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NiGHTS 40% Beta Findings Thread


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#1
TRAViS

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Well, after two and a half weeks I've played through, looked through, and sifted through what many of us would call the Holy Grail of our fandom: the NiGHTS into Dreams 40% beta. I've been writing stuff down about this since the 23rd of last month ever since drx started sending some preliminary things my way, and tonight it all comes to a close as I've found everything I can on this disc. Before I get going, shout out to drx for bringing this opportunity to us. Without him we'd still be in the dark. Thanks again, man :D

So, I got the disc image a couple days before I got the actual disc. I would have done a lot more with it weren't for the fact that after some testing I found the image was corrupt six ways from Sunday. It wouldn't load in ANYTHING. The disc was already in transit at this point, so I had to wait until it got here to try my hand at ripping it. Apparently the disc was in "bad shape" and was all scratched up and fingerprint-y and drx had a hard time getting the image in the first place. I was worried that some of the data might be lost at this point so I got myself ready in case I had to get the disc resurfaced or the data rescued professionally. After a few days, here it was.

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Your typical, generic CD-R, no doubt this wouldn't work in anything less than a dev-kit, emulator, or modchipped Saturn...
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The first thing that struck me about the disc was that there was a "60%" crossed out with the 40% next to it. I really hope that's something that Sega did. Either way, here it was. The backside of the disc was actually in excellent shape. There wasn't so much as a minor scratch on it. I didn't take time to think about what the scratches and fingerprints meant; I was getting this thing ripped while I still could. Into my PC it went...

I managed to get a perfect rip of the game on my first try. I mounted it and got crackin'. Before I booted up the emulator I took a few minutes to poke through the file system of the CD. Some things I noticed:
- The timestamp on every file is May 12, 1996, 4:01 PM.
- 23 CD-ROM tracks: 1 Data, 1 CDROM-XA, and 21 audio tracks
- Level and sound data from two levels: ALPS and SNOW
- .SFD files store boss data
So, from the timestamp I thought that there's a very good chance this is an E3 demo disc, something very rare indeed. I hoped there would be more than two levels, just not named accordingly with the rest of them. The SFD files interested me a lot. There were eight of them. Clawz, Gillwing, Gulpo, Jackle, Reala, Wizeman...and...one named Self.

Could it be? Could the elusive Selph be on this disc? This boss file isn't present on any of the other NiGHTS discs I have around here (full, sampler, Christmas). At the very least it was confirmed that he was in fact on here, and he was in fact a boss. This would've been bigger news if it wasn't for the Iizuka interview translation not long ago.

I configured SSF, fought with my virtual drives a bit, then got it up and running. And lo and behold...

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Boom. Just as I thought. The first time the public had a hands-on with NiGHTS. I did a few play-throughs to find out everything I could and grab a bunch of screens along the way. The first thing I noticed was that there were actually credits inserted into the NiGHTS intro video originally.

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Elliot's and Claris' intro FMVs appeared identical to the ones included in the final game. Moving on!

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Not too much different here. As I suspected, only the Frozen Bell and Spring Valley levels were playable. I kept my eyes and ears sharp to see what was different once I got going.

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Again, not much that we haven't seen already. You still get attacked by the same maren at the start of the level. You still get the same four ideya stolen. And NiGHTS is still right in front of you, ready to get out there and kick some a**. I would have some gameplay videos but the emulator felt like moseying along at about 8 frames per second while my brain was moving a mile a minute. Controls felt a bit laggy akin to some earlier reports on JoD (coincidence?). For the most part the game felt largely the same in-air and on-foot. After a while of playing it like I should I started to look around and was blown away by how complete this beta was.

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Yes, the A-Life system is here, and largely complete.
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I even had two mate in front of me and spawn an egg!
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And even in the demo the alarm egg keeps you from just milling around <_<

With so much the same, I was getting worried that there wasn't really anything different here of interest. Some of the objects had been moved around on Frozen Bell, but otherwise both levels were largely the same as their retail counterparts. There were a few noticeable differences, though...

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A bit of the layout difference in Frozen Bell.
http://i67.photobuck...ce/00000017.jpg
Little more, notice the boosters above and below the link rings.
(EDIT: I hit the image upload limit (20), sorry!)
http://i67.photobuck...ce/00000015.jpg
Although the tricks are implemented, they aren't named yet...

