Proto:Starsky & Hutch (Game Boy Advance)

This page details one or more prototype versions of Starsky & Hutch (Game Boy Advance).

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.

This prototype contains Season 1 with a few test missions and a mission in a later part of Season 2.

  This prototype is documented on Hidden Palace.

General Differences

Briefing placeholder image.

• Menus and briefing screens have no music or SFX. Menu doesn't have the final's visual effect when you choose something in main menu.
• Briefings before missions have a placeholder screen with scroll text.
• Mission 6b contains no briefing.
• Pause menu doesn't exist yet.
• Rear view doesn't exist yet.
• You can use the map screen to do a few things, like set up a road block which consists of only one vehicle. Doing this on certain missions seems to crash the game.
• You can access Episode Repeat without completing any missions.
• In a mission named "TestMission", crashing into objects just changes their appearance. Shooting them makes them explode and go away.
• Car's health regenerates slowly if you manage to wreck it.
• Screen gets glitchy during fade-out after mission completion if completed by normal means.
• At the map screen, you can see glitchy text at the bottom in some missions.
• Sound effects are different.
• City layout is somewhat different.
• You can shoot boxes and other stuff at all times.
• Map in the HUD is not implemented, only icons are.
• Two episodes have different names.

Proto, EP 5	Final, EP 5
From Dusk 'til Dawn	From Day Till Dawn

Proto, EP 6	Final, EP 6
Get Shorty	Breeze city

Mission Differences

• Mission 2a is missing the cop car that drives its own route to somewhere from the player's start point.
• Mission 3a is missing the cop car chasing someone.
• In Mission 3b, knocking a cone takes 10 seconds off of your timer, in the final version it takes off 15 seconds.
• Mission 3c is missing the cops cars coming towards you in the beginning.
• For some reason, the briefing for Mission 6b shows before CityCent which is the last mission in the prototype.
• Mission CityCent (Season 2 Episode 5 in the final) has a different end spot.
• Missions that have roadblocks in the final version won't have them yet.
• Time limits are not implemented properly yet.
• TestMission is unbeatable without the Mission Complete code.
• In DtwnNice, you start at the front of your mission goal. (What mission is this supposed to be in the final game, if any?)
• Pretty much all traffic is missing.
• In ramming missions, you can't lose yet for your target being too far away from you.

Time Limit Differences

Season 1:

• Part 2 of episode 3 starts with 2:30 in the prototype and 2:00 in the final.
• Part 3 of episode 3 starts with 5:00 in the prototype and 2:00 in the final.
• Part 4 of episode 3 starts with 5:00 and counts down about 2:50 in the prototype, in the final time starts at 0:00 and counts up to about 1:50.
• Part 1 of episode 4 starts with 5:00 in the prototype and 3:30 in the final.
• Part 1 of episode 5 starts with 5:00 in the prototype and after encountering the car that you need to lead to point X, the timer won't drop to 1:30 in the final.

Season 2:

• Part 1 of episode 5 starts with 5:00 in the prototype and 2:00 in the final.

Briefing Differences

Some of the briefing text is partly rewritten in the final version. Text contains typos in some cases.

Proto, Mission 1	Final, Mission 1
(PLACE HOLDER) STARSKY & HUTCH ARE GRABBING A BURGER WHEN A GREEN CHAVELLE SCREECHES PAST. THE CAR IS THROWING PAPER OUT OF THE WINDOW AS IT GOES. THEY ARE TRYING TO GET RID OF SOMETHING.	STARSKY & HUTCH ARE GRABBING A BURGER WHEN A GREEN SALOON SPEEDS DOWN THE STREET. THE CAR IS THROWING PAPER OUT OF THE WINDOW AS IT GOES. THEY ARE TRYING TO GET RID OF SOMETHING.

Proto, Mission 2, part 2	Final, Mission 2, part 2
(PLACE HOLDER) STOP THE ROBBERS	THE BANK ROBBERS ARE ESCAPING. THEY MUST BE STOPPED!

