Discussion for Driver 2: Back on the Streets [EU] / Driver 2: The Wheelman is Back [US] (2000)
#55426
There are a lot of topics on this sub-forum talking about a beta version. Are there more than 1 betas of Driver 2 and are they just demos? What are they?

EDIT: By the way, for those who don't know, there's a guy in several forums who calls himself DreamTR. He used to have beta versions of Driver 2. These aren't demos, but actual betas of the entire game. The betas came on 2 discs. Nobody knows where the betas are now.

Here's an old forum topic where he listed his Driver 2 prototype (2009 topic): http://forums.hidden-palace.org/viewtopic.php?t=2815
Here's another old (older) forum topic where he had sold another Driver 2 prototype: http://www.assemblergames.com/forums/ar ... 18066.html
#55427
They're various work-in-progress builds of the game.
People that collect beta versions of games are assholes, they never even do anything with the prototypes and just shove it in people's faces that "they own it and you never will". Whoever brought the beta of D2 is going to do nothing with it, they'll have it sit on a shelf and collect dust and just brag to people that they own it. More or less exactly like most baby boomers who own classic cars. They have them sitting in a climate controlled garage 24/7 and never drive them and just use them as bragging rights.
#55428
I feel EXACTLY the same way as you about these pricks. Many just want to show off with these items on forums or videos. Others want to feel like they're big time because they own these builds.

But many of them don't simply keep the betas/prototypes to themselves, they will sell it, but only for BIG $$$. Because in reality, they're not true fans of the game and they're not really interested in the beta/prototype; they only care about how much money it can get them if they sell it. They're essentially businessmen. They only see the games for the monetary value, not gameplay value. Often many betas/prototypes end up being sold to closed-in private idiots who will sit on the games until the day they die and nobody else will ever hear about it again. Thousands of early game builds have been lost due to this.

Enough of my rant. I just want to point out that DreamTR (who has/had these betas) is exactly that kind of person.
#55430
Same with me, man. I do the same for some other games and many old home computer classics. I believe that preservation, above all, is most important for these betas. They are an important part of the game's history. Instead, we have people with too much money who will hoard them away from the game communities.
#55437
Hmm, yeah, there's that beta as well. If I was aware of those forums back in the day, I would have bought those right away. Hate discovering these a few years too late. It'll be harder to find them since we don't even know who the buyer is.
#55438
"It'll be harder to find them since we don't even know who the buyer is"
Not only that, but the biggest issue with this is the age of this game, making most beta discs and stuff lost and or damaged. There's a possibility that some games are left on the hard drive on one or more computers they were developed on, imagine if one of us fond a computer that Driver 2 was developed on, and we had it's development kit and fully explored Driver 2 and it's past.
#55440
Right, developers don't really know how interested some people are into their games, I don't even see how developers wouldn't want to look into all of their work sometimes, for example, the beta 2CV in DRIV3R, that vehicle was most likely virtually deleted, long ago.
I even find myself extremely interested into the earliest stage of a game of mine, a small area which was lost over wiping my hard drive many times and eventually forgetting the files.
Last edited by VAIMAHDO on Tue Aug 26, 2014 3:53 am, edited 1 time in total.
#55444
Some game developers take pride in their work, while others are simply looking to make a profit. The former is extremely rare, especially these days. So the ones who only care for the money won't give 2 shits about their previous work, they just want to focus on how to bring in more dough in the future.

On the subject of these betas, I know from experience that a lot of these pompous beta/prototype owners don't properly sell their discs. They usually keep backups of all the data. So then after selling the original disc, they'll keep quiet on the game for a few years; and then they'll burn the data onto a blank CD/DVD and re-sell it. It has happened before, including to me.

But as bad as that is, the worst thing of all is when a proto is bought by someone, in a private sale, who wants to keep it private and has no intention of letting anyone ever know about it. In that case, the early version is as good as gone. At least in the previous case, it still has a chance, although expensive, to be recovered by fans.
#55445
Yeah if I find any beta discs or anything of Driver, I'll definitely try to get it. This just tells me that for 3D animations and games I make that I need to preserve the content, deleted and taken out. Just like in the "Video game I'm making" forum, I just posted the only screenshot of the first build, lost it completely otherwise.
#55474
helkensinken wrote:
PostalDude wrote:Not even close to humanly possible. They've all been dismantled + all their hard drives were wiped.
2000 to 2014. this possibilty are more close.... (Y)
Devs usually don't wipe their drives before being archived on tape drive (LTO)
#55479
I've been in the retro home computer scene (CPC, C64, Spectrum) and I've released a few betas myself, for free. The important thing is that I did it, instead of hoarding it and expecting big $$$ to share. Because I know that the community deserves it for their dedication to the games/computers/system. And I certainly don't hold any rights to it, nor keeping it stowed away. These aren't future video games or full/final versions of a new game. They've long been released and they're incomplete versions. The communities devoted to the games/series should be allowed to play them.
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