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Sonic Heroes demo discs

Discussion in 'General Sonic Discussion' started by Black Squirrel, Sep 13, 2018.

  1. Black Squirrel

    Black Squirrel

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    Surp.


    Doing my rounds on the Sonic Retro wiki and I noticed we have very limited coverage of Sonic Heroes (Mario Kart: Double Dash!! Bonus Disc). One obvious issue is that the page name doesn't line up with what's rendered on-screen - "Sonic Heroes: Trial Version".

    I figured it probably should, so I was about to move it when I realised that this is the only Sonic Heroes demo we've got a page for. I could swear there were other discs out there...


    [​IMG]

    ...like this one. This is from issue 46 of the UK's official PlayStation 2 magazine, and it's a demo that is, for all intents and purposes, undocumented. It too also calls itself "Sonic Heroes: Trial Version". There's an Xbox demo too (US Official Xbox Magazine #31), and possibly another GameCube one for in-store kiosks, and this is before we take into account all the different regions that had PS2 or Xbox magazines.


    Are these all essentially the same thing? My gut instinct is that they should all have pages, but I know nothing about any of them.


    There's a Sonic Riders demo doing its rounds too that we're not covering. These are all stripped-down prototypes so all sorts of interesting things could lie within.
     
  2. Sappharad

    Sappharad

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    I own the Gamecube one that was included with MKDD. The demo consists of Seaside Hill as Team Sonic, and the neat part about it is that for some reason they hadn't implemented the 'no disc' screen yet so once the level loaded up you could eject the disc and play through the entire stage without the disc. (No music though)
    Kind of neat to consider that the entire stage fit into memory.

    Not sure about the other ones though. I know there was another Gamecube demo of Heroes that had 2 stages, but think it was for stores and/or trade shows.
     
  3. Yeah, I would think each demo deserves a page. Some demos might be duplicates but the only way to know would be to compare the data. I've been personally finding proto stuff in DOA demos and trying to compare them for the same reasons.
     
  4. JaxTH

    JaxTH

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    Jack shit.
    One of them had Sky Fleet so I assume that is the other demo you are thinking about. We sure were talking about it back in the day though.

    It was just one if those Gamecube demos you could get.
     
  5. Sappharad

    Sappharad

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    Sky Fleet is not a Sonic Heroes level.
    The other demo had Rail Canyon if I recall correctly.
     
  6. JaxTH

    JaxTH

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    Jack shit.
    You are right. I was talking about Egg Fleet.
     
  7. Black Squirrel

    Black Squirrel

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    Because I don't want this topic to sink:

    PLAYSTATION 2
    Multiple other versions of that disc I posted above:

    http://www.crimson-ceremony.net/demopals/ops2mbnl/index.php?img=bnl046#SCED-52161


    [​IMG]
    PSM Holiday 2003 (US) - this is just a video, but videos are still important

    XBOX

    [​IMG]
    UK Official Xbox Magazine #25, January 2004 - another video

    [​IMG]
    UK Official Xbox Magazine #27, March 2004

    [​IMG]
    US Official Xbox Magazine #27, January 2004 - another video

    [​IMG]
    US Official Xbox Magazine #31, May 2004. This identifies itself as "Sonic Heroes: Trial Version".


    GAMECUBE
    [​IMG]
    Interactive Multi-Game Demo Disc Version 14 (US) - this was for GameCube kiosks, and not intended for home use. There might be a Japanese equivalent to this.


    PC
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E4oGGQXvK8E
    this is a different "trial version"... and I don't know where it comes from.
     
  8. Dr. Corndog

    Dr. Corndog

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    I played the US XBox demo disc myself. It was also Seaside Hill with Team Sonic.
     
  9. Diablohead

    Diablohead

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    I might still have the pal xbox magazine demo disc with heroes on it, team sonic on seaside hill for the entire act I believe.
     
  10. Black Squirrel

    Black Squirrel

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    Another one advertised for the Xbox:

    http://info.sonicretro.org/File:Sh_Game_flyer.jpg

    Though good luck finding "Game demo" online.
     
  11. Overlord

    Overlord

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    I've got that demo, I explicitly placed a preorder at one of the at-the-time-three GAMEs in Coventry for the Xbox version just to get it, that I then never went back for the main game. I got my PS2 version (yes, I know, shutup) with a different preorder bonus (a t-shirt that was far too small for me, so never worn) at a different GAME in Coventry. Hell, I put the scans of it on the Wiki myself a decade ago:

    http://info.sonicretro.org/File:Sh-eu-demo-dvd-box.jpg
    http://info.sonicretro.org/File:Sh-eu-demo-dvd.jpg

    Quite what's on it I couldn't tell you, I've never booted it and at the moment I'm not in a position to.
     
  12. Black Squirrel

    Black Squirrel

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    Well played - I hadn't noticed that one :v:

    I would expect a pre-order bonus to be based on non-final code, so that might be worth a look. Maybe I'll go digging to see when GAME started accepting pre-orders - if it's pre-2004 we might be on to a winner.
     
