Rolling Demo

This is a sub-page of Proto:MediEvil.

This page is rather stubbly and could use some expansion. Are you a bad enough dude to rescue this article?

This prototype is documented on Hidden Palace.

A rolling demo of MediEvil was released on October 17, 1997 as part of the Registered User Demo 02 disc. Files on the disc suggest a build date of August 14, 1997.

Unused Notice Screen#

On function 800248a8 there's a switch case for selecting the screens shown at the start of the demo, however the first entry is never used. The below GameShark code will replace the address of the second entry (the "Presents" screen) with the first entry's address:

D0096864 800D
800ABC48 48FC

Cheat Codes#

Because the player cannot play this rolling demo normally, cheats are required to make any progress in this demo.

D0096864 800D
300D4490 0000

D0096864 800D
300CFCEC 0001

D0096864 800D
300CFCEC 0002

D0096864 800D
800D0818 27F8

Debug Menus#

To do: Document the remaining entries.

When either DEBUG1 or DEBUG2 are activated, the current camera mode is displayed at the bottom-right of the screen.

Modes can be switched by pressing Select, however Free and Fixed can only be set from the pause menu.

Available modes:

Camera mode	Image	Notes
Spline		Default mode
Overhead
Head-set
Chase
Free / Free (sus)		Gain control of camera position; Free (sus) also suspends movement from Dan and enemies
Fixed		Allows moving Dan without updating the camera position

TESTCARD shows color bars:

SHOW VRAM shows textures in memory:

Some menu entries are missing logic, but don't show the description "Not available":

• GATSO
• SHOW MEM STATUS
• GRAB SCREEN

To verify these, let's check for example SHOW MEM STATUS, which contains these fields:

800b66b4 20 b7 0a 80     addr       s_SHOW_MEM_STATUS_800ab720 = "SHOW MEM STATUS"
800b66b8 a4 b7 0a 80     addr       s_%jcX_to_enter._800ab7a4 = "%jcX to enter."
800b66bc 6c 7e 02 80     addr       LAB_80027e6c ; handler subroutine address
[...]
800b66cc 02 00 00 00     ddw        2h ; cheat level required to display entry

The corresponding handler is just a no-op:

80027e6c 08 00 e0 03     jr         ra
80027e70 00 00 00 00     _nop

But the handler address is not followed by an address for a description subroutine (only null bytes up to 800b66cc), usually implemented as:

80027238 0b 80 02 3c     lui        v0,0x800b
8002723c 8c 68 42 24     addiu      v0=>PTR_s_%jrNot_available_800b688c,v0,0x688c    = 800abba4
80027240 08 08 82 af     sw         v0=>PTR_s_%jrNot_available_800b688c,0x808(gp)    = 800abba4
80027244 08 00 e0 03     jr         ra
80027248 00 00 00 00     _nop

Gameplay Mechanics#

At this point, the game is more simplistic and arcade-y.

• Health is measured by the few green bones you collect.
• Lives are represented traditionally by how many Dans you have left.
• Instead of a Chalice of Souls, there is a standard scoring system for the enemies you take down. When an enemy is killed, their point value is shown, but their soul still flies up and away.
• The game uses tank controls to move Dan around. It doesn't seem like sidestepping was implemented, either.

Item Differences#

These models are stored as MOF files inside the WAD container file "medres.mwd". These can be ripped with FrogLord. They are identified by their file entry index in the corresponding WAD.

Club#

Unused Items#

Trident#

Potions#

Potions are collectible items used to affect enemies. The following can be obtained in-game:

Other potions listed below are not found in any levels of the demo, but they are referenced in the object table entry at address 0x800b7498.

To load any of these potions in-game, replace chests using the following GameShark codes:

D0096864 800D
80034840 FC00
80034842 0807
80034844 0000
80034846 0000
801FF000 0004
801FF002 8270
801FF004 0004
801FF006 3403
801FF008 0004
801FF00A 1470
801FF00C 0007
801FF00E 3403
801FF010 0004
801FF012 A263
801FF014 00XX
801FF016 3403
801FF018 0006
801FF01A A263
801FF01C 0004
801FF01E 9662
801FF020 D212
801FF022 0800
801FF024 0000
801FF026 0000

Where XX is one of the following:

Test Models#

Unused Enemies#

Uncle Mad#

These skinny guys are encountered in The Sleeping Village level, but can only be spotted inside the buildings. They are intoxicated fellows sitting against a wall and can either throw green bottles at the player or bash with their club if approached.

