Bethesda's Terminator games

[MrFlibble]

I think it would be reasonable to have a separate thread for the discussion of materials related to Bethesda's Terminator games.

First, a brief recap of known versions:

The Terminator: Rampage

• early demo:ramdem.zip [doesn't seem to work]
• demo v1.20: ramdemo.zip

The Terminator: Future Shock

• demo v0.136: http://www.kultcds.com/Catalog/index.ph ... 19521&o=da
• demo v0.144: shockdem.zip
• demo v1.00: fsdemo.zip

NOTE: One newsgroup message suggests that there has been a patch to update demo v0.136 to v0.144. More details are unavailable as of yet.

SkyNET

• demo v1.00: skydemo.zip

NOTE: There exists a distribution of this demo which is identical in all aspects except the readme says it's an exclusive release by a site called allgames.com. FilePlanet has this version.

Now onto the preview materials. Bethesda's demo download page mentions:

Terminator 2029 non-interactive demo. - 2,275,891 bytes
The Terminator: Rampage slide show - 299,436 bytes

Neither file has been preserved.

The Future Shock page mentions quite a few preview screenshots:

NEW Screenshots as of 10/27/95:

biolab.gif - 320x200 21KB
camp.gif - 320x200 19KB
lookdown.gif - 320x200 19KB

Following is a list of available screenshots from this exciting Terminator adventure. Click on the filename to download.

briefing.gif - 320x200 26KB - during a mission briefing with John Connor
drive.gif - 320x200 17KB - driving through destroyed LA
escape.gif - 320x200 32KB - animated scene of your escape from a death camp
firfight.gif - 320x200 40KB - animated scene of a battle with a menacing spiderbot
flyover.gif - 320x200 18KB - animated scene of an HK patroling the streets
hkfact.gif - 320x200 21KB - infiltrating an HK factory #1
hkfact2.gif - 320x200 23KB - infiltrating an HK factory #2
hkfly.gif - 320x200 21KB - battling in your stolen HK
lablowup.gif - 320x200 30KB - animated scene of LA's destruction
outside1.gif - 320x200 16KB - battling Terminators in ruined LA #1
outside2.gif - 320x200 14KB - battling Terminators in ruined LA #2
outside3.gif - 320x200 18KB - battling Terminators in ruined LA #3
outside4.gif - 320x200 13KB - battling Terminators in ruined LA #4
outside5.gif - 320x200 16KB - battling Terminators in ruined LA #5
outside6.gif - 320x200 15KB - battling Terminators in ruined LA #6
plasma.gif - 320x200 24KB - inside an enemy outpost
raptor.gif - 320x200 20KB - attacked by several Raptor model terminators
scout.gif - 320x200 22KB - battling a scout inside a factory
sewer.gif - 320x200 18KB - crawling through the sewers
shock1.gif - moved to firfight.gif (see above)
shock2.gif - moved to termsht2.gif (see below)
termshot.gif - 320x200 22KB - battling a Terminator inside an outpost #1
termsht2.gif - 320x200 24KB - battling a Terminator inside an outpost #2

Many of them were preserved in this archive. Hallfiry's catalogue suggests that the files all have correct date stamps. The ones not included in the archive are biolab.gif, camp.gif, lookdown.gif and outside1.gif to outside6.gif.

Additionally, there are some shots displayed upon exit from each demo version (three in each version).

SkyNET also had a lot of preview screenshots on the pictures page:

NEW Screenshots as of 11/07/96:

fly3.gif
globes1.gif
hotel1.gif
newguy5.gif
automap.gif
multiset.gif
cutsc01.gif
cutsc02.gif
netload1.gif
netload2.gif
netload3.gif
netload4.gif
netload5.gif
netload6.gif
netload8.gif
sub.gif

NEW Screenshots as of 07/01/96:

cars1.gif
fly1.gif
guy1.gif
guy2.gif
guy3.gif
guy5.gif
runover.gif
sniper.gif
termin1.gif
trex2.gif

It was also possible to download them as a single archive called skypics1.zip (not preserved).

A quick search using the catalogue resulted in this folder containing fly1.gif, guy2.gif, guy3.gif, runover.gif, termin1.gif and trex2.gif. This is most of the shots from January July 1996. Catalogue searches for other filenames, however, have yielded no results.

[MrFlibble]

Further on the topic of SkyNET screenshots. Some are shown on the back of the box, upon exit from the demo (in very low resolution) and here (also downsized). However, it turns out that the Absolute Games.RU website has preserved a number of apparently official shots in high-res, including some displayed on the box and in the demo. I've re-uploaded them here (sorry for a large post):

On a related note, I've found a version of ramslide.zip, but the size does not match what Bethesda's download page states. There's no comment in the archive, so it's either a repack or a different version, just like with the two Arena slideshows.

