User:ShiningWing/Proto:SpongeBob SquarePants: SuperSponge (PlayStation)/SBSP PRE E3 Differences
 | 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. Notes: This is pretty much just a draft at this point. |
This is the most interesting prototype out of all of them. This one has so much that's unused in the final. Let's get it on.
Contents
General Differences
- There's a working health meter, using the graphics leftover in the final. When SpongeBob is hit, a section of the meter is made translucent.
- Food appears in levels as healing items, also using the graphics leftover in the final.
- SpongeBob has the Karate Chop as one of his default moves when he has no items or powerups. In the final, it's obtained through the Glove powerup which lasts for a limited amount of time.
- Dialog boxes look somewhat different, containing more text, and are placed at the bottom of the screen instead of the top. The level is dimmed when dialog is on screen. Some characters speak using placeholder audio spoken by one person. Additionally, all dialog is activated with the Up button instead of activating automatically, whereas in the final, only secondary dialog is activated by pressing Up.
| SBSP_PRE_E3 | Final |
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- SpongeBob takes falling damage.
- A position debugger is visible in the top-right portion of the screen.
- A series of debug cheat options are available in the pause menu. The lives icon is missing, as it is not implemented yet. The header and Vibration setting are also missing.
| SBSP_PRE_E3 | Final |
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Controls
In this prototype, the controls are very different. Much like the final however, they can still be changed in the Options.
- ◻ - Jump
- ✕ - Action (Karate Chop in full unarmed mode, Blow Bubble with Bubble Wand equipped, etc.)
- ↓ while in air - Butt Bounce (changed in the final to pressing the jump button a second time while in the air, can't be remapped)
- ○ - Show Collision, switches between 3 options: 1 - Solid Color, 2 - Transparent, 3 - Invisible (Can't be remapped)
- R2 - Skip to next level (Can't be remapped)
Visual Differences
- Many characters are pre-rendered rather than hand-drawn.
- Various enemies have different designs.
- SpongeBob himself has somewhat different graphics, which are thinner. The final uses wider graphics, to account for the screen being stretched vertically on output.
Intro and Title Screen
When booted, the game shows the placeholder copyright screen, and immediately begins to load the first level. However, a title screen and main menu is implemented, and can be accessed by exiting the level from the pause menu.
| SBSP_PRE_E3 | Final |
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As soon as the game starts up, it shows an obvious placeholder copyright screen. When the player quits a level, a basic intro sequence is shown. The THQ logo is present, but the Nickelodeon and Climax logos are missing. After the logos, a placeholder intro video plays, which is just the show's theme song rather than the unique intro used in the final. The logo is unchanged from the final. Unlike the final however, this title screen has multiple background images which it cycles through. The song played is completely different, and is based directly on the show's theme song.
The Start option goes straight to the Map, since there's no save function yet.
| SBSP_PRE_E3 | Final |
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A Credits option is also present alongside the ones in the final, though it is currently extremely basic. There is no text or music, and the background is missing its animated wave background.
Options
The options screen is relatively similar to the final, but with a few changes.
| SBSP_PRE_E3 | Final |
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- The Load option is missing (since saving isn't implemented yet), as well as the button prompts.
| SBSP_PRE_E3 | Final |
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- The Controls menu is similar to the final, but uses different, single-color button icons and is missing the Weapon button and the Vibration option. There's no button prompts here, either.
| SBSP_PRE_E3 | Final |
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- The Screen and Sound options are pretty much identical to the final, but use a very basic line as the slider instead of the Gary icon the final uses. These screens are also missing button prompts. For whatever reason, the Speech Volume slider defaults to the same position as the others here, whereas in the final it defaults to being right at the top.
All the screens use different backgrounds than the final.
Map
While the map screen in this prototype is laid out very similarly to the final's, it has a large amount of differences:
| SBSP_PRE_E3 | Final |
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- For starters, the map looks completely different. The map itself was completely redrawn for the final, being a lot lighter and more basic. It also has no background, being just pink. The SpongeBob logo in the bottom-center also missing.
- The level thumbnails are similarly redrawn. While the thumbnails for Jellyfish Fields and Sandy's Tree Dome kept the same general look, the ones for Fish Hooks Park and Downtown Bikini Bottom were completely redone.
- The title at the top mentions the currently highlighted level instead of just the current chapter.
- It appears that the Seanut Butter was originally to be found in Fish Hooks Park, with the Kelp Lettuce taking its place in Sandy's Tree Dome.
- The levels have their spatula numbers above them, though they don't currently function. They also have a count of 99 instead of 100.
- The selection arrow is a completely different (and much simpler) graphic. The button prompts are also missing.
- Only the Chapter 1 map is accessible, completing levels doesn't change the map.
Levels
Consider making this a subpage...?
Chapter 1 Level 1 (Jellyfish Fields)
