LSD: Dream Emulator 1997 Demo Movie is a showcase video of the (at the time, upcoming) game. It consists of different pre-rendered CGI animations and shows the early concepts for the future locations. Importantly, everything shown in the video isn't a playable game; it is just a compilation of different pre-rendered animated videos. This is the only maintained demo video to exist. It was uploaded to YouTube, and commented in a description, which is located below.
Original description:
"LSD Dream Emulator demo video.
Looks to be pre rendered CGI, ingame beta testing and all sorts of oodles.
This video was uploaded to the companies website as a preview of the game.
Shows some areas which didn't make the final game, a beta Grey man, and maybe what looks like the player you play as."
Differences from the Final Release[]
- There are doors you can open in the Bright Moon Cottage. Some unused wooden doors are seen.
- The scene of the Television is on the room of the Dying Woman (makes sense since the kanji says murder).
- The Giant Head does not "headbutt" you like in the final. Instead, it "eats" you.
- The Pit & Temple seen here is much different, and the pit is almost not seen at all. An unused alternative variant of the Pit & Temple with trees is seen.
- The sumo location is different. It appears to be an unknown location with an object floating on the top. It seems the hole on the center had a purpose.
- In Kyoto, the Buddha Head Statue and the Hand were much bigger. Many pagodas were there, and the location seemed much larger.
- There was a location with plants and flowers and a brick path crossing green hills with a castle at the end. This location is currently dubbed asUnknown Place, and bears similarities to the Happy Town.
- A possible beta Gray Man with a blue cap and sunglasses can be seen running towards the viewer in Happy Town and Bright Moon Cottage. He appears much more similar to the Murderer or a victim of the Gunman. He appears to have a shirt with a blood stain. He seems to link to the Violence District.
- Maybe at some point the idea split into two separate ideas: The Murderer and Gray Man.
- The Violence District seems darker, the sky is red and the only thing visible being the circle of light from the lampposts.
- The Violence District layout is really different from the final game. Warehouses and the graffiti on the walls were replaced in the release.
- There seemed to have once been a secret lift in the Violence District, and the player is seen activating it and ascending right before the cut.
- The Train in Happy Town resembles the character "Thomas the Tank Engine".
- The Giant Head's head looks more chunkier and wider than the final.
- There are objects that never made it in the final, such as realistic Japanese square ceiling lights, curtains, a dining table with chairs, a toilet, and what your player would've looked like from the front. However, some of the objects were included into different locations: soda cans were moved to the Violence District, and a square chandelier may be seen in the end of the Long Hallway.
- Pterodactyl is seen curled up behind its wings as the viewer of LSD checks him, as if it is sleeping.
- Rather then the Trumpeters, like in the final version, the Soldiers were supposed to march near the entrance of the castle. Furthermore, it wasn't supposed to be an entrance to the castle at all: it was supposed to be another railroad track for the Train to cross. In the final release, rails were removed from there.
- Soldiers looked much different from the final, and seemed to have clothing rather then the odd psychedelic texturing they do in the final.
The source[]
This Demo Movie was taken from the original website of Osamu Sato related to LSD: Dream Emulator shown here: https://web.archive.org/web/19970630192834/http://www.compu-lsd.com/lsd/video/index.html