Proto:Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones

This page details one or more prototype versions of Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones.

This page or section details content from the October 2008 Intelligent Systems Leak. Check the October 2008 Intelligent Systems Leak category for more pages also sourced from this material.

This page sucks. If you could make it suck less, that would be awesome. Specifically: Content directly (which is quarantined to the "differences from final" section at the bottom) copied from Serene's Forest.

This article is a work in progress. ...Well, all the articles here are, in a way. But this one moreso, and the article may contain incomplete information and editor's notes.

A prototype of the Japanese version dated May 31, 2004, just over three months before the final build. Many assets from the previous game are present, with the new stuff in various states of completion.

It seems to share its base set of debug functions with the Fire Emblem prototypes, though it adds and removes a few things.

Sub-Pages

Debugging Functions Brought to you by random button mashing!

Maps and Chapters Most of the final game's chapters are here, in varying states of completion.

Weapons

The items in the prototype as of this revision are identical to Fire Emblem's weapon and item set, though two new weapons have been added at the end.

ID	Name (Japanese)	Translation	Range	Might	Hit	Weight	Critical	Weapon rank	Durability	Worth	Flavor Text	Notes
??	魔石のかけら	Dark Stone Fragment	1	10	65	?	0	(Monster Weapon)	Infinite	Cannot be sold.	魔物に力を与える。	Its description does not display its stats. It appears in the final release, albeit with the description of "DUMMY". The English localization names it "Stone Shard", which somewhat omits some implications from the Japanese name. The "Dark Stone" in the game's story is an artifact that the Demon King is trapped in. Uses the icon that was used for Flametongue in Fire Emblem and the Firestone weapon in Fire Emblem: Fuuin no Tsurugi. It seems to have one less point of Might than it does in the final release.
??	ストーン	Stone	1-3	0	65	8	0	D Dark Magic	3	750	敵を数ターンの間　石化して [行動できなくします]	Crashes the game when cast, even when animations are off. Is essentially unused in the prototype itself, as no monsters have it in their inventory. Its description causes minor graphical glitches when viewed; looking at the script reveals the description is actually too long and cuts off. The cut off portion of the description is included here in [brackets].

Portraits Differences

To do: Check minimugs and rip all of the talking/smiling/blinking graphics instead of just the face. Some characters have them, though they seem to be incorrect.

A large majority of characters have a dummy silhouette portrait with a white question mark. The characters that do have non-placeholder portraits are of varying levels of difference to final.

All portraits use a more washed-out palette style and were updated to darker palettes for the final game.

Proto	Final

Design-wise, Eirika's pretty much the same as the final version, though her portrait was touched up, particularly her hair.

Proto	Final

Ephraim received general structural touchups all over the place. Even accounting for the general stylistic palette shift across all the mugs, Ephraim's armor was originally a lighter blue.

Interestingly, this portrait snuck its way into the game's Japanese and US manuals.

Proto	Final

Seth received only a palette update.

Proto	Final

...as did Franz...

Proto	Final

...and Gilliam.

Proto	Final

Moulder's clothes were changed, his face received some touchups, and he was given a bit more jaw. His portrait is a bit shorter in the final game.

Proto	Final

The shape of Vanessa's hair was adjusted and her face was touched up. A pixel of shading in her left eye was changed.

Proto	Final

The back of Ross' head, a bit of his jawline, and the positioning of his shoulder were adjusted.

Proto	Final

Garcia's hairline, beard, and pupil were adjusted. His armor received very minor touchups.

Proto	Final

Innes' clothes and a portion of his hair were touched up.

Proto	Final

Lute was given bits of longer hair and her shoulders were made slightly wider. Her near eye was changed, and she received shading touch-ups all over the place in general.

Proto	Final

Forde's armor was changed and he was given longer hair. As a character, he acts and mentions that he is often sleepy in the final version of the game, which seems to be somewhat more reflected by his messy hair and darkened eye-bags in the prototype portrait.

Proto	Final

Kyle and Forde swapped outfit colors. Kyle's head, face, and hair were pretty much changed to a new character entirely, though both have a similar "serious business" vibe, like the character's personality in the final version of the game.

Proto	Final

Amelia's armor was touched up quite a bit, as was her hair.

Proto	Final (L'Arachel)	Final (Tana)

L'Arachel's prototype design was edited and given to Tana for the final version. She received an entirely new design for the final game.

Proto	Final

The palette of Dozla's hair and outline was updated for stylistic reasons. Otherwise, the portrait is the same.

Proto	Final

Rennac got general touch-ups all over. His hair was also changed slightly near the headband.

Proto	Final (Tethys)	Final (Neimi)

Tethys got an entirely new portrait for the final game. Her old portrait was edited and given to Neimi.

Proto	Final

Ewan is one of the least changed. His portrait got updated to change the outline color to the standard one used by all other final portraits.

