Sonic Adventure AutoDemo/Comparisons/Windy Valley

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The Windy Valley in this build is actually the original version of this level seen in many pre-release screenshots and footage. At the time of this build, it is already scrapped: it is missing (most) textures, music, and unique sound effects, and no effort has been made by the developers to make it remotely functional within the game itself. It cannot be loaded in-game normally due to expecting a completely different version of 1ST_READ.bin - the game will jump to an invalid pointer (of which there are many) and crash, and the stage files themselves refer to numerous items that either have been moved or do not exist. The game doesn't even have an entry for it in the list of level textures - the list skips from Emerald Coast to Twinkle Park.

However, through intense hacking of the level's pointers and memory locations, large swaths of it can be restored - its objects, object programming, and event programming are all intact but are buried in locations different from the 1ST_READ.bin in this build.

General

• The object set file in this build was last modified 7/28/1998 (while the level file itself has a 9/24/1998 modification date) - as this build's date is 10/16/1998, this is one of the oldest files in the entire build.
• The number of objects this version of the level has is 115; the final has 79. Many of these objects were scrapped or replaced with newer versions in the final version of the game. General objects include:
  • Small decorative items, such as: bushes, flowers, rocks, broken pillars, etc.. Many of these are animated, and most of them lack collision (likely intentional, to keep the player from stopping every time they'd run into them, which would be often).
  • An older version of the trampoline object seen in the final. It is smaller than its final counterpart, and the game crashes when Sonic uses it due to the game calling for a unique animation (as seen in the final game) that isn't in the build when he bounces on it.
  • Animated spinning propeller objects. Some of these were used in the final; all of these items in this build are animated to spin much faster than in the final game.
  • Hovering platform objects (O_RAFT). These objects are animated and have collision, though they're a bit buggy - while they hover up and down, the player still stays in the same spot in the air, clipping through their surfaces.
  • A more sophisticated version of the PuWind object that exists in the final. In the final version of the game, this object basically makes the character hover up and down (you also see this in Sonic's Final Egg, with the fans), but the version of the object used in this level makes the character slowly rise upwards, with leaves alongside them. The object itself also stays attached to the player while in mid-air, and even while walking away. This basically acts as a way to keep the player from dying if they fall into one of the stage's many pits. However, it is very taxing on the game's performance, which is likely one of the reasons why it was scrapped.
  • A floating particle object, Tanpopo, which exists in the final build but has a different visual effect than the one used here.
  • Baneiwa ("Spring Rock") - these are floating blue spring objects unique to this version of Windy Valley. Unlike the springs actually used in the game, in which the player just has to touch them to be thrown, the player has to actively jump on top of them to have anything happen.
• The game also has objects for this stage that are unreferenced (models and code existing in the build but don't have names or anything pointing to them):
  • Pillars that are used for static scenery. They are very rough but all have the same subroutine attached to them.
• The game also has objects that are unused (referenced by the stage's object list but are not placed in the level):
  • bleaf, an object that spits out leaves that fall down in a zig-zap pattern when the player walks near it. The angle at which they spawn is based on the direction the player is facing when they walk towards it.
  • An upright spinning propeller object that has no collision;
  • A couple of decorative grass objects;
  • A sign post;
  • A pole with small spinning propeller objects on it, much like the used ones that mark invisible wind paths in Act 3;
  • Dai7, a rock object. The other objects like this are actually used in act 1, perhaps this one just got missed?
  • TakoW, a net/mesh-like object. It has no collision, but looks like it at one point might've been used to catch the player.
  • Dome2 and Dome3, propeller objects similar to a used one;
  • Prop1, a large floating propeller object similar to a used one in Act 3;
  • PropeB, two horizonal rows of propellers. PropeC, which is a similar object, is used in Act 3.
  • IwaB, another unused rock object.
  • Wele, an elevator booth platform. It has a propeller on top and a propeller at the bottom and is capsule-shaped, and is not large enough to fit Big or Gamma in it. When approached, it will move straight down and disappear (and clip through anything in its path), then respawn when you leave the area and come back to where it initially was.
• Some of the springs placed, especially in Act 1, clip through nearby walls and objects. This indicates that at the time this level was made, a different and smaller spring model was being used.
• The level file has a larger file size than the final version.
• There are only level object files for Sonic, but there are initial coordinates for Sonic, Tails, and Gamma, who all visit Windy Valley in the final. Sonic has coordinates for all three acts and Tails has coordinates for only Act 3, like in the final - however, Gamma has coordinates for all three acts despite only visiting Act 1 in the final game. Gamma's initial coordinates values are the same as Sonic's, so he starts in the exact same places.
• Despite the above, E-103 Delta's model is included in STG02.BIN, indicating that some work on Gamma's version of the level was made.

Act 1

• Contains level geometry, a Sonic Only level object file, and a CAM file for the camera system. The CAM file in practice yields rather strange behavior, because it is actually made for a much older version of the game. While this build only lacks a few camera types that are in the final, this CAM file was made during a time in which very few types existed.
• This act contains a massive amount of objects - around 1800. The limit to the number of objects the game will load is 1023, which indicates that this level was made before this limit was put in place. Because of the large number of objects, the game will run rather slowly in this stage.
• The level loads three enemies, but only uses two - the chameleon badnik is not placed anywhere in the level.
• There are no starting position coordinates for Amy or Big despite them appearing in pre-release footage of this level.
• This level has three bridge objects, but their model is entirely missing. Their collision and coding however still exist and they can be walked on if hacked into the game.
• The twister model seen in pre-release footage of this stage still remains in the game, though it has to be hacked in to function. The event that spawns it is still present in the build (causing the tornado to spawn in, move out of the opening in the level wall, and start sucking things up), as is its dust cloud texture, which somehow still survives in the build! Over time, it will start ripping apart pieces of the level geometry and getting closer and closer to the player. However, the game will crash when the player enters due to the stage attempting to load act 2.
• The tornado itself is not referenced at all in this stage's set file. Instead, it is loaded in through a function call in 1ST_READ, unlike virtually every other object in the game.

Act 2 - Tornado

• Windy Valley's level table's pointer to Act 2 is NULL, and its land table is completely missing. There are level models present however, as well as initial coordinates.
• There is data for the tornado "enclosure" that wraps around the level proper, along with subroutines to load it.
• Unlike Act 1, it completely lacks CAM data.
• This act has some objects that do not appear in the final:
  • T_Raft1, a very small platform with collision that can be made to hover up and down if the right parameters are passed to it;
  • T-Raft2, a half-pipe-shaped platform that has programming to quickly float up and down. It is hard for the player to stay on it as a result.
  • TSpring, which is entirely missing its model. It has no model data in the stage file, and instead has three pointers associated with it in 1ST_READ. These pointers are unique to Windy Valley. It is programmed to launch the player into the air like a normal spring, and functions as such when hacked into the game.
  • Lauchin, a unique spring object. It is a rather small, flat object that sends the player flying straight up in the air. It actually has a coil design and retracts slowly when the player lands on the ground.

Act 3

• Contains level geometry and a Sonic Only level object file.
• Tails has initial coordinates for this act, and there is P2PATH data for racing Sonic.
• Like Act 2, it completely lacks CAM data. As a result, the camera when the level is loaded in the autodemo zooms farther and farther away from the player the longer they proceed through the stage.
• The propeller springs seen in early promo footage of this act still exist in the build. These springs aren't as sensitive to the player's collision as normal springs, but sends the player flying much faster.