Prerelease:Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy/Levels

This is a sub-page of Prerelease:Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy.

Sandover Village

A screenshot from an unknown stage shows an extra piece of land separating Samos' hut from the rest of the village and a blue eco cluster near the mayor's house.

Pre-release	Final game

Footage from an approximately early stage depicts text giving the name of the mayor's house at the entrance. The text is still present but unused in the final game along with other location names such as "KEIRA'S GARAGE" and "FISHERMAN'S HOUSE".

(Source: PlayStation Underground)

Footage which appears to be from one of the earliest stages shows the cliff that holds the Precursor Orb container in the final game instead containing a single cluster of blue eco, while the adjacent cliff that contains two blue eco clusters in the final game holds the orb container. Footage likely from soon afterwards shows both cliffs with two blue eco clusters and the orb container in the same location as the final game.

First footage	Second footage	Final game

(Source: Playscope, Sony E3 2001 Press Conference)

Sentinel Beach

The "Chase the seagulls" mission would have spanned across the level instead of taking place only on the sentinels. They would have started on the beach near where the pelican steals the power cell and next moved to the cliff near where the power cell is retrieved from the pelican. It is unclear where the next location would have been or how many times they would have needed chasing.

(Source: IGN (1) (2))

During one of the earlier stages, there was a bridge which led from Sandover Village to the beach. Also at the level entrance there was no blue eco and less boxes.

Pre-release	Final game

(Source: Sony E3 2001 Press Conference)

The balloons above the eco harvesters had a brown color at one stage.

Pre-release	Final game

The metal boxes containing Precursor Orbs appeared in other locations including next to the pelican's nest and on one of the cliffs. This remained the case throughout much of development.

(Source: IGN (1)(2), PlayStation Underground)

At some stage the green eco vents did not give Jak full health - three bars plus 50 eco droplets. Instead they would fill health up to three bars but the droplet count would remain unchanged.

(Source: PlayStation Underground)

Forbidden Jungle

The room with the Dark Eco plant boss had the realistic-looking metal texture and lacked the blue lighting seen in the final game.

Pre-release	Final game

The eco beam deflectors were depicted as tripods in earlier footage and did not remain underground when not in use.

Pre-release	Final game

These designs appeared in early sketches by Bob Rafei.

(Source: PlayStation Underground, Bob Rafei)

At an unknown early stage, the machine the lurkers diverted the eco beam towards had an extra component which the beam was directed into. There was also a fan-like object near the rotating platforms.

Pre-release	Final game

The blue eco beam from the temple appeared as more of a dotted line throughout most of the game's development.

Pre-release	Final game

(Source: IGN)

Video footage from different stages of development show a launcher in a corner of the temple which is not present in the final game. In addition, the blue eco does not attract the Precursor Orbs unless they are of immediate vicinity.

(Source: PlayStation Underground, Official UK PlayStation 2 Magazine)

At some stage the lurker piranhas were blue and purple instead of pink and yellow. Both piranha designs would later be seen in the opening cutscene of Jak X.

Pre-release	Final game

Misty Island

A trailer and screenshot from early stages depict a group of lurkers driving forklifts containing dark eco boxes on the silo where the "Return to the dark eco pool" mission occurs in the final game. These forklifts were shown in concept art from Bob Rafei dated October 2000.

(Source: NextGen, Playscope, Bob Rafei)

The door to the silo was originally opened by a switch which changed design at least once before eventually being replaced with blue eco around mid-way through development. One of the designs resembled the switches used with the Flut-Flut in Snowy Mountain, while the other design was very similar to switches used in Lost Precursor City and had to be activated with a jump-dive in the same way.

First design	Second design	Final game

(Source: IGN, Playscope, PlayStation Underground)

At around mid-way through development, the sculptor's muse didn't have a glow and when caught, it disappeared into yellow particles instead of activating a cutscene.

(Source: PlayStation Underground (1) (2))

In the area that contains a Precursor Orb container in the final game there is instead an object using the same design as how platforms appeared in development. Although it's possible that this was an early design for orb containers, footage from even the earliest stages depicts the containers looking almost identical to their final game appearance. In addition, three wooden crates appeared instead of one crate and two Dark Eco boxes.

Pre-release	Final game

(Source: PlayZone)

During the majority of development, there was different camera movement surrounding the speedboat as it arrived on the island and Jak could also depart from it before it stopped moving.

(Source: PlayStation Underground, IGN)

In the earlier stages, there were orbs in the center of the silo.

(Source: Playscope)

At some stage the Dark Eco pool did not make wave movements and had less reflection.

Pre-release	Final game

(Source: PlayStation Underground)

For some time the mud had a reflective surface.

Pre-release	Final game

(Source: PlayStation Underground)

Fire Canyon

During the earlier stages, cooling balloons were a grey-blue color, had a strap around the middle and floated with a propeller. This was changed to the final design sometime around mid-way through development.