Proto	Final

Myrrh's hair was a bit more on the blue side and her eyes were originally purple. She received minor touch-ups to her face and collar.

Interestingly, this portrait snuck its way into the game's Japanese and US manuals.

(Source: Serne's Forest)

Battle Animation Differences

To do: Video would likely be a better demonstration for these.

While many battle animations are missing, there are three new animations implemented, though they are all in rough shape, being a bit unrefined in both movement and shading.

Characters using animations from previous games do not yet have their personalized palettes, and use generic palettes.

Eirika (Lord Class)

Eirika has a completely different battle animation. Its overall movements are different, and is in general unpolished. It made a handful of appearances in Japanese preview magazine articles.

It also does not have any associated sound effects, aside from the sound effect that plays when she hits an opponent. It is complete with an attack, dodge, critical, unarmed, and magic sword animation.

Proto	US Final

Revenant

The Zombie (known as Revenant in the English release) has a rough animation inserted. It is complete with an attack, dodge, critical, and unarmed animations. It is... very squishy.

It also does not have any associated sound effects, aside from the sound effect that plays when it hits an opponent.

Proto	US Final

Bonewalker

The Skeleton (known as Bonewalker in the English release) has a rough animation inserted. It is complete with an attack, dodge, critical, and unarmed animations. It is missing magic sword animations, so it freezes the game when animations are on and it attempts to use a magic sword.

It also does not have any associated sound effects, aside from the sound effect that plays when it hits an opponent.

Proto	US Final

Miscellaneous Graphics

To do: Need "congratulation" banner for ruins/tower.

Proto	JP Final

The promotion screen uses a font from the previous game as a placeholder.

Proto	JP Final

The banner that appears when completing a floor in the Tower of Valni or Lagdou Ruins is clearly a placeholder.

Game Script

The character dialogue and scenes for the first eight chapters is implemented. While the gist is the same as the final game, it features various differences and uses placeholder names and designations. For instance, some bosses are called "Evil" in dialogue, and it seems that "xx" may be used for placeholders of other things. Some lines of dialogue have "Temporary)" written at the start.

Names

Class Names

A few of the classes have different names than the final version.

Proto	Translation	Japanese Final	Translation	English Final
ヘルスケルトン	Hellskeleton	ヘルボーン	Hellbone	Wight
ゴーゴンエッグ	Gorgon Egg (English transcribed in Katakana)	ゴーゴンの卵	Gorgon Egg	Gorgon Egg
見習い	Apprentice	かけだし戦士	Novice Fighter	Journeyman

Character Names

Only two playable characters have different names than they do in the final. Also of note, all the bosses in the game are named イビル (Evil).

One of the protagonists, known as Ephraim in the final, is called "Irzark" in debug materials. This name change seems to have been made very early and before this revision, as in all gameplay he is called Ephraim.

Proto	Translation	Japanese Final	Translation	English Final
メアリ	Mary	ネイミー	Neimi	Neimi
ボルバ	Borba	ガルシア	Garcia	Garcia

Perhaps worth noting, considering how much inspiration The Sacred Stones takes from Gaiden: Borba's Japanese spelling, ボルバ, is バルボ (Barubo), the Japanese name of Valbar from Gaiden, backwards, akin to naming the character "Rablav" in English. Interestingly enough, his final name, Garcia (ガルシア), directly matches the name of a character from Gaiden with no modification at all, albeit the character in question is simply a throwaway Cantor boss fought by Celica's army during Act 4 rather than a party member.

Guide

To do: Looking through the game script, there seems to be more text present for the guide. Should check if it is particularly different from final.

The guide feature is present, and functionally and graphically seems to be fully implemented. It doesn't cover much material at this point, however, only featuring very short text about breakable walls. The guide is also a bit shy, and only appears in the map menu sometimes; entering skirmishes seems to make it appear, though. Visually, it is exactly as it appears in final.

Image	Translation (section)	Translation (body)
	Game Mechanic	Breakable Walls Break down a wall, make your way through

World Map

The world map is largely the same as the final release, however it has a slightly different palette and slightly different paths. There is one location not featured in the final release. The Demon's Forest location was essentially merged with the Black Temple location in the final.

Magvel, the continent itself, is also shaped slightly differently, being somewhat less detailed in the prototype, missing features like some of the mountain ranges, rivers, forests, and the like.

Proto	Final

World Map Location Names

Nearly every location name in the prototype is different from the final.

