[0r4ng3]

MainMemory, on 21 May 2013 - 04:25 PM, said:

I looked into stg00, and to my surprise, there are three sets of level geometry right at the beginning of the file.

The first one (0x6C) shows this:
http://i764.photobuc...zps8e3e1a09.png
This level uses no textures, consists entirely of three models, and I think it might match the unused SET file and paths that were discussed in the SADX Preview topic a while back...
The second one (0x120)... shows nothing in SALVL, and consists of four models.
The third one (0x2F8) crashes SALVL, and consists of twelve models.

It doesn't make me recall anything in the game...

A hub prototype? Or a tutorial level? The other post where it speaks of textures for tutorial levels can be an indication of the latter (it even has a loop for / due to Sonic).

ashthedragon, on 21 May 2013 - 05:26 PM, said:

First, the second set of geometry found in stg00 by mainmemory, he was able to open it on SALVL, using the same data as mainmemory did ( dunno why it didn't work for him in the first place). Here are the results, a pretty cool looking level.

http://I.imgur.com/BCPPlJy.png

My first thought was Windy Valley, because of the path with the mountain on the left side, the sunk basin and the lacing paths, but then I actually paid attention what this is STG00 not STG02. It has weird path options. Again, hub (could be the mystic ruins, that too has a sunk basin in there) or a tutorial level.

Quote

Also, he has found some strange texture at Red Mountain's texture pack. He doesn't recalls seeing this ghost-like textures in the final game.

http://I.imgur.com/NuJGZEq.png

That is bizarre and doesn't fit with the colour scheme of what's in the cave. I guess that's the point.

Quote

Yes, yes, I'm just saying what I see in this, don't be mean.

[MainMemory]

[evilhamwizard]

I'm noticing a few things with Chao in this build.

There's not much in this build for Chao, but there is more stuff than the usual levels that didn't get utilized for the demo. There's data for the Chao's Emotions, which is similar to the final (with the unused emotions) but all the emotions are colored yellow while the final is colored in a way to allow custom coloring and shading. I believe geometry data for all three gardens exist, but only the Station Square Chao Garden has it's texture data (no objects though). The textures from what I can tell are the same except the texture quality is higher in this version. The other two Chao Gardens (AL_GARDEN01 and AL_GARDEN02) seem to contain some data. AL_GARDEN01 makes references to the Egg Carrier Chao Garden textures, but there's no texture file in this version of the game. There are some object references as well, to rings, a tree, and a flower. AL_GARDEN02 has very little data - no references to textures and rings are the only objects referenced in the object list. But there does seem to be other data in the file though, so maybe some geometry for something really basic.

As far as Chao Racing goes I only see AL_RACE.BIN. Nothing else besides that.

[Neko Kit Su]

Is it just me, or does the snowboarding part of Ice Cap look bare? I remember more scenery in the tunnel, amongst a few other things.

Also, nice find on the test level.

ETA: Because skiing =!= snowboarding. While both of them involve moving down the mountain with some sort of plastic or wooden thing attached to your feet, the difference is one or two. Yeah, I'm being blonde today.

This post has been edited by Neko Kit Su: 21 May 2013 - 07:37 PM

[Kiddo Cabbusses]

I apologize if this is a bit much to ask, but is a selfboot .CDI hack available?

Maybe I could do a recording of a run of the autodemo if I can get it running on my Dreamcast.

Failing that I suppose I could borrow a computer and capture it from an emulator...

[ICEknight]

ashthedragon, on 21 May 2013 - 05:26 PM, said:

First, the second set of geometry found in stg00 by mainmemory, he was able to open it on SALVL, using the same data as mainmemory did ( dunno why it didn't work for him in the first place). Here are the results, a pretty cool looking level.

Might be a long shot, but I'm seeing something that looks like a roulette and some pinball rails in there. Early Casinopolis, perhaps? The wavy floor kinda looks like the mountains of money in the final.

Quote

Also, he has found some strange texture at Red Mountain's texture pack. He doesn't recalls seeing this ghost-like textures in the final game.

Those would fit better in a Mystic Cave-like zone, hmm...

This post has been edited by ICEknight: 21 May 2013 - 08:50 PM

[Eric Wright]

MainMemory, on 21 May 2013 - 06:20 PM, said:

Those loops aren't scripted, are they? Like, the player would have to actually gain enough speed and navigate them properly to get around them, right? Were any of the loops in the final game like that, or had they all been scripted so people wouldn't run off into oblivion?

ICEknight, on 21 May 2013 - 08:48 PM, said:

Might be a long shot, but I'm seeing something that looks like a roulette and some pinball rails in there. Early Casinopolis, perhaps?

