MediEvil Rolling Demo

MediEvil Rolling Demo
Rolling Demo splash screen.
Developer(s)	SCEE Cambridge Studio
Publisher(s)	Sony Computer Entertainment Europe
Release date	September 7, 1997
Previous demo	MediEvil Prototype (June '97) (E3)
Next demo	MediEvil ECTS Pre-Alpha (trade show) MediEvil 0.32 Demo (demo disc)

The MediEvil Rolling Demo is a version of MediEvil that is 400 days older than the final version of the game. The demo was only released on two PAL region demo discs in late 1997 – Winter Releases '97 demo 01 and Registered Users Demo 02 – the former of which was given out at the European Computer Trade Show. Files on the discs suggest that the demo finished development around August 14, 1997.

Gameplay

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The demo as recorded by EnergeticLute33.

As the name suggests, the demo is largely non-interactive and cannot be properly played without cheating or hacking. However, the player can use to skip any of the demo's segments and pressing SELECT can be used to return to the demo disc's main menu.

Sequence

The demo lasts just over 10 minutes (loading included) and is made up of 17 segments which show off 10 unique levels. The whole sequence is as follows:

1. The Graveyard
2. The Desecrated Church
3. The Ant Caves
4. The Ghost Ship
5. The Asylum Grounds
6. Pools Of The Ancient Dead
7. Pumpkin Gorge
8. The Scarecrow Fields
9. The Ant Caves
10. Pumpkin Gorge
11. The Ghost Ship
12. The Graveyard
13. The Asylum Grounds
14. The Haunted Ruins
15. Pools of the Ancient Dead
16. Pumpkin Gorge
17. The Sleeping Village

After the final segment the player is sent back to the main menu of the demo disc.

Features

Being over a year older than the final game, the MediEvil Rolling Demo resembles the arcade classic Ghosts 'n Goblins more closely than the Zeldaesque format of the final product. Elements like the Chalices of Souls, Help Gargoyles, Merchant Gargoyles, books and the inventory do not exist yet. Potentially offensive religious references are yet to be censored. Development is in full swing and most levels are only half-finished.

This is not the MediEvil you know.

Controls

The MediEvil Rolling Demo features a vastly different control scheme. Most notable are the tank controls when moving Dan around without the analog stick. Dan is also capable of sneaking and quickly turning around 180°, both moves that were removed before release.

Holding START as opposed to pressing it will bring up the HUD, but Dan cannot be controlled while doing so. Holding SELECT doesn't do anything at all, but Dan still can't be controlled until the button is released.

Digital

Action	Digital - 0	Digital - 1	Digital - 2
Attack (hold for continuous attack)
Jump (hold for higher jump)
Jump-turn
Duck (block if shield equipped)
Walk
Walk backwards
Turn left
Turn right
Sneak	+		+
Run	+ / L3	/ L3	+ / L3
Jump left		+
Jump right		+
Open scrollable text box	R3	R3	R3
Change camera mode	SELECT	SELECT	SELECT
Open pause menu	START	START	START
Show HUD	START (hold)	START (hold)	START (hold)

Analog - 0

The general button layout will be identical to whichever digital mode was last active. With this setting, Dan does not turn around when the analog stick is moved in the opposite direction of where he is facing; he walks backwards instead. If the analog stick is tilted only slightly, Dan will sneak.

Analog - 1

The general button layout will be identical to whichever digital mode was last active. With this setting, Dan turns to face the direction of the analog stick and walks in that direction without exception. If the analog stick is tilted only slightly, Dan will sneak.

Difficulty levels

After activating the DEBUG1 or DEBUG2 cheat, an option to adjust the difficulty level can be found in the pause menu. The default difficulty level is 1, while the full range is from 0 to 3 for a total of four difficulty levels.

The exact effects of difficulty levels on the game are unknown, but they do not seem to change the points earned for killing enemies or the amount of damage that weapons deal to them. However, the game does check the current difficulty whenever an enemy is first loaded in, so it is likely it has some effect on them. Difficulty 2 seems to break all weapons and enemy spawn points, but makes it possible to equip the trident.

An additional reference to "difficulty" can be found in the Title Level VLO which contains a texture featuring the word. Another texture is of the word "normal", which may be the name of the default difficulty level. Whatever the case, it is likely difficulty levels would have been adjustable from the Title Level.

Difficulty levels are not present in the final game.

