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Proto:Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones/Maps and Chapters

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This is a sub-page of Proto:Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones.

This cactus is UNDER CONSTRUCTION
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.
Hmmm...
To do:
  • Once coverage expands to cover things like enemy inventories/layouts, this whole page could probably be chopped into chapter-specific sub-pages.
  • "VS EIRIKR" and "R06 EIRIKR" crash when access is attempted. VS is likely just the link arena, though it might be a good idea to see if R06 has anything of interest.

Only the first nine chapters have dialogue and chapter events. All chapters after chapter eight have maps, and some have preliminary enemy placements, but they all lack any events, chapter narration, and character dialogue. Chapters after 8 also lack recruited characters that would appear in the final game's equivalent chapter. This also renders a large amount of playable characters unused as of this revision, as there is no way to add them to the party, as they don't even appear on the test map.

In the prototype the save file label and introduction for each chapter has the appropriate numbers, but there are no chapter titles. For example, when loading the chapter known as Chapter 1: Escape in the final release, the prototype simply displays 章1 (Chapter 1).

The maps pre-route split are referred to by the header "TUTO," assumedly short for 'tutorial,' which lines up with Lyn's route in the previous game being used as a tutorial segment. The used chapters in this prototype after the tutorial are referred to as "EIRIKR" chapters; this is presumably short for 'Eirik route', "Eirik" being the most commonly-used Romanization for Eirika's Japanese name, エイリーク. "IRZARK" seems to be an early name for Eirika's brother, and the game's other protagonist, Ephraim.

(Source: Map rips provided by Sme23)

Chapters Missing from the Prototype

There are three named chapters and one skirmish map missing from the prototype compared to the final release.

The first is Chapter 5x: Unbroken Heart, a quick perspective change to Ephraim at the start of the game.

The prototype is missing one chapter from each of the two routes. These chapters are Chapter 11: Creeping Darkness on Eirika's route, and Chapter 11: Phantom Ship on Ephraim's route. These are also the two of the three chapters in the final game to lack associated world map locations, with these chapters instead occurring between locations.

The prototype's final chapter lacks a second half, it is a two-parter in the final release. The skirmish location Melkaen Coast (called Port Hamil in this revision) has a world map designation that can be entered, but this seems to lead to some sort of placeholder map, which can be accessed by selecting H00 in the map select.

Skirmishes

Skirmishes are battles that occur when challenging monsters on the world map. In the final game these take place on the corresponding chapter map that the monster was standing on on the world map.

In the prototype, entering a skirmish loads the respective chapter's enemy unit set again instead of loading a set of randomly generated monster enemies.

L00 TUTO

FE The Sacred Stones proto Prologe map.png
L00 TUTO
The game's prologue chapter.

L01 TUTO

Known as Chapter 1: Escape! in the final release. Called 章1 (Chapter 1) here in the prototype.

The map and gameplay are very close to those in the final release. The map has minor tile placement differences and a different palette.

Prototype Final
FE The Sacred Stones proto Ch1 map.png FE The Sacred Stones Ch1 map.png

The story events are very similar to the final release. Once again, the boss uses the placeholder name イビル (Evil), including in dialogue, which is... somewhat amusing. His name in the final version is Breguet.

Also, once again, generic brigands are used instead of the generic fighters that are used in the final release.

L02 TUTO

Known as Chapter 2: The Protected in the final release. Called 章2 (Chapter 2) here in the prototype.

Another map very close to the final release.

Prototype Final
FE The Sacred Stones proto Ch2 map.png FE The Sacred Stones Ch2 map.png

Here comes イビル (Evil) again, this boss is named Bone in the final game.

The upper left village gives 3000 Gold, it instead gives a Red Gem in the final release, considering a Red Gem sells for 5000 gold, the prototype is a bit more stingy. The upper right village gives an Elixir, same as the final release. The bottom left village gives a Pure Water, same as the final release, though this village only has a placeholder line of text, unlike the other two which have proper dialogue.