Proto	Translation	Japanese Final	Translation	English Final
ノルレアン砦	Norlean Fort	国境ミュラン	Border Mulan	Border Mulan
フレリア城	Frelia Castle	フレリア城	Frelia Castle	Frelia Castle
オステオ村	Osteo Village	イムの村	Im Village	Ide
ギアゾ山	Giazo Mountain	ボルゴ峠	Borgo Pass	Borgo Ridge
ティラザ高原	Tiraza Plateau	ザッハの古森	Zahha Woods	Za'ha Woods
ナルーベ街	Narube Town	境街セレフィユ	Border Town Serafew	Serafew
ゼライ砦	Fort Zerai	アドラス平原	Adlas Plains	Adlas Plains
レドム城	Redom Castle	水城レンバール	Moat Castle Renvall	Renvall
バレアルの塔	Tower of Bareal (Belial?)	ヴェルニの塔	Tower of Velni	Tower of Valni
エル港	Port El	貿易港キリス	Trade Port Kiris	Port Kiris
ドーニャ平原	Donya Plains	ティラザ高原	Tiraza Plateau	Teraz Plateau
ポカラの里	Pokhara Village	ポカラの里	Pokhara Village	Caer Pelyn
ラフシア平原	Rafshia Plains	ハミル渓谷	Hamill Canyon	Hamill Canyon
ジャハナ城	Jyahana Castle	ジャハナ王宮	Jyahana Royal Palace	Jehanna Hall
ゲルドバ砦	Fort Geldoba	リグバルト要塞	Fortress Rigbald	Fort Rigwald
タレグ港	Port Tareg	港町ベイセル	Beisel Port Town	Bethroen
アスゴナ港	Port Asgona	タイゼル港	Port Taizel	Taizel
ルゼイネ平原	Ruzeine Plains	ザールブル湿原	Zahlbul Bog	Za'albul Marsh
グラド城	Grado Castle	グラド城	Grado Castle	Grado Keep
ルネス城	Renais Castle	王都ルネス	Renais Capital	Renais Castle
カンタロ平原	Kantaro Plains	大河ナルーベ	Large River Narube	Narube River
イオニ火山	Ioni Volcano	峰火山ネレラス	Neleras Volcano Peak	Neleras Peak
ロストン城	Roston Castle	ロストン宮殿	Roston Palace	Rausten Court
ムルジカ遺跡	Murjika Ruins	ラグドゥ遺跡	Lagdou Ruins	Lagdou Ruins
ハミル港	Port Hamil	メレカナ海岸	Melkana Coast	Melkaen Coast
魔の森	Demon Forest	(Does not exist)	(Does not exist)	(Does not exist)
魔殿	Demon Temple	魔殿	Demon Temple	Black Temple

(Source: Fireemblemwiki.org)

Supports

There are three support pairs implemented, making for a total of nine conversations. For whatever reason, support points do not increase in gameplay, so these conversations need to be unlocked by using the the debug stat screen to increase support points.

The three pairs are Eirika x Seth, Eirika x Franz, and Seth x Franz. Interestingly, the Eirika x Franz pairing does not exist in the final release at all.

All nine conversations feature placeholder dialogue. They also claim that the conversation is occurring between Eirika and Seth (the first two characters recruited in the game), though it is possible for this to not be the case.

The level 1 message appears in C rank conversations, the level 2 message appears in B rank conversations, and the level 3 message in A rank conversations. All of these conversations load Eirika on the left as the speaker and Seth on the right (he doesn't say anything).

Japanese	Translation
エイリーク　＋　ゼト 支援会話　レベル１	Eirika + Seth support conversation level1
エイリーク　＋　ゼト 支援会話　レベル２	Eirika + Seth support conversation level2
エイリーク　＋　ゼト 支援会話　レベル３	Eirika + Seth support conversation level3

Music

Absolutely no new songs are implemented yet, the prototype still features the entirety of the previous game's soundtrack.

Differences from the Final

• Lots of content from Blazing Sword, such as the title screen, all the music, map tiles and etc. is in the prototype ROM.
  • The mode select from the previous game is present, amusingly featuring Eirika and... Eliwood and Hector.
• Tons of placeholder graphics and data, such as character portraits, enemies and bosses on the map.
• Amelia has Tana's role; her class was planned to be a flying Trainee.
• L'Arachel has a variation of Tana's portrait, while Tethys has a variation of Neimi's portrait.
• There was a Wyvern Rider called Nate planned.
• Some characters have different classes, eg. Innes (Monk), Forde (Ranger), Cormag (Mercenary), Tana (General), Joshua (Swordmaster).
• In Chapter 6, after Eirika hands over her bracelet, the Grado soldiers kill the civilians immediately and they cannot be saved.
• Chapter 5x and Chapter 11 (Creeping Darkness and Phantom Ship) in both routes are absent.
• Melkaen coast, while existing as a location on the world map, does not yet have its actual map implemented yet.
• After Chapter 8, there are no more story events.
• Eirika promotes at the beginning of Chapter 17.
• The Final Chapter is comprised of just one map.

Oddities

• Both L and B will back out of the options menu, though the former does it silently while the latter plays a beep. This is not present in the final release. Did a developer really not like the sound?