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Proto:Sonic the Hedgehog CD (Sega CD)/Ver0.51

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This is a sub-page of Proto:Sonic the Hedgehog CD (Sega CD).

Hiddenpalace.org logo.png  This prototype is documented on Hidden Palace.

Sonic-CD-v0.51-Garbled-Title-Screen.png
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v0.51 is a mid-development build of Sonic CD, dated June 21, 1993. It was dumped by drx on October 26, 2019 as part of Sonic Month, alongside five other Sonic CD prototypes.

The game has been significantly updated since v0.28a, with all the groundwork laid out and most levels being feature-complete, though there's still a lot of differences.

General Differences

  • The music does not stop when the game is paused.
  • The time travel indicator on the HUD is still missing.
  • A large amount, if not all, of the PCM sounds are implemented.
  • When time traveling, the sound used is a CD audio track instead of an FM sound like in earlier prototypes or a PCM sound in the final. Interestingly, this track became unused later in development, still exists in the final build's CD audio tracks, and is labeled as "Metal Sonic" on the OST.
  • The badnik teleporter makes no sounds when destroyed.
  • Giant Rings make sounds when entering, but they do not animate when you jump into them.
  • The Special Stage demo is actually controllable, much like in the 712 prototype.
  • When debug mode is enabled, certain sprites that control Sonic (like in tubes) can be seen if the player gets a shield, invincibility, etc.
  • There are various Blue Ring monitors and Clock monitors placed throughout the levels. The Clock monitors work as they did in earlier prototypes, but the Blue Ring monitors have a new functionality - they grant an invisible shield that can be stacked with the normal shield as well.

Graphical Differences

  • Sonic's face on the signpost is the same one from the 510/v0.28a prototypes.
  • The drowning numbers from the 510 prototype are now used in-game, and they still use the early graphics that were seen in some prerelease footage of Sonic the Hedgehog.
510-Ver0.51 Ver0.70-Final
SonicCD 510-Ver0.51 Drowning Numbers.png Sonic1 CD-Ver0.70-Final Drowning Numbers.png

Audio Differences

  • The noise for defeating enemies is the one from v0.28a and earlier.
  • When getting a 1-Up, a different PCM voice sample is played. This voice would later wind up unused in the final build.
  • Starting with this build, the music would be compressed to varying degrees. The August 1st build would later add in fadeouts for the compressed CD tracks, and the Special Stage's fadeout would be tweaked by August 6th, the day of the final build.
    • Before it was replaced, an early version of the "Speed Up!!" track was compressed. The July 12th build would replace it with the final version, which in turn would be compressed and equalized in the August 1st build.
510-Ver0.28A Ver0.51
Ver0.70 Ver1.05-Final (JPN/PAL)
  • The unused PCM tracks in the 712 prototype exist in the game data, though the "D" variants are simply copies of the "B" variants.
  • Most of the Past PCM tracks (with the exception of Quartz Quadrant which reuses Tidal Tempest's) have been implemented by this point. However, a few of them have notable differences.

Palmtree Panic "P" Mix

Ver0.51 Final
  • Now matches the final tempo, except for the percussion track which is still the original v0.02 speed. It ends up sounding like 15 beats per measure as consequence, and the music notably pauses a bit at the end of the 15th measure.

Collision Chaos "P" Mix

Ver0.51 Final
  • Slightly faster. Audio channel and volume mixing is different from the final.

Tidal Tempest "P" Mix

Ver0.51 Final
  • Slightly faster.

Title Screen

Ver0.51 Prototype 712
Sonic-CD-v0.51-Garbled-Title-Screen.png SonicCDJPtitle.png

The graphics have been nearly finalized, though the copyright text is thinner compared to later prototypes.

Stage Differences

Palmtree Panic

  • There is some unusual layout placement next to the giant ramp in the beginning of Act 1.
  • There is no robot generator in Act 2, which makes it impossible to get a Good Future legitimately in Palmtree Panic.
  • Act 3's graphics have been updated at this point.
  • The boss in Act 3 has finalized graphics.
  • Flowers are same as final.

