Proto:Mega Man X8/August 12, 2004

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  This prototype is documented on Hidden Palace.

The August 12, 2004 prototype of Mega Man X8 was dumped during the first part of Hidden Palace's Project Deluge, dating about 2 months before release. At this point, the game is very incomplete. Every stage is here and playable for the most part, but it is very clear that the game isn't finished yet.

General Differences

• CGI cutscenes are at a very early state. Most scenes consist of rough sketches and preliminary models.
• The Navigator version of the Capcom logo doesn't exist yet.
• A blue loading bar frequently shows up on the bottom-right in between menus and during gameplay.
• No Maverick intros exist. Instead, the controller layout screen from the Command Mission trial shows up, albeit a little glitchy ("SERECT button").
• The font is much larger, similar to the Command Mission trial.
• Almost every mugshot uses a placeholder.
• Most in-game cutscenes have no dynamic camera angles and they cannot be skipped, instead bringing up the pause menu. In terms of text box dialogue, only Noah's Park and the pre-Maverick fight dialogue have been implemented.
• The HUD is glitchy, especially when switching characters.
• Axl does a "charge" before firing, just like in the Command Mission trial.
• The AT gauge works like it did in the Command Mission trial (flashes rapidly when full, does not refill when missed).
• The game will momentarily pause when collecting health pickups, in a way similar to earlier X games.
• Many special effects are in a primitive and rough state, like boss overdrive and explosion effects and X's laser during the Double Attack.
• The boss health bar uses an earlier Lumine logo seen in concept art, Sigma does not get his own logo.
• No "Mission Complete" text when completing a mission or "Mission Failed" text when you die.
• Some bosses are missing the "WARNING" before their battles.
• The Navigators are very unfinished, the exclamation point graphic is glitched and most lines are blank.
• Retry chips don't exist yet, there are unlimited continues here.
• Life bottles and tanks don't work.
• Most rare metals are missing.
• Only one Light Capsule is implemented.
• The bosses have less invulnerability time when hit, making it easier to stunlock certain bosses.
• Several combo phrases are misspelled/cut off ("X-CELLEN", "ELECTRIFYN", "MEGA-MAXIMAM").
• No credits sequence is implemented in this build, but the first credits theme is present on the disc (which is also the intro theme in the international versions).
• There are debug features accessible by using the second controller.
• For unknown reasons, pressing R3 on the second controller crashes the game.
• Vile has a more natural sounding Japanese voice acting; in the final Japanese version his voice is surrounded by metallic echos.

Menus

Title Screen

The title screen looks very different to the one in both the Command Mission trial and the final game.

• No animation.
• No intro exists when waiting long enough.
• The surrounding red circuitry is brighter.
• The title screen options have some rather generic debug text, alongside the options for a "Model Viewer", "Sound Player" and "MC Data Configuration".
• Listed as a "Trial Version" and has bigger copyright text.
• The cheat codes for the secret armors and navigators aren't implemented.

Stage Select

• All stages are available from the start.
• Uses the early Jakob portrait from the Command Mission trial.
• Sigma's head is stretched and not aligned with the Earth correctly.
• Debug features are enabled on this screen:
  • L2/R2: Switch between normal stages and intermission stages. However, it doesn't seem to have any effect.
  • R1/R2: Select a checkpoint to start the stage from.

Character/Navigator Select

• Uses the early character portraits from the Command Mission trial.
• All characters are in different poses.
• The navigators are all standing instead of sitting at desks.
• There is no "Navigation Off" option yet.

Chip Development

• Misspelled as "CIP DEVELOP".
• Parts are ridiculously overpriced.
• Palette and her descriptions aren't here.
• X and Axl start at 45% power, while Zero starts at 73% power.
• There is a "Master Weapon" for X and Axl which doesn't exist in the final.

Weapon Get

Very broken in this build.

• The HUD is still visible.
• The weapon names are garbled.
• The character you didn't pick doesn't show up here, although all three weapons are shown.
• The "WEAPON GE" text is cut off.
• This sequence does not end automatically. The Start button must be pressed to advance to the Results screen.

Results Summary

• The background is the Stage Select background instead of the Lab background.
• Signas says multiple quotes here. In the final, only one quote is randomly said.

Special Weapons and Techniques

You don't get special weapons or techniques from Mavericks in this build (although the Weapon Get screen exists). The only way to use them is to turn on the "PLAYER_ITEM_FULL" debug flag.

• Axl's A-Trans animation isn't implemented yet, he just turns into enemies without any effects.
• Axl's Ice Gatling has a far slower rate of fire.
• Zero's D-Glaive uses the Z-Saber's smaller slash effects. (The hitbox is final, however.)
• Zero's Yodantotsu is done by pressing the Triangle button, without moving in a direction.
• Zero's Juuhazan has no blue slash, and it is performed by holding down the Triangle button to charge up. In the final game, It is done by pressing the Triangle button, without having to charge up.
• Zero's Raikousen hasn't been implemented yet.

Noah's Park

Probably the most complete stage in the prototype.

• The enemy arenas do not give out bonuses, like the Command Mission trial.
• The vertical crusher area doesn't contain any metals.
• The CGI cutscene does not play here on the first playthrough, the game just skips right to the in-game Vile cutscene. It will, however, play on subsequent playthroughs.

The 8 Mavericks

Troia Base

• There's no timer or enemy count.
• The path you take doesn't seem to be based on performance.
• The first test ends much quicker.
• In the rooms between tests, a weird lone MAME-Q appears. It has a lot of health, and spams vertical projectiles that lag the game.
• The mini-boss on the last test (the train) has nothing surrounding it and cannot be killed, which makes progressing past this point impossible.

Primrose

• A locked door blocks the mini-boss room, making normal progress past this point impossible without the checkpoint select.