Pre-release	Final game

(Source: Playscope, PlayStation Underground)

At the earlier stages, the A-Grav Zoomer didn't tilt as it turned corners.

(Source: PlayZone)

At around mid-development, the heat meter had no interior color to indicate the danger level. There was also no speedometer.

Pre-release	Final game

(Source: PlayStation Underground)

A clip from a mid-point has dialogue from Keira stating that 18 Power Cells were needed to power the heat shield instead of 20 in the final game.

(Source: PlayStation Underground)

Rock Village

A screenshot shows the Blue Sage's hut with less detail, including a missing warp gate switch. Keira is standing in a different place to normal and a T-pose Samos appears to be behind Jak.

Pre-release	Final game

Various footage shows the boulders with a different appearance.

Pre-release	Final game

(Source: IGN, PlayStation Underground)

Lost Precursor City

The level was named 'Underwater Ruins' in early sketches. At another point it would have incorporated the word 'Sunken', as reflected in file names in the final game such as SUNKEN.MUS and SUN.DGO.

(Source: Jak and Daxter Collection Behind the Scenes)

At around mid-point in development, the flying lurker was a more purple color.

Pre-release	Final game

(Source: Cingular Wireless demo disc trailer)

The electrified water was a magenta color at some stage and the texture also went out of boundaries.

(Source: PlayStation Underground)

The lighting was also different around mid-development.

Pre-release	Final game

(Source: Cingular Wireless demo disc trailer)

Boggy Swamp

A number of trailers from earlier stages depict Jak collecting a Power Cell immediately after jumping from the poles. Unused text present in the final game likely refers to this mission: SWING ON THE POLES TO CROSS THE TAR.

(Source: Sony E3 2001 Press Conference, Official UK PlayStation 2 Magazine)

A video from an unknown stage briefly shows a blue eco vent and a pier within the enclosure with the Precursor robot arm, suggesting that at some point in development it would have been an explorable area.

This is also shown in a level sketch:

(Source: Demo disc trailer, Jak and Daxter Collection Behind the Scenes)

The lurker frog had a dark red color at one stage, similar to the rats.

Pre-release	Final game

Some trailers from around early stages show that it would have been possible to destroy the rats' nests with physical attacks instead of only with yellow eco.

(Source: PlayZone)

At some point the sinking platforms would have had strings hanging from them.

Pre-release	Final game

(Source: PlayStation Underground)

A number of differences to the final game are depicted in this screenshot:

• Bats are a darker red, similar to the rats.
• The bats appear in an area they do not appear in during the final game (although they do appear nearby).
• The tar is reflective.
• The background wall consists of rocks instead of trees.
• There is no blue eco on the rock in the center of the tar.

Pre-release	Final game

The brambles were lighter and had less detail at some point. The mud was also reflective, like the tar.

Pre-release	Final game

Jak is shown walking into a yellow eco vent without jumping as he powers up. The lack of eco meter suggests this may have been from an early point in development. In addition it produces a yellow glow similar to early footage of the sculptor's muse being caught.

(Source: PlayZone)

At various points in the level in various trailers, there are eco clusters, orbs and boxes in different places to the final game, usually appearing more frequently. The contents of boxes would also sometimes be different, such as green eco droplets appearing instead of a cluster of green or yellow eco as in the final game.

Pre-release	Final game

(Source: PlayStation Underground (1) (2), (3) Demo disc trailer)

Precursor Basin

A screenshot shows Jak in the level on foot. Although it is possible to do this in the final game by taking advantage of a glitch, it's unlikely to be the reason why it occurs in this image.

Mountain Pass

Klaww was known as 'ogre' during development. File names in the final game relating to the Mountain Pass level such as OGREBOSS.MUS and OGR.DGO reflect this. By the time of the September 2001 demo he had been named 'Klaw' before the spelling was eventually changed to 'Klaww'.

There is also an unused dialogue file in the final game where Daxter refers to him as ogre:

Sound File	Line
	That ogre up there looks like he means business!

(Source: Jak and Daxter Collection Behind the Scenes)

The platform had different shading and minor color differences. The design of the eco meter suggests this was from a late stage of development.

Pre-release	Final game

(Source: Demo disc trailer)

Volcanic Crater

The gondola had a roof at some stage.

Pre-release	Final game

(Source: Demo disc trailer)

Spider Cave

Gnawing lurkers were at some point blue and purple instead of red and grey. There is also an unknown green object in the top left corner of the screenshot.

Pre-release	Final game

(Source: Demo disc trailer)

The spider web trampolines had less detailed textures. Also, the layout of the room and positions of the trampolines were different.

Pre-release	Final game

(Source: Demo disc trailer)