Collision Chaos

  • Metal Sonic now has animated sparking sprites when kidnapping Amy.
  • Flowers are same as final.
  • The cups can cause the player to lose a life while attempting to time travel.

Tidal Tempest

  • Flowers are the same graphic as in Prototype 510 & Ver0.28A, but the single palette is different and accidentally uses a darker shade for what should be the highlights on the stem and leaves.
510 - v0.28A Ver0.51 Final
Sonic CD 510 TTZ Flower.gif
Sonic CD Ver0.51 TTZ Flower.gif
Sonic CD TTZ Flower.gif

Quartz Quadrant

  • Flowers resemble Palmtree Panic's, but the petals are hollow and are missing a few pixels.
Ver0.51 Final
Sonic CD Ver0.51 QQZ Flower.gif Sonic CD QQZ Flower.gif

Wacky Workbench

  • Flowers are same as final.

Stardust Speedway

510 - v0.28A Ver0.51 Final
Sonic CD 510 SSZ Flower.gif
Sonic CD Ver0.51 SSZ Flower.gif
Sonic CD SSZ Flower.gif
  • Flowers are the same graphic as 510, however, the palette here doesn't look good either, and looks worse.

Metallic Madness

510 - v0.28A Ver0.51 Final
Sonic CD 510 MMZ Flower.gif
Sonic CD Ver0.51 MMZ Flower.gif
Sonic CD MMZ Flower.gif
  • Flowers are the same graphic as 510, palette doesn't look too bad except for the leaves.

Special Stage

Sonic, are you alright...?

This is the first build with playable Special Stages, with a bevy of differences:

  • The UFOs are the same ones from some early screenshots, and look nothing like the final game's:
Ver0.51 Final
Sonic-CD-v0.51-UFO.gif Sonic-CD-Final-UFO.png
  • The blue UFO in the final that appears when the player has 20 seconds left does not appear in this prototype.
  • The game has a high chance of jumping to a black screen in most emulators if Sonic exits the level or touches the water. Touching the water also produces glitched tiles from the title card rather than the actual water splash graphics.
A hardware screenshot of the Special Zone results.
  • If the game doesn't softlock, the results screen will show up with all Time Stones collected, but no score will be given. No music or sound effects play, either. This can frequently happen on real hardware or very accurate Genesis emulators like Blastem. The game also takes you to the next level shortly after this.
  • The oil slicks from earlier builds are present, but don't function. The speed boosters don't work, either.
  • Sonic controls very differently compared to later builds and the final game: He doesn't run unless the player presses B, and pressing Down will not make him slow down; only letting go of B does.
  • Rings and other objects (such as the Power Sneakers) aren't present. The ring counter instead increments every 3 frames.
  • There is an unused object that flashes "PRESS START" on screen. It is never spawned, although its graphics are loaded into VRAM.

Maps

Special Stage 1 Special Stage 2 Special Stage 3 Special Stage 4 Special Stage 5 Special Stage 6 Special Stage 7
SonicCD0.51 SpecialStage1Map.png
SonicCD0.51 SpecialStage2Map.png
SonicCD0.51 SpecialStage3Map.png
SonicCD0.51 SpecialStage4Map.png
SonicCD0.51 SpecialStage5Map.png
SonicCD0.51 SpecialStage6Map.png
SonicCD0.51 SpecialStage7Map.png
Special Stage 1 Stamps Special Stage 2 Stamps Special Stage 3 Stamps Special Stage 4 Stamps Special Stage 5 Stamps Special Stage 6 Stamps Special Stage 7 Stamps
SonicCD0.51 SpecialStage1Stamps.png
SonicCD0.51 SpecialStage2Stamps.png
SCD510 SpecialStage3Stamps.png
SCD510 SpecialStage4Stamps.png
SonicCD0.51 SpecialStage5Stamps.png
SonicCD0.51 SpecialStage6Stamps.png
SonicCD0.51 SpecialStage7Stamps.png

Unused Graphics

Artwork Description
Some kind of demo mode text?
Text that reads "PRESS START", loaded within the Special Stage VRAM.