This is a sub-page of Proto:Donkey Kong 64/Level Differences.
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There's a whole lotta words here, but not enough pictures. Please fix this.
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| To do:
Finish sorting out textures. |
Main Level (Map 1E)
- There are no enemies.
- Many level objects are missing, such as the floating planks, destructible chests, etc.
- Under certain circumstances, the seal is already free and will give the unused "Skulltilleys" line once you enter.
Kong Exit Doors
- Donkey and Diddy: In the alcove behind the metal gate/Enguarde wall. Consolidated into one Troff 'n' Scoff portal.
- Tiny: Bottom of the pit by the giant gates in the lighthouse area. Also a Troff 'n' Scoff portal.
- Lanky and Chunky: Across from each other in the main cavern. Chunky's door became a Troff 'n' Scoff portal.
Caverns
- There are 2 wall sconces by the pineapple gate (left and right sides) instead of 1 (left side).
- Candy's is where Cranky's should be; Snide's is in place of Bananaporter 3. Funky's appears to be absent.
- There is a line of 3 Grape Switches near where the 3 treasure chests are meant to be.
Lighthouse Area
| To do:
Cover the large gate and drifting ship (objects 0130 and 0131). |
- The lighthouse beam has an ugly-looking yellow texture that covers the entire thing. The final uses a more subtle white gradient.
- The beacon itself is missing all of its textures, and has a crisscrossing "glow" effect applied to it.
- The water level switches are of the blank stone variety, which can be glimpsed in pre-release footage.
- Bananaporter 1 is a blank pad; there is nothing corresponding to Bananaporter 5.
- The Enguarde wall is a metal gate.
- The large gate has different texturing.
Shipwreck Area
- There is no DK Star here.
- Likewise, the bars blocking the treasure room do not have the DK Star insignia.
- There is a blank pad on top of the music pad tree, where Chunky's Kasplat normally stands.
- There is a red cube at the bottom of the ocean, beside the central wreck (possibly corresponding to one of the ship hull tunnels).
- There is also a cube in one corner of the treasure room by the Tiny Barrel, as well as (roughly) where the Bananaporter 4 platform should be.
- The mechanical fish door bars are the typical dark vertical ones instead of a steel lattice.
- The seal floats far above the plank he's supposed to be sitting on, as if his position was only set for high tide (the level always starts off at low tide).
- The central wreck door bars are not numbered.
- Weirdly, there don't seem to be any door bars present for the smaller shipwreck. The switches that open them exist, as does the submap (though it is empty).
Textures
Like in Jungle Japes, there are no dedicated textures for the tunnels. Presumably they used the same green textures as the caverns.
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Final |
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Two sections of cavern wall were changed from CI4 to RGBA16, which makes them look smoother.
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Final |
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The main wood texture for the ships was changed, though its palettes were not. The old one being divided into 3 uneven segments makes it look a bit odd when tiled vertically, which could have been one reason it was redone.
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Prototype |
Final
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The final textures for the treasure room chest are missing, so it can be assumed it still looked the way it did in pre-release footage. The old texture (or one very similar to it) can still be found in the final game, as one of the other areas that used it still has it mapped in a hard-to-see spot due to an oversight.
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Final |
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The dark green seafloor texture had accompanying wall textures that were cut.
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Final |
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The rock wall textures of the lighthouse area are CI4 instead of RGBA16. This gives them less contrast.
A darker version of the final's pale blue stone that uses the same palette. The light section at the bottom makes it look like it attaches to the lighter texture, but it doesn't.
A variation of another blue rock texture in the final game. This one is greenish and has algae at the top.
An extra texture for the platform that Candy's/Cranky's sits on that was taken out.
A removed ship hull texture. Based on its location, it's also associated with the platform mentioned above.
The final game added an extra rock wall texture, the barnacles surrounding the mermaid palace, and ground textures for the lighthouse and submarine.
K. Rool Ship (Map 1F)
This map is quite unstable and prone to slowing down the game and/or crashing it outright. This usually happens when the Golden Banana appears.
