F-Zero GX

F-Zero GX is the faster, prettier SEGA-assisted sequel to F-Zero X and boasted unique data sharing capabilities with its Triforce counterpart F-Zero AX.

Unused Material
F-Zero GX contains an abundance of unused data. However, since most of the leftover F-Zero AX code is perfectly usable, the following regards assets that are not used by either game.

Debug Menu
The Japanese version of F-Zero GX contains remnants of the debug menu used by SEGA during the development of the game. Just about everything is accessible, from sound effects to the many object viewers; all except for one dummied out menu option and another that crashes the game.

Audio
Many of the unused audio clips are flat-out remakes of classic F-Zero X dialogue. Things such as "Too bad, you lost your machine!" and the screams when a player falls of the course were entirely remade. Other audio clips involve narrator interaction.

Sound Effect Pack 1
Sound bank 1 contains a lot of unused audio clips, a small yet substantial portion of which include F-Zero X remakes.

First Place!
It sounds like a variation on F-Zero X's "Alright! You got first place!"

Bingo!
F-Zero X's Versus mode "VS. Slot" audio clip remade for GX. It appears VS Slot was considered to make a return.

Too bad, you lost your machine!
A beautiful return of F-Zero X's "Too bad, you lost your machine!" It would appear that F-Zero GX started out a lot like X, but slowly developed it's own personality.

You got your machine!
Conversely, if the player defeated 5 opponents during a race, this would have played.

Clear!
An alternate version of the narrator yelling "Clear!," rather than "Mission clear!"

Goal!
Another variation of "Mission clear!"

Danger!
The narrator concernedly shouting for the player to watch out.

Hurry Up!
This was presumably going to be used when the timer made it to 10 seconds, alerting the player that not much time remains. It was effectively scrapped in favour of a per-second siren.

Draw
It appears as though there was going to be a draw exception.

Warning Message


A message warning that "there is not enough memory to render this model". Its 3D model, found within common, is named "WARN_MES_OVER".

Powered by Hardware R&D


An odd little message found bundled with the title cards for the pilot movie endings as well as in the Gamecube advertise screen archive. Purpose unknown.

Fallout


FALLOUT is the term used in Super Monkey Ball when the player falls off the stage. Seeing as the game was built upon Monkey Ball engine, it is likely they used this until "Off Course" was chosen as the out-of-bounds cue.

Casino Laser Sign
The textures for LASER_CASINO, a rotating sign hologram like the Triforce and Gamecube logos seen in Sonic Oval. It lays dormant exclusively in the Japanese bg_com (Sonic Oval) texture archive.

Parental Advisory Warning


This warning is found in the same folder as the Nintendo, SEGA, and Amusement Vision logos. It would have been displayed upon startup, except it isn't. This was probably made for AX.

MAGCARD
Shorthand for "Magnetic Card", the F-Zero AX license card used to store one's AX data. It is quite peculiar as each of side of the model use its own texture. What's of great interest is the prototype card texture, which has F-Zero TRANS X written on it instead of F-Zero AX. MAGCARD is found in card, an older version of both operation and operation_us, a file used in the AX advertise screen.

F-Zero TRANS X could be an earlier title preceding the 2002 F-Zero AC title, which later became F-Zero AX.



The backside of MAGCARD which reads the following:


 * This card records your original "F-Zero AX" data magnetically. If you bend, soil or cut this card close to the magnetic fields, the card reader may not be able to read your data.
 * SEGA is NOT responsible for any lost, stolen or damaged cards.
 * This card has no cash value and is non-refundable.

Flag


FLAG is located in common, bundled along with other, far less detailed pylon cones. Its intent is unknown, but could have been used in story mode.

Test Cones 00-04
TESTCONE00 through TESTCONE04 each come in their own colour, sporting their namesake number. They are highly primitive objects. Their use is unknown, but was surely used in early development.

Pylon


PYLON can be found in both common and efcmodel. It could have served such purposes as a tool for testing the vehicle handling mechanics, for use in objective driven missions, or perhaps, when used in pairs, to designate the starting line.

Coin
COIN is supposed to be a background object for the Casino Place venue, though it does not seem to appear in neither Split Oval nor Double Branches. The model has a reflective quality to it.



Elevator Screen
ELV_SCREEN01 was supposed to be a monitor screen used in Cosmo Terminal, much like the Space Elevator Information screen seen near the starting gate in Trident. It ultimately went unused, sporting a placeholder texture as it does not have its own.

GameCube Memory Card
A rather large and fairly detailed 3D model of a GameCube Memory Card, present in card along with MAGCARD.

