Proto:Mario Kart DS/USA Kiosk Demo
This is a sub-page of Proto:Mario Kart DS.
 | 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. |
Early in development, Mario Kart DS resembled Double Dash!! much more than it does in the final; these connections can be seen both in-game and unused in this kiosk demo that was used in stores prior to the game's release. On another note, this build is very similar to the E3 2005 demo version(s).
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Contents
Sub-Pages
 | Notes |
Early Resources
 | Early Courses Blue cars are red? |
 | Early Objects Bullet Bills without eyes? |
 | Early Maps So many maps from Yoshi Circuit? |
 | Early Modes Driving with 8 Marios? |
 | Early Audio Double Dash!! instruments? |
Unused Content
 | Unused Courses Chequered areas? |
 | Unused Textures Double Dash!! menus? |
General Differences
| Prototype | Final JPN/EUR/KOR | Final USA |
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The top screen was unchanged, but the bottom screen is different compared to any released version as it only has a basic copyright.
| Proto | Final |
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The most notable difference is the different logo, which is the same logo from the older Mario Kart games.
| Proto | Final |
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The graphics and fonts used in the cup selection are different in the Kiosk Demo. All cups are absent except the demo cups Nitro and Retro, which are the final game's Mushroom and Shell cups.
The course names are still written with the Kiosk Demo font in the Korean version of the final game.
| Proto | Final |
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The boot-up banner is also different. It depicts Mario and his kart with their models from E3 2004 (which tends to borrow from Mario Kart: Double Dash!!), rather than the final design.
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Nearly all of the item icons were redrawn and/or enlarged. Additionally, the demo uses a few textures from Mario Kart: Double Dash!!. The Blooper also has its appearance from Super Mario Sunshine.
| Proto | Final |
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Donkey Kong is called "DK" and has his voice clips ripped directly from Donkey Kong 64 in the demo. Also, Wario has his original long-sleeved shirt in the demo from past Mario games. The icons on the character select screen were spread out in the final version. Most icons are slightly cropped, Toad and DK's faces are redrawn, and Yoshi is smaller overall for the final version. A few pixels are changed in Wario's icon, visible on his right arm and under his chin.
Graphical Differences
Countdown numbers
| Proto | Final |
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START text
| Proto | Final |
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The prototype says GO! while the final says START.
Goal text
| Proto | Final |
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The countdown numbers and the goal text are bigger than in the final, but are paler and lacking in detail.
Other differences
- No smoke particles appear if the player fails the turbo start at the beginning of the race.
- Touching other drivers slows you down dramatically.
- The map on the bottom screen can be zoomed in and out by sliding horizontally on the touchscreen. This feature still exists in the final, but disabled. It can be re-enabled with an AR code.
- Characters' winning animations will sometimes get stuck. Also happens in the final's battle mode sometimes.
- If the driver touches the road while upside-down, they will instantly flip vertically. A similar reaction exists in Mario Kart 64.
- If the player drifts on a boost panel and bumps into a wall with the outer drift side, they will stand on the boost panel without receiving a boost.
Early Menus
| To do: Document the leftovers in the final game. There are archives in the Scene folder and the address for the current menu is 021653BA (in the Europe version), but simply changing it like you can in the demo doesn't work - the game crashes. |
While not appearing in the demo menu, these can be accessed using the below Action Replay code (where "XX" is the ID). Press Select at any time to activate the code.
94000130 000003FB 120E77D8 000000XX D2000000 00000000
Emblem Editor
ID: 03
Internal Name: Edit
The emblem editor used in the final game is called Emblem.
| Proto | Final |
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At this point, the editor has a basic appearance with a more advanced paint bucket and only 3 template patterns, those being a ball, a star, and a heart. The paint bucket has the option to draw connected pixels with the same colour, draw all pixels with the same colour or to give all pixels on the screen the same colour. The archive that contains this editor still exists in the final and also contains an improved, but still incomplete emblem editor.
Pressing the S on the bottom screen shows 4 options:
1. Option: Save and go to Driver Menu
2. Option: Go to Driver Menu without Save
3. Option: Save and continue
4. Option: Continue without Save
However, the emblem is only black on emulators and crashes on real hardware, most likely due to a missing palette file.
Debug Menu
ID: 04
Internal Name: Menu
A debug menu is present in the Kiosk Demo which contains many features. The menu used in this demo is called E3Menu and the menu used in the final is called Menu, like this debug menu. More information can be found on the the Early Modes sub-page.
