Proto:Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy/September 18 2001 Demo

This is a sub-page of Proto:Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy.

A demo from late in the game's development with only Misty Island as a playable level. It was released on two separate discs, including one as part of a promotion with Cingular Wireless. It was later released a third time on one of the official US PlayStation Magazine demo discs. It is dated September 18, 2001 compared to the final game's date of October 30, 2001.

Main Differences

The Blue Eco-powered platform has a different design. It also does not light up when it activates.

Prototype	Final

The Blue Eco orb container has a slightly different design.

Prototype	Final

Samos' glasses are reflective, instead of magnifying his eyes.

Prototype	Final

Mud Lurkers shoot red beams instead of purple ones.

Prototype	Final

• Green Eco droplets and clusters that don't get picked up gradually fade away instead of disappearing suddenly.
• When boxes and enemies are destroyed on the Zoomer, the collectables (Scout Flies and Green Eco droplets) hesitate for about a second before they get picked up (in the final game the Zoomer picks them up immediately).
• Bombs flying out of the cannon spin around faster.
• Daxter isn't shown jumping back on Jak's shoulder after a Power Cell collection cutscene.
• Lurkers have generic circular shadows instead of detailed ones.
• First person view cannot be used on the Blue Eco platform.
• A Power Cell is obtained as soon as the Sculptor's Muse is caught. This change was made specifically for the demo as it isn't possible to travel back to Sandover Village to collect the Power Cell.

Sandover Village

Sandover Village is accessible with hacks and contains a number of differences to the final game:

• The Mayor, Birdwatcher and Sculptor are missing.
• There are minor texture differences.
• The plant in Samos' hut is using its model from Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back. This would likely have been a breach of contract.

Prototype	Final

• The warp gate only gives the option to warp to Geyser Rock instead of the ability to scroll between levels. Using the warp gate will make the game freeze.

Prototype	Final

• The maps on the wall of Jak's uncle's house are different. They show unknown places while the maps in the final game are taken from the world map that comes with the game's manual.

Prototype	Final

Cheat Mode

A kind of cheat mode can be accessed in the demo by using hacks. It enables the player to activate certain abilities and features using button combinations on the controller, while also enabling some features without the need to press any buttons. It was most likely made by developers to be able to test the game easier.

All of the features below are only available while cheat mode is on.

Free Camera Mode

A free camera mode can be toggled by pressing R1+R2+L1+L2 simultaneously. Jak will disappear if you turn it on, and will reappear at the camera's position when you turn it off.

Debug Text

Several debug strings can appear at the top-left corner of the screen. They appear automatically if the debug mode is activated and are not affected by any button presses. They mostly consist of warnings about any problems with the game.

To do: Find more, and try to explain their purposes.

Pause Menu

• A string that indicates the status of the auto-saving function appears below the percentage counter.
• Debug string fcd:0 appears at the top-left corner of the screen when the L3 button is held down.
• Pressing R1+L1 on a Power Cell will unlock it. However, it doesn't remove it from the world, and you will still be able to collect it, but it won't increase the counter any further.

Flying

You can fly using R2. It works both on foot and when Jak is on a Zoomer. It uses the falling animation while Jak is on foot.

Zoomer Turbo

By pressing L2 while you are on a Zoomer, you can give Blue Eco clusters to Jak (one at a time), effectively increasing the speed of the Zoomer.

Healing

You can restore health by pressing R2 right after bumping into something, or giving/taking damage. You can also resurrect Jak by pressing the same button.

HUD

The health bar has a different design.

Prototype	Final

• First person view does not have the goggles textures.
• The HUD does not show the total number of Power Cells collected after one is picked up.
• There is no indication when all the orbs in the area have been collected.

Start Screen

The bottom right progress meter has a different design. The progress percentage uses decimal numbers instead of whole ones.

Prototype	Final

• There are no options for languages, center screen and aspect ratio.
• There are less animations when switching between the different menus.
• There is no meter when changing the audio volume.
• There are minor differences in positions and text sizes.

Audio

Different Audio

Instances when the audio is different from the final game:

Catching the Sculptor's Muse plays the Power Cell collecting music and there are no background sound effects.

Jak sometimes makes a different noise when jumping.

The Zoomer makes a generic crashing sound on both water and ground. There is also a generic sound when crashing into walls.

	Ground/Water
	Walls

Collecting orbs.

Prototype	Final

Purple lurkers when killed.

Prototype	Final

Lurker sharks.

Prototype	Final

Picking up a cloud of Green Eco.