- There are no pickups other than the Golden Banana.
- The barrels have targets on them instead of Chunky's face.
- The UV mapping on the grate is different and doesn't have any gaps.
Seal Race (Map 27)
- Despite the lack of water, this minigame actually loads and functions properly... until you hit a checkpoint, then the game freezes.
- It is possible to get water physics by loading into the Dogadon arena. This is likely because the lava in that area is really just water with a hurtbox.
- Interestingly, there are no coins on the map, nor is there a coin counter on-screen. This contradicts the seal's in-game dialogue, and is only consistent with very early pre-release footage.
- The boxes are floating above water level, and so cannot be hit by normal means.
- DK is still in the boat during cutscenes. In the final game, he is outside of it.
- The seal is motionless when talking to DK, as well as a good chunk of the time when racing.
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Final |
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These two textures have more contrast in the kiosk version.
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The cliff rock received some minor tweaks.
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Final |
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The cracks on the middle seam (where the rock meets the brick) were removed.
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Final |
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- Instead of the Rare logo, the flags in this area feature the Kremling skull-and-crossbones emblem from Donkey Kong Country 2. While this design does show up elsewhere in the level, this particular variant (as a flag, with a plain black(?) background) is not in the final version.
- Several textures pertaining to the masts are missing, so it can be assumed that they were not modeled in this version. This is consistent with pre-release footage.
Shipwrecks, Treasure Chest, and Mermaid Palace (Maps 2B-2F)
- Except for the presence of the lantern fish in the shipwrecks, all of these maps are empty, owing to the lack of pickups and actors.
- The fish has no proper idle animation-- he simply freezes in place when coming to a standstill.
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Prototype/Final |
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- Various wood textures have lighter, less-saturated duplicates in the kiosk ROM.
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Final |
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- These wall and floor textures were made darker and had a few seams altered.
- This bedsheet was horizontally shrunk and given more contrast.
- A bright yellow sand (or treasure) texture that has seemingly no final equivalent.
- The chest has no dedicated wall textures, which means it must have used something else instead.
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Final |
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- The final game's floor texture is larger but was downgraded to CI4, making it look less shiny.
- Some removed stone and marble textures that could have belonged to the mermaid palace map.
- The skeletons' hands were cleaned up around the edges, while the foot texture had one toe slimmed down.
Lighthouse (Map 31)
- Unlike the rest of the Galleon maps, this one actually has everything in place. This is likely due to it having been featured in the E3 demo.
- Unlike the E3 version (but like the final game), the pickups are DK's instead of Lanky's.
- There are no film rolls flanking the entrance.
- Six single bananas line the floor instead of one balloon.
- Single bananas also litter the steps of the tower. The final game instead puts a banana bunch every five steps or so.
- There are two oranges and a banana bunch at the base of the tower (rather than seven oranges surrounding it).
- There is no banana bunch at the top of the tower.
- Like in Frantic Factory's power shed, there is a DK Switch here instead of a lever. It can't be hit, since it has no collision.
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Final |
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- The light source overlaps its own shadow. This was fixed in the final game.
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Final |
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- The shuttered window texture had its middle seam altered.
Mechanical Fish (Map 33)
- The camera angle is not locked.
- The timer is still 100 seconds, but the third digit runs offscreen. This was fixed in the final game.
- There are no ammo pickups.
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Final |
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- Oddly, the "Alert" half of the "Sneeze Alert" sign is stored flipped compared to how it is in the final game. Pre-release screenshots predating this ROM show no difference in the way it's displayed, so the UV mapping may have simply changed.
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Final |
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- The heart vents do not have visible punctures in them after the grates have been shot out.
Barrel Blast Course (Map 36)
- The skybox is black instead of yellow-red.
- There is a target board at the end instead of a DK Star. It can't be hit the normal way, as the final barrel launches you from far above its actual position; if you approach the target via moonjumping, however, the game just crashes.
Puftoss (Map 6F)
This fight is obviously unfinished-- there is no intro, Puftoss is motionless, and there are no objects except for a ramp that cannot be reached.