I played through the bosses looking for anything different at all. Gillwing and Puffy are the two playable ones, and once again they play identical (as far as I can tell) to the final version.

http://i67.photobuck...ce/00000021.jpg
http://i67.photobuck...ce/00000022.jpg
http://i67.photobuck...ce/00000020.jpg

With everything by and large mostly the same I took another look through the file system on the disc itself. Most of the files matched what are on the sampler CD, although there were notably a few added such as the bosses. After inspecting everything it didn't appear that there were any other levels on the disc at this point. As I mentioned earlier, every other boss was on there.

So, about Selph.

Long story short, other than his file name, he isn't on here. Read on...

Each one of the remaining six bosses were all stored in .SFD files with identical file sizes (1,222 KB). Puffy and Gillwing's were 18.9 MB each. After some poking around in a file comparison tool, I found that every remaining boss file was the exact same as one another. 1.2 MB of header data and nothing more. Every other boss was cut from this disc but the files were left on there for some stupid reason. There's nothing I can pull out of this beta on Selph. There's no renderings, no models, no textures, no geometry, no sounds or music, nothing. All we have is his name (albeit spelled SELF) alongside the rest of the boss names. So he was in the game, he was in development at the time, but we don't have anything here. He got cut and masked like all the others.

I've been typing from my notes the entire time, and I'm starting to reach the end of things that I can really say about all this. So, I'll paste in a few things of interest, such as general notes, noticeable changes, and some information about the audio tracks on there.

General Notes and Observations
- The A-Life system appears fully intact, complete, and implemented at this stage. The pians react as they should and all can have their moods affected.
- All of the marens are present and appear and behave the same way as they do in the retail game.
- Control seems a bit laggy. Just a little bit. Could be because of the emulator.
- Alarm egg is as annoying as ever…

Differences from Retail Version
- Obviously, there’s not as much content here. It’s closer, if not identical, to the sampler CD’s offerings.
- The title screen is static. There’s only the NiGHTS logo on a black background with a little “E3 Version” icon below it.
- The dreamers stand in the center of the dream select screen rather than offside.
- The sound when you dualize with NiGHTS isn’t the flute theme but rather the jingle that plays when you finish a mare.
- The music is changed only slightly; it seems they picked different instruments to use which makes the level music sound much closer to the OST versions (example: brass symphony in the place of a low horn on the Paternal Horn)
- Objects have been moved around some in Frozen Bell. Some added, some removed. See some of the screenshots for an idea.
- While NiGHTS’ animations are mostly complete, the names for the tricks are not. In place of things like parasol, twister, and ax and so on, they’re just named “Motion Axx” where xx is a two-digit number when you perform them through a trick ribbon.
- A couple sound effects are changed; items like stars and chips have varying pitches and tones akin to the link rings.
- Dreams Dreams in Silent Memory plays when you clear a boss instead of the synthesized remix of Message from Nightopia
- The powerups you can get from paralooping certain groups of objects is not implemented yet.
- Breaking open a crate of chips doesn’t give them to you immediately; you have to paraloop them to get them all

Audio Tracks
Tracks 3 through 23 comprise the 21 audio tracks on the disc. However, most of them are all the same: 8 seconds of “filler” data with an annoying high-pitched tone. The other tracks are as follows:
4 – Trick ribbon
5 – Running out of time
7 – Night over (mare)
8 – Night over (boss)
9 – The Dragon Gave a Loud Scream
10 – She Had Long Ears
19 – Gateway to Your Dreams
21 – Message From Nightopia
22 – Dreams Dreams in Silent Memory

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Well, ladies and gentlemen, what we have here is the earliest playable demo of NiGHTS in existence. And boy is it polished for what it is. Most everything is fully implemented and it’s not easy to discern many differences from the NiGHTS sampler CD. The gameplay is as intact and full as it is in the final game.

Unfortunately, after all this, we still don’t have a single idea as to what Selph may have looked like. All this disc confirms is that Selph was in the game at one point, he was a boss, not the AI NiGHTS in the final battle, and it seems he may have been titled “Self” earlier on in development. So after all this, we’re back where we started from, but we’re back with a small piece of gaming history and a shining gem of our most loved series of all time.