Levels#

To do: There are loads of level differences to put here.

In this prototype, there are more than just 22 levels (also including the "Title Level" and the Programmer's Playground, even though both are unplayable). However, half of them are unplayable:

• Cemetery Hill
• The Pumpkin Serpent
• Inside the Asylum
• The Enchanted Earth
• The Lake
• The Crystal Caves
• The Gallows Gauntlet
• The Entrance Hall
• Zarok's Lair

Only ten levels are playable:

• The Graveyard
• The Hilltop Mausoleum
• Scarecrow's Fields
• Pumpkin Gorge
• The Sleeping Village
• Pools of the Ancient Dead
• The Asylum Grounds
• The Haunted Ruins
• The Ghost Ship

Dan's Crypt and The Time Device aren't present at all, suggesting they weren't planned yet.

Differences#

The Sleeping Village#

Killing the possessed townsfolk is fine and even adds to the score.

The water is unfinished and is set up like walkable terrain.

The Asylum Grounds#

When the player enters the hole after completing the chessboard puzzle, the level doesn't end. Instead the player falls into an underground tunnel where a rune can be found. After returning above ground, the gate behind the chessboard opens leading to a building which resembles the one seen in the unused FMV 7AV. This can be seen here. Presumably this is where the cut level featuring Morten the Worm would take place.

Scrapped Levels#

Other levels were completely scrapped from the final release, although none of these actually have any other content in this build. The unused levels are listed as follows:

• The Coffin Vaults
• The Fields of Dust
• The River
• The Muddy Riverbank
• The Mud Slide
• Circle of Shadows
• The Silver Wood
• The Halls of Illusion
• The Hub
• The Great Machine

Placeholder Textures#

Several of these textures can be found in medres.mwd. These can be ripped with a script. Some of them are shown below, along with their starting offsets in the resource file.

Offset: 0x13ff00 (stored along with graphics of the "Title Level" intro)

Offset: 0x7e30a0

Offset: 0x827f30

Offset: 0x831b64
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;" !Rolling Demo !Retail (SCUS-94227) |- |
Offset: 0x7ea824 |
Offset: 0x172552c |}

Weapons#

Unused Textures#

These textures don't map to any models in "medres.mwd". We can confirm this in FrogLord, where VLO files 331 and 375 map to WAD files 332 and 376, which are both empty (32 bytes followed by null bytes up to the next file offset). Both textures and models were included in the ECTS '97 demo.

Offset: 0x74e500
Dragon and background of "The Silver Wood" level (a.k.a. Jabberwocky chase level).

Offset: 0x7c72cc
Unknown Dan transformations of "The Halls of Illusion" level.

Animations#

Death Animation#

The death animation used when Daniel loses a life is identical to the one used when Daniel loses his final life. The final game uses separate animations for the former and latter situations.

Sneaking Animation#

With CONTROL SETTINGS = "Digital - 0" set in the pause menu, pressing Up + L1 makes Daniel perform a "sneak" animation while walking slowly.

Music#

There are a total of four songs used for the rolling demo. During gameplay, however, each song stops playing after about 30 seconds rather than looping. The music is mostly identical to the final game, but with slight differences and ending sooner. They are also used for some later demos.

• Menu - A shorter version of the music for The Crystal Caves. It is used for The Hilltop Mausoleum, The Haunted Ruins, and The Ghost Ship.
• The Cemetery - A shorter version of the Scarecrow Fields music. It is used for The Graveyard and The Asylum Grounds.
• Unused - A shorter version of the Dan's Crypt music. It is used for The Ant Caves, The Sleeping Village, and Pools of the Ancient Dead.
• The Hilltop Mausoleum - A shorter and different version of the Return to the Graveyard music. It is used for Scarecrow Fields and the Pumpkin Gorge.

Loading Screen#

Proto	Final

The early loading screen contains an image of a scarecrow as seen in one of the FMVs, with smaller "LOADING" text below it.