Monster Hunter

Monster Hunter
Developer: Capcom Publisher: Capcom Platform: PlayStation 2 Released in JP: March 11, 2004 Released in US: September 21, 2004 Released in EU: May 27, 2005 Released in AU: June 1, 2005 This game has unused areas. This game has unused enemies. This game has unused objects. This game has unused models. This game has unused items. This game has unused text. This game has regional differences.

The first game in the long running Monster Hunter series.

Debug Option

A debug option that no longer functions, remains hidden in the main menu. Selecting it will send you to the opening movie. You can apply the below code to enable this at the main menu.

JP Code
0023ABEC 00000005
0023A5D8 00000005

EU Code (TLES-52707)
0021D35C 00000005
0021CD38 00000005

(Source: Original TCRF research)

Unused Item Functionality

Earth Crystals are included in the IDs checked for whetstone functionality, but the Earth Crystal item itself isn't enabled to show up in the item bar for use. Changing 0x339D71 in PS2 ram to 01 will enable it. It functions identical to the three other whetstone items.

Unused Models

In the AFS_DATA container, a handful of .amo/.amh files go unused. In the Wii port of Monster Hunter G, these are located in a "debug" folder of the main fpk.

kari_amh.bin/test00_amh.bin

Contains a white cube and four pink sides of a larger cube, and lacks an associated tex.bin textures file. This model has a different set of data tag IDs than any of the other 3D files on the disk. Either has a blank converter timestamp or the timestamp wasn't implemented at the time. Only present in the Japanese release.

cube.amo

Contains a pink cube and a white cylinder, and lacks an associated tex.bin textures file. Converter timestamp of Oct. 3rd, 2001. The .ahi hierarchy file places both at origin, so they were moved apart for the image. Has otherwise unused and undocumented tags in the .amo file.

de_01.amo

Contains two grids of different scales, and a handful of other meshes. Converter timestamp of Nov. 9th, 2001. Lacks an accompanying .ahi hierarchy file, so the meshes were moved away from the origin for the image. Has otherwise unused and undocumented tags in the .amo file.

debug.amo

Appears to be a modified gunner crosshair, with a gridded cube at origin. Converter timestamp of April 24th, 2002.

Monsters

Since the Capcom servers are no longer online, the three elder dragons (Lao-Shan Lung, Kirin, Fatalis) are technically no longer encounterable without cheats or use of a private server. Kirin is especially notable, since no quest files on the disk, online or offline, have Kirin as encounterable, restricting it to event quests only in most versions; PAL copies of the game do have a few of the event quests on the disc as well, however.

Textures

select_tex.bin

select_tex.bin is what appears to be a set of textures pertaining to a demonstration or testing mode, with the five original weapon classes and some quest targets depicted, along with player indicators. An earlier iteration of the male Rathian armor is depicted in the Sword and Shield render as well as the egg quest image. The US release adds two more texture pages of targets.

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

  Added to MH1US

• 

  Added to MH1US

Unused Interface Elements

while cpit1ps.apx and cpit2ps.apx are used for the interface (called the "cockpit" by numerous files), there are unused versions with "xb" instead of "ps", featuring simpler UI elements, an earlier version of the PlayStation 2 buttons, as well as XBOX buttons. XBOX buttons are also included in the network connection textures (net_connect_tex.bin), in the fourth image. Also unused in cpit1ps are status icons depicting a crossed blade and claw, and depicting bloodied teeth. These can be seen used in prerelease gameplay footage.

cpit1ps.apx	cpit1xb.apx	cpit2ps.apx

cpit2xb.apx	net_connect_tex.bin

US Interface Changes

The US release added shading to a couple of the PS2 buttons in cpit2ps.apx, but a larger change was adding and tweaking a few of the Online Player Status icons. The icons file (pit.apx) also received icons for Dual Blades, and separated the Heavy and Light Bowgun.

jp	us

jp	us

The exclamation point icon also goes unused in all versions of Monster Hunter 1/G.

Cockpit2

cockpit2.apx depicts a portion of a radically different interface style.