Here's a link to the notes I took the whole time, there's probably a couple things in there I missed...and sorry about using rapidshare, but it'll do the job for now...
http://rapidshare.co..._Beta_Notes.doc

Thank you, and good night.

#2
Roam

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Well done, thanks for compiling all this. Tough luck on Selph, though, but at least if Iizuka hadn't confirmed him as a Boss, you would have, having seen the filler data.

#3
Kori

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Thank you so much for the hard work TRAViS! I can tell by the screens this is an early cut of the game - you are soooooo lucky to own such a treasure. <_< 'Tis a shame about Selph, but oh well, we know he was there! It's the thought that counts!

Amazing stuff man, you rawk!

#4
NNR07

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Thank you very much TRAViS!

Hmm... it seems that even for 40%, the game was really worked on and polished already. Most likely to show it off and make people want to buy it when it was at E3. That makes me wonder... what's the other 60% that wasn't finished? Bosses and a few levels? That could make sense >>...

Either way, thanks very much. The beta is still a very valuable part of the NiD Community.

#5
Tangocat777

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Hmmm.
Selph is so very elusive. So far, we've gotten a change between the last letters.

#6
Shoemanbundy

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Life savings down the drain for what amounted to what was a free sampler disk

#7
YamiLover13

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I am sorry there was not more on there. I had a feeling it would turn out this way. At least you can say you do have a one of a kind item.

I guess that weird tree that was seen in someone's fottage of Spring Valley is not there in this game either? Ah well.

#8
iNSOMNiAC

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Life savings down the drain for what amounted to what was a free sampler disk



*shakes head* You people just don't get it.

This is still a piece of NiGHTS history, it's still very important to use in the fandom. You have no right to speak, from what I can see, your first post on this forum was about drx supposedly putting the game down. I doubt that's even a true statement.

I'll say what I always say:

THINK before you speak.

[/rant]



Anyways...Now that that's over...Nice job, TRAViS. :3 No special stuff about Selph/Self/Sylph, but who cares? We still have an awesome piece of NiGHTS history with us! All thanks to you! I still find the placement changes and stuff interesting for some reason. ^^

#9
Jof

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Life savings down the drain for what amounted to what was a free sampler disk


There's no need for that kind of attitude here mate. Either keep your remarks to yourself or learn to respect other peoples efforts. I'm warning you.

And I'll ask that no one react to his post here either please, I'm nipping this in the bud.

#10
The wise Kitsune

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Well thats awesome, man! Pretty cool.

#11
Sa-chan

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Whoa. Way to go, man. :D
I guess it is kinda too bad there wasn't more of interest on there, but hey-- it could have been a hell of a lot worse, that's for sure. And the stuff you did find is pretty interesting after all.
And in any case... you, sir, officially own a piece of history. That in and of itself is priceless. So, congratulations :3 *tips hat*

#12
JaxTH

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Atleast we now know that Selph was never the 2nd NiGHTS (Not that I believed that anyway). Way to go TRAViS, wish you could found more.

The 60% being scratched out with 40% bothers me though. drx DID say that that guy was selling a 40% beta AND a 60% beta...

#13
viperxmns

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Hm.. I see, I see.. Thanks again for it all, Travis!

#14
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TRAV, just wanted to say great job for doing as much as you can on this. I know things took a few weird turns but you still done the job and it's VERY muchly appreciated, man. :D

And, i don't wanna hype anything because i hate it when we get people excited about something and then plans fall through and we end up dissapointing everyone but Suri might be on the verge of finding out something else on this Beta. I'm not saying he 'has' or 'will' but what i will say is that research is not quite finished yet. Suri was also put on the project to hack this Beta and after speaking with him he says he's still going through it. You never know, he might find something else.

All in all, Trav, you done good and thanks for getting this together.
Lol, it's weird seeing Elliot and Claris in the middle of the screen. XD

#15
Ronnie

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Great job Travis! I'm surprised how much they got done for just 40% even though stated this disc was created during May of 96 the actual game came out shortly there after, unless they took some stuff out for the sake of being an E3 demo.

Was Frozen Bell the only level to have a different layout?

And what a great piece of history you have, 11 years old thats one old disc. Hey keep it safe for another 11 and then sell it off :3

Thanks again.

