Estpolis Denki II NTSC-JAP Prototype

The SPC files have some header data with the marker "S2C" and a short song title/description for each track. In the retail version, songs 0C, 0E, 30, 31 are just placeholder SPCs with a name "DAMY" (dummy). As the songs are present in the proto, their names are still intact. The proto is missing songs 37-3E. Sinrevi's post #473 in the thread lists where each song plays in the game.

Pro Action Replay codes - song modifier for load game screen
82DD3Bxx (prototype)
82E897xx (JPN final)
82E942xx (USA final)

ID Title

00 FIELD
01 SHIRO
02 MACHI
03 MURA
04 OYASUMI
05 TOU
06 OPENING 2
07 DOROBOU
08 DOUKUTHU
09 CUCHYUTEIEN
0A DENSETU
0B HANA
0C DAMY (PANICK in proto)
0D OPENING.1
0E DAMY (SORA in proto)
0F KEKKONSHIKI
10 PARTY
11 WAKARE
12 UMI
13 YAMA
14 MUUS
15 MINATO
16 MACHI HAKAI
17 DOUKUTHU 1
18 BATL 1
19 BATL 2
1A HAKA
1B BIG BOS
1C LAST BATL
1D KACHI
1E HOKORA
1F KENKYUUZYO
20 KAICYU
21 KAICYUCITY
22 KAZINO
23 777 PLAY
24 777 JAC GAME
25 777 START
26 GAAAAN
27 HARU
28 NATU
29 AKI
2A FUYU
2B NAME IN
2C SHINDEN
2D ENDING
2E LOVE
2F SHINDEN
30 DAMY (WAKARE2 in proto)
31 DAMY (SERENA in proto)
32 HIDECKA
33 ITEM GET1
34 ITEM GET2
35 ITEM GET3
36 ITEM GET4
37 NAZO NO HITO (not in proto)
38 KOKUUTOU DAS (not in proto)
39 SORA (this version not in proto)
3A BOSKAIWA (not in proto)
3B NAZONOFUE (not in proto)
3C MUUS CYANGE (not in proto)
3D NALBIK (not in proto)
3E MUUS 2 (not in proto)

 

Thank you for releasing the prototype. I'm sure that through the efforts of interested parties, that a lot of the problems due to the damaged dump can be fixed.

 

Wow, thank you so much Trevor !

 

Thanks for the release! Here's hoping another dedicated fan / team can make a translation!

 

Another strange bug: If you drop a bomb and grab a treasure while the bomb is still there, the treasure item goes somewhere else than above Mexims head. Also, the bomb you've placed disappears but you can no longer walk to place where the bomb was so forces you to use a restart in corners or else you're stuck.

 

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edit:

Just remembered an odd screenshot that was on this old Lufia flyer:


That area in the screenshot appears to use the same tilesets as the final area in the proto. Since the final area is the only area that uses these graphics, I'd be surprised if it wasn't part of the final area.
It doesn't seem to match any part of map F8 or F9 though... Map F7 crashes in the proto...
So... this means that the area in the screenshot might be map F7 or they changed the layout of the rooms a bit later in development. It also shows that the black background was supposed to be (going to be?) a clouds background.

Anyway, the final area did get make over for the final version =P

Mystic stones area in the proto: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ezfUumPrrjs
Mystic stones area in the final version: http://youtu.be/ObjWZ0uMjXI?t=5m34s
This area has changed alot =P

 

Most likely a later build of the game, seeing its from a magazine in general. Or the graphics exist in current proto, but got corrupted due to bad dump (like the fire animation missing in cave mentioned few posts back by me).

Sometimes I just wish we could get every beta version from any game - I always love to see how a game developed and which crazy ideas they had.

 

Having looked at the prototype with a tile viewer, it doesn't appear that much of the binary is corrupted. At the very least, it doesn't look like any of the graphics are affected in any major way. I didn't see any major sections of obvious corruption. Of course, the damage could very well be completely random, but considering that most of the game appears playable after some minor hacking, I'd say that the damage is not that significant.

 

I also think it's from a later build.
In the scan:
- Characters have a filled IP bar, in the proto IP bar never filled even before the proto was damaged.
- Monsters in the north labyrinth, in the proto that dungeon is still "monsterless"

Also, Lufia II once had a release date of December 1994, but in the end it actually was released february 1995.

[video=youtube_share;uPw0ZiffGcU]http://youtu.be/uPw0ZiffGcU[/video]
Some insight of development.

- The scan from EGM may 1994 is definitely from before the proto (which is dated 18 july 1994). The scan shows a different battle interface, Guy has a different battle pose, Maxim is absent in one of the battle pictures, the area in the bottom right screenshot is not in the final game and as far as I know it's not in the proto either.

- The game from the flyer looks a bit later in development than the proto. There's a man in front of the Parcelyte throne room who isn't in there in the proto. For the final game he was removed from that spot.

- They once planned monster battles in the Fortress of Doom. In the proto there are no monsters in the Fortress of Doom, but you can use skills like in other dungeons. In the final game there are no monsters and you can't use skills (shoot arrows etc) in the Fortress of Doom.

- Bottom right screenshot is most likely part of the mystic stones area (see post above)

- Next scan is from EGM from... 1995? But I don't remember if it was from the January or February issue. This one looks close to the final game but there are still some little differences.

- Maxim still has his victory sprite, which suggests that the victory dances were removed late in development.


Then there's also this scan: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v343/ESTFAN/lufiascan.png
The build from that scan appears to be the same as the proto we have now.

 

N00ByBo0 - Trevor's patch disabled map animations to prevent the crashes later in the game. A better fix should be possible with more research on the animation data.

