Proto:DDRMAX: Dance Dance Revolution

This page details one or more prototype versions of DDRMAX: Dance Dance Revolution.

Two preview versions of DDRMAX: Dance Dance Revolution are known to exist; the first originates from PlayStation Magazine Demo Disc 62 and has an executable dated June 13, 2002, and the second was released as a dedicated demo disc, and has an executable dated August 6, 2002. Both of these builds are fairly similar in the surface, but there's a little more to see under the hood.

Differences to the Final Game

• The main menu is locked to Game Mode.
• Challenge/Oni Mode is not available.
• Only four songs are available: Let the beat hit em! (CLASSIC R&B STYLE), Look To The Sky, exotic ethnic, and Secret Rendezvous. The slots for all other songs are labeled as "COMING SOON", and are unselectable. The Roulette option is also unavailable.
  • Interestingly, all the preview tracks for the final release's song list are in the game, and the game can be hex-edited so that the game references these music preview indexes for selectable songs on the song wheel, rather than the ones meant for the selectable songs. The executables also contain text strings for the missing songs.
  • The Roulette option can be enabled through hex editing, as well by editing the array of songwheel slot values, so one slot has a hexadecimal value of 0xC7 (199 decimal). Note that it is not possible to begin the process of slowing down the wheel while on/over a dummy slot - that is, a slot with the "COMING SOON" text on it. If song wheel slot value array is edited to have multiple Roulette slots on it, and the selection lands on another Roulette slot, it is possible to select it - but the game will crash due to the lack of valid game data to load.
• Song records are not displayed.
• None of the songs have proper difficulty ratings, akin to the original Japanese release, which used the Groove Radar as the only difficulty indicator.

Demo	Final

Differences Between Demos

The PlayStation Magazine demo, being dated two months earlier than the dedicated demo disc, has a few notable differences:

• In the dedicated demo disc, a disclaimer, which displays after the game boots, was added:

• In the magazine demo, the music files for the songs Let the beat hit em! (CLASSIC R&B STYLE) and Look To The Sky lack a silence gap lasting about a measure in the songs' respective BPMs; the song properly starts playing immediately after entering the gameplay screen. However, the chart files are accomodated for that initial gap, and, as such, they are always a measure late compared to the song. This was fixed in the later demo, and in the final game.
• In the magazine demo, after the stage counter pop-up stops scrolling, it immediately disappears. The "READY" and "HERE WE GO" graphics seen upon entering the gameplay screen also don't appear. These bugs originate from the original Japanese PlayStation 2 port of DDRMAX, and were fixed in the later demo and the final game.
• In the magazine demo, the main sounds repository, DATA\SD.BIN, has preview audio files for several songs that don't appear in the game. The executable, DDRMAX.ELF, also has references for three of these songs, listed below in order of extraction:

Number	Audio File	Song	Referenced?	Notes
30		M-02stp.ver1.01	Yes	Refers to the song by Shoichiro Hirata, which originates from beatmania IIDX 6th style. The executable contains strings for this song at multiple points, including its ID (2stp) and title (M-02stp.ver1.01). Notably, it has not been featured in any Dance Dance Revolution game yet.
31		Ain't It Good (Original Vocal Mix)	Yes	Refers to the song by Tomoki Hirata, which originates from beatmania APPEND YebisuMIX. The executable contains strings for this song at multiple points, including its ID (aint) and title (Ain't It Good (Original Vocal Mix)). The song was featured in the first i-Mode Dance Dance Revolution game, though not much is known about its appearance there.
32		AM-3P (AM EAST mix)	No	Refers to the song by KTz, which originates from DDRMAX2. The song would later appear in that game's American PS2 version, though due to its nature as a Challenge-exclusive song, and the thing of this game not having that difficulty, it is not known if this song would have gained new charts if it appeared here.
51		NEMESIS	Yes	Refers to the song by D.J.SETUP, which originates from beatmania IIDX 6th style. The executable contains strings for this song at multiple points, including its ID (neme) and title (Nemesis). This song would later make a proper appearance as downloadable content for Dance Dance Revolution Ultramix.
75		GHOSTS (VINCENT DE MOOR REMIX)	No	Refers to the licensed song by TENTH PLANET, which originates from the original arcade release of DDRMAX. It would later appear in the American home release for the next game instead.
78		HIGHER	No	Refers to the song by NM feat. SUNNY, which originates from Dance Dance Revolution 4thMIX, and that had appeared on the previous American home release.
81		KAKUMEI	No	Refers to the song by dj TAKA with NAOKI, which originates from DDRMAX2 and beatmania IIDX 7th style. The song would later appear in that game's American PS2 version.
82		Keep On Liftin'	No	Refers to the song by dj nagureo, which originates from beatmania III. While that song hadn't made a proper appearance in the series until then, it would later appear in DDRMAX2: Dance Dance Revolution.
85		Let the beat hit em!	No	Refers to the song by STONE BROS., which originates from Dance Dance Revolution Solo Bass Mix, and that had previously appeared on Dance Dance Revolution: Disney Mix. This game features two remixes of it in its stead, one of which is playable in the demos.
86		LET THEM MOVE	No	Refers to the song by N.M.R, which originates from Dance Dance Revolution 2ndMIX, and that had appeared on the previous American home release. This song was particularly disliked by project director Jason Enos, and he reportedly attempted to remove it from that previous game, but couldn't.
101		SUPER STAR(FROM NONSTOP MEGAMIX)	No	Refers to the song by D.J.RICH feat. Tailbros., which originates from DDRMAX2. The song would later appear in that game's American PS2 version, though due to its nature as a Challenge-exclusive song, and the thing of this game not having that difficulty, it is not known if this song would have gained new charts if it appeared here.

Other Notes

• Two of the song title strings listed in the executable of the PlayStation Magazine demo appear to be earlier or working versions:
  • ORION.78 (civilization mix) is listed as ORION.78 (Civilization Mix)/DUM_S_NAHA_REQUIEM_MIX. "NAHA" refers to the song ID of ORION.78 (AMeuro-mix), the song it is a remix of.
  • Do It Right (Harmonized 2Step Mix) is listed as Do It Right (Harmonized Step Mix), lacking the reference to the genre the song was remixed into.