Proto:System Shock (1994)/Map Differences
This is a sub-page of Proto:System Shock (1994).
Contents
Level 1: Medical
The wall at the top of the ramp leading to the energy charge station in the healing suite has some additional sprite-based texturing in this version. This may have been removed to avoid rendering issues, since standing underneath the walkway and looking up can cause the extra textures to erroneously show up through the walkway.
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The walls around the ramp leading into the maintenance area from Delta quadrant had a slight texturing adjustment, as did the metal wall in the nearby armory.
| Prototype | Final |
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The Medipatch stash at the beginning of the maintenance area has a different design in this version - originally, you were meant to climb the ladder all the way to the ceiling, then fall to the left onto a platform attached to the upper wall, rather than simply climbing up onto a ledge.
| Prototype | Final |
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In this version, when the repulsor lift in the central surveillance area is turned off, it uses the same texture as the surrounding floor, rather than the actual deactivated repulsor lift texture. There is also an additional corpse towards the back of this room which was later removed.
| Prototype | Final |
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The area at the far north of Alpha quadrant with the sloped window is unfinished in this version, instead having a featureless wall with a flat floor and ceiling.
| Prototype | Final |
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The nearby ceiling that raises when you're making your way towards the computer room doesn't quite raise up all the way in this version.
| Prototype | Final |
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David Honig's log about the conversion chamber was reworded between this version and the final:
| Prototype |
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| I've reached a quiet area away from the madness. The mutation experiments have transformed my crewmates beyond recognition. I fear SHODAN is enslaving the survivors as cyborgs. Their conversion site is in alpha quadrant. I think that if the controls are reset, they can be made to heal me, rather than make me a cyborg. |
| Final |
| At last, I've been able to reach a quiet area away from the chaos. The mutation experiments have transformed my crewmates beyond recognition. I fear SHODAN is enslaving the survivors as cyborgs, using a conversion site in Alpha Quadrant. Someone's got to reach that device. If its controls are reset, the machine should heal people, rather than turn them into cyborgs. |
There are a few minor object placement differences as well:
- The lead pipe in your storage closet is closer to the door in this version.
- A few corpses were changed to use different sprites in the final, and this version has an additional one in the observation deck near the armory that was eventually removed.
- One of the corridors near the entrance to Alpha quadrant (the one underneath a catwalk, with the camera-activated force door) has an extra cyborg drone near the back end in this version. It's also placed directly in the center of a 45-degree wall, making it possible to bump the cyborg "into" the wall, causing some strange perspective issues.
- The "Ping" game software is missing from cyberspace in this version; it's available from the Admin-Security terminal on level 2 instead.
Level 2: Research
In the office to the west of the starting elevator, the window has a sloped bottom in this version which was later brought down to the floor.
| Prototype | Final |
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In the toxic storage room at the south end of Delta quadrant, the shield hardware is immediately visible once you open the door. In the final version, the floor in the back half of the room was lowered somewhat and the items moved around, with the shield hidden right behind the dropoff, so you're not really able to see it without actually going into the room. In this version there's also one additional barrel in the room, plus a strange bug where closing the door causes the barrels directly behind the door to be destroyed.
The northernmost wall in Alpha quadrant (near D'Arcy's office) had some solid walls replaced with narrow windows.
| Prototype | Final |
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The area to the far east in Beta quadrant had the windows adjusted somewhat so that some parts of the windows don't use the same texture as the adjacent wall.
| Prototype | Final |
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Warren Anderczyk's office in Gamma quadrant had a 3D desk model replaced with a "desk" made out of a raised floor. The nearby cart also got moved to the opposite corner.
| Prototype | Final |
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The robot storage room in Gamma quadrant has some cyborg assassins near both entrances in this version which were later repositioned and replaced with more cyborg drones. There's also a Serv-Bot moving along the raised back area in this version.
