Extra content in demos, shareware versions and ports
 

Recently I took interest in games that have some extra/different content in the demos, shareware versions and ports to other platforms. By "extra content" I mean everything that goes beyond small modifications or limitations compared to the to full/original version of the same game.

Since the original list grew very large, I decided to focus on downloadable content that can be either stand-alone or used as add-on levels for the full game.

Certainly not the most frequent occurrence, but sometimes the developers will include completely original material in the demo or shareware games. The most interesting examples of this are when this takes the form of a whole unique campaign or episode, which sometimes serves as a "prequel" or "interquel" to the full game, filling some gaps in the storyline.

Age of Empires Trial Version
The trial version has two campaigns, a five-mission Reign of the Hittites campaign that is comparable to the Ascent of Egypt Learning Campaign from the retail version (albeit much shorter), and the Armies at War, A Combat Showcase scenario that shows off full scale battles featuring various units.
NOTE: Since the Trial Version is based off of a late beta build, some beta features are still present in it (read more here).
Download Age of Empires Trial Version

Age of Empires CGW Demo
A different demo of Age of Empires was exclusively released by the Computer Gaming World magazine. The demo features an Egyptian campaign that is different from the Ascent of Egypt campaign in the full version, and is five missions long. Read more about it here.
Download Age of Empires CGW Demo

Age of Empires: The Rise of Rome Trial Version
Just like the original game, the expansion trial version features a unique three-mission campaign set during the First Punic War.
Download Age of Empires Expansion: The Rise of Rome Trial Version

Command & Conquer: Special Ops (Nintendo 64)
The Nintendo 64 port of Command & Conquer included four extra bonus missions, two for each side, called the Special Ops. This version of C&C is also unique because of its true 3D graphics used both in-game and for video cutscenes.
NOTE: The extra missions have been converted by Nyerguds into PC version format, and are included with his patch.

Command & Conquer: Special Ops (PlayStation)
The PlayStation port has five extra bonus (and one secret) missions, also called the Special Ops, but completely different from the Nintendo 64 bonus missions of the same name.
NOTE: These missions have been converted into PC version format by Rusty le Cyborg and are included with Nyerguds' patch.

Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun Demo
Unlike the previous C&C titles, Westwood actually put original content in the TS demo. There are two GDI missions, "Initiation" and "Clean Sweep", that are not found in the full version of the game.
NOTE: In the second demo mission, a huge blue Tiberium crystal can be seen. These were not used until the Firestorm expansion pack, where blue Tiberium crystals spawn blue Tiberium.
Download Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun Demo

Half-Life: Uplink
The public demo of Half-Life titled Half-Life: Uplink is made of levels that were cut from the full game.
Download Half-Life: Uplink

Rise of the Triad: The H.U.N.T. Begins
The shareware episode of Rise of the Triad: Dark War serves as a prequel to the full game. It has 7 regular levels, 1 secret level and 2 levels accessible only via cheat codes ("warp" levels).
NOTE: The shareware episode was included in the CD version of the full game, as well as in the "Triad PowerPack" disk add-on, but otherwise the shareware levels are not part of the full game.
Download Rise of the Triad: The H.U.N.T. Begins

Rise of the Triad: The H.U.N.T. Begins Special Edition (a.k.a. Deluxe Edition)
To quote Joe Siegler:
The Deluxe Edition was later discontinued, and the extra levels were released for free.
Download LaserSoft Deluxe Level Pack

Space Quest 6: The Spinal Frontier
The special CD demo release has an alternate storyline which is not directly related to the full game, and is complete with voice acting from the original game crew.
Download Space Quest 6 Demo

Starcraft Shareware (CD version)
Blizzard shipped a unique prequel Terran campaign called Loomings with the shareware version of Starcraft. The story of Zerg invasion of the Terran colony of Chau Sara is told across five missions, plus a tutorial level. The campaign had been also released as an add-on for the full game under the title Precursor.
Starcraft Shareware CD at the Shareware CD Archive
Download Starcraft: Precursor

Starcraft Shareware (Download)
The Loomings campaign had been cut down to three missions in the downloadable version of Starcraft shareware, presumably to reduce the size of the download.
NOTE: The number of unit quotes (speech files) had been halved for each unit, also because of file size concerns.
Download Starcraft Shareware

WarCraft II: Tides of Darkness Shareware
The demo version has two three-mission campaigns, one for each side. The missions are comparable with missions 1,3 and 4 from the full version, but the maps, briefing texts and mission titles are different. A CD version of the shareware includes the full intro video and mission briefing voice-overs, while the downloadable version only has a non-animated, slideshow version of the intro, and no background narration.
NOTE: The shareware also shows an earlier version of the title screen, with orange background (which looks better than that in the final version IMO). There's a preview slideshow option showing many of the new units, structures, in-game screen shots and cinematic stills from the full game. The Footman, Grunt and Peasant units have "pissed" quotes (i.e. what they say in response to repeated clicking) that are different from the retail version (e.g. the Grunt will say "You buy retail version pleeease?", "You buy retail version or I sing!"). It is interesting to note that the briefing and mission objective texts for the demo missions are found in the full game's files, but are not used there.
Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness Shareware CD (files only)
Download Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness Shareware

WarCraft III: Reign of Chaos Demo
The demo features the Exodus of the Horde Orc campaign, part of which takes place during the Alliance campaign of the full game. The plot of the demo campaign is somewhat important story-wise in that it tells how Thrall befriended the Jungle Trolls that later joined the new Horde.
NOTE: Only the first two tutorial levels of the demo campaign are present in the retail version, but the remaining three were released (although with some minor differences) as a bonus mini-campaign accompanying the add-on, WarCraft III: The Frozen Throne.
Download Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos Demo

A much more common way for the demos is to include a single unique level, sometimes made specifically for the demonstration purposes. Sometimes a single extra level is included in a console port of the game.

Corridor 7: Alien Invasion
The single demo level is not present in the full game.
Download Corridor 7 Demo

Freddy Pharkas: Frontier Pharmachist
The demo has a unique level absent from the full game.
Download Freddy Pharkas: Frontier Pharmachist Demo

Halloween Harry in Zombie Wars
The single demo level is missing from the full game.
Download Zombie Wars Demo

Jagged Alliance
The demo level is absent from the full game.
Download Jagged Alliance Demo

Knights and Merchants: The Shattered Kingdom
The demo contains one town and one battle tutorial, both of which are different from the tutorial missions in the full game.
Download Knights and Merchants: The Shattered Kingdom Demo v1.21

Star Wars: Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast Demo
The demo of the game features a unique level that was first shown at E3 in 2001.
Download Star Wars: Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast Demo

Star Wars: TIE Fighter Demo
The demo has one mission not found in the full game.
NOTE: The demo is based on a pre-release build of the game, and features noticeable differences, including the cockpit design (check it out here). The soundtrack is recycled from the previous LucasArts game, Star Wars: X-Wing.
Download Star Wars: TIE Fighter Demo Part 1
Download Star Wars: TIE Fighter Demo Part 2

Starcraft: Resurrection IV (Nintendo 64)
Th Nintendo 64 release features both Starcraft and its add-on, Brood War, plus there is a secret bonus mission called Resurrection IV that is unique to this version. Also, the game tutorial is completely different from the PC version, and consists of two levels (the first focused on basic unit control and familiarizing the players with the interface, the other on base-building).
NOTE: The Resurrection IV bonus mission has been re-created by fans for the PC version and is downloadable here.