Communication Error / Test
ID: 05
Internal Name: Test
This screen shows an early communication error screen with some testing features on the bottom screen by pressing X. These include a bottom map test of GCN Yoshi Circuit, a drawing test, and a test showing Japanese text in red.
The red text (あいうえお かきくけこ さしすせそ) contains the first fifteen letters of the hiragana script, which is the equivalent to the first 15 letters of the alphabet.
The white text (仮ポーズ) means temporary pause.
| Bottom Map Test | Drawing Test | |
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06
| To do: Check what happens with these last three values if they're executed on the EU multiplayer kiosk demo? I feel like they might have relation to some sort of 'connection waiting' menu/selection sort of thing (particularly given this one is just after the error screen, idk |
ID: 06
Internal Name: Unknown or none in game
Shows the current name of the DS console. Purpose unknown.
07
ID: 07
Internal Name: Unknown or none in game
A blank screen. Pressing A or Start will take you back to the Title Screen.
Record Screen
ID: 0B
Internal Name: Record
Another blank screen. Every value after this one crashes the game.
Early Characters
Daisy (0x09), Waluigi (0x0A), R.O.B. (0x0B), and Shy Guy (0x0C) exist in the Kiosk Demo, but are unfinished as they use the files for Peach, Luigi, Mario, and Yoshi.
Yoshi
Yoshi was originally of medium weight class (evident by the values in KartModelMain.carc/charphysicalparam.bin file), but ended up being light in final.
E. Gadd
Professor E. Gadd was going to be a playable character in Mario Kart DS, but was later replaced with Dry Bones. He uses Toad's models, graphics, and voice clips with Mario's kart decorations and large portrait. His ID is 0x08.
Early Vehicles
All characters use their Standard kart in the Kiosk Demo, rendering the alternate versions unused. Karts from the second category do not exist yet and are using duplicates of the Standard Kart (except Poltergust 4000).
| Proto | Final |
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These karts still exist in the final game's files as they can be found in the unused KartModelMenu.carc and KartModelMain.carc archives.
| Early | Later |
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Additionally, Wario's early kart has an earlier shadow model under the name sh_WR_c.nsbmd, which is used by his other kart that is a duplicate of his standard kart (later replaced by Dragonfly). The later one is sh_WR_b.nsbmd and is used by the actual said kart. Both can also be found in the final version, under the unused KartModelMain.carc file.
Early Cups
All cups from the final game are present in the Kiosk Demo. The Shell, Banana, Leaf and Lightning cups were called SNES, N64, GBA and GCN Cup and they only featured the courses from the corresponding console.
It's worth noting that SNES Koopa Beach 2 and Choco Island 2 were swapped around at some point as indicated by the course order of the SNES cup.
Unused Items
Boo
This item exists both in this prototype and in the final game but it cannot be obtained under usual ways. It is possible to obtain it with AR codes, but attempting to use it crashes the game.
| Proto | Final |
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The item model has a different texture however; it uses a newer texture, whereas in final it's just re-used from the object model used in Luigi's Mansion and N64 Banshee Boardwalk.
620f9170 00000000 b20fb0f0 00000000 2000001c 0000000e 20000024 00000001 d2000000 00000000
Blooper
| Item Roulette | Item Model |
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Like the Boo item mentioned above, this item also exists in both this prototype and in the final, however the item does not appear in the item roulette. The roulette icon resembles a Blooper from Super Mario Sunshine, whereas the item model is a crudely downscaled piece of official artwork. Interestingly it also has a map icon, which doesn't appear in the final.
Chain Chomp
The Chain Chomp from Mario Kart: Double Dash!! makes a small appearance in this demo, but was later replaced with the Bullet Bill. While the item does flash by in the item roulette (as seen in this expertly-timed screenshot), you cannot receive it. It is possible to obtain it with AR codes, but attempting to use it crashes the game.
620f9170 00000000 b20fb0f0 00000000 2000001c 00000010 20000024 00000001 d2000000 00000000
Bowser Shell
A texture for the Bowser Shell from Mario Kart: Double Dash!! can be found in the game's files as well. However, this item does not appear in the item roulette, as there is no data for it. The item model goes by the name it_togezo, where togezo is Japanese for spiny. In Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, the item model is named koura_koopa, koura meaning shell and koopa being the Japanese name for Bowser. This might prove the item was planned to be a Spiny Shell possibly like that of Mario Kart 64 and Mario Kart: Super Circuit, rather than a Bowser Shell.
Purple Koopa Shell
| Item Roulette | Item Model |
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A texture which shows a purple Koopa shell. Again, there is no data for such an item. A small icon of a triple purple shell for use on the item roulette and the bottom screen exists.
