Rayman 1

[dr_st]

I felt like the premise is that Joe is asking Rayman to go into the caves and reconnect the power, Rayman does so, then retraces his steps and goes back to Joe.

[RayCarrot]

Yeah it is. But there are several odd things about how the game handles it:

1. The game save has two special flags for the level which it saves, something which is very unusual. Usually the game just does this for if you've beaten a boss. There's a flag which gets set when you "accept" the mission from Joe (when the image of Joe giving Rayman the firefly appears) and then another flag when you "complete" the mission by hitting the switch. Neither of these flags are necessary since you can't leave the level once you enter it, so why does the game save them?
Now let's see how the game uses them. In the function DETER_WORLD_AND_LEVEL which sets the level to load, the game does this:

DETER_WORLD_AND_LEVEL.png (8.16 KiB) Viewed 2023 times

"finBosslevel[1] & 2" is the flag for if you've accepted the mission. So what it's doing is this:
If you're trying to load Eat at Joe's 1 and have already accepted the mission then the game loads Eat at Joe's 2 instead and also gives you the firefly ("RayEvts[1] = RayEvts[1] | 4").
If you're trying to load Eat at Joe's 2 in the demo mode then the game gives you the firefly only if you've accepted the mission. Why would that check need to be there? Probably a leftover from how the code used to be structured. To make up for this the function InitDemoJeu actually sets the flag saying you've accepted the mission (along with one other flag):

InitDemoJeu.png (3.05 KiB) Viewed 2023 times

2. Now what about the second flag I mentioned? Yep the game does indeed save when you hit the plug:

DO_POING_COLLISION.png (7.56 KiB) Viewed 2023 times

What is this used for? Well this determines several things. First it determines if the UFO objects should move when Rayman lands on them. So if you managed to get to the next map without hitting the plug then none of the UFO objects would move! It also determines if Joe should spawn in the last map, the beach one. If you get there without hitting the plug then Joe isn't there. Obviously both of these scenarios are impossible in the final game, yet the game has checks for them.

3. Eat at Joe's 5 and 7 use the same maps:


This is probably nothing new, and makes sense from a story perspective. But you won't really notice this when playing the level. So why go through all this trouble of making them the same? Maybe they were originally one map? If say the UFO has been there in map 5 and it wouldn't function because you hadn't hit the plug yet then that'd make sense. You'd then enter a side-level, the one with the plug, and return here afterwards. Then it also makes sense why map 4 loops back to the start since you go back the way you came.

Now it's also worth mentioning the game does something sort of similar with the super-helicopter potion. You actually have to help the Musician for any of them to spawn. So if you went to Pencil Pentathlon without helping him then the potion wouldn't spawn!

[Hunchman801]

This is really insightful, thanks Carrot! I agree that it makes a lot of sense that parts 3 and 5 would originally have been the same map, with the flying saucers originally not working. Not sure, however, why they decided to split it if the logic was already working.

[Chacanger]

This is really insightful, thanks Carrot! I agree that it makes a lot of sense that parts 3 and 5 would originally have been the same map, with the flying saucers originally not working. Not sure, however, why they decided to split it if the logic was already working.

There's a 254 object limit and both sections already take up most of that on they're own, so it would have been way too many objects.

Although that would have been ok for Rayman Junior and Rayman Designer as they have a 700 object limit.

[PluMGMK]

Yeah, I noticed years ago they were the same, and I thought it was a nice touch, but it didn't occur to me that it might be a leftover from some earlier iteration…

There's a 254 object limit and both sections already take up most of that on they're own, so it would have been way too many objects.

I see, I was thinking it might be something like that all right.

Another explanation I was thinking of was that at some stage they specialized the "side level" mechanism to do timed bonus levels with a life as a reward, and decided it would be too complicated to do something different for just this one case… But Chacanger's explanation is simpler!

Now it's also worth mentioning the game does something sort of similar with the super-helicopter potion. You actually have to help the Musician for any of them to spawn. So if you went to Pencil Pentathlon without helping him then the potion wouldn't spawn!

Interesting! What happens if you use cheat codes then? Do they set the flags as appropriate?

[Chacanger]

Also another thing I noticed a while ago was that both brooms disappear on the return journey.

[dr_st]

It's time to start crazy theories about WHO TOOK THOSE BROOMS???

[PluMGMK]

The cleaning robots that got reactivated when Rayman turned on the power?

[Chacanger]

It's time to start crazy theories about WHO TOOK THOSE BROOMS???

The janitors had finished sweeping up that part of the cave for the day so they packed up their brooms and went home, but they apparently took the rocks they rested on with them too.

