the cutting room mirror

Build 5219 Prototype

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This is a sub-page of Proto:Mahjong Titans.

This needs some investigation.
Discuss ideas and findings on the talk page.
Specifically:

  • Try to document any changes in gameplay from this prototype and the final release.
  • Try to find leftovers from an earlier prototype.
Careful, you'll lose an eye.

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The earliest available known Mahjong Titans prototype, included in Windows Vista Build 5219. It's notably known as Shanghai Solitaire instead of Mahjong Titans, and it has a lot of differences compared to the final game. Interestingly enough, this prototype is actually compatible with Windows XP and Windows 7 and above!

General Differences#

  • The window is named "Shanghai Solitaire v0.2 - Aug 30 2005" , because it's the build date.

Title Screen#

Build 5219 Proto

Final
  • The display of the game modes is different from the final release, with no titles of the game modes being shown.
  • The positions of "Dragon" and "Crab" are different.
  • The title text's font would be changed.
  • The background would be made brighter and the look of the dragons would be different in the final release.

Appearance#

  • Only two pastel colors are included in this prototype.
  • A tan felt background existed, but was removed in the final release.

Oddities within the help files#

This needs some investigation.
Discuss ideas and findings on the talk page.
Specifically: Are there any leftovers of Lotus or Crane in the files?
  • Two help files, "What's new in Windows games?" and "Play a game", both mention Shanghai Solitaire as "Mah Jong". This could suggest that the game was named Mah Jong during the earliest point of development. Further supporting this theory, all but one of the sound files are either named "Mahjong___" or "MahJong___".
  • In the "Shanghai Solitaire: how to play" help file, it mentions 3 tile layouts: Turtle, Lotus and Crane. Turtle ended up being in both this prototype and the final release, but Lotus and Crane didn't.