User:Addy1124/WIP-SimpsonsHit&Run-MainPage
|
|
| Addy1124 |
|---|
|
Developer: Radical Entertainment
|
With their previous project having sold well, Radical Entertainment got to work on a second The Simpsons title. It would need a way to differenciate itself, and on-foot gameplay was the answer. Months of development and many, many cut ideas and features later (plus a deadline extension), and the world gets what is widely considered both one of the best The Simpsons games and a Grand Theft Auto clone.
Given this intense development cycle, it probably shouldn't be surprising that the finished game is full of oddities, bugs, and of course, unused content.
NOTE: This/sub-pages are heavy WIP. I hope to finish all this at some point and then migrate the new layout to the actual pages (can be undone if unwanted). Can take time and motivation so updates aren't very constant at all.
 | To do: When this page is actually migrated, add/resolve links to other unused stuff when referenced. Adding them now HAS to bind to userpage and not gamepage. |
Contents
Sub-Pages
 | Developer Features Debug tools repurposed as cheats, strange command line arguments, and more. |
 | Unused Audio Just how early on in development was some of this axed? |
 | Unused Graphics Small maps, early model versions, and old HUD elements... what a mess... |
 | Unused Text DESTROY THE DONUT TRUCK |
 | Unused Level and Mission Content Every mission has something to tell. |
 | Oddities When you rush your 2003 licensed video game, cracks may show in the final product. |
 | Demo Builds The doorbells of no response lie here. |
Unused Characters
These characters exist, but don't appear in the game outside of the "Kick Cycles Character Model" cheat code/developer feature.
askinner
Seymour Skinner's mother, Agnes Skinner. She has generic walker NPC dialogue for encountering the player's successful and unsuccessful attacks. Her character model is askinn_m.p3d and her dialogue code is agn.
Where she was intended to appear and how is unknown. Seymour's Sedan vehicle (unlocked by completing the Level 3 Bonus Mission) includes Agnes as a backseat passenger in Levels where Seymour is allowed to appear as the vehicle's driver, however this uses hardcoded logic revolving around a low-poly mesh baked into the vehicle data as well as voice lines assigned to Seymour; Agnes' actual character data is irrelevant.
frankenstein
| To do: Which episode? Should be stated and referenced. |
An unnamed child dressed as a zombie, based off of an appearance in the television series. He has generic pedestrian "boy 2" dialogue. His character model is franke_m.p3d and his dialogue code is by2.
Likely intended to appear as a pedestrian in Level 7 in some capacity, based off of the assigned dialogue and unused functionality in the unused Level 7 E3 Level setup scripts.
Unused Vehicle
An unused vehicle based off of the design of a first generation Audi TT. The vehicle's internal name is tt.
The vehicle is very unfinished:
- The skeleton data is incorrect, resulting in the "driver character" position being within the seats.
- The configuration is odd and tunes less parameters than most other vehicles do, resulting in defaults being applied. Notably, the control is very slippery and the shadow is larger than the vehicle is.
- No sound configuration for the vehicle exists. As a result, entering the vehicle in its vanilla state crashes the game, unless it is reduced to a husk first, entered, and then repaired via Wrench.
Unusable Vehicles
| To do: Which can appear in Bonus Game? |
These vehicles have full data/configuration/sound coniguration, but can typically only be accessed through the "Unlock All Vehicles" cheat code/developer feature. Some of them can appear as random AI opponents in the Bonus Game.
redbrick / "redbrick"
A small, hollow red brick with multi-coloured wheels and an animated mechanism and steering wheel. Used during development to test physics and possibly other vehicle-related mechanics. A very similar vehicle was present in The Simpsons: Road Rage and accessible via cheat code/developer feature; this remains true in The Simpsons: Hit & Run.
The vehicle uses brick_car (redbrick.rsd) for engine audio and brick_car_horn (horn-horn01.rsd) for horn audio.
sedanA / "Sedan A"
A generic sedan. No other sedan# vehicles exist. The vehicle data, external resources, and unused script functionality indicate that it was intended to be a traffic vehicle in some capacity. The vehicle's model was used as a base for the Taxi traffic vehicle.
The vehicle uses sedanA_v (sedanA.rsd) for engine audio and sedanA_v_horn (horn-firebird.rsd) for horn audio.
wagonA / "Wagon A"
A generic station wagon. The vehicle data, external resources, and unused script functionality indicate that it was intended to be a traffic vehicle in some capacity. The vehicle's model was used as a base for the Hallo Hearse traffic vehicle.
The vehicle uses SUVB_car (wagonA.rsd) for engine audio and SUVB_horn (horn-horn06.rsd) for horn audio.
icecream / "Ice Cream Truck"
| To do: Which episode? Should be stated and referenced. |
An ice cream truck for Phineas Q. Butterfat's Ice Cream Parlor, a location featured in the television series with similar imagery to the truck, but not in the game. Possibly intended to be used as a traffic vehicle in some capacity.
