History Trivia / Blood

** The leaked alpha build of the first game has a vast number of differences compared to the final such as several weapon sprites have different color schemes or designs, enemies have unused sprites suggesting different attacks or behaviors and a large amount of unfinished items that would be cut from the final game.
** Even long after release, the website for the second game went off of an entirely different concept for the story, in which the game began with Caleb resurrecting the other three Chosen and bringing them together to help him take over the Cabal, with gameplay that would have allowed for either a proper campaign as any one of the four Chosen or a full four-player co-op game.

** GT Interactive demanded Monolith to not only make ''Blood II'' in the first place (at that point everyone wanted to focus on the [=LithTech=] engine and ''Shogo'') but also complete the game's development within ''11 months'' thanks to both GT's deteriorating financial situation and the impending releases of ''VideoGame/HalfLife1'', ''VideoGame/{{Unreal}}'', ''VideoGame/ThiefTheDarkProject'' and ''VideoGame/SiN''. The developers were forced to rush the game to meet the strict deadline, cutting a number of features at the last minute and having to release the game as an ObviousBeta. GT's buyout by Infogrames also meant that Monolith was not able to get the funds needed to patch the released game to the state they wanted to, and were only even able to get a patch out at all by putting out an expansion pack with it.

** The second game didn't have it much better. To give an idea on what sort of issues the team had to deal with, the official plan of development was to get the concurrently-developed ''VideoGame/ShogoMobileArmorDivision'' out the door [[ChristmasRushed as quickly as possible]], so its team could be folded back into the ''Blood II'' team to help finish its development. Considering ''Shogo'' only came out just shy of two months before ''Blood II'', it didn't help all that much.

** A second expansion to ''Blood II'' titled ''Revelations'' was in development, which would have seen Caleb taking control of the Cabal and having to deal with a RenegadeSplinterFaction called the "Krest"; it would have been twice as long as ''The Nightmare Levels'' and added several new weapons like a stronger pistol and a tranquilizer gun, as well as changing existing weapons (such as letting the MAC-10 use secondary fire with two guns and giving the Orb a less-Focus-intensive melee attack as its secondary mode). It was cancelled after GT saw the poor sales of the base game and its developer, Tequila Software, went under after trying to continue the expansion as a free project. In 2015, a number of assets and prototype levels meant for the expansion were released by former developers to the community for use in mods and fan projects.

** GT Interactive demanded Monolith to not only make ''Blood II'' in the first place (at that point everyone wanted to focus on the [=LithTech=] engine and ''Shogo'') but also complete the game's development within ''11 months'' thanks to both GT's deteriorating financial situation and the impending releases of ''VideoGame/HalfLife1'', ''VideoGame/{{Unreal}}'', ''VideoGame/ThiefTheDarkProject'' and ''VideoGame/SiN''. The developers were forced to rush the game to meet the strict deadline, cutting a number of features at the last minute and having to release the game as an ObviousBeta. GT's buyout by Infogrames (Which had since become Atari in 2001 by buying the rights and ownership, so technically it's not the same with the one that caused UsefulNotes/TheGreatVideoGameCrashOf1983) also meant that Monolith was not able to get the funds needed to patch the released game to the state they wanted to, and were only even able to get a patch out at all by putting out an expansion pack with it.

* FranchiseKiller: The middling reception and low sales of ''Blood II'' killed any chance at a third game. With Monolith now under the wing of Warner Bros. and Atari apparently uninterested in pursuing any opportunities with the license [[note]] they only owns the rights to the first two games, as Warner Bros. owns the trademarks and IP as those were retained by Monolith [[/note]] means any attempts at reviving the franchise are unlikely to happen.
* ReferencedBy: "The Deathslinger" Caleb Quinn from ''VideoGame/DeadByDaylight'' is an obvious {{Expy}} of Caleb from ''Blood''. They share the first name, long hair, gunslinger attire, Wild West upbringing and a backstory of vengeance against their superiors.
** Arguably [[Anime/{{Hellsing}} Alucard]] also is an {{Expy}} of caleb, being a snarky trigger-happy BloodKnight wearing a cool long coat and a cool hat.
* ScrewedByTheLawyers: Atari's legal grip on the series [[note]] well, technically only the first two games in the franchise, as Monolith retained the IP and trademarks and are now owned by parent Warner Bros. [[/note]] means any official source ports or remakes is unlikely. Former Monolith CEO Jason Hall attempted to negotiate with Atari for an UpdatedRerelease of the original game around 2012, but was flatly refused. Devolver Digital and Night Dive Studios expressed interest in picking up the rights, but Devolver claimed that Atari demanded an [[https://twitter.com/devolverdigital/status/410867780443836416 unreasonable cost for the license]]. Atari only finally agreed to let Night Dive remaster the game in [[https://gematsu.com/2018/12/horror-first-person-shooter-blood-remaster-announced-for-pc late 2018]], and even then they were forced to rebuild the game from the ground up on their in-house Kex engine because Atari actively refused to let them use the source code.

