Ico Debug-Enabled Demo

I can still use the debug options, so I can disable the fog effect etc. I made the screen shots 640 x 480 as anything larger doesn't seem to fit onto the page here... but the grainy effect takes away from the detail and I don't know how to disable it, though there might be an option to do so somewhere in the debug menu.

If you want I can take some hi-res screen shots and post the links here.

 

Here are some hi-res screen shots

http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h153/NomadColossus/Deja hi res/Deja_doorwayview_zpsf33b02a2.jpg

http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h...s/Deja_lightningtower_outside_zpsaf067ac7.jpg

http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h153/NomadColossus/Deja hi res/Deja_lightningbox_zpsa75651dc.jpg

http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h153/NomadColossus/Deja hi res/Deja_stormysea_zps60d600c0.jpg

http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h...es/Deja_lightningtower_inside_zps05cfd0c4.jpg

http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h153/NomadColossus/Deja hi res/Deja_Yordaoutside_2_zps26eb7526.jpg

http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h153/NomadColossus/Deja hi res/Deja_Yordaoutside_zpsff7fbb27.jpg

http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h153/NomadColossus/Deja hi res/Deja_insidetower_zpsfc03784d.jpg

http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h153/NomadColossus/Deja hi res/Deja_Ico_zpsd3985669.jpg

http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h153/NomadColossus/Deja hi res/Deja_shadowcreature_zps2ee21fc6.jpg

I turned off the 'fog' effect in these shots and found four noise filters in 'stage settings', however changing their values to zero seemed to have no effect on the grainy filter, so this is as good as they will get for now.

 

@NomadColossus,
press SELECT
select "debug mode", press O
scroll to yellow function "Display Brightness", set 15
scroll to yellow function "FullScreenEffect", set to OFF
press /\ to "save" settings, then X to go back

select "Stage Settings", press O

select "Fog Tool", press O
set "Fog" to OFF
go back

select "Film Noise 1/2/3/4"
inside set all of "noise level" and "motion blur" to ZERO
go back

select "Other Settings", press O
scroll and set "Motion Blur" and "Post Effect" to ZERO
"Film Noise Tex Rep" to 1.000000
go back

activate "save settigs" function
SELECT button to exit

That's all, idk maybe you can also disable "DepthField" and other settings (i don't really know will others settings change some visual effect), but this will be enough.
---
Default game resolution is 512x256, but this is not good for human eyes. Will look good if you will capture 512x256 from sourse signal without black borders (F8 in pcsx2), then use resize function in XnView with Nearest Neighbour method to 512x480/512x512.

 

Thanks,

I did most of what you suggested, FullScreenEffect is OFF, Fog Tool is OFF, Film Noise 1/2/3/4 set to ZERO, didn't change motion or post effects, but the 'Film Noise Tex Rep' froze the emulator when I tried to change it, so I'm guessing this may change the grainy effect filter (?)

I use F8 to capture the images. I set my resolution at 640 x 360 (x4) = 2560 x 1440 (in wide screen), but it looks like Photobucket has scaled them down (1024 x 487)... but I've made a video about it which I will add to some other Ico stuff I'm putting together, so when it's finished I'll post a link here.

Cheers ; )

 

Yep, Photobucket free account is extremely limited, plus your photos may totally turned off some times for excess limit of views and will ask for money.

 

Well I have an Imageshack account but now I can't upload any more images without going Pro, so basically I can't use it anymore... I also have a Pro Flickr account, so I can upload any sized image there, but like I said, just wait for the video. It will have some other interesting Ico stuff as well, like a compilation of various things I have found since being able to access the debug option.

But I appreciate your comments ; )

 

Here is my latest Ico upload:

http://youtu.be/teo3qlwY2dk

It's nothing special really, just a comparison between Shadow of the Colossus and Ico (runs for just over 18 minutes)

I was surprised at how similar some of the cut scenes are, especially the opening and the bridge cut scenes. They have almost identical animations that portray the drama... I also speculate on where the Ico island is, but if the original (low res) web maps are correct then my theory falls apart as they have a compass showing the cardinal directions and these disagree with my idea (jump to 12:49 to see this).

I told fibre I would post a link when this was done, so I am keeping my promise (although a few days late ; )

 

Very interesting stuff. Great work on getting the Deja stage working! What emulator settings did you have to change in particular to get it to work? It makes me wonder if other levels that lock up could potentially work as well.

Love the new video. Well edited and presented as usual! Its very clear after watching it that team ICO wants you to draw your own conclusions about the subtle similarities that they included between ICO and SotC. I cant believe I never noticed how nearly identical the vests were! I'd say your theory about where the ICO island exists on the SotC map is great given what little information you have to piece together. Perhaps in the future The Last Guardian will drop more hints of this or possibly take place in the same shared map space?

 

I tried the patch on the Japanese copy of ICO, it worked fine on PCSX2 but on the real PS2 it stopped at an black screen (you could interact with the debug menus but the game is stuck as if it detected tampering and is pretending to be dead... lol)...

