Mario Kart Arcade GP DX

Mario Kart Arcade GP DX
Developers: Bandai Namco, Xeen, Nintendo Publishers: Bandai Namco, Namco, Nintendo Platform: Arcade (Namco System ES3) Released in JP: July 25, 2013 Released in US: 2014 Released in EU: Early 2017 This game has unused areas. This game has unused graphics. This game has unused music. This game has unused text. This game has debugging material. This game has regional differences.

To do: Interesting executable strings (Rev 1.10), for example: JP notes in EXE. 1.18 has more source files. More Regional differences.

The third Mario Kart Arcade GP game that ditches the other PAC-Man characters in favor of only including the Pac himself and removes Rainbow Cup, but adds characters with palette swaps, gliding (from Mario Kart 7), underwater (also from Mario Kart 7), and Don-chan. Oh, and no more Mario Card!

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Unused Text Unused text and debug strings.

Developer Leftovers

Source Files

Autodesk Models

Present in Data\Model, Data\System\Model and Data\Model\menu\eggslot, the files spe25_dekatibi_R.xsi and spe25_dekatibi_F.xsi were added in the 1.10 update.

Download Autodesk model sources from MKAGPDX File: MKAGPDX_AutoDeskModelSRC.zip (12,483 KB) (info)

Bishamon Effect Solutions

Present in Data\Effects\bmsln, are solutions for a portion of the models made from the Bishamon middleware used from Matchlock Corporation. They were made from 2012-2013.

Download Bishamon solutions from MKAGPDX File: MKAGPDX_BishamonEffectsSRC.zip (152 KB) (info)

Maya Collada

Present in Data\Effects\model are a portion of raw collada files. Almost all of them were created by S_Ihara, likely Sayo Ihara, who is part of the visual effects team at Xeen Inc. in the credits. The source file exported is usually located in D:/MK3/EF/3D/maya/scenes/sozai.mb and related textures are in D:/MK3/EF/3D/maya/image/*, where star could be something like ef_3D_common_a01.dds or ef_3D_tornado.png. The only file that isn't created by that person is obj_warp02.dae where the author is not present in the file but the texture compilation location D:/users/imaki/projects/MK3/effects/model/ef_3D_warp02.dds suggests that Toshifumi Imaki who is also part of the same group from the same team made it.

Download Maya colladas from MKAGPDX File: MKAGPDX_MayaColladasSRC.zip (75 KB) (info)

Uncompiled Effect Shaders

The base game and update(s) have uncompiled shader effect files Shift-JIS encoded in the directory Data\System\Shader. Similar files are separated across them.

Download Uncompiled effect shader files MKAGPDX File: MKAGPDX_UncompiledShadersSRC.zip (157 KB) (info)

Ruby Scripts

To do: Upload them, putting them here raw would just make the page bigger.

Present in Data\Effects\shader are Ruby scripts for making the shaders.

Maya Swatch File

Present in Data\Model\kart\mario\spe23\.mayaSwatches is a single file titled mark_mario_col.dds.swatch, being a Maya swatch file that has no use by the game. It was created by imaki-toshifumi on I-0911, where I-0911 is likely the computer or workspace while imaki-toshifumi is likely Toshifumi Imaki, who takes part of the visual effects team at Xeen Inc. as seen in the credits of the game. The file was created on Monday August 18th at 20:12:45/8:12 PM in 2014.

Raw PNG Textures

The Data/Effects/model directory has two modified source PNG files before converting to DDS, one (ef_3D_common_a01) also has a DDS file but the other (ef_3D_tornado) doesn't. The first doesn't have the fire particles.

Unused Graphics

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Present in flash/data_jp/common_tex/tex/test.pac are test character icons of all the characters from the first release (Rosalina is there as well because her files are present in the first release) in dds format. The most notable difference is Pac-Man, as he uses his older model from GP1/2. In the final, he uses his appearance from Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures. There's also smaller versions of the same icons.

flash/data_jp/test_data/test_datatex.pac contains two Mario icons (much like the ones in test.pac), and sprites for a test menu and two images of old cars in Japan, most likely at some kind of car show- the car on the right is a Messerschmitt Kabinenroller. They may have been used to test the camera.

flash/data_jp/select_00/select_00tex.pac has placeholder sprites for the class selection and other sorts. It reuses artwork from GP1/2, Mario Kart Wii, and Mario Kart 7.

Present in flash/data_jp/common_tex/tex/chara_p00.pac, in the first release, are character select icons for Yellow Yoshi and Blue Yoshi. There may have been plans for more palette swap Yoshis as DLC, but got cut for unknown reasons. Only Red Yoshi and Black Yoshi were released. Red Yoshi's icon is present as well, but Black Yoshi's wasn't added yet. Yellow Yoshi's slot ID is 16 (0x10), and Blue Yoshi's is 18 (0x12).

Lakitu U-Turn Sign

Lakitu's object graphics have a U-turn sign, along with a specular map for it, for when the player goes backwards, but since the player can't go backwards, it goes unused. There's also no model for it. A glitch can be done to force the player to go backwards by disabling the warps at Peach Castle or Kingdom Way, but the sign doesn't attempt to appear either.

Grid Test?

The texture and model directories in Data\Effects have this file called test_01.dds, the base and update(s) of the game have this file.

Error Popup Textures

To do: Upload them.

flash/data_jp/common_tex/tex/popup_error.pac has fully translated error message popup textures but unfortunately they went unused as the game pulls strings from the error list text file to display over the "Call Attendant" message instead when an error occurs during bootup or gameplay.

Opening Texture

flash/data_jp/common_tex/tex/opningtex.pac has one texture, only a 32x32 white square.