Also of note, since the Hatchet weapon does not yet exist, Ross starts with an Iron Axe instead.

The chapter's ending scenes are missing a flashback involving Eirika reminiscing about her brother teaching her swordplay.

L03 TUTO

Known as Chapter 3: The Bandits of Borgo in the final release. Called 章3 (Chapter 3) here in the prototype.

Another little-changed map.

Prototype Final
FE The Sacred Stones proto Ch3 map.png FE The Sacred Stones Ch3 map.png

Once again, the boss is named イビル (Evil), he is called Bazba in the final game.

The chapter's opening flow is a bit different. The thief character, Colm, opens the door in the upper left before his turn. Then, he moves through the door to the first chest on his actual turn, meaning the player has to play a bit of catch-up to get to him. In the final release he opens the door then waits there, making him recruitable on the second turn.

Differing from final, the chests in the upper middle room contain, from left to right, an Iron Sword, a Slim Sword, and a Steel Sword. The chest in the bottom middle contains a Silver Sword. This is presumably some sort of test, as these are the first four weapons in internal order.

L04 TUTO

Known as Chapter 4: Ancient Horrors in the final release. Called 章4 (Chapter 4) here in the prototype.

The map is somewhat different, with the most notable change being the movement of the right-hand village to the upper part of the map in the final.

Prototype Final
FE The Sacred Stones proto Ch4 map.png FE The Sacred Stones Ch4 map.png

The opening events are slightly different. The characters Artur and Lute appear on the map talking about the monsters. Lute then goes into the lower left village. In the final game this scene is moved to into the village, so Lute does not appear on the map at that point.

In the final game the character Artur has a scripted fight with a monster, which he kills. This scripted fight does not occur in the prototype at all.

The mid-chapter cutscene foreshadowing the arrival of the trio of NPCs, L'Arachel, Dozla, and Rennac does not exist, though they still show up at the end of the chapter.

The bottom right village contains only a test message and gives an Elixir. This is different from the final game, where the village is moved to the top of the map and instead gives an Iron Axe. The bottom left village results in Lute joining the player in both versions.

The deployment limit is higher in the prototype, allowing 11 characters, in other words, all characters recruited to this point, to be deployed. In the final game only 9 characters can be deployed.

L05 TUTO

Known as Chapter 5: The Empire's Reach in the final release. Called 章5 (Chapter 5) here in the prototype.

The map layout is very different.

Prototype Final
FE The Sacred Stones proto Ch5 map.png FE The Sacred Stones Ch5 map.png

Another boss named イビル (Evil)! Wow! He's called Saar in the final release.

This chapter demonstrates one of the first fairly significant character differences. Cormag appears in this chapter as a mercenary, in the final game Joshua appears as a myrmidon. Cormag's recruitment is moved to much later in the final game.

The house in the middle left gives an Armor Slayer, this item is also given by a house in the final game. The bottom-left and upper-right red houses give nothing, and don't even have placeholder text for visiting them.

In the prototype the player units deploy in the middle-left of the map, in the final the player units deploy in the bottom-left.

Again, the deployment limit is higher in the prototype, allowing 11 characters, in other words, all characters recruited to this point, to be deployed. In the final game only 9 characters can be deployed.

L06 TUTO

Known as Chapter 6: Victims of War in the final release. Called 章6 (Chapter 6) here in the prototype.

This chapter uses a completely different map in the prototype. This prototype map was moved to Chapter 11 Eirika route, and a new map was made for it in the final.

Prototype Final
FE The Sacred Stones proto Ch6 map.png FE The Sacred Stones Ch6 map.png
FE The Sacred Stones proto Saleh fight.png

This boss is called... you guessed it, イビル (Evil)! In the final game he's called Novala.