Stages
GX had plans for a 14th venue (taking into consideration that Sonic Oval is its own venue referred to as com) and contains remains of one additional course, though its data may be either corrupted or empty as it loads different assets depending on how it is viewed.

AUR Venue
There is a Course Select venue backdrop graphic named bmp_stg_aur that references an unused venue. "aur" is the shorthand name of this venue, and does not correspond to any venue from GX or AX. It only appears in the Japanese GX and AX ROMs, and has not seen any progress since its inclusion in AX, suggesting it was scrapped rather early in development.

Unfortunately, the image used is a "DUMMY" placeholder, leaving no insight into what "aur" stands for.

Stage 00
GX has an unused course named st00 in the stage folder of the ROM. It will call the assets from Sand Ocean with the track Screw Drive (Aeropolis) when unarchived or viewed through GX's model viewer debug option. Strangely, though, when using either cheat codes to access the stage in-game or using the game's debug stage viewer, it will only load universal assets such as zippers and the starting gate, along with the collision data of Twist Road (Mute City). Its only purpose appears to be to prevent the game from crashing when starting up the stage viewer, as it always loads st00 first.



Translation Notes
There exists a reference note called game_msg_jp.txt, which translates the English menu options and result texts to Japanese. RANKING:ランキング POINT:ポイント RUNNING:走行中 COURSE:コース VIEW:ビュー RESULT:けっか RESET:リセット (LATER):(よてい) RANK:ジュンイ TOTAL:トータル BEST LAP:ベストラップ PUSH A or MENU BUTTON:Aまたはメニューを押して下さい MAX SPEED:さいこうそく LAP:ラップ GOAL:ゴール REPLAY:リプレイ RETRY:リトライ DISQUALIFIED:失かく YES:はい NO:いいえ OK:はい EXIT:終了 CANCEL:キャンセル NEXT STAGE:次のステージ RETRY:リトライ REPLAY:リプレイ GHOST:ゴースト SAVE:保存 LOAD:読込 STATUS:ステータス EDIT:へんしゅう DESTROY:はかい CAR:車 SETTING:セッティング FORCE:強制 WIN:勝利

Leftover F-Zero AX Code
Curiously enough, F-Zero GX contains all the code required to play (a slightly butchered version of) F-Zero AX on the GameCube. Using the Action Replay or Gecko/Ocarina code below, GX will boot into AX. The game will still load all save data from GX when possible, and will only allow the player to select Bahamut (Custom Machine), Blue Falcon, Golden Fox, Fire Stingray, and Wild Goose plus any unlocked AX machine (Version 3+ of the code unlocks AX characters by default and Version 6+ allows players to enter any custom vehicle).

The game will also load the player's Time Attack data, which creates hilariously slow records for any map using more than the GX 3-lap standard such as Sonic Oval, where the player must complete 8 laps while in AX mode. It will even load the 16:9 aspect ratio preference of GX, allowing the player to view objects outside the AX menus (the arcade game used 4:3 monitors). AX boot in GX also uses the C-Stick to change the player's color, rather than the L and R buttons.

While the course selection menu behaves correctly in the Japanese version, the US/PAL versions shifted the placement of Mute City Sonic Oval to the far right as opposed to its far left position. This offset causes the menu icons and audio not to match the selected track (offset visible in AX code Version 1 (video uses Version 1 PAL)).

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Exclusive Custom Parts
GX has 15 "special" custom parts which could only be unlocked through Japan-only promotional events, which were held shortly after the game came out. Therefore, these special parts were only obtainable by Japanese players in 2003 and early 2004. The only other way to unlock the special parts is to use a cheat code (this works on all versions of the game, including US and PAL).

The special parts were distributed in two ways:


 * With special AX license cards. Bring the license card, along with a Gamecube memory card with GX data, to an AX machine. Insert the memory card and license card, then play a round of AX. When the race is over, the license card's specified parts will be unlocked on the memory card's GX data.
 * Through download stations at particular events or shops. Bring a Gamecube memory card with GX data, insert it into the station, and follow some instructions. The parts specified in the download station will then be unlocked on the memory card's GX data.

The 15 special parts were given out in five groups of three. Each group of three parts formed a machine with a special name:

Here were the events that offered the special parts:

English Prototype Remnants
The Japanese release loads an incomplete English translation when region lock is broken to let foreign consoles run it. Missing elements include the title screen as well as various text, HUD elements, and menu graphics. There's also some "Engrish", but the issue does not occur with the game is set to boot AX content.

The game defaults to using English subtitles for Story Mode scenes, which is different from the normal Japanese mode (which normally uses Japanese subtitles) and the final US version as played on a US console (no subtitles unless Z is pressed).