The vehicle uses icecream_car (icecreamvan.rsd) for engine audio and icecream_horn (horn-horn01.rsd) for horn audio. The vehicle has overlay audio, which vehicles play if part of traffic or an AI Bonus Game vehicle whilst the player is nearby: the sound resource is titled ice_cream_truck, resulting in the file ice_cream_truck.rsd.
cCube / "Cube Van"
A large van, similar to the Duff Truck and Bonestorm Truck. The design features scrawled graffii, most notably of a Rigellian. Where and how this vehicle would've been used are unknown.
The vehicle uses cCube_v (cubevan.rsd) for engine audio and cCube_v_horn (horn-truck02.rsd) for horn audio.
cCellB, cCellC, cCellD / "Cell Phone Car B", "Cell Phone Car C", "Cell Phone Car D"
Beige, lavander, and cyan variants of the blue cCellA Cell Phone Car respectively. Level 2 Mission 7 ("Cell-Outs") requires the player to destroy 4 Cell Phone Cars, but only loads and uses variant A repeatedly. It's possible the mission was originally intended to use all 4 variants, but later got redesigned to only use the first one (because of memory limitations on console platforms, for example).
All 3 vehicles use different, respective cCell#_v sound resources for engine audio; they all result in the same file, cellcar.rsd. All 3 vehicles use different, respective cCell#_horn sound resources for horn audio, respectively resulting in files horn-horn04.rsd, horn-horn01.rsd, and horn-firebird.rsd. All 3 vehicles have overlay audio (as does cCellA), which vehicles play if part of traffic or an AI Bonus Game vehicle whilst the player is nearby; the sound resources are titled cCell#_overlay and respectively result in files cel_phone_02.rsd, cel_phone_03.rsd, and cel_phone_04.rsd.
Cut Level Remnants
level08/level09
| To do: "everground.p3d"? (2nd source) |
Very early in the game's planning and development, it was considered possible that the game would contain up to nine levels, instead of the final seven. As far as is known, actual planning and production for these levels never went anywhere notable, and the finished game uses "level" slots 8 and 9 to refer to Bonus Game levels 0 (unused) and 1 instead.
Likely leftover from original "just in case"-style setup, directories exist that hold these levels' names:
- "/art/missions/level08"
- "/scripts/missions/level08"
- "/scripts/missions/level09"
These directories were mentioned to a former Radical Entertainment developer who worked on the game in a forum thread, and their reply insisted that the paths are of a placeholder nature. Only "/art/missions/level08" contains any data - two Pure3D data files (chkpts.p3d and m1.p3d, likely corresponding to "checkpoints" and "mission 1") with a set of generic locators for vehicle spawns and triggers that appear Bonus Game-related. The finished game has no use for any of these potential assets and the required locators and setup scripting are loaded from designated paths elsewhere.
b00
Found in /art/b00.p3d and /art/b00data.p3d is an unused 0th Bonus Game track featuring a small oval, a ramp, and a "SPRINGFIELD 500" logo surrounded by a stadium, in reference to Season 11 Episode 44 ("Alone Again, Natura-Diddily") of the television series.
Possibly originally intended to exist as an unlocked-by-default Bonus Game/multiplayer level without requiring the player to go Collector Card hunting. The used Bonus Game levels 1-7 follow the same file layout/naming scheme.
testlevelb02l
A monochrome, mostly flat test map with small dips and inclines. The end of the filename references Bonus Game level 2 - what "l" means is unknown. Found in art/testlevelb02l.p3d.
testlevelb02st
A flat test map with aimple layout composed of low, "STOP" sign-textured walls and a grey checkerboard patter for the floor. The end of the filename references Bonus Game level 2 - what "st" means is unknown. Found in art/testlevelb02st.p3d.
Garbage Frontend Data
Only on Windows releases, the frontend art data directory (/art/frontend and relevant subdirectories) contains some unused and duplicated data:
- Various subdirectories that primarily contain P3Ds containing a single sprite each, also contain a higher-resolution PNG version of the same sprite.
- Every directory of this nature also contains a temp.err text file with unused text implying that a Windows script was at one point run with the purpose of cleaning some or all of the garbage data, but did not succeed.
- An early, non-P3D-compiled frontend system is present within art/frontend/scrooby2. Based on the included/excluded assets, it appears to be PlayStation 2-specific. Notably, an early textbible is present.
Unused Splitscreen Functionality
There is unused splitscreen functionality within the game, possibly migrated from another and used for testing. The finished game's Bonus Game multiplayer has a fixed overhead camera angle that allows all players to be visible at once within one rendered space.