Terra Nova: Strike Force Centauri
There are two demo versions of the game, both of which feature a total of four unique levels not found in the full release of the game.
Download Terra Nova Demo Versions

This is probably the most frequent practice with playable demos, which is to include levels from the full game that are either moderately modified compared to the full version counterparts (e.g. to reduce the difficulty level), or are, in fact, earlier versions of the same levels.

Command & Conquer Demo
The demo has three GDI missions that are modified versions of the missions found in the full game.
Download Command & Conquer Demo

Command & Conquer CD Demo
This rare CD release of the C&C demo, recently discovered by Nyerguds, contains, in addition to the three GDI missions found in the official downloadable demo, three Nod missions (which are, just like their GDI counterparts, slightly modified missions from the full game), and over 150 Mb of videos and music.

Command & Conquer: Red Alert Demo
The demo has two Allied and one Soviet mission, which are slightly modified missions from the full game.
Download Command & Conquer: Red Alert Demo

The Elder Scrolls: Daggerfall
A special demo that was exclusively released with the PC Gamer Magazine, dubbed the "Betony demo", features a modified version of the island of Betony area from the full game, with extra additions as large as an entire new "Betony city".
Download Daggerfall Betony Demo

Powerslave Official Beta
The first level of what appears to be the very first public release of Powerslave only slightly resembles its final variant in later releases, but many areas are still recognizable. The second level is muсh closer to its final counterpart though.
NOTE: There are abundant differences in graphics and sounds in this version as well. This version has a help screen (brought up by pressing F1 during the game), which was later removed, and supports MIDI music (there's a single in-game music track). This is also the only demo of Powerslave where you can get the Cobra Staff weapon.
Download Powerslave Official Beta

Powerslave "Freeware" Early Demo
The two levels in this release are more or less identical to their final counterparts, but there are still some noticeable differences.
NOTE: Although much closer to the final release, this version has some different sprites and sounds as well.
Download Powerslave Freeware Part 1
Download Powerslave Freeware Part 2
Download Powerslave Freeware Part 3

The Secret of Monkey Island
The Island of Melee location that comprises the demo is different from the place of the same name in the full game, and so are the puzzles that the player must complete in the demo. The differences are documented in great detail here.
NOTE: The demo itself has two different versions, one of which has an intro cinematic, while the other (included in the Passport to ADventure demo pack alongside Loom and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade demos) has a few more screens and characters.
Download The Secret of Monkey Island Demo

Star Wars: Dark Forces Demo
The demo level is, for the most part, identical to the first level of the full version. However, some modifications have been made to show off more of the weapons and enemies. Most secret areas are either completely different from the retail version (e.g. the player needs to blast rock walls with Thermal Detonators to reveal some of the secrets), or have different items, weapons and enemies.
NOTE: The demo has a "lock and load montage" intro cutscene showing Kyle preparing for his mission, which was for some reason not used in the full game. Yet another small difference in the demo is that the graphics for blaster/laser rifle charge packs is noticeably different. The demo version was included with the retail CD version of the game. Read more about the differences in the demo here.
Download Star Wars: Dark Forces Demo

Will Rock Demo
The demo level is, for the most part, identical to the third level of the retail version, with some minor differences in weapon, enemy and item placement. However, the final stage had been modified to feature the boss battle with the Cyclops, which, in the full game, takes place in the end of the second level.
Download Will Rock Demo

Here, various differences that did not fall into any of the other categories are listed.

Alien Trilogy CD Demo
The two-level CD demo has different title, main menu and loading screens, as well as different sound effects. Ripley's speech is missing from this demo, though. The levels themselves, however, are fairly identical to those in the full game.
Download Alien Trilogy CD Demo

Command & Conquer: Red Alert: Retaliation (PlayStation)
This is a "two-in-one" release of the Red Alert add-ons Counterstrike and Aftermath. Unlike the PC release, where the add-on missions can be played in any order, here the missions are arranged into campaigns (one for each side) and supplied with video briefings and cutscenes exclusive to this release. Some musical tracks are remixes of the originals ([i]Hell March, Crush, Radio 2 etc.), made by Frank Klepacki but not included in any of the PC versions of Red Alert (some of them made appearance on PC in another game of the series, Command & Conquer: Sole Survivor).
NOTE: The videos have been extracted by Nyerguds and compiled into Red Alert: The Lost Files add-on.

Dune Demo
The unplayable demo shows a different image of Paul Atreides. In the final release, his appearance was changed to look more like Kyle MacLachlan, who played Paul in David Lynch's film.
Download Dune Non-Playable Demo

Shadow Warrior Shareware
The shareware episode has support for MIDI music, while the full version only uses CD music and does not have any MIDI tracks.
Download Shadow Warrior Shareware Episode

WarCraft II Alpha
The alpha version of WarCraft II was initially released to game magazines for preview purposes, and then became available to general public. The most notable feature of this early build is the fourth resource, ore, which is harvested like lumber, with peasants chopping away at rocks. The oil harvesting method is also different, as there are no "oil patches", and oil-rich areas must be located by the sonar capacity of oil tankers; this was obviously dropped from the final game for being too clumsy. Some buildings and units have slightly different in-game and sidebar icon graphics, and, like in the demo version, the Footman and Grunt units have special "pissed" quotes that reflect the purpose of the preview release ("A good review for Warcraft Two" - Footman). The main menu screen resembles an updated version of the WarCraft: Orcs and Humans menu screen, and the briefing, victory and defeat screens are all different from the final version. The alpha features two missions per side, with voiced-over briefings (the briefings in the demo version, on the other hand, are not voiced - only the "epilogues" that urge the player to buy the full game have voiceovers). Some leftovers like graphics and sounds from Warcraft: Orcs and Humans are found in the alpha version data files. Get it here.

Warhammer 40k: Dawn of War: Dark Crusade Demo
The music is slightly different from the final release.

Zombie Wars
(PC demo)
IIRC it was both a different level from anything you get in the full game AND it had a tileset not used in the full game (snowed-up version of one of the tileset from the full thing, I think). Don't remember exact details anymore.

Dawn of War: Dark Crusade
(PC demo)
Three of the music tracks in the demo are almost the same, but mixed a bit differently than in the full version (Space Marine theme, Space Marine victory, Tau victory).
Wouldn't have noticed if not for a pet project I've got regarding ripping music from Warhammer 40k games.

Space Crusade
The PC and Amiga versions apparently have different music.

Space Hulk
The PC and Amiga versions have different music.

Space Hulk: Vengeance of the Blood Angels
The PC version has different music than console versions.

I have this demo. I don't think it's worth adding to the site.

Jagged Alliance (demo)
You get to play area not included in the game with already selected and equipped team. I recently uploaded this demo level.

Wolfenstien 3D - While this version was censored and has less levels, it has an auto-map feature, briefings inbetween episodes, and three new weapons. The Mac and 3DO versions have re-recorded enemy dialogue by native German speakers, as well as the new weapons.

