倚天II · October 2004
Metin2 Museum · Primetin2 · Main showcase
倚天II
October 2004
The client from the second closed Chinese beta. Nobody had seen it since 2004: it sat on a CD bundled with a magazine for teenagers. In all likelihood it is the oldest complete Metin2 client still preserved, older than the "KR Beta" of February 2005.
The centerpiece
The warrior: 2004 versus 2005
The same character, extracted from both clients and converted without retouching, with the original DDS textures. It turns on its own; a click pauses it.
Left, the PC.epk of 3/10/2004 (mesh md5 909bfd9d…); right, the pc.epk of 22/2/2005. Same scale, same light.
2004: green-turquoise gem
2005: red gem
Verified
The color comes from the client's original texture, read straight from the DDS with no correction: it is not a rendering effect. F
| mesh part | 2004 vertices | 2005 vertices |
|---|---|---|
| Armour | 1,024 | 1,304 |
| Object02 | 433 | 576 |
| hair | 329 | 427 |
| face | 215 | 280 |
The triangle count is the same: in 2005 the vertices were remapped for the new texture, not remodeled. I
What really changes
Six armours and four repaints
The pairs where the difference between the two clients shows at a glance. Same scale, same light, same turn: October 2004 on the left, 2005 on the right. They turn on their own; a click pauses them.
Ninja · yonga armour
2005 redoes the blue metal: shoulder guard, back and greaves gain relief and gold edges. In 2004 the plates are flat, drawn with a few lines.
Ninja · biyeong armour
The red armour is almost the same. The boots change: in 2005 toes and greaves turn to grey steel, in 2004 they are all red.
Sura · saryeong armour
The apron with the demon face goes from the pale pink of 2004 to orange. 2005 also lightens the metal, edged in gold, and turns the shoulder horn, black in 2004, to ivory.
Sura · unra armour
The one that changes least: same gold armour, same colours, same cape with the character 砂. It is here as a benchmark: some bodies look the same in both clients.
Shaman · cheongnang armour
In 2004 shoulders and sleeves are dark burgundy and the long ribbons are plain. 2005 brings everything to the lilac of the robe and writes a column of characters on the ribbons.
Shaman · cheonryun armour
The closest of the six: in 2005 the reds of the bodice and the gold trims are brighter, and the black-and-gold leg panels more contrasted.
The repaints
Higher-grade armours reuse the body of the previous one with another texture: the game swaps it in the .msm files, and here it is done the same way. The body is the same; only the paint changes.
Shaman · nabong repaint
In 2005 a gold embroidered emblem appears on the green skirt, front and back, and the red ribbons fill with writing. In 2004 the skirt is plain and the ribbons are empty.
Ninja · salpung repaint
In 2004 the metal is dull, almost rusty, and the apron is plain. 2005 polishes it to silver, embroiders the apron in gold and puts a lion head on the hip.
Sura · heukbi repaint
2005 draws a scale pattern on the purple apron and widens the orange frieze of the cape up to the shoulders. In 2004 the cloth is plain and the frieze is thin.
Ninja · jeoksal repaint
The whole difference is in the blue trousers: in 2005 they fill with vertical stripes, in 2004 they are plain. The rest of the armour does not change.
The lost guild buildings
Sixteen buildings that 2005 no longer has
In the October 2004 client the guild buildings folder holds 23 models. In 2005 none is left: only the property sheets and the construction effects remain, so the 2005 client still names buildings it no longer contains. Sixteen of them turn here, whole and with their original textures.
Missing are the 6 dam pieces, which take their textures from a map, and a ruined library that refuses to convert. Of the folder's 40 textures none matches 2005, by name or by md5. F
The dragon god skill
용신: a skill that never arrived
The shaman has a skill that could never be cast in the game: 용신, «dragon god». The two-second casting motion and the three particle effects are in the October 2004 client. Here we have put it back on stage.
How the scene is made
Body and motion come from the client, converted without retouching. The particles are rebuilt from the three original effect files (start, strike and aura) following the engine's rules: animation timing (start at 0.05 s, strike at 0.73 s), emission, colours and additive blending. It is not a recording: the client has never been run. I
Animation and effects are also in the 2005 client, identical byte for byte. Neither client, however, registers the animation among the shaman's skills: in both it is a skill cut before release, of which only the files remain. F
Correction
At first we wrote that the skill existed only in 2004. It does not: the only 2004 exclusives are two images (a dragon head and a dragon wrapped in lightning) that no effect uses. They were already orphans in October 2004.
The magazine pages
September 2004: the Metin stones before the name
Two months before the CD, the September 2004 issue of the same magazine featured the game on page 51, in the 游戏侠客岛 column, under the title 网游新星《倚天II》: "the rising star of online games." That month's disc does not contain the client, but the article describes a Metin2 that no one had yet called by that name.
Combat relies on dodging and skills, and you can play alone without a party. The monsters are "intelligent": hit one and others of the same species come to surround you. It is the group aggro every Metin2 player knows.