Proto, Mission 3, part 2	Final, Mission 3, part 2
(PLACE HOLDER) AVOID THE OBSTACLES	STARSKY AND HUTCH ARE IN TRAINING. THEY MUST REACH THE TARGET, WHILST AVOIDING THE CONES ON THE WAY.

• Interestingly, the final version here uses the same thing from the second part of mission 2 in the final game.

Proto, Mission 3, part 5	Final, Mission 2, part 5
(PLACE HOLDER) STOP THAT CAR	THE BANK ROBBERS ARE ESCAPING. THEY MUST BE STOPPED!

Proto, Mission 4, part 1

Final, Mission 4, part 1

(PLACE HOLDER) THE GAS STATION ROBBERS ARE DRIVING ANOTHER FRESHLY PAINTED SET OF WHEELS. THE CROOKS TELL HUTCH THAT A GUY NAMED LOUIE SUPPLIES THE CARS. ARMED WITH A TORN PHOTOGRAPH AND HALF A NAME, STARSKY & HUTCH GO TO HUGGY FOR INFORMATION. HUGGY TELLS THEM THEY NEED TO SPEAK TO A "CAT" CALLED DAVE; THEY ARRANGE TO MEET AT THE DOWNTOWN SUBWAY STATION. BUT DAVE HAS BEEN SPOOKED, HE HAS TAKEN OFF DOWN THE SUBWAY, CHASE HIM TO HIS DESTINATION!

THE GAS STATION ROBBERS ARE DRIVING ANOTHER FRESHLY PAINTED SET OF WHEELS. THE CROOKS TELL HUTCH THAT A GUY NAMED LOUIE SUPPLIES THE CARS. ARMED WITH A TORN PHOTOGRAPH AND HALF A NAME, STARSKY & HUTCH GO TO HUGGY FOR INFORMATION. HUGGY TELLS THEM THEY NEED TO SPEAK TO A "CAT" CALLED DAVE. THEY ARRANGE TO MEET AT THE DOWNTOWN SUBWAY STATION. BUT DAVE HAS BEEN SPOOKED, HE HAS TAKEN OFF DOWN THE SUBWAY, CHASE HIM TO HIS DESTINATION!

Proto, Mission 4, part 1, between the objectives	Final, Mission 4, part 1, between the objectives
(PLACE HOLDER) ONCE CAUGHT, DAVE TELLS OUR HEROES THAT THE CARS THEY HAVE STOPPED WERE ALL SEEN AT LOUIE APGAR'S CHOP SHOP...	ONCE CAUGHT, DAVE TELLS OUR HEROES THAT THE CARS THE ROBBERS HAVE BEEN DRIVING WERE ALL SEEN AT LOUIE APGAR'S CHOP SHOP...

Proto, Mission 5, part 1	Final, Mission 5, part 1
(PLACE HOLDER) WITH LOUIE IN CUFFS HE WILL ONLY SPILL THE BEANS IF HE GETS POLICE PROTECTION. FOLLOW THE UNMARKED CAR CONTAINING LOUIE TO THE SAFE HOUSE...	LOUIE IS IN CUFFS. HE WILL ONLY SPILL THE BEANS IF HE GETS POLICE PROTECTION. FOLLOW THE UNMARKED CAR CONTAINING LOUIE TO THE SAFE HOUSE...

Proto, Mission 5, part 2	Final, Mission 5, part 2
(PLACE HOLDER) LOUIE CALLS FROM A SLEEZY OUT OF TOWN BAR AND GUESS WHAT! HE IS IN TROUBLE AGAIN. GET OVER TO THE BAR AS FAST AS YOU CAN...	LOUIE CALLS FROM A SLEEZY OUT OF TOWN BAR ...GUESS WHAT? HE IS IN TROUBLE AGAIN. GET OVER TO THE BAR AS FAST AS YOU CAN...