Enemies

Main article: Enemies in the MediEvil Rolling Demo

Full motion videos

While no FMVs are included with the demo, there are several references to them inside MEDIEVIL.EXE:

0x8F68C	0xAD300
10AV.STR INTROAV.STR TITLEAV.STR DUMMY.STR	11V.STR 9AV.STR 8AV.STR 7AV.STR 5AV.STR 4AV.STR 3AV.STR 2AV.STR

6AV, 12AV, 13AV and 14AV do not appear in the lists, meaning they were probably not finished or planned yet.

Levels

Ten levels are shown off as part of the demo: The Graveyard, The Desecrated Church, The Scarecrow Fields, The Ant Caves, Pumpkin Gorge, The Sleeping Village, Pools Of The Ancient Dead, The Asylum Grounds, The Haunted Ruins and The Ghost Ship. However, references to more levels than this can be found in the demo. Starting at offset 0x8E00C in MEDIEVIL.EXE is a numbered list of levels (left). An updated, unnumbered revision of this list also appears in later versions of the game, including the final one (right).

MediEvil Rolling Demo 0x8E00C in MEDIEVIL.EXE

MediEvil (SCUS-94227) 0xA4C94 in MEDIEVIL.EXE

*X.Programmers's Playground *30.Zarok's Lair *29.The Lake *28.The Time Device *27.The Great Machine *26.The Hub *25.The Halls Of Illusion *24.The Entrance Hall 23.The Ghost Ship *22.The Silver Wood *21.Circle Of Shadows 20.The Haunted Ruins *19.The Gallows Gauntlet *18.The Enchanted Earth *17.Inside The Asylum 16.The Asylum Grounds *15.The Mud Slide *14.The Muddy Riverbank *13.The River 12.Pools Of The Ancient Dead 11.The Sleeping Village 10.The Pumpkin Serpent 9.Pumpkin Gorge 8.The Crystal Caves 7.The Ant Caves *6.The Fields Of Dust 5.The Scarecrow Fields 4.The Desecrated Church *3.Cemetery Hill *2.The Coffin Vaults 1.The Graveyard *X.Title Level

*Programmers's Playground Zarok's Lair The Lake The Time Device The Entrance Hall The Ghost Ship Hall of Heroes The Haunted Ruins The Gallows Gauntlet The Enchanted Earth Inside The Asylum The Asylum Grounds Pools Of The Ancient Dead The Sleeping Village The Pumpkin Serpent Pumpkin Gorge The Crystal Caves The Ant Caves Dan's Crypt Scarecrow Fields The Hilltop Mausoleum Cemetery Hill Return to the Graveyard The Graveyard *Title Level

Levels in the list that are preceded by an asterisk are unavailable to play in the MediEvil Rolling Demo. However, despite not being marked with an asterisk, The Pumpkin Serpent and The Crystal Caves are also not playable.

Notably, ten levels on the list did not make it into the final version of the game: The Coffin Vaults, The Fields Of Dust, The River, The Muddy Riverbank, The Mud Slide, Circle of Shadows, The Silver Wood, The Halls Of Illusion, The Hub and The Great Machine.

The list also does not include Dan's Crypt, Return to the Graveyard or the Hall of Heroes, suggesting that these levels were conceptualised at a later date.

Pause Menu

The pause menu featured in this demo is completely different from the retail one, both in terms of how it looks as well as its available options. Additional options can be unlocked using the DEBUG1 and DEBUG2 cheats.

RESUME		X to continue.
RESTART**		X to restart.
EXIT		X to exit.
FX VOLUME:		L/R to change.
MUSIC VOLUME:		L/R to change.
CONTROL SETTINGS:	Digital - 0 Digital - 1 Digital - 2 Analog - 0 Analog - 1	L/R to change.
SPEED RELATIVE TURN:*	On/Off	X to toggle.
ALLOW DEMO RECORD:**	Not available	X to toggle.
DIFFICULTY LEVEL:*	0-3	L/R to change.
LIVES:*	1-9	L/R to change.
ENERGY:*	1-99 Invulnerable	L/R to change.
WEAPON:*	None Small Sword Big Sword Magic Sword Dagger Axe Club Crossbow Chick Drumstick Own arm Lightning Longbow Spear Trident	L/R to change.
WEAPON POWER-UP:*	On/Off	X to toggle.
SHIELD:*	None Copper Silver Gold	L/R to change.
LIMITED RUN:*	On/Off	X to toggle.
DAN MODE:*	Not implemented	L/R to change.
RUNE KEYS:*	Chaos - No/Yes Earth - No/Yes Moon - No/Yes Star - No/Yes Time - No/Yes	X/L/R to change.
FEET GRIP:*	Not activated 8-4096	X to toggle. L/R to change.
GROUND FRIC:*	Not activated 8-4096	X to toggle. L/R to change.
KINETIC FRIC:*	Not activated 8-4096	X to toggle. L/R to change.
JUST DAN:**	On/Off	X toggles (must restart).
TESTCARD:**	On/Off	X to toggle.
MATRICES:**	Not available	X to toggle.
TERRAIN MODE:*	Not available	X to toggle.
GATSO:**	On/Off	X to toggle.
MAPVIEW DISPLAY:*	Not available	X to toggle.
ACTIVE MAPVIEW*		X to enter.
CAMERA MODE:**	Spline Spline Z (Abs) Spline Z (Rel) Spline Z (Lim) Overhead Chase Head-set Free Free (sus) Fixed	L/R to change.
SUPER CHEAT*		X to set.
SOUND TEST*		X to enter.
PLACE ENTITY:**	Not available	L/R, O + L/R, X to place.
SHOW VRAM**		X to enter.
SHOW MEM STATUS**		X to enter.
GRAB SCREEN**		X to enter.