Quest Changes and Oddities

All 1 star and 2 star quests remain unchanged in the US release. The following are quests changed or removed from the Japanese release:

3 Star

• The Formidable Velocidrome -> 350z reward increased to 400z
• Slay the Yian Kut-Ku -> 750z reward increased to 900z
• 1 wyvern egg delivery -> removed in US
• Liver of Legend -> 500z reward increased to 600z
• Jungle Menace -> 800z reward increased to 950z
• Velocidrome Redux (30min) -> increased to 4 Star, reward increased from 450z to 600z, fee increased from 160z to 220z

4 Star

• Catch a Yian Kut-Ku -> reward increased from 900z to 1000z
• Slay the Velociprey Pack -> 15 target number increased to 20, reward increased from 400z to 500z, fee increased from 140z to 200z
• Find the Wyvern Eggs -> 3 star in US
• The Land Shark -> reward increased from 1000z to 1200z, fee reduced from 350z to 250z
• 15 Genprey hunt -> removed in US
• 2 Gendrome hunt -> removed from US, but a similar one was added ("Slay the Gendrome", moved the Desert to the Swamp, fee increased from 220z to 250z)
• Bring Me Eggs -> reward increased from 1000z to 1500z
• Attack of the Giant Bugs -> kill 15 Vespoids changed to 30 in US, is no longer a key quest, Hornetaur wing quest reward replaced with Vespoid shell
• 10 special mushroom -> removed in US
• 2 Iodrome hunt -> removed in US

5 Star

• 20 Velociprey hunt -> removed in US
• 3 Velocidrome hunt -> removed in US
• Deliver 3 Wyvern Eggs -> reward increased from 1500z to 2000z, fee increased from 250z to 300z
• 20 Genprey hunt -> missing in US
• Gendrome Redux -> reward *decreased* from 1200z to 1100z, fee reduced from 400z to 300z
• 30 Vespoid hunt -> missing in US (see Attack of the Giant Bugs in 3 Star)

Bonus Hunts

• A Troublesome Pair -> Rathian + Rathalos plates as well as Speartuna are obtainable in US version, making a handful of additional equipment accessible offline
• Terror of the Gravios -> US unlocks it through JP's Basarios requirements (own at least 1 piece of Cephalos armor)
• Basarios secret -> removed in US

The following are quests added to US MH1 (sorted by quest ID):

3 Star (new)

• Trouble in the Forest

4 Star (new)

• Slay the Genprey
• Slay the Gendrome
• Ioprey Hunting
• Slay the Gypceros

5 Star (new)

• Water Wyvern in the Desert
• Basarios: Unseen Peril
• Queen of the Desert
• Slay the Rathian
• Handle With Care

The four Fatalis online hunts have map objects defined for Fort Camp and Fort 5, even though the Fatalis hunts take place in the Castle locale. When considering Fatalis is the second monster by internal ID, the Fort is the first locale by ID, and the Castle is the final locale ID, it's possible the Fatalis hunts were tested with or possibly originally intended for the Fort locale, before the Castle was made at a later time.

Other Regional Differences

To do: more from here

This page or section needs more images. There's a whole lotta words here, but not enough pictures. Please fix this.

The international versions of the game has a few more changes from the Japanese version, namely:

• A new weapon class, Dual Blades, is integrated into the Sword and Shield weapon tree.
• The quest reward screen now has a screen capture of the moment the quest finished, replacing the old brown background.
• Inventory, Equipment, and Item Box menus now have an auto-sort function. The Item Box has a second page, and the Equipment Box has increased from 64 spaces to 100.
• Equipped weapons are now shown on the player outside of quests.
• Monsters can use their tail sweep in either direction, instead of only clockwise.
• Rathian and Rathalos gain a unique sleep pose, instead of reusing Yian Kut-Ku's.
• Yian Kut-Ku now lowers its ears when weakened.
• Delivery items are now deliverable through the start menu when in a Camp zone, and certain delivery items such as Special Mushrooms will now be sold off at the end of quests.
• After succeeding an item combination, subsequent combines will happen much faster.
• The recipe for Mega Potions was changed from Herb + Honey to Potion + Honey.

All of these changes carry over into the later releases of G and Portable/Freedom.