Unused Tracks

To do: Find/create new videos of tracks.

There's a total of 4 unused tracks in this game. One debug track, and 3 regulation maps.

Debug Stage

In Model/stage_debug, all the folders for the tracks are present, but all are empty except the KP folder (Toad Cup). In it, is a debug track with only the dirt road texture and the skybox texture with one of the areas from the Toad Cup tracks, and the skybox model. The track is an early/unfinished version of Kingdom Way with only a dirt road of the entire track. The video shows how the track looks (the water, mushroom model, star model, and shadows aren't originally part of the track). This track also doesn't have its own collision file or any other sort of file.

Regulation Maps

In the Develop directory, there's 3 folders called RegulationMap00, RegulationMap01, and RegulationMap02. 00 is an early version of Bon Dance Street, 01 is a very early version of Omatsuri Circuit, and 02 is an early version of Aerial Road. Unlike the debug track, these have their own collision data.

Omatsuri Circuit actually has a bit of different mapping, like a shortcut slope, which is similar to the ones in GP1/2, and the part where the underwater section is, has a higher height. This track is also possible to fall through because a small part of the road isn't solid, and under all tracks is actually completely solid road that goes on forever. This could be because there's no areas in the game where the player would fall off, so the road most likely prevents the player from falling forever just incase a glitch ever happened. However, it's impossible to complete a lap under the track.

Under the unused Omatsuri Circuit track.

Aerial Road doesn't have a cloud section at all, just a wooden road.

Removed Test Song

Race Test

Sound/Bank/NUS3_BANK_BGM.nus3bank has a song called race_test, but the wav file was removed.

Removed Sound Test Sounds

According to the sound names in NUS3_BANK_COMMON.nus3bank, there were a total of 7 sounds for playback in the sound test at one point, but two were removed. They were named (in order) SoundTest1 and SoundTest2, most likely these were the same sound file.

Oddities

Information Skip Sound

NUS3_BANK_COMMON.nus3bank has a sound going by se_sys_skip, in the USA version of the game, this was used when skipping information during the loading screen or end game tip by pressing ITEM, but the JP version didn't allow you to skip the loading tips as no option allowing you to do so is displayed but you could for the end game tip.

Fire Mario

For whatever reason, if Fire Mario's slot ID (0x0E) is moved to a different character slot, such as Mario's, by editing the file CharacterSelectParameter.bin in MenuParam/data, his icon will display and name, but regular Mario will appear in T-pose. When he's selected, the game can't go to the next menu, selecting the kart. Along with this, Fire Mario also has files for a separate character (Model/driver/f_mario), as he's normally a palette swap of Mario. The used files for him are with Mario's files.

Rosalina and Metal Mario

In the first release of the game, Rosalina and Metal Mario have all of their files present, almost fully complete. The only things missing are some icons for them, as they use placeholder ones, and Rosalina uses one early icon for the camera image. They were even added into the game before Bowser Jr. was added, as their slot IDs are 0x0B (Metal Mario) and 0x0C (Rosalina). Bowser Jr.'s is 0x0D.

AI Identifier File

The directory Data/RivalCarParam/Clone has a empty file named こちらは分身対戦モード用AIデータです ("Here is AI data for online ghost vs. battle mode") without an extension. It refers to a mode that was exclusive to the Japanese release where the player raced AI opponents that adopted the habits and style of other players from across Japan.

Launch Commands

The game executable mentions such a few launch commands in Unicode, the first majority affect the framework while the others affect the game.

• -forcehal= Forces a HAL device type.
• -noerrormsgboxes= Hides message boxes.
• -forcevsync:1 = Enables V-Sync.
• -fullscreen = Forces the game to run in fullscreen.
• -windowed = Forces the game to run in a window.
• -forceapi:10 = Makes the game use the oldest version of the API.

Internal Character Names

Internal name	Full name
BMAR	Baby Mario
BPCH	Baby Peach
DKY	Donkey Kong
DON	Don-chan
DSY	Daisy
JGM	Jugemu/Lakitu
KJR	Koopa/Bowser Jr.
KNP	Kinopio/Toad
KPA	Koopa/Bowser
KTRS	King Teresa/King Boo
LUI	Luigi
MAR	Mario
MTL	Metal Mario
PAC	PAC-MAN
PCH	Peach
ROS	Rosetta/Rosalina
WAL	Waluigi
WAR	Wario
YOS	Yoshi
---	未使用 (unused)

Internal Project Name

The game executable is named MK_AGP3_FINAL, the window of the game is also named mkart3, this likely means Mario Kart Arcade GP/Grand Prix 3 is the internal project name to relate to proper sequel numbering for the third Arcade GP title.

SVN Revision

As of Rev.1.10.22/JP, it is 29438.

Build Paths

Version	Path
Rev.1.00.00/JP	D:\work\MK3\repos\branches\Master_1st\Bin\Final\MK_AGP3_FINAL.pdb
Rev.1.10.22/JP	S:\workspace\rom\branches\jpn\update4\Bin\Final\MK_AGP3_FINAL.pdb
Rev.1.18.00/JP	F:\workspace\rom\branches\jpn\update8\Bin\Final\MK_AGP3_FINAL.pdb

The executable has external pdb file directories mentioned.

Regional Differences

The Japanese version has an online feature that uses a Banapassport to not only check player stats, unlockables, and titles, but to let players compete against each other nationwide and fight random opponents. Each item can be unlocked by playing and beating other opponents. In the International releases, all of the online features (ranging from VS Online Battles and titles) were removed and the items that can be unlocked were now picked randomly through item roulette before starting the race.