NiGHTS into Dreams... (PlayStation 2)

NiGHTS into Dreams...
Developer: Sonic Team Publisher: Sega Platform: PlayStation 2 Released in JP: February 21, 2008 This game has unused areas. This game has unused graphics. This game has unused models. This game has unused music. This game has hidden bonus content.

NiGHTS into Dreams... for the PlayStation 2 is an enhanced remake of the cult classic Saturn game. It was released around the same time as the Wii sequel, Journey of Dreams. This version was later ported to Windows, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360 as a digital download title in 2012.

To do: Version differences between PS2 and Windows/Xbox/PS3, particularly lighting (Gillwing) and cheat codes

Subpages

Unused Models A bunch of early and unused versions of character models.

Hidden Cheats

Several cheats can be inputted at the Press Start screen. Press the following button combinations for a desired effect. Note that for the Windows version, Circle and X will be swapped (but not for the PS3 version, which while swapping them in all other menus, keeps them intact for cheats).

Inputs	Cheat Effect
Left, Down, Right, Circle, L1, L2, Select	Gives Claris access to her special costumes in Splash Garden (replacing Elliot) and Mystic Forest. Only the last costume cheat will take effect. Inaccessible on the Windows version of the game due to the game reading A/Circle as Start for the start menu.
Left, Up, Right, X, R1, R2, Select	Gives Elliot access to his special costumes in Splash Garden and Mystic Forest (replacing Claris). Only the last costume cheat will take effect.
Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, X, Square, X, Square	Changes NiGHTS's texture in Spring Valley to match Reala. Only the last costume cheat will take effect.
Up, Down, Left, Right, Up, Down, Left, Right	This will disable any currently active costume cheat.
Left, Right, Square, Circle, X, Triangle, R1, R2, Down, Up, L1, L2	This will unlock all content within the game for the current play session, and disable saving (alongside online features in the ports). Inaccessible on the Windows version of the game due to the game reading A/Circle as Start for the start menu.

The costume cheats:

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The following set of cheats only have functions in the PS2 version of the game. They still exist within the later versions, but all functionality to them has been stripped.

Inputs	Cheat Effect
L2, L1, Up, Down, R2, R1, Triangle, X, Circle, Square, Right, Left, Right	Displays the text: "You cannot use this command, sorry." The last input, "Right" isn't needed to complete the cheat.
Right, Square, Square, X, Triangle, Square	Displays the text: "You cannot use this command, sorry."
Right, Right, Square, Triangle, X, Triangle	Displays the text: "You cannot use this command, sorry."
Right, Circle, Triangle, Square, Square, Square, X	Displays the text: "You cannot use this command, sorry."
Square, Square, Square, Triangle, X, Square, X, Triangle, Triangle, Square, Square, Triangle, X, Triangle, X, Square	Displays the text: "You cannot use this command, sorry."
L2, L1, Left, Right, R2, R1, Circle, Square	Press R1+R2+L1+L2+Select in the Movie Theater for the end credits of Christmas NiGHTS.

The below message will be displayed if you input a cheat that cannot be used anymore:

Additionally, the DSS info (likely Dynamic Song Select) from the Saturn version is present in all versions of the game. Pause the game and press L1 + R1 + Triangle to display the below info on-screen:

(Source: Original TCRF research)

Unused Stages

It appears that the game was going to receive a larger scale Halloween event along the lines of Christmas Dreams, as three stage-definition files remain. stage_halloween_sdf.bin, stage_halloween_e_sdf.bin, stage_halloween_boss_sdf.bin being Claris's stage, Elliot's stage, and the boss. It can be inferred off of file-sizes and the Halloween event that remains in the final game that this would feature Claris's Mystic Forest stage.

Additionally, there is a test stage-definition stage_test_sdf.bin which is a test flight path that causes the game to crash when loaded into a normal stage, but functions properly when swapped with a boss fight's flight path. This path is a small rectangle with rounded corners, and has no objects placed in it. A video demonstrating what this looks like can be found here.

(Source: Original TCRF research)

Unused Music

To do: Rolling Eggman is also present within the files, for some reason

Inside the game is an unused music file named halloween.adx. This would have likely been utilized by the aforementioned Halloween Mystic Forest.

(Source: NiGHTS Community Forums)

Unused Graphics

To do: Can anyone confirm if these gallery images are used in the PS2 version or not?

The hint for Jackle's boss fight shows a number of different tarot card designs. Only one (the first in the image below) can be seen in the boss fight, but all of the card textures still exist in the game's data.

Among the game's data are 153 files with names such as GAMEUI_GALLERY_001.BIN, where 001 is a 3-digit number. All of these contain 8-bit bitmaps in an unusual, scrambled file format, and go unused in the Windows version. Most of these are simply 8-bit versions of images from the in-game gallery, but 6 of them (GAMEUI_GALLERY_090.BIN to GAMEUI_GALLERY_095.BIN) contain unused merch images, originating from the gallery of Christmas NiGHTS into Dreams....

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  GAMEUI_GALLERY_090.BIN

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  GAMEUI_GALLERY_091.BIN

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  GAMEUI_GALLERY_092.BIN

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  GAMEUI_GALLERY_093.BIN

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  GAMEUI_GALLERY_094.BIN

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  GAMEUI_GALLERY_095.BIN

Although the Windows version has its own set of gallery UI graphics, the PS2 version's UI is still present in the game's files as GAMEUI_GALLERY.BIN.

(Source: Original TCRF research)