The article then describes four systems:
- 陨石系统 · the meteorites
- Meteorites charged with magical power fall at random across the world, guarded by high-level monsters. You kill the guardians, take the meteorite and break it open to obtain its power. It can be kept or used: using it infuses it into your gear, for attack or defense. These are the Metin stones, described before they had a name. I
- 派别基地建设系统 · guild bases
- Empires are made of guilds, and they wage war on each other (国战). On each empire's map there are empty plots where guilds can build. This matches the guild-building files that exist only in the 2004 client (room VII). I
- 冒险系统 · adventure
- A reputation system: parties from the same guild or empire enter the "地牢" (the dungeon), records are logged, and record holders receive perks.
- 装备实时交易系统 · real-time trading
- You put items in a window and the exchange happens on its own, while the player keeps moving, fighting and adventuring. Unlike market stalls, you don't have to stand still.
| System requirements printed in 2004 | |
|---|---|
| minimum | CPU 600 MHz · 128 MB RAM · ATI Radeon 7500 or GeForce2 MX |
| recommended | CPU 1.5 GHz · 256 MB RAM · Radeon 8500 or GeForce3 Ti |
A misprint that dates the page
The article closes with "现在它已经开始公测了", i.e. "the open beta has now started." That is not true: on August 25 only the closed beta had started, the open beta would arrive on November 18. The editors were writing right around 内测1. F
November 2004: the poster
In the same issue as the CD, a full-page ad. No screenshots, no list of systems: just the shamaness, fan open in hand, in front of an ink-drawn backdrop of warriors.
At the top: "公开测试 · 11月引爆以一当万的超爽感", i.e. "open beta: in November the thrill of facing ten thousand alone explodes." It is the announcement of the 公测 of November 18.
At the bottom, two credits: 运营商 (the operator) 中广网 and 研发商 (the developer) YMIR.
The fan
It is the same weapon shamans use today: in 2004 the class was already drawn this way, even before the open beta. I
Room 0
In brief
| What it is | The client of 内测2, the second closed beta of 倚天II, the Chinese name for Metin2. The files close between 3 and 8 October 2004. |
| Where it was | On the CD bundled with 少年电脑世界, a Chinese monthly for teenagers, November 2004 issue. The disc survived in the collections of people who keep old magazine CDs. |
| Why it matters | It is 4½ months older than the CN-2005 client (pack of 22/2/2005), until now the oldest known. It shows a different game: other cities, monsters later removed, fishing, guild buildings, YMIR's GM logo. |
| The green necklace | In 2004 the gem at the warrior's neck is green-turquoise; in 2005 it becomes red. It is the detail that stands out at a glance. |
| What it is not | It is not the first beta's client (see room X). |
Labels: F fact verified on the bytes, I our interpretation.
Room I
The context
Metin2 is developed by YMIR in Korea. It launches in China first, under the name 倚天II. It is run by 中广网 (CATV.NET) and the client speaks codepage 936.
| phase | when | notes |
|---|---|---|
| 内测1 | from 25/8/2004 | 1st closed beta, client ~199 MB |
| 内测2 | 8–15/10/2004 | this client |
| 公测 | from 18/11/2004 | open beta, "11月引爆" |
| CN-2005 | pack 22/2/2005 | the "KR Beta" |
The poster announcing the open beta appears earlier, among the magazine pages.
Timeline: on the left, dates written inside the client's files; on the right, public events. The golden band is the week of the second beta.
Room II
The find
CD labels from August 2004 to January 2005. Only November carries 倚天II. The mark would return to the magazine in April 2005.
The principle
The museum certifies possession and does not distribute. The client has never been run: it was only opened and read. What is published here are excerpts (models, texture crops, hashes), never the files.
Room III
Identity card
| file | bytes | date | md5 / sha1 |
|---|---|---|---|
| CD image | 618,350,592 | — | 2bc22a96013ee5affb1a0191cfcdde5b |
| installer | 244,635,852 | 2004-10-07 | 3cd6e7691d4875d1d5f281ef2163e0e9sha1 0bda42c5bdb5bab18c7059371fe347a03290bcab |
| Metin2.exe (patcher) | 581,632 | PE 2004-10-07 13:13:15 | d6b997ccd0e95d0f9685de3ff35f53cb |
| metin2.bin (ASPack) | 788,992 | PE 2004-10-05 11:33:00 | fedffba67e9acf49b6f7a7e75980c1dd |
| patch.bin | 581,632 | PE 2004-10-04 | 12c283c9cfbd56b5c1d51a31558289fb |
| Config.exe | 446,464 | PE 2004-10-02 | 13dc8f13e043ec3ddd140a48a41b0f49 |
| errorlog.exe | 106,496 | PE 2004-10-03 | 5bf76bfb5dc5a6e63478e05c5dafe362 |
| pack/root.epk | 377,088 | 2004-10-08 00:02 | 7245eec68627f3f6d36cc9e2faba3fc3 |
| pack/PC.epk | 28,023,296 | 2004-10-03 15:55 | 316de944a5d44489426ac2035a74b496 |
| pack/ETC.epk | 40,305,408 | 2004-10-07 23:59 | 921c4ff39733918bfcade11f60fbdf6c |
| pack/Item.epk | 2,848,000 | 2004-09-30 | 7061c918d847e8e1df09340bb3425faf |
"PE" is the link date written by the compiler inside the executable. The other dates are the ones recorded in the installer's RAR archive. The catalog entry is yitian2-client-2004-10.
