TFTD Test Disk Discussion

[Zombie]

Second is two TFTD Test disks, and both still contain data from 11/23/1994-11/24/1994! Fantastic stuff to say the least!

 

I unzipped the files today and got the game running! It's only Aquatoids (they look the same), but a lot of other things are different. The game is apparently reusing UFO's geodata.dat file for the TFTD weapons so the aliens are ultra-vicious with 35 round mags for their sonic cannons. The standard aquanaut diving suit is yellow, but when killed, the corpse shows a blue suit. The aquanauts themselves stand with their legs far apart in an upside down V, which is really funny. All the weapons look mostly different. I was able to find the USO (looked similar to a Medium Scout in UFO, except a little smaller and with nothing inside) and kill the two Aquatoids. Just before I ended the mission I saw a muted-purple ball on the floor. One of my guys had enough TU to run over it and take a look - looked a little like Elerium did with roughly the same yellow crystals, but it had a band of red running through it. So my first impression is that this is GOLD!

 

Going to see if I can get it running under DosBox so that I can grab some screenshots for you guys to drool over.

 

Anyhow, I'll be adding more promotional item images starting tomorrow again, just wanted to give you all a heads-up on the test disks.

 

- Zombie

[silencer_pl]

Better yet - record a video.

[Zombie]

I doubt my computer can handle video capturing so it won't happen anytime soon.

 

Well, today I added some more information to Koloth's X-Gum "Ublo" Bubblegum entry, his Apocalypse display box, and the Popper figurine. I also added a scan of the back of the black+red stationary folder and also added an entry for the awesome F-19 Stealth Fighter Pen/Pencil Holder w/Paper from MicroProse. Neat stuff!

 

As always, more to come. Tomorrow I'll add a lot more as I don't have to work, so keep your eyes open.

 

- Zombie

[silencer_pl]

DosBox records in native resolution, so don't be like SV - this will barely take any impact even on old computer, unless you're like on old 1 core pentium or athlon or worse.

[Space Voyager]

DosBox records in native resolution, so don't be like SV - this will barely take any impact even on old computer, unless you're like on old 1 core pentium or athlon or worse.

 

Don't be like SV in what sense? Not to record in resolution, higher than the source? I kinda like that as I was able to play with encoding more.

[silencer_pl]

Complaining about your PC.

[Space Voyager]

Oh, that.

[NKF]

You could always get a short showcase video made for you. I'm sure there are fellow members here that have the tools or know how to get this done.

 

- NKF

[Zombie]

Hi folks! I was playing the missions in the two TFTD Test Disks the last couple days in DosBox trying to get some screenshots of the weapons etc. But then it hit me: why take screenshots of the weapons when I can grab the images directly from the game files themselves? So I fired up PCKView and was rewarded with a FULL set of X-COM and alien weapons and corpses (this is from the PLANETAC Disk). After saving it and zooming in to see the details better, here's what I ended up with:

 

 

https://i579.photobucket.com/albums/ss235/Zombie1972a/TFTD%20Test%20Disks/Bigobs%20PTAC.png

• Gauss Rifle, Jet Harpoon, Jet Harpoon Clip, Dart Gun, Dart Gun Clip, Gauss Pistol, Heavy Gauss, Hydro-Jet Cannon, HJ-AP, HJ-HE, HJ-P, Gas Cannon, GC-AP, GC-HE, GC-P, Torpedo Launcher
  
• Small Torpedo, Large Torpedo, Phosphorous Torpedo, Magna-Blast Grenade, Dye Grenade, Particle Disturbance Grenade, Magna-Pack Explosive, Particle Disturbance Sensor, Medi-Kit, Sonic Cannon Clip, Thermal Tazer, Unknown (maybe it's another grenade type like in EU, probably unused), Plastic Aqua Armor Corpse, M.C. Reader, Sonic Cannon, Sonic-Blasta Rifle
  
• Sonic Pistol, M.C. Disruptor, Sonic Pistol Clip, Disruptor Pulse Launcher, Disruptor Ammo, Thermal Shok Launcher, Thermal Shok Bomb, Sonic Pulser, Hovertank Turret, Blasta Power Clip, Tank/Rocket Launcher Turret, Tank/Cannon Turret, Ion/Mag Ion Armor Corpse, Aquanaut Corpse, Aquatoid Corpse, Celatid Corpse
  
• Muton Corpse, Ethereal Corpse, Gillman Corpse, Silacoid Corpse, Floater Corpse, Chryssalid Corpse, Tank/Laser Turret, Electro-flare (this is probably the sprite the game is using for the Chemical-flare), Elerium, Gauss Pistol Clip, Heavy Thermic Lance, Thermic Lance, Vibroblade, Gauss Rifle Clip, Heavy Gauss Clip, Unknown?
  

