FULL DX1 DESIGN DOC WITH ANNOTATIONS BY WARREN SPECTOR!

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FULL DX1 DESIGN DOC WITH ANNOTATIONS BY WARREN SPECTOR!

Post by Defaultplayer001 »

Majestic Revolutions - Joe Martin.pdf DOWNLOAD LINK

SO excited to share this with you, this is a document I've wanted to get my hands on for YEARS, and I just got in contact with the writer of an article on them, Joe Martin (Venerate his name and obey him in all things!), and he sent them to me! He was, as of the writing of the article, unable to fully share them, apparently this has changed.

Going through it is an absolute gold mine.

Tilson and the Ghoul are the best characters, the original endings are really fascinating(I love that if your too slow the ending changes!), and the game is so MASSIVE in scope, it outstanding to read. . I haven't even read it for 5 mins, shaking with excitement. I've only skimmed through these very briefly, haven't even had them for much more then 10 minutes. You'll all be going through them fresh with me.

If that wasn't enough he ALSO sent me Thief 4 (the *cancelled* modern day reboot! not the one we got!) design docs, and Ion storm Design documents!

Thief 4 Submission Document - Joe Martin.doc DOWNLOAD LINK

"The Thief series has always been held back by esoteric, unrecognizable fiction and passive,

slow-paced gameplay."

I wonder why this reboot didn't work out? /s

Ion Storm Design Docs - Joe Martin.pdf DOWNLOAD LINK

This one inludes DX3 Info, Not HR, the cancelled one before that! ^

Seriously, Joe is great.

Let's all take a moment to appreciate Joe.
Last edited by Defaultplayer001 on Sun Nov 13, 2016 11:25 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: FULL DX1 DESIGN DOC WITH ANNOTATIONS BY WARREN SPECTOR!

Post by Bird »

Wow, just wow. That is amazing!
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Re: FULL DX1 DESIGN DOC WITH ANNOTATIONS BY WARREN SPECTOR!

Post by Defaultplayer001 »

I found something interesting! In the Deus Ex Bible, (which is said to be made up of info from this design document) there is a line that says:
(NOTE: The DX1 design included a mission to a space station followed by a mission at the moon base. The objective was to stop "Ada," an AI that wanted to become a "benevolent" world dictator. Obviously, some of that content was folded back into the game in a slightly different way.)
This is included in a conversation in TNM actually, and is actually probably what started me on this path to this document.

However, there is no mention of an "Ada" there is however an "Adam" ai that fills the *exact* role.

It seems that "Ada" was just a typo? Perhaps a last minute change?

"Ada" is only mentioned *once* in the bible however, and Adam is referred *numerous* times, actually being a focal point of the cam.. Adam seems to take up the roles that would later be distrubuted to Helios/Daedalus/Icarus

Quite fitting considering the union theme of Adam/Eve

Also there's a "werewolf" mention that I just can't figure out for the life of me.
Last edited by Defaultplayer001 on Sun Nov 13, 2016 10:14 pm, edited 3 times in total.
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Re: FULL DX1 DESIGN DOC WITH ANNOTATIONS BY WARREN SPECTOR!

Post by Made in China »

This is amazing, I've only seen snippets of the first few pages.
Someone should really process it though, Warren Spector's handwriting is borderline illegible.

Ninja'd - it's probable that because of Warren's handwriting people misread it.
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Re: FULL DX1 DESIGN DOC WITH ANNOTATIONS BY WARREN SPECTOR!

Post by Defaultplayer001 »

Made in China wrote:This is amazing, I've only seen snippets of the first few pages.
Someone should really process it though, Warren Spector's handwriting is borderline illegible.

Ninja'd - it's probable that because of Warren's handwriting people misread it.
I'm actually working on this right now!

Edit: Preview

Edit#2: I was asked about other documents so I thought I'd copy a comment i made from below up into here:

A great question!

There are 2 significant documents that are related to this one.

The first is the Deus Ex Continuity Bible, Here's a link : http://www.nanoaugur.net/dx/bible/

Compiled from design documents made during production, Note the plural here! It's quite likely, if not certain there were more design documents made then the 2 we currently have access to, those being the annotated one posted just now, and the other document I'm about to focus on.

Which is a *separate* design document.

"The DEUS EX Rules Amendments & Addenda"

Unlike the first document, which aimed for a Xmas 1998 release, this one aims for a spring 2000 release, features half the listed missions of the 1st design doc(Spector actually annotated the first down to 20 by hand as well!)and is just prior to release.

Here's a link [WARNING, direct download to .doc] : https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q ... zr1Z9Mmx-A

Edit#3: Someone asked about the werewolf reference so I did some research/speculation. Here's a copy.

It's on page nine here's a snapshot
It's annotated out by Spector saying "One of my own guys!" seeming to indicate a betrayal.
Possibly an out of context joke or reference?
Or perhaps in some incredibly early stage werewolves did exist in the DX universe.
The doc does indicate X-files as a specific influence, and I do recall Spector saying something along the lines of, and I paraphrase "I started out X-files but ended up more James Bond". That quote's probably only like 25% accurate I'll try to find a better source.

