game.

From the REZ promo video it’s possible to notice various differences:

Beta target reticules. A square (seen in the work in progress video #3), and a circle.
Text is displayed at the bottom of the screen, and only for the Password protector and items.
Area2 uses the beta boss area.
Area4 doesn’t have the ‘dot’ texture implemented yet.
Beta area1 enemy.
Different coloured ‘fish’ enemies in the area3 boss.
The player seems to have different colours for different levels. I don’t ever remember a bright green version of the player in Area3, or a white one in Area4.

In the “test” files from the beta, Jake also found the original “bigger enemy” from stage 1, that it was later changed towards the end of the game because the art director decided he didnt like it, and made the final “bigger enemy” with the one big fin hanging down. The beta enemy had bright blue tentacles and waved all over the place. Some more old moldes from the early protos are hidden in the code too:  it took a while to nail down the aesthetic and how  to approach everything visually in REZ.  Those “squares enemies” all transformed into different shapes in time with the music, and the other two are prototypes of undersea microscopic life, that were almost decided on before the team found the tron-like aesthetic they ended up going with.

Thanks a lot to Jake for all the contributions!

Images:

Videos:

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1. Guitar Hero 3 [Beta]
2. Thunderforce VI [DC - Concept / Cancelled]
3. Armed (Aftermath) [PSX/Saturn - Cancelled]
4. Rock Band [X360/PS3 - Beta]
5. Dreadnought (HMS Carnage) [PC PSX Saturn - Cancelled]