I think it's just a test level with components to see how the mechanics work...

This post has been edited by Eric Wright: 21 May 2013 - 08:50 PM

[MainMemory]

Eric Wright, on 21 May 2013 - 08:48 PM, said:

MainMemory, on 21 May 2013 - 06:20 PM, said:

Those loops aren't scripted, are they? Like, the player would have to actually gain enough speed and navigate them properly to get around them, right? Were any of the loops in the final game like that, or had they all been scripted so people wouldn't run off into oblivion?

They aren't scripted when imported to SADXPC, but they might be in the proto. There are some parts of the second test level (which I just recorded and will upload shortly) that are absolutely impossible without being scripted.

[XCubed]

Shadow Hog, on 21 May 2013 - 02:33 PM, said:

Mykonos, on 21 May 2013 - 01:02 PM, said:

evilhamwizard, on 21 May 2013 - 12:49 PM, said:

Check this out:

Different Chao Garden BGM.

Interesting. Sounds much more active, guess they decided later on to tone it down to be more relaxed, like the gardens themselves.

I was thinking the exact opposite, actually. The beta BGM is much more mellow and laidback, while the final version is a lot more energetic, placing a lot more emphasis on the blaring brass and accordion.

Wow, same here! This version isn't as needlessly intense as the final. I thought it was just that I was used to the SA2 version. I still remember thinking this game was old back in 2003 when DX came out. I was dead wrong.

[evilhamwizard]

I haven't been able to figure out how to get controls back during gameplay. I can't even bring up the typical debug info when messing around with some memory regions.

I messed around with Cheat Engine and managed to find the address where the timer adds a second to the clock. For Demul 0.5.7 Beta I have 2C78E9E9. You can also modify the ring count around this area too at another address close by. But normally, at least as far as the NTSC-J version goes, there's an address that displays some debugging information on the screen that's usually at FF. Making it 00 will make the debugging information display. I can't seem to find that here in this version. So hopefully this will start someone off on the right path.

Also some more side notes. I noticed that Casinopolis's STG file is really really smaller than usual. There aren't any icons for the invincibility and shield boxes for some reason. Another weird thing is that the 1up icons for each character (when you collect a 1UP) is flipped horizontally, except for Sonic. So Sonic's still looking left but everyone else is looking right.

This post has been edited by evilhamwizard: 21 May 2013 - 09:46 PM

[PicklePower]

Here's all the BGM in WAV format: https://www.dropbox....OY6QUez?v=1swn-

There are some changes I've noticed with the BGM. Here's everything I've noticed with the BGM:

Azure Blue World (Emerald Coast Act 1) (04)

• Less reverb on percussion (most noticeable at very beginning)
  
• Funky guitar at beginning is louder
  
• Some synth is louder on chorus
  
• Electric guitar on B part is louder or different

The Past (08)

• Lead oboe (?) is missing from middle part

Fanfare for Dr. Eggman (09)

• Instruments are panned differently on the track

Fish Hits! (12)

• The B part is missing the guitar lead (cool brief instrumental!)

Run Through Speed Highway (13)

• The entire track seems to be slightly faster

Goin' Down (14)

• The first half of the song repeats again before going to the second half, so this version is longer.

Track 28

• Very short (5 second) version of the Open Your Heart theme

The character instrumentals may have been different but I don't know them well enough to say.

For anyone who's interested, here's all the event sound files in WAV format (they're all Japanese): https://www.dropbox....3zi8qZ_?v=1swn-

This post has been edited by PicklePower: 21 May 2013 - 10:35 PM

[Shadow Hog]

ashthedragon, on 21 May 2013 - 05:26 PM, said:

Also, he has found some strange texture at Red Mountain's texture pack. He doesn't recalls seeing this ghost-like textures in the final game.

All I can think

[ICEknight]

Shadow Hog, on 21 May 2013 - 09:52 PM, said:

ashthedragon, on 21 May 2013 - 05:26 PM, said:

Also, he has found some strange texture at Red Mountain's texture pack. He doesn't recalls seeing this ghost-like textures in the final game.

All I can think

I can also think of:

[Andrew75]

MainMemory, on 21 May 2013 - 06:20 PM, said:

A very solid looking little test level they built there.

Any chance to get these models dumped to a modeling package compatible format?
Also I wonder if there are any Sonic sega Saturn assets left over, I know they used the sonic model from Jam in the flying levels.

This post has been edited by Andrew75: 21 May 2013 - 10:40 PM

[MainMemory]

SALVL doesn't want to export them as obj for whatever reason.