Proto:Spyro the Dragon (PlayStation)/June 15th, 1998 build/Dream Weavers

This is a sub-page of Proto:Spyro the Dragon (PlayStation)/June 15th, 1998 build.

The Dream Weavers world is where things start looking really incomplete. Almost no fodder (if any fodder at all) appear in any of the levels in this world, and from this point onwards, gem values lower than 5 begin appearing much less frequently (if ever). Most of the gems in this world are yellow (10) gems, but there are occasional blue (5) and purple (25) gems. All of these gems are dropped by enemies.

Differences

Dream Weavers Home

Jun 15	Aug 12 Final

• Like the other worlds, a balloonist can be found behind where you enter the level.
• One of the dragons - Lateef - is missing. Despite this, the inventory still claims that the level should have the three dragons present in the final game.
• All buildings have green roofs in this version, as opposed to some of the buildings having blue roofs and the other building having an orange roof.
• The first island is split into two in this version - a small land bridge connects them in the final.
• Two islands at the start of the level were stretched slightly in the final version to make the glide between them easier.
• One of the islands near to the cannon was made much larger in the release version.
• Some of the buildings are shaped differently - one of them is shorter than in the final game, and there's a few extra platforms joining the buildings together. Collectively, this allows Spyro to traverse a larger amount of the level, but there aren't any gems in these additional locations in this version.
• The area near Jacques' portal is much more well-lit in the final game.
• The waterfall near to the Lofty Castle portal has no texture animation.
• The two enemies that stand in front of the staircase always return to their original (large) size when re-entering this world. In the final game, they will instead start the level small if you've already collected their gems.
• The whirlwinds use light blue particles instead of green.
• The cannon model and sound effects match that of the Peace Keepers cannon. It uses placeholder textures in this version:

Jun 15	Aug 12 Final

• The extending platforms use some slightly more basic textures. The same isn't true for the platforms in Jacques.

Jun 15	Aug 12 Final

Dark Passage

Jun 15	Aug 12 Final

• The beginning section is fully surrounded by a wall and Spyro enters doing a flip, instead of gliding in.
• The lighting and colouring is significantly more basic and less varied, and all indoor floors use a more basic texture than the patterned look of the final.
• Some of the walls on the second island were made steeper in the final, making the island appear slightly narrower from above.
• There are several large holes in the polygons throughout the level, including one particularly large hole in the floor inside a cave on the second island.
• One of the dragons is missing from this level, and this is also reflected in the inventory value - "4/5" being the largest value the player can obtain.
• Five gems are missing from the level, meaning the highest total the player can obtain is 495/500.
• Turtles launch flaming bats at the player by opening their chest, instead of simply spitting fireballs from their mouths.
• All water in the level can be walked on. Funnily enough, due to an oversight, one of the pools of water was left this way in the final game.
• The lamps have a different appearance to their final look.
• The final platform - and one of the other platforms in the same room - are smaller than they are in the final.
  • Both the exit vortex and the dragon on the final platform were moved slightly further apart in the final game.
  • There's also a small wall surrounding the platform in this version.
• On occasion, a lamp can fail to turn an enemy small.

Lofty Castle

Jun 15	Aug 12 Final

• There are two more islands near the beginning and end of the level respectively.
• Part of the long island near one of the buildings - and one of the other islands nearby - were made bigger in the final.
• The path around the building was made longer in the final game, and the island nearby was stretched slightly to attach to it.
• The supercharge section is not surrounded by walls as it is in the final.
  • The gem distribution also makes supercharge a bit useless in this version - there's no reason to use it.
• The islands with multiple whirlwinds were moved closer later in development.
• The puffer birds have a larger activation radius and seem to be a bit more aggressive in attacking the player, more frequently pushing Spyro off the edge of the islands.
• The balloon gnorc attack has a wider area of effect. They also seem to attack Spyro more quickly when the player gets too close to them.
• Strangely, it appears as though the texture on one of the polygons on one of the building's roofs was incorrectly rotated in the final game, yet it appears correctly here.
• The interior of the second building appears to be lit more brightly.