Also here's a slideshow of DeltaV: deltasld.zip.

[Hallfiry]

A quick search using the catalogue resulted in this folder containing fly1.gif, guy2.gif, guy3.gif, runover.gif, termin1.gif and trex2.gif. This is most of the shots from January 1996. Catalogue searches for other filenames, however, have yielded no results.

Here ye go:
http://www113.zippyshare.com/v/7gEFrElG/file.html

[MrFlibble]

Thanks! These seem to be thumbnails. This allows to positively identify fly1.gif, runover.gif, termin1.gif and trex2.gif.

With this we can also try guessing the names of the rest of the shots. fly3.gif should be pretty obvious. The rest gets a bit more complicated:

• 6.gif could be cars1.gif
• 7.gif could be either cars1.gif or sniper.gif
• 1.gif could be sniper.gif or maybe hotel1.gif
• 5.gif - ??? I thought that it might have been sub.gif, but briefly checking the game's playthrough on YouTube suggests that there are no rooms in the submarine like on the screenshot.

sub.gif is likely to be shown on this box scan (top shot in the bottom left cluster). The same box probably also shows guy1.gif and newguy5.gif, which apparently are player models for deathmatch games.

[Edit] Mark Jones' site also seems to have a couple of shots with multiplayer mode "guys":
http://www.mjonesgraphics.com/skynet.html

[Hallfiry]

Quickly checked the screenshots you listed above against the catalog:
briefing.gif 7x
camp.gif 1x
Drive.gif 4x
escape.gif 7x
Firfight.gif 2x
Fly1.gif 1x
Flyover.gif 2x
Guy2.gif 1x
Guy3.gif 1x
Hkfact.gif 2x
Hkfact2.gif 2x
Hkfly.gif 2x
Hotel1.gif 1x
Lablowup.gif 2x
Outside1.gif 1x
Outside2.gif 1x
Outside3.gif 1x
Outside4.gif 1x
Plasma.gif 10x
raptor.gif 7x
Runover.gif 1x
scout.gif 6x
Sewer.gif 3x
Shock1.gif 2x
Shock2.gif 2x
sub.gif 8x
Termin1.gif 2x
Termshot.gif 2x
Termsht2.gif 2x
Trex2.gif 1x

[MrFlibble]

Many of the screenshots had too generic file names. This, coupled with the eight character filename limit, accounts for the multiple results outside the three confirmed folders already found. It's still possible that some shots were renamed by CD authors, or that magazines could receive additional shots with file names we don't know.

On another note, I found a Czech site that also has one confirmed SkyNET shot (although they couldn't resist slapping a huge stamp and a watermark on it):
http://www.stare-hry.cz/hry/akcni/terminator-future-shock/

Yeah, the shot ended up on the Future Shock page too, but that's not a problem (the SkyNET page seems to contain legit shots from the demo/full game). I think we can assume that other shots on that page may come from external sources, including Bethesda's website. At least, I think other shots from that page pop up in Google Image searches for Terminator. UPD: I just realised that the page is from 2014. They stole quite a few of shots from the Future Shock article, published in 2013 in Ray Hardgrit' blog.

BTW, Google Images provide some interesting exercise. You can feed any existing screenshot into it and ask for visually similar images, which will give quite a few Future Shock/SkyNET screenshots (a lot more than if you just use keywords), and the selection will be (slightly) different each time. I wonder if something genuinely rare can be found this way?

[Edit] Guess what, one more shot and a couple of cropped images found in this review. The filenames are all changed, but I'm guessing the new image is either guy1.gif or newguy5.gif (or maybe one of those netload*.gif images?). The cropped things are probably from cutsc0*.gif and again new guy or netload stuff.

[Edit 2] Also the same site has an article on SkyNET multiplayer, with an array of screenshots. However, they must have been taken by the article's author: his name is Jason D'Aprile, and the shots show JAD as the player's name (I guess).

[Edit 3] This page features another Future Shock screenshot - possibly official, as the SkyNET page from the same site uses a scaled down version of termin1.gif. UPD: It seems that the same, albeit highly distorted, screenshot is used on the HOTU Future Shock page. It's worth noting that HOTU uses a screenshot from RAMSLIDE (RAM06.GIF) for Rampage, so the screenshot on their SkyNET page might also be official.

On a somewhat (un)related note, there's a review of X-Car at cdmag.com. Reviews on that site seem to use screenshots from official sources - however, of apparently lower quality, if you compare fly3.gif and its version from cdmag.

