Theme Hospital (PlayStation)

Theme Hospital
Developer: Bullfrog Productions Publisher: Electronic Arts Platforms: PlayStation Released in JP: June 1998 Released in US: March 1998 Released in EU: February 1998 This game has unused sounds. This game has regional differences.

The simplified PlayStation port of Bullfrog's classic NHS management training tool.

Unused Audio

The PC version of Theme Hospital stored its audio in large .DAT files. The PlayStation version uses .XA streams instead, at least for the PA announcements. This has two interesting upshots:

1. Audio has been stored at 44khz in stereo, as opposed to 22khz mono in the original PC version
2. It seems all recorded PA dialogue has been included in the PlayStation version, including that which was deliberately removed from the PC version before release.

Despite having far more audio than the original PC game, the new announcements do not seem to be played, and neither do announcements that were already cut in the PC version.

The following extra PA announcements are included on the disc, with what were likely the original PC filenames listed below based on gaps in filenames:

Sample	PC Filename	Message	Notes
	RAND042.WAV	"Patients are requested to use the toilets whenever possible"	The first of two random message presumably intended to be heard once toilets are built
	RAND043.WAV	"Will all patients please remember to use the toilets"	This file will play if restored in the PC version of the game
	RAND038.WAV	"There is a litter bomb in the hospital"	This and the second litter bomb sample below were removed only from the English version of the DOS game
	RAND039.WAV	"Litter bomb Alert!"
	MAINT002.wav	"All handymen, machine repairs needed, thank you"	These generic Handymen requests seem to have been cut from the PC version early on in favour of the more specific machine dialogues
	MAINT001.wav	"Maintenance call for handymen"
	MAINT003.wav	"Handymen required"
	Unknown	"Handyman on his way"
	VIP006.WAV	"The health and safety officer is touring the hospital"	Two unused specific VIP messages that were cut in favour of more generic alerts
	VIP007.WAV	"A health inspector is in the hospital"
	RAND014.WAV	"Drinks are available from vending machines"	Two messages presumably intended once a drinks machine was built
	RAND015.WAV	"Patient notice: drinks are available at various locations"	This file will play if restored in the PC version of the game
	RAND007.WAV	"Small change is not available at the reception desk"	This file will play if restored in the PC version of the game
	RAND011.WAV	"Please do not slip on the vomit"
	RAND023.wav	"Aaaargh, a rat!"	This file will play if restored in the PC version of the game
	REQD018.wav	"Consultant required in training"	Companion to the cut but existing 'Doctor required in training'

Version Differences

The PlayStation version has many compromises to work inside the limitations of Sony's console:

• Only runs in low resolution mode
• All patients are now white only. This was presumably to reduce sprite memory usage
• No in-game music. This is due to the PA announcements being streamed off disc, preventing the use of streaming for music as well
• Streamlined floating user interface with most parts hidden until needed or invoked
• Unlike the port of Syndicate Wars, no mouse support
• The between level board game sequences are now represented as short FMV sequences following the plastic figure moving across the board rather than an actual screen that can be clicked on
• It's no longer possible to shoot the rats. Consequentially there are no secret rat levels either.
• No multiplayer mode
• The notification icons are now red rather than green.
• Placed rooms now always start at their minimum possible required size rather than as a single map square as in the PC version.

Regional Differences

The Japanese version of the game has several scenes of violence censored:

• The intro video is now truncated so the final scene with the doctor wielding the chainsaw is no longer seen.
• In-game patients cannot have bloaty head disease, and similarly the inflator machine no longer exists. Presumably this was due to the violent way patients are cured of the disease.

These aspects were notably not censored in the Japanese PC release of the game.

(Source: AaronSoldier])