Notes for two findings I didn't see mentioned in the thread:
1. Walk behind the tree outside Tia's shop (use debug WTW) to add her to your party. It's just a few tiles to the right of the debug warp tile trevormacro found.
2. Use the Switch command in battle for an instant victory. I think trevormacro was using it in some of his videos for the glitched battles? This seemed kind of strange, possibly corruption or a bug, but it is in fact a debug command. It writes #$00 to memory address 7FFC9F. That address is the battle result (00 = won, 01 = lost, 02 = ran away) AFAIK, using this command still sets storyline flags correctly, allowing for quick progress against forced battles in addition to random encounters. It's not clear if the true Switch command exists buried in the programming somewhere or simply wasn't coded yet.

Misc. notes:

It looks like the maps have internal IDs like the songs, needs to be investigated

Hex offset 140000-14077C is a giant pointer table (24 bits each) to the compressed data packets: SPCs, maps, graphics, etc. It should cover everything from 14077D-27FFFF.

RAM addresses
7E1179 battle background index
7E125A enemy index #1

 

Ah, I see.

Isn't this also a debug command if you've enabled it on final version? Maybe its enabled by default on the proto. The press start to freeze action during battle is enabled by default too I believe, so makes sense.
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Also, another bug found: In a dungeon when you hit an enemy and run from it, press A on it (like you would talk to a NPC) and the game crashes to Taito logo screen and than freezes. Probably the game tries to load anything like you would talk to a NPC but obviously fails to load because mobs don't have anything to say.

Also, maybe what they wanted to do with IP is that the more IP you have, the stronger it is once you use it. Right now in the proto, you can use it anytime (probably to test it) but its the exact same damage as your normal weapon, but you can use it on multiple targets. Maybe the earliest thing they wanted to do with it was making it stronger the more IP you have.

 

http://youtu.be/R-VrSQTGOpA?t=2m58s
gamefreezing bug (or at least I think the game doesn't continue after freezing. Music still plays)

If you enter the Gades battle in the Ancient Tower with someone other than Maxim as the teamleader, you will be on the wrong side of the gap. (I had Dekar as teamleader)
Now, that's not the problem since you can cross the gap with the Y button of debug mode. But if you walk on the actual path again, the game triggers Gades' appearance from before the battle again. However this time Gades doesn't actually appear and the game stops.

So I suggest using Maxim as team leader if you want to view these scenes, or avoid tiles that trigger Gades' appearance again if you want to go to the other side via walk through wall method.


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edit:

- Dekar is able to learn magic spells. But he can't use any of them because he starts with 0MP and never gains MP through level ups. Maybe if you use items that raise max MP =P
(edit: Apparently, the developers haven't worked on what spells the later characters are able to learn, since Artea also appears to be able to buy every spell available. This might explain why Dekar is able to buy spells. I'll check later if Lexis is also able to buy all spells)
- Some characters can access their spell list via the IP icon. All their spells can be used for 0MP this way. The game crashes when you use a spell via the IP icon though...
- Maxim is able to learn Warp and Escape. Probably removed for obvious storyline reasons =P
- In the spell menu, you can't use the Y or Select button to quickly switch to a different character.
- On the menu, you can't use the select button to see what your Capsule Monster wants to eat.

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edit:
- You can use Warp anywhere you want except in dungeons.
- you can use escape in the Fortress of Doom (it teleports you to the last location you've been, I think)
- old news: there are two hidden tiles that warp you to Doom Island. One is in Elcid and one in the middle of the three islands. The difference is that the Elcid tile adds Selan, Guy and Artea to your party (if there's enough space in your party, that is) and the tile in in the middle of the island doesn't.
- speaking of hidden tiles, if you walk behind the tree near tia's shop, she'll be added to your party.

 

wow, great read from the beginning ! ... and great thanks for the release of both versions !
Thank you !

 

Locations F0 and F7 crash because the maps only have a single layer and it seems the game requires a minimum of two. With some effort in the debugger it was possible to work around this issue and get the locations to load. The full maps are pictured below. As with locations F8 and F9, they're very early in development and don't have any collision data, functioning exits or event sequences.

Location F0:



Location F7:

 

Nice! Looks like the Doom Island map from Lufia I.

Doom Island in the final version. You can't go there unless you use cheats, since the map is only used during some cutscenes.

 

Very interesting finds. So F0 is an early Doom Island concept (based on Lufia, as already pointed out) and F7 is the potentially corrupted third crystal room? I was a huge fan of Lufia II growing up, but even having read the thread in its entirety I've been having trouble keeping track of everything discovered so far. Has anyone catalogued all of the changes the community has found so far?

 

Mystic Stone comparison

(storyline spoilers ahead)

The Mystic Stone rooms have early event data intact, but the room layout data (which includes the coordinates to trigger events when stepping on certain tiles) wasn't yet implemented. Here's pictures of the events with the final on the right for comparison. Note that since the coordinates are missing, Maxim's exact location is a best guess - it's possible he's supposed to be standing a tile or two lower. The proto only displays textboxes as shown below, there's no fancy stone shattering animations or anything like that. After breaking the third stone in the proto, it has a command to warp back to the final room (location index F6)

Mystic Stone 1



Mystic Stone 2



Mystic Stone 3

 

Some of the higher spells have different graphics and/or sound effects.

 

I am making an article about it right now, but it's going to take some time and it will be in french.

 

It's absolutely incredible so much was scrapped and redone in such a narrow time-frame. Every in-battle enemy sprite, most tilesets, music, character sprites, some spells... It makes you really wonder what exactly motivated them to make so many subtle changes -- changes that surely cost them thousands of dollars.