** Even long after release, the website for the second game went off of an entirely different concept for the story, in which the game began with Caleb resurrecting the other three Chosen and bringing them together to help him take over the Cabal.

* ContentLeak: One of the employees who worked on ''Blood'' leaked the Alpha and its source code to a computer repair shop in 1996, which angered Monolith Productions. Monolith later made it policy that if any employee went to a computer repair shop, one of the staff had to go with them to prevent another leak.
** Though due to Atari's refusal to release the game's source code(if it even exists... some speculate that it has been lost), the leaked beta was ultimately the basis for unofficial modern source ports as it had the source code intact- albeit nowhere near as complete as the final game's code would be.

** GT Interactive demanded Monolith to not only make ''Blood II'' in the first place (at that point everyone wanted to focus on the [=LithTech=] engine and ''Shogo'') but also complete the game's development within ''11 months'' thanks to both GT's deteriorating financial situation and the impending releases of ''VideoGame/HalfLife1'', ''VideoGame/{{Unreal}}'', ''VideoGame/ThiefTheDarkProject'' and ''VideoGame/SiN''. The developers were forced to rush the game to meet the strict deadline, cutting a number of features at the last minute and having to release the game as an ObviousBeta. GT's buyout by Infogrames (now Atari) also meant that Monolith was not able to get the funds needed to patch the released game to the state they wanted to, and were only even able to get a patch out at all by putting out an expansion pack with it.

* FranchiseKiller: The middling reception and low sales of ''Blood II'' killed any chance at a third game. With Monolith now under the wing of WB Games and Atari apparently uninterested in pursuing any opportunities with the license, attempts at reviving the franchise are unlikely to happen.
* ScrewedByTheLawyers: Atari's legal grip on the series means any official source ports, remakes or sequels is unlikely. Former Monolith CEO Jason Hall attempted to negotiate with Atari for an UpdatedRerelease of the original game around 2012, but was flatly refused. Devolver Digital and Night Dive Studios expressed interest in picking up the rights, but Devolver claimed that Atari demanded an [[https://twitter.com/devolverdigital/status/410867780443836416 unreasonable cost for the license]]. Atari only finally agreed to let Night Dive remaster the game in [[https://gematsu.com/2018/12/horror-first-person-shooter-blood-remaster-announced-for-pc late 2018]], and even then they were forced to rebuild the game from the ground up on their in-house Kex engine because Atari actively refused to let them use the source code.

** GT Interactive demanded Monolith complete the development of ''Blood II'' within ''11 months'' thanks to both GT's deteriorating financial situation and the impending releases of ''VideoGame/HalfLife1'', ''VideoGame/{{Unreal}}'', ''VideoGame/ThiefTheDarkProject'' and ''VideoGame/SiN''. The developers were forced to rush the game to meet the strict deadline, cutting a number of features at the last minute and having to release the game as an ObviousBeta. GT's buyout by Infogrames (now Atari) also meant that Monolith was not able to get the funds needed to patch the released game to the state they wanted to.

