PowerSlave Exhumed
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Playing Old Maps and Test Levels
От Jack
This guide will teach you how to access the unused variants of maps in PowerSlave Exhumed, as well as the various levels used to test specific mechanics of the game.
   
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Introduction
As most will know by now, PowerSlave on the PlayStation and Sega Saturn shared many differences with regards to its levels. While the gist of each level was largely the same, the layouts and overall design of these maps could vary greatly. Generally speaking, due to hardware limitations, the PlayStation designs were much more narrow and claustrophobic than on Saturn. It's all subjective of course, but an overwhelming majority of fans consider the Saturn version to have the superior designs.

One of the goals for PowerSlave Exhumed was to try and combine the PlayStation and Saturn versions' levels together and remix them into something original. One area may have a room lifted from the PlayStation, and the next room would be taken from the Saturn game. In the final product this is often rather subtle - but unlike the unofficial PowerSlave EX, which was essentially a straight port of the PlayStation version, the foundation for the levels in PowerSlave Exhumed are based on the Saturn designs.

Using Karnak Sanctuary as an example, note how the PlayStation version has the sanctuary tucked away in this very small space, whereas on Saturn it's placed in a much more open environment, and the exterior is completely different. On PowerSlave Exhumed, the temple exterior is taken from PlayStation and the open environment is lifted from Saturn.



This guide will teach you how to play the older PlayStation versions of these levels, before any remixing or combining was done.
Playing Old Maps
Please note that these should only be played for curiosity purposes. Do NOT try to replace level files from the final game with these older ones!

Before we begin, we need a list of map names. They are as follows:



These are 'old' maps that have been left in the game's core file, and what we will reference when loading into them from within the game itself.

From the main menu, bring down the console and type:
map maps/old/[MAP NAME.MAP]

Always make sure you enter the .map extension to the command or else it won't load. If you enter it incorrectly, the main menu will refresh. If you did it right, you will load straight into the map you picked. If you're loading these from the main menu, you'll notice you have only the machete and a single life bar. You can give yourself all the weapons by going to the console and typing give weapons, additional life bars with give ankh [1-5], and all artifacts with give artifacts.

You can do all this whilst inside a level on your current save, and those weapons and health will carry over, I just do not advise it as it may mess up your save file. The only benefit to this is that it'll carry over the same music as whatever level you were playing before, instead of the one that plays on the first level.

It's hard to really show screenshots that demonstrate the differences as there are so many. Something like that is more suited for a video. Just keep in mind that the "old" maps are mostly just the PlayStation levels, but may exhibit issues and broken scripting. Here's one example from Sobek Mountain Shrine though.

Playing Test Maps
Also buried in the game files are test maps which the developers used to experiment with various game mechanics to ensure everything worked as it should. These aren't really levels with a beginning or end, merely small areas to demonstrate a specific function. Still, you may find it interesting. The names of these maps are as follows:

test_bombwall.map
test_breakables.map
test_coloredlights.map
test_door.map
test_floor_triggers.map
test_lifts.map
test_mantis_trigger.map
test_outdoor.map
test_platforms.map
test_room_over_room.map
test_switch.map
test_teleport.amp
test_terrain.map
test_traps.map
test_water.map


Like before, these test maps can be loaded by bringing down the console and typing:
map maps/testmaps/[MAP NAME.MAP]

Again, just make sure you enter the .map extension to the command.

Conclusion
I hope this guide was useful to you. It's a bit of a strange experience playing these PlayStation variants of levels from within the new game using the Saturn color pallet, and the test maps are neat way to get a glimpse of the development process.

I think anyone who spends time running around the new and old levels back to back will gain a new appreciation for how subtle a lot of the changes are in PowerSlave Exhumed.

As always, if I've made an error or you have any questions, leave them in the comments below and I'll try to get to them when I can. Until then, keep calm and camel on!
8 коментара
Creatura 27 ян. 2023 в 17:25 
Interesting find: I just opened the original .kpf file with winrar and just pasted the replaced maps there. It worked until I triggered Ramses. It teleported me into darkness away from the room and only one gap is visible behind me and I keep getting teleported back here. If I could make Ramses work, the game could be 100% playable like that.
Creatura 27 ян. 2023 в 17:18 
Do you think there's a way one could compile the original PSX game from this?
I tried extracting, replacing the existing maps with the ones from the folder called [old] (even renaming the ones that have _sat in the name, replaced the renamed files with one another so that the final folder sizes are the same and just zipped it all back up and renamed to .kpf and replaced the original one. Now I'm sure I screwed up on the last bit (compiling the actual .kpf file). What would you recommend if one wanted to play the original PSX version from start to finish with the map screen also functional? I ask this because I noticed that I want through the old maps by the supposed order and the inventory got carried over so this should be doable.

Thoughts?
Jack  [автор] 27 ян. 2023 в 16:47 
@Creatura No problem, glad to help!
Creatura 27 ян. 2023 в 15:36 
I tested these and that blue breakable, I'm assuming was in Kilmaat somewhere. It's not in the final game, or I don't remember it.

Weird thing is, the list didn't show until you quoted it and the old levels list is still hidden for me.
I just extracted them and I'll test them that way. Thank you very much for this insight.
Creatura 27 ян. 2023 в 4:00 
@Jack Thank you very much and now the list is revealed in the post as well. I'll give these a go as soon as I get a chance.
Jack  [автор] 26 ян. 2023 в 18:34 
@Creatura you can find the maps by opening your PowerslaveEX.kpf file in WinRAR, WinZIP, 7Zip or something similar and browsing to maps/testmaps

For your convenience, the map list is as follows:

test_bombwall.map
test_breakables.map
test_coloredlights.map
test_door.map
test_floor_triggers.map
test_lifts.map
test_mantis_trigger.map
test_outdoor.map
test_platforms.map
test_room_over_room.map
test_switch.map
test_teleport.amp
test_terrain.map
test_traps.map
test_water.map
Creatura 26 ян. 2023 в 17:34 
I'm really glad I stumbled upon this post and I'd very much like to try everything but I don't see the map names. Can someone please help me find them?
Virgile "VILE" 14 февр. 2022 в 3:56 
Interesting, thanks mate.