Sonic Adventure 2 (Dreamcast)/Unused Stages
This is a sub-page of Sonic Adventure 2 (Dreamcast).
Contents
Test Levels
There are three test levels that were used during the game's development and removed from the final game that were known as BASIC TEST, KNUCKLES TEST and SONIC TEST respectively. Although one of these (BASIC TEST) would later be included with the GameCube version, all three levels are absent from the Dreamcast version.
Textures
The textures for the test levels can be found in the game's files:
LANDTX00.PRS (BASIC TEST)
LANDTX01.PRS (KNUCKLES TEST)
LANDTX02.PRS (SONIC TEST)
Notably, the textures from LANDTX02 (SONIC TEST) can be seen in the version of City Escape shown off in the E3 2000 trailer.
Knuckles Test Layout
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SET0001_S.BIN, SET0001_U.BIN, and STG01_CAM.prs contain object layouts and camera information for KNUCKLES TEST. Despite the stage not being there, it seems to follow the same basic blueprint as BASIC TEST and thus, its files can be replaced to create a somewhat playable version of the stage.
There is a single camera angle at the center of the stage that seems to circle around Knuckles, focusing on a nonexistent object in the center of the map. The first two Master Emerald shards can randomly spawn in several enemies, which seem to make incorrect sounds (Knuckles voices, menu sounds, radar beeps, etc.) or in several preset locations in the ground. The third one is always in the same place, but it seems to be completely inaccessible, however.
Mission Text
Mission text for two of the stages can be found inside MISSIONE.PRS:
Stage 0 (BASIC TEST):
1st Mission: Make sure we debug this! 2nd Mission: Find 100 bugs! 3rd Mission: Find bugs that you couldn't find! 4th Mission: Debugged in 2 minutes! Last Mission: Try bug 0!
Stage 2 (SONIC TEST):
1st Mission: This stage is cool!
Japanese hint text for Stage 1 (KNUCKLES TEST) can be found in the file EH0001J.PRS. It contains the following five strings:
| Japanese | Translation |
|---|---|
| このメッセージはテストナリよ。 | This message is a test. |
| このマッサージはベストナリよ。 | This massage is the best. |
| このソーセージはラストナリよ。 | This sausage is the last. |
| このボンテージはヒットナリよ。 | This bondage is a success/hit. |
| このバンデージはビッグナリよ。 | This bandage is big. |
Early Green Forest Layout
There are more objects located out of view in White Jungle. They include floating platforms, lines of rings, more dash pads, two invincibility capsules, a weird spinning object, and numerous Beetle robots. These objects don't seem to have much connection and are located in such a way that the player would never see them normally.
The objects were rearranged in the GameCube version. They contain the same kind of format, but the capsules are gone, the odd spinning object is gone, and the Beetles perform different actions (nothing).
These are actually leftovers from a very early version of Green Forest. The attributes of some objects are broken (such as launch panels) but if the object files for Green Forest are replaced with the ones from White Jungle, the out of bounds objects match up to the stage perfectly.
The version of Green Forest seen here is very incomplete, with some objects suggesting it may even be older than the one shown in the E3 2000 trailer.
Two Player City Escape
SET0013_2P_S.BIN and SET0013_2P_U.BIN contain an unused object layout for City Escape in 2-Player mode that is very different from both the normal version of the level and the version that appears in Sonic Adventure 2: Battle. Since City Escape is never used in 2-Player mode normally, this layout is never seen.
This layout is interesting in that it resembles the version of City Escape from Sonic Adventure 2: The Trial more than the one in the final game. The posters, along with objects such as the platforms before the first checkpoint all use their layouts from that version.
Two Player Green Hill
The full list of graphics for two-player locations includes Green Hill. This implies Green Hill was going to be playable with two people, but even when it's unlocked, it's only one-player.
Further digging reveals that the stage is actually an option in the game's 2 Player stage select, but it's hidden. According to the game's code, it's unlocked when you get 180 Emblems. However, there's nothing to let the menu go down that far.
Despite using the same object layout as 1 Player mode, the stage works normally in 2 player mode and even includes proper pose and start points for both characters.
Demo Cameras
Several stages have special cameras reserved for demo playback. Most of them are used, but in some cases they exist in stages outside the demo cycle. The following stages are known to include them (and can be seen in the video):
- Iron Gate
- Sky Rail
- Pumpkin Hill (One camera at the starting point)
This is because these stages were originally in the cycle before being replaced by other stages. All of them are part of the debug menu's cycle - an earlier version of it.