Duke Nukem 64 - Censored like Wolf 3D was for SNES, and missing some of the features and levels of the PC version, but some of the effects are a little prettier, there's a new weapon, and a couple of levels based on the Atomic Edition.

Lemmings - The SNES and Genesis ports have a few exclusive levels. The SNES version has 5 new levels, and the Genesis has 60 new levels, some of them being ports from Oh No More Lemmings.

Freddy Pharkas - Frontier Pharmachist - The demo is actually pretty different than the actual game, with a new puzzle involving making a bomb to seal a mine with a bank robber hiding in it. It also has a lot of new jokes and dialogue.

Wing Commander I: The 3DO version sports voice acting, different cutscenes and superior graphics. And the SNES port is abysmal :)

Wing Commander III The PSX and 3DO missions have a few cutscenes that the PC version is missing.

i remember interplay and blue byte always used to put goodies on their cds

Actually the complete shareware campaign with all of it's (secret)levels is also included in the full version of Rise of the Triad and can be selected in setup.exe instead of the full version campaign.

There was also a Christmas Edition of Wolfenstein 3D although an unofficial one, it was rather a modding attempt although unfortunately it was only limited to a shareware version of the game. It had completely different units and the end-boss - Santa's with pistols, snowballs throwing Snowmen and a fat Santa with two huge chainguns as the final boss. The various wall graphics and sprites were also different, with scriptures like "Santa is a fat git" on the walls, some children's portraits instead of Hitler's in the original game. The pickup-goodies for points and healing were also replaced with various Christmas goodies like candies, in other words it was a complete re-work of the original demo version.

A similar thread here: http://www.mobygames.com/forums/dga,2/dgb,4/dgm,122319/

May I only mention that Age of Empires demo had a campaign not included in the full game (but if you have both, you can even copy the files and play it via the full game).

Right, how could I forget about it? It's called "Rise of the Hittites" IIRC. A pretty nice one, although a bit short.

Thanks for the link! :)

Actually, as it turns out, the PC version of Powerslave is different from the console versions not only in that it uses a different engine (an early version of the Build Engine), but also the levels in the PC version are completely different. The console versions use a hub system, while the PC version has linear progression. Additionally, some enemies, weapons and inventory items either work differently or are exclusive to console or PC version only.

so powerslave for console is better?

Hehe, I didn't say that :D But the SlaveDriver engine used in console versions is supposedly more advanced, as I heard (it was used for the Duke Nukem 3D Sega Saturn port, developed by the same team, Lobotomy Software). I haven't played any of the console versions myself, but from what I managed to learn, the difference is pretty huge, so I guess both the PC and console versions complement each other in a way.

I've removed incorrect info about Powerslave demos (which actually contain levels from the full version of the game (maybe with slight, hardly noticeable differences), and added info on beta versions of Duke Nukem 3D, Powerslave and Shadow Warrior.

There's a good site dedicated to the beta analysis of Duke Nukem 3D and Shadow Warrior:
http://hendricks266.duke4.net/d3dbeta.html
http://hendricks266.duke4.net/swbeta.html

The demo level of Star Wars: Dark Forces is essentially identical to the first level of the full game, save for the secret areas, some of which are different and have different goodies in them. This was done to showcase more of the full game: a careful player will find more weapons and enemy types hidden in the secret areas. To uncover some of the secrets, the player must blast cracks in rock walls using thermal detonators; this is obviously missing from the first level of the full game, as thermal detonators are not yet available on that level.

Starflight (MD/Genesis port)
Well to paraphrase a "starflt" site: I agree completely and one of my favorite games ever. Maybe because I played the port first but I can't mess with the originals for very long knowing theres this.

It looks like it was generally not unusual for console ports of various games to include certain modifications that were introduced for the sake of improvement or variety (as opposed to changes made because of console limitations like RAM or cartridge size, which usually took the form of cutting down some of the content).

Well I only ever first played F15 Strike Eagle II which was by miles better as a PC game, but Blue Sky turned Starflight into a winner for Sega. They should've ported it back over to PC.

Another one:
Star Wars TIE Fighter (interactive demo 1993)

Basically from what I read its a hybrid of TIE fighter and X-Wing. The cockpits aren't TIE fighters and the music is from X-Wing. Maybe a unique mission too?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-TuOcgH0kmo

BTW thanks for the great thread I love prototypes/demos/betas etc.

I've expanded the list in the opening post, split it into categories, added more games, links and info.

Here's some:

The Lost Vikings (Sega Mega Drive)

- There were 5 new stages (one in each world) that were not present in the PC, Amiga and Super Nintendo ports, all with new end-level dialogue and respective level codes, along with a new background music track as well.

-I remember that Alien Carnage/Halloween Harry had practically two shareware versions, one under each name, and each one with a different world set of levels.
-The same tactic was used with Electro Man/Electro Body, which released two shareware versions (Polish and English I assume) with two different levels.

However, the shareware levels in both games were present in the full versions too, so I don't know if they count.

I think the scenario from the Heroes of Might and Magic III demo was also specifically made for it. In any case, it is quite short and hard to play since here's a one-month limit to finish off the two opponents. I guess it was deliberately done so, to tease the players as well as to show off some of the full game.

I've just got the demo (haven't played the full game), the cockpit definitely looks like that of a TIE Fighter, but it is different from what can be seen in the full version:
http://a.imageshack.us/img690/6427/tiemiss000.png

Here's the cockpit from the full version for comparison:
http://a.imageshack.us/img822/8098/tie2.gif

The demo mission also seems to be absent from the full game - at least, the walkthroughs seem not to mention anything like it.

The title screen in the full version is coloured differently as well.

CyClones demo also has a unique level which was specifically created for the demonstration purposes.

Test Drive II - The Duel

Console
The 2 console Versions (SNES & Genesis) is a whole new game. Both have the F-40, Lamborghini & the 959, But the Genesis has 3 tracks, where the SNES has 4 tracks. Also the the Snes Version has Voice overs, EG when stopping for gas, a Voice comes up saying "Fill 'er up". The Genesis version has Music that plays when driving, which no other version has.

Amiga

The Amiga version is the same as the Dos version, Except that it has more colour/better graphics. On the mountain side one can see spraypaint painted on. Also the RUF was made a lot faster that any other car.

I recently got my hands on a CD demo of C&C1, which contains (the same) 3 missions for GDI and 3 missions for Nod.

where the original demo only has some special stuff in the 3rd GDI mision, these Nod missions ALL have special stuff: you get flame tanks to wipe out the village in the first one, artillery to annihilate the base in the second one, and in the third one, where you normally start on a sealed off island, they made it connect right to the mainland, and gave you stealth tanks (chinook-dropped, even) once you reached the mainland.

The missions can be seen here:
http://nyerguds.arsaneus-design.com/...pics/demo-gdi/
http://nyerguds.arsaneus-design.com/...pics/demo-nod/
(in the mappics/ folder you can find the original campaigns to compare with)

The iso of the demo CD can be found here, btw. (200 mb)


There's also at least one mission on the Nintendo64 version which does a similar thing, connecting 2 originally separated pieces of land to decrease the difficulty. Probably done to compensate for rather unwieldy controls.

