Early Alpha/Beta/demo versions
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Yeah, it's just that I wanted to see if someone has it. It has some unique designs.
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I know! It's an earlier demo version of Machines! It looks a bit... weird, I know. But, it certainly IS that game!
...it's just a bit ugly. And weird.
I didn't play this version, but, as far as I know, there was only one map. Or something.Hell, it looks so different that even I thought "It's impossible, that's not the game I've played!". But, on the other hand, how could I find that screenshot you've seen above?
...wow. I've just found out that it's so old that you can't find it anywhere! Well, at least that's what it looks like when you use Google for less than 5 minutes.
Also, using Google for more than 5 minutes shows me that everyone who played it loves it! Incredible.
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Oh My God!!!!!!!! That's freakin' AWESOME!!!!!!! These should certainly inspire Open Machines!!!
The image that I found is of an unknown origin. I dont remember from where I got it, and it is the higher resolution that I found. The second one is a cutout that I did with paint.
There seems to be some sort of humanoid machine as well... -
We should do some research...
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@Pisarz I think there's someone I've met in Internet who has this weird demo... I don't know him exactly, though. I've just saw the thing he posted.
And the image I've found is from another forum, dedicated to gaming.
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@Encrypted
@Moderators
@SinJul
@everyone_elseWe found something rare. I tried using tineye.com and google image search (using the file itself) and there's nothing. The guy in the forum that appears at the top of the image said that the disc that had the demo is broken.
During war times, people used to draw sketches of their homes, and neighborhoods, so that after they were destroyed, they could come back and rebuild them from their memories. They made them better, keeping only their favourite details and designs.
This is what we must do with Open Machines.
Notice that the demo resembles the original concept art, especially the design of their weapons, tracked wheels, and antennae.Bonus:
All the links that I have related to MACHINES:
http://www.machinesthegame.co.uk/
http://eden4.8m.com/index.html
http://web.archive.org/web/20021013193250/www.acclaim.com/games/machines/
http://www.hogton.com/animation/ (look at the titles of the quicktime videos...)
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So, the last unique demo is destroyed?...
Well...
Oh yeah, saw that image too.
But... wow, that's impressive! You've got a lot of things referring to Machines!Also, that game, The Quivering, it was made by Charybdis too (but I think you know that).
And, also, you can use this application (Bink 2) to play every animated sequence in Machines (but I think everyone knew that already).
And, also (yes, I repeat myself lol), here: the ultimate Machines: Wired for War soundtracks. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MoepO0vbX8o Never heard any in-game, but... well!
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@Encrypted said:
I know! It's an earlier demo version of Machines! It looks a bit... weird, I know. But, it certainly IS that game!
Hmm, the wheels in the release version of the game might have looked a bit like that if they'd used the WL_RM.bmp texture for the tread - I wonder why they went with solid black instead?
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@Encrypted said:
So, the last unique demo is destroyed?...
Maybe not. But we need to suppose the "worst case" scenario...
But... wow, that's impressive! You've got a lot of things referring to Machines!
I did my best. We should try to contact both the game producer (Howard Perlman) and the original animator (Stuart Hogton).
And, also, you can use this application (Bink 2) to play every animated sequence in Machines (but I think everyone knew that already).
Actually, I didn't. What do you mean by sequence? The cutscenes or the "unit" animations?
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@M123 said:
@Encrypted said:
I know! It's an earlier demo version of Machines! It looks a bit... weird, I know. But, it certainly IS that game!
Hmm, the wheels in the release version of the game might have looked a bit like that if they'd used the WL_RM.bmp texture for the tread - I wonder why they went with solid black instead?
The texture for the treads looked a bit odd. Sometimes it's better to hide those details if they don't look realistic enough. Just like mechanical joints in videogames and movies in general.
Maybe this will help (I know, it's not the same thing, but... you know...):https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ggyg6zlxwN8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2yoTMUzBLY
The production process is quite interesting. I would like to implement an organizational structure similar to real companies here. That might help us for setting goals and getting things done :)
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@Pisarz You can use it to play cutscenes. It's a powerful tool!
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This post is deleted! -
That was some promotional material I discovered when I was a kid. I scanned that YEARS ago.
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@Aquarillis
That was you!? AWESOME!
Well, it seems that the case is solved. Now we know its origin. Yet, I know that this might be too much to ask but, do you still have it? -
Yes I still have it; I can dig it up next time I'm in town. It's part of a pamphlet that has other games advertised in it.
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@Aquarillis said:
Yes I still have it; I can dig it up next time I'm in town. It's part of a pamphlet that has other games advertised in it.
Thank you! It would be nice to recover a piece of this game's history. We could even make a Wiki!
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i think i still have the demo on my old pc i deletet it sure but i can recover them them back ! ^^
i allrady recoverd so much datas thats is no problem is see what i can do guys. -
Hi,
I came here looking for a game from my childhood
I believe that:
a) It was an early demo I was playing as a child
b) I still have that disc at my parent's houseI'm not really sure why the f- it was even a thing but I came into possession of it sometime around 2003 by buing a brand-new copy of a niche Polish gaming magazine, or so I thought...
After I removed the foil I noticed some things:
- The thick "magazine" was two-pages long with a cardboard inside
- Inside of the cardboard there were 8 (!) CDs
- All of them were from some german gaming magazine dated back to '97-'99
- None of them, including those metioned on the cover were full versions
Other than the Machines i remember playing Half Life 1 (also a demo of a beta version, I think).
I'm worried that ~20-year old disc can be hard if not impossible to read but even if so - I'm gonna keep you updated.
And of course I won't be able to - I can send it by post to anyone willing to perform data recovery on their own.EDIT: I've just found the post Pisarz was talking about:
https://www.gry-online.pl/S043.asp?ID=11665448
Yeah, it is the same demo, the person who wrote it also had it from this shady "gaming magazine". :'DBTW. I think this topic should be renamed to "Early Alpha/Beta/demo versions" ^^
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BTW. I think this topic should be renamed to "Early Alpha/Beta/demo versions" ^^
Done!
We currently have no information about this material, except @Aquarillis who said that still has some promotional material that was scanned a long time ago. The rest is scattered in this forum.
The forum is not dead, but its activity is irregular.
I don`t have the knowledge to manipulate the data from your disk, but some of us might be able to (@Judas @bilal @M123 @Hayden).
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A quick update.
The good news is I haven't forgot about this thing. ;)
The bad news is - I haven't found (yed) the disc I was talking about.Buuut, I stumbled upon other disc from the same issue of this gaming "magaine":
I think (and hope!) that the disc with the demo is still somewhere at my parent's house. I'm gonna keep looking. :)According to the PCGames website Machines demo was present on the disc of the 05/1999 issue:
http://www.pcgamesdatabase.de/pcgames.php?mag=pcgames&vol=05/1999#pcgames
