Prerelease:Bully (PlayStation 2)

This page details prerelease information and/or media for Bully (PlayStation 2).

To do: Documentation of the BradyGames Strategy Guide. Other artists' work needs to be documented: David Byun's World Environment models Dennis Opel's old animation clips Fred Dee's character concepts Jared Fry's and Tyler Wilson's character models

Subpages

Early Screenshots Not that many, but Quality>Quantity, right?

Development Timeline

• 2002
  • Aug. 1st - Take-Two Interactive acquires Barking Dog Studios, who would start development on Bully after releasing Spec Ops.

• 2005
  • May 9th - Bully is officially announced by Rockstar Games, and was slated for an October release for Xbox and PlayStation 2 systems.
  • May 19th - Bully is shown off at E3 2005 to press reviewers only. The first handful of screenshots get released.
  • Aug. 3rd - A protest happens outside of Rockstar NYC's office, in an attempt to get the video game banned.
  • Sep. 7th - Bully gets another delay to "at least February 2006" due to the creative process.

• 2006
  • Mar. 29th - Bully is delayed to April.
  • Apr. 3rd - From an email sent to the Bullworth-Academy.com fansite, it was confirmed that Bully wasn't canceled.
  • Aug. 10th - Information for Bully was finally revealed without any news for a long time, and the trailer would come out on the next day.
  • Aug. 11th - The very first trailer for the game was released, with a release slated for October. Jack Thompson thought the trailer was terrible and tried again to stop the game from being released.
  • Aug. 22nd - The second trailer for Bully was released. The game now had a finalised release date of October 17.
  • Aug. 30-31st - A later build was shown off to IGN and several press reviewers, and a lot of things were close to the final game. Though, the controls were slightly different and the game had camera/animation glitches.
  • Sep. 1st - Bully was officially renamed to Canis Canem Edit in Europe, though the reasons for it are unknown.
  • Sep. 19th. - Bully gets a third trailer, receives an ESRB age rating of T.
  • Oct. 11-13th - A complete copy of Bully was sent by Take-Two to Ronald Friedman, a court judge in Florida. Friedman stated he was willing to spend "100 hours" on it, but in the end, he only needed two hours, and declared the game as legal to be sold in Florida.
  • Oct. 13th - Bully's fourth and final trailer gets released.
  • Oct. 17th - Bully was released in North America.
  • Oct. 24th - Bully was released in Europe, as Canis Canem Edit.

• 2008
  • Jul. 23rd - Bully was announced in Japan, and would come to PlayStation 2, Xbox 360, and Windows systems.
  • Jul. 24th - Bully was released in Japan.

2002-2005

Development Beginnings

Conceptual Style

Concept artworks (which would be used as the comic-book aesthetic that is seen all over the game's menu) were one of the very first things to be designed before development for Bully started, and were drawn by Steven Olds. The aim of the proposed project was to create an experience, like characters that would be seen from a "kids-eye" view of the world without anything being comical.

The conceptual artists and producers wanted to create a vibe that would be timeless, by incorporating elements from different decades, such as old computers and classic cars, so the player would relate to their own days in high school.

(Source: Building a Better Bully (IGN))

Concepts

Comic Book

The comic book that came with Bully and present in the menu contains some of the earliest sketches for character designs, as such these are drastically different from what they look in the final game.

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  Jimmy

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  Dr. Crabblesnitch

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  Edna

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  Dr. Watts

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  Dr. Slawter

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  Miss Peabody

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  Unknown

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  Bucky

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  Algie

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  Beatrice

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  Russell

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  Mascot

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  Norton

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  Ricky

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  Peanut

2006

Scrapped Xbox Version

The Xbox box art, still hosted on IGN's website.

It uses the game's early logo and Bullworth crest.

An Xbox version was planned at one point but got scrapped for unknown reasons.

Currently, nothing official is known about it.

(Source: IGN)

Trailers

A Microcosm For The Whole World

Published on August 11th, 2006.

• The exterior of the main school building has some differences:

• Fake shadows can be seen attached to the building. In the final game, they only appear during the night.
• Some of the noticeable, flying Final Showdown roof props aren't present in this trailer. The props are likely there in the final game due to a mistake, as all the others are only loaded during the mission.

• The interior of the main school building has some differences:

• The cut third floor can be seen.
• The lobby doesn't seem to be as connected to the hallways as in the final game, with walls blocking the way, instead.
• The staircase leading to the second floor is different. This old design can still be seen in one of the unused exit image graphics.

• The Bullworth crest can be seen on everyone. In the final game, it was replaced with the "shield" variant.
• Jimmy is slightly different:

• He is using his older, slightly meaner-looking face texture.
• His vest's stripe on the back has a red part. In the final game, it's entirely yellow.

• Angie isn't wearing her glasses.
• The parking lot area has some differences:

• An archway is present, with an extra lamp on the left and 2 trash cans.
• The bench is using the same model used throughout the entire academy. In the final game, it uses a different model.

• The Boys' Dorm received some changes:
  • The entire area has a darker and "bluer" atmosphere, contrary to what was seen in the first screenshots. It's still different from the final game's lighting.
  • The stairway leading to the cut second floor is present, and the sofa at the end of the hallway isn't there.
  • Pedro can be seen. As evidenced by unused pajama models of both him and Sheldon, they were both originally meant to spawn here.
• The cutscene for The Setup is taking place inside the Academy. While it got moved outside of it, the school's interior background noise was not updated and can clearly be heard.
• In the Russell in the Hole cutscene, Darby can be seen wearing a red scarf.
• In the cutscene for The Gym is Burning Christy and Constantinos are positioned differently.
• There are some differences in the cafeteria scene in This is your School:

• Gord was removed.
• He and Thad are wearing sweaters, rather than sweater vests.
• The fruit basket is very different, and is possibly not a fruit basket at all.