Is there a fix for that ?

 

Hi fibre,

Thanks ; ) I've been playing around with the stage settings and have discovered a few more things with my new found technique to get some of the levels to work. Under Emulation Settings in EE/IOP set EmotionEnigine and IOP to 'Interpreter' instead of 'Recompiler'. The game runs a little slower though.

I went through all 106 levels and tested each one to see what happened and these are the results:

Blue = no effect (doesn't do anything when you press circle)
Pink = normal levels from the game including cut scenes etc. The only problem here is you have no weapon
Green = the emulator freezes
Red = the interesting levels!

00: Dummy (no effect)
01: Logo (title screen logo)
02: Title (sacrifice hall with parts missing)
03: st13b (Sacrifice) (sacrifice hall with Ico on other side of closed door)
04: st13c (Cage)
05: st13d (Warehouse)
06: st17a (Bridge)
07: st00a (Proto)
08: st08a (Truck)
09: st07a (Chandelier)
10: st47a (Drawbridge)
11: st04a (Gate_1st)
12: st04a (Gate_2nd)
13: st18a (Grave)
14: st01b (Shadows)
15: st09a (Windmill)
16: st031 (Plaza)
17: st101 (Stone)
18: st046 (Symmetry_L)
19: st04c (Crest_L1)
20: st04d (Crest_L2)
21: st04e (Crest_L3)
22: st02a (Waterfall)
23: st06a (Sluice)
24: st19a (Underground)
25: st20a (Gondola)
26: st10r (Watertower)
27: st05b (Symmetry_R)
28: st05c (Crest_L1)
29: st05d (Crest_L2)
30: st05e (Crest_L3)
31: st22a (Cliff)
32: st19b (Underground)
33: st17b (Pipe)
34: st13a (Elevator)
35: st24a (Jetty)
36: st24b (Jetty2)
37: st25a (Queen)
38: st26a (Sea) (before title screen)
39: st27a (Beach)
40: deja
41: op2 (rowboat to gate)
42: 24a4demo (rowboat gate opens)
43: 13a4demo (Guard opens door with sword)
44: 13a4demo2 (down elevator, Yorda carries Ico to boat)
45: 13b4demo (empty sacrifice hall)
46: 13b4demo2 (sacrifice hall - Ico trapped behind door)
47: 13b4demo3 (cut scene Yorda zapped)
48: 13c4demo (cut scene falling debris)
49: 03t4demo (cut scene stone ledge breaks)
50: 04b4d4emo (black screen with sound can still use controls)
51: 05b4demo (black screen with sound can still use controls)
52: 07a4demo (cut scene chandelier room destruction)
53: 17a4demo (cut scene start of castle destruction)
54: 25a4demo (cut scene Queen's chamber collapse)
55: 26b4demo (cut scene castle destruction)
56: 26b4demo2 (cut scene castle sinking)
57: memory (end movie with music)
58: memoryPAL (end movie with music)
59: memoryPAL576 (end movie with music)
60: staff1 (st13b) (staff roll cut scene with Castle in the Mist music)
61: staff2 (st04a) (cut scene main gate closes no music)
62: staff3 (st13c) (end beach with Castle in the Mist music - Yorda speaks)
63: end (text 'end' on black screen)
64: temp (no effect)
65: collis test (no effect)
66: cubic (no effect)
67: athletic (no effect)
68: athletic2 (no effect)
69: spec (no effect)
70: ueda (no effect)
71: ueda2 (no effect)
72: ueda3 (no effect)
73: obj_rotate_test (no effect)
74: cam_rotate_test (no effect)
75: sky (no effect)
76: dark_sky (no effect)
77: lightning (no effect)
78: home (no effect)
79: chara_test (no effect)
80: omori (no effect)
81: sugiyama (no effect)
82: seki (no effect)
83: fukuyama (no effect)
84: itou_bird (no effect)
85: itou_queen (no effect)
86: itou_boss (no effect)
87: itou_st03t (no effect)
88: boss_test (sacrifice hall with shadows attacking)
89: clothtest (no effect)
90: ueno (no effect)
91: ba_test (trolley arena Ico & Yorda fall)
92: spider (no effect)
93: way_test (no effect)
94: E3_warning (freezes)
95: E3_title (freezes)
96: E3_inst1 (freezes)
97: E3_st13b (freezes)
98: E3_st13d (freezes)
99: E3_st13c (freezes)
100: E3_st01b (freezes)
101: E3_st09a (freezes)
102: E3_st04a (makes a crashing sound then freezes)
103: E3_advertisment (black screen no sound)
104: E3_end_movie (black screen no sound)
105: E3_badend_movie (black screen no sound)

So I'll just talk about the 'red' levels.

02: Title starts Ico off standing on his fallen sarcophagus but the area under the stairs is missing, just a gaping hole in the floor. You can run up and pull the switch but there's no way to get to the door.

03: st13b is the same level with missing floor but this time Ico is on the other side of the closed door, so you can move into the next 'Warehouse' level.