#16
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A million thank yous you are really devoted to NiGHTS and I respect that (O__O dont know
how to make a peace sign on computer)

#17
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Hey TRAViS, if you could, what is the name of the AI controlled NiGHTS in the final battle?

#18
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...The 60% being scratched out with 40% bothers me though. drx DID say that that guy was selling a 40% beta AND a 60% beta...


I know this is a tad late but

Ditto
It worries me a bit because of the type of CD it is on as well.
It makes me feel that it may just be a "copy" of what the guy was selling.
(Actually I almost have no doubt about that. ._. )

I swear that once I get a stable enough job I will donate a good amount of money.

#19
iLLViLLAiN

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Nicely done TRAViS. I'm sure I'm right when I say we all here appreciate what you've done. Sure it wasn't exactly what was expected but it's good enough. No one should expect perfection.

#20
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I'm sorry things didn't turn out like they should, but hey, at least you got a valuable piece of NiGHTS' legacy. Don't think of the disc as a worthless skeet shoot target or Frisbee because you did us all a favour: get a valuable piece of history and post your findings. ;-)

Let's all hope if another prototype version of NiGHTS shows up, we can finally unlock the mysteries of "Selph". It's just like that elusive "Genocide City Zone" out of Sonic 2 as well as that missing zone out of Sonic CD!!!

TRAViS, good on ya' mate!!!

#21
Jackle's best friend

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The title Self does say that he probably was a mirror/ another NiGHTS like everybody thinks so at least that was a nice find.

Is it just me or does Gillwing look like a Sprite instead of a Polygon? Maybe NiGHTS and the kids were the only polygonal characters originally.

#22
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*drops to knees and bows* You are truly the man who bought the beta. May I lick your Saturn? Maybe if I lick it, it's awesome I-Was-Played-By-TRAViS-ness will rub off on me and I will have good fortune forever. May God have mercy on us poor souls who were not so lucky.

#23
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Hello all. Sorry for the bump, but TRAViS said I could bring this topic back to post this. :P

Once I got the ISO, I began checking the entire ISO at once in a Hex Viewer (sounds crazy, but it can be better than viewing each file at a time). Like most other games I look at, I always look for "debug", "test", or "map" words inside them. I did find references to a debug menu:

- SYSTEM CONFIG -. .TIME-UNLIMITED :..CAMERA-CONTROL :..EDIT ENV.LIGHT :..DEBUG-CONTROL :..DEMO-RECORD :..MARE-BONUS PTS :..MARE-EXCHANGE :..MARE-BONUS TIME:..TIME-BONUS :..PIA-EXCHANGE :..PAUSE-INFO :..FIRST'S-PRIDES :..ALIFE-EDIT :..ACRO-DA(OLD) :..INFO-FLAG :.........@..ON .OFF.....FOR SHOP 12,MAY.1996

From another topic, there was a post with a GameFAQs guide that mentioned a reviewer for the game that had access to the debug menu by entering a button combo on the title screen. I tried doing it, but the details were either sketchy or it uses a different button combination (usually along side this text could be possible button combinations, I think I might've find them but I'm not entirely sure). As you can see, this build was compiled for store use and burned on the same day as well. I was surprised on how much the GameFAQs guide followed on what this debug menu had to offer. As you can also see, you can turn "Time Unlimited" either on/off, enable "Camera-Control" to possibly modify the camera angle for promotional screenshots, "Edit Env.Light" to change the lighting (I actually do remember NiGHTs to have really nice lighting effects on the models, so this probably had some extensive testing done for it), "Debug Control" pretty much speaks for itself (If not, it can probably contain debugging tools such as No-Clipping - another way of moving a character all around the map even going past walls, etc), and "Demo Record" is there to simply record the input controls of a player for playback after the Title Screen - my guess is that it requires a Saturn RAM Cart to save onto.

