Paper Mario: Color Splash

Paper Mario: Color Splash
Developer: Intelligent Systems Publisher: Nintendo Platform: Wii U Released in JP: October 13, 2016 Released in US: September 26, 2016 (digital release, accidental), October 7, 2016 Released in EU: October 7, 2016 Released in AU: October 8, 2016 This game has unused code. This game has uncompiled source code. This game has hidden development-related text. This game has unused graphics. This game has unused music. This game has regional differences.

To do: scripts/dbg dir, debug functions? Executable strings? Debug menu? if Mario's hammer's current paint color is set to black, it drains NPCs of their color. Promotional artwork oddity. Unused music portion There is a lot of concept art that can be found in-game by donating cards to the Prisma Museum. A place to start uploading images is here.

Paper Mario: Color Splash is a mixed bag if ever there was one. While it has a much larger and more creative world than its immediate predecessor and the trademark Paper Mario wit is still there, the game still follows many of the hated design decisions from the last game while adding some annoying mechanics of its own, leading to many heated (ahem) scraps over whether or not it's better than Sticker Star.

Paper Bowser (spoilers?) does talk again, so that's something.

Unused Song

An unused variant of the "Unfurl Power" song. This file is labeled as BGM_SYS_TenkaiHammer_aac, while the used version is labeled as BGM_SYS_TenkaiHammer_pitch_aac. As one would expect, the used version does have a pitch change, which happens near the end of the song.

Unused Card Behaviors

To do: Confirm 1-Up Mushroom behavior. The trainer probably contains relevant memory values and the inventory can also be edited by editing the save file (which is xml+crc32 appended at the end).

Some cards can only be obtained as "pre-colored", yet have unique behavior for being "un-colored" or "less-colored":

• POW Blocks do not cause any damage to enemies if they are not fully colored in.
• Red Mushrooms give you less HP the less they are colored in.

(Source: Getlucky12341)

Unused Graphics

Unused Marmalade Valley Princess

A sprite of Princess from Marmalade Valley, depicting her as a 2D sprite like the pictures seen in the Professor's house. When she appears in said location, she uses a cardboard-like 3D model instead of sprites. Notably, the Chain-Chomp sprite used here seems to be based off the one from The Thousand Year Door and Super Paper Mario, rather than the artstyle seen in this game.

Interesting Environment Maps

Some environment map textures hide screenshots depicting earlier versions of some maps:

Environment map	Concept art

grasslandenv in BTL_ENV_Common.bfres.lz is a screenshot of a house with a mailbox, in a style based on Decalburg from Paper Mario: Sticker Star. A piece of Color Splash's concept art from the in-game gallery features this style. There are also some concepts for Ruddy Road that feature more prominent "grass stripes", like in this early style.

robj_btl_fan_envmap in BTL_ENV_Fan.bfres.lz is a distorted screenshot of an early cafe.

(Source: Original TCRF research)

(noticing the connection with Decalburg and the concept art: saladplainzone)

Regional Differences

Washing Machine

The biggest and most infamous localization-related change which happened in this game stems not from an idiom or anything controversial, but from nothing more than a washing machine. Indeed, in the Japanese and North American versions, the Washing Machine thing is styled after the "top-loading" kind, while in the European versions, it was changed into a "front-loading" one. Seeing how the top-loading kind of washing machine is much more common in North America or Asia, it being changed into the more recognizable front-loading kind was more than likely meant to make its purpose more clear to European players.

Japanese/American	European

The artwork on the Washing Machine's card was updated to reflect the design change.

Japanese/American	European

The biggest and most puzzling change however stands in the design of the room where the Washing Machine can be found. Indeed, while the model and animations for the Washing Machine were updated to reflect the design change, for some unexplained reason the room where in which it stands was stripped of its laundry room theme, instead becoming an ordinary cave.

