Mario Kart Wii/Unused Graphics
This is a sub-page of Mario Kart Wii.
Contents
- 1 Unused Graphics
- 1.1 Additional Lakitu Signs
- 1.2 Country Flags
- 1.3 Misc. Graphics
- 1.4 Early Wii Wheel Icons
- 1.5 Early Luigi Circuit Banner
- 1.6 Unused Name Taglines
- 1.7 Unused Finish Line Graphic
- 1.8 Honeycoupe's Hidden Chain Chomp
- 1.9 Early Mii's Body Pose
- 1.10 Early Luma's Shading
- 1.11 Gas Particle Effect
- 1.12 Invisible (A) Button Graphic
- 1.13 Unused Controller Question Mark
- 1.14 Unused ??? Player Number
- 1.15 Unused Mario and Luigi Title Screen Blur
Unused Graphics
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Additional Lakitu Signs
Through hacking, it is possible to add more than three laps to a track. Doing so shows that Lakitu actually has extra graphics on his flag for laps 3 through 9! While flags 3 and 4 were used in 2 tournaments, where you race the babies in Cookie Land and race around rooms of DS Twilight House with 5 laps, the flags indicating laps 5 through 9 go unused. The lap 5 flag goes unused because in the Cookie Land and Twilight House tournament, Lakitu uses the final lap flag on Lap 5.
Unused copies of these are located in Common.szs, while the ones used in the final game are located in Common_X.szs (where X is replaced with the letter corresponding to the language setting).
Interestingly, there is a glitch in the game that lets the player see these normally unused lap graphics.
Country Flags
Old USA Flag
A very old American flag graphic. It can be found inside /Scene/UI/Channel.szs, in /./ranking/timg. It's named tt_america.tpl
The layout file for each player entry in the Top 10 list (common_w078_ghost_top10.brlyt in that same file and directory) actually references this icon as a placeholder for the country flag images. But of course, it can't be seen in-game, as it's replaced with the used flag icons.
"Country Unknown" Flag
Named flag_blank_00.tpl, it was probably meant to display when a player didn't have a region set, but in the final game, the space where a flag would be is empty if there is no region set.
Misc. Graphics
Coin
A coin graphic from Super Mario Bros, named tt_coin_type1_000.tpl. It is found in /Scene/UI/Race.szs, inside /./game_image/timg
Mario in Classic Dragster
The icon of Mario in the Classic Dragster can be found in many files, such as /Scene/UI/MenuSingle.szs, inside /./button/timg/. It's named tt_ma_kart.tpl
This graphic is referenced in nearly all layouts that are used to render the vehicle buttons in the vehicle selection screen. Since most of the vehicles seen in those buttons are 3D models instead of 2D icons, this implies that this Classic Dragster graphic is actually a placeholder for those models.
Placeholder Mii
This Mii is of Shuzo Matsuoka that was sent out to Japanese Wiis in 2007. It can be found in many files, such as /Scene/UI/Title.szs, inside /./button/timg/. It's named tt_mii_matuoka_64x64.tpl
This graphic is referenced on nearly every layout where the Miis head model appears, implying it was used as a placeholder for those 3D models. In fact, curiously enough, its shadow can still be seen briefly when highlighting/clicking on a Mii icon in the Rankings screen.
As an example, if you convince the game to not load a Mii for the image on the license, this graphic will load instead.
Unused Mario Kart Channel Question Mark Icon
An unused question mark icon, named tk_iconEvent_00, exists within the banner for the Mario Kart Channel. It can be seen on a prerelease trailer.
Minimap Test Graphics
From left to right, these circles are named st_aka1_32x32.tpl, st_aka2_32x32.tpl, st_ao1_32x32.tpl, st_ao2_32x32.tpl, st_kojin1_32x32.tpl and st_kojin2_32x32.tpl ("kojin" stands for "individual"). They're all found in /Scene/UI/Race.szs.
Given how the filenames follow the same structure as the characters' icons seen in the course's minimap (starting with "st_" and ending with "_32x32"), and also how these textures are listed by the layout file character_map_icon_common.brlyt, it is likely they were used as placeholders for those.
Early Wii Wheel Icons
Early 2-Star Wheel User Icon (Online)
This early Wii Wheel icon is found in /Scene/UI/Race.szs, inside /./game_image/timg, named tt_level_icon_handol_star2.tpl. In the final game, the Wii Wheel icons are loaded from a font file instead.
Early Wheel User Icon (Time Trials)
Another early Wii Wheel icon, named tt_remocon_han_body_mini3.tpl and found in /Scene/UI/Channel.szs, inside /./ranking/timg. It can be seen on prerelease footage.
Early Luigi Circuit Banner
An early version of the banners that display for each course when checking time trial rankings. It is named tt_ghost_ranking_course.
