Zephyr: Rise of the Elementals (lost game demo; 2009)

The demo's logo.

Status: Lost

Zephyr: Rise of the Elementals was a demo developed by Loose Cannon Studios and shown at E3 2009. The game would later be changed to Tornado Outbreak the same year. In the demo, the player controlled a blue spiraling air elemental named Zephyr and complete the only known objective in the demo: find and collect the Fire Flyers.

Gameplay

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  Gameplay screenshot from the Zephyr build.

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  The player being scored based off the amount of damage the tornado has caused.

The gameplay consisted of the player finding hidden elementals scattered throughout the levels, completing side missions, along with causing lots of property damage. While the side mission mode was completely removed from the final game, lines of text referring to the missions were left present in the tornadoalley.bsu file.

Let sleeping dogs lie, but try and catch all the yappy ones.

This side mission for instance, involved Zephyr catching and presumably killing all of the barking dogs in the trailerpark themed level known as Double Wide Damage.

E3 09 Attract

Developer Walkthrough

Differences

Aside from the lighting and artstyle, Zephyr: Rise of the Elementals and Tornado Outbreak have a few differences, but not many as the demo is very close to the final game. While playing the game, players could initially change the difficulty by activating the advanced chain collecting mode. This mechanic completely disables any audio and visual indicators of the presence of Fire Flyers. Another mechanic that was not included in the final game was an additional scoring system. It scored players based on the amount of property damage caused. Lastly, the aforementioned side mission mode didn't make it into the final game. These side missions would've revolved around the player completing destructive tasks ranging from causing mischief in a trailer park to whirling throughout cities.

Tornado Alley

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  Game design document

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  Level selection

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  Gameplay screenshot.

Tornado Alley refers to an older prototype of the Tornado Outbreak dating back to 2006. Originally intended for PlayStation Portable, Wii, and Xbox Live Arcade, the prototype focused on a single main objective: unleashing the destructive power of a tornado to wreak havoc on mankind. In this build, the tornado's category level was based on the real-life tornado rating system, namely the Fujita Scale. Additionally, players had the ability to acquire a power-up called the 'Fujita Frenzy,' which allowed them to easily demolish buildings by increasing the tornado's Fujita rating. Currently, a tutorial video along with a July 2006 game design document surfaced on the internet.

Tutorial video recovered from a deleted hardrive.

Development

Cover of the unreleased August 28, 2007 Game Design Document between Loose Cannon Studios and Warner Bros. Interactive

Development of Tornado Alley started as early as July 2006 and was pitched as game with the premise of unleashing destruction within a given time parameter, a core feature that remained in the final game. By August 2007, the focus had shifted to object collection, exploration, and destruction. The game was initially set in the Midwestern United States, known for its association with tornadoes. Initially, Warner Brothers Interactive served as the game's publisher, but due to creative differences, Konami Digital Entertainment took over the publishing rights at an unspecified date. A prototype for the Nintendo DS was developed from February to July 29, 2008, but it was eventually cancelled and reworked into Galactic Taz Ball.

The Nintendo DS prototype has not been released to the public and is currently withheld by an individual as part of an ongoing research article dedicated to the game. The individual in possession of the prototype has no plans on releasing any of the compiled builds to the public regardless of the article's completion.

External Link

Wikipedia page of Tornado Outbreak, previously known as Zephyr: Rise of the Elementals.