Friday, June 3, 2016

By Popular Demand, More Rockman X3 Prototype Gameplay


This will be the last round of footage before the eventually dump, FYI. Today we have three videos covering Doppler stages 1&2, Gravity Beetle, Blizzard Buffalo, and boss battles with Bit and Vile Mk. II. There's lots to see!




Doppler 1:
-Midboss doesn't have walking SFX.
-Exit door glitches (turns blue)
-Hyper chip capsule is blue instead of pink (IIRC all the special upgrade capsules are blue in the proto)
-Hyper chip makes most of your armor black instead of gold armor, though I think this might be a palette glitch/something not yet programmed instead of something intentional
-As far as I can tell, you will always fight Godkarmachine as the boss.
-Godkarmachine looks quite different from the final version (and, in my opinion, much more menacing)

Doppler 2:
-BG makes the level appear to be some sort of water treatment system or hydroelectric plant, which kind of explains why there is a water pit partway through the stage and why Kurageeru is fought in water. Maybe the midboss's fluid-sucking is intended to relate to this as well (removing impurities)?
-Kurageeru's room's BG has a type of panel that isn't there in the final
-No foreground water surface graphics or color change
-You can get stuck in the midboss room if you defeat him while the exit door is offscreen. If this happens you will have to reset the game.
-Zero's sprite glitches out, though I can't recall if this always happens here or not. The prototype is a little bit glitchy overall, with the boss intro pose sprites sometimes displaying all garbled up among a couple other things
-Once you get the Z-saber, you can final finish your full charge shot and not be stuck glowing green
-The snail robot's head glows yellow when going down, red when going up. This was removed in the final version where the head is always red.
-You never fight Vava in this stage. I never even visited the factory in this run and yet he is nowhere to be seen in Doppler 2.
-Kurageeru does not flash when hit and lacks invulnerability frames.
-Once you finish the stage, a COMING SOON message appears and the game resets



Buffalio:
-The snowstorm graphics seem a bit different (will need to confirm)
-Leg upgrade capsule is positioned a bit differently
-Buffalio shoots his ice beam from his palm and not from an arm cannon (not seen in this video)
-Buffalio does not seem to fall victim to the wall slamming loop
-Buffalio's ice clusters display a glitched graphic when destroyed

Beetbood:
-Different background graphics at various points
-Beetbood's projectile causes X to fall to his knee (not sure if this always happens or not)
-Beetbood's gravity well attack doesn't seem to work properly
-I think the little dots in the well have some different colors

General:
-Upgraded charge shot doesn't work properly: the max charge level is green (implying that X has the Z-saber) but since X doesn't yet have the saber, he gets stuck glowing green after firing a max charged shot. He can no longer charge and can only shoot uncharged shots until he switches weapons.



Factory/Vava:
-Ride armor is colored differently
-Strangely enough, Vava briefly flashes as an earlier version of his sprite once you destroy his ride armor (clearly a glitch)
-Vava stops midair to use his knee bomb
-Not showcased here, but I believe the fire actually stops your buster shot
-He simply flees battle despite being finished off with a weakness
-60 seconds instead of 50 seconds to escape
-No debris seems to fall in the second elevator shaft

V. FF:
- Pretty much the same as final, though his saber looks a bit different.


For those just catching up, we have this prototype but need very specific hardware to produce a playable dump. The CX4 chip here is a bit different than the retail X3, so if anyone has or know the whereabouts of a Super Wildcard X2, get in touch with us! Comment, e-mail, tweet, etc. 

21 comments:

  1. It's not the Super WildCard DX2, but I read a simular product might be able to do the trick??? Im not to well versed in this stuff so if it's not a solution my apologies... but the Retrode can connect to the computer and back-up games...
    https://www.dragonbox.de/en/71-retrode-2-retrode-4260416650091.html?search_query=retrode&results=9

    Otherwise it looks like you'll be doing some good digging to find a WildCard. Hope this helps/ possible a solution?

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  2. It seems that this proto is a later version of the one used in the EGM2 magazine, but still will be a nice addition to my ROM collection once it's dumped of course. Regarding the dumping process I don't know if you guys have thought of Retro Freak? Will that one do the trick? I heard it's a better option than the Retron 5 and also you can dump the game directly there. Don't know how trusty the hardware is to handle the CX4 chip in this proto though but maybe you can try.

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  3. The "golden armor" in this version looks closer to the Ultimate armor in later games. I like it.