On that note, and since the thread title includes ports too, the C&C1 PlayStation and Nintendo64 ports both contain a set of "Special Operations" which are unique to their console... well, were unique, until they were extracted :)

The PlayStation and Saturn versions also have the game music tracks as they were originally made, whereas the PC version's tracks had voice clips removed because the devs thought they'd be 'too distracting' for the players. This was probably mostly because they included voice clips of the same voice as the computer voice that gives you messages ingame.

Note that most of the original tracks with full sound clips were still included in the original DOS version of C&C as hidden tracks, and can be unlocked with a code that was only recently discovered (adding the line "Scores=remix" in the game's config file). This code makes all available original tracks replace their dumbed down counterparts.
For some bizarre reason though, the programming to use this code was missing from the latest DOS version (1.22) of the game. This is made even more mysterious by the fact that the Win95 port, which is based on that version, does have the code.

Wow, cool :) Was this demo CD part of that Westwood 10 years anniversary edition box you've got? Oh, and by the way, remember some time ago I kept asking about the "anniversary edition" of C&C that had Dune II as a bonus? Wasn't it perchance included as well? :)

They're already there :) And you will be laughing, but they're actually among those things that motivated me to start this thread in the first place :lol:

Interesting... Perhaps they were using an the same source code as the basis for the Win95 version, but some last-minute changes that were introduced during the compilation of DOS v1.22 were not included in the "master" source code?

Woah! Is it just me or the demo variant looks better? Now I need to check out that demo, thanks! I'll try to confirm that content issue, I've beaten the game probably 5 times (well, see my avatar, LOL! )...

EDIT: no, I don't remember that mission. Wikipedia confirms my findings: music, sound f/x and certain engine details retained from previous X-Wing. Lasers sound lame!

You happen to be missing one of my personal favorites. The Space Quest 6 demo was a complete mini-adventure with full voice acting. A borg parody turns the entire crew into lemon sorbet and only Roger can save them.

Sounds cool :OK: Thanks for input! :)

Guys, has anyone here played the Age of Empires beta? I've seen some screenshots some time ago, which showed minor interface differences. Perhaps there was something else as well?

Nope, I bought the demo separately. Had nothing to do with that pack.

Ah, ow, I completely missed the fact you separated that first post in demos / special releases / console ports/ etc.

[edit]

Oh, another thing that might count... the Battle.net (Win95) edition of Warcraft II adds a food counter next to the other resources. The original DOS version doesn't have this. Or is this the opposite of what you're trying to list in this thread? :p

[edit]

Huh, the C&C alpha/beta isn't mentioned?
http://nyerguds.arsaneus-design.com/...ive/beta1.html
http://nyerguds.arsaneus-design.com/...ive/beta2.html
Command & Conquer's original interface was tabbed, showing 4 buttons, though the last one is just the credits, and obviously not a button. The others are "Tactical", "Options", and "Database". "Tactical" was just the gameplay screen, "Options" was obviously the options menu, and "Database" was most likely meant for an "ingame manual" - a units and structures database to consult ingame, just like Dune II's Mentat function. It never made it to the final game though.

Other differences in this version, besides some units and structures that haven't found their final side, are the double team colours on the Nod buildings (combining grey and red), generally more team colour area on all stuff in the game, side logos on the construction yard buildings, a kind of road tile before each building rather than the entire concrete 'bib' they get in the final game, and green sludge inside the power plant cooling towers.

I can be wrong, but the food counter was always in the game, just not on the top of the screen. It was visible only after clicking on one of the farms.
Currently I do not have the DOS release so I can't verify my memory :)

Of course you could check it on the farms, but the fact it was actually added to the resource counters in the general UI is definitely a change.

OK, I get yuor point :)

Yeah, it's probably the opposite :)

This is, indeed, a very interesting sum-up of pre-release features of C&C (worthy of a separate thread, no less :)), but, even though the topic has grown a lot, listing various stuff from demos to pre-release and console versions of different games, the original idea was to include things that are actually available to the public (so that people can, if they want to, get the source material and, if possible, extract said extra content). It is my understanding that the C&C beta was never made available to public - by legal means or otherwise. Of course, some pre-release sprites can be obtained from screenshots (like the ConYard with the Nod logo, or the Nod logo on the Hand of Nod, which you brought back in your patch :)), but it's not exactly the same as getting the original sprite in SHP format, right?

Oh, BTW, do you remember that there was a "Negative!" unit response in C&C, which is only found in the C&C95 Windows Theme Pack? :D

I've added info about the C&C Demo CD you found, and the RA1 demo, to the first post (among other things).

Can anyone verify if the level in The Settlers II demo (I'm talking about the one called "Initial Contact", not the tutorial level) is absent from the full game?

Thought so. It's probably not that special for patches or rereleases/ports to contain small new extras like that.

Well, the page sums up everything I think. Don't know if there's much to discuss about it :p

Thanks for clearing that up. I wasn't exactly sure about that, hence why I posted it.

Well, seeing as some of these pics are in GIF format, in the original beta game's colour palette (which, oddly enough, is different from the final one), it comes pretty close :p

Haha, yes! But in the end they chose to make clicks on impassable terrain move units as close as possible rather than let them downright refuse. I guess that that is why it's not used ;)

Nice, thanks :)

Recently I've stumbled upon yet another beta demo of Powerslave, presumably released somewhere between the first public beta and the demo builds that are identical to the final release of the game. This demo (it's called "freeware" in the readme) still has the beta title screen, and a rolling introductory text not found in the other versions of the game. The two demo levels are practically identical to the first two levels of the full game, albeit there are minor differences. Some graphics and sounds are different as well.
Powerslave Freeware Part 1
Powerslave Freeware Part 2
Powerslave Freeware Part 3

It turns out that the Age of Empires trial version has some features left over from the beta, including certain tree graphics. You can read more about the differences from the final release here.

Also updated the info about Rise of the Triad: The HUNT Begins Deluxe Edition levels, which are available for free download. There's a total of six extra levels, as described by Joe Siegler:
Also added links to downloadable material like demo versions and level packs to the first post of the thread.

Hopefully I'm not going too off-topic with this...

The SNES version of the original Street Fighter II has unique sprites and stuff in the characters' endings that's never seen in any other version of the game.

See for yourself...
Ryu's Arcade Ending
http://www.vgmuseum.com/end/arcade/a/streetryu.htm

Ryu's SNES Ending
http://www.vgmuseum.com/end/snes/a/sf2ryu.htm

Notice primarily the bunny girl with the trophy and Ryu dragon-punching a waterfall.

You can see the other characters' endings through both links for their respective versions. Once again, the exclusive sprites can ONLY be seen in THIS VERSION of the game. These ARE NOT carried over to SFII Turbo for SNES or Super SFII for SNES.

Since the list in the first post had grown too large, I've reorganized it and limited to only downloadable content for PC versions, since console version differences are often too numerous and might deserve a separate thread (maybe even for each game). The extra content from consoles that was converted to the PC format and is downloadable is still listed though.

I've also added more download links, the info about the Star Wars: Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast demo, and the rare Age of Empires Computer Gaming World magazine demo.

