Pre-Alpha (October 1996): Difference between revisions

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On October 31 2023, a prototype build of ''[[LEGO Island]]'' was leaked by YouTuber '''R.R. Slugger'''.<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oc7eALXaHbw</ref> Colloquially, this build is usually referred to as "'''the pre-alpha'''".


On October 31 2023, a prototype build of ''[[LEGO Island]]'' was leaked by YouTuber '''R.R. Slugger'''<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oc7eALXaHbw</ref>. This build is dated December 1996, predating the final release by 9 months. Colloquially, this build is usually referred to as "'''the pre-alpha'''".
== History ==


== History ==
The existence of a pre-alpha build has been known for some time,<ref>https://twitter.com/BenDaviesOrg/status/1239248521968132097</ref> however it had been kept private by a select few members of the community for years. It is currently not known what this release was made for, how it was acquired by the community, or how it was leaked.


The existence of a pre-alpha build has been known for some time<ref>https://twitter.com/BenDaviesOrg/status/1239248521968132097</ref>, however it had been kept private by a select few members of the community for years. It is currently not known what this release was made for, how it was acquired by the community, or how it was leaked.
The build files are dated between October and November 1996, predating the final release by roughly 11 months.


== Installer ==
== Installer ==
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If you use [[MAIN.EXE]] to load <code>build.si</code> and load the <code>StartUp</code> action, you can find the following screen:
If you use [[MAIN.EXE]] to load <code>build.si</code> and load the <code>StartUp</code> action, you can find the following screen:


<center>[[File:Dec96buildscreen.png]]</center>
<center>[[File:Dec96buildscreen.png|320px]]</center>
 
The buttons are functional and indeed jump to each build section.
 
=== Glitches ===
 
Likely the reason these buttons weren't used (and the above [[#Launcher|launcher]] was created instead) is because the buttons frequently have a habit of persisting after loading a new section. Clicking them further can lead to two or more build sections being inexplicably merged, and often causes crashes:


The buttons are functional and indeed jump to each build section. Since it's unknown what or who this build was made for, it's unclear who was supposed to read this.
<center>[[File:Dec96btnglitch.mp4|320px]]</center>


== Island ==
== Island ==
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<gallery>
<gallery>
File:Dec96isle1.png
File:Dec96isle1.png
File:Dec96isle2.png
File:Dec96isle2.png|
File:Dec96isle3.png
File:Dec96isle3.png|Full island shot
File:Dec96hiddenracetrack.mp4|Sections of the race track can be seen at some perspectives
</gallery>
</gallery>
</center>
</center>
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Turning is noticeably jerky in this version, always turning by a minimum of several degrees at a time. This too is tied to the frame rate and runs too fast on modern computers.
Turning is noticeably jerky in this version, always turning by a minimum of several degrees at a time. This too is tied to the frame rate and runs too fast on modern computers.


The disc contains both release and debug versions of multiple executables, including [[LEGO1.DLL]. It '''does not''' however contain symbols. Microsoft's Visual C++ compiler places symbols in sidecar PDB files, not in the executable itself, and no PDB files are present on the disc. That being said, the debug binaries contain much less optimized code and retain debugging features like [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assertion_(software_development) assertions] which may help significantly in the [[decompilation]] effort.
The disc contains both release and debug versions of multiple executables, including [[LEGO1.DLL]]. It '''does not''' however contain symbols. The [[Microsoft Visual C++]] compiler places symbols in sidecar PDB files, not in the executable itself, and no PDB files are present on the disc. That being said, the debug binaries contain much less optimized code and retain debugging features like [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assertion_(software_development) assertions] which may help significantly in the [[decompilation]] effort.


== Free Fonts ==
== Free Fonts ==