• This one was changed to objective.

Proto, Mission 5, part 2, between objectives	Final, Mission 5, part 2, between objectives
(PLACE HOLDER) FOLLOW LOUIE TO THE SAFE HOUSE	Escort Louie to the safe house.

Proto, Mission 6, part 1	Final, Mission 6, part 1
(PLACE HOLDER) THANKS TO LOUIE, STARSKY & HUTCH NOW KNOW THAT CARLTON BREEZY IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE RECENT CRIME WAVE IN BAY CITY. HE IS CURRENTLY AT ONE OF HIS COMPANIES NU-AUTOS.	THANKS TO LOUIE, STARSKY & HUTCH NOW KNOW THAT CARLTON BREEZY IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE RECENT CRIME WAVE IN BAY CITY. HE IS CURRENTLY AT ONE OF HIS COMPANIES: NU-AUTOS.

• Prototype has this in before another mission.

Proto, Mission 6, part 2	Final, Mission 6, part 2
(PLACE HOLDER) BREEZY HAS BEEN TIPPED OF AND IS HEADING OUT OF TOWN, STOP HIM.	BREEZY HAS BEEN TIPPED OFF AND IS HEADING OUT OF TOWN, STOP HIM....

Debug Features

To do: Are these in the final game? Debug strings can be found in the EU version of the final game. Not sure about the US version. Also can the test mission be found?

This can be your car.

This can be your car too.

And this can be your car.

While playing any mission, you can access some debugging features, which can be amusing once figured out.

• Holding Select slows the game down.
• Select + A automatically completes the mission. When a mission is completed this way, the screen won't get glitchy looking.
• Select + D-Pad lets you adjust camera positions. Select + D-Pad UP or DOWN moves the camera up or down. Select + D-Pad LEFT or RIGHT moves the camera forwards or backwards.
• Select + Start changes the ground to indicate something.
• Select + L changes the camera view to somewhere. When pressed a second time, the view gets back to the car which has changed. Best used when pressed quickly twice. Might need to press three times in some cases. This gives more cars to choose from. Including a train, a plane and a speed boat. This feature can be used to watch the AI driving around.
• Select + B opens debug menus. Pressing Start applies all changes.
• While in the debug menu, hold A to change values faster.

Debug Menus

Car Physics

Car physics debug menu.

Lets you edit the physics of your car.

Options are:

• Power: How fast your car moves/accelerates.
• Mass
• Inertia
• Brakes: How fast your car slows down when braking.
• Handbrake
• Drag
• Centre mass FRONT:REAR
• Power ratio FRONT:REAR: Adjusts power ratio of your car. Moving speed and acceleration depend on your settings.
• Brake ratio FRONT:REAR: Adjusts brake ratio of your car.
• Wheel base: Car won't turn at all or goes haywire while spinning.
• Centre mass height
• Max wheel lock slow
• Max wheel lock 240KMH
• Steering rate: How much your car turns when turning. Not at all or a small tap spins it.
• Steering centre
• Cornering stiffness F
• Cornering stiffness R

Surfaces

Surfaces debug menu.

Lets you edit all the available surface properties. Can lead to amusing things.

Options are:

• Surface: Lets you select the surface of which properties you want to edit.
• Roll resistance
• Forward slip ratio: Set how much your car goes forward when accelerating. Either stand still or go away very fast.
• Side slip ratio: How much your car slides when turning.
• Peak grip
• Grip falloff
• Max grip
• Side roll: If set, your car rolls over more or less slow or fast. When set high, it can be hilarious as a small tap can spin your car like crazy.

IO menu

IO menu debug menu.

Options are:

• LOAD EEPROM: Loads EEPROM. If you just go to load this at any point, the game goes haywire when you try to accelerate or brake, and may freeze after some time.
• SAVE EEPROM: Saves EEPROM.
• LOAD SRAM: Loads SRAM.
• SAVE SRAM: Saves SRAM.