ALPHA GUNS (and more)

• Download ALPHA GUNS (and more) from Archive.Org
• http://www.doomworld.com/idgames/?file=combos/alpha04g.zip

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Title                   : ALPHA GUNS (and more)
Filename                : ALPHA04G.WAD  ALPHA04G.DEH
Author                  : Sparky of KISS Software
Email Address           : [email protected]
Misc. Author Info       : Electronics Engineer with a passion for DOOM

Description             :
     Way back in April of 1993 id Software sent to their Beta Testers
     the Alpha v0.4 of their upcoming game "Doom: Evil Unleashed".
     Most of the weapons, powerups, health and ammo never made it into
     the final game.  Many of the early wall and floor textures were
     also dropped. There's even a monster in the early Alpha versions
     which you would hardly recognise.

     Alpha Guns is a Partial Conversion for Doom and Doom II which
     simulates part of this Doom Alpha v0.4.

     The early Space Marine had a very crude arsenal at his disposal
     - chainsaw, bayonet, rifle and machine gun. The rocket launcher,
     plasma gun and BFG 2704 (later to become the BFG 9000) were still
     in the pre-prototype stage where only a weapon icon was available.
     The Super Shotgun of course was still only a thought in some UAC
     engineer's head.

     ALPHA GUNS enables you to experience the DOOM amd DOOM II worlds
     as if advanced weapons development had ceased back in April 1993.
     See what the early Space Marines had to deal with as you battle
     the original levels with the Alpha chainsaw, bayonet, rifle and
     machine gun.  The levels are now filled with Alpha powerups,
     health, armor, ammo, etc.  Only the most battle-hardened Space
     Marines need apply because the remaining weapons (super shotgun,
     rocket launcher, plasma gun and BFG 2704) have all been replaced
     with prototype versions which may not work quite as well as the
     production models you have come to know.

     See below for Extra Notes - artistic licenses taken,
     test results, etc.


Additional Credits to   : 
id Software   - for taking up huge chunks of my life with the best
                computer games ever written.
Andre Majoral - without Andre adding Alpha/Beta support to DeuTex
                then ALPHA GUNS either wouldn't have been released,
                or it would have been a lot uglier (my first version
                was made from screen captures and was never released).

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* Play Information *

Game                    : Both DOOM and DOOM II (requires DeHackEd v3.1
                          or a Source Port which can import .deh files)
Episode and Level #     : n/a (this is a graphics and sound wad only)
Single Player           : Yes
Cooperative 2-4 Player  : Yes
Deathmatch 2-4 Player   : Yes
Difficulty Settings     : n/a
New Sounds              : Yes
New Graphics            : Yes - new weapons, ammo, powerups, skys, etc.
New Music               : No
Demos Replaced          : None - but see the challenge below !!!!


* Construction *

Base                    : Most of the graphics was extracted, converted
                          and modified from the Doom Alpha v0.4.
                          One of the skill menus is from Alpha v0.5.
                          The "prototype" weapons and sky textures were
                          extracted from the Doom Press Release Beta
                          (except the Super Shotgun which of course
                          came from Doom II).
                          
Editor(s) used          : DeuTex v4.02, WinTex v4.3, NWT v1.3,
                          Ted v1.2, Convert, Paint Shop Pro

Known Bugs              : The "prototype" weapons (not originally
                          supplied with the Doom Alpha v0.4) may not
                          work as well as the production models you are
                          familiar with.  Hopefully you won't be
                          surrounded by Hell Spawn by the time you
                          find out the limitations of these weapons.

                          I couldn't test the Status Bar in multiplayer
                          modes so I didn't bother with it.

                          Most of the hanging bodies have been replaced
                          with damaged electrical cables hanging from
                          the ceiling.  Where these appear inside
                          alcoves the game engine does not clip these
                          correctly.
                          

* Copyright / Permissions *

Authors MAY use this WAD in their own work provided they mention:
a) the original source was ALPHA04G.WAD by Sparky of KISS Software.
b) the original Alpha/Beta graphics were by id Software.
c) the Alpha/Beta graphics only exist in standard format because of
   Andre Majoral and his DeuTex v4.0.

