Adventure Forums - View Single Post - A Loom lost room, early The Dig previews, early Fate of Atlantis, and more

ATMachine · 06-27-2011, 09:38 AM

As I've been digging further into the archive of French computer game magazines, I've found more and more interesting images.

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Here's an image of Indy Last Crusade which features a joke in the Sentence Line description of the knight's casket in Venice. Somehow I bet Ron Gilbert was responsible.

Here's a bigger view of the unused caption in a Crystalgard scene from Loom.

Here are a couple of other alternate shots from Loom. Another image of the original version of Hetchel's tent, and a very early pass at Stoke's workbench in the Forge.

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This is an alternate version of the original EGA Monkey Island 1 title screen. It was essentially completely redrawn for the final game.

Here are some images of MI1 where the inventory featured greyed-out inventory arrows when Guybrush wasn't carrying much. (Also note the capitalization of the "Pieces of Eight".)

And here's an early version of Guybrush's VGA sprite:

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These two magazine scans from Monkey Island 2 show off a very early version of the game, with 12 green verbs in the GUI and Guybrush's MI1 sprite used as a placeholder.

Here're some pictures showing off some original MI2 background art.

Below are pics of Guybrush on Kate Capsize's boat and at the Phatt Island waterfall. The boat background was almost entirely redrawn, and the water pattern of the falls was later changed. (Also notice the early, bright purple inventory arrows.)

Here's an image of Guybrush in LeChuck's fortress. The voodoo crate he arrived in was later completely redrawn.

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Here are some more early images of the Space Quest IV intro. They show that the idle cursor from SQ3 was initially being reused.

A couple of highlights from the scans, including an early version of Roger's close-up inside the cantina and a better picture of the Time Rippers' arrival:

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An early shot from King's Quest VI, with an alternate font for text dialogue windows.

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For your viewing pleasure, a magazine scan featuring more screenshots of very early Fate of Atlantis with green verbs and a text inventory.

A couple more screenshots of very early Fate.

Here's an image showing how one of the game's backgrounds was created.

Below are shots from a bit later in development on Fate of Atlantis, when the icon inventory had been added, but the icon drawings were still not finalized.

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And finally, here are some more scans of The Dig.

This is from Génération 4 magazine, covering CES summer 1993.

This article shows an uncropped version of the picture with the early GUI. Also, we can see Low and Judy Robbins (later renamed Maggie) reacting to the death of the monstrous eel (in this version, by electrocution).

The below images are from Joystick magazine. Here are the scans of the full article.

A larger scan of the screenshot with the original GUI. Here it's possible to make out that the Sentence Line seems to be in high resolution. I'd guess that the new StoryDroid game engine (later abandoned for the reuse of SCUMM) used the AdvMame2X graphics filter originally used by LucasArts for its Macintosh ports of SCUMM games.

A broken rock shard with a glowing crystal filament inside.

Brink and Low in the room where Brink will later get his hand cut off. This image, and those below, were actually taken by cameras capturing the demo shown at CES that year.

A bloody scene of one of the four astronauts dying horribly.

Génération 4 reported: "The game is full of animations that are sometimes quite savage. For example, you will have the chance to see one of your crewmates fall into a hitherto suspicious pool and disintegrate in under 10 seconds."

What appears to have happened here is that the four astronauts have found a lake of acid blocking their path of exploration. The acid is covered over with a thin, hard, dry crust.

As seen in the screenshot, Low has managed to cross the encrusted acid safely. However, Toshi Olema (the fourth crewmember, later removed by Sean Clark) took a different path across, broke through the crust, and is now literally melting to death as he thrashes his way to the other bank of the acid pool.

The four astronauts take off their suits after arriving on the alien planet. It seems the background (which was produced as a grayscale painting) had been scanned in but not yet colorized at the time of the CES demo.

The original version of the bone puzzle. Génération 4 notes that in this version, the creature's bones were not all present in the same place. Low would have to find several different groups of bones from various locations around the alien world, and bring them together to form a complete creature (which he would, as in the final game, resurrect with a life crystal).

Bonus! The Joystick article contains this information about the original Dig television script which was intended for Steven Spielberg's Amazing Stories TV show.

"It was about a team of future archaeologists who unearth a statue of Mickey Mouse, then Sleeping Beauty's castle, etc., ultimately discovering that they have located Disneyland."

Wow. That's... different. I guess this was set in the far future, when humans had colonized the galaxy and abandoned (indeed forgotten) their original home planet. This makes a certain amount of sense: the very first version of The Dig, under project leader Noah Falstein, was set well into the future, when faster-than-light travel had become commonplace.

