Alekhine's Gun

Alekhine's Gun
Developer: Haggard Games Publisher: Maximum Games Platform: Windows Released in US: March 1, 2016 Released in EU: March 11, 2016 This game has unused graphics. This game has unused models. This game has unused items. This game has unused sounds. This game has a prototype article This game has a prerelease article

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Alekhine's Gun is the third installment in the indie Hitman-inspired Death to Spies series, and had originally been titled "Death to Spies III". Unfortunately, it would end up being rushed out to compete with the 2016 HITMAN game.

Some of the unused content is accessible via a level editor available from the developer's forums.

To do: Get screenshots of the unused content accessible via the editor.

Sub-Pages

Prototype Info

Prerelease Info

Early HUD elements

In the file "hud_equip.dds" which is a collection of the game's HUD icons, several unused HUD icons can be found, at least some of which are seemingly from the original Death To Spies III version of the game. (Used Icons were removed)

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The icon of a man pointing a gun can be seen in early DTSIII footage as part of the original health circle. (Which was segmented and could regenerate after taking damage, the final health circle looks different and doesn't regenerate.)

The rest of the icons however have so far not been seen in any old footage and their intended use is unknown.

There's also two separate "hand" icons "hand" and "hand2" which go completely unused.

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  "hand" icon.

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  "hand2" icon.

Unused Player Characters

Various character models for "Kovalev" and "Olga" can be found; these were cut secondary playable characters that can be seen in an early video of the game's "Death to Spies III" incarnation. Olga would have been able to disguise herself and distract enemies, while Kovalev would have been better with Sniper Rifles and Throwing Knives at the cost of being unable to disguise. Ultimately both characters would be scrapped entirely, with Kovalev's default outfit being reused as an outfit for Semyon in two missions and Olga's model being repurposed for a side character called Vera, who doesn't take part in any missions.

As NPCs, they are very unfinished: enemies ignore them, the player can't harm them, and they mostly only do a generic set of waiting animations (such as smoking), which work fine for Kovalev but are glitched for Olga. As for playing as them, seemingly any functionality for that has been completely stripped out, rendering them strictly as very barebones NPCs.

There also exists an unused NPC version of Semyon; likely for when the player switched to controlling any of the other characters, he is relatively more finished, having the ability to be given equipment (unlike Kovalev and Olga) and like other friendly NPCs by default exists in a weird state where he is counted as "Friendly" to the player (with them being unable to harm the NPC) while the NPC acts like a guard and will attack the player in a one-sided battle if they do suspicious activity in front of them if the NPC is armed.

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  Kovalev's default outfit.

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  Kovalev's "Shirt" outfit.

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  Kovalev's "China" outfit (as in Chinatown, as seen in an early gameplay video).

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  Olga's default outfit.

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  Olga's "Dress" outfit.

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  Olga's "China" outfit.

Unused Cutscene NPC Leftovers

There are several unused NPCs intended for cutscenes, including "RambaldiGerman" and "Pearson". While both do appear as NPCs in certain levels, they each have an unused alternate version in the editor, possibly as a leftover from creating the pre-rendered cutscenes (As they use different character models models in the scenes set during or after WW2). These missing versions are actually the "default" versions of these characters, as their used in-game versions are "visual0" while the main model for rendering is "visual"; this has the side effect of rendering them impossible to spawn normally in the editor (as the game looks for the missing "visual" model first). The error message given for Pearson calls his missing model "PearsonYoung" and the error message for Rambaldi calls his "Rambaldi2".

Unused NPCs

There are several unused NPCs that were intended for gameplay.

• Gorlov: Gorlov was the original target of what would become "Check and Mate" in the original Death to Spies III version of the game, being an NPC the player had to assassinate in the Police Station who was being interrogated, (as can be seen in early videos.) however Gorlov's leftover NPC is set to a "Friendly" NPC like fellow unused NPCs Kovalev/Olga/Boyde and the used version of Rambaldi for unknown reasons which renders him by default unable to be harmed by the player, Gorlov's model would be reused in the final game for "Keith Newton" a dead reporter who's a static prop in one mission.

• Rosewater: Unused target for the mission "Omerta". His face was reused for one of the Omerta targets, but his unique suit was replaced with being in his underwear.

• GermanBoyde: Looks like a younger version of Bruce Gardner, one of the targets of the final game. He is set to Friendly and looks like he was tortured unlike his used counterpart.

• Rachinskiy: Early version of the assassination target Terrance Shaw from the final game. He wears a unique outfit that Semyon can't wear, as opposed to the used Shaw who wears a different outfit that player can steal and wear as a disguise.