You may distribute this file in any electronic format (BBS, Diskette,
CD, etc) as long as you include this file intact.  Note also, that
id Software still retains the copyright to the Alpha/Beta graphics
even though the original data is in the public domain
    .... so don't sell ALPHA GUNS for money !!!


* Where to get this WAD *

Walnut Creek Doom Archives.  Probably in the following directory:
  ftp://ftp.cdrom.com/pub/idgames/combos/

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Extra Notes:
-----------

1. Some artistic license has been used to make ALPHA GUNS more fun than
   the original Alpha, and certainly more challenging than the
   commercial Doom and Doom II.  For example:
   - the Doom Alpha v0.4 did not contain sky textures so I've included
     3 of the skys from the Press-Release Beta.
   - the original Alpha v0.4 only included one key - a red claw
     (according to The Doom Bible by Tom Hall written 28 November, 1992
     the original key was supposed to be a "colonel's hand" which gets
     chopped off by a demon in the proposed Intro Cinematic Sequence). 
     I've used a bit of artistic license and created red, blue and
     yellow claws for ALPHA GUNS.
   - the original Alpha v0.4 powerups were just vests with hieroglyphic
     symbols on them so they all looked the same. In ALPHA GUNS I added
     small copies of the final powerups onto the vests.  For example,
     the Alpha Mega Shield has a small image of the white MegaSphere
     from Doom/Doom2 on the front of the vest.
   - the Doom Alpha v0.4 main menu was too large and I had to reduce
     it's size to suit Doom/Doom2.
   - Doom Alpha had a spinning title screen. The title screen in
     ALPHA GUNS is just static and looks slightly different because it
     uses a completely different colour pallette.
   - the Status Bar was almost completely drawn from scratch to have
     the look of the original HUD but function correctly with Doom and
     Doom2 (press the F1 key to see what the original Status Bar looked
     like).
   - half of the weapons in the commercial versions of DOOM and DOOM II
     did not appear in DOOM Alpha v0.4.  Again I've used a bit of
     artistic license and created "prototype" versions of the following
     weapons (careful, they might not work as well as the production
     models you have used in the past):
        rocket launcher, plasma gun, BFG 2704 - sprites from Doom Beta
        Super Shotgun (Doom II only) - modified sprites from Doom II
   - the Doom Alpha v0.4 did not contain menu options, skill settings,
     etc.  I added the "I Just Want To Kill" skill menu setting from
     Alpha v0.5 (note - this was changed to "I'm Too Young To Die"
     in the commercial version).
   - I was not able to simulate the collapsing storage cannisters so
     you just pick them up like the backpacks in Doom/Doom2.
   - artifacts like the Chi Gem and Unholy Bible cannot be picked up,
     but they do have low mass so you can shoot/push them around a room
   - none of the three types of barrels in the Alpha had explosion
     frames so I just used a few of the Doom/Doom2 barrel frames.

2. ALPHA GUNS has been created in such a way that it can be used with
   'Plain Vanilla' Doom or Doom II without having to patch the extra
   sprites into the WAD.  You just need to run alpha04g.deh through
   DeHackEd v3.1 (or later) and away you go.
     For example,     doomhack -file alpha04g.wad

   ALPHA GUNS was tested okay with:
     Doom v1.9
     Doom II v1.9

   Alternatively, ALPHA GUNS can be used with a Doom Source Port
   and no patching is required at all.

   ALPHA GUNS has been tested okay with:
     MBF v2.03     ZDoom v1.18a     PRboom v2.02     Boom v2.02
     Try the command line:    -deh alpha04g.deh -file alpha04g.wad

   ALPHA GUNS will not work with:
     Legacy v1.28 (Win32) - crashes at startup
     Legacy v1.28 (DOS) - sky and status bar faulty
     DOSdoom v0.653b - no DeHackEd support


3. Have fun and let me know how far you can get through Doom or Doom II
   without cheating.  If someone can send me a 'Tyson style' lmp demo
   using nothing but the bayonet (Doom II, 100% kills, Ultra Violence)
   then I'll include it in a future update.


Have fun.

Sparky
KISS Software