Prerelease:Pikmin (GameCube)

To do: Investigate the Nintendo debugging tape. If this bug doesn't appear in the final game, document it here. See if there's any other beta stuff here (graphics, objects, etc). (timestamp).

This page details pre-release information and/or media for Pikmin (GameCube).

During development of Pikmin, a number of trailers and unused screenshots were created to show the game in action, and they showcase numerous changes in the visuals and sounds. These also feature a few discrepancies that may or may not have been intended to be shown.

Development Timeline

• Early 1998 - Shigefumi Hino & Masamuchi Abe begin discussing ideas for a new game. Hino being in charge of character & world design, and Abe in charge of game mechanics.
• 1998 - Yuji Kando joined the development team.
• June 1999 - A Prototype was created with a top down view, showing multiple little characters running around
• Mid-1999 - Junji Morii joins the team
• June 2000 - The finalized design for the Pikmin were created, based on Junji Morii's concept art.
• December 2000 - The World of Pikmin & its scale were finalized.
• March 15th, 2001 - With the team struggling, Miyamoto creates the "Piki Game Design Documents" to combine all their ideas & to guide them.
• May 15th, 2001 - The game is announced at E3 2001
• September 2001 - The ability to pluck Pikmin with the whistle was removed under Miyamoto's request.

The Beginning - Adam & Eve

During the second half of the Nintendo 64's lifespan, around 1998, developers Shigefumi Hino & Masamichi Abe began discussing the possibilities of a new game that experimented with new control styles, specifically something less like Mario. This idea quickly evolved into a sort of "God Game", where you would watch small characters live & defended themselves & their villages from giant Mammoth-sized creatures.

The designs were originally created by Shigefumi Hino known as "Adam" & "Eve" to signify their difference in sex, and they were displayed on screen as 2D sprites billboarded onto the screen. Yuji Kando would also join the team around this time, programming a number of complicated A.I.s to control their actions in large numbers.

By June 1999, a prototype was created of about 10-20 Adams & Eves running around from a top down perspective. Around this time, producer Shigeru Miyamoto became increasing more interested in the project, but realized the game was running into a major issue, the lack of a goal. These designs & issues would persist as the game moved development to the Nintendo Gamecube.

Gamecube Development - Ippiki

As the game was switched towards the Nintendo Gamecube, the Adam & Eve designs were touched up, most notably becoming fully 3D modeled & redesigned with much different colors. However, they were unsatisfied with their current designs, and wanted something impactful. As such, Junji Morii, who had joined the team in 1999, submitted multiple design sheets for his design of the characters. These designs were heavily inspired by the work of Tim Burton, as Morii wanted to convery something that was cute, but carried sort of emotional weight to them.

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The creation of the finalized designs also led to the world being fleshed out. Originally the size of cats (about 30cm - 50cm), it was decided that these creatures would be the size of an ants & would inhabit a dense forest. The Pikmin & the world were decided due to the desire to make a game that was more mysterious & mature than what Nintendo had previously been known for.

Trailer 1

To do: Gather info from the Pikmin E3 2001 Show Off's version, specifically, the ending with 4 panes.

The first trailer shows a lot of differences from the final version of the game. These changes can also be seen on screenshots showcased in Nintendo Power #145.

Behavior

• Olimar can pluck Pikmin with his whistle in the same way the Pluckaphone is used in Pikmin 2.
• Olimar jumps around when walking.
• Onions stretch upwards a lot when sucking in something.
• 110 Pikmin are shown to be in the area at once, while the final game's limit is 100.
• All idle Pikmin become white.
• Pikmin can be set on a straight line. They seem to be idle in this state, but they aren't pale or white. Additionally, they shake their leaves heavily.
• A Yellow Wollywog that is falling over after being defeated can be seen squishing Pikmin when collapsing. When this happens, the Pikmin counter flickers between a few numbers. It's either a glitch, or a notable way to tell Pikmin are dying.
• Killed Yellow Wollywogs disappear and drop pellets.
• Pikmin move considerably slower than in the final.
• Apparently, swarming the Pikmin around would emit some particles from Olimar's helmet light.
• A 20-pellet can be seen producing 40 Pikmin.
• At some points, the second and/or third Pikmin values only have their hundreds digit.
• Pikmin can be seen carrying a strawberry, rumored to be the Sunseed Berry from Pikmin 2 and Pikmin 3.

Location

• What appears to be three deleted areas are shown; one area is cave-like and has a large ramp with a drop-off to the left, one area is plain and has many plants and Dwarf Red Bulborbs, and the final area shown is dark and plateau-like, and has a giant flat stump where a Beady Long Legs is seen.
• The Red Onion and Yellow Onion are set in a straight line, while the Blue Onion is isolated from the others in every area.

