Beta + Cancelled Leaked Video Games - Page 14 of 26

Sonic the Hedgehog CD, or simply Sonic CD, is a platform game in the Sonic the Hedgehog series, released for the Sega Mega-CD in Japan on September 23, 1993, in Europe in October 1993, and finally for the Sega CD in North America on November 19, 1993. After the release of Sonic the Hedgehog, Lead Programmer Yuji Naka had grown dissatisfied with the rigid corporate policies at Sega, so he moved to the United States to work with the Sega Technical Institute. Incidentally, a large number of the original design team of Sonic also left for the U.S., to help instruct the American developers. With half of Sonic Team and two of its most important creators present, the Sega Technical Institute eventually got the job to develop Sonic the Hedgehog 2.

Meanwhile in Japan, Sonic CD (or at this point, “CD Sonic” as it was first known) was handled by a separate development team, headed by Sonic creator Naoto Ohshima. Initially, as revealed in interviews and magazine clippings, Sonic CD, and Sonic the Hedgehog 2 for the Mega Drive/Genesis, Master System and Game Gear were supposed to be the same game. However, during development, Sonic CD evolved into a vastly different type of game. [Info from Wikipedia]

An early version of one of the bosses in the game had pinchers instead of bumpers on its hands. In the beta version of the Special Stages, the background had a large mountainside and planet instead of the usual dark space. The UFO was originally a baloon which Sonic would have to pop.Various unused sprites can also be found in the game’s code. Rumors also had it that Tails was going to be in the game but it was later removed. A couple of removed Levels were know as R2 and Final Fever.

It seems that various Sonic CD Betas were leaked online, as the ones labeled 510, 712 and 920. The Sonic CD 510 Beta has many differences that were seen in early screens, with changes in the graphic details, removed level sections and unused monitors (S and Gem monitors that transform Sonic into Super Sonic and a Timer monitor that would have stopped or slow down the time). As we can read at Sonic Retro:

Sonic the Hedgehog CD prototype 510, referred to as CD Sonic the Hedgehog on the title screen, is among the first prototypes of the game Sonic the Hedgehog CD for Sega CD. This prototype was discovered by a group of fans called Sega Extreme in the summer of 2000. The game contains all the stages of the final game, but at first sight the player can only highlight the first three: Palmtree Panic, Collision Chaos and Tidal Tempest. The rest can be viewed through the Level Select. Secrets also are in the game. Using the Sound Test menu and entering a Specific Code for each one will reveal some secret artwork. One is a cute Sonic with Japanese text that reads “You are cool”. Another one is a Scene where Sonic and Metal Sonic rap and Robotnik as the DJ. Another one is a epic tribute to badman. The last one is so creepy im not even posting. It appears both by using the sound test AND running a pirated version of Sonic CD. Its Sonic with a scary face with no pupils and looking mad with Japanese text that reads something like “Fun is never ending with Sega – Manjan (which can be translated to Devil or Demon” So you probably know why now.

For more info you can check the SoST archive and X-Cult!

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Leaked, Playstation 2 (PS2), Sony

Wingz [PS2 – Cancelled]

monokoma

08-06-2009

2 Comments

In April 2009, Dr.daichi and Unclejun from the Assemblergames Forum have shared a lot of screenshots from an unreleased Playstation 2 shoot em up, that was in development in 2002 at Joycast / Hanbitsoft, two korean companies. Wingz was going to be an on-rail shooter, similar to Panzer Dragoon or StarFox, but it seems that it was later cancelled for some reasons. You can find more infos and a playable version of the game to download in the original topic, props to Dr.daichi for sharing the game and to Unclejun for the screenshots!

Thanks to X-Cult for the videos!

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Videos:

Leaked, Others, PC / MAC

Duke Nukem (Lame Duke) [PC – Beta]

U64 Staff & Contributors

07-06-2009

4 Comments

Duke Nukem 3D is a FPS developed by 3D Realms and published by Apogee Software. It was released on January 29, 1996. LameDuke is an early beta version of Duke Nukem 3D, which was released by 3D Realms as a “bonus” one year after the release of the official version. It has been released as is, with no support, and is currently available to download from Fileplanet. LameDuke features four episodes: Mrr Caliber, Mission Cockroach, Suck Hole and Hard Landing. Some weapons and levels were removed and/or altered in the final game. [Infos from Wikipedia]

As we can read from the official 3D Realms website:

What most of the public does not know is that the game was several years in the making, and the development started almost immediately (to the day) after the release of Duke Nukem II (December 10, 1993).
On January 29, 1997, 3D Realms has decided that for the one year anniversary of Duke Nukem 3D, we’d release a sneak peek into the development of the game. Released now is LAMEDUKE. What’s LameDuke? LameDuke is a beta version of Duke Nukem 3D from December 1994.