• WestlakeNude: A "nude" (still wearing underpants) version of Marco Cataldo, who never strips down in the final game.

• Frak: An unused NPC from Omerta with two different skins (changing their face), Frak was intended to be party guests in the original version of Omerta (which would have been during a party unlike the final game and can be seen in some early screenshots). When Omerta was reworked to remove the party, this NPC was left unused.

• Kabrera: Unused target, wears an outfit indicating he would have been in the Cuba/Miami Bay sections of the game.

• Uve: Unused target, and like Kabrera seems to be intended for the Cuba/Miami Bay sections of the game.

• CarrierCaptain: Completely unused NPC that was probably intended for "Dogs of War" (which is the only mission set on a Carrier).

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  The unused NPC "Gorlov".

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  The unused NPC "Rosewater".

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  The unused NPC "GermanBoyde".

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  The unused "Rachinskiy" NPC.

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  The unused "WestlakeNude" NPC.

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  The unused "Frak" NPC.

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  The unused alternative version of "Frak".

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  The unused NPC "Kabrera".

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  The unused NPC "Uve".

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  The unused Carrier Captain.

Unused Disguise

Originally Semyon would have been able to disguise as a Prisoner in "Ghosts of the Past". This was inaccessible in the final game (as one prisoner is being tortured on a chair and cannot be interacted with while the other two prisoners are behind a non-usable prison door), however in the editor Semyon can disguise himself as a prisoner if a prisoner NPC is placed where Semyon can reach them.

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  Semyon wearing the German Prisoner disguise.

Unused Weapons

Utug

An unused but mostly functional weapon called the Utug can be obtained in the editor; it appears to be an old iron and is used as a large melee weapon like the Baseball Bat or Hammer. It is fully functional but lacks its own weapon icon, reusing the Hammer icon instead. Its model is still used in the official missions, but only as a prop in the environment that cannot be used as a weapon.

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  The Utug in-game.

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  Using the Utug as a weapon.

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  The Utug in the inventory.

Needle/Hair Needle

The Needle (as it's called in the editor) or Hair Needle (as it's called in-game) is basically a knife that breaks after one kill and cannot be thrown. This weapon was presumably intended for Olga, as it can be seen in her inventory in pre-release footage.

The weapon; while reusing the knife's Frontal Takedown, has at a a unique animation for if used for a stealth kill, where Semyon drives the needle into the target's back and shoves them forwards, it also doesn't stack in the inventory nor can it be dropped, with instead additional needles appearing as separate items despite the "Quantity" of Needles being displayed. (Which will always be one.)

Despite its small size, inability to drop and limited nature, it's not a concealed weapon. (Meaning if modded back into levels, the player cannot get past a frisk search without using up any needles they are carrying on other NPCs.)

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  Selecting the Hair Needle.

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  The Hair Needle in the inventory.

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  Selecting the Hair Needle with the controller weapon-wheel.

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  Semyon dispatches a Mafia Guard with a needle, the needle is stuck in their back during the kill animation but vanishes in gameplay after.

Unused Animations

NPCs have unique animations for using rifles, these go unused as NPCs are never given rifles unmodded and if given Rifles, are extremely buggy, with the AI being unable to put the rifles away and getting stuck aiming at the player, they are even able to only fire the rifles once, then promptly getting stuck in a buggy aiming animation (even with the semi-automatic SVD).

Unused Mechanics and Other Oddities

While completely stripped out, looking around in the editor shows traces of scrapped mechanics:

• When assigning equipment "packs" for AI (basically their inventory), there are unused slots for a backpack and several item slots which would have been used to store things like weapon magazines. In the final game this inventory system goe unused, with Semyon being able to carry everything (aside from only one two-handed weapon at a time and no backpacks).
• Weapons have broken magazine ammo pickups (rather than ammo being replenished by picking up additional copies of the weapon, like most shooters) and grenades (including "Grenade Zones" as some sort of unused zone trigger related to them), like in the original Death To Spies games.
• The Inventory lists the weight of items/weapons; in the final game this is pointless, but previous Death To Spies games had weight be a factor in how much the player could carry.

While technically used, the ability to take additional magazines for weapons without buying the extra magazine upgrade is only used in the very first mission, and only for the Tokarev. Every other level in the game will not give the player this option for any firearms unless modified via the editor.

The internal labels for missions number them in a different order than in the final game (e.g., Mission 10, "Check and Mate" is "Leve07Metro"), indicating that the game's levels were shifted around in development as the story changed.