There's also on/off settings for displaying information on the screen such as time spent, bonus points score keeping, etc. Everything else I can't explain unless someone looks at it later this month. Sorry. :P

Besides that, there's some interesting things in this 0NIGHTS file on the disk. But I only looked at it for a couple of minutes (It's a small file), but I did see some things in there (Like playable players - I think, a list of maps, and text for those loop-de-loop specials. So stay tuned. ;)

EDIT 2:

Looking at the 0NIGHTS file now, immediately I found the list of names used for the score boards:

SONIC ......:.MILES ......'.KNUCKLES........AMY ........FANG

There's also another list of names that could be used for the score boards:

AKIRA SARAH PAI LAU WOLF JACKEY KAGE JEFRY

And here's a list of the loop-de-loop specials, but there's also stuff behind it as well (I'll leave that up to you to say that it's somewhere in the final game)

@1 SM@1A@1LL LOOP ..@1M@1I@1DDLE LOOP ..@1 LAR@1G@1E LOOP ..@1 @1G@1IANT LOOP!..@1 @18@1 XROSS ..@1 SK@1Y@1 CLOVER!..@1 MOTION A00 ..@1 MOTION A01 ..@1 MOTION A02 ..@1 MOTION A03 ..@1 MOTION A04 ..@1 MOTION A05 ..@1 MOTION A06 ..@1 MOTION A07 ..@1 MOTION A08 ..@1 MOTION A09 ..@1 MOTION A10 ..@1 MOTION A11 ..@1 MOTION A12 ..@1 MOTION A13 ..@1 MOTION A14 ..@1 MOTION A15 ..@1 MOTION A16 ..@1 MOTION A17 ..@1 MOTION A18 ..@1 MOTION A19 ..@1 MOTION A20 ..@1 MOTION A21 ..@1 MOTION A22 ..@1 MOTION A23 ..@1 MOTION A24 ..@1 MOTION A25 ..@1 MOTION A26 ..@1 MOTION A27 ..@1 MOTION A28 ..@1 ....W4..WN..Wh..W...W...W...W...W...X...X...X8..XR@1 - DO NOT MIND! - ..@1 - NICE ONE - ..@1 - NICE TWO - ..@1 - NICE THREE - ..@1 - WONDERFUL FOUR - ..@1 - WONDERFUL FIVE! - ..@1 - FANTASTIC SIX!! - ..@1 - EXCELLENT SEVEN!! -..@1 - COOL EIGHT!! - ..@1 - MARVELOUS NINE!! - ..@1 - SUPERB TEN!! - ..@1 - DREAMY ELEVEN!!!

Here's a list of maps. There's some possible debugging things at the end as well:

#P1:ALPS-WINDS ......#P2:SNOW-WAY ......#P3:WOODS-FOREST ......#P4:SEA-PARK ......#P5:RUBBER-PALACE ......#P6:MAGNETIC-MINE ......#P7:ELIOT'S-CITY ......#P8:SPIRAL-CLARIS ......#M1:FROGED-DRAGON ......#M2:MRS.FATTY ......#M3:FIRE-CAT'S ......#M4:THE-REALA ......#M5:MANTLE-MAN ......#M6:MONSTER-FISH ......#M7:SELPH ......#M8:WIZED-MAN .....$... ...$... ...$... ...$... ...$... ...$... ...$... ...$... ....(RAM)....'..M-SH...'..S-SH...'..VDP1...'..MPOL...'..SPOL...'..LINK

Also found some text that has something to do with unlocking something:

@1CONGRATULATIONS!..@0RETURN @1IDEA@0 & ..@0 GOTO @2N@0IGHT-@2M@0ARE..@0 ..@0BREAK @2M@0ARE'S BASE.@0 .@0RETURN THIS @1IDEA..@0 .@0MORE @1POW-CAPSULE!.@

Here's a list of possible playable characters:

NIGHTS ..N REALA ..:.ELLIOT ..'.CRALIS ....PIAN

I found this at the end, don't know what it is exactly but I know someone might know:

STM_SBL Version 2.10 1996-02-01.GFS_SBL Version 2.10 1996-02-01..CD001

Also, maybe with a little hacking work, you can get the final game menus in here (they're in here, read on). Because most of the menus are in here, but they're probably disabled for demo use. This includes:

Sound Test
New Game/Continue game
Copy
Audio settings (mono, stereo)
Screen Size
Memory Formating Screen

I'm also looking at a file called SDDRVS.TSK and I'm finding some things in there as well like this:

Ver-2.0c NIGHTS << SEGASATURN >>Fri May 3 1996 21:27.A.Miyazawa p.".$.&.(.*.,... @"@$@&@(@*@,@M.p.O.....K.....N.-vN.....SEGA

And that's all I can probably find at this time. I haven't checked to see if the retail version of NiGHTS has something different from this, but you can do that if you wish. I don't know how much you guys know, so if there's something that's already been explained please let me know here. Thanks! :)

#24
Malan

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The first thing I've done when I started my test was to find this debug mode. I've tested some cheat codes founded on the web but anything is working.