** The creation of the first game was fraught with difficulties. The development team had a number of inexperienced members and was given only a small budget, which left the team struggling for funding. The Build engine the game was being designed for was still being worked on and left the team working with both a game engine and tools that were incomplete through much of development. Assets and source code from an early build of the game were stolen from a PC left in a computer repair shop and posted online, which led to a lawsuit that Monolith settled out of court. ExecutiveMeddling and CreativeDifferences with 3D Realms, who would leave the team to their own devices for months on end before coming in to check on their progress and demand major changes, led to Monolith splitting from them five months before the game would release and signing up with GT Interactive to publish the game. The fact that the game was finished, let alone a success, under such conditions is regarded as an extraordinary accomplishment by the team.
** The second game didn't have it much better. To give an idea on what sort of issues the team had to deal with, the official plan of development was to get the concurrently-developed ''VideOGame/ShogoMobileArmorDivision'' out the door [[ChristmasRushed as quickly as possible]], so its team could be folded back into the ''Blood II'' team to help finish its development. Considering ''Shogo'' only came out just shy of two months before ''Blood II'', it didn't help all that much.

* ContentLeak: One of the employees who worked on ''Blood'' leaked the Alpha and its source code to a computer repair shop in 1996, which angered Monolith Productions. Monolith later (after a court case) made it policy that if any employee went to a computer repair shop, one of the staff had to go with them to prevent another leak.

* ScrewedByTheLawyers: Atari's legal grip on the series means any official source ports, remakes or sequels is unlikely. Former Monolith CEO Jason Hall attempted to negotiate with Atari for an UpdatedRerelease of the original game around 2012, but was flatly refused. Devolver Digital and Night Dive Studios expressed interest in picking up the rights, but Devolver claimed that Atari demanded an [[https://twitter.com/devolverdigital/status/410867780443836416 unreasonable cost for the license]]. Atari only finally agreed to let Night Dive remaster the game in [[https://gematsu.com/2018/12/horror-first-person-shooter-blood-remaster-announced-for-pc late 2018]].

** The creation of the first game was fraught with difficulties. The development team had a number of inexperienced members and was given only a small budget, which left the team struggling for funding. The Build engine the game was being designed for was still being worked on and left the team working with both a game engine and tools that were incomplete through much of development. Assets and source code from an early build of the game were stolen from a PC left in a computer repair shop and posted online, which led to a lawsuit that Monolith settled out of court. ExecutiveMeddling and CreativeDifferences with 3D Realms led to Monolith splitting from them and signing up with GT Interactive to publish the game. The fact that the game was finished, let alone a success, under such conditions is regarded as an extraordinary accomplishment by the team.

* ScrewedByTheLawyers: Atari's legal grip on the series means any official source ports, remakes or sequels is unlikely. Former Monolith CEO Jason Hall attempted to negotiate with Atari for an UpdatedRerelease of the original game around 2012, but was flatly refused. Devolver Digital and Night Dive Studios expressed interest in picking up the rights, but Devolver claimed that Atari demanded an [[https://twitter.com/devolverdigital/status/410867780443836416 unreasonable cost for the license]], which managed to scare off any further revival attempts for a while, with Atari only finally agreeing to let Night Dive remaster the game in [[https://gematsu.com/2018/12/horror-first-person-shooter-blood-remaster-announced-for-pc late 2018]].

** The manual for the second game makes several claims that are not true in the finished version, such as that the MAC-10's SecondaryFire is a three-round burst (in-game it's slower and more accurate full-auto), the M16 can be used GunsAkimbo (complete with concept art showing Caleb's in-game model with two assault rifles; ''Extra Crispy'' re-adds this), that the knives used by the individual Chosen become more powerful the more you kill things with them (no such mechanic exists), that the flashlight and [=NVGs=] can be [[InfiniteFlashlight active indefinitely]] (the flashlight only lasts a minute and a half, and the [=NVGs=] don't even last one full minute), and something about the Life Seed being unable to boost a player's health past 250 without a "Constitution Binding" (Constitution Binding doesn't exist; your max health with the Life Seed is exactly 100 above your normal maximum, period).
** A second expansion to ''Blood II'' titled ''Revelations'' was in development, but cancelled after GT saw the poor sales of the base game and its developer, Tequila Software, went under after trying to continue the expansion as a free project. In 2015, a number of assets and prototype levels meant for the expansion were released by former developers to the community for use in mods and fan projects.

* ScrewedByTheLawyers: Atari's legal grip on the series means any official source ports, remakes or sequels is unlikely. Former Monolith CEO Jason Hall attempted to negotiate with Atari for an UpdatedRerelease of the original game around 2012, but was flatly refused. Devolver Digital and Night Dive Studios expressed interest in picking up the rights, but Devolver claimed that Atari demanded an [[https://twitter.com/devolverdigital/status/410867780443836416 unreasonable cost for the license]], which thus far has scared off any revival attempts.

