Pathways Into Darkness v1.0 screenshots are quite rare. You can see five of them on the back of the first Pathways box (Aug 1993). A sixth screenshot appeared on a later version of the box in early 1994. Three of these screenshots also appeared in an IMG ad for Pathways dating from Oct 1993 and another one featured in a MacConnection ad for Pathways and Marathon.

Version 1.0 screenshots are easy to identify, they have no floor or ceiling textures and would have been in circulation around '93/94. Since you could count the number of Bungie related web pages at that time on one hand it's not hard to see why these shots are quite rare. In fact the originals probably never actually appeared on the web.

There are eight v1.0 screenshots in IMG's Sneak Peek of Pathways Into Darkness (June '93). However I think you'll agree that these do not look like officially released screenshots but rather shots taken specifically for the sneak peek article. See 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8.

IMG also published two v1.0 screenshots when they reviewed Pathways Into Darkness in Sept '93. Again these screenshots look like they had been specifically taken for the review. See 1 and 2.

You'll also find a v1.0 screenshot in the 1993 Macworld Game Hall of Fame article published in Jan '94. However this was specifically taken for Steven Levy's article.

In March '94 Bungie released Pathways Into Darkness v2.0. To coincide with the release Bungie distributed eleven new screenshots as part of a press release pack. These screenshots showed the new floor and ceiling textures. The screenshots had the following interesting titles:

Ascension
Beware of Low-Flying Nightmares
carnage doors open
demon infrared
good rat shot
Pathways Screen Shot.pict
PowerPathways Screen Shot
skitters & shots
Witness Total Carnage
WOFDT.wraith.crystal.bodies
YEAH.bursting nightmare

It would take another two years before these screenshots actually appeared on the web. When Bungie unveiled their 3rd web page in April 1996 it contained a section on Pathways Into Darkness (note Bungie's two previous web pages were devoted exclusively to Marathon, see here and here). The screenshot section of Bungie's Pathways Into Darkness page originally contained five of the above shots.

Ascension
carnage doors open
skitters & shots
Witness Total Carnage
WOFDT.wraith.crystal.bodies

Over time the official Pathways Into Darkness page was revised and updated and the screenshot section was eventually enlarged to nine shots. Below is a list of their original names:

Ascension
Beware of Low-Flying Nightmares
carnage doors open
demon infrared
Pathways Screen Shot
skitters & shots
Witness Total Carnage
WOFDT.wraith.crystal.bodies
YEAH.bursting nightmare

Somewhat surprisingly when Bungie revamped their web site on Mar 21, 2001 they dropped WOFDT.wraith.crystal.bodies from their line out. Notice anything odd about this screenshot?

And while you're at it take a look at the now (in)famous Pathways Screen Shot. Can you spot seven odd things about this screenshot? Bonus points for those who note more than seven. :-)

Mark Levin <haveblue@mac.com> writes concerning the inconsistencies in the Pathways Screen Shot:

Problems noted with the screenshot:

1. Some inventory items that can't be found in the full game: Opal Bracelet, Pen and Paper, Flack[sic] Jacket, Small Canvas Sack.

2. The player already has the Lead Box, which only appears in the game long after any levels which use that texture set.

3. The message window has a Climb button.

4. Misplaced monsters: A Greater Nightmare never appears with that texture set, and the player has recently seen a dead Headless.

5. Also in the message window, the last weapon noted to be readied is the Walter P4, but the player is using the MP-41. And in the inventory window, the Walther P4 is marked as in hand.

6. The player doesn't have any points or treasure yet, and his health maximum is only 8. [the player does have $0.1k which makes the Opal Bracelet rather cheap and didn't the Lead Box contain a Ruby Ring worth $38K?]

7. The player just found some Infrared Goggles, which are not present on any levels with dead Germans (one is visible in the background).

8. There is no level named "Pathways Into Darkness..." [in the full game]

IIRC there was an earlier screenshot featuring the same Message, Inventory, and Player windows but a different world view, which would explain some of the inconsistencies.

Yes indeed. This screenshot is a complete fake from top to bottom. It originally appeared as a v1.0 screenshot on the back of the Pathways box. When Bungie released Pathways v2.0 the press pack contained a shot called PowerPathways Screen Shot. This shot was simply pasted in over the old v1.0 box shot to give you a v2.0 Pathways Screen Shot. Of course as Mark notes there are a ton of problems with this screenshot.

Here are a few more inconsistencies:

9. The Message Window claims that the player has descended to "Pathways Into Darkness..." even though the Player Window states that the player is at ground level.

10. The total points to score (137 points) are wrong for the full game.

11. The scene in the World View window is from "Happy Happy, Carnage Carnage" yet the floor and ceiling textures are wrong for this level (compare it with the carnage doors open screenshot). And as Mark points out the appearance of the Greater Nightmare (blue) is also wrong for this level. So how did this screenshot even get taken?

Fakes! They're Everywhere!

Can you spot the other faked screenshots?

Dustin Westphal <bachus@killerrobots.com> and Johnathan Telin <telinj4615@clarkstate.cc.oh.us> both point out that Slide 4 on Bungie's Pathways Into Darkness page is called "demon-infrared.gif" but this is not the Demon from the last level but rather a Wraith. Actually Wraiths are called "demons" in two places in the game. The level on which they are found, namely "A Plague of Demons" and Walter also refers to the Wraiths as "invisible demons" on two occasions. I guess when you're being attacked by an invisible foe you might have a tendency to call it a demon.

