List of Diddy Kong Racing pre-release and unused content
This is a list of pre-release and unused content for Diddy Kong Racing.
Concept art[edit]
The following are test renders for several elements conceived for the game during development, shared by the game's art director Kevin Bayliss.
Early design sheet for Drumstick, where he is shown to lack clothing.
Early designs for hovercrafts and cars
Render sheet of Roo, a boxing kangaroo intended to be playable. She was replaced with Pipsy.
Early builds[edit]
The intro cutscene from Adventure Mode uses an earlier version of the hub. Players cannot normally see these parts of the map, but they are different from the final release.
The area prior to Snowflake Mountain is grassy instead of snowy in the released version.
The tunnel prior to the door to Dino Domain is longer and has vines.
Unused data[edit]
Some unused cheat and debug codes can be found. Placeholder codes are displayed as a string of numbers and cannot be activated in the cheats menu.
- High Speed Racing (code 1234567890): no visible effect
- Print Coord (code 8846325012): shows the player's coordinates on the upper-left corner of the screen.
- ROM Checksum (code DODGYROMMER): displays a checksum of the ROM when the player exits the cheat list.
- Free Balloon (code EOLAOBFENRLONE): gives the player one free balloon. The code is an anagram of "ONEFREEBALLOON". This code is usable in-game, but the code is not displayed in the credits sequence.
- EPC Lock Up Display (code EPC): if the game crashes, on the next start-up, the game will list a crash report, but the pages display only very briefly.
- Control TT (code 1058732594): Actually used as a cheat.
- Control Drumstick (code 8649305321): Actually used as a cheat.
- Mirrored Tracks (code 0986754321): Similar to Adventure 2, which mirrors the track.
The sound test, which can be accessed by inputting JUKEBOX in the code menu. Soundtrack 12 is unused, and its file name is sea_2b. The background music is originally intended to play on Crescent Island. The character select theme, which changes every time a player selects a character, also has a file for a sitar-sounding instrument, suggesting that Taj may have been considered to be playable.
Unused tracks[edit]
Horseshoe Gulch is found in the game's files and is partially usable. It displays the Fossil Canyon minimap. It includes data for Wizpig on his rocket, and as such may have been used for testing.[1]
Only available vehicle is a car
Other unused track files can be found as well, none of which have any programmed objects:
- A water-filled temple resembling Jungle Falls and Boulder Canyon.[2]
- An ocean area resembling Darkwater Beach.[3]
- A lava canyon resembling Hot Top Volcano.[4]
- A snowy version of Tricky Challenge, including its shortcut.[5]
Unused graphics[edit]
Some remnants of the game's beginnings can be found in the game's files, such as the Pro AM 64 logo, which was used when the game was initially a project called "Pro Am 64". Files for placeholder graphics for the character select screen can be found with placeholder text for Conker, Timber, and Banjo, while images for Diddy Kong and T.T. are missing. Sherbet Island's tracks have placeholder signs. There is a sign for Twilight City, which corresponds to a course in the Future Fun Land lobby, and its internal name (TWILIGHTCITY) corresponds to T.T.'s Star City sound effect. Several icons, used presumably for debug reasons, can be found. Models for balloons showing character heads exist.
Many of the below graphics are hidden textures that are used to mark special objects (like sound or visual effect sources, or object spawn points or directors). These were used in debugging during development, and were simply hidden in the retail version rather than fully removed.[6]
Krunch icon
Bumper icon
Tiptup icon
Conker placeholder
Timber placeholder
Banjo placeholder
Pipsy icon
Drumstick icon
Pirate Lagoon sign placeholder
Whale Bay sign placeholder
Crescent Island sign placeholder
Treasure Caves sign placeholder
Early Star City sign
A red Item Balloon with a present
A golden, Rareware-marked counterpart to Silver Coins, replaced with bananas in the final. The remake restored them.
RARE letter
An early version of an Ancient Lake sign
A door with a question mark over a hidden Golden Balloon
An unusual object in the same graphical style as the game's trees and bushes; likely intended for Future Fun Land
References[edit]
- ^ noclip.website, Horseshoe Gulch
- ^ noclip.website, Unnamed Temple Track (Model only)
- ^ noclip.website, Unnamed Ocean Track (Model only)
- ^ noclip.website, Unnamed Volcano Track (Model only)
- ^ noclip.website, Unnamed Snow Mountain Track (Model only)
- ^ noclip.website; option for "show developer objects" exists under "render hacks."
External links[edit]
- YouTube video of various unused objects.