The nearby maintenance room has a repairbot in the center instead of a maintenance bot. Also, in this version, the screen in the corner which normally shows only static is actually set to show the viewpoint of the Serv-bot in the other room, letting you potentially sneak a peek into that room from a safe distance (until the Serv-bot is destroyed).
| Prototype | Final |
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A few mission-related triggers aren't fully implemented in this version:
- In the final version, the power to Beta quadrant is automatically reactivated if you're playing on Mission difficulty 0. In this version, you need to flip the circuit breaker in Alpha no matter what you set the Mission difficulty to.
- In the biohazard room at the north end of Beta, the force door containing the virus mutants is never lowered, and no additional virus mutants are ever spawned anywhere in the level, even after Beta Grove has been jettisoned.
Other object changes:
- A copy of the "Ping" game software is available in the Admin-Security cyberspace area in this version, but was later moved to level 1.
- The "Road" game software is missing from the library cyberspace area in this version.
- A handful of enemies throughout the level had their default states tweaked.
- A few other miniscule position and angle changes were made between this version and the final.
- For some reason, even when Combat difficulty is set to 0, the Sec-1 bot guarding Beta can start attacking you in this version if you collide with it.
Level R: Reactor
This version of the reactor level has some noticeable changes in the area to the west. Between the entrance to the "Death Machine" and the nearby maintenance trenches, some significant changes to the layout were made, as well as a slight texturing adjustment. In particular, the trenches in the floor are shallower and less complex in this version.
| Prototype | Final |
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In addition, where the final version of the map has the shielded door in the trench leading to the corpse with two hardware implants and a Flechette, this version just has a regular door at floor level that leads to an empty nondescript room.
| Prototype | Final |
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Likewise, since the aforementioned room hasn't been added yet, there's no viewpoint into anything from the safety override access tunnel in this version.
| Prototype | Final |
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Other object changes:
- The crawlspace to the northwest near the "Death Machine" entrance contains an extra target ID hardware in this version.
- The bio monitor hardware was added to the radiation treatment area in the final version.
- The armory access switch in cyberspace doesn't have ICE protecting it in this version; in the final, it is protected and was moved a bit further away from the nearby tunnel exit.
- The switch in cyberspace that unlocks the blast door to the north is completely missing in this version.
- In the final version, the ICE that guards the C-Shield software at the very far end of cyberspace had its HP reduced from 60 to 45, and its level reduced from 192 to 128. However, like in the final floppy disk version, the software itself is still version 0, so it can't be used even if you do make the effort to crack it.
- The trigger that causes a mutant cyborg to spawn in the elevator after you enter the self-destruct code may not work properly in this version - it's missing the flag that explicitly allows the game to spawn things inside of elevators.
Abe Ghiran's log about the installation of the low-gravity room uses the phrase "zero-gravity" in this version instead.
Level 3: Maintenance
Part of the ceiling in the hallway leading to the cyborg conversion room was slightly raised, probably to make it easier to get in and out of there without hitting your head.
| Prototype | Final |
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One floor tile in the room to the east of the Level 6 elevator was also slightly lowered, probably for a similar reason.
| Prototype | Final |
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The relay diagnostic log doesn't explicitly mention to the player that the maintenance corridors have been unlocked in this version.
One of Abe Ghiran's logs had the date stamp fixed in the final:
| Prototype | Ghiran-03-NOV.03 |
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| Final | Ghiran-03-NOV.72 |
Level 4: Storage
The storage deck in this version is almost identical to the final version, but with a couple of object changes:
- One crate in the northwest storage room has an extra copy of the jump jet hardware in this version.
- The zero-g mutant at the front of the southeast-most area had its secondary state changed to make it remain stationary in the final.
The last sentence in the "terse" version of Jon David Wong's log also had some missing punctuation fixed:
| Prototype | The CPUs are looping through a random number generator on top of the systems authorization display. I may have to shut them dow |
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| Final | The CPUs are looping through a random number generator on top of the systems authorization display. I may have to shut them dow... |
Level 5: Flight
The flight deck in this version is also essentially finished - only a handful of minor differences can be seen in this version:
- Large parts of the central area of the map have the "noisy" music flag set.
- The corridor leading to the mezzanine over the western flight bay has an extra humanoid mutant.