Dustin Westphal goes on to say:

Slide 7 is called "witnesstotalcarnage.gif". As everyone should know, "Witness Total Carnage" was a level name from the demo. However, that is not a screenshot from that level. It's from one of the last levels in the full game, most likely "Don't Get Poisoned" or "Please Excuse Our Dust" based off the level architecture.

When the Official Screenshots section went live back in April 2001 I posed a question about a missing official screenshot from Bungie's Pathways Into Darkness products page. Originally their page featured nine screenshots but now only eight were being displayed.

Which screenshot was dropped?

What was odd about this missing screenshot?

The answer to the first question was the WOFDT.wraith.crystal.bodies screenshot (see above). But what so odd about this missing screenshot? Well compare it with this in-game shot taken from pretty much the same place on "Where Only Fools Dare Tread" as the official screenshot. Note the difference apart from the obvious Ghast and two dead Skitters?

Here are the Official v2.0 Screenshots from the Bungie Press Pack (1994)

Ascension
Beware of Low-Flying Nightmares
carnage doors open
demon infrared
good rat shot
Pathways Screen Shot
PowerPathways Screen Shot
skitters & shots
Witness Total Carnage
WOFDT.wraith.crystal.bodies
YEAH.bursting nightmare

How many inconsistencies are there in the Pathways Screen Shot? Eleven have been discovered so far (see above). Now PerseusSpartacus <perseusspartacus@gmail.com> writes:

If you look at the PowerPathways Screenshot [used in the "Pathways Screen Shot"], you'll notice something odd. On the ground, there lies a dead Nightmare, green as usual. However, still flying around, there is what appears to be a blue Nightmare. You might think 'Oh, it must be a Greater Nightmare'. However, the blue here is darker and more rich in color, and the eyes are yellow like a regular Nightmare, not like a Greater Nightmare, which has red eyes.

Yes indeed, the Greater Nightmare should have red eyes not yellow. A twelfth error.

But wait that's not all... he goes on to say:

...in all levels, the number of Monster types present is less than or equal to three. From what I can tell, the game can only have three kinds of monsters on a given level, period. So, assuming that the dead green Nightmare and the living blue Nightmare are two different 'types' of monster, that means we have:

1 - Nightmare
2 - Blue (greater?) Nightmare
3 - Ooze
4 - Ghoul

So we have four 'types' of monster on the same level. Technically, this is impossible given the engine limitations.

Could this be a thirteenth error?

In a Story forum post, PerseusSpartacus <perseusspartacus@gmail.com> writes:

On the PiD section titled "Official Screenshots" a ninth error in the Pathways Screen Shot is referred to:

9. The Message Window claims that the player has descended to "Pathways Into Darkness..." even though the Player Window states that the player is at ground level.

However, this is not, strictly speaking, an inconsistency. In the PiD Demo A1, there was a level called "Pathways into Darkness...". It has an elevation of 0.0 meters from the ground, and thus it is fitting to say that it is at 'ground level'.

Yes indeed. If the player had been at a level above 'Pathways Into Darkness...' and then descended back down to 'Pathways Into Darkness...' then the Message Window is in fact correct. So the ninth error is not error.

In a Story forum post, President People <PresidentPeople@verizon.net> draws our attention to two further inconsistencies with the Pathways Screen Shot:

(1) If the two differently-colored Nightmares are separate monsters as PerseusSpartacus observed, then it is suggested there are not four, but five monster types on this level. Remember killing that Headless? Of course you do. :)

I thought that a dead body could possibly be separate from its live counterpart (thus the Headless and lesser Nightmare could already be dead, and are being used as "scenery"). Experimentation (crashes) with Torch (Pathways map editor) produced inconclusive results, but suggest that they are connected, as there were no monsters but already-dead bodies of the replaced monsters in the room while I was testing. Just turning to face them crashed Pathways, so I have no visual confirmation one way or the other.

(2) The player is seen firing an MP-41, but the weapon proficiencies do not display any experience with said firearm. In the game, hitting (or simply firing at?) a monster with a new weapon immediately updates the proficiencies list. Oh but I forgot, he's actually wielding a Walther. :P

So that makes two more inconsistencies. So how many errors is that now? Have you lost count?

Are there actually five monster types in the Pathways Screen Shot or are two of them dead monster scenery items? Is it possible to have a dead monster scenery item on a level independent of that monster actually appearing (live) on the level or are they dependent? Hopper <hopper@whpress.com> in a Story forum post writes:

Confirmed. No scenery items correspond to inactive monster collections, so any dead bodies indicate that survivors may be nearby.

For experimenters: all of the placed items come from one of three collection sets:

1. The always-loaded items collection (ID 128)
2. The collections of the level's monsters (up to 3)
3. The specified loaded collections for the level (up to 8)

If Pathways is anything like Marathon, it's sure to crash if an item's collection isn't in any of those sets.

The latter two sets are specified in the map. In the stock map, the loaded-collections set never lists any monster collections; I don't know if it would work to add, say, the Headless collection to the loaded-collection list for HHCC. It's possible that would allow you to add different corpses as scenery.

Hopper <hopper@whpress.com> goes on to say:

I don't remember if I mentioned this before: all items in a level specify a collection and frame number, but not the color table. So, I'm pretty sure there's no way for the engine to include both Nightmares and Greater Nightmares on the same level.

So it suspiciously look like someone recolored the Nightmare in Pathways Screen Shot to make it look like a Greater Nightmare but failed to changed the eye color nor got the shade of Greater Nightmare blue color exactly correct. Fakes... They're Everywhere!