Language	Name	Meaning
French	Maskass lavandier	Launderer Shy Guy
German	Käseblatt Guy	Newspaper Guy. "Käseblatt" is a derogatory word for a newspaper, like "rag".
Spanish	Coladaguy	Laundry Guy
Italian	Tipo Timido lavandaio	Launderer Shy Guy
Dutch	Laundry Guy	Same as the English name.
Portuguese	Masquito Lavadeiro	Launderer Shy Guy
Russian	Полоскун (Poloskun)	Rinsepin. Name appears to be based on the verb полоскать (poloskat', to rinse).

Moreover, the unique "Laundry Guy" is replaced with an ordinary Red Shy Guy that only appears when Mario wrings out the washing machine, albeit with the same dialogue. Because the latter only appears when he attacks Mario, the former enemy type and the line the former says if Mario talks to him before wringing it out are left unused in those versions:

	Original Dialogue	Translation
English	Today is a perfect day for doing laundry. I chucked in all the dirty stuff that's been piling up lately.	Today is a perfect day for doing laundry. I chucked in all the dirty stuff that's been piling up lately.
French	Le temps est idéal pour faire sa lessive. Ça tombe bien, je vais pouvoir en profiter pour rattraper mon retard.	It's the perfect time to do your laundry. Good for me, I'll be able to catch up on all that's been piling up.
German	Heute ist ein guter Tag, um Wäsche zu waschen. Ich hab alles in die Maschine gestopft, was sich so angesammelt hat.	Today is a good day for doing laundry. I chucked in the machine all the stuff that had been piling up.
Spanish	Hace un día estupendo para lavar la ropa. Menos mal, porque tenía ya una pila de calcetines sucios...	Today is a perfect day for doing laundry. Thank goodness, because I already have a pile of dirty socks…
Italian	Oggi è il giorno perfetto per fare il bucato. Ho una pila altissima di roba arretrata da lavare.	Today is a perfect day for doing laundry. I have a huge pile of stuff that had been piling up left to wash.
Dutch	Vandaag is een perfecte dag om de was te doen. Ik heb al het verzamelde wasgoed in de machine gedaan.	Today is a perfect day for doing laundry. I chucked in the machine all the stuff that had been piling up.
Portuguese	Está um dia perfeito para tratar da roupa. Pus a minha pilha de roupa suja toda a lavar.	Today is a perfect day for doing laundry. I put my entire pile of dirty clothes to wash.
Russian	Хороший выдался денек для стирки. Перестирал горы белья! (Khoroshiy vydalsya denek dlya stirki. Perestiral gory bel'ya!)	Today has been a perfect day for doing laundry. I washed mountains of laundry!

Sniffit or Whiffit

The correct and wrong colors in the Japanese version of Snifit and Whifit has been swapped. This shows a red circle, instead of a green check for correct answers, and the green cross instead of the red one for wrong answers.

(Saria_100 Speedruns: しんやまチャンネル)

Shader Source

All shader files in the directory shaders has source sdk project files not compressed in any way.

Launch Commands

This needs some investigation. Discuss ideas and findings on the talk page. Specifically: Test if possible?

The game's executable has a BUNCH of launch commands coded.

• -mode
• -dispReport
• -dispNotice
• -dispMaxLines
• -dispWarning
• -fontfull
• -memorySize
• -mode
• -dispMaxLines
• -info
• -debugWindow
• -mode
• -sndBgmOff
• -dispHud_DrcOnly
• -dispHud_MapId
• -dispWarning
• -sndSeOff
• -dispHud_MarioPos
• -productBoot
• -dispNotice
• -debugPlayerControl
• -dispReport
• -axrenderfreq
• -language
• -region

Oddites

Promotional Image Koopa Oddity

Official artwork made to promote the game depicts a Green Koopa Troopa with pointy, claw-like fingers. Despite this, the sprite this art seems to be based on gives them rounder, more human-like fingers, which is how they're usually drawn in the Paper Mario games.

Internal Project Name

As seen in various filenames, the project's internal name appears to be "gojika". Gojika (午時花) is the Japanese name for the noon flower (Pentapetes phoenicea), a flower with 5 petals. Go is also 5 in Japanese, which lines up with Color Splash being the 5th game in the series.