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    Replies
    1. That's exactly what I thought when I saw it: The black makes it look almost like a 16 bit version of the Ultimate Armor, especially in comparison to X4's.

      Delete
  4. Man, this is all really interesting! On another note, where can I find that header artwork in full!! Is it from a Carddass?

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    Replies
    1. Yep! http://imgur.com/9wdQDjM

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    2. Cheers man, I love the X1-3 style artwork.

      Delete
  5. Protodude have you seen this?
    http://www.ebay.com/itm/Gameboy-Advance-Megaman-Battle-Network-5-Prototype-Sample-/131834456412?hash=item1eb1f2295c:g:3QoAAOSwYmZXG2wZ

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    Replies
    1. Yes. Unfortunately it's a PAL sample, same as PAL retail.

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  6. So basically there's a 99% chance that this prototype is never getting dumped :( Finding a Wildcard X2 is going to be almost impossible, very, very hard to find. I am curious as to why you guys spent almost 5 grand on this prototype before doing any research on how feasible it was going to be to dump it. If the main reason you guys bought it was for your own enjoyment and you're happy with your purchase, then I guess that's what matters though.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We grabbed it to keep it out of the hand of hoarders who never dump their prototypes. Since no one attempted to dump this before, it was assumed the regular methods would work just fine. That's not the case; Retrode and the like produce dumps that freeze at the title screen. Having consulted collectors, it was determined a WX2 is better equipped to handle this very different Cx4 chip. Literally no one is at fault here. All prototypes we secure are never for "our own enjoyment." We do it with the sole intention of distributing to the public.

      Delete
    2. OK, for one thing, I don't know where you got $5,000 as the amount paid. He may have been asking really high, but no one offered to pay him that. I may love buying games, but that'd be crazy, even for a neat prototype from one of my favorite game franchises.

      Secondly, sure, I definitely like owning the cartridge for my own collection, but that is unrelated to dumping it. I too am very curious to see what all else can be found buried away in the game code. Maybe even different versions of Sigma's forms? Probably not... but I can dream, right?

      Thirdly, the dumping issue. While not common these days, a SWC DX2 is, like, thousands of times more common than this prototype (absolutely no exaggeration), not to mention developments are being made in game dumping all the time so I suspect that within a year or two's time such an old device will no longer even be needed to dump it. For all we know this could be the only copy of this version still in existence outside of Capcom (or even within Capcom, depending on what they did with them). There were likely other copies of it, but to date I can find no documentation of them even existing. So, to miss such a cart because the dumping device might be hard to find makes no sense.

      And lastly, just try to be patient, OK? I've uploaded videos (recorded with my phone and in low quality, sure, but they are there) to show off 80% of what is in the proto. You sacrificed nothing for this game (and while not $5k, I will emphasize that it was NOT cheap), and you will get the data for free. It will happen eventually. In fact, I have been in contact with someone who has the correct model of WildCard and, as it stands, he offered that next time he is in my area we can try to meet up and dump it.

      So, just chill, Mr. Unknown. Revisit all the other MegaMan protos that are already out there.

      Delete
  7. But why couldn't you at least dump a copy with Retrode anyway? Yes it would be unplayable and freeze at the title screen BUT hackers and people at TCRF could still break in to the games code and look for cool stuff hidden in the ROM to post in the meantime, while you guys try to find a Wildcard X2.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Any chance for MMX (White City)? Maybe Inafune has a copy, let's pay him a visits.

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  9. Did some research, found a Super Wildcard DX2 for sale here: http://www.rikostore.com/?product=super-wildcard-dx2-64mb

    Here's a video from their Youtube channel showing it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ZVZywDG3Ak

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Woo hoo! Not too expensive either. Hope you guys are able to buy it.

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    2. its a no go. Demo store only, not for sale

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    3. Look what I found on the same store
      http://www.rikostore.com/?product=super-famicom-jap-bundle-with-disk-dual-swc-dx2-games
      Maybe the SuperFamicom and games comes as bonus. For your consideration.

      Delete
    4. It's also listed for sale on the Facebook page run by that store: https://www.facebook.com/RikostoreRoma/posts/1633626730210018

      Based on that I'd say it's definitely for sale! Maybe the store isn't fully set up? It might still be worth contacting via FB to see what's up. The FB page (https://www.facebook.com/RikostoreRoma) says they usually reply within a few hours, and has posts from as recent as March.

      Delete
  10. Hey Protodude, care to cover this?
    Mega Man & Bass: Challenger from the Future
    http://www.romhacking.net/translations/2660/

    ReplyDelete

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