Demo Release 1.0

This is a sub-page of Proto:Worms 2.

To do: Is there a way to hack into this demo to access the other weapons so we can document possible differences?

The first public demo of Worms 2 was distributed on September 5th, 1997, and is the earliest available build of the game. Although Team17 replaced this demo with an improved build one month later, it remained hidden away on their FTP server for over 20 years.

Download Worms 2 Demo Release 1.0 (with FMV) File: Worms2Demo05SepA.zip (13.61 MB) (info)

Gameplay Differences#

• Worms will play their tired animation at less than 50 energy instead of less than 30.
• Centering the camera on the active worm is done by pressing C instead of Home.
• Pressing Pause/Break at any point will take a screenshot and save it in TGA format in the game's directory. Later demos and the final remove this feature.
• The pause menu cannot be accessed, as pressing Escape ends the game, therefore there is no way to pause the game.
• Worms do not celebrate victory at the end of the round, and the player is required to press Escape to quit as the game will not automatically end.

Weapons#

Demo 1.0	Final

• Some of the weapons are listed in a different order on the weapons panel than in later demos and the final:
  • The Pneumatic Drill is listed before the Blow Torch.
  • Surrender is listed before Skip Go.
• The Handgun only fires three bullets instead of six, like in Worms: The Director's Cut.
• Kamikaze's explosion is more powerful than usual, capable of doing 50 damage instead of 30.
• The Baseball Bat does 20 damage instead of 30.
• The Blow Torch does not give any retreat time.
• The Ninja Rope has some bugs in this demo:
  • It cannot be fired in mid-jump. It can still be fired when falling from walking off ledges, though.
  • If a Grenade or Cluster Bomb is dropped from the rope while touching the ground, it will instantly explode regardless of fuse time and send the player's worm flying skyward.
• The Parachute is not affected by the wind.
• The Petrol Bomb does not create a small crater when it explodes; it only releases flames. This is similar to its behaviour in Worms: The Director's Cut.
• The Old Woman's default fuse time is 10 seconds instead of 5.
• Weapons that tunnel through the terrain, such as the Kamikaze and Blow Torch, will not create an outline in the terrain.

Message Ticker#

This needs some investigation. Discuss ideas and findings on the talk page. Specifically: There are certainly more changed/removed messages to be found. Someone will need to find a way to get into the game's script and look.

The message ticker at the top of the screen displays messages that would either be altered or, for whatever reason, removed from the final.

<worm> considers the options...
<worm> prepares to kick ass

<worm> kicks ass

<team> are losers
<team> couldn't cut the mustard
<team> is an ex-team

<team> cream the rest!

Graphical Differences#

Many of the idle animations for the worms haven't been implemented yet.

Demo 1.0	Final

The loading screen is more primitive, being text-based rather than a fancy CD graphic in later builds. Erroneously, the loading percentage can go as high as 105%.

The HUD in the demo is the earlier, more cartoonish style seen in early screenshots. It is also animated.

Demo 1.0	Final

The background gradient for the Pirate theme is different.

Demo 1.0	Final

Instant replays happen without a fade transition and have no televisor brackets or commentary messages.

Demo 1.0	Final

The animation for using the Teleport is different.

Demo 1.0	Final

Although the Mortar is not present in the demo, sprites found in Gfx.dir show that the Mortar bomb was once a different colour. It is a darker blue than in the final, and the middle stabiliser is red.

Demo 1.0	Final

While the Homing Pigeon is not used in the demo either, looking in Gfx.dir shows that worms would hold the Homing Pigeon in their hands rather than fire it from a blue bazooka, as shown in early screenshots from the Worms 2 website.

Demo 1.0	Final

Instead of flying side to side by like the final, the Homing Pigeon originally flew up and down, with rotating sprites to boot.

Removed Graphics#

Some kind of wormhole? This strange object only exists in this demo's files and was deleted in later demos and the final.

Audio Differences#

Soundbank#

The soundbank in this demo is an early version of the default English soundbank with older recordings, as well as some bitcrushed voice clips pulled right from the first Worms game. Some of the filenames are even different from later demos and the final.

It should be interesting to note that the "Come on then" and "Oh dear" samples from this demo still see use in the final game, as test sounds for the options menu.

An additional thing to note is that this demo's soundbank has six "Ooff" sounds and four "Ow" sounds, whereas later demos and the final use only three "Ooff"s and "Ow"s.

Unused Sounds#

These sounds, labelled Wheee.wav and Whooo.wav, were used when swinging with the Ninja Rope in Worms. However, they aren't used here, and were removed in the next demo onwards.

Sound Effects#

A number of sound effects are different from the final, some being direct rips from Worms and some of them having their sample rates reduced from 22050Hz to 16000Hz. Some sound effects, such as OldWoman.wav, don't even exist yet.

Miscellaneous#

• Sprites and icons for the Cloned Sheep, Mike's Carpet Bomb and Patsy's Magic Bullet do not exist within the demo's files, suggesting that these weapons haven't been added to the game at this stage of development yet.