I've just got the news, the rare Computer Gaming World demo of Age of Empires has finally become downloadable. Get it here (also added the link to the first post of the thread).

Here's a copy of the Zombie Wars demo, with the winter version of the park tileset: http://www.mediafire.com/?iufb9eif9v4d6qo

Oddly, the level layout is different than I remembered - however, this has to be the same version I played (found on a coverdisk from June 1997 issue of the "Gambler" computer games magazine).

*shrug*

Ooh, cool, thanks! :OK:

Apparently, the demo of The Secret of Monkey Island has quite a few differences from the final game. They're documented in great detail here:
http://home.comcast.net/~ervind/mi1demo.html

[Edit] The same site has interesting stuff concerning other LucasArts games, for instance, Star Wars: Dark Forces:
Dark Forces Demo Differences
Dark Forces Pre-Release Versions

Although it isn’t that exciting of a difference, in the demo version of Sango Fighter, the player could watch a demo match by selecting ‘demo’ in the main menu. This feature seems to have been removed from the full version of the game.

Here is a link to the demo version http://www.classicdosgames.com/game/Sango_Fighter.html

I've just noticed that a user at Beta Archive Forums has uploaded several different Chasm: The Rift demos:
[Edit] Wow, there's even a Chasm: the Rift Wiki... who'd have thought :)

Terra Nova: Strike Force Centauri
Both demo versions of this game (one- and three-missions long) feature unique levels not found in the full version. You can get the demos here:
http://www.ttlg.com/tnova/archive/index.htm

The Elder Scrolls: Daggerfall
Apparently, an exclusive PC Gamer demo of the game, dubbed the "Betony demo", has some extra content (apart from being generally different from the official downloadable demo), including a new city:
(From The Unofficial Elder Scrolls Pages article)

You can get both demo versions here:
http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Daggerfall:Files

This demo of Birthright: The Gorgon's Alliance appears to be based on a rather early build of the game, with noticeable differences in graphics. Unlike the later demo (found here), this one has both Windows and DOS executables:
Download Birthright: The Gorgon's Alliance Early Demo

According to Litude's Knights and Merchants Fan Site, the tutorial missions found in the demo of Knights and Merchants: The Shattered Kingdom are different from the ones in the full release of the game. Get the demo here. The same town tutorial is also found in the Knights and Merchants: The Peasants Rebellion demo.

This is what appears to be the original installer of the Zombie Wars Demo:
http://volftp.tiscali.it/pub/pc/wind...demo_setup.zip

Apparently, the demo scenario of CyberMage: Darklight Awakening is not included in the full version, as it was made specifically to showcase the game's features.
Download CyberMage Demo from C|NET Downloads

Not exactly extra content, but here's an official public beta demo of William Shatner's TekWar, found on PC Gamer Magazine Cover Disk #12 (hosted at cd.textfiles.com):
http://cd.textfiles.com/pcgamer/pcgamer012/TEKWAR/

From MANUAL.TXT:
In addition to just being an early build of the game, there are several Smacker videos not found in the regular demo version.

There was a special demo version of Dark Colony, with a unique mission apparently made specially for the PC Format magazine. The demo has apparently also contained a unique modification of one of the existing tilesets, altough that is conjecture on my part.

Hmm, I've found a large demo of Dark Colony recently at cd.textfiles.com, on a Polish gaming magazine cover CD, but I haven't checked it out yet. Here's the link:
http://cd.textfiles.com/cdaction/cdaction16b/DCOLONY/

Nope, not that one. It does seem to be distinct from the missions on the Dark Colony campaign, though...

Well, I didn't think it would be that easy... :) TBH, I've never played the full game myself, only the small demo I got from C|NET Downloads, so I don't know the differences.

Pharaoh
The demo contains a unique mission that had been specifically designed for demonstration and is not found in the full version to the game.
Download Pharaoh Demo from FilePlanet

Recently I've stumbled upon a pre-release demo version of Warcraft: Orcs & Humans. The date stamp on the installation files (October 4th, 1994) places it about a month before the game's final release. WHile the levels are largely the same, the demo has a few notable differences, including different speech clips for Human units, a static image of the map in the briefing, and different graphics for the Human Barracks:

http://img252.imageshack.us/img252/65/war1barracks.png
Screenshot from the demo v1.12.

http://img718.imageshack.us/img718/3...arracksold.png
Screenshot from the pre-release demo.

The pre-release demo can be downloaded here:
http://cd.textfiles.com/sprintos6/GA...Z/WARCRAFT.ZIP

Just found this interesting video:
http://youtu.be/bCLPrnrUQtM

It appears to be an enhanced version of the Warcraft II shareware (most probably distributed on a CD) with mission briefing voice-overs, fully animated intro sequence and CD audio music. The main menu screen (visible at 02:07) identifies this version as WARCRAFT 2 SHAREWARE v1.08sh.

Two other versions of the Warcraft II shareware - WARCRAFT 2 DEMO BETA v1.02elc and WARCRAFT 2 DEMO v1.20elc (both can be found here) - only have MIDI music, a static slideshow version of the intro, and no briefing voice-overs.

[Edit] Found a download at a German website:
http://www.warcraft-akademie.de/warc...90177f850fab8a

It's not an ISO though, just the files in a folder, so I'm not sure if the high-quality music audible in the video is actually included.

Litude has posted info about an early self-running demo of Heroes of Might and Magic at RGB Classic Games Forums:

The Settlers II: Veni, Vidi, Vici Demo v0.16 (German)
The first public demo of the game, made prior to its release. Unlike the regular Internet demo (v1.02), this one contains the animated intro, albeit without background narration. There are also several minor differences from the final version, and leftover development files in the game data.
Download The Settlers II Demo v0.16

Also, Litude has been very kind to upload the image of PC Gamer Volume 4 Number 1 (January 1997) CD, which contains The Elder Scrolls: Daggerfall Betony demo. You can get it here. Kudos to Litude for sharing that! :D

I've played around with the early Heroes of Might and Magic demo a bit. Except said crashes when you try to pick up artifacts and enter special locations, the demo is quite playable. There is no movement limit, or building limit per turn (ending the turn will also crash the demo), and there is also no AI action at all (two enemy heroes are present on the demo map, and can be fought though). Picking up resource piles (but not the "enemy campfire" event) do not lead to crashes, and you can also capture mines, enter castles and cities, build structures in castles and hire troops as normal. Spells also work most of the time.

There are quite a few interesting things in the demo, for example, the hero list on the sidebar shows generic hero class icons instead of individual portraits:
http://img406.imageshack.us/img406/2719/heroes000.png

Another interesting difference is that on battle screens, the hero is visible, much like in Heroes of Might and Magic II and subsequent games in the series, while only the hero's tent is visible in the final version of the game:
http://img213.imageshack.us/img213/9888/heroes001.png

Unlike the final version, the hero was supposed to be able to command the catapult during castle sieges:
http://img263.imageshack.us/img263/2448/heroes002.png

The catapult cannot be targeted manually, only given orders to fire. Notice there's a "siege skill" in the list hero's characteristics, which must have somehow affected the efficiency of the hero's catapult's attacks.

