Rayman 2

[RibShark]

All this talk about the optional area in tTotA brings back something to mind. If I remember correctly, I found some text in the file in the Dreamcast version of that particular level that said something like "You have reached the secret spot.". Also, what does that area do with the checkpoints?

[Master]

I can't say for certain, but I think it has to do with where Rayman spawns if he gets a Try Again!

[GOT4N]

Okay, I was derping into the DC version to check and I found this file named "WALLPAPER.PVR"
https://www.dropbox.com/s/civ7pbfapkvr7z6/WALLPAPER.png
Did someone already saw it?

[PluMGMK]

I can't say for certain, but I think it has to do with where Rayman spawns if he gets a Try Again!

Yes indeed. There's also a mildly amusing/creepy (depending on your own state of mind) glitch with a green lum. When you finish the extra segment, you fall on a green lum. You can then proceed ahead, or you can run back up the shortcut. If you do the latter, lasers will appear to block your path. You then turn around to continue on, only to find that the green lum has reappeared!
I'm guessing it's because there's an invisible check point there, à la Woods of Light.

[Shrooblord]

What's creepy about that? Life and energy and the force of Polokus's dreams will into existence another lively friend there to come and give you a hug and, more importantly, give you a place to retake physical form should you manage to lose it.

[PluMGMK]

I never really found it creepy, but when you think about it, it's as if your entire experience of playing the extra section has been erased, because suddenly the game is acting as if you took the shortcut!

[Haruka]

Okay, I was derping into the DC version to check and I found this file named "WALLPAPER.PVR"
https://www.dropbox.com/s/civ7pbfapkvr7z6/WALLPAPER.png
Did someone already saw it?

It is the first time I see it in a texture. Funny enough, it is not present in the game.

[OCG]

Maybe it is present but hiding somewhere and it was not found?

[Droolie]

That texture wasn't actually found in the files from the game itself, but in the folder for Dreamcast "icons" on the Rayman 2 disc. So basically, stuff that the Dreamcast uses to display info about the game before actually launching it. So no, it's not in the game.

[GOT4N]

That texture wasn't actually found in the files from the game itself, but in the folder for Dreamcast "icons" on the Rayman 2 disc. So basically, stuff that the Dreamcast uses to display info about the game before actually launching it. So no, it's not in the game.

Yes, there was also some dreamcast icons with letters and all so yeah

[Master]

I see, so it's merely a display icon for the Dreamcast menu, akin to how most modern consoles display icons for downloaded games or games within the disc tray.

[GOT4N]

I see, so it's merely a display icon for the Dreamcast menu, akin to how most modern consoles display icons for downloaded games or games within the disc tray.

Probably yeah :p

[Reese Riverson]

Okay, I was derping into the DC version to check and I found this file named "WALLPAPER.PVR"
https://www.dropbox.com/s/civ7pbfapkvr7z6/WALLPAPER.png
Did someone already saw it?

First time I seen this. That looks pretty cool.

[PluMGMK]

Re: this discussion on the Wiki (about elements)
Looking through the textures, it is now clear to me that the intention of the developers was indeed to have the "fire" sanctuary in tSoSaF and the "earth" sanctuary in tSoRaL. The textures for the sanctuaries are in the folders "textures_temple_eau", "textures_temple_feu" and "textures_temple_terre" and this is how they match up.
However, they must have screwed up the theme when it came to the boss battles, a design problem which may have arisen from the splitting of tSoRaL into two levels (or vice versa). It's a pity really.

EDIT: Foutch's textures are named gardef, with the f presumably standing for feu. Why, Ubisoft, why?

[Droolie]

The textures for the sanctuaries are in the folders "textures_temple_eau", "textures_temple_feu" and "textures_temple_terre" and this is how they match up.

Not to mention that the Tomb of the Ancients textures are also part of the "temple" textures:

Perhaps the most interesting revelations in that pack come not so much from the textures themselves but rather from the naming:

• The eyes of the so-called small caterpillars are named "Lums_yeux_nz", "Lums_eyes", indicating that they could in fact be... black Lums.
• The name for Eig's textures is "maturin", revealing Maturin from the Dark Tower as a likely influence.
• There are textures for various "temples" which ended up being the Sanctuaries. There's Earth, fire, and... some textures for a very specific part of the Tomb of the Ancients. Could the Tomb of the Ancients possibly be more special than just a tomb?

— Original post: viewtopic.php?p=888308#p888308

[Master]

Would this area, perchance, be this? (ignore the circle, that's just in relation to where I nicked the pic from)

Temple_delire, was the folder name.

[PluMGMK]

The eyes of the so-called small caterpillars are named "Lums_yeux_nz", "Lums_eyes", indicating that they could in fact be... black Lums.

That's what I always thought.

There are textures for various "temples" which ended up being the Sanctuaries. There's Earth, fire, and... some textures for a very specific part of the Tomb of the Ancients. Could the Tomb of the Ancients possibly be more special than just a tomb?

You mean temple_delire? One of those is the Jano door in CoBD. I guess some of them got carried over from the cave (or volcano) to the tomb as the development progressed.

[Shrooblord]

You know what, that circular part of the Tomb of the Ancients looks as a likely candidate for a boss run-around battle like the battle with Foutch. It's too arena-like for the purpose it eventually ended up serving. The exit of that area seems like an exit of the level, the closing of a theme, if you will.

I wonder if we could at some point hack the game to rearrange the level load order, and order them around manually into something else using these pieces of information, and then see whether the result made more sense from a design perspective than what we ended up with now (not implying that what we have now doesn't make sense).

[Master]

Hmm, what if we started messing around with the level names?
It's probably a cheap shot, but who knows?

[PluMGMK]

Each map's GPT file includes the map's name and a list of all the maps in a certain order. The rest of the file is non-human-readable though.
So messing with the names most likely won't help.

Also I just had a thought that maybe Jano was originally going to be the guardian of the Sanctuary of Stone and Fire, which would explain why he had a name (it's in the texture files) even though it was never mentioned in-game.

EDIT: Well, replacing Vulca_10 with Learn_10 caused the game to freeze as soon as I jumped into the spiral door. Let's hope it hasn't corrupted my save in the process.