Rockfish

Rockfish
Developer: Studio Pixel Publisher: Studio Pixel Platforms: Windows, Android Released internationally: July 30, 2023 This game has unused graphics. This game has unused items.

This game was never completed and/or given a public release. As a result of this, keep in mind that the developers might have used or deleted some of the content featured here, had the game actually been released.

This article is a work in progress. ...Well, all the articles here are, in a way. But this one moreso, and the article may contain incomplete information and editor's notes.

To do: Pre-release article? Check Pixel's Twitter and old devlog for more info.

Rockfish was a game being worked on by Studio Pixel for iOS from 2010-2012. He would end up rebooting it in 2013 with a completely different style, before that too would be scrapped in favor of what would eventually become Kero Blaster (which reuses a couple of Rockfish's assets).

A demo of the pre-reboot game dated November 27, 2011 would eventually be uploaded by Pixel in his Discord server on July 30th, 2023.

*bites*

Unused Items

text_JP (Original)	Translation	text_EN (In-game translation)
ストーン ほうぶつせん を えがいて とぶ.>ダメージも おおきい.		Stone It flies away leaving atrace of a parabola, but deals good damage).

An unused, non-functional weapon. Attempting to use it in-game does not fire a projectile, instead leaving the weapon's charging bubble floating where the player released it. In the items table at item.master, it is listed as having a price of 1000 coins, which makes sense given its alleged strength.

text_JP (Original)	Translation	text_EN (In-game translation)
マグネット おかねを ひきよせる べんりな じしゃく.		Magnet A convenient magnet which attracts money.

A magnet item that would've attracted coins towards the player (convenient indeed!). However, its functionality appears to have not been implemented yet, and attempting to equip it throws up an error message due to it having no event defined.

text_JP (Original)	Translation	text_EN (In-game translation)
ワーム		Worm

This item ID is used internally for displaying the sprite that appears when you collect your first "maggot". Although it is not used otherwise, it has a name defined for when it is hacked into the inventory.

Unused Maps

Ikachan

Download Necessary Tileset & Script Files File: Rockfish IkachanFiles.zip (11 KB) (info)

A map completely filled with blocks, save for a small section near the bottom that is a replica of the starting point from Ikachan. The map refuses to load in-game normally, both due to a missing tileset and for having no script file, so some work needs to be done:

1. Download the .zip file above and extract the contents.
2. Copy mptIkachan.bmp into Rockfish's "field" resource folder, and copy Ikachan.pxeve into the "tx_EN" folder.
3. Optional: Replace the rmStart.pxeve file in "tx_EN" with the one from the .zip file. This will warp you to the unused map once the player gains control after the opening cutscene.

Although the original tileset is missing from the files, the tileset used in the 3DS re-release of Ikachan appears to be a perfect match, suggesting that this map was an early iteration of the upgraded map used in that game.

rmTest

rmTest.pxeve
*'IN' <mapT'Test'<ldIm'fuOcto'<fadI<bgmK <itmP'1' <itmP'11' <exit *'Door' <fllw'1'<exit <lkFU'3' <life'10' <fadO <trns'Duct,focus,ChangeL' <trns'bsCell,toL,fromL' <trns'rmCoin,Backward,fromDuct' <trns'rmShop,Backward,fromDuct' <trns'Shrimp,Backward,fromDuct' *'Dead1' Ah<nodE

A room with four jellyfish enemies and an egg that, as the name suggests, is a test room. Entering the room will give the player the Bubble Beam and Missile, while interacting with the egg will add Pinky (the pink fish) into the player's team.

However, there is more to the egg than meets the eye: originally, it also restored the player's health, then sent them to a certain point in the game. This is never seen in-game, though, because an exit command prevents the script from being run beyond the start.