Room IV
Stratigraphy: seven months in one client
Every pack keeps the date it was last written. Sorted by date, they tell how the game was assembled: maps first, then monsters and sounds, characters last, executables the night before the beta.
The oldest layer
Outdoor.epk, the metin2_map map, carries the date 25/3/2004: seven months before the beta. F
Fossils of the first beta
Psyco.eix (24/8) and patchskin (18/8) are leftovers of 内测1 that stayed in the package. The photos in upload/ are from 23/6. I
Room V
The armor
Every armor .gr2 has a different md5 between the two clients. The 2004 textures are often smaller (174,720 bytes versus 349,312). Each panel pairs 2004 with 2005.
Room VI
The signatures
ymir.mse effect above GMs' heads loads ymirred.tga, reading "YMIR". In 2005 it becomes logochina.tga, "倚天II GM".
fishing.sub and the fishmind routines. In 2004 the game could already fish.
main.bmp has the same md5 as 2005's: 开始游戏 / 更改密码 / 注册账号 / 系统设定 / 结束. It also holds the list of trojans to block, Back Orifice 2000 included.
00010.gr2 still carries the working name "Sphere01"; by 2005 it is called weapon_chogeup_01.
atlasinfo file has no coordinates yet, and map_A2 appears in it twice.Room VII
A different world
2004 and CN-2005 compared file by file, by name and md5.
| city in 2004 | in 2005 |
|---|---|
| 资阳县 | 江陵府 |
| 永安城 | 长安城 |
| 福鼎县 | 易水县 |
| 潮安城 | 咸阳城 |
| 博罗县 | 陈仓县 |
| 平武城 | 洛阳城 |
Only in 2004
- Vnums 305–307 (白莲魅影 · 白莲青尘 · 白莲断刀): duplicates of three White Lotus monsters the game still keeps today as 391–393. In 2005 only the copy disappears.
- Guild buildings: 87 files, vnum 14000–14011 (集市 / 传送阵 / 帮会宿舍 / 力量神殿 / 学堂).
- Fishing.
- Item 9004 银行卷, later reassigned to 阿花.
- The scripts
marketwindow.py,introchannel.py,locale_to_excel.py. - YMIR's GM, the single skill atlas,
special/water,effect/hit/blow_1.
Only in 2005
- Horses.
- The monkey dungeon 仙洞, 5101–5163, up to 齐天大圣.
- The Tower of Demons, the spider dungeon, milgyo, maps t2–t4.
- Christmas (20031–20034).
- Metin stones 8015–8019 and the guild-war flags.
- Colored hair and shaman_bihong.
- ~2,214 item msm files and atlases split by class.
Room VIII
The proto fingerprints
| 2004-10 | CN-2005 | |
|---|---|---|
| item_proto, signature | MIPT (no version) | MIPX v1 |
| items | 2,726 | 3,013 |
| bytes per item | 151 | 152 |
| mob_proto, signature | MMPT | MMPT |
| monsters | 310 | 397 |
| bytes per monster | 190 | 235 |
Among the items, 2,655 are identical, 71 changed, and 287 exist only in 2005. The item proto format gained one byte and a version number in four months. F
Room IX
The beta's network
The client remembers where it used to connect: two test zones, 测试一区 and 测试二区, on port 50000, with codepage 936.
The 2005 commercial client instead points to 天罡星 (221.208.250.x), with REGION and AUTH servers. Korean addresses also remain in the files: 220.95.239.x and 211.39.157.106.
Room X
What it is not
It is not the first beta
The August layers are leftovers of 内测1 (room IV), but the package was sealed on October 8, for the second beta.
Open questions
The November and December 2004 builds have not been found.
The metin2-cn-2005-exe entry used to say no 2004 client existed. This exhibit supersedes it.
Room XI
Method
- Image and installer opened only with 7-Zip. Nothing was ever run.
- Packs extracted with Pack Maker Lite.
- Compared with CN-2005 by md5, file by file: 22,487 lines.
- item_proto and mob_proto decoded with a purpose-written script.
- Dates taken from the executables' PE headers and the RAR's modification times.
- Models converted with gr2gltf and the original DDS textures, unretouched.
This exhibit is kept offline. 倚天II and Metin2 are trademarks of their respective owners (YMIR, 中广网).