There are also many minor differences in graphics, both on the adventure map and in castles/towns.

If you give it a try, note that you can actually save the game and then replace your save with the original one (for some reason or other newly saved games end up in the demo's root directory, not in the GAMES folder). This way you can experiment with the demo and be able to return to your saved position in case of crashes, rather than start everything from the beginning each time.

That's quite interesting MrFibble. I also read somewhere, few years ago from now, that the makers of the HoMM series were originally even tinkering with the idea to make the hero participate (as in like the units, doing damage) in the battles, which only really was implemented as much later as in HoMM IV though.

Here's a preview of Heroes I from an issue of Interactive Entertainment CD-mag, showing some more pre-release screenshots:
http://youtu.be/TjZIKL4NDdA

Curiously, the hero image is replaced by the tent already, while another screenshot shows no hero on the battlefield at all.

I've also had the impression that in the demo, enemy units sometimes try to attack the hero, although it could have been that they were just using the area of effect attack (it was a phoenix) to attack the player's unit adjacent to the hero.

Blood Shareware CD
An enhanced version of the shareware episode of Blood was released on CD. The extra content includes video sequences and CD Audio soundtrack. The CD is available from Shareware CD Archive at archive.org:
Blood Shareware (Monolith Productions) (1997)

You can also get the CD shareware at RTCM website which is dedicated to Build engine games.

The Shareware CD Archive also has the shareware CD editions of Duke Nukem 3D, Quake and Starcraft:
Duke Nukem 3D Shareware Episode v1.1 (1996)
Quake Shareware CD (1996)
StarCraft Shareware (1998)

BTW, the Starcraft shareware CD contains the full five-mission Loomings campaign (also released as an add-on for the full game as Precursor Campaign), not the shorter three-level version from the downloadable demo. There's also the intro from the full version, more music tracks, full unit speech (the downloadable version only has a limited number of unit quotes for each unit), and video previews of other Blizzard games.

Apparently the demo version of Shadow of the Comet differs from the full version in a number of ways. Here's a video of the demo, the differences are listed in the video description. There are in fact two versions of the demo, one shorter and one more extensive, both of which are available for download here. Each has two modes, a self-running slideshow/animation and a small playable area consisting of several locations.

In other news, Litude at RGB Classic Games Forums has posted some of his recent findings, which include a beta demo of Corridor 7: Alien Invasion:

Just like with the demo of Half-Life, the Gunman Chronicles demo includes levels not found in the full version of the game.
Download Gunman Chronicles Demo at FilePlanet

I of the Enemy: Ril'Cerat
I of the Enemy: Ril'Cerat is a free stand-alone prequel campaign to I of the Enemy, a 2004 indie oldschool science-fiction real-time strategy/tactics game. The prequel campaign, which serves as a demo of the game, is not included in the full version. A different demo of I of the Enemy is also available, which features the first five missions from the full version that take place sometime after the Ril'Cerat episode.
Download I of the Enemy: Ril'Cerat from Brothersoft Games
Download I of the Enemy: Ril'Cerat from FileForum
Download I of the Enemy demo from Softpedia
Download I of the Enemy demo from FilePlanet
Download I of the Enemy non-interactive tutorials add-on from FilePlanet (can be used both in the demo and the Ril'Cerat episode)

You can also download the manual for the game in Microsoft Word format from the official downloads page (Wayback Machine archived copy).

The Strife "teaser" demo has some notable differences from the starting part of the full game, although it's not an entirely new level set. The demo is also based on an earlier version of the engine, as indicated by the people behind the reverse-engineered source port of the full game. On the whole, the demo of Strife gives a glimpse of what seems to be an early version of the starting levels in the game.
Download Strife teaser v1.0 and v1.1

It turns out that the Fallout demo also contains a scenario that is not included in the full game.

As far as I can tell, the two Tha'roon missions from theWar Wind demo v1.2 have been specifically made for demonstration purposes. The demo itself can be found here:
http://volftp.tiscali.it/pub/pc/wind...tegy/wwd12.exe

I'm not sure if the same applies to the other, earlier demo that has 4 missions (one per each race). At least, IIRC, the Obblinox demo seems to be from the full game. (The earlier demo appears to be more widely available, e.g. from C|NET Downloads).

Esoteria had a special demo called "Esoteria: Prequel", serving as a prequel to the game's story.
Further, the demos were the only versions of the game to feature 3DFX-compatibile executables: the one seemingly included with the retail version is dummied out with a message that the game does not support 3DFX. (note that the demo executables work with the full version)

:3:
Dear MrFlibble,
may i say Thanks a lot for
these nice links YOU provide.

I DL some old but nice forgotten games immediately.

God Bless You!

yoga the brave
:hello:

Oh, you're welcome! I'm happy you like 'em ^_^

BTW, I've been digging quite a few FTPs and websites for old demo downloads. The Italian site where the War Wind demo comes from has quite a bunch of interesting files, but for some reason (poor maintenance most probably) it's tricky to navigate - there are no directory listings at all. Here are some of the directories out there:
http://volftp.tiscali.it/pub/pc/msdos/games/
http://volftp.tiscali.it/pub/pc/msdos/games/arcade/
http://volftp.tiscali.it/pub/pc/msdos/games/demos/
http://volftp.tiscali.it/pub/pc/windows/win3xx/games/
http://volftp.tiscali.it/pub/pc/windows/win95/games/
http://volftp.tiscali.it/pub/pc/wind.../games/arcade/
http://volftp.tiscali.it/pub/pc/wind...5/games/demos/
http://volftp.tiscali.it/pub/pc/wind...n95/games/rpg/
http://volftp.tiscali.it/pub/pc/wind...ames/strategy/
http://volftp.tiscali.it/pub/pc/windows/win98/games/
http://volftp.tiscali.it/pub/pc/wind.../games/arcade/
http://volftp.tiscali.it/pub/pc/wind...8/games/demos/
http://volftp.tiscali.it/pub/pc/wind...n98/games/rpg/
http://volftp.tiscali.it/pub/pc/wind...s/simulations/
http://volftp.tiscali.it/pub/pc/wind...ulations/cars/
http://volftp.tiscali.it/pub/pc/wind...ames/strategy/
IMPORTANT! These links will only work if you copy paste them into your browser's address bar manually, otherwise they'll redirect you to the website's current main page.

Also, the links on those pages won't work either unless you copy the download link to a file and change "ftp://ftp.volftp.mondadori.com/" to "http://volftp.tiscali.it/"

That said, here are a few more FTPs that work the standard way:
ftp://ftp.gameaholic.com/pub/
ftp://ftp.gamers.org/pub/mirrors/ftp.gamesdomain.co.uk/
ftp://ftp.farlep.net/pub/clubix/demo/
ftp://ftp.farlep.net/pub/clubix/demo2/
ftp://ftp.farlep.net/pub/clubix/demo3/
ftp://ftp.peliplaneetta.net/pelidemot/
ftp://ftp.piotrkosoft.net/pub/windows/games/
ftp://mirror.iprimus.com.au/games/

Most likely no maintenance at all - the fact that you get redirected only proves these files were simply forgotten. Thanks for the links!

