Ballblaster ?-??83

 

This is a late beta of Ballblazer when it was still known as Ballblaster.  Although fully playable, this version is missing many final touches and a few gameplay features.  This version of the game was heavily pirated on BBSs back in the day.

Thanks to Kr0tki for finding many of these differences.

 

Prototype Differences

There's no Lucasfilm logo or intro
The title screen says Ballblaster instead of Ballblazer
The title logo is drawn in a slimmer font
The text pages on the title screen change faster
The copyright message says 'A Lucasfilm Ltd Production Copyright (c) 1983 Lucasfilm Ltd' instead of 'THE LUCASFILM ORIGINAL Copyright 1985 Lucasfilm Ltd'
The programmer names are shown without the AUTHOR easter egg, but they are different.  The prototype shows only 'Concept & Program D. Levine' 'Sound & Autoplayer P. Langston' instead of 'Cocept, Graphics, Dynamics, and Control Structures...DAVID LEVINE' 'Music, Sound Effects, Rules, and Droid Strategies...PETER LANGSTON' over two different screens.
The 'Regulation Certified INTERSTELLAR BALLBLAZER CONFERENCE' text is missing
The music on the title screen is a little different and lacks the bass line changes
The AUTHOR easter egg is missing
The programmer initials easter egg is missing
There is no options menu.  All games are 3 minutes and set to human vs human
There is no computer opponent
There is a slight delay between the end of the music and the release of the ball at the start of the round
The in-game music lacks the randomly generated percussion layer
Select does not pause the game
Break does not reset the game
When the rotofoil has the ball, its windshield does not light up
The sky does not flash when scoring a goal.  The scoring rotofoil also does not light up.
At the end of a match, the losing rotofoil does not spin out of control
When the game ends in a draw there is no OVER TIME message and the timer stays at zero until someone scores a goal.

 

 

Different title screen

 

Gameplay is mostly the same

 

Different copyright

 

Different credits

 

 

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