Not really sure about some of the images, as they don't follow the OBDATA.DAT file list (at least I really didn't dig into it to find out). Some of the images are not colored correctly, probably because the palette wasn't completely fleshed out yet.

 

So yeah, a glimpse into what TFTD weapons and corpses looked like in the early development stages. Neat!

 

- Zombie

[NKF]

Some of those appear to be unaltered UFO sprites, but look different due to the palette changes. The thing to the left of the cannon turret for example looks a bit like an electro flare. I'm quite glad many of these went through some refinements before the final release.

 

- NKF

[Zombie]

You are correct. I was playing around with the palettes in PCKView after my post and noticed the same thing. So I went ahead and updated the list a bit, I think most of it is covered now. The item next to the Thermal Tazer is supposed to be the Chemical Flare, but it may be unused. Not 100% sure on that though as the mission only has Harpoons, Darts, Magna-Blast Grenades, and Hydro-Jet Cannons - nothing else.

 

Edit: nevermind about the Chemical Flare thing. I totally forgot that EU had an unused sprite which looked like another smoke grenade. That's what confused me. Oh, and I much prefer this version of the Medi-Kit over the current TFTD Medi-Kit or even the EU version. This one is fantastic!

 

- Zombie

[Hobbes]

Zombie, any chance there are maps on the test disks that didn't made it to the final version? I just read the Draft Publishing Plan and they outlined a lot of ideas there.

 

Btw, I might as well inform you all that OpenTFTD is being implemented by the OpenXcom team. There isn't a beta or release date yet but the developers are working hard on it.

 

And, I'm introducing several of the TFTD maps to be played in the original game through OpenXcom, through my Terrain Pack mod (at the moment it already contains 43 new UFO/Terror Site terrains). I have already added Mu and Atlantis as Jungle/Desert terrains, plus Port as a Terror Site terrain. And the next ones on my list are the Ship missions as terror sites.

[Zombie]

Zombie, any chance there are maps on the test disks that didn't made it to the final version?

 

No and yes&no. I know this doesn't make much sense, so read on.

 

No because half of the maps haven't even been started yet. The only landscapes which have actual map files in PLANETAC are Alien Artifact Site 1, Atlantis, Coral, Mayan Temple, Port Terror Site, Seabed and Sunken Plane. TACTICAL has those plus Volcano, but that's it, nothing more.

 

Yes because some map files have differences, but no because these are only minor changes (like a new piece of coral added here or there). The "guts" of the maps are basically the same (same design elements, same size etc). I haven't performed a side-by-side visual inspection of each map file though, only a few. I'll let you know here if I find anything really new.

 

With that said, there are a few instances where the maps look a little "incomplete". Not because they are missing something per se, but because the graphic artists haven't fully polished them.

 

- Zombie

[Zombie]

I did look at all the maps files to see if there were any "major" differences, but I didn't see any. The map sets with those minor differences are the Alien Artifact Site 1, Coral and Atlantis. There are bigger differences in Port and Mayan Temple, probably because they were just created and haven't been cleaned up yet. I'll try and get some pics of them to compare.

 

By the way, on my list a few posts above, I was able to verify most of the unknowns or question marks. That grenade next to the Thermal Tazer is probably unused like in EU, the Chemical-flare just uses the Electro-flare sprite, supposedly because it wasn't finished. And indeed, the blade weapons are in the correct order. I found that out by looking at the finished TFTD BIGOBS file and comparing that to the older version. And after doing that, I was browsing the UNITS folder in the current game and looked at the FLOOROB file (which shows what something looks on the ground) and found that the programmers are using older sprites for some things on the ground... they never fully updated this file! I'll try to get a picture of this up later today.

 

- Zombie

[Hobbes]

I did look at all the maps files to see if there were any "major" differences, but I didn't see any. The map sets with those minor differences are the Alien Artifact Site 1, Coral and Atlantis. There are bigger differences in Port and Mayan Temple, probably because they were just created and haven't been cleaned up yet. I'll try and get some pics of them to compare.