Appearance

• tuto2 looks more rocky and foggier than it does, unused, in the final game.
• There's opaque water with a different texture in clips of map_06, surviving unused in the final game. This water is not present in the unused model in the final game.
• Yellow Wollywogs look simpler and Dwarf Red Bulborbs have more (and larger) spots.
• Pellet Posies are taller, have (presumably harmless) spikes on the side, and their flowers are different.
• Pellets have a much more concave surface that curves inwards on the top and bottom.
• 1-pellets look much lighter in color.
• A Burrowing Snagret can be seen, whose body was white instead of blue.

Sounds

• Pikmin make squeals similar to those of pigs when thrown.
• Pikmin have a higher pitched hum when they carry an object.
• The sound of an onion taking in a pellet is higher pitched.

HUD

• The current day is shown below the sunlight meter, with "day" and the number next to each other.
• The sunlight meter stretches all the way across the screen, with 16 increments instead of 13 because of the above change.
• The first and second Pikmin counters are not in their own boxes, while the third one is. No slash is placed between the second and third counters, also.
• When a Pikmin value changes, no quick "bounce" animation is used--it just instantaneously changes.
• Olimar's health meter is either not implemented correctly, or behaved quite differently in this version. At different times, it can be seen completely full, completely depleted (along with warning effects), or missing altogether.

Trailer 2

A second trailer was eventually released. It resembles the final version quite a bit more, but is still different in some ways.

Behavior

• Pikmin can be seen taking down a stone gate, something that can only be destroyed with Bomb-rocks in the final game.
• The Puffy Blowhog's attack throws Pikmin and Olimar a lot higher and farther.

Location

• The Puffstool can be seen on The Forest of Hope.
• There's an unknown bell-shaped object at The Distant Spring, that doesn't appear anywhere in the final game (at 0:41 in the video, at the left).

Appearance

• Minor aesthetic differences.
• Bridges aren't complete yet; they are blue-green with a weird glassy texture. The opposite end where the bridges end is some sort of white platform.
• A ship part that appears to be an early version of the Anti-Dioxin Filter can be seen, on the stump closest to the stone gate.
• What appears to be blue nectar can be seen. Whether this was just a color variation of yellow nectar or another type entirely is unknown.

Sounds

• A lot of sound effects are missing.
• After a Pikmin is plucked, a throwing sound effect plays instead of the Pikmin making a sound.
• Pikmin that land after being thrown make their dismiss sound.
• On one of the videos, an early version of The Impact Site's theme at sunset is played, in which the fippled flute starts out solo.
• Footstep sounds have a higher interval between them.
• At times, a wobbly sound can be heard when controlling a group of Pikmin.
• Different metallic banging sounds can be heard when knocking on stone gates and bridges.
• The Yellow Wollywog's jump has a more cartoony sound effect.

HUD

• The HUD, which survived unused in the final version, has the day counter at the bottom right corner of the screen, and the universal Pikmin counter is missing. Red Pikmin are also shown as Blue Pikmin.
• Rather than the second Pikmin counter being smaller than the first in the final, it's the opposite here.

Trailer 3

This trailer was present as a special option in Luigi's Mansion. A Japanese version was included in the Pikmin Jitsuen-You Demo Disc. The game in this state looks very close to the final version.

Behavior

• All types of Pikmin seem to be breaking down the second bramble gate in The Forest of Hope before the Yellow Onion is even unlocked.
• When Pikmin are plucked, they become pale.
• When a Puffy Blowhog attacks, it sends the Pikmin and Olimar flying everywhere instead of just deflowering them.
• Pikmin can be seen climbing a really long vertical pole on The Distant Spring.

Locations

• The Extraordinary Bolt replaces the location of the Whimsical Radar.
• The stone gate by the Extraordinary Bolt is instead a black bramble gate.
• The white bramble gate and one-way cliff connecting the water area and the landing area in The Impact Site seem to be absent.
• The white stone gate by the landing site in The Forest of Hope is now a black stone gate.
• The one-way access by the stone gate is not there.
• An unbuilt bridge can be seen right in front of the cliff leading to the Armored Cannon Beetle in The Forest of Hope.
• An Ionium Jet (probably #2) seems to be near the Yellow Wollywogs in the lake of the Distant Spring. As it is unlikely that the Pikmin would pass by there, this hints towards a different ship part location.

Appearance

• Minor aesthetic differences.
• The S.S. Dolphin is noticeably more empty upon crashing.

HUD

• The day counter is still in the bottom-right corner, but it's now a circle like the final instead of an oval, which makes room for the universal Pikmin counter that was missing in the second trailer.

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References

• Ask the Developer Vol. 10, Pikmin 4—Part 1
• Pikmin: Nintendo Gamecube, The Official Nintendo Player's Strategy Guide