- The pair of repulsor shafts leading to Anna Parovski's group is guarded by an extra humanoid mutant and cyborg assassin.
- The area beyond the repulsor shafts where you encounter the Cortex Reaver has two additional cyborg drones.
- The cyberspace terminal in the northeast room is closer up against the wall.
- The switch in cyberspace that opens the door to the Flight Bay 3 mezzanine (with the Magnum) is missing in this version, so unlocking the door is not possible.
- A copy of the "Eel Zapper" game software is present in cyberspace in this version; the final version moves that to level 6 and replaces it with "BotBounce".
The "terse" version of one of Robin Kell's logs had a typo fixed:
| Prototype | Cyborgs ambushed us as we tried to reach the life pods. There are so many, will never get out of this alive. |
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| Final | Cyborgs ambushed us as we tried to reach the life pods. There are so many, we'll never get out of this alive. |
This version of the map also has two I-Cad batteries and one regular battery in the object table, but they aren't actually placed within the map and don't appear to be contained inside anything. The final version removes them completely.
Level 6: Executive
The interior of the viewing room to the northwest was retextured in the final game to look like an actual room with an open ceiling rather than something floating in space outside of a mostly invisible space station.
| Prototype | Final |
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The doors to two of the crew dormitories in the southeast also had the ceiling heights slightly adjusted in front; in this version they are slightly too low, causing the ceiling to be slightly overlapped by the actual doors and making it possible to get stuck on the ceiling when trying to enter.
Once again, some object positions were adjusted between this version and the final - for instance, the Exec-bot near one of the elevators is in the center of its tile in this version, whereas the final version has it hidden slightly closer to the wall behind it. (In this version there's also a Sparq beam impact sprite on the wall near the energy charge station in Beta quadrant, for some reason, though naturally it'll disappear before you're actually able to reach it.)
Some changes to mission-related events are also noticeable on this level:
- In this version, the jettison master control lever requires you to go back to level 3 to repair the relay on all Mission difficulty levels. In the final, it's only required on Mission difficulty 2 or 3.
- In this version, when SHODAN spawns more virus mutants in the Beta Grove lobby, some of them will also spawn directly in front of you in the hallway leading to the grove. In the final, they are only spawned inside of the lobby.
The "Eel Zapper" game software is missing from cyberspace in this version; instead, you can get it on level 5.
The two arrows at the "fork" in cyberspace are also noticeably misplaced in this version, probably due to the positioning adjustments made to most of the cyberspace models.
Alpha Grove
The center area of the map has some slight layout and texturing changes. The observation ceiling texture was also added to the whole outdoor portion of the final map, a change which all three groves have in common.
| Prototype | Final |
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In this version, the target identifier hardware is in the room to the northwest. The final version moves it to the southern end of the map, where it's hidden behind a shrub.
This version also has the version 3 nav unit hardware located next to the corpse inside the security-locked room. The final version has it in Beta Grove instead.
Beta Grove
Aside from the additional ceiling texture common to all of the grove maps, this one is basically the same as the final version aside from a few object placement differences:
- As mentioned before, the nav unit hardware was added to Beta Grove in the final game; in this version it's in Alpha Grove instead.
- The corridor on the other side of the security door has a different chair model in this version.
- One of the virus mutants towards the southeast of the map had its starting position adjusted slightly between versions.
Delta Grove
Similarly to Alpha Grove, the central area of this map has a slight layout tweak - specifically, in the final version, there's a solid column on the side visible from the elevator.
| Prototype | Final |
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A few textures were also changed here and there - on the bridges near the center, the floor of the jettison control room, and a ramp near the security door.
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This version has a few extra enemies, as well - there are two extra humanoid mutants guarding the security door, and the southeastern maintenance corridor has the Sec-1 bot guarding the entrance, rather than in the back room where the ammo and grenades are.
