Enthusiast found on the old computer the source code of the game Turok

On the YouTube channel of vintage computer games, SiliconClassics, an enthusiast named Aaron posted a video with a remarkable find. He managed to find an old computer, apparently owned by one of the developers of the popular Turok game in the 90s : Dinosaur Hunter . On the computer were the source codes of this game for the Nintendo 64 console.

The computer found is an inexpensive Silicon Graphics workstation. The sticker on the system unit states that the equipment is the property of Iguana Entertainment and has inventory number 000695. It should be noted that this game studio worked in the 1990s to create the Turok game.


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The hard drive from this idle computer was connected to another system unit of the Indy workstation from the same SGI to read the information. And they found something interesting.



As can be seen in the screenshot, the Ultra 64 development environment is installed in the system. Probably, this could be used to emulate the environment when developing a game for the gaming console. But even more interesting was the directory with the full set of files with the source codes of the game Turok: Dinosaur Hunter : the files are dated July 15, 1993 (the official release of the game took place in the 1997th).



There are several hundred files in the folder.



Some files contain audio, some are likely graphics. There is a / gamesfx folder with 120 original sound effects for playing in AIFF format. It looks like these are sound effects for the whole game. A few thousand more sound files in another folder - probably for some other game. The author of the video could not demonstrate them, because there are about 5000 files in the folder and the IRIX operating system freezes when I try to open it.


In the comments on the video, Stephen Broumley, one of the developers of the original game, responded . His name is indicated in the first lines of the trex.c source trex.c shown in the video (see the screenshot above, the name of this developer can also be seen in the credits of the game). It was he who coded all the bosses, effects, and many other objects in the Turok game during his youth, when he worked in a game studio. Stephen Broumley sincerely thanks SiliconClassics for the video and the presentation of these sources, which brought him back in his youth and gave rise to memories of that fascinating work.

Broumli agreed that the code is very complex. A team of more than 20 people worked on it for more than two years. Moreover, the guys sat in the office longer than they were supposed to and worked 6 days a week, at least for the last seven months before the deadline.

Turok: Dinosaur Hunter is a 3D first-person shooter designed by Iguana Entertainment and published by Acclaim for the Nintendo 64 console and for the Windows operating system in 1997. According to the plot of the game, the main character - the American Indian Turks - must save the Universe from the alien invader Campaigner, who seeks to possess the ancient and powerful weapon Chronoscepter. Alien invader and other creatures like dinosaurs are trying to penetrate into our world from a parallel primitive world in which there is no time. Joseph Turk is the only one who can hold them back.

The plot is based on the 1954 comic series with the same title. Turok is the first exclusive Acclaim title for Nintendo 64 and generally one of the most popular games for this console. It was probably the first quality first-person shooter for the N64. It is almost 100% used the graphics capabilities of the "iron", and the developers even had to compress the texture to cram the game into an 8-megabyte cartridge.

The game combines 3D graphics and game style of the iconic Doom with game research elements modeled on Tomb Raider . It is not surprising that Turok has become a cult game for its time.

Broumli writes that all developers were just over 20 years old or so, and they were all genuinely passionate about their work. It seemed to them that they were doing something significant, important. There was no feeling at all that this was a job. Stephen writes that he still maintains contact with many of them, now they have made successful careers around the world, which is not surprising for such talented guys.

Finding an old computer with Turok source code : Dinosaur Hunter is a great event for fans of old games. Unfortunately, Aaron did not dare to publish the source code in the public domain, perhaps he is afraid of copyright problems and claims of the right holder (the guy himself is a lawyer by training). He plans to put computers on eBay auction.

By the way, among the unexplored "iron" he has two dozen of the same Indy workstations manufactured by Silicon Graphics, owned by different companies. Who knows what digital treasures are hiding there.



Enthusiast outbid these workstations after the sale of property of the bankrupt company Acclaim Entertainment. Computers will be sold at auction. Maybe someone will buy them just to get the source code. In this case, the "iron" will go "in the load."

Perhaps Aaron will also change her mind and, with the permission of the copyright holder, will still publish the source code. At present, source codes are available for about a hundred commercial games , and it is good if another one appears.