So for a while now, I've been accumulating as much as I possibly can on the M2 version of D2, Images / scans / press / videos / etc. The project is as follows. I am professionally restoring all motion media of D2 for the M2. That includes the D2 Shock Demo video unlock for the Japanese version of D2, the hidden movie on the Directors Cut of D for the 3DO, as well as multiple videos from the 3DO Live! demo discs. Each video will be brought up to 720P (or 1080p, if the quality holds out. The source material is of course very old) through hardware solutions, then cleaned up via Davinci Resolve. I am a filmmaker for a living, and have professionally restored much of my early content. (mini-dv tapes, 16mm film stock, etc) From that, a master film will be created with each individual sources unique clips, all color corrected to match, as closely as possible, the original intent of the content. The Japanese text in the videos has been translated, allowing me to subtitle the video into English for the first time ever as well. Big thanks to ArcaneAria on that as well! He did the translation work for me. In addition, I have an original source file for the musical track that plays over the original M2 version videos, so I will be able to add fully uncompressed audio into the video. Additionally, I was graciously given the original gameplay recordings of the D2 alpha on M2 (ones that show up on youtube) to restore as well, which I will be doing. No huge color correction on this, but cleaning them up / increasing the resolution. The end goal : I am going to craft a four disc set, much in the same manner as the Director's Cut of D for the 3DO, with a professionally made slip case and accompanying materials. Disc 1 : the films (all motion content of the CGI previews) Disc 2 : the gameplay (all motion content of the alpha recordings Disc 3 : the miscellaneous (screenshots, magazine scans, audio, etc Disc 4 : the alpha (a blank disc, with a printed top, to be burnt once and if a playable alpha ever surfaces) Each disc (minus the blank disc of course) will be formatted to read on all PC/MAC computers. The best way to avoid compression (i.e. DVD) is to leave the files in a folder, viewable via Quicktime. (target output is ProRes 422, in a wrapper readable by all Quicktime Installations) This is going to be a long project, and there are still pieces I am missing. I have a ton of images of the game, and magazine scans (plus images from the "Official World Guide of D") but I know there is still more. If you have content (images, audio, advertisements, interviews, etc) please let me know. I'd like this to be as complete as possible. I will be releasing a zipped file of all the content to the community at large. This isn't a "make money" project, but more of a curatorial effort to restore and preserve a very interesting example of a lost game on a lost console. I will most likely make 10 copies of the physical items. I am not sure how I will disseminate them through the community, but I will figure that out. Maybe a contest or something...(like I said. Not trying to make money here haha) This isn't going to be a quick process. Restoring each piece of content takes time, and much of that is deciding on the work that actually needs to be done. Restoration, vs creation, requires you to leave your preconceived notions and preferences on the table and to try to envision what the original creator had in mind, and to be as true as possible to that intention. I also need to wait to perform scans on print media, and whatnot. Additionally, due to some rather crappy life news (mother in law was just diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer) a ton of my energy is going into helping my wife / her family, and some travel back home. Hoping this project is a good outlet to put the real world out of my mind for a bit and have some fun! I will update this thread, as the work progresses. But like I said...I still need screenshots of gameplay / magazine scans / etc. If you have something, please do share it. All contributors will be credited in the final product. OH....ANY DOES ANYONE HAVE AN ACTUAL PLAYABLE ALPHA? HAHA. Still haven't given up hope about it's existence
I'm all for professional preservation of any kind, best of luck on your project! And sorry to hear about your mother-in-law, I recently lost mine to stage 4 lung cancer.
Are you serious? It's well known for years that a playable alpha exists. It's in the hands of a guy from eurogamer.net ("pirotic"). However, it's not much fun to play. As you (hopefully) know, the game never got as far as having any gameplay elements implemented. What about sharing these instead of teasing with restored footage, which will probably not happen any time soon anyway?
I've never heard that particular rumor Batman. Know a name for this person? PM me if you do...trying to actually acquire this. And the footage is the same as that is on YouTube basically, except it's whole and in one piece from the original capture Don't worry, ill be sharing everything I have. No hoarding (can't stand that mentality haha)
Progress report : round tripped the ten minute video from the 3DO via the Framemeister XRGB Mini, through an Elgato HD60 capture device, into my computer. This way the image is upscaled to 1080p via the framemeister (hardware solution) and not via software means. Original video was taken from its native SD format to 1080p with some excellent quality. Next step is subtitling'
Update # 1 Translation is complete and in the project timeline. Everything has been upres'd to 1080p30p. This is for the 10+ minute video from Live! 3DO Magazine CD#10. Captured from a stock 3DO via S-Video (would have loved to use an RGB mod 3DO, but I don't have the budget to purchase / pay to modify my system for the project, and honestly it wouldn't be a huge improvement) via the Framemeister XRGB Mini, then into computer via the Elgato Capture HD60. Black masks are utilized to strip out all the black portion of the capture (as it appears compressed and grey colored from the source video) so as to just leave the video. Translation was done by ArcaneAria on the boards. He provided the raw translation and some notes, and I rewrote it a bit for better context. Very minor changes, just sentence restructuring and a few changed words/choices. I will provide detailed restoration notes once I am finished with the project. I still have the 4 minute movie from Live! 3do # 7 demo disc / D2 Shock Demo Movie to upres, along with the raw footage from the alpha footage. Also still accumulating images / interviews / texts about the M2 Version of D2. But it's some solid progress I wanted to share. Hope you all enjoy the screenshot. (I will be releasing everything as a large, single package download, as well as a limited edition physical copy. So I still have TONS of work to do)
Slow going. The full 1080 remaster and translation is complete. Will try to get uploaded by end of week. Been a busy summer!
I wanted to say "THANK YOU" - this post is actually why I had joined (forum) - I had spent countless hours and possibly a couple of years just searching - that's not 2014-15. Actually the total number of hours in two years over a span of about 8-8.5. That's right! I like the motivation you've displayed. To me this demonstrates your desire to re-live the fantasy of what 3DO and the M2 were set on: Creating Mystery. Are you able to give us some insight as to the method of programming you're attempting to integrate with this system? Thanks!!