Pitch Black

• The darkness effect leaks into the pause menu.
• The unused ninja enemy makes its only appearance in this stage. It is programmed to jump when the player jumps and create clones which run toward the player.

Booster Forest

• Ride Armors do not have their own health bars yet.
• The area around the fountain has no metals or enemy.
• Sometimes, Ride Armor enemies will just stand there after being defeated.
• The Ride Armor fight arenas aren't programmed yet. The door is already unlocked and there are three Ride Armor enemies as a placeholder.

Dynasty

• No music plays here. However, the theme for this stage is present on the disc.
• No time limit.
• Signs have no collision. Everything else, however, is an instant-kill.
• You can boost infinitely, and there is no special effect or "BOOST" text.
• Gigavolt Man-O-War may disappear sometimes.
• Some of Gigavolt Man-O-War's animations are glitchy during his battle.

Metal Valley

• The skybox is unfinished, the upper half is all black.
• Many enemies are missing.
• Yellow Brontes drops blue metals when attacked. This was upgraded to red metals in the final.
• The rock in front of the Light Capsule is much bigger and is not removed when chasing Yellow Brontes.
• The Crystal Wall room is not implemented. The room is empty and the door is already unlocked.
• The Crystal Wall model is much more simplistic in this build.
• Earthrock Trilobyte's Crystal Wall overdrive attack is much harder to dodge.

Central White

• The camera is really wonky on turns.
• The icy cave area is completely empty.
• Ravemanta's animations are more simplistic, especially his charging attack.
• Ravemanta doesn't smoke at low health.
• The wall the player rams the Ride Chaser into explodes normally, while in the final it uses the boss explosion for some reason.
• The ice blocks blocking the Light Capsule can be melted by any weapon in this build.
• This stage houses the only Light Capsule in this build.
  • Dr. Light's hologram doesn't show up, but you can still enter the capsule.
  • X obtains the full Icarus Armor when he enters this capsule. However, only the head part functions (with preliminary effects).
  • X's controls will be locked in the capsule after obtaining the armor until you switch characters.
  • X will only keep the armor for the duration of the stage, and loses it once the stage ends.

Inferno

• The stage starts differently between versions. In the proto, the player spawns on a strip of land next to the hole and has to manually jump inside with metals lining the entrance. In the final, the player spawns directly above the hole and cannot go onto the strip of land.
• There is a chance that the platforms may stop spawning.
• The enemy arenas are empty.
• The escape sequence after defeating Burn Rooster seems to be a test. The escape lasts forever, but touching the lava will complete the stage.

Final Stages

From here on, the Navigator lines have not been implemented at all.

Jakob

• When the elevator stops, the walls don't extend far enough. If you're close to them, you can see outside the level.
• The red tunnels in the final game are a weird light blue color in the prototype.
• Vile V's fire wave is broken. He'll do the animation but the fire will stay floating in the air.
• Vile V's overdrive attack is rough. The sparks move faster and don't die out, making it impossible to dodge. However, the attack ends much earlier.

Gateway

• When the Mavericks and Copy Sigma turn back into Gaurdroids, they explode like a normal enemy. In the final, they use the boss explosion.
• Only weapon energy is given after every boss.
• Burn Rooster and Gravity Antonion are missing, and the player is stuck if they enter their arenas. Because of this, the stage cannot be completed without using the checkpoint select on the stage select.
• Nothing happens when Copy Sigma is defeated, leaving the player stuck until they exit the stage.

Sigma Palace

The game locks out your partner after Vile, just like the final game's hard mode.

• All text boxes in this stage use the first bit of dialogue from Noah's Park.
• With the exception of the ending, none of the CGI cutscenes are played here.
• No cutscene before fighting Vile.
• The two Copy Sigmas before the boss door are missing.
• No cutscene before fighting Sigma.
• The camera isn't locked vertically in the boss arena. If you climb the walls, you can see where the pillars end.
• The background in the boss arena is pitch black. No space/Earth background yet.
• The scene where your partner saves you has no text boxes, and has a chance of softlocking the game.
• If you die to Sigma, your partner will return and you have to manually save yourself from Sigma's grab like in the final's easy/normal mode.
• The game goes straight to Lumine after defeating Sigma without any cutscene.
• Lumine's "absorbing crystal" animation is much slower.
• Lumine's transformation is very rough. No sound or feather particle effects.
• The HUD disappears during Lumine's second phase.
• Most of Lumine's second form attacks are different.
  • His laser beam attack is much slower.
  • He is farther from the ground when he flies across the screen.
  • His glowing crystals are green instead of yellow, and move in a more rough pattern.
  • His Paradise Lost attack triggers at lower health than the final. The screen doesn't gradually get darker, but the center of the arena will slowly get brighter. The player dies instantly when the center turns white without any animation from Lumine.
• Lumine's second form explosion is much shorter.
• No music plays in the following cutscene.
• Only the two characters you chose will show up in the Lumine cutscenes. In the final game, all three characters are present.
• The Mission Complete music and animation plays after the cutscene, which doesn't happen in the final.
• X's version of the ending will always play, regardless of who finished off Lumine.

Audio Differences

Primrose

The Primrose theme is very different. The melody is the same as the final, but the instrumentation is completely different.

Lumine First Form

Lumine's first battle theme is completely different.

• The Stage Begin, Stage Clear, and Weapon Get themes are unchanged from the Command Mission trial.
• Lumine's cutscene theme, the Options theme, and the second credits theme don't exist yet.
• The Troia Base test theme, Sigma battle theme, and Lumine second form theme have extended intros cut from the final.
  • The cutscene theme before Sigma's fight doesn't exist yet, but the extended part of Sigma's theme would become part of the cutscene theme in the final.