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The UNBIBLE

For gameplay advice and broader discussion of single-player Unreal including custom maps, mods and mutations that alter the game.

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UB_
Nali Priest Nali Priest
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Subject: The UNBIBLE

Post Posted: 26 Oct 2011, 22:23

Yeah. Potentially safe.
It's finally here! What the hell it is? I'll leave the read for you. It's a very interesting (and hilarious) one.

UnBible

I'll try to explain stuff later if people don't understand something but I think it won't be necessary.
Unfortunately, the Mainmap pics were never made available (or just never leaked).

Cool stuff to know (Partial):
  • Unreal 2 was supposed to be developed by Epic. It was set in the Skaarj homeworld and there was even a concept of combining both Unreal 1 and 2 throughout a freaking PORTAL. If it was possible though...
  • Abyss of ????? (more like, GALA) was an Epic idea and not by Nivlek/Legend. It was supposed to be put in a certain expansion pack...
  • "There is a sign at the bridge which says, ' Call 1-800-Unreal1 to order Unreal and pass beyond the bridge" - wonderful
  • Artifacts were supposed to be hidden collectibles. Their (unfinished?) mesh is available in the U98 beta, it's like a green ancient egg of some sort.
  • The game was divided into three Mainmaps (HUBs) from where you would access other maps or just crossing a linear path or whatever. The HUB system would work only for the "Mainmaps", rest of the levels were resetted.
  • ISV-Kran concept was born as a semi-alien starcraft. Inside you would find cyborg enemies (possibly a pre-concept of Drakks, I mean those enemies were too good for not be invented by Epic).
  • Warlord's weapon is called Swarmer Missile.
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User avatar AlCapowned
Skaarj Elder Skaarj Elder
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Subject: Re: The UNBIBLE

Post Posted: 26 Oct 2011, 23:11

Judging from Epic's involvement in Unreal 2, they probably contributed a few basic ideas at most. Legend made the Drakk what they are.

I like a lot of the concepts in the Unbible. Squids dragging players to the bottom of lakes would have been amazing. The fantasy elements (and everything else in the Unbible) would make for one hell of an alternate universe.

UB_
Nali Priest Nali Priest
Posts: 7960
Joined: 11 Nov 2007, 21:00

Subject: Re: The UNBIBLE

Post Posted: 26 Oct 2011, 23:15

The description of the Cyborgs is way too much Drakk-sounding... floating robots, laser beam weapon, complex model. They even began creating the mesh.

Seems that the Concussion Staff was originally named Stunner and was a weapon too. Unreal seemed more a big adventure game than just shooting-only.
Also Brutes could shoot LASER bolts.
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User avatar Tarydax
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Subject: Re: The UNBIBLE

Post Posted: 26 Oct 2011, 23:50

UBerserker wrote:The description of the Cyborgs is way too much Drakk-sounding... floating robots, laser beam weapon, complex model. They even began creating the mesh.


Meh, the cyborgs sound like the average robot in a Hollywood movie. Look at the machines in The Matrix; they pretty much fit that description, and there are a bunch of other machines that pretty much do the same thing. The Drakk could have been based on the robots from the Matrix in the same way the Skaarj were based on the Predator. I can't imagine that Epic would show something to legend that wasnt even completed, anyways. If the cyborgs were supposed to be on the ISV-Kran, maybe the biosuits are what the cyborgs were going to be. If that's the case, I don't see much of a resemblance.
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UB_
Nali Priest Nali Priest
Posts: 7960
Joined: 11 Nov 2007, 21:00

Subject: Re: The UNBIBLE

Post Posted: 27 Oct 2011, 00:01

I still think they are the Drakk's pre-concept; it's not like the Unreal monsters are that original or something. Drakks are still my favourite Unreal race aside the Skaarj, and I'd wanted similar entities to fight in Unreal 1.
Plus, Epic probably sent loads of concepts to Legend for both RTNP and maybe Unreal 2. Look at Gala.

Now that you said the BioSuits, yeah, why not. They don't have a "Drill arm" but hey they are placed in the Alien Starcraft/ISV-Kran and look rather strange and menacing.
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User avatar TheIronKnuckle
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Subject: Re: The UNBIBLE

Post Posted: 27 Oct 2011, 09:24

cool. will read. had a skim and i can't tell if there are supposed to be pictures or not. :S it keeps talking about figure 1 and figure 2 and stuff.
ImageIgnorance is knowing anything
And only idiots know everything

UB_
Nali Priest Nali Priest
Posts: 7960
Joined: 11 Nov 2007, 21:00

Subject: Re: The UNBIBLE

Post Posted: 27 Oct 2011, 09:34

Read the first post. Those pics unfortunately never came out. You have to use your imagination!
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UB_
Nali Priest Nali Priest
Posts: 7960
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Subject: Re: The UNBIBLE

Post Posted: 27 Oct 2011, 14:37

According to the UNBIBLE this is how Unreal would have been

There were 31 levels in total. Game was divided into these 3 mainmaps/hubs. These large areas would provide access to other levels (kinda like in the U98 beta); these normal levels were resetted if you re-entered them again. Mainmaps instead had the changes saved.
Mainmaps were supposed to be more detailed and since they would probably need more PC rawpower to run them, you wouldn't encounter enemies (only a few if possible).
Unreal was supposed to be set only during nighttime - quite explains all of those blue dark skies back in the U95 shots - with the sky being cloudy, lightning strikes everywhere, birds and Fireflies (a model of these appear in the U97 Alpha). Also, you could see mysterious lights in the distance (magic? Sky cities?).
Reminds me of the older Spyro games with this friendly "World" area with access to other maps.