** The creation of the first game was fraught with difficulties. The development team had a number of inexperienced members and was given only a small budget, which left the team struggling for funding. The Build engine the game was being designed for was still being worked on and left the team working with both a game engine and tools that were incomplete through much of development. Assets and source code from an early build of the game were stolen from a PC left in a computer repair shop and posted online, which led to a lawsuit that Monolith settled out of court. ExecutiveMeddling and CreativeDifferences with 3D Realms led to Monolith splitting from them and signing up with GT Interactive to publish the game. The fact that the game was finished let alone a success under such conditions is regarded as an extraordinary accomplishment by the team.

** The manual for the second game makes several claims that are not true in the finished version, such as that the MAC-10's SecondaryFire is a three-round burst (in-game it's slower and more accurate full-auto), the M16 can be used GunsAkimbo (complete with concept art showing Caleb's in-game model with two assault rifles; ''Extra Crispy'' re-adds this), that the knives used by the individual Chosen become more powerful the more you kill things with them (no such mechanic exists), that the flashlight and [=NVGs=] can be [[InfiniteFlashlight active indefinitely]] (the flashlight only lasts a minute and a half, and the [=NVGs=] don't even last one full minute), and something about the Life Seed being unable to boost a player's health past 250 without a "Constitution Binding" (Constitution Binding doesn't exist; your max health with the Life Seed is exactly 100 above your normal maximum).

** The manual for the second game makes several claims that are not true in the finished version, such as that the MAC-10's SecondaryFire is a three-round burst (in-game it's slower and more accurate full-auto), the M16 can be used GunsAkimbo (''Extra Crispy'' re-adds this), that the knives used by the individual Chosen become more powerful the more you kill things with them (no such mechanic exists), that the flashlight and [=NVGs=] can be [[InfiniteFlashlight active indefinitely]] (the flashlight only lasts one and a half minutes, and the [=NVGs=] don't even last one full minute), and something about the Life Seed being unable to boost a player's health past 250 without a "Constitution Binding" (Constitution Binding doesn't exist; your max health with the Life Seed is exactly 100 above your normal maximum).

** The manual for the second game makes several claims that are not true in the finished version, such as that the MAC-10's SecondaryFire is a three-round burst rather than a slower and more accurate full-auto, the M16 can be used GunsAkimbo (''Extra Crispy'' re-adds this), that the knives used by the individual Chosen become more powerful the more you kill things with them, that the flashlight and [=NVGs=] can be [[InfiniteFlashlight active indefinitely]], and something about the Life Seed being unable to boost a player's health past 250 without a nonexistent "Constitution Binding".

* DuelingWorks: ''Blood II'' went up against ''VideoGame/HalfLife1'' and ''VideoGame/SiN'', setting itself apart by its ScienceFantasy elements (combining near-future technology and alternate-universe shenanigans with some of the old Wild West mysticism from the first game) and by use of a unique in-house engine (''[=SiN=]'' and ''Half-Life'' were both derived from versions of the ''VideoGame/{{Quake}}'' engine); all three released within a three-week period (with ''Blood II'' the last out the gate, coming out just a single day after ''Half-Life''). It was, unfortunately, the true loser of the duel - in hindsight, going up against the massive SleeperHit that was ''Half-Life'' would have doomed ''anything'' except maybe the version of ''VideoGame/DukeNukemForever'' demonstrated in its 1998 trailer, but ''[=SiN=]'' - while receiving a similar mixed-to-negative critical reception to ''Blood II'' for [[ObviousBeta many of the same reasons]] - still at least managed an AnimatedAdaptation and a sequel on top of the obligatory expansion pack (which also came out several months sooner than ''Blood II''[='=]s). On the other hand, Ritual went the way of the dinosaur shortly after that sequel, whereas Monolith was able to bounce back with several unexpected hits like ''VideoGame/NoOneLivesForever'' and ''VideoGame/Tron20'', and is still making games to this day.

