Hexaplex trunculus degrades, resulting in blue only. Nonetheless, archeologists have confirmed Hexaplex trunculus as the species used to create the purple-blue dye; large numbers of shells were recovered from inside ancient live-storage chambers that were used for harvesting. Apparently, 10- to 12,000 murex yielded only one gram of dye. Because of this, the dye was highly prized. Also known as "Royal Purple", it was prohibitively expensive and was only used by the highest ranking aristocracy. A similar dye, "Tyrian purple", which is purple-red in color, was made from a related species of marine snail, "Murex brandaris". This dye (alternatively known as "imperial
Tyrian (video game) head by Mark Rein. At this time, Tim Sweeney approached the team and informed them "Tyrian" was to be published as a full-fledged Epic MegaGames product. It was later released in 1995. The data cubes found in the game's Full Mode contain various references to its parent publishers, including One Must Fall 2097, Jazz Jackrabbit, Pretzel Pete (Tyrian 2000). The Pretzel Pete Truck and its weapon is a reference to the Pretzel Pete video game. Version 1.0 of the game was originally released as shareware, consisting of episode 1 of the game. Version 1.1 was the first published as registered