For a one minute video, there's a lot to unpack here. This post will cover the first 31 seconds. If you're playing along at home, it might be helpful to go frame by frame, which you can do on Youtube by pausing the video and pressing the period and comma keys.
00:01: This footage, released in early March, obviously came before the Maori controversy in June, so it uses the game's original name.
00:06: Sadly, this splash screen doesn't appear in the final game. It was replaced by a similar image in which Takua isn't dabbing. Neither the dab nor the serifed "PRESS START" are in the game's memory.
00:08: The demo menu screen. The BIONICLE logo is slightly smaller and the arch it's displayed on is slightly larger than in the final game, perhaps to make room for a subtitle. Tahu's mask looks like it's based off one of the prototype models with a code on the forehead. The bottom of the frame is also slightly larger, with a strange piece in the center. The "Tohunga Games" option was, understandably, changed to "Mini Games" in the released version. There's also a "Credits" option. Once upon a time, the Cutting Room Floor page for this game mentioned that there are two unused options on the title screen that both go to the credits. Unfortunately, the Youtube video showing this has been deleted.
A quick comparison between the demo footage and the final game.
If you're unfamiliar with the final map, it's available here.
00:12: Here's the starting beach, which looks fairly similar to how it appears in the final game. The big differences are that Jala isn't here and there are two palm trees. Madu fruit is bound to the left shoulder button, and it appears that Matau's Kau Kau staff is bound to the right. The number of Madu fruit seems to be glitched. A similar thing happens in the final game when you use cheats to have more than 199 of any object:
On first glance, the Madu trees look odd, but that's just because their sprite doesn't have a shadow, unlike the final version.
00:14: Takua shakes a tree twice. In the final game, this animation ends with a Madu fruit falling on his head, stunning him. In the demo, this doesn't happen.
00:18: An abrupt cut to further up the beach. There's a palm frond poking in from the bottom left corner. I assume that, between the last segment and this one, the player cut down the rightmost Madu tree using the Kau Kau staff. However, this particular palm frond is not a part of the final felled Madu sprite, implying that sprite was changed between the demo and the final build.
The player goes on to smash the boulder using Onewa's hammer, using the same animation as in the final game. They pick up the rock ammunition, heft the smaller boulder over their head, and walk further up the beach. The one change to this section of the beach is that the tutorial signs from the final game are absent.
00:25: Takua throws the boulder he's carrying, and a shadow flashes in the upper right corner. It's unclear if this is a Rahi or if the throwing animation was glitched somehow. I lean towards the latter.
00:27: Another smash cut to a higher part of the level. The shape of the coastline is different, but the rocks and treeline are the same as in the final version of the game, which means we can be pretty certain about where this was. (See the map, above.)
The Hoi turtles and Takua are unremarkable, but look: it's our old friend, the Unnamed Bird Rahi! Three of them, in fact!
The demo footage is approximately 1.7x larger than the final game.
The sprites I've added are scaled 2x.
There are a few notable things about the bird as it appears in this demo. First, the shadows for the normal flying animation are different from those used in the final game. I'm willing to bet that they are also pixel-perfect silhouettes, just like those for the unused swooping animation. Second – though this could just be me seeing things – I think that there are more frames for the normal flying animation than are in the final game. (If I had to guess, I'd say there are twice as many.) The picture above hopefully illustrates my point; if it doesn't, well, that's fine.
00:31: As the video fades to black, the bird on the right swoops at Takua's previous position. This animation also includes frames missing from the final build. Note that its shadow appears to be directly below it (that is, not offset left or right). This will be important in a future post.
No comments:
Post a Comment