* Unlocked with DEBUG1 or DEBUG2 cheat.
** Unlocked with DEBUG2 cheat only.

Pick-ups

Pick-ups are items that are of use to Sir Dan on his journey. In the MediEvil Rolling Demo, pick-ups generally take on forms that are different from the ones that appear in the final game. For example, Dan's source of energy in the demo are Energy Bones rather than Health Fountains or Energy Vials.

Pick-ups are also presented differently in the heads-up display; whenever Dan is near a pick-up, a semi-trasparent version of it will appear in the bottom right corner of the screen until it is picked up or Dan gets further away from it.

Chests

Chests are containers from which pick-ups can be obtained. There are three types of chests in the MediEvil Rolling Demo:

	Normal Chests A normal chest will always contain the same thing every playthrough. It can contain both weapons and shields. It is essentially the same in the retail game.
	Mystery Chests A mystery chest also contains weapons and shields like a normal chest, but its contents are randomised; the contents of the chest are not guaranteed to be the same on another playthrough. The chests can be recognised by their reddish colour and question mark on the front and back. These chests do not appear in the final game.
	Skull Chests These chests house Smart Bombs which explode to damage anyone caught in their blast, including Dan himself. Enemies killed by a bomb will not be added to the total score even if Dan is the one to trigger it. In the final game, these chests also house the Serpents.

Energy

Main article: Magic Bones

Dan's energy is represented by glowing green bones known as Magic Bones. These were replaced by Energy Vials and Fountains of Rejuvenation in the final game, while the Energy Counter, which keeps track of the bones, was replaced by the Life Bar.

At the beginning of the game, Dan will have three Magic Bones. More Magic Bones can be found in the environment or dropped by enemies, especially the final enemy in a wave of enemies.

Losing all Magic Bones will cause Dan to lose a Life. A single Magic Bone is lost when Dan sustains damage from an enemy attack. If Dan suffers a fatal event, such as falling or drowning, then he will lose a Life and his bones will be reset to three.

The Energy Counter will display the first three bones individually. After Dan collects a fourth bone, the bones are stacked and a number will show the current amount. Dan can carry a large number of Magic Bones, but the Counter will not update beyond the first nine, much like the Life Counter.

Lives

Dan's Lives are represented by his skull instead of Life Bottles, both in the HUD and within the game's levels themselves.

Dan begins the game with three Lives. More Lives can usually be found in areas off the beaten path within levels. If Dan loses all of his energy he will lose a Life.

Although Dan can carry a large number of Lives, the Life Counter will not update beyond the first nine.

Potions

For other uses, see Potion (disambiguation).

Potions are pick-ups found throughout the levels. They are easily recognised by their shaking, releasing of steam and jumping in the air. When Dan drinks them, they cause a variety of effects:

