New Cancelled Games & Their Lost Media Added to the Archive

Projects, Unseen News

[Projects] The KotOR II Beta Restoration

monokoma
27-09-2009
1 Comment

kotor2betarest

Fans of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II probably know how much fun the game was, but also how much stuff that was shown in the beta screens was later removed from the final game (yeah, we still need to write an article about that on U64…).

KotOR II’s producer Chris Avellone in an interview after the game’s publication stated that he wished “there had been more time” to work on the game, and that a large amount of content — a droid factory, an entire planet, and other locations — was cut.

Because so much content was cut, however, a couple of teams of modders  have been working on an unofficial patch to restore the missing content, thanks to unused stuff still hidden in the game’s code and lot of patience. A couple of days ago, one of the team released their first Beta Restoration patch and now KotOR II’s fans all around the world are able to play the game with some of the removed parts! You can find a complete  (huge!) list of what’s restored in here.

You can download the KotOR II’s Beta Restoration from the Deadly Stream Forum. Huge props to Zbyl2 and DarthStoney for their work!

GameCube, Microsoft, Nintendo, Playstation 2 (PS2), Sony, Xbox

Tornado Alley [GC/XBOX/PS2 – Cancelled]

monokoma
27-09-2009
1 Comment

Tornado Alley is a cancelled action game that was in development by Atomic Planet in 2002 / 2003 for the Playstation 2, GameCube and Xbox. As we can read from the official press release, in the game the player would had to take control of one of the most powerful forces of Mother Nature, a Tornado, and guide it to do as much damage as possible, without running out of wind power.

To keep the twister alive we would had to follow the contours of the landscape, watching for thermals and building up the power of the cyclone with the right balance of warm and cold air. Cars and trailers could have been picked up to give ammunition to the vortex, to be churned around inside before being spat out with huge destructive force. Probably the gameplay would have been somehow similar to Katamari Damacy and Thornado (DS), but even with this interesting concept, the project was never released for unknow reasons.

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Microsoft, Others, PC / MAC, Xbox

Doom 3 [PC/XBOX – Beta]

U64 Staff & Contributors
26-09-2009
1 Comment

Doom 3 is a science fiction horror videogame developed by id Software and published by Activision. The game was first shown in Febuary 2001, as a tech demo showing of id’s newest graphics engine. The game has had many cuts and changes during its long development cycle. One of the most noticeable differences is the changes the demons went through, throughout the games development. In this screenshot you can see the  original model for the Hell Knight, because of it bird shaped head it is often reffered to in the doom community as the Birdman.

Here you can see the 2001 Doom 3 macworld video showing off the Birdman  in 2001:  skip to 4:50 for Doom 3. Read more

Nintendo, Nintendo DS

Henry Hatsworth [DS – Beta & Concept]

monokoma
25-09-2009
No Comments

Henry Hatsworth in the Puzzling Adventure is a Nintendo DS action-adventure and puzzle game created by Kyle Gray, who founded the “Experimental Gameplay Project” with Kyle Gabler, the creator of World of Goo. Gray led a seven-man team at EA Tiburon to develop the game.  While the game is an action-platformer on the top screen, once enemies are defeated by Hatsworth, they are sent to the bottom screen as puzzle blocks. [Info From Wikipedia]

In the beta version of the game there were some differences in the HUD, levels and gameplay:

  • The Puzzle Meter was in the top screen.
  • Different icon for the Rifle weapon.
  • “Young” Henry had a full series of “silver hearts” to consume before return to the “old” Henry. In the final game, only half of the hearts are silver ones.  It was like to have 2 energy bars at once (making the game easier).
  • Some of the puzzle blocks had a different design / face.
  • Henry’s animations were still incomplete.
  • A couple of parts in the beta videos seem to be from a removed level or an early design of a final one.
  • The bouncing baloons were pink, instead of yellow.

Also, in the concept arts we can notice many Bosses that were cut from the final game, as the ones that look like Benjamin Franklin or the 3 muscle men from the circus. In the artworks we can even see early and unused designs for  the normal enemies, Henry’s ship (from one of the secret levels) and puzzle blocks.

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