Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire beta: Difference between revisions

Several things were originally going to be added to {{game|Ruby and Sapphire|s}} during their development. Some were dropped or changed, and some of the dropped concepts of the prototypes can still be found in the games' programming.

==Gameplay==

It seems that wild [[Double Battles]] were planned to occur in these games in addition to the Double Battles against {{pkmn|Trainer}}s. This is evidenced by a piece of text found in the games' code: "''Wild \v[&H05] and \v[&H03] appeared!''", with '''\v[&H05]''' and '''\v[&H03]''' being placeholder values used by the game to display the names of the Pokémon that the {{player}} would encounter. This mechanic would later be introduced in [[Generation IV]].

===Prototype music===

====Generation II music====

Some remastered [[Generation II]] music exists, inaccessible in the coding of Ruby and Sapphire. Known pieces include:

* Background music used on [[Route]]s {{rtn|38|Johto}} and {{rtn|39|Johto}}.

* Background music used in the [[Pokémon Communication Center]] from {{game|Crystal}} when the [[Mobile Adapter GB]] is plugged in.

* Background music used in [[Saffron City]] during Generation II.

* Background music used in battles with the [[legendary beasts]] in {{game|Crystal}}.

* [[Team Rocket]]'s theme.

All of these themes came from {{game2|Gold|Silver|Crystal}}. These may either be early pieces of music used as stand-ins, or may have hinted at [[Game Freak]] having an intent to develop remakes of {{2v2|Gold|Silver}} (which were later [[Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver Versions|done in Generation IV]]) instead of or in addition to [[Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen Versions|one]] of {{2v2|Red|Green}}, or even including [[Johto]] and/or [[Kanto]], à la Gold, Silver, and Crystal. It is possible that this music was only for tests, as they appear in the game programming before the actual music played during the game.

The [[Pokémon Contest|Contest]] theme, which plays during the appeals round, appears both as its whole variation in addition to four sub-tracks which combine to play the full tune. The sub-tracks are next to the normal music in the games' coding, indicating that they were initially intended to be used, though with what purpose is unknown.

Another song in the programming is a variation of the [[Littleroot Town]] theme, which lacks the introduction and instead goes straight to the loop point.

 

In the games' coding, there is a snowy weather effect that looks rather incomplete as it only has a few snowflakes falling and then remains dark, but seems like it was originally going to be in the game, perhaps [[Mt. Chimney]] was originally planned to be a snowy mountain instead of a volcano. The only way of getting this weather effect to occur is by hacking the games' weather header for a certain map.

An [[Ability]] known as {{a|Cacophony}} was found within the games' programming; however, no Pokémon have it (unless they are hacked to have it). It is identical to {{a|Soundproof}}, another sound-based Ability, and it allows the Pokémon to avoid all sound-based moves. Since it is identical to Soundproof (thus including it in the final version would have been redundant), some Pokémon with Soundproof may have originally been intended to have Cacophony instead, such as {{p|Whismur}}'s evolutions {{p|Loudred}} and {{p|Exploud}}, well-known for their loudness.

A Pokémon that has been hacked to have Cacophony will regain the normal Ability it should have (according to its [[personality value]]) if it is migrated to [[Generation IV]]. However, it has not been fully confirmed that the Ability is not present within the coding of the Generation IV games.

In an interview in Nintendo Power, it was revealed that {{p|Shellos}} and {{p|Gastrodon}} were originally designed for [[Generation III]] instead of [[Generation IV]]. These are not the forms in the final versions, however; [[Pokémon Diamond and Pearl beta|Diamond and Pearl's programming code]] reveals a back sprite for both Pokémon, but no front sprite. Shellos's sprite is pink, like its [[form differences|West Sea variation]], and seems to combine the western variation's head with the [[form differences|eastern variation]]'s body, while Gastrodon's sprite is brown and looks like its western variation, but with more rock-like protrusions on its body.

There were also numerous changes to Pokémon included in the games. An early version of {{p|Torchic}} is nearly identical to the current designs, aside from the large floppy ears. There is another design though that shows it inside an eggshell with lots of fluff on its neck. Another curious picture depicts a creature with traits of both {{p|Latias}} and {{p|Blaziken}}, along with an unused {{pkmn|Trainer}}. Concept art of {{p|Treecko}} also shows numerous designs for the Pokémon before the final design was decided, mainly with less elongated head shapes and less round nose than the final design. {{p|Groudon}} also had a picture of its early design shown and it had a different shape to its eyes, one more set of spikes on the torso, one less spike on the tail, one of the spikes on the neck was moved to the head on the final design, overall shapes are much less sharp, head details became much more elongated, and the [[weather trio]] signature body markings are still not present.

File:Torchic Beta.jpg|Beta design of Torchic

File:Torchic Beta2.jpg|Another concept design of Torchic

File:Latias Blaziken.jpg|Beta design of Latias/Blaziken and unused Trainer

File:Treecko concept art.png|Concept art of Treecko

File:Groudon Beta.jpg|Beta design of Groudon

Pokémon Sapphire contains some unused Trainer data for [[Archie]], the leader of [[Team Aqua]]. According to the data, he has a level 17 {{p|Togetic}}, with no other Pokémon present in his team. He is also carrying two [[Super Potion|Super Potions]]. This information may indicate that Archie was originally planned to be encountered earlier in the game and was intended to appear with a drastically different sort of team.

