Populous: The Beginning

Populous: The Beginning
Developer: Bullfrog Productions Publisher: Electronic Arts Platform: Windows Released in US: November 1998 Released in EU: November 1998 This game has hidden development-related text. This game has unused graphics. This game has unused models. This game has a prerelease article

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Populous: The Beginning was both a new beginning for but sadly also the end of Bullfrog's seminal God game series.

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Prerelease Info

Cut Sprites

The sprite files in HSPR0-0.DAT/TAB contain all sprite frames for the 2D characters in the game. They also contain a number of cut graphics, and seem to appear in the file in chronological order of being added to the game, telling the story of when certain ideas were adopted.

Medicine Man

Popularly known as the "Wolf guy" by fans, this cut character is visible in the early press kit images and trailers for the game. He was the earliest version of the shaman character based on both early footage, but also the fact he is wearing animal skins and had the ability to cast spells. There are overlays for each tribe's livery present for all his animations. In the debug text in the final game's executable there is a definition for a character called the "Medicine Man" (which actually determines shaman health, confirming this character was originally the shaman), so it's almost certainly his name.

Early Shaman

Very similar to the final sprite. At this stage it's clear that all tribes would share the same identical shaman sprite, with simple overlays for the master blue sprite for each tribe's livery in the same way that final game braves and warriors work. At some point it was decided to have a unique mask for each shaman, and these sprites were left unused. It's notable that while she looks almost identical to the final blue shaman, her mask is a different design, and she also has different stances for some moves.

Here she seems to have three spell casting poses - a completely unique one where she places her staff in the ground when casting the spell, one where she levitates off the ground and flashes white exactly as in the final, and an extended version of what became the final game's staff gesture spell cast.

The final game shaman struck-by-lightning frames actually deliberately use this sprite design for all tribe shamans, probably as it's a reasonable compromise between all designs so saved development time by not creating new art. The final game shamans also all re-use the death animation frames from this early shaman design.

Animals

It seems there would be animals roaming the world at some point - possibly for added danger, most likely as a cut food resource. There are only front-facing sprites left in the game, aside from the sideways leg movement overlays for what looks like a wolf. Unfortunately there is no wolf body sprite for these attachments to join with to recreate the running animations.

Winged Figure

A single frame of this angelic looking character with a very Populous 2-esque Hellenic appearance. This design is seen in the leaked early trailer/intro for the game where it's portrayed as some kind of ultimate spell/hero character. It's likely this was an abandoned early design for the Angel of Death, a theory bolstered by the similarity between this character design and the actual spell icon for AoD.

Cut Models

The game's 3D models are stored in a series of files called Objs0-x.dat. Using a fan-made tool it's possible to view the mesh objects in each file. Objs0-8.dat contains very old models that date back to the earliest builds of the game, with models that were cut after the initial alpha builds, based on pre-release footage. Note that these are seen without the final in-game lighting, and many do not have the original texture maps present anymore, hence the strange appearance of many of the below.

Timestamps

Most data files used by the game have a corresponding .ver file containing a timestamp and other information. Objs0-8.ver contains the following timestamp:

Aug 11 1998 15:57:51

As a comparison, the final game models in Objs0-0.dat have the following timestamp in the .ver file:

Oct  7 1998 09:49:32

Early Stoneheads

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Early versions of what were clearly the spell-rewarding stone head statues. It's not clear if these were all present at the same time in the game, or if they were replacements for each other. There are animation frames for these to move back and forth as per the final game ones.

Early Reincarnation Site Statues

Pre-release screenshots reveal these moai head style statues were actually the structures used in the earliest version of the reincarnation site, that were eventually replaced with the talon-esque markers in the final game.

Altar Building

This large cut building appears near the start of the file among the early statues and reincarnation site models, suggesting it may have been linked to the shaman's reincarnation. It's a large building with an open roof and a huge flame burning through the circular floor of the main room. At the apex of that room is an altar, suggesting it would be used for some kind of prayer - for resurrecting a dead shaman, perhaps?

Early Balloon

This more complex hot air balloon model can be seen in early pre-release screenshots. The later balloons are also present next to these in the file, so possibly these would have a different purpose. The screenshot showing this in the press pack seems to show it carrying out some kind of firestorm-like attack.

Boats

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The early file shows there were actually two tiers of boats at one stage: a small fishing style boat for small numbers of units, and a much larger sailboat that would presumably have allowed more units to board. The final game's single boat can be seen as an amalgamation of the two designs. These can be seen in detail and to scale in early coverage of the game.

Bird Airship

An exciting looking airship that appears to be a boat carried by a gigantic bird. The bird has animations to flap its wings. Presumably this would be an alternative to the balloon to carry large numbers of units by air.

Nodding Donkeys

It's not clear what these would be for. While they are actually used in the final game as a random hut element, it seems this was more of an attempt to re-use an existing asset, as they don't animate. It's likely they would collect some kind of resource, possibly water, but based on their design and the dark substance in the hole texture, it seems they may have pumped oil out of the ground. Possibly this was for some extra level of resource management (for firewarriors?) that was cut early on. They have animations for the arm to move up and down.

Pyramid

A cut building type. These may have been the early form of the spell temples. They have an animation for the small pyramid on top to levitate up.

Huge Bird

A kind of Quetzalcoatl style gigantic bird. Possibly an early version of the Angel of Death. Has animations to flap its wings.

Cutscene Elements

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A number of odd items that appear sequentially in the mesh file. Speculation is that these were from an attempt at an in-engine cutscene. They appear to show a leather bound book, two shaman masks, and an ornate wooden bowl.

(Source: freelance)

Bridges

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The early models file has a large number of these bridge objects. Using large static objects like this in a game with dynamic terrain seems a very strange decision, which is likely exactly why they were cut. There are many variations on the same design only with different size and lengths, and one has flaming torches in the middle.

Debug Strings

There are leftover strings for a debug mode in the game executables that show internal names for various characters and objects:

 SUPER_WARRIOR_DT_RADIUS
 SUPER_WARRIOR_SPEED

Fire Warriors are referred to by an early name, "Super Warriors".

 SPELL_PLAGUE
 SP_1_OFF_MAX_PLAGUE

Entries for the various attributes for the cut plague spell.

MEDICINE_MAN_SPEED

Entries for a cut character called Medicine Man. These are actually the variables for the shaman, revealing this is almost certainly the name of the figure in the animal skins in the sprite files and confirming he was indeed an early version of the shaman.

WOOD_VEHICLE_AIRSHIP_1

Strings for an airship, likely the bird airship in the old models file. There are separate entries for balloons.