	Dragon Potion The potion has no effect in the Rolling Demo, it is likely it would have served to transform Dan into Dragon Dan. The potion cannot be found in any of the Rolling Demo's levels, but can be accessed via hacking. The potion's effect was repurposed for the Dragon Armour, and the model was eventually superseded by the Serpent Potion.
	Growth Potion Upon drinking this potion, Dan begins growing in size. Once he reaches a certain height, his current weapon is changed to the Magic Sword. Afterwards he shrinks back down to his regular size. This potion cannot be found in any of the Rolling Demo's levels, but can be accessed via hacking.
	Invisibility Potion Nothing seems to happen when Dan drinks this potion in the Rolling Demo. However, given its appearance, it is likely that the potion would have made Dan invisible. This potion cannot be found in any of the Rolling Demo's levels, but can be accessed via hacking. A retextured version of the potion model eventually became the Life Bottle.
	Yellow Potion This potion cannot be found in any of the Rolling Demo's levels, but can be accessed via hacking. The potion seems to have no real effect when it is picked up.
	Serpent Potion This potion summons the powerful Serpent Lord Kul Katura to fight at Dan's side for 1 minute. Kul Katura deals 4 points of each type of damage. He was eventually moved into chests while the Serpent Potion became the design of the Dragon Potion instead.
	Shrink Potion It is likely that this potion would have made Dan shrink, but it appears to have no effect in the Rolling Demo and cannot be found in any of its levels. Dan is shrunk by the Forest Witch in the final game.
	Shrink Enemies Potion This potion shrinks all nearby enemies for 10 seconds. The effect is slightly delayed and kicks in roughly 2 seconds after Dan picks up the potion. There is no equivalent mechanic to this in the retail version of the game.
	Weapon Power-up Potion Makes Dan's current weapon deal double damage for a duration of 20 seconds. Some weapons also get additional effects, such as releasing shockwaves or enveloping Dan in a protective aura. Power-up moves were incorporated as secondary attacks in the final game.

Rune Keys

Rune Keys, also known as Rune Stones or Runes, are objects that can be used to open the many doors and gates in the levels.

Functionally, Rune Keys remain unchanged in the MediEvil Rolling Demo. However, because the inventory does not exist yet, collected Rune Keys appear in their own panel instead. The panel, located in the bottom left part of the screen, shows up only when a Rune Key is collected or when Dan is near a door that requires a Rune Key.

There are no Rune Locks shaped like begging hands yet either, which is why some doors are textured to indicate which Rune Key is needed to open them, such as the ones in the Pumpkin Gorge level.

Shields

Much like in the final game, there are three types of shields: Copper, Silver and Gold. Unlike in the final game, all three types share the same model, which is like the Silver Shield in retail. There is also no HUD indicator of a shield's health in the MediEvil Rolling Demo.

• 

  Copper Shield - Takes 2 hits before breaking.

• 

  Silver Shield - Takes 4 hits before breaking.

• 

  Gold Shield - Takes 8 hits before breaking.

Weapons

Similarly to how it works in Ghosts 'n Goblins, Dan can only carry a single weapon at a time. New weapons can be obtained from chests or found on their own in the levels. Upon picking up a new weapon the old one is discarded.

Each weapon can be powered-up using the Weapon Power-up Potion. Weapons can also be stolen by Imps, in which case Dan will tear off his own arm to defend himself. Unlike in the final game, all weapons are unlimited and cannot be used up.

There are 13 weapons in total:

Weapon	Damage
Small Sword	2	2	0	0
Big Sword	4	4	0	0
Magic Sword	5	4	0	8
Dagger	4	0	0	0
Axe	4	8	0	0
Club	0	16	0	0
Crossbow	8	2	0	0
Chick Drumstick	0	0	0	0
Own arm	0	3	0	0
Lightning	0	0	0	2
Longbow	2	2	8	0
Spear	8	8	0	0
Trident	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A

Points

Sir Dan earning 125 points for killing a zombie.

Points are awarded for picking up moneybags and dispatching enemies. The Score Counter in the top right corner of the screen keeps track of points. Points were eventually scrapped and replaced with the Chalice of Souls and Gold systems.

Dan only earns points for enemies he kills directly, i.e. enemies who die by drowning or a Smart Bomb do not award any points. Each enemy type awards a different amount of points. Awarded amounts range from 50 to 5000 points:

50 points Moneybags 75 points Crows 100 points Ant Larvae Bats Hedges Pumpkin Bombs Pumpkin Plants Tentacles Wicker men Zombies (Type A) 125 points Armoured Knights Ducks* Imps Maggots* Nellie Mad* Patients Pirate Crew Tumbling Torsos* Uncle Mad Zombies (Type B) 175 points Headless Zombies Mr Mad Mrs Mad Pirate Officers

200 points Mad Monks Scarecrows Undead Warriors Wolves 300 points Ants Ghouls Shadow Demons 400 points Not used 500 points Not used 750 points Rhinotaurs* 1000 points Stained Glass Demon 1500 points Ant Queen 2500 points Not used 5000 points Pumpkin King*

* This enemy cannot be encountered in the demo, but can be found in the code.

Scrollable text box

The scrollable text box.

By pressing R3 during gameplay, a dark blue scrollable text box will be brought up on the screen. While the box is on the screen the game is completely paused just like when accessing the pause menu.

