Hunters Camp, HC. what it might have been?
Posted: Mon Apr 03, 2017 6:02 am
In the Plains Research topic tatu posted a download link that contained both scripts and the walkthrough but it also included several other documents from when the game was in production. In the Area Creation How To document under appendix E there is a list of the levels
walkthrough theory
The level begins with Anne on the cliff, to her left is the remains of a trail leading to the bottom.
puzzle one
However a landslide has removed a substantial section, a bridge was erected but only one section of it remains at the road level, the other is just below but simply jumping to it will result in death. the goal of this puzzle is to use a piece of rebar to pry open a crack thus separating the section connected to the legs and ground. The bridge has now become a teeter-totter (like the one in the Beach), Anne can now slide down the side and jump to the next section. The second section is at angle and Anne will begin to slide, she needs to make her way to the other support and pry the bolt connecting it to the bridge section. The resulting wait will be too bunch for the other support to manage and the section will become a sled of sorts sending the player to the bottom.
upon reaching the bottom the player notices a clearing ahead, the hunters camp.
puzzle two
This is the pit and bear trap obstacles mentioned in the walkthrough. If the payer fall into a pit they have to make stairs to get out, for the Dino sized bear traps they need to pry it off.
Once past the"welcoming mat" the player has earned the right to explore the camp. This consists of picking open locked crates and sifting through car interiors (some of the doors are locked/jammed leaving only the windows as a means of access).
puzzle three
This is more of a scavenger hunt. Poking around the largest tent reveals a map of the area with the town gates highlighted and numbered, there's also the plantation house labeled as a possible second base. The task here is to look for a surviving list that has the gate access codes, needles to say you wont find the intact code here, this is a prompt for the player to search the plantation house before going to the town.
puzzle four
If you haven't figured it out the point of this level is to instruct on how to use both your arm and wrist to complete tasks. This puzzle is like the "Final Exam" jumping puzzle from the last level. One idea for this could involve the drivable car in the secrets document. For this the player must create a clear path for the jeep to go, removing/covering traps and wedging an object to the gas pedal.
So by now your probably thinking "no wonder it was cut/canceled".But don't forget that several levels in the walkthrough were just like this, the Beach is a prime example as it only encompasses the beach and foundation area. There's no guns or dinosaurs, your solely there to get a feel for the controls till you feel ready to continue. The Jungle Road is kind of the same way but you get to explore, see dinosaurs, and complete puzzles. Now jumping ahead to the Town, for the duration of the level you are confined to the town having to search for items of use while also battling raptors and a T-rex/Albertasaur/Allosaur (there isn't a dead set combatant here). Next is the Lab, originally this began just outside the harbor gates and like the town your confined to this small area. What sets this apart is the amount of vagueness in the descriptions of puzzles (basically go down this, turn here, walk over here) and the uncertainty (there's a lot of question marks in this section). The level I drummed up fits in with these as it is primarily puzzle solving and teaches skills that will be used later, like the pit fall traps that were to be around the Mayan ruins and the giant lake in the Industrial Jungle. The E3 builds had evidence that this was still on the table, tatu just recently discovered a long pole labeled Raft Pole in AS2. You were probably meant to stick the pole to the ground and pull yourself along, which could require the use of the wrist mechanics that go unused. The strategy guide lists two instances when bending your wrist is required, scanning key cards and gun orientation. So as you can see this level was probably cut/altered for the same reasons as the others, it was primarily puzzle based, little value, or they have time to do what they intended.
. The Walkthrough was created on 6-27-1997 and later modified on 8-15-1997, this document was created 3-31-1998. So between March 31 and October 28 another level was "coming soon". This raises a multitude of questions but the most important one is "why the change?". The walkthrough, even after being altered, places the Hunters camp east of the monorail tracks. So this wasn't like a new idea they wanted to implement but one they had already had in mind and planned out. What follows is my theory as to what this level was and why it was cut/canceled. Going by the walkthrough the starting point of the PH is incorrect, there's no road to follow down and the valley is cut in half by terrain (the rock jumping puzzle by the floating cement mixer), this is where I'm basing my theorized level.There are directories for each level of the game:
Beach, Jungle Road, Hunter Camp (coming soon), Plantation House, Industrial Jungle, Town, Plains, Pine Valley, Lab, Ascent, and Summit.
walkthrough theory
The level begins with Anne on the cliff, to her left is the remains of a trail leading to the bottom.
puzzle one
However a landslide has removed a substantial section, a bridge was erected but only one section of it remains at the road level, the other is just below but simply jumping to it will result in death. the goal of this puzzle is to use a piece of rebar to pry open a crack thus separating the section connected to the legs and ground. The bridge has now become a teeter-totter (like the one in the Beach), Anne can now slide down the side and jump to the next section. The second section is at angle and Anne will begin to slide, she needs to make her way to the other support and pry the bolt connecting it to the bridge section. The resulting wait will be too bunch for the other support to manage and the section will become a sled of sorts sending the player to the bottom.
upon reaching the bottom the player notices a clearing ahead, the hunters camp.
puzzle two
This is the pit and bear trap obstacles mentioned in the walkthrough. If the payer fall into a pit they have to make stairs to get out, for the Dino sized bear traps they need to pry it off.
Once past the"welcoming mat" the player has earned the right to explore the camp. This consists of picking open locked crates and sifting through car interiors (some of the doors are locked/jammed leaving only the windows as a means of access).
puzzle three
This is more of a scavenger hunt. Poking around the largest tent reveals a map of the area with the town gates highlighted and numbered, there's also the plantation house labeled as a possible second base. The task here is to look for a surviving list that has the gate access codes, needles to say you wont find the intact code here, this is a prompt for the player to search the plantation house before going to the town.
puzzle four
If you haven't figured it out the point of this level is to instruct on how to use both your arm and wrist to complete tasks. This puzzle is like the "Final Exam" jumping puzzle from the last level. One idea for this could involve the drivable car in the secrets document. For this the player must create a clear path for the jeep to go, removing/covering traps and wedging an object to the gas pedal.
So by now your probably thinking "no wonder it was cut/canceled".But don't forget that several levels in the walkthrough were just like this, the Beach is a prime example as it only encompasses the beach and foundation area. There's no guns or dinosaurs, your solely there to get a feel for the controls till you feel ready to continue. The Jungle Road is kind of the same way but you get to explore, see dinosaurs, and complete puzzles. Now jumping ahead to the Town, for the duration of the level you are confined to the town having to search for items of use while also battling raptors and a T-rex/Albertasaur/Allosaur (there isn't a dead set combatant here). Next is the Lab, originally this began just outside the harbor gates and like the town your confined to this small area. What sets this apart is the amount of vagueness in the descriptions of puzzles (basically go down this, turn here, walk over here) and the uncertainty (there's a lot of question marks in this section). The level I drummed up fits in with these as it is primarily puzzle solving and teaches skills that will be used later, like the pit fall traps that were to be around the Mayan ruins and the giant lake in the Industrial Jungle. The E3 builds had evidence that this was still on the table, tatu just recently discovered a long pole labeled Raft Pole in AS2. You were probably meant to stick the pole to the ground and pull yourself along, which could require the use of the wrist mechanics that go unused. The strategy guide lists two instances when bending your wrist is required, scanning key cards and gun orientation. So as you can see this level was probably cut/altered for the same reasons as the others, it was primarily puzzle based, little value, or they have time to do what they intended.