Fake Item Box
Found in the bottom screen HUD files is what would be an early map icon for Fake Item Boxes, judging by its appearance through the item is nowhere to appear in this build. This item appears in the roulette with its icon from Mario Kart: Double Dash!! (as with most other items) in an early Nintendo DS Line-up footage (where this game was in an earlier build), later this item was re-added in the final version, but there it uses new icons.
Bottom-Screen Icons
Each of the three unused items has a corresponding bottom-screen icon. Note that only an icon for Triple Purple Shells exists - there is no icon for a single Purple Shell, proves the item was planned to only have a triple variant.
| Rank List Icons | Map Icons |
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Placeholder Green Shells
Item IDs 0B and 0D appear as Green Shell in the item roulette and your character's icon in the rank list. They can be achieved using AR codes, but using them crashes the game. The ID for the actual Green Shell is 00.
620f9170 00000000 b20fb0f0 00000000 2000001c 0000000X 20000024 00000001 d2000000 00000000 (Replace X with B or D)
The following video shows these unused items in action:
Unused Text
GADD
DAISY
WALUIGI
HVC-012
SHYGUY
Text used by the early characters.
TEST MESSAGE J 1
TEST MESSAGE J 2
Present in root/Data/Scene/Test.carc/Test.carc/test.bmg, a file which itself goes unused.
コースをすすんで 2つのドカンのあいだを とおれ！ せいげんじかんは 25びょう。 コイン40まいを ぜんぶあつめろ！ せいげんじかんは 50びょう。 クリボー6ぴきを ぜんぶたおせ！ せいげんじかんは 30びょう。 はぐれワンワンよりも さきにゴールしろ！
コイン50まいを ぜんぶあつめろ！ せいげんじかんは 60びょう。 コースを 2しゅうまわれ！ せいげんじかんは 100びょう。 あかいクルマよりも さきにゴールしろ！ さくせいちゅう・・・
Found in /data/Scene/Menu_ja.carc/mission.bmg is Japanese mission objective text for missions 1 to 7. (from top to bottom: 1, 6, 2, 4, 5, 7, 3) Roughly translated, it means...
Go through the course and pass between the two pipes! Time limit: 25 seconds. Collect all 40 coins! Time limit: 50 seconds. Defeat all 6 Goombas! Time limit: 30 seconds. Reach the goal before the runaway Chain Chomp!
Collect all 50 coins! Time limit: 60 seconds. Make two laps around the course! Time limit: 100 seconds. Reach the goal before the red car! Under construction...
"Under construction" was likely used as temporary text for undeveloped missions.
The final's mission descriptions don't have the "Time limit" line, and the Chain Chomp mission's description here is the only one kept in the final.
:start if(state==0,S0) if(state==1,S1) if(state==2,S2) goto(CLOSE) :S0 objX0 = (128+150) - (150 * count / move) objY0 = 96 goto(CLOSE) :S1 objX0 = 128 objY0 = 96 goto(CLOSE) :S2 objX0 = 128 - (150 * count / move) objY0 = 96 :CLOSE scriptCount = scriptCount + 1 backScroll = (backScroll + 1) % (512 * 6) if((scriptCount % 30)!=0,S3) tmp = rand() objX1 = tmp % 256 objY1 = tmp % 192 :S3 tmp = cos(256 * scriptCount % 65536) objX2 = tmp / 64 + 256 / 2 tmp = sin(256 * scriptCount % 65536) objY2 = tmp / 64 + 192 / 2 :end
Found in /Scene/Test.carc is some sort of script under the file menu.scr.
This script is used by the Communication Error / Test Scene. Among other things, it defines the movement animation of Mario's sprite.
Unused Models
Shy Guy
There is an unused Shy Guy model which appears to be unfinished. It is in the same folder as the Yoshi model that was used as a placeholder model for Shy Guy.
Root Info
Build: 2005 5/30(Mon) 18:20:47
The date when the demo was compiled, present in root/data/Boot/builddate.bin. This is shortly after E3 that year, which reflects its similarity to the E3 2005 demo.
MarioKartDS ★Demo Version★ Nintendo
The demo's DS menu banner text.
Unused Snapshots
These all seem to be taken from screenshots which were publicly released in late 2004/early 2005.
| root/data/Scene/Record.carc/snap01.nbfs | root/data/Scene/Record.carc/snap02.nbfs | root/data/Scene/Record.carc/snap03.nbfs |
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