 

Yeah, this was what I expected, I just wondered if there were some 'unused' .MAP files like UFO has.

 

The TFTD Draft Publishing Plan you published also mentions an internal "X-COM Bible"... I don't suppose the guy that you've bought all this stuff also had a copy of it.

[Zombie]

Yeah, this was what I expected, I just wondered if there were some 'unused' .MAP files like UFO has.

 

I don't think there is anything unused in the maps folders except MAP3.MAP and MAP4.MAP but those are present in the original game anyway. Do you know what these look like BTW?

 

Late Edit: Nevermind, I found them on the Wiki here.

 

The TFTD Draft Publishing Plan you published also mentions an internal "X-COM Bible"... I don't suppose the guy that you've bought all this stuff also had a copy of it.

 

I highly doubt he has it, as knowing Quentin he probably would have offered it up to me already or threw it in as an "extra". The people that would have had it are those listed in the plan: UK Brand Manager - Valentina Britten, US Product Manager - Matt Fick. It may be possible that Stuart Whyte or Doug Kaufman (both Producers) had it. My guess is Steve Goss would most likely have had it, not sure if he does anymore though. As an aside, a long time ago I was searching eBay for X-COM items and ran across a guy selling an X-COM Bible for Interceptor. I placed a bid on it, but I think he ended the auction early. I sent him a message recently asking him about it, but he never got back to me, could be because he uses a different eBay handle or he has a new email. Whatever the case, it seems like all the X-COM games had a "Bible" associated with it.

 

Ok, so I maybe misspoke a bit. There are some "new" maps, specifically the Triton and the two smallest USO's:

 

Triton

 

https://i579.photobucket.com/albums/ss235/Zombie1972a/TFTD%20Test%20Disks/Triton.png

 

PLANETAC USO's

 

https://i579.photobucket.com/albums/ss235/Zombie1972a/TFTD%20Test%20Disks/UFO01%20PLA.pnghttps://i579.photobucket.com/albums/ss235/Zombie1972a/TFTD%20Test%20Disks/UFO02%20PLA.png

 

TACTICAL USO's

 

 

https://i579.photobucket.com/albums/ss235/Zombie1972a/TFTD%20Test%20Disks/UFO01%20TAC.pnghttps://i579.photobucket.com/albums/ss235/Zombie1972a/TFTD%20Test%20Disks/UFO02%20TAC.png

 

Some of the USO's are a little crude and unfinished, but the Triton certainly looks a little different with the extended yellow wingtips.

 

- Zombie

[Zombie]

By the way, on my list a few posts above, I was able to verify most of the unknowns or question marks. That grenade next to the Thermal Tazer is probably unused like in EU, the Chemical-flare just uses the Electro-flare sprite, supposedly because it wasn't finished. And indeed, the blade weapons are in the correct order. I found that out by looking at the finished TFTD BIGOBS file and comparing that to the older version. And after doing that, I was browsing the UNITS folder in the current game and looked at the FLOOROB file (which shows what something looks on the ground) and found that the programmers are using older sprites for some things on the ground... they never fully updated this file! I'll try to get a picture of this up later today.

 

As promised, here is the FLOOROB file that comes with a normal TFTD install:

 

https://i579.photobucket.com/albums/ss235/Zombie1972a/TFTD%20Test%20Disks/FLOOROB%20Original.png

 

As you can see, the Gauss, Sonic and Blade weapons are all using older sprites (and by the looks of it, many of the human weapons and items as well). I tried to pull the FLOOROB images from my Test Disks but that file is still using the EU sprites. Oh well. I guess this is expected as the game hadn't been fully programmed yet.

 

- Zombie

[Zombie]

Back again with more info. (By the way, I split the posts in this topic off from my Ultimate Collection page, I don't want to cloud either discussion).

 

So the BIGOBS from PLANETAC which I was working from was dated 10/26/1994. However, BIGOBS from the TACTICAL Disk was dated 11/24/1994 which is almost a month later. Let's see what changed in that time frame, shall we?