Mario Kart: Double Dash!! Bonus Disc
The GX demo on the Mario Kart: Double Dash!! Bonus Disc contains the same graphics as the Japanese version outlined below. This includes everything from the sign textures to Mute City's and Story Mode 7's backdrops - it even has the dummy aur backdrop neatly hidden in bmp_stg.arc. The main menu uses the Japanese "PRESS START BUTTON" as opposed to the English "PRESS START/PAUSE".

Speaking of menus, the demo loads the all-caps "Engrish" menu options that would display should the NTSC-J version boot in English: for instance, "EXIT" appears instead of "Quit".

Graphic Differences
Most of the edits to the textures were for localization purposes, though some are blatant censoring of foreign content. Closer inspection of the graphics indicates that some images were altered significantly, as some backgrounds were reproduced. They were quite thorough: even the texture from Story 1 have been edited, having passed through a similar filter as the originals.

Mute City & Story 1
The "GO FAST" sign was translated to suit its transoceanic audience.

"Mute Dinner" was changed to "Mute Diner" in subsequent releases of the game. The reworked sign is noticeably dimmer.

As with much of the Japanese text in the game, it was altered to feature unique alien-like characters.

Once again, the localisation team changed the Japanese characters into fake text. Its background is ill-recreated, though somewhat less obvious on Story 1's copy.

More of the same. Tampering of the image is also quite noticeable.

Because the Japanese equivalent of "Galaxy Diner" is shorter than the English text, the Japanese version has two extra arrows after "24H".

Fire Field
For the sake of in-game legibility, the Japanese text was removed and "Cource" was corrected to "Course".

Casino Palace
Vegas Palace in Japan was renamed Casino Palace overseas.

Mute City
The Japanese venue backdrop for Mute City uses the older, unused track texture seen at E3 2002 and replaces the misspelled "Mute Dinner" sign with "Mute Diner" and is identical to the one seen in AX. The courses textural "error" itself is most likely a result of Amusement Vision deciding to use the com (Sonic Oval) track texture on all Mute City stages late in development. Much like Story 3's backdrop, it was an oversight left in the game. When the North American localisation team went through, they updated all backdrops for Mute City related stages only to correct the sign images, simultaneously and inadvertently updating the track texture.

Story 7
The Japanese version once again depicts the AX mut track texture and "Mute Dinner" sign, although GX does in fact use the old track texture for about 80% of the starting pad in Story 7.

Sonic Oval
The localisation team was seriously determined to eliminate all traces of Japanese text; they went so far as to blur the sign graphics in this backdrop. Comically enough, they forgot to censor one of the largest images in the game.

Oddities and Obscurities
While this data can be seen in the game, it is interesting to note as it is so very easily overlooked.

Early Story 3 Course
The backdrop for the mission "High Stakes in Mute City" features a red-colored track as opposed to the green one that is playable, suggesting the course's color was changed very late in the game's development. Furthermore, Story 3's intro movie depicts the course as being purple, indicating that the track must have gone through multiple colour schemes before settling on green. F-Zero AX's version of Story 3 uses this red coloured texture.

Hidden R.O.B.
Hidden on the outskirts of the stage Aeropolis Multiplex lies a fully animated R.O.B. model from the Port Town courses. It is cleverly placed behind a few of Aeropolis's many buildings off to the left of Mother Q. It can be seen by Space Flying to the edge of the map, though it is very difficult to get into view as the game only renders R.O.B. from certain angles. It is much easier to see it by accessing Multiplex through the debug menu.

Uncensored Logos
Despite their efforts ensuring all the Japanese texts and graphics were eliminated in US and PAL releases, they still missed this one texture! It is used on some of the monitors in the back during the interviews. Perhaps the more interesting characteristic is its monstrous 512x256 pixel size. It may have intended to have been used for something else since it is much, much larger than necessary.

AX's GX Pilot Descriptions


F-Zero AX (and AX boot) display description cards like these in the left pane to describe the vehicle and pilot. However, since F-Zero AX only uses 15 machines (the original 4, the 10 AX characters and 1 custom machine), 27 GX character cards go unseen. In order to view the remaining cards, the player must save one of the unused GX characters' vehicle to a slot in their Garage, then hover over that machine during vehicle select.

Sand Ocean Reflective Texture
A reflective texture used for the solar panels on Sand Ocean. It uses an early snapshot of Sand Ocean where the sky is a deep green.

Sand Ocean Mini Map
There is an unused graphic that appears to be a mockup mini map for the stage Surface Slide. The original file is not oriented the same way the final stage is and it includes rocks from the outside of the track. The map also lacks the inside portion of the pyramid, where it appears blank.