Ecco II Prototype 0429 Preview, and a treat.

The 0429 prototype documentation is nearing completion and we have a new helper to speed up the process– Magical Trevor X of the Dark Sea BBS. Despite massive hard disk failures and other setbacks we’re finally back on track– once 0429 is up, you’ll be seeing new prototypes from us on a FAR more regular basis.

To give you a taste of what’s to come in this new build from Novotrade, here’s a small preview of two of the stages.

Is this what Dolphins’ dreams look like?


Nope, it’s ONEWAY, a bizarre test stage loaded with peculiar current objects and a vertiable army of fish. Curiously enough, it’s built upon a very broken version of Dark Sea.


Next up we have a much-improved version of “Spiral” from Build X11, which later became Secret Cave. If you think Welcome to the Machine was difficult, wait til you see the nightmare challenge 0429’s version of Spiral has in store. It’ll even scare speed-runners.

So what’s this other treat? A terrific medley of Ecco II tracks covered by This Place is Haunted. This may be their finest work yet. Not only that, I’m finally fixing the Ecco remixes section and adding some new goodies to it. I’ll make another post the moment it’s ready to roll.

In the meantime, feast your eardrums on some This Place is Haunted. Check out more of T.P.I.H.’s awesome music at http://www.myspace.com/thisplaceishaunted.

Stay tuned for more Ecco news!

19 Responses to “Ecco II Prototype 0429 Preview, and a treat.”

  1. AnonymousPerson, said:

    Gahhh….dang it, Epicenter, you sure know how to tease an Ecco fan…but I’m excited for the 0429 documentation and ROM–especially the ROM! Oneway piques my interest…when will the documentation and ROM be up?

  2. AnonymousPerson, said:

    I’m also interested and at the same time afraid of what Spiral has become….although that screenshot doesn’t tell much about the level…other than that it apparently has a random dark area and sharks….

  3. Jorge Nuno, said:

    Seems to be a test level with all fish types so they wouldn’t forget to draw the new sprites for them

  4. Deven Denis (That slick man Deven Gallo 3000+, AuthenticAMD Deven Gallo processor 3000+), said:

    What a prototype… enough to melt the heart of any avid retro video game fan.

    That test level looks very spooky.

  5. GoldenKirbichu, said:

    I hope the prototype is finished soon; I’m really curious now.

  6. Uglyface, said:

    Oneway looks… Very, Very weird.

    I’m also interested in what happened to spiral… sounds like it’s going to be fun :D

  7. abbs, said:

    dont you already have one of the levels up i think it was spiral

  8. Tails151, said:

    Spiral was in X11, yes, but it was an almost-empty stage with only a couple glyphs in it.

    Now it’s… umm… pictures speak louder than words:

  9. abbs, said:

    no search on google one of the level guides for 0429 is actually up though the links dont go anywhere its spiral i dont know if you put it up and forgot or something

  10. Tails151, said:

    That was “published” so it could be demonstrated to a few people who didn’t have admin access to the site (such as the one who actually found the big batch of prototypes).

    Not quite ready for public consumption, but… yeah, it’s there.

    (I never knew Google could find a page like that, where it exists but isn’t linked anywhere. Creepy.)

  11. abbs, said:

    i just typed ecco build 0429 its the second link

  12. Lozzie, said:

    Whoa…once the next prototype is out (and if I’m feeling masochistic enough), I’ll have to give spiral a go. Look’s like it’s going to be a nightmare… 0_o

  13. GoldenKirbichu, said:

    Hope this’ll be out soon, I’m curious to see the stages myself.

  14. Dizzy, said:

    Glad things are up and going smoothly. Can’t wait to give the prototype a try. :)

  15. The Golden Man Denis (Slick Denis 9000+, Deven Denis X, that slick man Deven Gallo in the year 3000+, AMD Athlon64 3000+ with CoolNQuiet Technology), said:

    Man, I was just thinking. This is one heck of a prototype. I’d like to see this prototype running on genuine hardware, so I can see it in its natural element.

    But yeah, congratulations on the good work. It’s heartening to see that people are still finding and researching prototypes.

  16. GoldenKirbichu, said:

    I can’t help but wonder as to when the prototype will really be out… I’m excited to see it.

  17. Slick Denis 4000 (Deven Gallo, Slick Deven Gallo, Deven Denis, Slick Denis, Slick Denis 4000, AMD Athlon64 3000+), said:

    I agree with Golden Kiribichu. This is an exciting prototype. In my opinion, this is an important milestone in Ecco research. It’ll be fascinating to examine this prototype once it’s released.
    Yea man, we’ll examine the ROM and think “That’s very satisfying!”. The reason is, it’s because it’s very satisfying to research these prototype ROMs.

    I’d just like to say ‘good job’ to all the people working on Ecco research, including all the people who work at this site.

    Thanks everybody.

  18. n64fan, said:

    I don’t think it’s gonna come out. At least, not yet. For now, just try saving the whales on X11, ok, guys?

  19. abbs, said:

    its nearly 4 months now i hope things are going well cause i hope to see the prototype soon

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