Unused Name Taglines
Two unused name tagline textures can be found in the file /Scene/UI/Race.szs, inside /./game_image/timg
tt_race_chara_name_line_gray_map_ver00.tpl
This graphic actually appears in the unused Player Number on the Minimap feature.
tt_race_chara_name_only_line_gray_ver02.tpl
| Early | Final |
|---|---|
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This graphic is very similar to the final version (which is named tt_race_chara_name_line_white_ver00.tpl), albeit with the end of the line being opaque instead of semitransparent. A similar (if not the same) graphic appeared in prerelease footage.
Unused Finish Line Graphic
| Unused | Used |
|---|---|
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An unused version of the finish line graphic that appears on the course's minimap can be found in the file /Scene/UI/Race.szs, inside /./game_image/timg, and it is named tt_start_line_32x32tga.tpl (for reference the used texture is called tt_start_line_22.tpl).
They're both identical looking, with the only difference being that the unused variant has a size of 32x32, while the final is 22x4, which actually fits the graphic. Interestingly, the filename for the unused version lists its original image format (.tga).
Honeycoupe's Hidden Chain Chomp
| Vehicle's body (Texture) | Vehicle's body (Texture mapping) |
|---|---|
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The bottom right area of the texture of the Honeycoupe has a Chain Chomp with a Prohibition symbol on top of it, and half of a Chain Chomp eyeball. Southwest of the "W" emblem seems to be a Chain Chomp mouth, but with the red part of the mouth removed, and right of that are Chain Chomps teeth. These are never used in game because of the texture mapping. These oddities are in every character's version of the Honeycoupe. Perhaps it relates to the scrapped Chain Chomp item? Or maybe the Honeycoupe was originally going to be a Chain Chomp version of the Piranha Prowler.
Early Mii's Body Pose
| Early | Final |
|---|---|
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An early version of the Female Mii's body (used in the photo you get for completing all the cups in the game). It is found in /Scene/UI/MenuOther.szs/ma_mii_f.brres. There is also a placeholder head texture that is never seen.
Early Luma's Shading
| Luma (Regular Gameplay) | Luma (Award Ceremony) |
|---|---|
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tico.brres in /Race/Common.szs (the model for Luma that accompanies Rosalina) has an unused metal texture, named metal_3.tex0. The version of the model that is seen at the Award Ceremony (found in rs.brres and rs3.brres inside /Demo/Award.szs) actually uses this texture in an early version of the model's shading. In consequence, the main texture for the Luma is different.
| Luma (True Ending Credits Video) | Luma (Award Ceremony) |
|---|---|
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Interestingly, this early version of the Luma's shading can be seen in the video used for the true ending credits of the game.
Gas Particle Effect
In /Race/Common.szs, inside Effect/RKRace.breff/rk_gasSmokeTest2 is an unused particle. Probably a test as the name implied.
Invisible (A) Button Graphic
| Ripped Graphic (removed transparency) | In-game (removed transparency) |
|---|---|
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An image with the letter "A" on it, named tt_a_body.tpl. It is likely its purpose is to alert players to press the A button to register their controller.
This graphic is actually used in the Controller Registration screen in the Local Multiplayer mode. It appears in the squared frame when a controller is not assigned for a given player. However, it is invisible in-game, since it uses the RGB5A3 image format (in the images above it was converted to the RGB565 format so that it could be seen).
Shown above is also how it looks like in-game if the transparency is removed (turn up the brightness to see it better).
This texture has a white outline variant, just like the other controllers, named tt_a_light.tpl, and is also invisible. However, this texture seems to be completely blank.
Unused Controller Question Mark
An image with a question mark on it, named tt_hatena_body.tpl.
While the purpose of this graphic is exactly unknown, it is likely it could have been used when the player tried to register an unsupported controller. In the final game, if this happens, the game shows the GameCube controller image instead. Interestingly, a similarly named animation file, common_w055_message_connect_hatena.brlan, contains references to the invisible A button graphic, which could mean it was originally meant to appear in the Controller Registration screen in the Local Multiplayer mode.
This texture has a white outline variant, just like the other controllers, named tt_hatena_light.tpl.
Unused ??? Player Number
In the texture for the players controller numbers, there is an unused black graphic with three red question marks. Found in /Scene/UI/Font.szs, inside /./indicator_font.brfnt
Unused Mario and Luigi Title Screen Blur
| Unused | Used |
|---|---|
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There is an unused Mario and Luigi Title Screen blur graphic named tt_title_bokeboke.tpl in /Scene/UI/Title.szs, inside /./title/timg. In comparison, the unused graphic appears less blurry, and it is stored as a full texture, whereas in the final version it is divided in two (the upper part with the logo and the lower part with Mario and Luigi).
The layout file title_movie.brlyt references this image. This layout file is used when viewing the opening video in the Title Screen.