[MrFlibble]

The February '96 issue of the Joystick magazine has a four-page article on Future Shock:
http://download.abandonware.org/magazin ... 996%29.jpg
http://download.abandonware.org/magazin ... 996%29.jpg
http://download.abandonware.org/magazin ... 996%29.jpg
http://download.abandonware.org/magazin ... 996%29.jpg

It has some shots already known either in electronic form or from the back of the box (like the one on the bottom of p.91). There are certainly more shots than listed on Bethesda's page. However, they certainly had more, like the screenshots shown in the demo versions, most of which seem to have been never featured on the site. The accompanying CD doesn't seem to have anything Terminator-related though.

[Edit] Joystick January '97 has a review of SkyNET, with some of the already known shots plus quite a few more:
http://download.abandonware.org/magazin ... -01%29.jpg
http://download.abandonware.org/magazin ... -01%29.jpg
http://download.abandonware.org/magazin ... -01%29.jpg

P. 112 definitely shows sub.gif and maybe sniper.gif just above it.

[Edit 2] Two page SkyNET preview in Generation 4 Dec '96 issue:
http://download.abandonware.org/magazin ... -12%29.jpg
http://download.abandonware.org/magazin ... -12%29.jpg

[Edit 3] And more SkyNET in the Jan '97 issue:
http://download.abandonware.org/magazin ... %20124.jpg
http://download.abandonware.org/magazin ... %20125.jpg
http://download.abandonware.org/magazin ... %20126.jpg
http://download.abandonware.org/magazin ... %20127.jpg

P. 125 seems to show globes1.gif (top right).

[Hallfiry]

*Firy reporting in*
http://www.kultcds.com/Upload/SkyNET/1996.htm

Edit:
A first step for futureshock:
http://kultcds.com/Upload/Futureshock/1995.htm


Edit2: The German publishing has a slight bias towards not putting terminator demos on their media. This is possibly due to the risk of getting sued and having to take the entire issue back, because the original Terminator movie of 1984 was rated 18+ and put on the "Index" in germany. (It has been rerated in 2010 to 16+ and taken off the index)

Edit3: Magazines weren't allowed to write about games on the index (real exception would be magazines that are restricted to adults, but those didn't exist back then. one of the first was the subscription version of GameStar in 2003, I think) (exception is naming them as put on the index. the only example from a consumer magazine that I know, is a list in Power Play 13/96). MCV has periodic lists of indexed games, so we might check those to see which games can't appear on german media.

Edit1337: Said list from Power Play. It lists futureshock

[MrFlibble]

*Firy reporting in*
http://www.kultcds.com/Upload/SkyNET/1996.htm

Edit:
A first step for futureshock:
http://kultcds.com/Upload/Futureshock/1995.htm

Cool, so many new shots in high quality ^_^ Thanks!

On the index, yeah, this is certainly a problem with German mags, and not just because of The Terminator stuff.

[MrFlibble]

I wonder if this is not the non-playable Terminator 2029 demo:
http://www.kultcds.com/Catalog/index.ph ... MOS$2FTERM

[Hallfiry]

I wonder if this is not the non-playable Terminator 2029 demo:
http://www.kultcds.com/Catalog/index.ph ... MOS$2FTERM

Indeed it is, good find there!

[Tex8503]

Is there any interest in full retail cd images of these games? I think I have them in a binder somewhere...

I'm just thinking that maybe they're hard to come by considering they're not on Steam or GOG.

[MrFlibble]

Is there any interest in full retail cd images of these games?

AFAIK they are generally not rare and can be obtained from various "abandonware" websites if needed. Whether the staff of BA wants them you'd better ask the admins.

[mrpijey]

Is there any interest in full retail cd images of these games? I think I have them in a binder somewhere...

I'm just thinking that maybe they're hard to come by considering they're not on Steam or GOG.

Considering we're into preservation I would say a big YES... it would be great if you could dump and scan these. They may exist on abandonware sites but we don't want some junk folder dumps, we want the originals, properly dumped and preserved.

[MrFlibble]

They may exist on abandonware sites but we don't want some junk folder dumps, we want the originals, properly dumped and preserved.

FYI, certain abandonware sites maintain extensive collections of full CD images (and no I don't mean archive.org ).

[mrpijey]

That may be, but they are few apart, and the source of those CD images can rarely be verified.

[MrFlibble]

and the source of those CD images can rarely be verified.

True.

Back to the original topic, I've realised that I somehow missed a small batch of Future Shock screenshots mentioned on the Bethesda's site:

NEW Screenshots as of 09/27/95:

boxhk.gif - 320x200 24KB
outpost.gif - 320x200 25KB
boxtblow.gif - 320x200 21KB
boxtrex3.gif - 320x200 22KB

The box*.gif shots are apparently those that are featured on the back side of the game's box. Thus the screenshot with the old laser rifle scope at the bottom of this page of the game's preview is almost certainly boxtrex3.gif. outpost.gif may or may not be the second shot on this page.

