Rayman (early production)

• This article is about the early production of the game. For the SNES prototype, see Rayman (cancelled prototype).

An early version of Candy Château can be seen in the Japanese PC back cover.

Over the years, a considerable amount of information regarding the early development of the original Rayman game has been unveiled, mainly through beta versions leaked to the public and Rayman Designer hacking. An interview also revealed that Rayman had had his limbs removed due to technical limitations, and that a Sega 32x port was going to be released.

General

According to an advertisement poster, a similar plot from the cancelled SNES version was supposed to be used in the Atari Jaguar version. The original plot followed a boy named Jimmy who created a world on his computer called Hereitscool. When Hereitscool became infected with a virus, Jimmy entered his virtual world and took on the persona of Rayman in order to defeat the virus. In other magazine publications, Jimmy will alternatively named Kevin. Reasons for this plot being scrapped are unknown.

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  A section from a preview booklet for the Atari Jaguar version describing the earliest known plot from the cancelled SNES version about Jimmy becoming Rayman.
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  The early plot which is mentioned in GamePro issue 64
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  Another version of the early plot, but Jimmy is instead called Kevin
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  A preview article of the Atari Jaguar version of the game, with unused enemies and levels, as shown in Joypad issue 38
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  A preview magazine article, showing a lot of early versions of levels and characters which do not appear in the final game
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  A preview of the Atari Jaguar version as shown at European Computer Trade Show (ECTS) 1994
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  A preview article announcing the initial January release date for the port
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  Preview article for Atari Jaguar with the early HUD present
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  Another preview article showing the changes which more or less the same as final build, nearing completion
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  Preview article of the Atari Jaguar version, at 30% completion according to publication
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  Early screenshots in a German gaming magazine
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  Early screenshots in a German gaming magazine
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  Rayman being announced as an upcoming Atari Jaguar title in August 1994
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  Another screenshot in the same magazine
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  Announcement for Rayman for the Atari Jaguar with early preview screenshot
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  Rayman being shown along with other titles at CES 1994
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  Ubisoft's upcoming titles with Street Racer
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  An early version of Rayman for the Atari Jaguar showing a little Livingstone mounting a spider along with a hunter and Rayman in an unknown environment.
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  These unidentified enemies in the early Atari Jaguar version of the game, possibly early versions of Antitoons, are holdovers from the game's cancelled SNES version.
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  A very early Atari Jaguar version showing an early design of Rayman and the Electoons.
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Concept art

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Unused sprites

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  An unused object for Candy Château. Appears in the Atari Jaguar and PC versions.
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  A music sign which is used as an editor object for auto-scroll triggers. It was originally intended for something else, as it can be seen as a separate object in the early prototypes.
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  An unused sign which only appears in the early PlayStation demos and Atari Jaguar prototypes.
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Unused animations

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  A small livingstone on a Plum.
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  The cloud designs from the Jaguar version appear in the files of the other versions as well.
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  An unused animation which is broken as it's most likely from an earlier build of the game.
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  An unused attack animation for either Bzzit or Moskito (they share the same animations).
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  An unused attack for the Moth.
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  An unused animation for Mr Stone.
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  A plum which swings around in a full circle.
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  An unused animation for when Rayman jumps from hanging on a platform.
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  An unused animation for the mad drummer.

Unused objects

The following objects remain unused across all versions of the game:

• TYPE_BTBPLAT (18)
• TYPE_INTERACTPLT (24)
• TYPE_BIG_BOING_PLAT (68)
• TYPE_BIGSTONE (80)
• TYPE_UNUSED_114 (114)
• TYPE_LIDOLPINK2 (144) - unique Electoon command (DO_ONE_PINK_CMD)
• TYPE_GRAP_BONUS (148) - gives Rayman the ability to grab (DoGrapBonusRaymanCollision)
• TYPE_CYMBAL1 (168) - unused behavior (DO_2_PARTS_CYMBAL)
• TYPE_CYMBAL2 (169) - unused behavior (DO_2_PARTS_CYMBAL and DO_COLL_RAY_CYMBALE)
• TYPE_VITRAIL (247) - unused behavior for the final boss (DO_VITRAIL_COMMAND)
• TYPE_SLOPEY_PLAT (254) - unused behavior (DO_SLOPEY_PLAT_CMD)
• Unknown (255)