==Graphics==

* '''[[Team Aqua]] sprite''' - An alternate, unused sprite of a member of Team Aqua is found in the game; this sprite is identical to that of male {{tc|Team Aqua Grunt|Aqua Grunt}}s with the exception of a mirrored body, modified coloration, the addition of a mustache, and a bandanna around the Grunt's left arm.

* '''[[Pokédex]] sprite''' - What appears to be a prototype model of the sprite that is used for a Pokémon the [[Player character|player]] has not seen is two blocky, big and white question marks instead for the round and black one with a white circle and a white question mark.

* '''Tilesets''' - There is data for an unused tileset, which could have been intended for the [[Mossdeep City]] [[Mossdeep Gym|Gym]] or the [[Trick House]].

* '''Early Pokémon sprites''' - In early footage and screenshots of Ruby and Sapphire, several Pokémon have sprites that are different to the final version's. Notable examples include {{p|Shroomish}}, {{p|Duskull}}, {{p|Wailmer}}, {{p|Wynaut}}, and {{p|Sharpedo}}.

File:Spr RS Team Aqua Beta.png|Unused Team Aqua sprite

File:Question Mark.png|Unused default Pokédex entry sprite

File:Spr 3r 000.png|Used default Pokédex entry sprite

==Demo==

[[File:Sharpedo_no_ability.jpg|thumb|250px|Sharpedo's lack of ability. In the place where the ability description should be, it says "It doesn't have an ability."]]

A demo was available at the [[Pokémon Festa]] 2002 in Japan. There were beta versions of {{rt|104|Hoenn}} and the [[Pretty Petal Flower Shop]], which is 'not yet open' according to the lady inside. There is also an unfinished version of the party screen, alongside a battle system more thoroughly developed in comparison to what was seen in older screenshots. When the battle starts, it is not possible to see how many Pokémon the {{pkmn|Trainer}}s have. Some moves, like {{m|Surf}} and {{m|Faint Attack}}, are depicted with different animations than those seen in the final version. It is also shown that {{p|Sharpedo}} has no [[ability]] in the demo; it could mean that not all Pokémon could have abilities. Given {{p|Sharpedo}}'s low level in the demo, it could also mean that {{p|Carvanha}} didn't exist at the time.

The alternative versions of {{rt|104|Hoenn}} and the [[Pretty Petal Flower Shop]] still exist within the coding of the final release; though the associated tileset data for the beta Route 104 has since been removed.

The music used in the demo for {{pkmn|Trainer}} battles was used for [[wild Pokémon]] battles in the final version.

Unused dialogue data, associated with the [[Pokémon Festa]] 2002 demo exists within the final game. The text remains untouched in the Japanese versions but has been translated in localized versions of the game.

Certain text refers to Pokémon AGB (short for Pokémon Advanced Game Boy), the once tentative title for Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire. They are presumably from the early alpha stages of development.

*"''Message 3: This is sample message 3. Welcome to the world of POKéMON AGB! We hope you enjoy this!''"

===Day Care Mail===

Additional unused text makes reference to a Pokémon raised in the [[Pokémon Day Care|Day Care]] receiving a piece of [[Mail]], presumably if raised with a Pokémon from another {{pkmn|Trainer}}. It is not known why this mentioned feature did not make it into the final game. This piece of text reads:

"''By the way, about your (PKMN) it seemed to be friendly with (TRAINER?)'s (PKMN2). I may even have seen it receiving a piece of MAIL.''"

===Debug menu===

Leftover text remains from a prototype version of Pokémon Ruby<ref>[http://forums.hidden-palace.org/viewtopic.php?t=2895 Pokémon Ruby Debug]</ref>. Some of the text is not present within the final game, though there are still references to some of the options such as "Init comm. data", "Set highest score", "Reset highest score" and "Set all art museum items".

A German-language prototype version of Pokémon Ruby was apparently sold by a [[Nintendo]] representative to an anonymous user "drx". The prototype has many debugging features, which can be accessed by scrolling through a section presumably relevant to who developed that aspect of the game. For example, choosing "WATANABE" attempts to save the game (though unsuccessfully) and selecting "KAGAYA" allows the player to view his or her {{ga|Trainer Card}}, the opponent's Trainer Card or activate the [[Game Corner|slot machine]] interface.

{{youtubevid|mzCwu1JiUbQ|Gligar13Vids|Ruby}}

==Limitations==

[[Junichi Masuda]] stated that while developing {{2v2|Ruby|Sapphire}}, [[Game Freak]] considered changing the number of Pokémon the player can have and the number of moves a Pokémon can learn; however, the idea was later scrapped. It is currently unknown what sort of potential changes were to be made, and as of [[Generation V]], no changes like this have been made to the series.

{{beta|ruby|sapphire}}<br>

{{Project Games notice}}