** The second game didn't have it much better. To give an idea on what sort of issues the team had to deal with, the official plan of development was to get the concurrently-developed ''VideOGame/ShogoMobileArmorDivision'' out the door as quickly as possible, so its team could be folded back into the ''Blood II'' team to help finish its development. Considering ''Shogo'' only came out just shy of two months before ''Blood II'', it didn't help all that much.

** It was planned that each member of the Chosen was going to be playable characters in the first game. This was cut down to just Caleb due to time and budget constraints. The concept would be revisited in the sequel, which allows you to play as any of the four Chosen across both single- and multiplayer, though again for time constraints the other three don't get the full experience, as cutscenes only exist for Caleb.

* DuelingWorks: ''Blood II'' went up against ''VideoGame/HalfLife1'' and ''VideoGame/SiN'', setting itself apart by its ScienceFantasy elements (combining near-future technology and alternate-universe shenanigans with some of the old Wild West mysticism from the first game) and by use of a unique in-house engine (''[=SiN=]'' and ''Half-Life'' were both derived from versions of the ''VideoGame/{{Quake}}'' engine; all three released within a three-week period (with ''Blood II'' the last out the gate, coming out just a single day after ''Half-Life''). It was, unfortunately, the true loser of the duel - in hindsight, going up against the massive SleeperHit that was ''Half-Life'' would have doomed ''anything'' except maybe the version of ''VideoGame/DukeNukemForever'' demonstrated in its 1998 trailer, but ''[=SiN=]'' - while receiving a similar mixed-to-negative critical reception to ''Blood II'' for [[ObviousBeta many of the same reasons]] - still at least managed an AnimatedAdaptation and a sequel on top of the obligatory expansion pack (which also came out several months sooner than ''Blood II''[='=]s). On the other hand, Ritual went the way of the dinosaur shortly after that sequel, whereas Monolith was able to bounce back with several unexpected hits like ''VideoGame/NoOneLivesForever'' and ''VideoGame/Tron20'', and is still making games to this day.

* TroubledProduction: The creation of the first game was fraught with difficulties. The development team had a number of inexperienced members and was given only a small budget, which left the team struggling for funding. The Build engine the game was being designed for was still being worked on and left the team working with both a game engine and tools that were incomplete through much of development. Assets and source code from an early build of the game were stolen from a PC left in a computer repair shop and posted online, which led to a lawsuit that Monolith settled out of court. ExecutiveMeddling and CreativeDifferences with 3D Realms led to Monolith splitting from them and signing up with GT Interactive to publish the game. The fact that the game was finished let alone a success under such conditions is regarded as an extraordinary accomplishment by the team.

** It was planned that each member of the Chosen was going to be playable characters in the first game. This was cut down to just Caleb due to time and budget constraints, though this concept would be revisited in the sequel (although time constraints still mean that only Caleb can see cutscenes).

** It was planned that each member of the Chosen was going to be playable characters in the first game. This was cut down to just Caleb due to time and budget constraints, though this concept would be revisited in the sequel.

** A second expansion to ''Blood II'' titled ''Revelations'' was in development, but cancelled after GT saw the poor sales of the base game and its developer, Tequila Software, went under after trying to continue the expansion as a free project. In 2015 a number of assets and prototype levels meant for the expansion were released by former developers to the community for use in mods and fan projects.

* DuelingWorks: ''Blood II'' went up against ''VideoGame/HalfLife1'' and ''VideoGame/SiN'', setting itself apart by its ScienceFantasy elements (combining near-future technology and alternate-universe shenanigans with some of the old Wild West mysticism from the first game) and by use of a unique in-house engine (''[=SiN=]'' and ''Half-Life'' were both derived from versions of the ''VideoGame/{{Quake}}'' engine; all three released within a three-week period (with ''Blood II'' the last out the gate, coming out just a single day after ''Half-Life''). It was, unfortunately, the true loser of the duel - in hindsight, going up against the massive SleeperHit that was ''Half-Life'' would have doomed ''anything'' except maybe the version of ''VideoGame/DukeNukemForever'' demonstrated in its 1998 trailer, but ''[=SiN=]'' - while receiving a similar mixed-to-negative critical reception to ''Blood II'' for [[ObviousBeta many of the same reasons - still at least managed an AnimatedAdaptation and a sequel on top of the obligatory expansion pack (which also came out several months sooner than ''Blood II''[='=]s). On the other hand, Ritual went the way of the dinosaur shortly after that sequel, whereas Monolith was able to bounce back with several unexpected hits like ''VideoGame/NoOneLivesForever'' and ''VideoGame/Tron20'', and is still making games to this day.

