Rayman 2

[Razorbeard]

Once again found a magazine scan for Rayman 2, in which the magazine interviews Michel Ancel and asked him how he came up with Rayman's name. He answers: "It comes from the story of Raymans birth, which will soon be revealed."

Strange how it never got shown in Rayman 2 or mention in game. The only fact we know where Rayman comes from, is from the manual when Rayman was found by the fishermen.

It's almost certainly metaphorical birth, considering there is an interview with him where he states that Rayman's name came from the ray-tracing software they used to make him.

Not any deep lore reasoning or anything. Just literally they made him with ray-tracing software so they called him Rayman.

[Steo]

I remember thinking about this randomly since modern games are getting into ray-tracing, then discovering that Rayman really did get his name from it. I guess it's not too surprising anyway, since Jade got their name from BG&E using the Jade engine.

[PluMGMK]

I thought they called the engine after the character? There are also files called "Sally", since originally that was her name (Jade was her codename) before someone pointed out that Jade would be better as her real name and Shauni would be a cool codename!

[Steo]

Maybe it was this then, but I guess either way, it's not surprising as to how Ubisoft name things. Wasn't Jano also named because of Janod? I think I even remember Janod as a filename in Origins for Psychlops.

[Hunchman801]

The official English translation has a few mistakes, which I tried to rectify here: viewtopic.php?t=12762

I see, so it's mostly about Silver Lums being made from the other (first) four.

It's almost certainly metaphorical birth, considering there is an interview with him where he states that Rayman's name came from the ray-tracing software they used to make him.

Sure, that's where the name originally comes from, but maybe back then they intended to come up with a backstory for it, and eventually gave up on the idea?

Maybe it was this then, but I guess either way, it's not surprising as to how Ubisoft name things. Wasn't Jano also named because of Janod? I think I even remember Janod as a filename in Origins for Psychlops.

Yeah, I think the book L'Histoire de Rayman has more details on this.

[Steo]

I still want to order myself a copy of that book, not sure why I keep putting it off.

[Hunchman801]

Maybe you wanted to learn French first?

[Steo]

I did, but it's a lot more difficult than I expected. It's hard enough to talk in the French forums without messing up.

[PluMGMK]

L'Histoire de Rayman states that the Janod was modelled for Rayman 2 but ultimately cut, then revived for Origins. But considering that Jano is likewise a bouncy one-eyed monster, I think it's likely that the book's version of events is inaccurate (or at least incomplete), and that the original Rayman 2 Janod evolved into Jano. Five of our members agreed with me this time two years ago, and none disagreed.

[Steo]

It seemed likely either way from the name just having one letter removed. Speaking of those polls too, it might be about time they get revived again.

[PluMGMK]

Deleting the silent final D represents a very common practice for how they named models/textures too. For example, they use "bato" as a short form of "bateau" in the CNT files.

[Steo]

I also just noticed another mistake on Dreamcast. The Teensie tells me that I need to go through the "Isle" of Doors, but then mentions in the next line how the "Hall" is a magical place.

[PluMGMK]

Oh wow, that's a pretty big oversight! I wonder if the French version also overlooked that…

[Steo]

I can check, I just need to complete the level again with the Dreamcast set to French.

EDIT: They say "Ce lieu est magique" which I guess means something like "The place is magic". So at least "place" isn't "hall", but then the translation for hall isn't "voie" in the first place. Maybe that's where the confusion came from, but it seems like they just used PC translations for some parts. With that being said, "door inactivated" vs "door deactivated".

[dr_st]

Oh wow, that's a pretty big oversight!

Kind of like in Rayman Revolution, Foutch is still introduced as Guardian of the Sanctuary of Rock and Lava.

[Hunchman801]

L'Histoire de Rayman states that the Janod was modelled for Rayman 2 but ultimately cut, then revived for Origins. But considering that Jano is likewise a bouncy one-eyed monster, I think it's likely that the book's version of events is inaccurate (or at least incomplete), and that the original Rayman 2 Janod evolved into Jano. Five of our members agreed with me this time two years ago, and none disagreed.

Yeah, it's pretty clear to me that the author got it wrong, whether it was a misunderstanding or a mistake from the people he interviewed. If I recall correctly, he doesn't even mention Jano, does he?

Speaking of those polls too, it might be about time they get revived again.

It's probably a good time to do that, yeah.

They say "Ce lieu est magique" which I guess means something like "The place is magic". So at least "place" isn't "hall", but then the translation for hall isn't "voie" in the first place. Maybe that's where the confusion came from, but it seems like they just used PC translations for some parts. With that being said, "door inactivated" vs "door deactivated".

Looks like they just forgot to replace "hall" with "isle" in some places, right?

Kind of like in Rayman Revolution, Foutch is still introduced as Guardian of the Sanctuary of Rock and Lava.

Don't get me started on how Revolution messed up the level names.

[Eurotool]

I'm not sure if this has ever been documented before, but I once witnessed a bug on the original PC version during the Technical Checkup (Tomb of Ancients) where Clark would not be there, rendering the whole level unfinishable.

It was a particularly unsettling moment as a kid...

[PluMGMK]

Oh wow, I can imagine that being quite disturbing all right. Sounds really strange though, I wonder what could possibly cause that…

[Hunchman801]

Quite strange indeed! And I don't think it's possible to die in that area, meaning you'd have to restart the entire level.

[PluMGMK]

Depends on whether or not the door closes I guess. If it stays open, you can go back out and drown in the foul water. If it does manage to close despite the level being broken though, you're absolutely snookered…

I wonder if the PLAYJEFF cheat would've made Clark reappear. When I hear something like that, all I can think of is a memory bitflip or something. Or maybe just a scratched CD, but surely that would've made a checksum fail and bring up the stupid pirate head. (Just rechecked Robin's video, and apparently the pirate head itself doesn't break that particular level at all.)