The gist of the story is the same, once again, though there are a few key differences here. At the start of the chapter, in the prototype and final, the boss is holding some helpless civilians hostage. In the final release, the boss places them off in the lower-right of the map, and rescuing them from approaching monsters is a minor optional side-objective that gives a little bonus item at the end of the chapter. The prototype treats these poor souls far differently, as the boss just straight up kills them himself, giving the player no opportunity to save them at all.

Another difference is at the end of the chapter, a scene that has no equivalent in the final release occurs. The character Saleh appears and finishes the boss in a scripted fight. This fight does not exist in the final game, though Saleh does appear in this chapter shortly for a dialogue scene.

All chests in this chapter contain placeholder Iron Swords.

L07 TUTO

Known as Chapter 7: Waterside Renvall in the final release. Called 章7 (Chapter 7) here in the prototype.

The map is pretty much the same, but it features Fog of War in the prototype.

Prototype Final
FE The Sacred Stones proto Ch7 map.png FE The Sacred Stones Ch7 map.png

イビル (Evil) strikes again! He's called Murray in the final game. He is a cavalier in the final game, but a mercenary in the prototype.

Aside from being unable to visit the houses and there being Fog of War, (which Seth warns about before it happens) this chapter is fairly similar to the final release, though they continue to use brigands instead of fighters for whatever reason...

Amusingly, despite Seth mentioning ballistae, there are not yet any ballistae present on the map. There is one on the final's version of the map.

L08 TUTO

Known as Chapter 8: It's a Trap! in the final release. Called 章8 (Chapter 8) here in the prototype.

The map is very close to the one in the final release.

Prototype Final
FE The Sacred Stones proto Ch8 map.png FE The Sacred Stones Ch8 map.png
Like all the other bosses, he's just a dummy.

The boss names himself in dialogue as ジュード・ルーバルト (Jude Rubert), unfortunately, the actual boss of the map is called イビル (Evil) regardless. Seth seems to think this Jude fella is pretty important, saying he's one of Grado's seven imperial generals. This is another difference from the final, as there are only six generals and Jude Rubert does not exist in the final game at all. The boss of this chapter in the final game is called Tirado.

This chapter also has a tutorial not present in the final game. It has a unit class change tutorial, performed by the character Forde.

Once again, the chests contain placeholder Iron Swords.

This is the last chapter with any story events or dialogue, after this the game automatically throws you into Eirika's route without allowing the player to choose.

E09 EIRIKR

Prototype Final
FE The Sacred Stones proto Ch9 Eirika map.png FE The Sacred Stones Ch9 Eirika map.png

The map is vaguely similar. The starting position differs in the prototype, with the player units starting in the center left of the map, in the final version they start in the upper right.

E10 EIRIKR

Prototype Final
FE The Sacred Stones proto Ch10 Eirika map.png FE The Sacred Stones Ch10 Eirika map.png

The most obvious changes are the mountains being cleaned up and swapping to a different palette. The building in the middle-left of the map was moved up one tile. One of the fortresses near it was removed. The arena is absent in the prototype.

E11 EIRIKR

Note that in the final version this is actually Chapter 12 due to an entirely new Chapter 11 being inserted between the old chapter 10 and 11 later in development.

Prototype Final
FE The Sacred Stones proto Ch11 Eirika map.png FE The Sacred Stones Ch11 Eirika map.png

Clearly just an unrefined version of the final map with no particularly major changes aside from implementation of a much larger building for the seize point.

E12 EIRIKR

Prototype Final
FE The Sacred Stones proto Ch13 Eirika map.png FE The Sacred Stones Ch13 Eirika map.png

E13 EIRIKR

Prototype Final
FE The Sacred Stones proto Ch14 Eirika map.png FE The Sacred Stones Ch14 Eirika map.png

While the maps are clearly similar conceptually, the layout was changed significantly for final. Unfortunately map data does not yet exist for what is in the covered rooms in the prototype, so their layouts are unknown. The prototype's enemy layout is clearly placeholder as the player units are placed right at the throne room and the only enemy present is the boss waiting on the throne.