Stage2

If the player somehow got past the red fish blocking the way past the Guild, they would be taken to Stage 2! ...which, as it turns out, hasn't even been started yet. The map is completely empty aside from a few clusters of blocks, which appear to be guidelines that line up with the corners of the screen. However, near the top-right edge of the map is a warp which takes you to...

bs2

Boss 2! Unfortunately, it's in an even more incomplete state than Stage 2, as the entire screen is filled with a solid black and the player is unable to move.

test

Download Necessary Map & Script Files File: Rockfish TestMapFiles.zip (4 KB) (info)

Yet another recreation of the starting area from Ikachan, this time making use of Rockfish's tileset. For whatever reason, it crashes the game when loaded, though this can be fixed by inserting byte 00 at address 0x284 using a hex editor. It also lacks a script file, thus necessitating one to be created in order to enter the map. Both of these fixes can be accomplished by doing the following:

1. Download the .zip file above and extract the contents.
2. Copy test.pxpack into the "field" folder, and copy test.pxeve into the "tx_EN" folder.
3. Optional: Replace the rmStart.pxeve file in "tx_EN" with the one from the .zip file. This will warp you to the unused map once the player gains control after the opening cutscene.

Strangely, the entities in this map are copied directly from the Egg Room map file, many of which, like in the original map, will spawn when certain points in the story are reached.

Unused Music

There are two unused tracks in the game's files, which each also have a work-in-progress backup.

mermaid

Early (mermaid 110926.ptcop)	Final (mermaid.ptcop)

Apparently the mermaid was going to have their own theme at one point. This track would eventually be reused as "Excuse me..." in Pink Hour.

rockfish

Early (rockfish 110930 1.ptcop)	Final (rockfish.ptcop)

A cheery march tune. The earlier version appears to be in a completely different key, with it later being changed to sound more triumphant.

Unused Sound Effects

Appears to be an early sound for the Bubble Beam, found at beem.

The sound files bd2, bd6, and hatc are leftover instruments from the music files. "bd" stands for "bass drum" and "hatc" stands for "closed hi-hat", respectively.

Found at DestEnemy, an explosion sound that is more bombastic compared to the sounds used in-game. It also uses a different filename scheme compared to the final destroy sounds, which follow the pattern of destroyX.

Early (flip.ptnoise)	Final (flip2.ptnoise)

An early version of the sound effect used when swimming upwards.

Unused (hit_mpc2.ptnoise)	Used (hit_mpc.ptnoise)

An alternate hurt sound effect for the player.

A bizarrely quiet sound effect, especially when considering that it is called missile in the files. The actual Missile weapon does not appear to use this, though with how quiet this sound effect is, you'd hardly be able to tell.

Unused Graphics

font

To do: Finish uploading unused sprites (and organise them per sheet?); specifically the ones in demo.bmp Check the tilesets for unused tiles

Image	Notes
	The mermaid's pendant - you can only get one shard in the demo, rendering these unused.
	A handy reminder of what spritesheet it is? The bottom of the first three letters are cut off by the pendant sprites.
	The mermaid's portraits, but in colour!
	Sprites for the worm spinning out. An earlier iteration of these sprites was shown on the first Rockfish devlog.
	Partially overwritten sprites, which could be earlier versions of the worm sprites, but may also just as well be early graphics for the heart pickups.
	Another sprite of the "maggot", found next to the item image used when the player first eats one. Probably used as reference, considering the two sprites' similar pose.
	The green lobster(?) enemy has sprites for a red variation, but they are never used in-game.
	The starfish enemy, trapped in a bubble.
	Located underneath the blue fish sprites are these gray (and seemingly dead) fish.
	Dialogue portraits for the NPCs that appear in the Guild. The Guild in general is extremely unfinished in this build, so these probably would've been used in a later version.
	Unused HUD icon?

Unused Text

To do: Document the unused text.

Internal Character Names

To do: Are there more characters that have non-generic names?

Although none of the main characters are named in-game, they are given unique names internally: the black fish that attacks you is internally named Blacky, while the pink fish who joins you is named Pinky. The main character, however, does not continue this pattern; according to the internal name his stand-in NPC in the second mermaid cutscene was given (dmPeter), he is actually named Peter!

Revisional Differences

v0.21

The Android port uses a slightly newer revision of the game's source than the Windows prototype that was initially released. As a result, there are some minor differences:

• The fade-in effect is completely different. In the Windows version, it's a rectangular iris-in effect similar to that seen in Kero Blaster, while in the Android version it is a smooth fade-in from black.
• The English translation has been cleaned up somewhat, especially when compared to the earlier prototype.
  • Notably, the demo end message has been changed to specifically mention the Independent Games Festival, suggesting that this was the demo submitted there.