Level 7: Engineering
The first change that you can see after entering level 7 in this version is that those two cyborg assassins that greet you right outside of the elevator aren't there yet. There's also a noticeable lighting difference, with a bright flickering light replacing the dark area that normally conceals one of them.
| Prototype | Final |
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The entrance to the hallway to the far west was darkened and moved further towards the south in the final version of the map. The corpses and crate on the other side of the door also aren't present in this version.
| Prototype | Final |
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Some of the wall textures surrounding the hidden energy charge station between the two western hallways don't show up properly in this version.
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Across from the door at the end of the hallway directly south of the elevator, the final version adds yet another cyborg assassin.
| Prototype | Final |
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The area on the other side of this door, where you normally get ambushed by a Sec-2 robot, has an additional indentation in the wall with a computer screen in this version.
| Prototype | Final |
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Going from there through the blast door leading into the southern antenna room, there are some texturing differences on the walls, and the final version puts a beverage container on the ground nearby, for some reason.
| Prototype | Final |
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The area directly leading to the southern antenna, where SHODAN tries to trap you in the explosion, has the escape access panel placed in a small recessed area off to the side, rather than being flush with the rest of the wall like it is in the final. This may have inadvertently made it easier to survive the explosion by giving the player a place to hide that wasn't directly in its path.
| Prototype | Final |
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The antenna rooms themselves also got some tweaks - the spelling of "amperage" was corrected in the final, and the back walls of each antenna room got a small window, with the cameras on the wall moved over to match.
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Further towards the east, one of the walls of the CPU room got retextured and had a couple of those ever-so-lovely Diego face screens added for good measure.
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The corridor leading from the CPU room to the nearby radioactive room was also upgraded in the final to have another surprise appearance from - you guessed it - a cyborg assassin.
| Prototype | Final |
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The radioactive room also had some changes in texture and structure along the northern and southern walls. Apart from this, the earlier version also has some extra waste barrels placed inside of the walls, suggesting that the room probably used to be slightly larger.
| Prototype | Final |
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Two areas in the map had some ceiling height adjustments - specifically, the hallway with the force bridge to the east of the southern antenna, and part of the square room with the ramps leading to the eastern antenna.
The surgery station (and nearby live land mines) are missing from the central area next to the conversion chamber in this version. In addition, setting the reactor to destruct doesn't spawn any Sec-1 robots here like it does in the final. The area above that controls the force bridges blocking off the conversion chamber area has an extra cyborg assassin in this version that was actually removed in the final version of the map.
Other object differences in this map:
- The storage room near the eastern antenna had two magpulse carts and a railgun clip added to a crate in the final version.
- The northwest corner of the map (near the room with the large force bridge) has an extra Sec-1 robot in this version that was later removed.
- The clover-shaped area near the northern antenna had a cyborg enforcer added on the eastern side in the final. As if all of the additional cyborg assassins elsewhere in the final version of the map weren't enough, three of the ones in this area also had their HP boosted from 65 to 110.
- This version of the map has four plastique charges in the object table, but they aren't actually placed within the map and don't seem to be contained within anything; it's likely that you were originally meant to simply find them on this level instead of having to scavenge them from the storage level. The final version removes them from this map completely.
The email you receive from SHODAN after taking out all four antenna stations uses the word "antennas" in this version, but changes it to "antennae" in the final.
The one you receive from Rebecca when you re-enter this level after setting the reactor to self-destruct is slightly different in this version as well:
| Prototype | We're guessing that SHODAN has disabled most if not all of the repulsors on Security... even if he has, the space around the central column is filled with energy-draining mines, so you won't be able t---- |
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| Final | We're guessing that SHODAN has disabled most if not all of the repulsors on Security. The space around the central column is filled with energy-draining mines, so you won't be able t---- |
Also, the "terse" version of one of Bianca Schuler's logs on this level had the spelling of "receptacle" corrected in the final:
| Prototype | I have to get the isolinear chipset to the computer room in the bridge and install it in a recepticle. It will get me through the defenses to the cyberterminal into cyberspace where I can kill SHODAN myself. |
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| Final | I have to get the isolinear chipset to the computer room in the bridge and install it in a receptacle. It will get me through the defenses to the cyberterminal into cyberspace where I can kill SHODAN myself. |
Level 8: Security
The area inside and near the starting elevator is noticeably darker in this version of the map, causing a sudden change in lighting when you arrive from level 7.