Tower of Valni

T01 EIRIKR

Prototype Final
FE The Sacred Stones proto Tower 1 map.png FE The Sacred Stones Tower 1 map.png

T02 EIRIKR

The second floor of the Tower of Valni. This design was cut from the game entirely, though a screenshot of it managed to appear in some pre-release materials. For the final version of the game, the prototype's sixth floor design was moved here.

Prototype Final
FE The Sacred Stones proto Tower 2 map.png FE The Sacred Stones Tower 2 map.png

T03 EIRIKR

The third floor of the Tower of Valni. This design was cut from the game entirely. For the final version of the game, the prototype's eighth floor design was moved here.

Prototype Final
FE The Sacred Stones proto Tower 3 map.png FE The Sacred Stones Tower 3 map.png

T04 EIRIKR

The fourth floor of the Tower of Valni. Not much changed here.

Prototype Final
FE The Sacred Stones proto Tower 4 map.png FE The Sacred Stones Tower 4 map.png

T05 EIRIKR

The fifth floor of the Tower of Valni. Not much changed here either, though some chests were added and some stairs removed.

Prototype Final
FE The Sacred Stones proto Tower 5 map.png FE The Sacred Stones Tower 5 map.png

T06 EIRIKR

The sixth floor of the tower of Valni. The prototype design was moved to the second floor, while the seventh floor got shifted down to here.

Prototype Final
FE The Sacred Stones proto Tower 6 map.png FE The Sacred Stones Tower 6 map.png

T07 EIRIKR

The seventh floor of the Tower of Valni. The prototype design was shifted down to the sixth floor. The map data for the walls breaking does not yet exist. If any of the walls have their HP depleted, the game will crash, rendering this floor impossible to complete normally. Chests haven't been added yet.

Prototype Final Final (6th Floor)
FE The Sacred Stones proto Tower 7 map.png FE The Sacred Stones Tower 7 map.png FE The Sacred Stones Tower 6 map.png

T08 EIRIKR

The eighth floor of the Tower of Valni. The prototype design was moved to the third floor, shifting the prototype's tenth floor here for the final version. The area that appears to be a covered room cannot be uncovered, and no map data for what the uncovered version looks like exists in the prototype.

Prototype Final
FE The Sacred Stones proto Tower 8 map.png FE The Sacred Stones Tower 8 map.png

T09 EIRIKR

The ninth floor of the Tower of Valni. Ended up shifted to the seventh floor in the final version due to two floors being cut. The floating paths that appear between rooms when all enemies in one room are defeated do not yet exist, rendering this floor impossible to complete normally.

Prototype Final (7th floor)
FE The Sacred Stones proto Tower 9 map.png FE The Sacred Stones Tower 7 map.png

T10 EIRIKR

The tenth floor of the tower of Valni. Ended up shifted to the eighth floor in the final version due to two floors being cut. The light arrows featuring on the equivalent floor in the final version are not yet present.

Prototype Final (8th floor)
FE The Sacred Stones proto Tower 10 map.png FE The Sacred Stones Tower 8 map.png

Lagdou Ruins

R01 EIRIKR

The first floor of Lagdou Ruins. For the final version it was given an entirely different layout, and may have been the inspiration for the final game's third floor.

Prototype Final Final (3rd Floor)
FE The Sacred Stones proto Ruins 1 map.png FE The Sacred Stones Ruins 1 map.png FE The Sacred Stones Ruins 3 map.png

R02 EIRIKR

The second floor of Lagdou Ruins. It appears to use an incorrect tileset. It does not resemble any of the floors in the final game. The design appears to have been discarded and doesn't feature in the final game anywhere.