Here's what appears to be the demo of Star Wars: Dark Forces from the Full Throttle CD (or maybe from the Dark Forces CD, I've heard that it contains the demo as well) - somehow it got onto a third-party compilation demo CD:
http://cd.textfiles.com/qsamania2/MA...DEMO/LUCASART/

The reported version number is 0.16D (as opposed to 0.163D for the downloadable demo you can get from LucasArts' FTP), however I haven't noticed any differences in the level design or gameplay, just some of the files are different or modified to make it install and run from a CD. The date stamp on the files is actually from March 1995, while the downloadable demo is from 1994.

Here's what seems to be ZWGAME1.ZIP and ZWGAME2.ZIP (which I couldn't find) combined into one archive:
http://cd.textfiles.com/10tons/FILES...RSH/ZWGAME.ZIP

I haven't tried it yet but there's a SETUP.EXE included that presumably installs the demo. Inside there's a LICENSE.TXT that says:
And here are the original files of the earlier Internet Demo A1:
http://cd.textfiles.com/cdaction/cdaction06a/ZOMBIE/

:huh: This appears to be about half the game packed into one demo with no replay and savegame options. Nice one. :OK:

I'm not trusting my memory much anymore, but it looks almost the same as the other demo (not 100% sure if the level therein is the same or not)

Here's what DOSGuy of RGB Classic Games told me about the A1 demo:

Here's a couple of pre-release demo versions:

A pre-release demo of Hexx: Heresy of the Wizard called the "Wizard MegaDisk demo" dated January 5th, 1994 (Wizard was the working title of the game):
http://cd.textfiles.com/sprintos6/GA.../LZ/WIZARD.ZIP

Early Zone Raiders WIP demo dated August 19th, 1994:
http://www.ftp.funet.fi/index/msdos/...demos/raid.zip

Age of Empires II CD Demo (CGW)
The Computer Gaming World February 2000 issue cover disk contains a release of the Age of Empires II demo with different custom scenario and mutiplayer maps compared to the Internet download version. The custom map is called Trial Baltic Map.scn and allows to play as the Celts against two computer opponents. By contrast, the Trial Coastal Map.scn in the Internet release allows to play as the Britons, and the map itself is also different. The multiplayer map in the CD demo is called Trial Multiplayer Team Islands Map.scn (in the Internet demo, the multiplayer version of the same Coastal Map is used instead). Apart from that, the demo is identical to the Internet release.

The installer is called a2cddemo.exe (49 091 848 bytes) and its date is November 2, 1999.

Jason Storm in Space Chase Shareware Demo
According to the supplied documentation, the demo "includes one unique level, demonstrating the incredible features of Safari's upcoming SPACE CHASE series".
Download: STORM0.ZIP

A shareware episode of Jason Storm is also available, with different levels (obviously):
Download v2.00d: STORM1.ZIP
Download v2.02d: STORM1A.ZIP

In the dosgames.com forum, a user asked about a role-playing game called Infinite Worlds, allegedly developed by Interplay, which that user has a beta of but could not find a full version. Some quick searching provided information that the game in question ended up as Demise: Ruse of the Ku'tan, but during development is was called Infinite Worlds and Mordor II: Darkness Awakening (the game is related to Mordor: The Depths of Dejenol).

What's interesting is that the beta versions of both Infinite Worlds and Mordor II are publicly available, and show the different stages of the game's development (among other things, it underwent a transition from 2D to 3D in the final game).

Infinite Worlds beta v0.993 is available from FilePlanet or StrategyInformer.

The beta versions of Mordor II are available from the official site:
Mordor II beta v0.991
Mordor II beta v0.992

Apparently, Mordor II, albeit at a beta stage, is quite playable, even though it's unstable at times.

A playable demo of the final product, Demise, is also available:
Demise demo v1.00 r2

The contents of the official Mordor & Demise demo disk also mention the demo of Demise with which is marked as 0.992 version r2, but I haven't been able to locate its download yet (if at all available).

Hallfiry at betaarchive.com forums has found some other beta versions of the game:

Shadow Warrior v1.0/1.1 differences
 

As with many other shareware games of the time, the initial shareware releases of Shadow Warrior (v1.0 and v1.1) have been made before the registered version was completed (v1.2) and as such reflect a pre-release state of the game.

While the general content of the early shareware versions is the same - there are four levels, and available weapons, items and monsters are similar to the final release - there are quite a few noticeable differences worth mention:

• First off, versions 1.0 and 1.1 have self-running demos, similar to other FPS games of the time, including Build games in general and the direct predecessor of Shadow Warrior, Duke Nukem 3D. Both early versions feature demo records of two levels, Zilla Construction and Master Leep's Temple. The self-running demos can be turned off with the -nodemo command line parameter.
  http://imageshack.us/scaled/landing/189/sw10demo1.png http://imageshack.us/scaled/landing/201/sw10demo2.png
• Further on, the early versions use the rotating shuriken selection marker, as opposed to v1.2 that uses the Yin Yang symbol as the selection marker. Here's a screenshot from v1.1, with a similar screenshots from v1.2 for comparison:
  http://imageshack.us/scaled/landing/338/sw10newgame.png http://imageshack.us/scaled/landing/546/sw12newgame.png
• Versions 1.0 and 1.1 also do not have episode titles yet. On the episode selection screen, the episodes are simply called "Shareware levels" and "Registered levels":
  http://imageshack.us/scaled/landing/72/sw10episodes.png http://imageshack.us/scaled/landing/5/sw12episodes1.png
• In both versions 1.0 and 1.1, it is impossible to switch between single UZI and dual-wielded UZIs after the second UZI had been picked up. It is not clear whether this was an oversight in the earlier versions, or the intended effect which was changed in v1.2.
• Versions 1.0 and 1.1 do not yet have the air meter that shows the amount of remaining air while underwater, or the boss health meter. Those were added in v1.2, along with a command line parameter that allows to disable the meters.
  http://imageshack.us/scaled/landing/18/sw10airmeter.png http://imageshack.us/scaled/landing/...12airmeter.png
• Compared to v1.0, most of Lo Wang's voice clips have been edited to increase their volume in v1.1. These new versions remain unchanged in v1.2.
• Throughout the levels, there are many minor differences concerning placement of certain item caches, switches and the like, which do not, however, affect the general layout of the levels.
• One of the notable graphical differences between v1.0/1.1 and v1.2 is the appearance of Lara Croft in the secret area on level four. Early versions use the same graphics as the beta version, with a more anime look. Version 1.2 replaced this with an appearance that is much closer to the original character:
  http://imageshack.us/scaled/landing/805/sw10lc.png http://imageshack.us/scaled/landing/594/sw12lc.png
  Interestingly enough, the walkthrough for level 4 featured at the 3D Realms' website shows a screenshot of the Lara Croft area with the beta graphics.
• The built-in command line help in v1.0 mentions two command line parameters, -commbat# and -coop#, which turn on fake multiplayer and fake co-op modes in single-player game:
  http://imageshack.us/scaled/landing/526/dosbox000.png
  Version 1.1 removed the description of these parameters from the built-in help, but they are still listed in the electronic manual (SWHELP.EXE). Version 1.2 removes all mention of these from its electronic manual as well. Nevertheless, the -commbat# and -coop# parameters work in all three versions, although no parameter that would actually turn on bots in "fake multiplayer" single-player games is mentioned in any of these versions.
• There is a Win95 compatibility mode for MIDI music in early versions which can be activated with the -win95 or -win95awe32 command line parameters. Version 1.2 also makes no mention of this whatsoever.

