The files of Armalion contain a wealth of scrapped, unused, and unimplemented content, providing us with a deeper insight into the game’s development and a glimpse of what might have been if production had continued!
Theres 3 lists in the executable which name all of the gods, days and moons in The Dark Eye universe. How exactly this may have been used is unknown but its certain to say that the game may have had some sort of calendar system.
The September 20, 2001 build contains a list of all motion IDs that the game is able to read. Interestingly, there are some animation types listed that have no corresponding files within the game. The list is as follows:
What really stands out here is the mention of special attacks — something that is not implemented in any of the available versions. Another interesting detail is the reference to fieldwork and cattle driving. While NPC behavior like this was never implemented, a mockup of how it might have looked can be seen in the original Spellcraft renders!
The 20th September 2001 build also contains a abandoned Sound ID type list which mentions battle cries. Theres no equivalent for such a sound in the files.
Normally inaccessible in both available builds, a hidden menu for managing units exists within the code — part of the strategy elements that were never fully implemented. At this stage of development, the menu has limited functionality, but some features are present! For example, if the player shifts focus to another character using debugging functions, they can return to their player character by clicking on the first slot in the menu.
In some developer-made screenshots from back then, the menu is shown as enabled, including an earlier iteration that featured one additional slot. In the patches we have provided, we have made it possible to enable this menu in both builds without any trouble.
In the 11.12.2001 build there is a teleport menu hidden away in the code which relies on being scripted. There is no scripted example in the files and after a lot of fiddling we managed to get something to show up (using placeholder strings). This goes inline with a unused portal effect which can also be found in the game. It seems that the developers were working on implementing a portal system for fast travel before development halted. The portal effect later ended up being reused wholesale in Sacred with some very slight adjustments.
Theres also 2 other noteable unused effects that do not appear anywhere in the builds.
Both versions contain a string that labels the build with a version number and compile date. Since the version number remains the same in both builds, it is likely that this versioning system had been abandoned some time before development ceased.
Content that has been restored in our provided patches, as well as unused duplicate or otherwise insignificant models, are being omitted here to maintain a more concise presentation.
It seems that at some point during development, the developers experimented with using 3D models for furniture instead of 2D graphics. There are also animations for a chair in the earlier build, suggesting that they experimented with making the furniture interactable. One animation simply moves the chair model into place, while the other actually kicks the chair away!
At some point during development, a system for low-poly models was implemented—possibly to optimize performance when a large number of characters appeared on screen. Many models intended for this system can be found in the files, including an earlier version of the Amazone model, which still features her old default idle pose.
Notably, MINOTAUR_CLOTH_LP and MINOTAUR_METAL_LP also have higher-detail versions in the files, but these remain unused, likely because only one Minotaur had been implemented at the time.
For ranged attacks only one arrow model has been implemented at the time, but other types of ammunition can be found in the model files.
Theres 3 unused potion models and a additional book model that are not used by any item in the game.
Theres two very interesting shield models in the files. One is the shield for skeleton warriors which can be seen in numerous early materials and second is the shield of the cut female dwarf class!
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Due to the border of the UI it is not possible to see the map in full, so here is the map in its entirety.
It seems that the developers originally intended for birds to fly across the map when the player opened it, similar to the randomly spawning clouds. The textures for these birds exist in the game files, but they are just tiny dots with shadows. Instead of posting the raw textures, here’s a mockup of how this effect might have looked in action!
Additionally theres also markers, buttons and a slider that have not been implemented for the map. Theres also a unused border part with 100% transparency.
Only the Amazone icon has been implemented for the inventory button before development halted but the buttons for the other classes also exist.
The game has a lot of mouse cursors and not all of them have been implemented, including a cursor for the unimplemented climbing mechanic! There are also alternate versions of cursors that were already implemented.
The increasing of stats after a level up has not been implemented but buttons do exist.
Phex classes were supposed to get a miracle casting system as per DSA lore. There are mockups that show where this button was supposed to be at in the interface.
The unused unit menu does not show any portraits but the developers actually have created a bunch of them already!
Theres a lot of icons and buttons for spells that have been never implemented and or been removed from the game. Some of these icons can be seen in early in-engine screenshots. Notably the morph spell which is also still listed in the spell book in the earlier available build of the game.
Additionally theres graphics for a spell cursor which can also be seen in early in-engine screenshots and mockups. The exact purpose is unknown.
Removed in the later build but still present in the earlier one is a bestiary entry for bats. The entry has no background graphic unlike the other ones but in the files there is actually one!
The options menu is pretty much only a non functional placeholder in the available builds. The earlier available version has buttons that would have been used, if the menu would have been fully implemented.
Implemented in the later build but unimplemented in the earlier is the save menu. The textures for it do exist in the earlier version and the menu looks very slightly different.
The later version has a image for the buttons in the main menu being pressed, however due to how the image was setup it wouldn’t have been feasible to imeplemented this way.
Theres quite some unused inventory icons, some of them being placeholder and some of them showing items which never have been implemented or removed! There is also the slot graphic for the old version of the inventory which can be seen in older screenshots.
Theres graphics for animated butterflies, which would later be used in SACRED. There is also a second animation for a cursed tree that is not used.
Theres textures for earlier versions of the heroes including their weapons (as seen in the original renders), which can also be found in SACRED.
Inside the textures of the farmers, the basket and scythe textures from the Spellfcraft renders can be seen. These leftiovers also still exist within SACRED.
At one point during development, the path to the monolith in the beginning area was different than what can be seen in any of the available content. If all the trees are removed from the game, a path becomes visible which has been covered up!
Theres a lot of unused objects and buildings that were already implemented but not used yet. The Amazonfeste has been execluded from this list due to being too overly complex to stitch together right now. Instead I included a picture of the building at the very end below.
Once the player arrives in Hawkstone, the available story content ends. There is a few bits and pieces which only leaves guessing in how the plot would continue from here on out. Notably a group of people is standing around in the town square with no additional context whatsoever. However, in the files there is a unfinished cutscene which does not trigger because it reads from an ID that has already been assigned. Below is a showcase of the unused script in action!
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In the 11.12.2001 build theres a leftover save which crashes the game if loaded, however the thumbnail that can be extracted from it seems to show some sort of testing area with Gandhrak being present.
In the movie folder theres 2 logo movies that go unused, one is the Ikarion Software logo animation and the other is the former publisher DTP. These files have been copied 1:1 from Ikarions previous game, Demonworld 2.