Unused Movie
| To do: Did the proto use it differently, or exactly? Also, link to a video of. |
An earlier version of the Radical Entertainment logo movie ("/movies/radlogo.rmv") exists at "/movies/credits.rmv". This version was used in their other games and lacks the Snake Jailbird "Woah, Radical!" dialogue. The prototype also used this version, however it still had the final movie's filename then.
The encoding is interesting:
- On PlayStation 2, it is stored in the usual "RMVPS2" format.
- On GameCube, it is stored in a format not used at all by any version of the game which identifies as "RMVGCN", instead of the usual Bink format.
- On Windows and Xbox, it is stored using Windows Media Video 2 encoding for video and IMA ADPCM encoding for audio, instead of the usual Bink format.
Internal Project Name
The project/code names "Simpsons 2" and "The Simpsons: Road Rage 2" can sometimes be seen throughout the filesystem in form or another, such as the textbibles being base-named "srr2".
Dummy File
Only in US PlayStation 2 releases is the "/1GB.000" file, which is a padding file that contains a gigabyte's worth of 0x78 bytes. The file's modified date is the 13th of September 2002, suggesting it may have been copied over from another game or source at some point.
Revisional Differences
| To do: Lots of frontend/high-level stuff. More images, too. |
There are numerous differences that depend on the version of the game being played. The Xbox and Windows builds of the game suffer from the least compromise, whilst the GameCube build has lower fidelity assets and the PlayStation 2 build has the worst performance.
Audio
| To do: Recordings of gogo_main and margesamba_main. |
Audio is stored in different formats.
| GameCube | PlayStation 2 | Windows | Xbox | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ambience | Radical ADPCM | Sony VAG | Little-Endian PCM | Little-Endian PCM |
| Vehicle Sounds | Big-Endian PCM | Sony VAG | Little-Endian PCM | Little-Endian PCM |
| Character Dialogue | GameCube ADPCM | Sony VAG | Radical ADPCM | Little-Endian PCM |
| Music | Radical ADPCM | Sony VAG | Little-Endian PCM | Little-Endian PCM |
| Non Interactive Scenes | Big-Endian PCM | Sony VAG | Little-Endian PCM | Little-Endian PCM |
| Sound Effects | Big-Endian PCM | Sony VAG | Little-Endian PCM | Little-Endian PCM |
The quality of these formats differs:
- Little/Big-Endian PCM offer the highest quality, as formats with no inherent compression.
- Radical ADPCM, GameCube ADPCM, and Sony VAG are inherently lossy compression formats.
- Radical ADPCM is optimised for general compression, whilst GameCube ADPCM and Sony VAG are optimised for the GameCube and PlayStation 2 respectively.
It can be summarised that:
- Xbox builds have the highest quality audio.
- Windows builds have the same audio quality as Xbox builds, with the exception of having lower quality dialogue.
- PlayStation 2 builds have consistently lower audio quality.
- GameCube builds have inconsistent audio quality; whilst vehicle, NIS, and effect audio is stored without compression, the ambience, dialogue, and music is heavily compressed.
The audio output capacity also varies by platform:
- Windows audio output caps at Dolby Digital 7.1.
- Xbox audio output caps at Dolby Digital 5.1.
- GameCube and PlayStation 2 audio output caps at stereo.
Some music tracks distinctly lack certain noises on GameCube, that are present in the other builds' music tracks.
- The scat singing/cuica noises in gogo_main and margesamba_main are gone.
- The guitar midway section in halloween_main is much quieter.
It is possible that the tracks were deliberately remastered prior to the application of intense GameCube audio compression, in order to create less variance and slightly better audio quality.
| Track | GameCube | Windows |
|---|---|---|
| halloween_main |
Graphics
| To do: More information. |
Textures and sprites and compressed least on Windows, more on Xbox/PlayStation 2, and most on GameCube. Some textures and sprites are also stored at a higher resolution on Windows, or at a lower resolution on GameCube.
| GameCube | Windows |
|---|---|
|
|
The HUD icon for Snake behind bars (used in Level 3 Mission 5) was noticably changed for the Windows build - there are now 2 bars instead of 3, and Snake's face is less covered.
| PlayStation 2 | Windows |
|---|---|
|
|
The HUD icons for Mr. Burns, Homer, and Louie have them facing left on console, but right on Windows.
| GameCube | Windows |
|---|---|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The Hover Car's speed-based transparency effects are implemented differently, depending on the build.
- On Xbox/PlayStation 2, a complex process generates the image by distorting it relative to each face of the model.
- On GameCube, a simpler process generates the image by rendering an offset version of the current frame through the model.
- This process seems incomplete or bugged, as the windows remain unaffected.