Prototype	Final

Missing Audio

There are no sound effects for the following events:

• A Scout Fly is collected.
• Jak falling to his death.
• Jak falling into a pool of Dark Eco.
• The Blue Eco platform powering up.
• The transpad where the Zoomer is found.
• The Power Cell collection cutscenes; only the music plays.
• A Power Cell emerging from the cannon.
• When the Blue Eco orb container is opened, the Blue Eco doesn't make any noise, only the container opening.

Unused Dialogue

Like the final game, there is plenty of unused dialogue. The following files are unused and not present in the final game.

Daxter

Sound File	Line	Comments
	We need orbs. Orbs, Jak! How are we ever gonna buy Power Cells if we don't collect orbs?!	A different version of this line is in the files of the final game, also unused. For comparison:
	I could be wrong, but I don't think that's how you do it.
	Ahh!

Keira

Most of Keira's lines show variations of the amount of Power Cells needed to progress in the game.

Sound File	Line
	Great flying! Those drillers were gathering a lot of Dark Eco. We have to keep the lurkers away from as much of it as possible. Good work!
	Great! You have the 20 Cells needed to power my heat shield!
	This is a Power Cell. The most important Precursor artifact you can find. You need to collect 18 of these so I can power the heat shield for your A-Grav Zoomer.
	This is a Power Cell. The most important Precursor artifact you can find. You need to collect 22 of these so I can power the heat shield for your A-Grav Zoomer.
	You can't cross Fire Canyon until you collect 22 Power Cells.
	Great! You have the 22 cells needed to power my heat shield!
	Until we find out why the Blue Sage disappeared, you're going to need to collect 43 Power Cells to fuel his machine. Go Get 'em!
	You don't have enough Power Cells to power the Blue Sage's machine. We can't lift that boulder until you collect 43 Power Cells.
	Until we find out why the Blue Sage disappeared, you're going to need to collect 48 Power Cells to fuel his machine. Go Get 'em!
	You don't have enough Power Cells to power the Blue Sage's machine. We can't lift that boulder until you collect 48 Power Cells.
	Hey guys, by my calculations it's going to take 75 Power Cells to fuel the heat shield against the lava on the way to Gol and Maia's Citadel.
	You don't have enough Power Cells to get through this lava. You can't get through to Gol and Maia's Citadel until you've collected 75 Power Cells.
	Hey guys, by my calculations it's going to take 78 Power Cells to fuel the heat shield against the lava on the way to Gol and Maia's Citadel.
	You don't have enough Power Cells to get through this lava. You can't get through to Gol and Maia's Citadel until you've collected 78 Power Cells.

Cutscenes

In the final game, cutscene audio for both the dialogue and sound effects are contained within a single file. In the prototype, the files only contain the dialogue, with the sound effects yet to be inserted.

The following cutscene audio files have other notable differences about them:

Gol's line in the opening cutscene. His voice has not yet been edited.

Two scenes where background voices and sounds can be heard, presumably from the recording studio.

Music Differences

Music files for a number of levels are present, with differences from the final game. Below we are only mentioning music that is audably different.

Sentinel Beach

Many of the sections of this track are separated into variations in the final version.

Forbidden Jungle

Forbidden Jungle has a different theme, with the fishing game music simply being a variation of the main theme instead of an entirely different track like in the final game. The prototype theme was used as the basis of the fishing game's theme in the final game.

Main theme:

Fishing game:

Forbidden Temple

The temple theme is also different, it does not loop properly.

Fire Canyon

It has more instruments playing than the final version.

Main theme:

Zoomer:

Misty Island

The reverb effect of this track is different in this prototype. Its variations are also missing.

Sandover Village

The final version has a silent beating for the sculptor variation of this track, but it is missing from this prototype.

Sculptor:

Rock Village

There is an additional instrument playing in this prototype that is not present in the final version. It also plays during the variations.

Main theme:

Samos:

Communicator:

Warrior:

Geologist:

Gambler:

Boggy Swamp

One of the drums in this track has a different pitch. The variations are also missing.

(Source: Luminar - Discovery)

Unused Text

The file 0COMMON.TXT has text strings that differ from the final game.

It indicates that 45 Power Cells instead of 72 are needed to progress through Lava Tube. In addition, The Geologist is called The Researcher, Maia is spelled Maya and Klaww is spelled Klaw.

BRING 90 ORBS TO THE RESEARCHER
RETURN TO THE RESEARCHER
GOL AND MAYA'S CITADEL
COLLECT 45 POWER CELLS TO CROSS THE LAVA TUBE
DEFEAT KLAW