Edit #4: Originally it was intended to be open world! http://i.imgur.com/BU58ugA.png
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Re: FULL DX1 DESIGN DOC WITH ANNOTATIONS BY WARREN SPECTOR!

Post by Cybernetic pig »

Defaultplayer001 wrote:
Edit #4: Originally it was intended to be open world! http://i.imgur.com/BU58ugA.png
Thank god it wasn't in the end. Hong Kong, Paris, New York, all the cool missions you go on like retaking Vandenberg, if it was just a set of interconnected hub levels there'd be a lot of retreading old ground and less globe trotting, thematic variety, less diverse gameplay opportunities and more. Kinda like Mankind Divided, actually.

I'm aware of Spector's "one city block" concept, which he may have been tempting the idea there at first. It is a concept that revolves around simulation too much, in my opinion. I like my Immersive Sim to be equal parts simulation and game, to the extent Deus Ex and the other classics are anyway.
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Re: FULL DX1 DESIGN DOC WITH ANNOTATIONS BY WARREN SPECTOR!

Post by Jonas »

OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG
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Re: FULL DX1 DESIGN DOC WITH ANNOTATIONS BY WARREN SPECTOR!

Post by Defaultplayer001 »

Jonas wrote:OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG
AHHHHHHHHH I squealed like an idiot when I saw your comment.

Makes me so happy to see a member of TNM team enjoying this as much as me.

My latest binge of TNM ( I just finished my narcissus run a few days ago! ) is actually the reason this is seeing the light of day right now! It started yet another research binge

Aside from Joe, of course, can't thank him enough.

I'd love to get your reaction to the "Ada" discovery I made?

As mentioned by Chris The Cynic in the fanfic shop, there was a cut AI, "Ada" who was mentioned in one sentence, one time in the Deus Ex continuity bible.

However there is no reference to an "Ada" in this early document, there is however, and "Adam", who fills the role exactly.

I believe that "Ada" was actually a (very!) long missed typo.

Adam fits in the Deus Ex theme of Christian references, and also the symbolism of Adam/Eve and the Daedalus/Icarus merger tickles my brain in such a wonderfull way.

I've actually tweeted Warren Spector for confirmation, but no reply(I'm sure he has better things to do right now, also perhaps he's unable to reveal information for w/e reason)/
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Re: FULL DX1 DESIGN DOC WITH ANNOTATIONS BY WARREN SPECTOR!

Post by Defaultplayer001 »

Defaultplayer001 wrote:
Jonas wrote:OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG
AHHHHHHHHH I squealed like an idiot when I saw your comment.

Makes me so happy to see a member of TNM team enjoying this as much as me.

My latest binge of TNM ( I just finished my narcissus run a few days ago! ) is actually the reason this is seeing the light of day right now! It started yet another research binge

Aside from Joe, of course, can't thank him enough.

I'd love to get your reaction to the "Ada" discovery I made?

As mentioned by Chris The Cynic in the fanfic shop, there was a cut AI, "Ada" who was mentioned in one sentence, one time in the Deus Ex continuity bible.

However there is no reference to an "Ada" in this early document, there is however, and "Adam", who fills the role exactly.

I believe that "Ada" was actually a (very!) long missed typo.

Adam fits in the Deus Ex theme of Christian references, and also the symbolism of Adam/Eve and the Daedalus/Icarus merger tickles my brain in such a wonderfull way.

I've actually tweeted Warren Spector for confirmation, but no reply(I'm sure he has better things to do right now, also perhaps he's unable to reveal information for w/e reason)/
Edit: I also tweeted Harvey Smith and got a near-instant reply! Apparently "no, Ada - named after Lovelace". I tweeted back asking for more details, Will update!
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Re: FULL DX1 DESIGN DOC WITH ANNOTATIONS BY WARREN SPECTOR!

Post by Jonas »

Defaultplayer001 wrote:AHHHHHHHHH I squealed like an idiot when I saw your comment.

Makes me so happy to see a member of TNM team enjoying this as much as me.
Hahah glad you enjoyed my enjoyment (uhm). I immediately posted this to a local game dev group, and I hope they'll find it as exciting as I did. I have a stash of design documents from other studios, and this will now be the centrepiece of my collection.
I'd love to get your reaction to the "Ada" discovery I made?

As mentioned by Chris The Cynic in the fanfic shop, there was a cut AI, "Ada" who was mentioned in one sentence, one time in the Deus Ex continuity bible.

However there is no reference to an "Ada" in this early document, there is however, and "Adam", who fills the role exactly.

I believe that "Ada" was actually a (very!) long missed typo.