Haunted Towers

Jun 15	Aug 12 Final

• The level seems to be in a very early state with mostly plain placeholder textures.
  • The level seems to be further along in development than Wild Flight and Icy Flight though, as the level model itself is much nearer to completion and there's a wider range of textures (despite the number of textures still being quite limited).
  • While the supercharge tracks in this level do work correctly, the track texture isn't done yet and instead a completely different texture is used.
• When Spyro speaks to a fairy to unlock his enhanced flame ability, instead of turning a red colour, he flashes green and a group of stars spin around him.
• Spyro doesn't automatically turn around after getting a kiss from a fairy.
• The skybox is heavily tilted when compared to its final design.
• The roofs of the first two rooms are modelled differently.
• One of the structures containing a fairy is placed in a different position, and as such the bridge to it is different too.
• A couple of the rooms and corridors at the bottom of the building are slightly blockier and less rounded than in the final game.
• There's an extra room at the end of the level containing another fairy and two more enemies.
  • Part of the path leading up to this room is invisible - it appears in model viewers, though, so the disappearance may be a rendering issue.
• Large parts of the bottom of the skybox unrender when viewed from certain angles.
• In this version, all fairies are blonde with red dresses and shoes. In the final, they're red-headed and wear purple or yellow dresses (depending on whether the powerup given is temporary or permanent) and no shoes.
• The wizards are textured differently.

Jun 15	Aug 12 Final

• The gnorcs are not only differently textured, but they're also armored.

Jun 15	Aug 12 Final

Jacques

Jun 15	Aug 12 Final

• The enemies in this level take on a vastly different (and much gorier) appearance:

Jun 15	Aug 12 Final

Jun 15	Aug 12 Final

• The boss appears to be a lot more aggressive in this version, throwing boxes at the player significantly more often.
  • Spyro takes damage from the boxes even if he charges into them.
• Due to the changed gem placement in this level, there is an entirely empty cave where a key and two yellow gems would normally be kept.
• Jacques is textured differently, as are the presents he throws:

Jun 15	Aug 12 Final

• A whirlwind that would normally be used to reach several gnorcs placed atop a few high platforms is inexplicably extremely short and does not interact with the player. As such, the gems obtained from these enemies would be inaccessible. However, under certain conditions, dying in this level will result in the whirlwind respawning correctly.
• The three cube-shaped platforms in Jacques' area are instead replaced with a cylindrical extending platform and two small floating islands.
• There are a couple of glitches corresponding to the jester mechanic in this level.
  • Sometimes, platforms go the wrong way when the jesters are attacked.
  • Occasionally the jesters get stuck in a ringing state, jamming the platforms.
• A small amount of the lighting was changed very slightly.
• There's an additional enemy near the staircase leading to Jacques. This may attack you if you don't flame it before gliding to the platform.
• Jacques' gems are able to fall into the lava, rather than staying on the platforms.

Icy Flight

Jun 15	Aug 12 Final

• The timer begins on 20 seconds instead of 28 seconds.
• Like Wild Flight, the level model and textures are in an incredibly basic state.
  • All walls in the level are strictly vertical instead of having a more "natural" shape to them.
  • All walls use a placeholder texture.
• Also like Wild Flight, this level seems to be missing many basic sound effects.
  • Unlike earlier flight levels in this build, the "10 seconds remaining" sound does not play every second - nor does it play at all, even when the timer gets low.
  • The sound that plays when all eight of an object type has been destroyed does not play.
• The lower half of the skybox seems to be missing.
• The platforms holding the chests are tall cuboids that stretch to the bottom of the level model instead of just jutting out of the wall.
• Some of the walls curve a bit differently in the final.
  • This also includes moving one of the lighthouses and one of the chests a little bit closer to everything else in the release version.
• A couple of pillars in the copter sections were moved slightly.
• Copters are called "HUEYS" in this version. They immediately disappear when destroyed, rather than releasing fragments.
  • Furthermore, the copter icon is replaced with a blue ring icon, perhaps as a placeholder.
  • The copters take on a different appearance, too:

Jun 15	Aug 12 Final