DM2 Beta Monsters...

[Suule]

We all know that PC DM2 monsters aren't that scary as some of the Amiga ones. Recently I've launched PC DM1.9 (Beta of DM2) and found an interesting prototype.



Yep. That's the old wolf, replaced with a cartoony one in DM2 PC. Complete with pickup graphics, jump graphics etc. Did you also know that he ate steaks???!!



Old Axemen looked like Klingon. Nevertheless they looked better than the animated vikings from DM2PC. Oh. And none of them could steal.



The machette skeletons were deadly... 50 damage every second? Something like something that can be munchers' and wasps' children.



Dru-tan got some nice tribal thing going on. It was later removed. Dunno why. He looked cool being all tribal.




Vexirks looked like their bros from DM1 and CSB rather than some cartoony midgets in robes.

The last pics are ???? material I found. A hole and some ancient stereo system that are located deep down in caves.




I've screenshoted every frame possible of the monsters mentioned above and I can give them to someone for further editing (extracting exact sprites)

I'll prolly do some custom CSBWin dungeon with those monsters (RTC doesn't feel 'right' to me, sorry GG.)

[Tom Hatfield]

kentaro could probably tear the format apart for you.

[Suule]

The format is half old graphics.dat (DMExtract got me all the walls and some of the wall/floor objects. Half new graphics.dat

Problem is that they're divided into two files graphics.dat and graphic2.dat . I suspect that graphic2.dat contains all the actor data. But DMExtract gives me only dmout0001.dat with a lot of useless gibberish.

[Tom Hatfield]

I didn't mean to sound like I was nominating him.

Those contraptions intrigue me. I'm always annoyed when you find something in a game that looks interesting, possibly even important, but has no apparent function other than to look interesting/important. That's almost certainly why they took out the boombox and sphincter, but they left in the waterwheel.

And, for the record, I like the cartoony graphics, but that old Dru Tan is a scary lookin' mug. Definitely more terrifying with the rows of razor-sharp teeth. If you ask me, the old vexirks look more like midgets than the new ones, or little kids dressed in black robes. Anyway, I'm sure the community will appreciate your rippng work.

[Gambit37]

Boombox and Sphincter! A great name... for what though? Demands unpleasant imaginations...

[Suule]

Those contraptions intrigue me. I'm always annoyed when you find something in a game that looks interesting, possibly even important, but has no apparent function other than to look interesting/important. That's almost certainly why they took out the boombox and sphincter, but they left in the waterwheel.

Oddly enough boombox and sphincter were on the same level (and that level also contained flame orbrs). It may've been something that was cut out in the end, since the level wasn't completed at all. As for the water wheel... I think it was made to look as a cool fountain. Nothing else. Other interesting finds include collapsable cave floors, cave tables, spike traps (that shoot from the ground!), campfires... most of them were running as planned.

And, for the record, I like the cartoony graphics, but that old Dru Tan is a scary lookin' mug. Definitely more terrifying with the rows of razor-sharp teeth. If you ask me, the old vexirks look more like midgets than the new ones, or little kids dressed in black robes.

I dunno. The old Vexirks looked more suitable with Amiga graphics than the AWFUL PC<->Amiga recolours (pale hands, yuck!). As for the graphics. It's a matter of taste really. I found most of the old graphics better, but the old Axeman made me burst out in laughter.

Anyway, I'm sure the community will appreciate your rippng work.

Thanks. I once tried ripping the Hired Guns sprites but they proved too small for DM use.

[Sophia]

Boombox and Sphincter! A great name... for what though? Demands unpleasant imaginations...

Hehe, maybe a new game series...

Forget about Jak and Dexter, or Ratchet and Clank, it's...

Boombox and Sphincter!

[Gambit37]

I just played that beta version again to see the stuff you mentioned and I couldn't find the wolf or the axemen. However, the sphincter really looks like the openings on the side of the derelict ship in the original Alien movie... I wonder what they were to be for?

I'm going to start writing a comic called Boombox and Sphincter. It's brilliant! See, there's this almighty sphincter that has had a really shitty day...

[ChristopheF]

In DM2 for PC Beta version, the graphics data file was split in two parts in order to fit them on floppy disks.

With the following command line, you can create a "real" graphics.dat file which is in true DM2 format (it is not half DM1, half DM2):

copy /b graphics.dat + graphic2.dat dm2pc.dat

Then, the file can be opened with DM2GDED (the tool developed by kentaro and available here: http://dmweb.free.fr/?q=node/721), and you can easily extract all graphics if you want.


Suule, would you mind if I use your findings/screenshots to build a new page on my web site showing the differences between this beta version and the final one? Of course you would be credited.

[Gambit37]

Hey, cool, thanks for that tip Christophe! I can now see that the 'sphincter' is some kind of outlet for the heating system as it spews forth flames! Painful!

There's some really cool stuff in here that never made it in the final game: seems to be a window spell for hedges was always planned but never made it to the final game. And what's that large flooritem that appears to be an animation of falling down a big watery hole?

The boombox is labelled as AMPLIFIER ... ???

[Suule]

In DM2 for PC Beta version, the graphics data file was split in two parts in order to fit them on floppy disks.

With the following command line, you can create a "real" graphics.dat file which is in true DM2 format (it is not half DM1, half DM2):

copy /b graphics.dat + graphic2.dat dm2pc.dat

Then, the file can be opened with DM2GDED (the tool developed by kentaro and available here: http://dmweb.free.fr/?q=node/721), and you can easily extract all graphics if you want.