06-27-2011, 09:38 AM	#6
ATMachine Retired Buccaneer Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Florida Posts: 779	As I've been digging further into the archive of French computer game magazines, I've found more and more interesting images. --- Here's an image of Indy Last Crusade which features a joke in the Sentence Line description of the knight's casket in Venice. Somehow I bet Ron Gilbert was responsible. Here's a bigger view of the unused caption in a Crystalgard scene from Loom. Here are a couple of other alternate shots from Loom. Another image of the original version of Hetchel's tent, and a very early pass at Stoke's workbench in the Forge. --- This is an alternate version of the original EGA Monkey Island 1 title screen. It was essentially completely redrawn for the final game. Here are some images of MI1 where the inventory featured greyed-out inventory arrows when Guybrush wasn't carrying much. (Also note the capitalization of the "Pieces of Eight".) And here's an early version of Guybrush's VGA sprite: --- These two magazine scans from Monkey Island 2 show off a very early version of the game, with 12 green verbs in the GUI and Guybrush's MI1 sprite used as a placeholder. Here're some pictures showing off some original MI2 background art. Below are pics of Guybrush on Kate Capsize's boat and at the Phatt Island waterfall. The boat background was almost entirely redrawn, and the water pattern of the falls was later changed. (Also notice the early, bright purple inventory arrows.) Here's an image of Guybrush in LeChuck's fortress. The voodoo crate he arrived in was later completely redrawn. --- Here are some more early images of the Space Quest IV intro. They show that the idle cursor from SQ3 was initially being reused. A couple of highlights from the scans, including an early version of Roger's close-up inside the cantina and a better picture of the Time Rippers' arrival: --- An early shot from King's Quest VI, with an alternate font for text dialogue windows. --- For your viewing pleasure, a magazine scan featuring more screenshots of very early Fate of Atlantis with green verbs and a text inventory. A couple more screenshots of very early Fate. Here's an image showing how one of the game's backgrounds was created. Below are shots from a bit later in development on Fate of Atlantis, when the icon inventory had been added, but the icon drawings were still not finalized. --- And finally, here are some more scans of The Dig. This is from Génération 4 magazine, covering CES summer 1993. This article shows an uncropped version of the picture with the early GUI. Also, we can see Low and Judy Robbins (later renamed Maggie) reacting to the death of the monstrous eel (in this version, by electrocution). The below images are from Joystick magazine. Here are the scans of the full article. A larger scan of the screenshot with the original GUI. Here it's possible to make out that the Sentence Line seems to be in high resolution. I'd guess that the new StoryDroid game engine (later abandoned for the reuse of SCUMM) used the AdvMame2X graphics filter originally used by LucasArts for its Macintosh ports of SCUMM games. A broken rock shard with a glowing crystal filament inside. Brink and Low in the room where Brink will later get his hand cut off. This image, and those below, were actually taken by cameras capturing the demo shown at CES that year. A bloody scene of one of the four astronauts dying horribly. Génération 4 reported: "The game is full of animations that are sometimes quite savage. For example, you will have the chance to see one of your crewmates fall into a hitherto suspicious pool and disintegrate in under 10 seconds." What appears to have happened here is that the four astronauts have found a lake of acid blocking their path of exploration. The acid is covered over with a thin, hard, dry crust. As seen in the screenshot, Low has managed to cross the encrusted acid safely. However, Toshi Olema (the fourth crewmember, later removed by Sean Clark) took a different path across, broke through the crust, and is now literally melting to death as he thrashes his way to the other bank of the acid pool. The four astronauts take off their suits after arriving on the alien planet. It seems the background (which was produced as a grayscale painting) had been scanned in but not yet colorized at the time of the CES demo. The original version of the bone puzzle. Génération 4 notes that in this version, the creature's bones were not all present in the same place. Low would have to find several different groups of bones from various locations around the alien world, and bring them together to form a complete creature (which he would, as in the final game, resurrect with a life crystal). Bonus! The Joystick article contains this information about the original Dig television script which was intended for Steven Spielberg's Amazing Stories TV show. "It was about a team of future archaeologists who unearth a statue of Mickey Mouse, then Sleeping Beauty's castle, etc., ultimately discovering that they have located Disneyland." Wow. That's... different. I guess this was set in the far future, when humans had colonized the galaxy and abandoned (indeed forgotten) their original home planet. This makes a certain amount of sense: the very first version of The Dig, under project leader Noah Falstein, was set well into the future, when faster-than-light travel had become commonplace.