You can get the old versions of Shadow Warrior shareware at RGB Classic Games. One thing though, they seem not to run in DOSBox at all.

Yep, doesn't seem to work with the official builds but I tested v1.0 and it can be run at least on DOSBox-X and DOSBox SVN Daum.

Thanks a lot for the valuable info! Which version of Taewoong's build did you use so that it worked with SW v1.0? I have an old v0.71 from 2007 and a v0.74 from 2011, and it doesn't work with v0.71 for sure (can't remember if it's the same with Taewoong's v0.74).

Anyway, here's some more stuff that I've noticed (shots on the left are from v1.0, on the right from v1.2):

• Once a heat seeker card is picked in v1.0, the missile launcher automatically switches into heat-seeking mode. In v1.2, you still need to manually switch it to heat seeking mode after picking the card. This turned out to depend on whether the missile launcher is the currently selected weapon when the card is picked, and is unrelated to the version number.
• Version 1.2 added sprites for broken neon lamps, which are used in the first level of the shareware version:
  http://imageshack.us/scaled/landing/405/sw10lamp1.png http://imageshack.us/scaled/landing/15/sw12lamp1.png
  Another example is the seats at the train platform (v1.0/1.1 only has flickering lights):
  http://imageshack.us/scaled/landing/41/sw10lamp2.png http://imageshack.us/scaled/landing/202/sw12lamp2.png
  Interestingly enough, v1.2 does not seem to have any neon lamps that can actually be destroyed by the player, even though this feature was already present in Duke Nukem 3D. Some lamps were made destructible in v1.2 but others remains as they are in v1.0.
• A much more noticeable change in the level layout can be found in level 3, where a niche that contains sticky bombs was moved from one side of the pool to the other:
  http://imageshack.us/scaled/landing/28/sw10cache.png http://imageshack.us/scaled/landing/694/sw12cache.png
• The same level has a secret underwater area with a switch, which was moved from one wall to another:
  http://imageshack.us/scaled/landing/252/sw10switch.png http://imageshack.us/scaled/landing/811/sw12switch.png
  This change actually occurred in v1.1 already.

Dec. 6. 2012 version, Seems to work also with the newest version (Jan. 24. 2013). You still get error messages in the status window but the game runs fine.

Again, thanks for the info!

BTW, I've just watched your YouTube channel, you've got a lot of cool videos there :)

My bad, this actually depends on whether the missile launcher is selected when the heat seeker card is picked (when the launcher is the currently selected weapon, it will switch into heat-seeking mode automatically), and this behaviour is identical in all versions.

This is also not entirely correct, as there are some breakable neon lamps; others remain indestructible, like in previous versions.

Anyway, I also noticed this little thing:
http://imageshack.us/scaled/landing/838/sw10sky.png http://imageshack.us/scaled/landing/208/sw12sky.png
The simple sky texture in level 3 was replaced by a panoramic view of mountains and forest. This change, however, is not very obvious because most of the sky is obscured by structures in the open areas (temple entrance and courtyard; the area with chasms later into the level has a different sky altogether), with only the sky being visible in both versions unless you really look around.

Another difference is that v1.2 seems to have weapon priorities: for example, if you start level 3 with no previously collected weapons, pick the UZI and then pick sticky bombs, you'll switch from the UZI to the sticky bombs; however, if you pick the bombs first you won't switch to the UZI automatically when you pick it. In v1.0, you'll switch to whatever newly acquired weapon you've picked, no matter what it is and what you already have in your arsenal.

I didn't realise until now that these free levels also work with the shareware version:
(source)

I was confused by the fact that the Lasersoft level pack is listed under the files that require the registered version to run. I also did not realize that the levels were made by Tom Hall, somehow I thought that the levels were made in-house by Lasersoft.

I've figured out this website can be browsed by means of the Wayback Machine too:
http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://.../msdos/games/*
http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://...win3xx/games/*
http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://.../win95/games/*
http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://.../win98/games/*
http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://...innt50/games/*

It's far from complete (rpg? strategy?), but gives nice insights too. I wouldn't guess "chess" and "cars" cathegories!

I wonder how could I get it more directly...

...ouch. Found it. Of sorts. %)

http://volftp.tiscali.it/i/j/liste-old/18/1.htm

Look on this "1780 files" here! %)

No, it cannot be traversed otherwise then putting 2.htm...356.htm in link. %)

But at least it will cover everything in DOS category! :D

Oh yes, they have those old pages with some description of the stuff they have. Interestingly, some of the game demos etc. are still available from the new, working version of the same website. I've never bothered to check how much the "new" and the "old" stuff overlaps though.

Sadly some file from the "old" pages seem to have gone missing, like the demo of Apache (which was supposedly the original distributive: apchdem1.exe).

Hmm... yes, you are right. Seems, all "demo" dir is non-existant. :/ Strange.

What is even more strange for me is links. I could swear that it was working ones when I tried it at work. But now all of them are going to (non-existant) FTP. %)

Oh, and this Apach is really rare now! Google gives only handful of links, and most of it are dead long ago. :/ I was able to locate it only here. Check it, please?

...also I must say that this "old" links are not reliable too. :( It have huge lacunas, like 1-50 htm are exist, but 51-90 is not, then nothing from 140 to 195 and so on. :/

Well, as it is only guide to "real" dirs, it can be allright anyway. But pity. :/

You have to manually edit every link from "ftp://ftp.volftp.mondadori.com/" to "http://volftp.tiscali.it/", otherwise it won't work at all :)

Ehh, that C|NET server now wants users who download files above 1MB to use their "downloader". A few years ago one could download large files directly with no problems...

Maybe the original file can be found on some magazine coverdisk?

Well, I know. :) But it worked "as is"! (At least, I think so). Strange. Mental bugs, I suppose. :)
Well, actually, it allows you to download file, if you'll press "direct link". I tested it before I published link. :)

Unfortunately, it writes some trash in the header of this "direct" file. :/ 512 bytes or so of pure trash.

Fortunately, it's exe, so MZ-signature can be found easily. So I stripped all this nonsense and resulting file is fine. :)

Get it here. :)

Cool, thankies! ^_^

Hallfiry was able to obtain a copy of the early demo CD of Daggerfall, which has the female Spellsword. Details and download links are here. And here are the photos of the CD and its cover.

I'm so thankful for this thread! I'm working on a YouTube playlist of my favorite exclusive content demos.

Jagged Alliance 2 has the "Demoville" map (with three levels, one of which is hidden) that is unique. The non-battle area of the ground level is slightly similar to I06 Estoni. The demo also has some exclusive voice acting.



https://archive.org/details/JaggedAlliance2_1020

Correction: StarCraft the demo has 4 levels + 1 tutorial level, not 5 levels + 1 tutorial level:


Fallout 3 Van Buren has a demo. It was never made (or at least never released). Not sure this counts.