 

 

https://i579.photobucket.com/albums/ss235/Zombie1972a/TFTD%20Test%20Disks/Bigobs%20TAC.png

• Gauss Rifle, Jet Harpoon, Jet Harpoon Clip, Dart Gun, Dart Gun Clip, Gauss Pistol, Heavy Gauss, Hydro-Jet Cannon, HJ-AP, HJ-HE, HJ-P, Gas Cannon, GC-AP, GC-HE, GC-P, Torpedo Launcher
  
• Small Torpedo, Large Torpedo, Phosphorous Torpedo, Magna-Blast Grenade, Dye Grenade, Particle Disturbance Grenade, Magna-Pack Explosive, Particle Disturbance Sensor, Medi-Kit, Sonic Cannon Clip, Thermal Tazer, Unknown (it looks like a Chemical-flare), Plastic Aqua Armor Corpse, M.C. Reader (redesigned), Sonic Cannon, Sonic-Blasta Rifle
  
• Sonic Pistol, M.C. Disruptor, Sonic Pistol Clip, Disruptor Pulse Launcher (completely redesigned), Disruptor Ammo, Thermal Shok Launcher, Thermal Shok Bomb, Sonic Pulser (redesigned), Coelacanth/G. Cannon&Coelacanth/Gauss Turret, Blasta Power Clip, Coelacanth/Aqua Jet Turret, Displacer/S.W.S Turret, Ion/Mag Ion Armor Corpse, Aquanaut Corpse, Aquatoid Corpse, Deep One Corpse?
  
• Tasoth Corpse, Lobsterman Corpse, Gillman Corpse, Bio-Drone Corpse?, Calcinite Corpse?, Tentaculat Corpse?, Displacer/Sonic Turret, Electro-flare, Zrbite (redesigned Elerium), Gauss Pistol Clip, Heavy Thermic Lance, Thermic Lance, Vibroblade, Gauss Rifle Clip, Heavy Gauss Clip, Unknown (possibly some sort of scanner?)
  
• Unknown (some sort of new weapon), Unknown (ammo for the unknown weapon).
  

So the big changes were the redesign of the M.C. Reader, DPL, Sonic Pulser and Zrbite (technically just a redesigned Elerium). The sprites for the SWS's and corpses was finally added and a new weapon and ammo was also included. Not sure what this was going to be though.

 

Interesting stuff!

 

- Zombie

[Zombie]

I suppose I should include some info on the BIGOBS file in a standard TFTD install to compare. All the files in the UNITS folder are dated 3/16/1995 which is a little over 3 months after the TACTICAL disk was released.

 

 

https://i579.photobucket.com/albums/ss235/Zombie1972a/TFTD%20Test%20Disks/Bigobs%20Orig.png

• Gauss Rifle, Jet Harpoon, Jet Harpoon Clip, Dart Gun, Dart Gun Clip, Gauss Pistol, Heavy Gauss, Hydro-Jet Cannon, HJ-AP, HJ-HE, HJ-P, Gas Cannon, GC-AP, GC-HE, GC-P, Torpedo Launcher
  
• Small Torpedo, Large Torpedo, Phosphorous Torpedo, Magna-Blast Grenade, Dye Grenade, Particle Disturbance Grenade, Magna-Pack Explosive, Particle Disturbance Sensor, Medi-Kit, Sonic Cannon Clip, Thermal Tazer, Unknown (identical to a Chemical-flare, but isn't used), Aquanaut Corpse, M.C. Reader (redesigned... again), Sonic Cannon, Sonic-Blasta Rifle
  
• Sonic Pistol, M.C. Disruptor, Sonic Pistol Clip, Disruptor Pulse Launcher, Disruptor Ammo, Thermal Shok Launcher, Thermal Shok Bomb, Sonic Pulser, Coelacanth/G. Cannon&Coelacanth/Gauss Turret, Blasta Power Clip, Coelacanth/Aqua Jet Turret, Displacer/S.W.S Turret, Plastic Aqua Armor Corpse, Ion/Mag Ion Armor Corpse, Aquatoid Corpse, Deep One Corpse
  
• Tasoth Corpse, Lobsterman Corpse, Gillman Corpse, Bio-Drone Corpse, Calcinite Corpse, Tentaculat Corpse, Displacer/Sonic Turret, Chemical-flare (the game uses this image), Zrbite, Gauss Pistol Clip, Heavy Thermic Lance, Thermic Lance, Vibroblade, Gauss Rifle Clip, Heavy Gauss Clip, Unknown (possibly some sort of scanner?, redesigned)
  
• Unknown (some sort of new weapon, redesigned), Unknown (ammo for the unknown weapon).
  