In the game's settings is a "Change Player" keybind, but since the planned additional player characters were ultimately removed, it does nothing in the final game.

References to Unavailable Equipment and Ammo

In the "Equipment" folder, there is a listing for "custom" which if selected it brings up an error about a missing "Medikit" model, First Aid Kits were present to heal with in previous games but are absent in Alekhine with Semyon Strogov instead having more health than past games.

In the "WeaponMagazine" folder, there is a list of entities for ammo pickups, these are all broken due to at least missing models, notably there are listings for weapons not available in Alekhine's Gun that were in past DTS games, whenever these were intended for Alekhine or just leftovers is unknown:

• Garand
• Luger
• Pps
• Ppsh
• SVT40
• Nagan (likely meaning Nagant, which was a revolver present in past games)
• DeLisle
• Sten
• M1Carbine
• Enfield
• M1903
• Gewehr
• Tommy

Unused/Misused Sounds

The Tokarev TT-30 was supposed to have it's own unique gunshot sound (The same firing sound as it used in past DTS games) but by default it uses the Makarov's sound effects. Oddly, this sound effect is fully scripted (Since the sound effect is first fed through a scripts file to tell the game how loud it is and if it's muffled by closed doors in a building) to be usable. It can be used just by re-naming the sound script the Tokarev uses in the games' files with the mod tools.

The AKM was supposed to have it's own firing/reload sound effects but it re-uses the Thompsons sound effects, despite this, the game's other Assault Rifle, the Sturmgewehr MP44, uses the AKM's firing and reload sounds by default.

Enemy voice lines are re-used from Moment of Truth and some of the unused dialogue is present. (such as US enemies calling out "Grenade!" which can't happen as grenades were removed in Alekhine's Gun.)

Placeholder Weapon Model

There's a model that can be placed as a brush for the unused "Tommy" weapon, (Referring to the Drum Magazine Thompson M1928 that was introduced in Moment of Truth, since that is what it was internally called in that game, instead of the Stick Magazine Thompson M1A1 that is present in-game.) however this is just the Thompson M1A1's model but upscaled so this was likely a very early placeholder when the weapon was considered for the game.

Unused Tunnel

The end of the first mission "Ghosts of the Past" ends with Semyon and Rambaldi escaping via a tunnel under a furnace after turning it off, while the mission ends instantly after pressing a prompt to leave, opening the level in a editor reveals there is an small unused section of the level that the player can normally never see along with a handful of unique props.

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  The other side of the furnace.

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  The rest of the room with a T-Posing Rambaldi Model, labelled as his cutscene model in the editor and the proper entrance to the tunnel.

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  Inside the Tunnel, past the pipes as can seen in the editor is just a solid black wall.

Unused Level Brushes

The game's levels are split up into various brushes, and in some missions some of these brushes go unused.

"Check and Mate" has unused prefabs for a Metro area that was intended for Kovalev. This section of the level was cut entirely in the final game but can still be accessed in the editor.

Unused props for "Snake Born" indicate that instead of a WW2 level, it was intended to be a Cold War level, with an unused Checkpoint Charlie sign accessible in the editor.

Unused Tunnel

An unused brush for Points on the Radar/Black Book (which share assets) has a giant mine tunnel. There is an invisible wall partway through the mine; Semyon will start clipping through the floor if forced through it, and it ends on a dead end.

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  The mine entrance.

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  The inside of the mine.

Unused Level 06 Boats and Seaplane

The files for "Level06" (Which is the 4th level, Red Dragon due to the levels being shuffled in development) has many unused brushes.

The most prominent is (as identified by early footage due to a map screen) the "Junk Boat", a boat in the middle of the map that can be seen briefly in early footage of the Chinatown level, (Back when the game was Death To Spies III) there are several unused props and the boat was intended to be accessible at one point in development to the point of having it's own dedicated "floor" on the map screen, there are several unused props, such as sails for the boat, a ladder and several interior rooms.

The various "Junk Boat" props are called "djonka" in the editor (being numbered to tell them apart)

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  "level06_djonka_01" which is the main body of the Junk Boat.

Odd inclusions in this folder are an untextured Lighthouse (Which is not the same model as the textured lighthouse present in one of the missions), an untextured house with no interior and several props from several boats and a Seaplane are present, one of the boats has textures while the other boat and seaplane lack textures. (Hence their pitchblack appearance.)

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  "level06_boat06".

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  "level06_lodoka".

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  "level06_gydroplan01".

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  "level06_mdom" the unused untextured house.

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  "level06_mayak" the unused Lighthouse.