Atari Jaguar early prototype

On 25 August 2008, a YouTube video showing an early prototype of the Atari Jaguar version was uploaded. Two months later, this was leaked to the public along with 19 prototypes or other Jaguar titles. Along with this leaked prototype, there is also an early demo version, which displays even more differences between the final version.

This version begins with Rayman dropping down in a Dream Forest level, and getting stunned the second he hits the ground, which he does when falling from great heights. Not all objects have collision detection, such as hunters and Moskito. Interestingly, Rayman can also perform handstands and attack with his feet, and his fist can be charged up to be more powerful, which is displayed with an icon at the bottom left corner with the word ‘Nova’ next to it.

There is also a very early looking heads-up display which is centered rather than to the left and right, there are more hit points than normal and the word ‘POW’ is between that and the lives counter. An icon of an Antitoon is displayed instead of the Tings icon, and apparently it counts and represents how many enemies have been defeated. Only the lives counter and five of the hit points made it into the final game. No game over system has been implemented either, meaning that when all lives are lost the counter cycles back to 99.

Unlike any of the other known ROMs for the game this one includes a reference list where each block of referenced data is names, ranging from functions to animations. Image data exists for the tentacle flower, but the data to parse it or any of the animations are not included. Mr Stone also appears, and although he has several referenced animations they all lead to the only one included in the ROM, which includes placeholder graphics.

Other differences include the small powers which have a variant which flashes between red, yellow and green. This versions also includes a different type of gendoor which can spawn multiple enemies at random. This was not included in the final game due to the newly made multi-platform engine only allowing a set amount of objects per level, unlike the Jaguar engine which allows objects to be spawned in after the level has been loaded. The Magician now also holds a staff, which can be seen in the intro of the final game.

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  Many elements in this demo were scrapped completely from the final version.
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  A glowing arrow indicates when Rayman's telescopic fist is fully charged.
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  Moskito standing still in the air at the end of the level.

Maps

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Sprites

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  Unused music note among the sprites for Rayman. It appears with the sprites for small Rayman in the final game and is a leftover from the SNES prototype.
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Animations

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  The flashing power
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Atari Jaguar early demo

The world map, as seen in the early Atari Jaguar prototype.

This version is a later build from the prototype, now including proper collision and all the worlds in the ROM as in the final version. Functions to load levels from all worlds exist, but only the first two have actual maps. Leftover graphics and other data is however available for other worlds.

Several differences between this prototype and the final version are present, as well as glitches which may render the game unplayable.

• The game begins with no title screen, but straight to the world map which has been shrunk to fit the whole screen. Instead of Rayman, an Electoon pinpoints his position.
• There is no text in the game other than ‘ACTION’ and ‘GAME OVER’.
• The game uses a different walk cycle for Rayman, making him look as if he is jogging.
• When Rayman is hit by an enemy, the throwback is a lot longer than normal, and he squeaks.
• When Rayman runs up to an exit sign, he does not pose, but rather the game fades to the next stage or the map.
• The lives counter displays a single digit.
• Some enemies appear to float across the screen due to broken collision detection.
• The bullets shot by the hunters do not withdraw a hammer.
• Rayman's body moves differently when he receives a power from Betilla the Fairy.
• The Magician can be found and is paid with Tings as normal, but instead of a normal bonus level, he takes the player to the Breakout game.

Maps

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Sprites

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Animations

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  The walking animation
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  Unused demo animation which was later used in the vol. 3 PlayStation demo

Atari Jaguar

Unused animations

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PlayStation demos

An early Japanese demo on PlayStation from December 9, 1994 from the Japanese DemoDemo PlayStation Vol. 3 collection has some major differences from the final release. There are only 2 levels available, one from the Dream Forest and the other from the Blue Mountains. Both levels feature unique level design not seen in the final game.