But, if we can't find the code, maybe we can use an action replay to access the debug menu, because it is in the beta (you found it in the files), and it will be very interesting!

I'm almost in holidays, I'll do some tests to find out this debug menu x)

(ps: the save is disabled in this beta)

#25
viperxmns

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Thanks for the info! I love the nicknames they gave the levels and bosses. Magnetic Mine sounds like a killer Sonic level.

#26
kurosen

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Truth be told, I'd love a crack at digging into the beta. Not to play it or anything.... just to see what's embedded in those delicious files :P

Good work koolaidman ;)

EDIT: Regarding the debug menu, I can't confirm whether this works or not, and it's a hell of a lot of steps... but here's what I found -

On the Sonic Team screen press A,B,Right,A,C,A, Down, A, B, Right, A (ABRACADABRA). If you did this correctly, you should hear the sound you hear when you run out of time. Then at the title screen, press Up, Down, Left, Right, A+Start. You should hear a chime. Highlight one of Elliot's dreams and press X,Y,Z,Y,X and push start. As Elliot, pause. Then press Right, A, Left, Left, and Y (RALLY). Press start again. Collect 50 orbs and jump. In midair, pause the game. A debug menu should come up. With it you can change the time limit and get rid of the Alarm Egg, access all levels AND in the 2 Player VS! (including boss arenas plus WIZEMAN!!!)


Please forgive me if I wasted anyone's time with this....

#27
viperxmns

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Truth be told, I'd love a crack at digging into the beta. Not to play it or anything.... just to see what's embedded in those delicious files :P

Good work koolaidman ;)

EDIT: Regarding the debug menu, I can't confirm whether this works or not, and it's a hell of a lot of steps... but here's what I found -

On the Sonic Team screen press A,B,Right,A,C,A, Down, A, B, Right, A (ABRACADABRA). If you did this correctly, you should hear the sound you hear when you run out of time. Then at the title screen, press Up, Down, Left, Right, A+Start. You should hear a chime. Highlight one of Elliot's dreams and press X,Y,Z,Y,X and push start. As Elliot, pause. Then press Right, A, Left, Left, and Y (RALLY). Press start again. Collect 50 orbs and jump. In midair, pause the game. A debug menu should come up. With it you can change the time limit and get rid of the Alarm Egg, access all levels AND in the 2 Player VS! (including boss arenas plus WIZEMAN!!!)


Please forgive me if I wasted anyone's time with this....

thats one hardcore cheat 0.0 ill try it later on the retail version as mentioned below

#28
TRAViS

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(Very long and obnoxious cheat code)

I'll give it a shot with the beta since I got nothing going on right now. If someone could try it in the retail version (Saturn...so...far...away) that'd be awesome.

EDIT: Well, entirely bogus on the beta. Wouldn't surprise me if it's the same on the finished game. I think we're going to have to turn to memory hacks / gameshark / action replay manipulation on this one...

#29
kurosen

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Crud... Sorry I wasted your time Trav :P;

#30
Malan

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The beta is working with my "very modified" Saturn, so I can try to use some random action replay codes to see what kind of effects I can get ^^

#31
viperxmns

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I just tried multiple times with the regular game, couldn't get it to work.. :P

#32
charlie

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A couple minor things I noticed while playing Spring Valley tonight. (I don't think these were mentioned yet...)

--- Couldn't walk/slide around at the beginning like you can in the retail version when the camera changes for setting up the ideya captures
--- Dreamies during stunt ribbons are labelled as "dreamy eleven" rather than "dreamy !!!", and they are only worth 1100 points and not 2000
--- Claris couldn't hatch eggs, only NiGHTS could (have to double check this as I noticed it after time had run out during a mare. I haven't tried it at the very beginning of the dream)
--- The bonus for opening up the ideya capture is only worth half the points that it's worth in the retail version

I also tried this cheat code, which seems much more realistic than the other ones mentioned, but it didn't work either. I wouldn't be surprised if it does work for the final demo versions that were sent to game magazines. Quote from an faq: "It was accessed at the title screen by pressing diagnoal up/left, L & R shoulder buttons, and X, Y and Z all at the same time. A small menu appeared in the top right left hand corner of the screen with several options." Source: http://www.gamefaqs.com/console/saturn/file/198201/5183

Oh, and for anyone interested, I'm using SSF 8 Alpha R10 on a laptop and it runs surprisingly fast.