Oh God. So THAT'S how it works??!! And I've been trying to decrypt the format for 2 years X3. I started checking the DM2BETA graphics.dat already... found tons of stuff that didn't make into the final version! Old-style VI Altars, The mystical 'amplifier', a weird map pointing out... 3 volcanos outside Skullkeep, blue gem socket (Sic!), sword holders, wooden seams, magical footprints(!!!!), lab table (??!!!), chained up axeman... but looking at the map, they're rarely used!

[Suule, would you mind if I use your findings/screenshots to build a new page on my web site showing the differences between this beta version and the final one? Of course you would be credited.

I wouldn't mind at all. Adamo mentioned you wanted some editors... I could do an article on DMII design (graphics.dat) and provide scans about DM, CSB and DMII from Polish gaming mags if you're interested.

[Gambit37]

3 volcanos on a map? I don't recall seeing that -- which category is it under in DM2GDED?

[Suule]

Wall Ornates - 28h

[Gambit37]

Oh yeah, I see now -- cool! Loads of interesting bits and pieces in here that could have made the game a lot more interesting!

It's a shame that so much gets cut out of games when the pressure to deliver gets too great to fulfil all the original objectives.

[Suule]

I think I might get the beta 'completed' (with some effort and imagination. Kentaro tools work with the beta, so I shall toy around with making it semi-completeable.

[Adamo]

Suule wrote:

I could do an article on DMII design (graphics.dat) and provide scans about DM, CSB and DMII from Polish gaming mags if you're interested.

please scan them, Suule. In first or second number of ŚGK there was a giantic article about DM. There was also an article about Black Crypt I think.
that would be cool for the polish readers of encyclopedia.
I got rid of these magazines ages ago, as I think most people did

[Suule]

It wasn't that giantic! Computer Studio and Gambler has better ones!

[ChristopheF]

If you send me your magazine scans, I will publish them on the encyclopaedia. I'm always OK to add new content to the site, even if I am aften slow to add all the things I find and receive.

And what's that large flooritem that appears to be an animation of falling down a big watery hole?

See here http://dmweb.free.fr/?q=node/606 : "in the cave under the castle by the green "poison-gnom" you can slide down a waterfall"

In the game archive, there are many saved games under the _extra folder that you can use to visit most of the locations in the beta version.

If someone wants to write a nice and clean article with screenshots about the differences between the beta and final versions of DM2, I will publish it as is on the encyclopaedia.

[Lunever]

So can we already use those unused graphics in RTC?

[beowuuf]

I would imagine not - I guess someone needs to rip them and GG can then in the engine

[Suule]

I guess I can rip them.

[plenty]

Well, I did, but if it was so eassy, i think it has been done long before :/
I still cant find them in RTC resources, nor amiga dm2 sprites. Well, its eassy enough to repleace bitmaps anyways. It would be nice if they were included, at least as a compressed pack... or mayby they are allready avalible somwhere, ready to download?

[linflas]

nope, but if you already ripped all DM2 0.99 gfx then could you make a pack and upload them anywhere ? i guess many people here will be interested !

[plenty]

Well, all i did was ripping whole graphic.dat file.

There are all (i guess) bitmaps from the game - 2030 of them, 1443 .dat files and 492 .txt files. If u sort all files by the name (adding nessesarry number of "0"s in front, to make all files 4 digit names), and then chose BMP file (or files, cose many BMP are just diffrent states of the same object), first txt file after them (if there is such) ussually contains the name of the item, and first dat file contain properities. There is also summarry file !oryginall.txt showing relations between groups of files. If somebody understand this structure (with all exeptions) well enough, he should be able to write string parsind rename tool... For me it would take weeks to write it, or years to do it manually...

I allowed myself to change the dump file names to make it eassyier to sort. Changed summarry is in !.txt. The whole packed file is 1,73 mb:

http://one.xthost.info/wip/graphics.rar

[Sphenx]

Some years later ... it seems the original images provided by Suule are not anymore available.
So, here are new images:


Wolves


Axe Wielder


Skeleton


Dru Tan


Vexirk


Fire Mouth and Amplifier


Demon Archer Guard


Riverfall


Floorspikes


Glop


Poison trap


Items in cave


Cave teleporter


I also started adaptation to have the beta playable under PC-DOS DM2 retail version (skull.exe)


Sword holder


Skeleton door


Cave inscription


Glop and darker thicket

[plenty]

Some years later...

http://plenty.onuse.pl/aq/graphics.rar

Rip of >2000 images.

[DruTan]

If you like Dru-Tan's tattoo:

[DruTan]

Some years later...

http://plenty.onuse.pl/aq/graphics.rar

Rip of >2000 images.

That link is dead , would it be possible to re-upload that archive?

[Sphenx]

I don't know if someone has this archive. I do not. Maybe there are other archives around, I am not sure.
Else we can rebuild one. Is there a specific version you would like to get ? (as this thread was about Beta)
You can also check DM2GDED tool to view graphics within DM2 dat files (you can find it here https://github.com/gbsphenx/skproject/releases)
Or Christophe's data decoder (http://dmweb.free.fr/?q=node/707)

[plenty]

I tried to rebuild it, with mixed results.

I don't remember exactly how I did it the last time, so results are a mixed bag.
I think I was reordering palettes with a batch tool, with Image Magic maybe?
There are better tools and file structure information out since I was playing with it.

DM2 v 0.9 files
Binary combined GRAPHICS.DAT + GRAPHIC2.DAT as GRAPHIC3.DAT.
Extracted with DMExtract v1.01
~2000 files, most are ok.

DM2 Beta
Extracted GRAPHICS.DAT as is.
There are only ~800 images that I pulled out, and nearly all have messed up palette.

Extracted files, DMExtract tool, and both .dat files are included, below. I don't know for how long will I keep this on my google drive, but I'll try not to remove it for at least a month.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1z7IMky ... sp=sharing