| Prototype | Final |
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The shielded door leading up to the bridge elevator is set into the wall in this version. This makes it much easier to "cheat" and jump over to the central passageway without activating the force bridge first, since you don't have to worry about opening the door in midair. The final version brings the door completely in line with the wall.
| Prototype | Final |
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The final room where you fight Diego has a "normal" floor in this version, and the biological infestation texture has the placeholder name "hey this is new to me".
| Prototype | Final |
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Diego only has half as much HP in this version (600 instead of 1,200), and killing him doesn't cause the center of the room to raise up to reveal additional enemies. His keycard also spawns on the ground where Diego himself originally spawns, rather than being in his inventory. The final version also modifies his keycard to give you SEC access in case you didn't already have it for whatever reason.
Other object changes throughout the map:
- In the southwest room with the carpeting and chandeliers, a penetrator clip for the assault rifle was replaced with the rifle itself.
- The office to the south with the cyberspace terminal is guarded by a mutated cyborg in this version, but a Sec-2 robot in the final. The cyberspace terminal inside was also moved away from the wall a bit.
- The southernmost detention cell has 2 penetrator clips in this version, but only 1 in the final.
Some enemy types were also completely replaced (or removed) between this version and the final:
- Some Sec-1 robots guarding some of the side rooms were replaced with additional fliers.
- Cyborg elite guards in the same areas were replaced with mutated cyborgs.
- Gorilla-tiger mutants in one of the detention cells were replaced with virus mutants.
- A couple of zero-G mutants in the CPU node room were removed altogether.
These four changes in the final version are actually caused by a trigger upon entering the level; the original enemies are still in the actual level data, but entering the level for the first time causes them all to be immediately replaced with their final counterparts.
Level 9: Bridge
Due to a few changes to actual texture resources in this build of the game, there are various areas throughout the main area of the map that feature a smaller variety of the "biological infestation" textures than in the final, as well as areas where the same textures were used but later flipped horizontally in some areas.
| Prototype | Final |
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Also, as you can see, the little recessed area near the elevator hides an invisible mutant in this version - it was eventually replaced yet again by a cyborg assassin. Don't worry, this is the last time in the entire game that this happens.
In the room where you encounter several Sec-2 bots one at a time before deactivating one of the force doors, the remaining enemies are revealed when stepping into the tile in front of the access panel in this version. The final version moves the trigger to the tile immediately past the force bridge, probably because the original placement would have allowed you to more easily skip the trigger by just using the access panel from slightly further away. Also, the individual compartments housing the robots have slightly lower ceilings in this version.
The sloped floors on each side of the computer room were retextured. Also, the program installed by the isolinear chipset is referred to as "security drill" in this version rather than "security breaker", and after using it, the entrances to the center of the bridge make sound when opening, whereas they are silent in the final version.
| Prototype | Final |
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Parts of the inner area of the bridge also show off more of the changes to this level's texture set, including one "overgrown" texture variation that is still present but unused in the final, and another similar texture that was removed entirely and replaced with another one of the biological infestation textures.
| Prototype | Final |
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Other minor differences throughout the map:
- The elevator button is placed much higher up on the wall than normal in this build, suggesting that parts of the map might have previously had different floor and ceiling heights.
- Most of the side areas surrounding the three force door controls aren't set to play any music in this version.
- The area with the force bridges leading to the autobomb maze is guarded by another Sec-2 in this version instead of a mutated cyborg, and it also doesn't seem to always follow the AI path nodes that lead it out to disable the force doors correctly.
- The trigger that spawns more autobombs in the maze doesn't have the "avoid spawning within player's view" flag set, which may make it possible for autobombs to respawn directly in front of the player in this version.
- Two of the enemies guarding the inner section of the bridge are Cortex Reavers in this version, which were later replaced with additional cyborg elite guards.
- The remaining Cortex Reaver, two Sec-2 robots, and various cyberspace enemies had their primary state changed from "docile" to "cautious", making them more readily attack the player.