- On Windows, the effect is more or less cut, and the vehicle just becomes slightly translucent in motion.
| GameCube | PlayStation 2 and Xbox | Windows |
|---|---|---|
|
|
|
The lens flare effect used in the skybox of Levels 1 and 3 was removed on Windows.
| PlayStation 2, Xbox and GameCube | Windows |
|---|---|
|
|
Recolourable generic traffic vehicles pick their random colour from a more limited range on Windows.
On PlayStation 2, the "Trippy" cheat code enables and applies a motion blur hardware effect to rendered frames. This effect was not replicated in any other build, leaving the cheat code valid and enterable, but ineffective.
Xbox builds automatically support and enable a hacky widescreen mode, if the user has enabled it in the Xbox dashboard.
Levels
| To do: More screenshots. |
Some odd changes were made to level geometry and layouts specifically for the Windows release.
A lemonade stand prop was added to the park on Evergreen Terrace, in Levels 1, 4, and 7. It can only be destroyed with a ground-pound or vehicle impact. When destroyed, it emits 5 coins and never reappears in that Level on the same save data state.
| PlayStation 2, Xbox and GameCube | Windows |
|---|---|
|
|
The signs at the Springfield Elementary School and Community Center in Levels 1, 4, and 7 have one consistent texture, instead of randomly picking one from a range. The region file containing the signs appears to have been incorrectly handled/exported for the Windows build, removing the chunk structure that allowed randomity to occur.
| PlayStation 2, Xbox and GameCube | Windows |
|---|---|
|
|
|
|
The Buzz Cola Vending Machine by the small shack at the Tire Fire in Levels 1, 4, and 7 was removed.
| PlayStation 2, Xbox and GameCube | Windows |
|---|---|
|
|
One of the trains in the trainyard in Levels 2 and 5 was moved slightly, so that it blocks a shortcut less.
Some road pathing leading beyond the blocked off bridge by the Community Center in Level 7 was removed, making exploring the out-of-bounds area more difficult.
Frontend
| To do: A lot more with the Main/Pause Menus and FileNotFound. |
The GameCube and PlayStation 2 releases have different progressive/interlaced video output confirmation methods and screens, whereas the Xbox and Windows releases do not contain one.
- On GameCube the selection is accessed by holding B at startup.
- On PlayStation 2 the selection is accessed by holding Cross and Triangle at startup.
- On Xbox, the console's dashboard setting is automatically used without need for user prompt.
- On Windows, the ordeal is irrelevant.
| PlayStation 2 | GameCube |
|---|---|
|
|
Performance
The game is designed to be played at 30-60 frames-per-second.
- Windows builds run at an uncapped framerate, leading to frame-limiter-requiring bugs on faster systems.
- GameCube builds run at around 60 frames-per-second.
- Xbox builds run at around 50 frames-per-second.
- PlayStation 2 builds run at around 30 frames-per-second.
- The game doesn't appear to take full advantage of the hardware's capabilities, so inexperience was probably a factor.
Miscellaneous
| To do: More information and showcases. |
The implementation of the Level 1 tutorial varies.
- On GameCube/PlayStation 2/Xbox, the tutorial defaults to enabled on starting a new game, and can be disabled/re-enabled when prompted or through the Options Menu. The tutorial is fully voiced, with some lines changing depending on the platform.
- On Windows, the tutorial defaults to enabled on starting a new game only under some circumstances relevant to configuration, and can be disabled/re-enabled when prompted or through the Options Menu only under these same circumstances. There is no tutorial dialogue.
There are some bugs exclusive to Windows.
- Vehicle steering animations don't occur.
- Entering a cheat code in the Main Menu Options Menu (and not the Pause Menu Options Menu) crashes the game.
- Under some circumstances, the Unlock All Cameras cheat code can crash the game.
Windows "Best Sellers" Edition
| To do: Newspaper comparisons, textbible changes, and other changes made in the executable/program. |
There is a second build of the game on Windows, identified on its packaging as the "Best Sellers" Edition. A few changes were made to the game:
- A typo was corrected on the French Level 2 loading newspaper.
- The mission objective text box is stretched, as with the game's European builds.
- The textbible container file has different contents.
- The executable has different contents, reflecting a rebuild with some changes.
Regional Differences
Australia
- Louie's doorbell response lines (at the Legitimate Businessman's Social Club in Levels 2 and 5) lack one entry: "Don't come in here, we're making... sausages. Man sausages!".
Europe
| To do: Screeenshots of lang sel screens. |
- On European GameCube/PlayStation 2, the game opens with a unique language selection screen. On Xbox, the dashboard setting is used as a base. On Windows, each install has a dedicated language selected during the installation process.
- Mission objective message text boxes are stretched a bit, to account for non-English language text spacing.
| NTSC | PAL |
|---|---|
|
|
- Mission titles on mission briefing screens aren't forced to uppercase.
| NTSC | PAL |
|---|---|
|
|
United States
- The padding file "/1GB.000" is included only in US PlayStation 2 copies of the game.