#33
Malan

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I add some other things :

--- When you hatch an egg with NiGHTS, you are bounced around
--- An egg can make another egg (weird). I've done a drill dash on a Maren and it touch the Nightopian beside and it makes an egg. The Maren touched the egg several times before disapearing and I got 8 eggs!
--- A lot of sound effects have been retired from the retail version, in the beta, you can here a lot of new sound effects (you can here them in the sound test in the retail version but not in game). Some examples : NiGHTS says "Whou" when dualizing, stars have different sounds depending on the combos (like rings and blue chips), Elliot shouts a ninja scream (sort of ^^) when you jump, you here a sound after you dualize when you receive bonus points, etc... (look at the first post of TRAViS)
--- etc...


Since I'm able to play the beta with my real Saturn, I'll make a video this afternoon for you guys ^^

EDIT:
Here's the video http://gbacorp.free....ideos/beta1.avi
The game is a little slow because I'm playing in 50Hz instead of 60Hz because my video card doesn't support PAL 60Hz.
The download can be very slow, it depends of the hour you download it...
Enjoy!

#34
charlie

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Here's the video http://gbacorp.free.fr/nights/videos/beta1.avi
The game is a little slow because I'm playing in 50Hz instead of 60Hz because my video card doesn't support PAL 60Hz.
The download can be very slow, it depends of the hour you download it...
Enjoy!


Nice video Malan! I think you were able to show off everything, including a couple of mepians! And I've never seen Elliot go down the bobsled run before...haha!

#35
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wow that game sound amazing, can some one upload screenshots please ^_^ i want to see this in more details <_< thanks.

#36
viperxmns

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More thanks for the video Malan, I wondered about those unused SFX for a long time. I see how they realized that Dreams Dreams Silent Memory was not well placed as a victory theme, so they composed the unnamed Mare complete Message from Nightopia variant music..

Also, I can't believe I never noticed that the Panzer Dragoon font is in the menu ><

#37
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Thanks so much TRAViS!Tough luck on SELPH,
I really wanted to see him,it's still a mystery.
Wow,to me,everything looks so bulge like.

#38
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Looking at the 0NIGHTS file now, immediately I found the list of names used for the score boards:

SONIC ......:.MILES ......'.KNUCKLES........AMY ........FANG

There's also another list of names that could be used for the score boards:

AKIRA SARAH PAI LAU WOLF JACKEY KAGE JEFRY


Here's a list of possible playable characters:

NIGHTS ... REALA ..:.ELLIOT ..'.CRALIS ....PIAN

I found this at the end, don't know what it is exactly but I know someone might know:


*raises hand* I think I know about these!

Kay, first set of names Sonic-Amy are defiantly from the high score/link board, all except Fang, who is replaced with "Eggman" in the final. Which confused me as a kid cause I only knew him as Robotink. Oh and I think Amy is Emi. (the Japanese way to spell it)
And lols @ the Vitrua Fighter names.

The next set o names I believe is the default file names. I checked and they match up.

And that's my input... don't believe it helped much but I tried.

#39
Tsunami

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......#P8:SPIRAL-CLARIS ......#M1:FROGED-DRAGON ......#M2:MRS.FATTY ......#M3:FIRE-CAT'S ......#M4:THE-REALA ......#M5:MANTLE-MAN ......#M6:MONSTER-FISH ......#M7:SELPH ......#M8:WIZED-MAN .....$... ...$... ...$... ...$... ...$... ...$... ...$... ...$... ....(RAM)....'..M-SH...'..S-SH...'..VDP1...'..MPOL...'..SPOL...'..LINK


Heh, loving these boss nicknames on the disk. Fire-cat and mantle-man, huh? And MONSTER FISH.

Great finds. Thanks for sharing 'em!




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