• The Movie Tickets cutscene has some differences:

• The people in the queue are different, and the presence of Dorsey matches up with the characters Jimmy originally had to distract, as evidenced by unused voice clips.
• The cinema uses different textures, resembling the closed-down cinema ones in Bullworth Town, and the kiosk had a clear glass texture.

• The scene with Dr. Crabblesnitch telling Jimmy to "keep his nose clean" is from an earlier version of the cutscene, which can partially be found in the game's files.
• The texture at the bottom of the skateboard was different and had a lightning design rather than a simple stripe on it.

Everyone At Bullworth Is So Mean

Published on August 22nd, 2006.

• Due to the footage being taken at different points in development, the students can be seen in some parts with the "crest" symbols on their uniforms and with the "shields" in other parts.
• During the mission Panty Raid Beatrice can be seen hitting the fire alarm instead of Melody.
• Jimmy's skateboard now has its final design.
• The frisbee is blue instead of red like in the final game.

An Introduction To Our Glorious Insitution

Published on September 19th, 2006.

• The mission Discreet Deliveries appears in the trailer. It was removed from the final game and later reappeared in Scholarship Edition.

Holiday Special Trailer

Published on December 13th, 2006. Despite being published 2 months after the game's release, this trailer contains content not present in the final game.

• The cutscene for The Collector can be seen. Like Discreet Deliveries, it was removed and then reworked for Scholarship Edition.
• Bits from the deleted The Paddle cutscene are present, mainly featuring Gary. It can still partially be found in the game's files.
• When Jimmy is hit, he screams using his own voice. In the final game, he only plays generic SFX screams.

(Source: Rockstar Games)

TV Ads

In the first ad at 0:17, an extra second of The Paddle's cutscene can be seen, showing a little bit more of Gary's animation.

This clip ends exactly where the clip used in the Holiday Special trailer starts.

(Source: cwaraksa1)

Manual Build

The only difference in this build seems to be the early Shove icon.

Portfolios

Andrew Wood

Andrew Wood worked primarily on the environmental design for Bully.

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  Some of the buildings in New Coventry.

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  Some of the buildings related to the Dropouts' Hideout in Blue Skies.

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  The Paint Supply building in Blue Skies.

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  Drawings of the school's hobo, Eunice, Pete, and a scrapped student.

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  Renders of the cut Nerd Battle Wagon and an earlier Police Chopper.

  The ChocoLog billboard texture isn't in the final game.

(Source: Andrew Wood)

David Byun

David Byun worked on the game's UI and environmental design.

Front-end UI

There are different versions of the game's menu, each having a specific theme, compared to the final's static background.

Theme 1?

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  The Stats page.

Theme 2?

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  A pause menu.

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  The background render of the pause menu.

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  The Controls page.
  They differ heavily from the final version.

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  The Inventory page, showing early designs of the Rocket Launcher and the Spud Gun.
  It also features a pipe wrench.

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  Another version of the Stats page.

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  The Audio Settings page.

Theme 3?

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  The game's main menu.
  The final version lacks one entirely.

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  The Photo Album page.
  Early screenshots are likely used as placeholders.

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  Another version of the controls page.
  These differ from the other image.

Other

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  Bike Frames selection menu.

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  Bike Wheels selection menu.

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  Possibly the earliest in-game screenshot, showing a drastically different Bullworth Town, mostly covered by a Mission Failed tab.

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  Some of the icons in higher-quality.
  The dossier and watch icons were removed from the final version.

3D Models

The Saw Mill was almost entirely removed. These renders show what it would've looked like.

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(Source: David Byun)

Sota Yuyama

Sota Yuyama is an animator that worked on the game. He's left uncredited due to him leaving development before it was released.

Melvin

A video showcasing the Fat Nerd style.

• The only animation from this video that remains (but unused) in the final game is the standing idle, but is slightly different.
• The 2 Hit Combo was reworked, but the animations still use the early names that don't match with what they actually are in the final. (Eg. The shoulder attack is still called AssThrust)
• The Belly Bump was removed. Its existence indicates that the fat Nerds would've been able to grapple, which they can't do in the final game.

Boss Russell

A video showcasing Russell's Boss style.

• The Power Move was given to the Dropouts.
• The Charging Headbutt's charging animation was changed.

Bully - Greaser Boss Johnny Move Set

A video showcasing Johnny's Boss style.

According to Sota, the original concept for Johnny was that he was pretty cocky, so he would only use kicks to fight until his health drained a certain amount and would then stop holding back.

• The 3 Hit Combo was removed entirely.
• The 3 Hit Combo Grapple in the final game has Johnny perform 2 punches followed by his axe kick, rather than kicking his opponent.

Said axe kick seems to have been mirrored.

• The Power Move was removed.
• The Clear Move is unused but fully functional.

Bully - Main Player Strike Combo

A video showcasing Jimmy's style.

• The 5 Hit Combo's second punch's animation is unused, while the fourth punch's animation was changed a bit.
• The Power Move from 2nd Hit Combo's animation is used in the final game by peds as a harassment move.
• The Fully Charged Power Move From 2nd Hit's charging animation was replaced by another (unused) one.
• The Fully Charged Power Move from 3rd Hit's both charging and the actual kick animations were changed quite a bit.

(Source: Sota Yuyama)