Startopia

This page details pre-release information and/or media for Startopia.

Press Kit#

The official Eidos E3 2000 press kit CD is available on archive.org and contains in-game screenshots of several early builds of Startopia, self identified as being from March to April 2000 so over a year before release. Notably the earliest of these claim to be from the "1st playable" build of the game. Most characters and buildings already seem to use their final textures etc here, but there are still many differences, and the earliest builds have only crude global lighting working. The screenshots also show the WIP title of the game was "Space Station", with that only changing from the April the 13th build.

In-Game Screenshots#

The mouse cursor is different here, looking like a kind of rocket ship. Note also the different Siren model and design, better seen in later pictures

The deck lifts to the right of the picture have a totally different model/design here

Presumably this is the teleport effect for moving objects around on display here, showing it was different at this early stage

Possibly the best picture of the early Siren design. There only seem to be female Sirens at this point, and they have a much racier costume of seemingly nothing but a g-string on, being either topless or have nipple pasties on otherwise. Unsurprisingly this was greatly toned down in the final game

What's apparent here is that the bunks in the berth behave differently. In the final game an alien enters one while it is vertical, and it then pivots to be horizontal. Here it's always vertical, but the door sticks out the top if open, and slides down to seal it if it's closed. Note also the early Jabba the Hutt style Gem Slugs at the top right.

What's apparent here and in some of the other pleasure deck screenshots is that the bar buildings are literally only just the actual bar at this point, they aren't larger rooms with a terrace and their own tables yet

The original uncensored Orophux design. The sign here reads "Sexy sensational entertainment!". The final version is changed to only say "Sensational entertainment!" It seems there was a deliberate move to downplay the (entirely intentional) sexual implications of the ride for the final game

An unknown white building can be seen towards the top middle of this picture. This is very likely the cut Gyro ride. Again note also the lone bar building without tables, etc

All of these images of the biodeck demonstrate totally different textures, but also completely different plant models to the final game

To the right of this picture a very different early version of a Gem Slug can be seen. It doesn't have the hovering wheelchair device yet, instead slithering around under its own power, and looking a lot like Jabba the Hutt.

Concept Art#

There is also a concept art image of the space station. This was used in a job advert for Mucky Foot in Edge magazine.

Official Strategy Guide#

The official strategy guide includes concept art of various creatures that are not present in the final game:

What is clearly the same animal seen in a pre-release image, so likely a Gloath

Almost certainly the cut Pteraglyde bird

Advertising#

This magazine advert depicts all three of the cut biodeck animals, the Gloath, Pteraglyde, and... the Memau? It's saying that this animal is grouped with the others and suggests that actually the Memau may have originally been the Goma animal, as there is no other similar animal that could be it depicted anywhere in pre-release materials (every other character and animal has concept art in the strategy guide). It's possible the Memau/Skrasher was originally intended to look like the Alien style creature from the strategy guide, and the then-cut Goma model was re-used for the new Memau creature.

Magazine Coverage#

PC Gamer (UK) Issue 83#

The June 2000 issue of PC Gamer has one of the earliest articles on the game. It mostly just reprints the screenshots from the press kit, but there is the below extra picture not present in the press kit clearly showing the cut Fighting Pit room:

It's a fixed-size room with the Prize Fighter character on display in a kind of sumo ring design. Presumably only Kasvagorians could fight here (backed up by them having fighting animations other races are missing), while other aliens could spectate.

PC Gamer (UK) Issue 93#

The February 2001 issue of PC Gamer has a follow up article on development. It consists of many of the screenshots that would be reproduced on the CD of LEVEL magazine later in the year, meaning they were actually from the start of 2001 (in fact likely from very late 2000 due to the lag in magazine publishing). The below screenshot confirms that the final female siren design was in place by now, but more interestingly in the background the Fighting Pit can be seen again, giving further evidence to it having a relatively late removal from the game:

There is also an interview with artist Gary Carr later in the same issue which makes a lot of interesting but often somewhat dubious claims:

At this stage in development there was a "cattle prod" item that could be used to shock employees and make them get back to work if they were spending too much time in entertainment buildings. It's noted this was unlikely to make it to the final game as it was a "cop out".
At this point in development only four out of ten single player missions had been completed
It's explained that a recurring theme would be "space bandits" that would threaten the player, and that these would first occur on the third mission. These do not exist at all in the final game, but this interesting as it is indeed the concept of the bonus 'Targatelli' mission Mucky Foot provided as a Christmas gift on their website. Perhaps it was actually an older cut level repurposed?
NPCs could fall in love, get married and have children. An unlikely concept seeing as nearly all of the aliens in the game seem to be male and there are certainly no children at all
Claims that it would be possible to see inside other player's territories by hiring spies and by "using a certain piece of technology"
That there were 135 different life forms and ten primary lifeforms in the game - a peculiar claim with no evidence of the former present at all
It's confirmed that originally there was an actual lap dancing club in the game which was deliberately sanitised into the final Love Nest design to make the game accessible for all ages
Similarly the Oroflex/Orophux is mentioned and how that too was censored and turned into an "alien theme park ride.

