Development:Rayman Raving Rabbids (Windows)
This page details development materials of Rayman Raving Rabbids (Windows).
 | This article has just been started and needs the article basics added. Help us out and add them. |
 | This page or section details content from the Rayman Raving Rabbids Leak. |
 | To do: Document basically everything found so far. The Rayman modding community Discord has made a few Google Photos albums showing findings, screenshots, and videos so far. I can't link them unfortunately, as it screws up the todo tag for some reason. Also, create and do the uncreated subpages referenced here. |
On December 24th, 2022, an anonymous 4chan user uploaded an archive containing an early Jade Engine (Beyond Good & Evil, Raving Rabbids games, Prince of Persia Trilogy) editor with a build, source code, and assets for the Rayman 4 prototype.
Yes, you read that correctly: the original version of Rayman Raving Rabbids from before it was turned from a platformer into a party game was finally leaked to the public 16 years after its original E3 presentation.
It was a Christmas miracle!
This iteration of Rayman Raving Rabbids had been highly sought-after since the game's retail release, partly because of the wealth of pre-release material published either by magazines or directly by Ubisoft themselves, but also because of the scale of the original version itself. Prior to the leak, the Rayman community only had the game itself, which was found to be a Frankenstein's monster made up of various basic abilities that were mutated into entire game modes. If you're wondering why the final game feels strange to play... it's because Ubisoft either disabled the jump button or confined completed areas to shooting mini-games.
This version of the Jade Engine is internally dated to March 6th, 2008. However, it is very likely only a modification date, as this is over a year after the retail release of Rayman Raving Rabbids. In terms of an actual date for the source code of Rayman 4 present in the leak, a good amount of files in the source code date back to April 2006, so it is very likely from around that time, and all the content that would be seen in the E3 2006 trailer of Raving Rabbids, is in this build aswell.
Sub-Pages
 | Models Prototype enemies, items, and Rayman’s girlfriend?! |
 | Levels Vast open levels, underground dungeons, and rabbid bases! A ton of test maps too! |
 | Story The invasion of the Rabbids! New characters, subtitle dialogue, and teensies! |
Gameplay
Moveset
Rayman’s moveset is similar to Rayman 3’s, but with some major changes to fit the games drastically different combat and levels.
Controls: The left stick moves him, and the right stick and triggers control the camera. The left shoulder button is dedicated to going into first-person view (but Romeo, the hippie Teensie doctor from Rayman 3 blocks the way for some reason), and the right shoulder button makes you roll. The left face button makes Rayman jump, the top face button makes Rayman punch or kick depending on the situation, the bottom face button makes Rayman throw his hand to use his chain hand (seen in the FPS levels in the party game), and the right face button makes Rayman... pose. This button actually is supposed to make him change costumes, as costumes would have played a significant role in the gameplay. However, in the build that came in the leak, it doesn't function correctly.
Special Moves: When pressing the Roll button in the air, Rayman does a ground pound. This depletes his Mana, but can occasionally break into vents.
Romeo
Romeo, as mentioned, appears in this game, likely as a placeholder for another character. When Rayman touches the Romeo NPC, Romeo rides on Rayman's back, and a circular meter appears.
Combat
In this game, instead of being forced to play minigames for the amusement of the Rabbids, Rayman takes the lagomorphic menace head on. Rabbids would have been fearsome foes, vast in numbers and wielding ray guns, grenades, and melee weapons.
Rayman can fight back in many ways. Pressing or mashing the attack button will cause Rayman to perform a variety of kicks, punches and karate chops. This contrasts with previous games more ranged combat, due to his lack of limbs, but makes sense when having to fight large groups of Rabbids at once.
Additionally, Rayman can take the weapons of defeated Rabbids and use the weapons against them. Simple melee weapons that break to (carrot?) ray guns that never run out of ammo. In some maps there’s even throwable grenades.
Utilizing the new chain hand mechanic, Rayman can grab objects from afar, swing them around, and throw them at Rabbids. The grab is also extensively used in some levels, whether it’s for simple things like moving a crate or turning a lever, or more complex actions like swinging across stages.
Rayman also starts off with 100 mana. Mana can seemingly only be used for the ground pound move, which takes 5 mana. Mana can be restored by performing a finisher on a rabbid, destroying a Rabbid Robot bomb, or by finding a rarely seen “Mana Mushroom” item.
When Rayman loses health, he changes appearance to having no clothes except a leaf, in a vein similar to Ghosts 'n' Goblins. This skin would later appear in Rayman Legends. When Rayman completely loses health, he dies but gets back up, as there doesn't appear to be a Game Over screen programmed.
Rabbids attack Rayman on sight, with groups of Rabbids always trying to circle and surround Rayman to land a hit on him. Rabbids equipped with rayguns will shoot at Rayman from a distance, though their gun doesn’t do any damage to Rayman in this build. Some Rabbids also have different attributes to them throughout each map. Some Rabbids can be defeated, after they’ve been knocked down they burrow into the ground and don’t respawn, though some Rabbids will always get up and are never defeated by Rayman’s attacks. Some Rabbids can dodge ray gun shots or even block them with a shield if they have one, some Rabbids can mount the same animals as Rayman, and some Rabbids are really big, until they’re defeated, then dropping a “Lum”.
The Rabbids are all hostile towards Rayman, but some Rabbids with a glowing light on them can actually be charmed with the game’s “dancing mechanic” that’s still playable in this build. Dependent on the costume, different music will play starting a rhythm game where the player has to time button inputs with the songs rhythm long enough to fill the “Juice” bar. When this is done, the Rabbid will stay in place and dance for a bit, before returning back to hunting Rayman.
Mounts
Rayman can ride many different mounts. Being natural animals or Rabbid technology, riding around the big open levels was a major part of the game.
The main four animals Rayman can ride are the spider, the hawk, the triceratops, and the shark, each with their own different controls and movement. The spider can crawl across walls and ceilings, the Hawk can fly, the triceratops can run across the ground, and the shark swims through the water.
Rabbid vehicles like a UFO and robot spider are present, but the Rabbids themselves are also mountable and can be used to attack other Rabbids.