[RayCarrot]

There's a 254 object limit and both sections already take up most of that on they're own, so it would have been way too many objects.

Although that would have been ok for Rayman Junior and Rayman Designer as they have a 700 object limit.

True. It's worth noting the Jaguar doesn't have this limitation though (since it doesn't pre-load all objects), so maybe when the level was originally designed there they had it as a single level and then split it upon porting the game.

Now it's also worth mentioning the game does something sort of similar with the super-helicopter potion. You actually have to help the Musician for any of them to spawn. So if you went to Pencil Pentathlon without helping him then the potion wouldn't spawn!

Interesting! What happens if you use cheat codes then? Do they set the flags as appropriate?

You mean the one to unlock all levels? I don't think it does, but I'm not sure.

[PluMGMK]

Interesting! What happens if you use cheat codes then? Do they set the flags as appropriate?

You mean the one to unlock all levels? I don't think it does, but I'm not sure.

Well, that or using WINMAP to bypass helping the Musician or plugging in Joe's lights…

[Chacanger]

Interesting! What happens if you use cheat codes then? Do they set the flags as appropriate?

You mean the one to unlock all levels? I don't think it does, but I'm not sure.

Well, that or using WINMAP to bypass helping the Musician or plugging in Joe's lights…

I had to use WINMAP on Eat at Joe's to test some levels for my mod and I noticed that Joe remains unhappy in the later stage if you don't turn on the plug. I think the buoys are still there though.

[dr_st]

Interesting! What happens if you use cheat codes then? Do they set the flags as appropriate?

You mean the one to unlock all levels? I don't think it does, but I'm not sure.

Well, that or using WINMAP to bypass helping the Musician or plugging in Joe's lights…

I just tested both approaches - and the answer is - no, the flags are not set (potion does not spawn, UFO is not moving).

[PluMGMK]

Wow, that's pretty amazing! I guess it was always obvious that the cheats don't give you the cages or (permanent) powers you need to go everywhere, but this is at a more subtle level, and I don't believe it's been documented anywhere before this…

It's in marked contrast to Rayman 2, which gives you the Lums and powers you need when you use a cheat to skip levels!

[dr_st]

Wow, that's pretty amazing! I guess it was always obvious that the cheats don't give you the cages or (permanent) powers you need to go everywhere, but this is at a more subtle level, and I don't believe it's been documented anywhere before this…

You may be right about documenting it. I didn't recall this detail at all, and I'm not sure I ever encountered it.

There is a separate cheat code that grants all permanent powers, but it has no effect on this behavior either.

[Chacanger]

If you change one of the auto demos at the start to use a level where a Joe UFO exists, the UFO willl act as if the power plug hasn't been activated. However if you go to a level where you plant seeds it behaves as if you already helped Tarayzan.

[PluMGMK]

Are there not some shenanigans going on to make sure Tarayzan has been "helped" in the demo? I notice that you hear the "option selection" sound just before the game loads the seed demo, but not any of the others...

[Chacanger]

Are there not some shenanigans going on to make sure Tarayzan has been "helped" in the demo? I notice that you hear the "option selection" sound just before the game loads the seed demo, but not any of the others...

The only data that's currently known for demo's are a group of tables that contains Rayman's commands (aka Jump, Fist, Left, Right, Action) and how long a demo lasts.

If there is data relating to specific events it would either be hard coded or stored in another table elsewhere. Same applies to the fact Rayman has all powers unlocked at the start.

Also more importantly, if you don't help the Musician and get to the next level, the super helicopter power doesn't spawn in any other level, so a similar situation to Joe's UFO's.

[PluMGMK]

Yeah, if you cheated your way past Mister Stone's Peaks and then got stuck in Pencil Pentathlon with no obvious way to progress, it'd be quite a headscratcher! I'm surprised nobody's ever discovered that before...

[RayCarrot]

Are there not some shenanigans going on to make sure Tarayzan has been "helped" in the demo? I notice that you hear the "option selection" sound just before the game loads the seed demo, but not any of the others...

The only data that's currently known for demo's are a group of tables that contains Rayman's commands (aka Jump, Fist, Left, Right, Action) and how long a demo lasts.

If there is data relating to specific events it would either be hard coded or stored in another table elsewhere. Same applies to the fact Rayman has all powers unlocked at the start.

When a demo starts the game hard-codes you to always have all powers. Then when the level starts it checks if you already have the seed power or not.
There are some level-specific demo checks though. For example in the Skops boss it checks if you're in demo mode and if so always has the platforms fall down in the same order. There's also some check for it in the Moskito fight code which I don't believe has a demo.