Battlezone Forums

How about we play a little game. I found a beta image of what appears to be an alpha/beta version of battlezone 2, multiplayer create game screen or whatever you call it



I think it's fun to play detective and search for hidden things. Modmakers also do it and dig up old unused objects or such, and use them in their mods.

So what do you think the text in the image says?

also, what other battlezone alpha/beta things have you found out. For example, apparently, the makers of the game wanted to be an option to select/use training center/bomber bay, since there are interfaces just like for relay bunker/recycler/factory. Also, in an old version of battlezone, if you pressed 3/4/5 something like that, the armory/training center or such, would be selected, same way you could select factory/recycler. I speculate that you would've been able to make pilots, same way you can with g66 mod, but the idea was scrapped. Also, I'm fairy certain that the isdf apc almost didn't make it through. It even uses the old voice from bz1. I think, the alpha bz2, used the voices from bz1. That's how games are usually done... voiceovers and such are done towards the end.

also, maybe alpha bz2 allowed pilots to snipe ANY vehicle, after all, almost all vehicles including scion builder and scavangers, have the transparent cockpit glass. Other vehicles that were never planned to be able to be sniped, like apc, archer, or bomber, do not have them.

Also, the first few isdf missions have some weird scion weapons.

there's also hidden weapons like flash, that were not implemented in the arsenal for isdf/scion but you can find it on DM maps, and there was this other weird weapon... harpoon or such? idk

if you know starcraft, google starcraft alpha pics and you'll see some very interesting pics... the game looked COMPLETELY different from the released version of starcraft... it's fun to think about how battlezone2 looked so much different at start. Maybe the original isdf buildings were the one in the first few isdf missions on pluto. Imagine being able to build those useless stupid walls, having your scavs get stuck in them, while the player just leaps over the walls and destroys your recycler... yeah they definitely removed those things

Step 1: Connection?

Step 2: Game Selection

i still remember of BZ1 having a LOT of cut stuff, like the Intro and promo cockpit for the grizzly

building upgrades, like command towers unlocking artillery, satellite builds being more different

DuoRanger wrote:i still remember of BZ1 having a LOT of cut stuff, like the Intro and promo cockpit for the grizzly

building upgrades, like command towers unlocking artillery, satellite builds being more different

I'm not sure if one can call that cockpit cut per se, since it was never actually in the game to be cut out.

just speak with ken and Nathan

Are you sure, AHadley?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DrgPu-8C3Ok

Are you sure?

While the final BZ cockpits are nothing too special, this one was probably cut because of low readability and because it covered to much of the screen, nearly a third of it, yikes. Cockpits in games are cool, they really are, but I'm glad that this one wasn't kept for the final game.

That cockpit is just a 2d background image, not a 3d cockpit :-/

Yeah, that. We've been told before that this was just a softimage overlay.

We do, however, have some *real* alpha/beta content we can talk about...

I forgot to mention the battlezone 2 intro, and little movie clip on the menu. Scavangers looked different, and apparently scion warriors initially had a much bigger plasma weapon. A blue one that did a lot of light. I guess it was too bright and big so they changed it.

Also, in the movie clip, gun spire has a pretty **** 2D image for the arc cannon... it's much better now

Good idea with the trailer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GSjVNNL77vk

One of the **** trailers I seen, 80% is just white text on a black background, almost says nothing about the game... but look, apparently the bz1 menu system was in bz2

so... I guess initially, many bz1 units were planned to be put into bz2

bz1 cockpit, yeah, back then, the resolution and size of screens were tiny... but still, they could've added the option to add cockpit if a player wanted. After all, they already had the cockpit made, so what was there to lose?

adhadley: "We do, however, have some *real* alpha/beta content we can talk about..."

what are you talking about?

A few years back, an anonymous donor gave us a pack of development assets from BZ2. Most of it is in formats we can't open, and of what's left only about a third is usable - until last night. Nielk1 and I have been working with it over the last few days and we've found a way to open some of the Softimage assets, which are particularly interesting. My post above did originally have an animation of an old Scion Scavenger (here is a link, click "full resolution" for the animation).

Since BZ2 was built from BZ1's engine, there were a lot of similarities in the early days. Regarding there being a lot of BZ1 units, the original drafts of BZ2 had the ISDF fighting against two separate factions, the Furies from BZ1 and an unnamed and possibly Cthonic alien faction. Instead, these were cut and merged into the Scions we have today.

nor even ken or nate knows how to open it?

As I understand it needed software they had no access to, but to which we now do.

super cool love to see the raw elements and images of the development, keep these coming!

Aha! I found it!

This post is from a discussion regarding MrTwoSheds' high-res texture pack, for which I was attempting to deduce what the text on this (and the Voyager command panel) read.
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