38: st26a (Sea) We already talked about this level, you start off in the forest from the opening cut scene and can move the camera around and explore the castle etc.

40: Deja Spiral ramp tower with a single shadow creature and rain and thunder inside and out of the tower, surrounded by ocean.

45: 13b4demo Empty sacrifice hall, if you move Ico it freezes like with Deja. Ico is standing in the middle of the floor so I explored with the camera but all I found was a strange structure outside the hall in the darkness.


I think it is part of a Sarcophagus, when Ico's falls this one moves outside (?)

46: 13b4demo2 Same as above but this time Ico is trapped behind the two idol doors next to the empty elevator shaft. You can move Ico around in the small area behind the doors, but of course without the sword there's nothing to do but use the free camera.


The switch is still inside the elevator floating over the empty shaft and there's no way to get to it


On the floor above is just the glowing parts of the sword (if I could get up there I could see if Ico could pick this up ; )


Further up is Yorda surrounded by the shadow figures

50 and 51 both go to a black screen but I can still hear the sounds and you can still use the controls as normal, just can't see anything.

62: staff3 (st13c) This is the normal end level where Ico washes up on the beach, the only difference is that 'The Castle in the Mist' music is playing and fades out as you get closer to Yorda lying on the beach. When the end screen appears Yorda says something in her weird language.

88: boss test You also know about this one, the normally benign shadow creatures are more aggressive and attack Ico

91: ba_test Yorda and Ico fall into the void at the trolley arena level

The only other thing I noticed was when you start some of the demo levels (42-56) you sometimes see Ico for just a brief second before the cut scene starts. This shows where Ico is standing in that level. For instance at 43: 13a4demo you see the guard pull out the sword and open the idol doors, but Ico is actually standing down on some pipes when this is happening.


Stage 43 snapshot

Maybe some of the 'no effect' levels would work if you are in a particular level of the game? I tested all these from the start of the game in the sacrifice hall. Like 85: itou_queen might do something if you are in the Queen's chamber for instance? I haven't tried this yet and I don't suppose it will work, just an idea ; )

I'd love to know what 105: E3_badend_movie does. Is this a different ending? Or one they weren't happy with?

Update 28-04-14: I managed to get a look at the two black stages (50 & 51) this time by playing around with the dedug options. But it's really glitchy with the screen flashing on and off (very annoying). But it appears both levels are out on the castle walls that lead to the two watch towers. Stage 50 has a pure white sky and Stage 51 has a black sky, which is pretty cool as it looks like it's night time ; ) I can only look around with the free camera but if you go too far it crashes.

There's no evidence of Ico or Yorda, just a solitary white bird and the camera seems to start off above this bird, so perhaps in these levels the camera is fixed to the bird (?) Weirdness... Below are some Stage 50 snapshots


Bird on the parapet


Everything is stretched out of proportion as well


Opposite bluff temple has no bushes around it


One of the spheres is missing


Castle view

Seems I've reached the limit of snapshots in the post!

 

Amazing! Thanks so much! Gonna boot this up tonight!

 

Great findings!

In the DATA.DF file of the US demo disc (SCUS_971.59) there are three *.pss files:
advertise.pss - resembles the video which starts when there is no activity in the main menu, and has the same music (the second one that plays at the end of the game).
e3_end.pss - Starts with a black "coming soon" title on white background, then a video of scenes from the game, with (part of) the first song from the ending of the game.
e3_badend.pss - Only 10s long. Contains only a white "coming soon" title on black background, with some audio effects from the end of the first song of the game's ending.
To extract them, the program https://github.com/majo33/df-read2 can be used (on Linux).

 

Greetings!

Hopefully nobody minds the bump. I have something of a soft spot for debug menus and modes in Japanese games, even if the most I can do myself is scour the Japanese Internet for codes that never got noticed outside of 2chan threads and the like.

Anyway, I run a blog called Demoban on my off time where I track down and dump old Japanese demos for archival purposes and I just posted the Japanese Ico demo that I recently acquired from Yahoo Japan here to download. I don't think it's substantially different than the demos released in Western markets, but it does seem to have the earliest file creation date, even if just by a little, which I thought might be of interest to some people here. I'd love to see my dump get used to unearth debug stuff in that version, too, if just for posterity so that anyone with any disc can enjoy and examine that sort of content.

I probably can't be of much use beyond that since I don't have much of a technical mindset myself, but hopefully this demo is of some use to you guys or anyone else interested in the inner workings of Ico!

 

Hi! The mega nz link is dead, could someone reupload please ? )

 

Wow, now I've read the OP again two years later, I guess that mysterious "Selector Demo 01" is one of the retailers demo discs.
Any chance for an upload of the disc image, @einstein95 ?

 

@dreya888
It's on the Prototopia mediafire site
It's the top stickied post in File Downloads - Share & request

https://www.mediafire.com/folder/8r4xe46lt1exu//Prototopia

There's lots on there in case you haven't checked it out yet!