  13. lupinsmask

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    I have a demo disc from a 2004 Electronic Gaming Monthly issue which has a Sonic Heroes PC demo. Don't remember the issue number it came from.

    https://i.imgur.com/RFIk6kQ.jpg
    https://i.imgur.com/RRjnP4i.jpg
    https://i.imgur.com/JAUUrVk.jpg
    https://i.imgur.com/NcuGISG.jpg
    https://i.imgur.com/1byUl4v.jpg
    https://i.imgur.com/tKAW3ah.jpg
    https://i.imgur.com/MAmCSIH.png
    https://i.imgur.com/xgp9N4R.png
    https://i.imgur.com/xI5pm6i.png
     
  14. Sewer56

    Sewer56

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    Quick Summary:

    Someone linked me this thread; so here's two things I should bring up:

    I dumped the OPM 46 Heroes demo disc a while ago; there isn't really much interesting in it; it's a rebadged TGS/Generic Magazine "UST" demo so sorry for spoiling the parade on that one.

    As for the MKDD demo; I have that one too.

    Some notable stuff about the PS2 Demo:
    A. This build of Sonic Heroes has symbols.

    (This is also true for the final PS2 version. We believe they needed them for linking the Stage BINs which are just relocatable pieces of code; in the console versions they have split all stage specific stuff into separate files, presumably to save on RAM. PC and XBOX versions are the exception to this rule.)

    B. Build type/info.

    The build type/code for this demo is UST "Magazine/Trial".
    It uses recompiled old code from the TGS demo.

    Some other info you might find useful:
    Version/release hierarchy for Sonic Heroes (known versions/builds):

    Listed in chronological order.

    Internal Builds: Develop, Test, 1ST
    Same as Shadow the Hedgehog; known from strings.

    Non-Internal Build Types:
    • E3ROM (E3 Demo)
    • TGS (Tokyo Game Show)
    • UST (Rebadged TGS demo for magazines) ("Trial Version" written under logo in black & white)
    • FINAL
    There is another type of "Trial Version" where "Trial Version" will be in orange on the bottom right of the titlescreen logo.
    These are just final versions of the game restricted to Seaside Hill and are not prototypes (PC Demo is one of those). They've been very carefully crafted and basically have just about the minimum to run a single stage; but the code inside the executables is complete and has stuff for all stages.


    Unknown in chronology:
    Preview "PREVIEWROM" (Presumably for game stores, likely to contain more content than TGS)

    RenderWare versions:

    • RenderWare 3.2: (Before E3 Beta; used in oldest known asset)
    • RenderWare 3.3: Some leftover stuff found in E3 Prototype.
    • RenderWare 3.4.0.3 and 3.4.0.5: E3 Prototypes, TGS, Magazine Builds (UST), all other dumped versions.
    • RenderWare 3.5: 10.8 Prototype to Final Build.

    Known Protos/Versions in-order:
    • E3 Prototype
    • TGS and Rebadged demos from it e.g. Mario Kart Double Dash Demo
    • 8th of October (10.8)
    • 18th of November (11.18)
    • XBOX Review Prototype
    • Final Build

    There also exists that one XBOX proto that once surfaced on the internet but was never fully preserved; we only have the audio from it. Apparently in the old times a CulT person or two had a fun time downloading it at 1 KB/s from someone's file server - that prototype would either be an uncut TGS release or a prototype between the E3 Demo and TGS build.

    Downloads:

    These downloads are standalone and contain no non Sonic Heroes content from the individual demo discs.

    I have ripped all of the individual assets and files belonging to the demo versions from the discs. The PS2 version was already self-contained and needed no changes.
    The case of the GC demo; I had to unpack it from another container and make it executable using existing software.

    Mario Kart Double Dash Prototype Standalone (2003-09-XX)[Sewer56lol]
    Sonic Heroes PS2 Demo from OPM 46 (2004-01-14) [Sewer56lol]

    The date added set in the download of the MKDD demo (2003-09-XX) is an estimate; the accuracy should be +- 1 month.
    Enjoy.
     
  15. That's a great guide, man! I do have a lead for the demo someone at CuLT had. I don't know if he had the full demo, but if anyone is still in touch with a former member here by the name of "Voice," I know he had the audio for it years back and he sent it to me when I brought it up one on IRC.
     
  16. Windii

    Windii

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    I thought the owner of that demo was a scener named Solly who didn't want to share it publicly? She seems to have completely disappeared from the internet for years now, so the source may be lost. I'd be shocked if someone else still has the demo today.

    (the Sonic scene sucks at preserving stuff like this lemme tell you)

    Anyway, these are all the music tracks from that demo, early What I'm Made Of and all. I made a topic asking about these songs a year ago, which is how I got the above information.
     
  17. SonicGenesis89

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    I love the Beta music for Sonic Heroes and I personally wish that they had kept some of the earlier versions of the songs for some of the stages such as Lost Jungle. I hate the final version that they ended up going with but I absolutely love the tranquil and very jungle-y sounding Beta version!
     
  18. Ah, Solly didn't share the demo? Voice may have just had the tracks before they were uploaded to the wiki, then. It's been ages so my memory's pretty fuzzy haha. If I even had my old #retro IRC logs I wouldn't even know a range of dates to narrow down a search; "sometime within the last decade-ish?" is waaay too large of a date range to search for a conversation, even with "Sonic Heroes" being a keyword to search for.
     
  19. Overlord

    Overlord

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    Yeah, only the ADX files were ever publically released thanks to Pachuka getting them via a hacked connection and a 1kb/s upload.

    Speaking of that thread:
    lmao
     
  20. MuzzarinoHez

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    I don't know if anyone remembers this, but to point out that the full copy of Heroes (not the demo version that's already found nor the retail GameCube) was only playable in Walmart back when they used to run kiosks which has the vs. battle screen (not to be confused with boss battles) instead of the file selection menu accessed from the title screen which you can select either Sonic or Dark and as usual can play whatever team/stage you like.