At the top of the box is the HUD icon for Dan's lives while instructions on how to control the box appear near the bottom: to advance, to go back, to exit. The following text and sprites are within the box itself:

Never out of print since its debut in 1818*, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein is a novel of surprising psychological depths as well as a horror masterpiece. It has been adapted for the screen again and again - yet until now, no film version has plumbed the story's rich complexities. The Frankenstein story resonates anew today, in our age of genetic cloning and replaceable human parts. Press buttons.

From the earliest days of the cinema, we have been fascinated by visitors from other worlds. Slimy, malevolent and often melodramatic, they have scrambled from their flying saucers and threatened us with their ray-guns in some of the most popular movies ever made.

* This value shows the player's current score.

Purpose and origin

According to MediEvil's producer Chris Sorrell, the box is a display mechanism for the game's help books that he was working on at the time. The text shown in the box was chosen randomly for the purposes of testing.

The first part of the text comes from the back of the book Mary Shelley's Frankenstein: The Classic Tale of Terror Reborn on Film while the second part is from the back of the book They Came From Outer Space: Alien Encounters in the Movies.

Cheats

Main article: Cheats in MediEvil

The following cheats will only work after Dan has been made controllable.

DEBUG1

"LOST TROLL"
While holding , press , , , , , , , , . New options will then appear in the pause menu.

DEBUG2

"STOUT LORD"
While holding , press , , , , , , , , . New options will then appear in the pause menu. This cheat unlocks all DEBUG1 options as well.

GameShark codes

The following codes are compatible with both releases of the demo:

Demo Mode
Code	Name	Effect
D0096864 800D 300D4490 0000	Player Controlled	Lets the player control Dan.
Pause Menu
Code	Name	Effect
D0096864 800D 300CFCEC 0000	PAUSE	Reverts to the default pause menu.
D0096864 800D 300CFCEC 0001	DEBUG1	Unlocks additional options in the pause menu.
D0096864 800D 300CFCEC 0002	DEBUG2	Unlocks additional options in the pause menu (including DEBUG1 options).
Control Settings
Code	Name	Effect
D0096864 800D 800D0818 27F8 300D4008 0000	Digital - 0	Sets the current control scheme to Digital - 0.
D0096864 800D 800D0818 281C 300D4008 0001	Digital - 1	Sets the current control scheme to Digital - 1.
D0096864 800D 800D0818 2840 300D4008 0002	Digital - 2	Sets the current control scheme to Digital - 2.
D0096864 800D 300D400C 0000	Analog - 0	Sets the current control scheme to Analog - 0 (analog controller required).
D0096864 800D 300D400C 0001	Analog - 1	Sets the current control scheme to Analog - 1 (analog controller required).
Restart Level
Code	Name	Effect
D0096864 800D 300D4024 0001	The Graveyard	When picking the restart level option in the pause menu, restarts to The Graveyard. DEBUG2 must be enabled.
D0096864 800D 300D4024 0004	The Desecrated Church	When picking the restart level option in the pause menu, restarts to The Desecrated Church. DEBUG2 must be enabled.
D0096864 800D 300D4024 0005	Scarecrow Fields	When picking the restart level option in the pause menu, restarts to the Scarecrow Fields. DEBUG2 must be enabled.
D0096864 800D 300D4024 0007	The Ant Caves	When picking the restart level option in the pause menu, restarts to The Ant Caves. DEBUG2 must be enabled.
D0096864 800D 300D4024 0009	Pumpkin Gorge	When picking the restart level option in the pause menu, restarts to Pumpkin Gorge. DEBUG2 must be enabled.
D0096864 800D 300D4024 000B	The Sleeping Village	When picking the restart level option in the pause menu, restarts to The Sleeping Village. DEBUG2 must be enabled.
D0096864 800D 300D4024 000C	Pools of the Ancient Dead	When picking the restart level option in the pause menu, restarts to Pools of the Ancient Dead. DEBUG2 must be enabled.
D0096864 800D 300D4024 0010	The Asylum Grounds	When picking the restart level option in the pause menu, restarts to The Asylum Grounds. DEBUG2 must be enabled.
D0096864 800D 300D4024 0014	The Haunted Ruins	When picking the restart level option in the pause menu, restarts to The Haunted Ruins. DEBUG2 must be enabled.
D0096864 800D 300D4024 0017	The Ghost Ship	When picking the restart level option in the pause menu, restarts to The Ghost Ship. DEBUG2 must be enabled.

See also

• MediEvil ECTS Pre-Alpha
• MediEvil 0.32 Demo
• MediEvil Demo
• MediEvil Japanese Demo
• MediEvil Late Japanese Demo

External links

• MediEvil Rolling Demo on Hidden Palace.
• MediEvil Rolling Demo on The Cutting Room Floor.