[MrFlibble]

Aaand two more images from Future Shock found in an Online Gaming Review (OGR) review:
http://web.archive.org/web/199702270727 ... r-fs.shtml

However I just noticed that the one with a T-Rex is not the same as the one on the back of the box and in the Joystick preview.

[MrFlibble]

With this we can also try guessing the names of the rest of the shots. fly3.gif should be pretty obvious. The rest gets a bit more complicated:
<...>

• 7.gif could be either cars1.gif or sniper.gif

Now I'm quite inclined to think that this is sniper.gif based on evidence from page 125 of the January 1997 issue of Generation 4. The caption for this image says what I think means: "Snipe with missile launcher at someone's head"*. The same page contains the (supposedly) globes1.gif image, with the caption: "These globes have only one thought on their minds: commit collective suicide on contact with you!" This seems to suggest that the author invented captions at least partially based on the file names (although that could be a coincidence).

This leaves this one to be cars1.gif, as no other shot published at the time fits the name.

*I checked Google translate (yeah, not the best source I know), and seems I got this one wrong. But it still has the word "sniper" to support my argument.

[MrFlibble]

Here's some more stuff to consider when trying to identify SkyNET screenshots. You might have noticed that at Bethesda's website, screenshots from each batch (1 July 1996 and 7 November 1996) are arranged in alphabetical order. If we take the shots from the SCORE 36 CD (as displayed in Hallfiry's gallery), the first two are, almost certainly, fly3.gif and globes1.gif. The shot with the multiplayer character could well be newguy5.gif, judging by the convention of the previous batch where images of multiplayer models were called guy#.gif. I have just confirmed that the remaining shots from the CD (SKYNET04 to SKYNET10) are actually multiplayer game loading screens (this is why they are low-res - all menus in the game seem to be VGA only). This means that the images are in fact netload1.gif to netload8.gif (Bethesda's site skips netload7.gif, so there are seven images just like on the SCORE CD). By the logic of exception we have to assume that this shot is either hotel1.gif or some shot not featured at Bethesda's website. This only leaves automap.gif and multiset.gif (which must be showing the auto-map and the multiplayer game setup, respectively), cutsc01.gif and cutsc02.gif (images from cutscenes), and sub.gif, which is probably the shot found on the UK box and on page 112 of the Joystick issue No. 78 (January 1997).

It gets even more interesting with screenshots from SCORE 32. They are in the following order: trex2.gif, [unknown name], termin1.gif, *sniper.gif, runover.gif, *cars1.gif, fly1.gif, fly3.gif, guy?.gif, guy2.gif, guy3.gif, guy?.gif. It appears that except for the multiplayer "guys", all images are in reverse alphabetical order. This lends support to my previous assumption that the unknown shot is indeed termin2.gif (or at least termin?.gif) and the missile launcher one is sniper.gif, but makes it questionable if the two jeeps are indeed cars1.gif, as then the shot would be out of order. For the "guys" I'd assume direct order, in which case the remaining two would be identified as *guy1.gif and *guy5.gif. It's not like this makes a real difference though.

If the two jeeps are indeed not cars1.gif, it could be the screenshot on this page and this page (the previous page of the same article shows the aftermath of the explosions, which could be cars2.gif). Note that both magazines otherwise feature confirmed official screenshots of the game.

[Hallfiry]

I added all respective names to the gallery. * means manually assigned. (? ) means unconfirmed, (!?) means unconfirmed and extrapolated naming. ! at the PC Games shots says that they are in low quality (but are important for identification).

[MrFlibble]

Cool, thanks! ^_^

[MrFlibble]

The Terminator: Future Shock

• demo v0.136: http://www.kultcds.com/Catalog/index.ph ... 19521&o=da
• demo v0.144: shockdem.zip
• demo v1.00: fsdemo.zip

Here's yet another pre-release demo, v0.142: shockdem.zip

The only difference between this and v0.144 is SHOCK.EXE. Both binaries have the same uncompressed size of 1 232 229 bytes but compressed sizes differ, suggesting a byte-by-byte difference, and the date stamps are off by about three hours. So far I have not been able to determine what exactly was changed between these two releases, but it appears likely to have been some last-minute bug fixing.

[MrFlibble]

Here's a GamesDomain preview of SkyNET (dated 26 October 1996) with some images that may or may not be official:
http://www.gamesdomain.com/gdreview/zones/screens/nov96/skyprev.html

I think I've encountered some of them somewhere before but can't be sure at this moment. The images aren't in the best quality either.

[Bob Jackson]

Here's a GamesDomain preview of SkyNET (dated 26 October 1996) with some images that may or may not be official:
http://www.gamesdomain.com/gdreview/zones/screens/nov96/skyprev.html

I think I've encountered some of them somewhere before but can't be sure at this moment. The images aren't in the best quality either.

I did too. Thanks for posting them!