Adam fits in the Deus Ex theme of Christian references, and also the symbolism of Adam/Eve and the Daedalus/Icarus merger tickles my brain in such a wonderfull way.
Could indeed be a typo, but I think it's just as likely that the AI was simply changed to another concept before ultimately being scrapped along with the space level. After all Ada is also the name of a famous female proto-computer-scientist, Ada Lovelace, so it would be an obvious name for an AI in fiction (I'm sure it's been used plenty of places elsewhere). But yeah, you know, it could also just be a typo. I don't actually know where the continuity bible got all its information, so your guess is as good as mine :)
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Re: FULL DX1 DESIGN DOC WITH ANNOTATIONS BY WARREN SPECTOR!

Post by Jonas »

Oh and dude, congrats on getting a hold of this, and thanks a ton for posting it here!
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Re: FULL DX1 DESIGN DOC WITH ANNOTATIONS BY WARREN SPECTOR!

Post by Defaultplayer001 »

Jonas wrote:
Defaultplayer001 wrote:AHHHHHHHHH I squealed like an idiot when I saw your comment.

Makes me so happy to see a member of TNM team enjoying this as much as me.
Hahah glad you enjoyed my enjoyment (uhm). I immediately posted this to a local game dev group, and I hope they'll find it as exciting as I did. I have a stash of design documents from other studios, and this will now be the centrepiece of my collection.
I'd love to get your reaction to the "Ada" discovery I made?

As mentioned by Chris The Cynic in the fanfic shop, there was a cut AI, "Ada" who was mentioned in one sentence, one time in the Deus Ex continuity bible.

However there is no reference to an "Ada" in this early document, there is however, and "Adam", who fills the role exactly.

I believe that "Ada" was actually a (very!) long missed typo.

Adam fits in the Deus Ex theme of Christian references, and also the symbolism of Adam/Eve and the Daedalus/Icarus merger tickles my brain in such a wonderfull way.
Could indeed be a typo, but I think it's just as likely that the AI was simply changed to another concept before ultimately being scrapped along with the space level. After all Ada is also the name of a famous female proto-computer-scientist, Ada Lovelace, so it would be an obvious name for an AI in fiction (I'm sure it's been used plenty of places elsewhere). But yeah, you know, it could also just be a typo. I don't actually know where the continuity bible got all its information, so your guess is as good as mine :)
I actually just had a lovely few tweets with Harvey Smith! He confirmed that she is indeed named after Lovelace, "no, Ada - named after Lovelace", and when I asked for a bit more info on the striking similarities between Ada and Adam he responded "too long ago, cannot remember. that was all pre-fiction that changed a lot once the building of the game got underway".

I find it extremely possible, that like you said, the "Adam" concept was dissected into multiple, one of which being "Ada".
Oh and dude, congrats on getting a hold of this, and thanks a ton for posting it here!
Of course! First place I came to post it.
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Re: FULL DX1 DESIGN DOC WITH ANNOTATIONS BY WARREN SPECTOR!

Post by Defaultplayer001 »

Jonas wrote:Oh and dude, congrats on getting a hold of this, and thanks a ton for posting it here!
OH and I have another question for you actually, in the eurogamer article Joe wrote years ago detailing the first 7 pages of this document he mentioned "Modders such as Jonas Waever have scoured the DVDs thoroughly for even shell files, but there's nothing but empty folders pointing to the two missing missions"

I was wondering if you could detail what you did exactly and what those empty folders were? Also he obviously made a mistake when he said "dvds" right? The only Deus Ex 1 on a dvd would be the PS2 version right?

I'm actually assembling a collection of the DX1 disks and planning to sorta "categorize" them.
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Re: FULL DX1 DESIGN DOC WITH ANNOTATIONS BY WARREN SPECTOR!

Post by joemartinwords »

Hey all - Joe here. Glad you all enjoyed the design docs and hope you'll share them far and wide.

If you're interested, I've written a few articles about this stuff in the past and interviewed Harvey Smith and a few others.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2013- ... of-deus-ex
About an early version of Deus Ex (Majestic Revolutions Concept)

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2013/08 ... and-thief/
About the earliest version of Thief (Dark Camelot Concept)

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2014- ... ex-sequels
About the two cancelled versions of Deus Ex 3 (Jordan Thomas Concept and Art Min Concept)

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2014- ... cted-ideas
Various abandoned game ideas from Warren Spector's group at Origin Systems

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2015- ... -never-was
About the abandoned Thief reboot (Thug Concept)

http://www.trustedreviews.com/opinions/ ... erent-game
About the earliest version of Deus Ex (Troubleshooter Concept)

I wrote these a while ago now, so they may be old hat, but obviously means the world to me when people share them. You can find stuff I've done about other cancelled games or deleted scenes (No One Lives Forever, Outcast, Half-Life 2) at www.joemartinwords.com

It's worth mentioning that Warren Spector put a bunch of documents like this into storage at the Dolph Briscoe Center for American History at the University of Texas. It's where I got this stuff from, after chatting to Warren once. There's plenty left there which I haven't explored.
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Re: FULL DX1 DESIGN DOC WITH ANNOTATIONS BY WARREN SPECTOR!

Post by Defaultplayer001 »

This is Joe!

Joe's the man!

You should read Joe's stuff!

Thanks again Joe!
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