The main objective is getting these Artifacts, hidden throughout the game. They activate altars according to the info. Levels (including the mainmaps) would be opened always for play until the Artifact gets collected. Basically if you get all the artifacts in WORLD 1, WORLD 1 would become inaccessible.
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User avatar Darkon
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Subject: Re: The UNBIBLE

Post Posted: 27 Oct 2011, 15:51

Are there any things that could be retreived from the alpha's and beta's that we have? (prolly not I suppose)
Never trust a Dutchman in a tulip fight.

UB_
Nali Priest Nali Priest
Posts: 7960
Joined: 11 Nov 2007, 21:00

Subject: Re: The UNBIBLE

Post Posted: 27 Oct 2011, 16:07

Nope.
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User avatar []KAOS[]Casey
Skaarj Berserker Skaarj Berserker
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Subject: Re: The UNBIBLE

Post Posted: 27 Oct 2011, 19:11

Darkon wrote:Are there any things that could be retreived from the alpha's and beta's that we have? (prolly not I suppose)

They used a different file format and the exporter commands crash for anything truly juicy. Someone would have to reverse engineer the old format, but then for all we know the whole mesh system was completely different back then. Could be very complicated.

iLikeTheUDK
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Subject: Re: The UNBIBLE

Post Posted: 04 Nov 2011, 17:28

So FireStorm really WAS based on some unreal beta stuff.
Anyway, UBerserker, where did you find this? Why did it come without any reference pictures? And from reading it, it seems that it was originally a document that either James Schmaltz, Cliff Bleszinski or Tim Sweeney wrote and emailed to the rest of the team, namely the remote employees, when conception for Unreal just began. Either way, it seems to explain a lot of odd stuff and questions I had (though it adds some more - For instance, why did they think of a sequel at such an early stage? How come the sentry drone concept become shelved for such a long time, only to be reused in a sequel - developed by a different company?!).
:^3

UB_
Nali Priest Nali Priest
Posts: 7960
Joined: 11 Nov 2007, 21:00

Subject: Re: The UNBIBLE

Post Posted: 04 Nov 2011, 19:13

Firestorm was never based on beta stuff, especially this since the Unbible was only leaked some months ago.
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User avatar []KAOS[]Casey
Skaarj Berserker Skaarj Berserker
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Subject: Re: The UNBIBLE

Post Posted: 04 Nov 2011, 21:41

Firestorm only reached into concepts that were self-evident if you looked deep into unreal, granted, only a few really.

User avatar Hellscrag
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Subject: Re: The UNBIBLE

Post Posted: 19 Dec 2011, 23:00

An interesting read. Actually, I quite like the fantasy elements of the game concept we are offered here... changing into monsters, collecting artefacts etc... it's a pity so much stuff like this got cut, as it could really have enriched the game... but, on the other hand, who can say whether the game would have had the same enduring appeal if it had been built along these lines?

The "artifact" stuff clearly plays out in the design of many of the older beta maps, which are set up to reward you at the end with an item of import (in LH's RTNPUE, this tends to be a dispersion pistol powerup), and many of which would otherwise be entirely pointless detours.

I'm surprised nobody's attempted to match the levels set out in the UNBIBLE to what eventually emerged in the retail game or the beta. Here's my take on it.

Level 1 - Player's ship - Clearly Vortex Rikers
Level 2 - Mine - Presumably Rrajigar
Level 3 - Ruins 1 - Sounds like Velora Temple
Levels 4-7 - Castle - Sounds like it might have turned into the actual Nali Castle
Level 8 - Ruins - Nothing obvious; Temple of Vandora by elimination.

Levels 9-11 - Alien Spacecraft - Possibly the ISV-Kran from the description of the crash
Levels 12-14 - SkyCity - Sounds like the grey stone city seen in early alpha screenshots
Levels 15-16 - Decayed Spacecraft - Nothing obvious, but it sounds like it led to the brief for DecayedS.utx. Maybe Terraniux replaced it.
Levels 17-18 - Crypt Pyramid - Sounds a lot like Chizra, given Chizra's extensive flooded passageways and the recurrence of pyramid shapes in the design of the maps. The volcanic core sounds like the optional shrine area with the bottomless pit in the Ceremonial Chambers.
Level 19 - Mountain ruins - Nothing obvious

(Fhub4 seems to correspond roughly to the above section.)

Levels 20-21 - Crypts - Possibly Soledad
Levels 22-23 - Skaarj Mines - Could have morphed into Foundry, but it's a bit of a reach
Levels 24-25 - Decayed Ship - If Terraniux took the place of the first one then maybe this one turned into Cryox
Level 26 - Skaarj Fortress - Nothing obvious. I kind of want to say Bluff Eversmoking, because we know from "Blinded by Reality" that there was a fortress-style map of this name at a very early stage of the design of the game... it looked nothing like what we eventually got.
Levels 27-31 - Skaarj MotherShip - well, yeah...

(Fhub5 seems to correspond roughly to parts of the above section)

Unaccounted for:
Sunspire... unless it evolved from the "castle tower" idea for the first "main map".
Na Pali Haven sequence... but it clearly replaced SkyCity
Dark Arena and Velora Pass... who the hell knows!
Dasa... but it feels like a later addition to me
Nexus & Jrath


UB, you've studied this document more than I have. What do you think?

EDIT: Made a few additions above.
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