• The world map is the same as from the Atari Jaguar beta version with an Electoon moving on the map. There is also a point on the giant, floating present, although it can't be accessed.
• In the files, Band Land is referred to as Chromatic Skies (with the code name being "Skies" rather than "Music") and Picture City as Image City—almost literal translations of the original French names Le Ciel Chromatique and La Cité des Images.
• Early loading screen images are used.
• Early sequenced music is used.
• When falling from high places Rayman will appear stunned.
• The lives counter displays a single digit.
• Rather than getting Electoon markers on a medallion upon breaking a cage the player now has to collect the Electoons from it with a separate counter being available for that, replacing the tings.
• The Big Powers use an incorrect palette for parts of their animation.

A second Japanese demo, from the Japanese DemoDemo PlayStation Vol. 6 collection features the third phase of Moskito's Nest. The gameplay is near final, although the level index matches that of the later Atari Jaguar prototype. It also uses the same tileset palette as on Atari Jaguar, which was also used in the final Japanese PlayStation release.

Maps

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  The Dream Forest map from the vol. 3 demo
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  The Blue Mountains map from the vol. 3 demo
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  The Dream Forest map from the vol. 6 demo

Unused sprites

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  The loading screen used for the Dream Forest.
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  The loading screen used for the Blue Mountains.
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  The same as unused giant lava rock as has been found in Rayman Designer was found in higher quality in the files.
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  An unused scroll which was meant to be given to Rayman by the Magician.
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Unused animations

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PlayStation

Unused animations

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  An unused death animation which is only available in the PlayStation version's files.

Sega Saturn

The Sega Saturn versions of the game has several unused map layouts (with the object data missing). Most of these are early beta maps using the same layout as the Japanese PlayStation and Atari Jaguar versions. One in the Cave world however is an unused bonus map with slippery platforms. It does however use an older tilemap, thus the graphic tile indexes don't match.

PC

Maps

The following maps are from a demo for Rayman Gold.

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Unused objects

The PC version added support for an additional object type, named TYPE_SLOPEY_PLAT in the code. This acts like a solid platform which will tilt as the player stands on its edges, causing it to become slippery. It was never used in the final game and the PC version's ports don't include the code for rotating the sprite graphics as that was written in assembly specifically for the PC version. It is not confirmed for which sprite this type would have been used, but the bottle cap shown below remains unused while being added for the PC version and is within the sprite size which the game's rotation code expects, so it is likely to have been the one.

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  Rayman standing on a slopey platform.

Unused sprites

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  An unused switch for Candy Château.
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  An unused gate, titled "POR" for portail.
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  An unused spike object from the Caves of Skops, potentially using the wrong palette.

Unused animations

The following animations appear in the various PC releases and are also included in its ports, such as Rayman Advance.

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  The object is never used in the game, but is always loaded into memory. It was later intended to be used for the 2D Rayman 2 version.
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  Several animations from the Jaguar prototypes can be found in the files. This is one of them.

Game Boy Advance

The Game Boy Advance version would have originally featured a multiplayer mode in the style of "capture the flag". It was marketed and mentioned to be included in the preview versions of the game, but was never finished for any release of the game. There was going to be one map per world for this mode, with them all still being on the game ROM. Only the first few maps were however finished, with the rest lacking any objects.

The multiplayer mode as it would have appeared

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Rayman Designer hacking

Main article: Rayman Designer hacking

Rayman Designer hacking allowed players to find unused textures and events which were probably meant to be in the final version but soon removed. Such sprites include a giant lava rock, clouds with a face and a strange portal.

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  A giant lava rock.
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  Clouds with a face.
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  A little Livingstone on a plum.

External links

• Official gameplay video of Engine Test (Atari Jaguar) at YouTube
• Official gameplay video of early Beta version (Atari Jaguar) at YouTube
• Gameplay video of an early PlayStation demo at YouTube