As you can see, quite a few differences. Most everyhting has been updated, redesigned or cleaned up. For the alien weapons, all of those Pac-Man type clip holders were removed and changed into standard looking clip magazines and the bladed weapons were completely overhauled. The major changes for the human stuff was the complete redesign of the Particle Disturbance Sensor, Medi-Kit (this is God-awful now IMHO), Chemical-flare, M.C. Disruptor and M.C. Reader. That's not to mention the new corpse sprites either... I noticed the game switched the Aquanaut Corpse and the Plastic Aqua Armor Corpse types for the final version. Strange.

 

Wow, we've come a long way.

 

- Zombie

[NKF]

I'm thinking that unknown weapon at the end may have been an alien equivalent of the Gas Cannon. Some sort of grenade launcher like the Gas Cannon. That's the vibe I'm getting since it uses the red/cyan scheme.

 

I never noticed this before, but all of the gun handles are identical apart from the palette tweaks. Also, I think I now know which is the business end for the Shok launcher. I always thought the sprite was upside down.

 

- NKF

[silencer_pl]

Strangely the gill man corpse in the test disk is closer looking to the ufopaedia entry than the current we have.

[Zombie]

I'm thinking that unknown weapon at the end may have been an alien equivalent of the Gas Cannon. Some sort of grenade launcher like the Gas Cannon. That's the vibe I'm getting since it uses the red/cyan scheme.

 

If you're thinking it has a multi-shell magazine, then I disagree. But I will agree it is some sort of launcher, what type of shell it launched is up for discussion.

 

I never noticed this before, but all of the gun handles are identical apart from the palette tweaks. Also, I think I now know which is the business end for the Shok launcher. I always thought the sprite was upside down.

 

Hehe, I know what you mean, I thought it was upside down as well till I blew up the image.

 

Last night I was wondering if there was any way to bridge the gap between the TACTICAL Test Disk and the final version, because it would be interesting to see how the images changed over time. Then it hit me: maybe the TFTD Demo disk will help. Kinda. The BIGOBS file dates from 1/26/1995 which is 3 months after PLANETAC and 2 months since TACTICAL.

 

 

https://i579.photobucket.com/albums/ss235/Zombie1972a/TFTD%20Test%20Disks/Bigobs%20Demo.png

 

The obvious big changes are the super cool Particle Disturbance Sensor and a slightly different Medi-Kit. Other than that, the remainder of the changes are minor stuff like spacing (the SWS icons, the Magna-Pack and some of the corpse sprites).

 

So nothing Earth shattering per se, but it does give an idea how hard the devs worked to whack this game out quick. I think we can conclude that the sprites were mostly settled upon by the end of January 1995. Since TACTICAL was at the end of November 1994 and was really different from what the sprites ended up looking like, that means the devs did a complete overhaul in a scant 2 months which just floors me.

 

- Zombie

[NoXTheRoXStaR]

I suppose...that everything is up for speculation. I'd like to ask the artist/s involved. He/They created the sprites in the first place. So unless he did an enormous amount of acid and forgot what sketchbooks look like, I figure that's our best bet on delving further. Everyone has Twitter and Facebook. Let's dive further into this mystery.

 

I still want to know more about my avatar. Why sharks aren't a primary enemy? Jaws? The entire opening sequence was a nod in that direction.

 

The overlarge pistol with ammo in the next frame is clearly a one kill alien weapon. It's the dirty harry of the sea.

[Space Voyager]

If you want to know more about your avatar, you can always change it to something you know all about. Kidding, kidding - happy info hunting!

[Hobbes]

So nothing Earth shattering per se, but it does give an idea how hard the devs worked to whack this game out quick. I think we can conclude that the sprites were mostly settled upon by the end of January 1995. Since TACTICAL was at the end of November 1994 and was really different from what the sprites ended up looking like, that means the devs did a complete overhaul in a scant 2 months which just floors me.

 

- Zombie

 

From my experience with OpenXCom and from watching its devs tackle OpenTFTD, that doesn't seem too impressive. Designing sprites for both games isn't too hard if you have the right tools.

 

Thanks for the USO maps you posted before. I actually liked those sonars on the hull of the USOs, too bad they ditched them.