IGN#

The IGN website has a huge treasure trove of early screenshots and lots of cut content. Some of the earliest images have the name "spacestation" as that was the game's early work in progress title.

The early cut lap dance club. This was replaced by the love nest room

The bouncer/door to the club. This is seen in the final game in the ending sequence, where it no longer makes much sense due to the room being cut.

An invaluable image of how the Fighting Pit was intended. Note the referee robot similar in design to the cocktail bar pianist that doesn't seem to have ever been actually implemented before the room was cut from the game

Another shot of the original Orophux design

The lockdown brig cell. The robot to the left of this is also seen in the strategy guide, and the juxtaposition here suggests this was an early/alternative to the security scuzzer

The completely cut taxi. Animations exist for aliens to hail this, but its purpose is unknown. For aliens to quickly move between opposing segments of the station?

An early variant of the security station.

The power booster here looks odd. There's also a strange room to the right, which might be an early laboratory

Biodeck early plants. Something odd is going on with the salt hog pictured as well

hat-trick of cut items; the Fighting Pit, the Gyro, and the original version of the Slugpartments

The fighting pit and early slugpartments

The fighting pit and orophux from a different angle

Gyro and slugpartments. Note this is the only screenshot to show a character on the Gyro, although it seems to be getting off of it, but is at least evidence it may have actually worked at some point.

A close-up of the early slugpartments. The cut tent/screen door area is clearly visible, as well as the fact that at this stage it was designed as more of a Roman bath with one huge central slug bath in it, rather than the small individual pods this item was repurposed to in the final game.

The original Gem Slug design, enjoying the original slugpartments room

Very early version of the main menu 'Avatar' interface

Computer Gaming World November 2000#

Issue 196 of this American games magazine has a couple of interesting screenshots - firstly of the original Slugpartments design and a close up of the original Gem Slug model before they would be found inside their flying wheelchairs, and secondly of an early NPC information pop-up.

LEVEL 05/2001#

The May 2001 issue of this Romanian games magazine has some close to final screenshots on its cover disc with some very interesting cut content visible. In fact these seem to be from a press kit created at the end of 2000, based on them being printed earlier on in other magazines of that time. Unfortunately they also have an obnoxious LEVEL watermark on them.

The mouse pointer here is much more similar to that of the final build

At the back is an early version of the Slugparments room. This is pretty close to the final design, but seems to have some kind of screened entrance. It also has a large Roman-style fresco along the back wall as well as other smaller bits of wall art visible. These cut features suggest it may have been a fixed-size building at this point.

In this and a few other screenshots it shows that the death icon at this point seems to be a red cross instead of the red skull of the final game. This seems to have changed even by the later screenshots in this set, which suggests they are from a later build.

The Siren here might still be the original cut topless design or it could be a different version of the male siren. This is confusing as other screenshots clearly show the final more conservative design in place.

Several of the aliens in this shot have a ball and chain icon above their head. Presumably this be some kind of early or debug indicator for prisoners. Also the mouse pointer here is the gloved hand version, suggesting this may have been a short-lived variant

The female Siren visible here is using the final censored design, which suggests either it was taken later than the shot above, or both designs existed in this build.

There is a cut animal peep visible at the front of this screenshot. This is very likely either a Goma or probably a Gloath.

PC Team 04/2001#

Issue 67 of this French games magazine had a short news story on the game, illustrated with a close up of the elusive Fighting Pit. This shows clearly the hole that the contestant would be raised up through. What is interesting is that there is once again no opponent for the prize fighter, which could just be a coincidence or perhaps evidence it was never fully working.

PC Games 05/2000#

Watch on YouTube

The May 2000 German PC Games magazine had several videos from the 2000 E3 show. This includes a very short clip of an early build of Startopia. The text at the top of the screen appears to read "Startopia - May 8 2000 Pre-E3-Demo Version", putting it a month later than the pictures from the Eidos press kit. Unfortunately the video itself is not very interesting due to clearly being played by someone new to the game, but does at least demonstrate the early beam-up effect, which is a shaft of light at this point, with the target flying up or descending down depending upon if they are being beamed up or down. The original deck lift design can clearly be seen, but suspiciously no NPCs ever use them in the entire clip, suggesting they may not have worked at this point. There's also a crude temporary counter for energy and an early interface panel style that is mostly text-based lists of items. Finally, the slumber pods in the berth recline when occupied at this point, but the doors still extend above them when open rather than into the floor, which seems a late development change.

PC Games 05/2001#

Watch on YouTube

This German games magazine included some interesting close to final build footage of the game on its cover disc. What is most interesting here is a cut external space station view that seems to have originally been used to jump between areas of the station. The external space station view also has obvious debug options down the left side of the screen. By this stage there are now male Sirens, and the female variant has her final clothed textures instead of the lewd original design. The interface seems mostly complete, but surprisingly the in-game HUD is still a simpler early design. Urgent messages from VAL have a red rather than yellow glow here. The mouse cursor is also visibly different, at this point a gloved hand that animates rather than the final game's fixed arrow cursor design.