development info - DECEMBER 2003 PROTOTYPE VIDEO BREAKDOWN

Breakdown by BetaM.



General


This video is the earliest form of gameplay seen of the game, showing a build dated December 4th 2003 - Version 8.016

  • The HUD is made of debug font text.
  • There are many placeholder sounds and music, some coming from Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex, or earlier Crash games.
  • The pause menu includes debug features and additional settings not seen in the final game.
  • The camera is unlocked all the time.
  • Crash makes the classic death noise upon dying.
  • The life pickup visual is Aku Aku at this point.
  • Pickiing up Aku Aku doesn't cause him to appear beside Crash.
  • The game stutters after crossing chunks.
  • There aren't any invisible walls.
  • Picking up wumpa and lives doesn't make the HUD show up.
N.Sanity Island

  • The game starts at Crash's hut as opposed to the beach area.
  • Many puzzles, collectibles and crates are not present.
  • Instead of multiple worm jumps, a ramp leads to the area near the boss arena.
  • The ramp leading to the farm is exactly the same as in the demo.
  • There is no second small island off the coast.
  • The beach area extends along the coast to the area blocked by rocks later in development.
  • The extended area features wumpa tree nut puzzles not seen in the final game.
  • The wumpa tree nut is green as opposed to brown.
  • The nut also has a max distance it can travel before respawning unlike in the final game.
  • After a simple puzzle the area ends in a dead end.
  • Enemies, bird clumps and seagulls are all present in this extended area.
Jungle Bungle

  • The second camera angle during the first cutscene is different.
  • The first fallen tree has crates on top of it. This layout is done later on in the final game.
  • After the turn there is a skunk enemy instead of a double jump tutorial.
  • The parrot has a blue-ish texture as opposed to a red-ish one.
  • The crates in this area are placed differently.
  • There is no extra section on the left side.
  • There are no shielded tribesman in the area, just a piranha plant instead.
  • The cave is shorter and the loading zone is closer to the cave entrance.
  • The mushrooms don't emit particles.
  • Grass at the end of the cave section is solid, requiring a jump to progress.
  • There are crates behind the piranha plant.
  • The path splits in two after the turn, with a piranha plant guarding it.
  • On the left side there's a hole leading into a cave area.
  • The left path was supposed to lead to the Bug Run at some point, though it's been confirmed to be empty in the build.
  • The worm jump tutorial has 4 additional angles in place of a moving camera.
  • At the top area spikes guard the pit instead of a harmless lake.
  • The detonator puzzle is replaced with another TNT puzzle.
  • The checkpoint is closer to the cutscene than usual.
  • The piranha plant is also after the swinging log rather than before.
  • In this build, CoCortex has trouble getting into position to get hit by the swinging log due to a solid object.
  • There are locked crates on the right side of the area.
  • The turtle guards the area as oppposed to the skunk.
  • The build crashes in the boss area, without the boss arena being there.