* DuelingGames: ''Blood II'' went up against ''VideoGame/HalfLife1'' and ''VideoGame/SiN'', setting itself apart by its ScienceFantasy elements (combining near-future technology and alternate-universe shenanigans with some of the old Wild West mysticism from the first game) and by use of a unique in-house engine (''[=SiN=]'' and ''Half-Life'' were both derived from versions of the ''VideoGame/{{Quake}}'' engine; all three released within a three-week period (with ''Blood II'' the last out the gate, coming out just a single day after ''Half-Life''). It was, unfortunately, the true loser of the duel - in hindsight, going up against the massive SleeperHit that was ''Half-Life'' would have doomed ''anything'' except maybe the version of ''VideoGame/DukeNukemForever'' demonstrated in its 1998 trailer, but ''[=SiN=]'' - while receiving a similar critical reception to ''Blood II'' for many of the same reasons - still at least managed an AnimatedAdaptation and a sequel on top of the obligatory expansion pack (which also came out several months sooner than ''Blood II''[='=]s). On the other hand, Ritual went the way of the dinosaur shortly after that sequel, whereas Monolith was able to bounce back with several unexpected hits like ''VideoGame/NoOneLivesForever'' and ''VideoGame/Tron20'', and is still making games to this day.

* DuelingGames: ''Blood II'' went up against ''VideoGame/HalfLife1'' and ''VideoGame/SiN'', all three releasing in a three-week period (with ''Blood II'' coming out just a single day after ''Half-Life''). It was, unfortunately, the true loser of the duel - in hindsight ''anything'' that went up against ''Half-Life'' would have been doomed, but ''[=SiN=]'', while receiving a similar critical reception to ''Blood II'' for many of the same reasons, still at least managed an AnimatedAdaptation and a sequel on top of the obligatory expansion pack (which also came out several months sooner than ''Blood II''[='=]s). On the other hand, Ritual went the way of the dinosaur shortly after that sequel, whereas Monolith was able to bounce back with several unexpected hits like ''VideoGame/NoOneLivesForever'' and ''VideoGame/Tron20'', and is still making games to this day.

* TroubledProduction: The creation of the first game was fraught with difficulties. The development team had a number of inexperienced members and was given only a small budget, which left the team struggling for funding. The "Build" engine the game was being designed for was still being worked on and left the team working with both a game engine and tools that were incomplete through much of development. Assets and source code from an early build of the game were stolen from a PC left in a computer repair shop and posted online, which led to a lawsuit that Monolith settled out of court. ExecutiveMeddling and CreativeDifferences with 3D Realms led to Monolith splitting from them and signing up with GT Interactive to publish the game. The fact that the game was finished let alone a success under such conditions is regarded as an extraordinary accomplishment by the team.

* DuelingGames: ''Blood II'' went up against ''VideoGame/HalfLife1'' and ''VideoGame/SiN''.

** The initial "Horror 3D" concept of the game was intended to be a more darker and serious game with more overt Lovecraft influences and less BlackComedy elements.

** A feature cut late in the first game's development was a "Bloodlust" meter that would have transformed Caleb into a Beast after taking severe damage or killing enough enemies, making him faster and doing more melee damage. It was cut after the developers felt it was more tedious than enjoyable due to limiting the weapons the player could use while transformed. Sprites intended for the melee attacks can still be found in the files, and mods exist that allow it to be used in place of the Pitchfork.

** GT Interactive demanded Monolith complete the development of ''Blood II'' within ''11 months'' thanks to both GT's deteriorating financial situation and the impending releases of ''VideoGame/HalfLife1'', ''VideoGame/{{Unreal}}'', ''VideoGame/ThiefTheDarkProject'' and ''VideoGame/SiN''. The developers were forced to rush the game to meet the strict deadline, cutting a number of features at the last minute and having to release the game as an ObviousBeta. GT's deteriorating financial situation and eventual buyout by Infogrames (now Atari) also meant that Monolith was not able to get the funds needed to patch the released game to the state they wanted to.