Prototype Prototype (Corrected) Final
FE The Sacred Stones proto Ruins 2 map.png FE The Sacred Stones proto Ruins 2 map fixed.png FE The Sacred Stones Ruins 2 map.png

R03 EIRIKR

The third floor of Lagdou Ruins. This floor became the second floor in the final version.

Prototype Final Final (2nd Floor)
FE The Sacred Stones proto Ruins 3 map.png FE The Sacred Stones Ruins 3 map.png FE The Sacred Stones Ruins 2 map.png

R04 EIRIKR

The fourth floor in Lagdou Ruins. The map for this floor was moved to the sixth floor in the final version.

Prototype Final Final (6th Floor)
FE The Sacred Stones proto Ruins 4 map.png FE The Sacred Stones Ruins 4 map.png FE The Sacred Stones Ruins 6 map.png

R05 EIRIKR

The fifth floor in Lagdou Ruins. An entirely discarded layout. Also uses what appears to be a messed up tileset.

Prototype Prototype (Corrected) Final
FE The Sacred Stones proto Ruins 5 map.png FE The Sacred Stones proto Ruins 5 map fixed.png FE The Sacred Stones Ruins 5 map.png

R06 EIRIKR

The sixth floor in Lagdou Ruins. Crashes when access is attempted. The map assigned to it appears to be a duplicate of R02, though with a different (also incorrect) tileset.

Prototype Prototype (Corrected) Final
FE The Sacred Stones proto Ruins 6 map.png FE The Sacred Stones proto Ruins 2 map fixed.png FE The Sacred Stones Ruins 6 map.png

R07 EIRIKR

The seventh floor in Lagdou Ruins. Resembles the fourth floor in the final version of the game.

Prototype Final Final (4th Floor)
FE The Sacred Stones proto Ruins 7 map.png FE The Sacred Stones Ruins 7 map.png FE The Sacred Stones Ruins 4 map.png

R08 EIRIKR

The eighth floor in Lagdou Ruins. This map appears to actually use the... "correct" tileset, but said tileset itself seems to be messed up. A more comprehensible version can be seen if one applies the cave tileset from the earlier GBA FE titles to it.

The layout vaguely resembles the fifth floor in the final version of the game. If the map were to have been functional, it is highly likely that the holes in the cave walls would have been poison vents, like the previous two GBA FE titles. While the final version no longer uses the cave tileset, it still features poison vents.

Prototype Prototype (Corrected) Final Final (5th Floor)
FE The Sacred Stones proto Ruins 8 map.png FE The Sacred Stones proto Ruins 8 map fixed.png FE The Sacred Stones Ruins 8 map.png FE The Sacred Stones Ruins 5 map.png

R09 EIRIKR

The ninth floor of Lagdou Ruins. This map's design was moved to the seventh floor in the final game.

Prototype Final Final (7th Floor)
FE The Sacred Stones proto Ruins 9 map.png FE The Sacred Stones Ruins 9 map.png FE The Sacred Stones Ruins 7 map.png

R10 EIRIKR

The tenth, and final, floor of Lagdou Ruins. Compared to the other floors, this one actually made it into the final game relatively unscathed and unshuffled.

Prototype Final
FE The Sacred Stones proto Ruins 10 map.png FE The Sacred Stones Ruins 10 map.png

C00 EIRIKR

Takes the player to cutscenes before chapter 2. See L02 TUTO. It's essentially the same thing as L02 TUTO in terms of where the player ends up...

H00 EIRIKR

Leads to what appears to be a placeholder map. In "normal" gameplay, this map can be accessed on the world map location for Melkaen Coast.

D00 EIRIKR

This leads to the test map, which also remains in the final version of the game. The left house leads to a map viewer, and the right leads to a portrait viewer. The map viewer simply forces the actual chapter map to cycle through other maps in the game, and the portrait viewer loads every portrait in the game in (what appears to be) a fairly standard dialogue sequence.

VS EIRIKR

Name seems to imply something about the link arena, though it crashes when accessed, so it is not known for sure.