April 6th, 1996 Prototype

This is a sub-page of Proto:Blood.

To do: The whole shebang here folks! (mainly graphics and levels)

The April 6th, 1996 prototype of Blood is quite an interesting point in the game's development. Notably, it is the last available build back when it was being developed as a 3D Realms-published title under Q Studios (excluding leaked, assetless source code of a build from July 1996).

Quite a few graphics from the previous prototype were removed for whatever reason in this build, this also includes sprites that would appear in the final release. Besides this, content is largely unchanged from the previous prototype unless otherwise noted.

General#

Blood History File#

The Blood History File has appeared once again.

Company Logos#

When starting up the build, logos for 3D Realms and Q Studios will appear. The 3D Realms logo has replaced the Apogee logo graphic from previous prototypes.

Menu#

This is the first proper prototype with a menu implemented. It makes use of the night sky castle graphic from previous prototypes which has received several art touch-ups.

The menu can be brought up in a level but will not stop game action, meaning it can be very easy for enemies to kill the player while they're inactivate.

Prototype	Final

Definition Files#

The .DEF file system from previous prototypes is still here.

Difficulty#

The difficulty names are a lot plainer than the final game.

Very Easy
Easy
Medium
Hard
Very Hard

Still Kicking
Pink On The Inside
Lightly Broiled
Well Done
Extra Crispy

Cheats#

A few of the cheats of the previous prototypes have seen some changes; QSAMMO has been changed to QSKFA, referencing Doom's idkfa cheat and QSGOD no longer resets the player's health to 100. In addition, a few new ones have been implemented, these are mentioned in updates in the Blood History file but not in the actual cheats section.

All other cheats are unchanged.

Player#

right The player is still a robed cultist, but this time in blue instead of black.

Map Dump Debug#

Pressing F2 will save the current map you are in as DEBUG.MAP. This debug feature is intended to inspect a map in the level editor, so playing it in-game will result in a buggy and broken experience.

The game will print DEBUG.MAP saved. when this is done.

Command Line Options#

As is noted in the Blood History File, there are a few command line parameters that can be entered into the game.

HUD#

The HUD has been replaced with the unused design from the previous prototype, looking much closer to the final game, but it is not seen by default (this can be seen by using -).

The main HUD graphic from the previous prototype is still present in the build's files.

Credits#

Preliminary credits can be accessed from the menu, featuring all of the people that were involved with the game up to this point. Note that the double line breaks are meant to denote a change of screen.

The final game's credits are done with graphics instead of text.

BLOOD
Created by Q Studios

Producer / Lead Designer
Nick Newhard

Lead Programmer
Peter Freese

3D Engine
Ken Silverman

Executive Producer
George Broussard


Awesome Artwork
Kevin Kilstrom
Terry Hamel

Cool Creature Models
Kevin Kilstrom

Maniacal Maps
Jay Wilson Neck Newhard Terry Hamel
Kevin Kilstrom Richard Gray Andrew Blevins

Terrifying Tunes and Stunning Sound Effects
LoudMouth, Inc.


3D Sound System
Peter Freese

Audio Technology
Jim Dose

Additional Programming
Nick Newhard

Additional Art
Rick Walsh David Brickley Eric Klokstad


Special Thanks To Our Families & Friends
Helen Newhard
Cynthia Freese
Francise Kilstrom
Lauren Johnson
Laura .......

Thanks & Greets To
Scott Miller / 3D Realms

*** Coming Soon ***

Quitting the Game#

Quitting the game will display the "HUNGRY FOR MORE?" screen from the final version's shareware release.

Graphics#

Removed Graphics#

Several graphics that had lingered around throughout the game's development would be removed by the January 1997 build.

Sounds#

Many of the sounds and music from the previous prototype are still here and largely unchained. The music in the build is set to the lowest volume by default.

Weapons#

Sawed-Off Shotgun#

The unused sprites from the previous prototype for the Guns Akimbo power-up have been implemented.

Dynamite#

The single stick option has been removed but can still be picked up as bundle ammo. The Blood History File notes its removal in an April 5th, 1996 update, showing that this was a very recent change by the time this build was complied.

Tommy Gun#

Seems to have had its alt-fire removed, as it will just disappear and do nothing.

Spear Gun#

The Spear Gun seems to be functionally unchanged from the previous prototype but for whatever reason has had its sprites removed from the game expect for a bubble for the projectile.

Shadow Gun/Ectoblaster#

Much like the Spear Gun, seems to have remained the same but only has a single light left.

Beast Claws#

The Beast Claws make one last appearance before they were removed as a weapon in the final game.

Items#

Keys#

Keys have had the blue outline removed from their sprites (reverting them to a design similar to the December 1995 build) and the outline is now sperate. The blue outline is layered with the keys in-game.

Dynamite Stick#

The Dynamite Stick has been marked as obsolete with large blue "NO LONGER AMMO" text but can still be picked up as bundle ammo.

Rose-Colored Glasses#

The graphic of the Rose-colored Glasses has been transformed into the final's Beast Vison. It still has the old name, however.

Guns Akimbo#

Life Seed#

Tile 2568 depicts an inventory icon for the Life Seed, suggesting it was intended to be an inventory item at some point.

Enemies#

To do: See if any enemies that had their spites removed are still in the game.

Phantasm#

Seems to have had its sprites removed.

Cerberus#

Seems to have had its sprites removed.

Levels#

This build has way less levels than the previous prototype.

To do: Document the freeform level information commented out the level's .DEFs; they seem to have early information about them. Move any information here found in the February 96 build over to its page

BB3#

BLOOD1#

A completely new map from the previous prototype's.

Given the name "Beginner Map" in its .DEF file, and credited to Nick Newhard, James Wilson and Terry Hamel.

BLOOD2#

Given the name "Small Castle" in its .DEF file, and credited to Kevin Kilstrom. An early commented out "freeform level description" section in the .DEF declares its early name to be "Radu's Castle of Terror", and its author to be "*THE* Poop Guy". Take that as you will.

BLOOD3#

Given the name "Medium Castle" in its .DEF file, and credited to Jay Wilson and Kevin Kilstrom. An early commented out "freeform level description" section in the .DEF declares its early name to be "Castle Walls", with Jay as the sole author.

BLOOD4#

Completing this level crashes the game as it tries to look for a non-existent BLOOD5.MAP.

BLOOD6#

Given the name "Medium Crypt" in its .DEF file, and credited to Jay Wilson. The last level of the early episode in the game, which can normally not be played in-game due to the missing fifth level. It is an early iteration of E3M8: Catacombs.

DONOR3#

KBOOGER#

MAP32#

VAB9601#

Given the name "Hidden Agenda" in its .DEF file, and credited to Vance Andrew Blevins.