In the galleries below you can see many images from different Duke Nukem beta builds. The “Older Gallery” contains images that appear to be from a build somewhere between Lameduke and what became the final Duke Nukem 3D, the “Newer Gallery” seems to be a build that can’t be too much earlier than the v0.99 beta that was leaked.

Treasons made a list of the main differences in these screens (check below):

Older Gallery:

These have a different hud, there is a Kill counter in the main hud and it is in what appears to be single player, this is not present in any build I have seen, there is also an orange shape either side of the hud which appears to light up, this may work like the skulls on the hud in Blood where the eyes light up sometimes. the weapons in the hud are 1 to 9 instead of 2 to 10, in some shots the hud has no “Keys” section.
The Silver-gray robotic enemy did not appear in the final game, his art occupies the same tiles as the Assault Trooper in the final game.
Duke1.png has an older version of the scuba gear.
When there is no Hud in the shot it appears duke has an old-fashioned army torch at the lower left, not seen in the final.
In some shots there is a colored dot in the ammo count.
Enforcer enemies have a strange red design that is not present in the final game.
Recon Patrol Vehicles appear different and also seem to be flown by enforcers rather than pig cops.
The overall palette seems marginally different.
The chaingun graphics in later builds are based upon the plasma gun in Duke2.png

Newer Gallery:

In the newer folder, the shots are not too far different to the v0.99 beta
More old scube gear graphics.
the space suit is on in one screen shot (24.png), code exists for it in v0.99 but no build I ever saw had the hud graphics for it that appear here.
The HUD is still a little different but closer to the final, the levels also closely resemble the final build, being marginally different from V0.99.

It is also worth mentioning that a code exists in v0.99 for a flamethrower weapon, dropped from the final game.

There are also some more beta shots on the box of the game, which are different from the actual game, you can find them with more info on Treason‘s website: www.freewebs.com/hctreason/duke3dstuff1.htm

More infos on LameDuke can be found at Planet Duke and GameFAQs! Thanks to SquarePulse for some of the videos and to Treason and JudgeDeadd for the contributions!

More Lameduke Images:

Videos:

Leaked, Playstation, Sony

Unreal P [PSX – Cancelled]

monokoma

03-06-2009

3 Comments

The original Unreal is a FPS developed by Epic Games and Digital Extremes, released for PC by GT Interactive in May 1998. A playstation port was in development by Pterodactyl Software with new exclusive levels and weapons, but it seems that Infogrames decided to cancel the project for some reasons.

In may 2009 Leo from the Beyond Unreal community was able to get in contact with Kagle, a developer that worked on Unreal PSX: Kangle decided to share some unfinished maps from this unreleased game and Leo edited the original files to make them to work with Unreal PC. Those files can now be downloaded in here, to be preserved and played by the fans!

Here’s a little description of the 2 beta levels:

In the first level, you break into an archaeological excavation where they are digging out a giant alien ship that was buried millenia ago. In part 1, you run across to the ship and turn on its main generator. The generator activates a laser that was removed from the ship and lets you blast through to the elevator shaft to the lower level. In part 2, you have to activate an umbilical tube to connect to the ship, which lets you reach the bottom of the excavation, where you can get inside.
In part two, you enter the ship, which is an alien universe, to contact the alien (I think his name was J’Rath). In part 1, you find yourself in a 3D maze. You have to travel to the end of the maze by removing the barriers blocking you. Each barrier can be removed by going to one of the small pocket worlds and throwing a switch. In part 2, you have to reach the heart of the ship, a pulsing sphere. You follow a short path, fighting tiny monsters and turning switches, until you can get inside. Inside the heart is a series of chambers you have to swim through until you get to J’Rath’s chamber (he appears as a giant eye). The second set of levels is rougher than the first.
These two missions (broken into two pieces each) were set to be played at the end of the second of three acts in the game. Since these levels were so late in the game, they were designed to be difficult for the player to complete.
Since these levels were designed for the PlayStation 1, the levels had to be scaled down to fit into the existing hardware. The limitations placed on the levels were quite draconian and included: a maximum of 3000 polygons per level, low number of visible polygons per room (STAT FPS), a maximum of 3 monsters per room and fewer in rooms with high polygons.
With such restrictions in place, I agreed to create levels with a less combative and more puzzle-oriented approach. In order to avoid large-scale combats, emphasis was placed on jumping puzzles. Levels were organized so the player would have to return to the same locations repeatedly to save space and give the impression of longer gameplay.

Huge props to Leo and Kagle for preserving these lost levels and sharing them with the community!

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