By applying the correct mapping data, we find the following two sprites: the bomb from Knuckles' end of level cutscene, and a narrow, unrecognizable, unused sprite:
Now, it's strange to find the bomb in this art file because the end cutscene only plays after fighting Big Arm, which loads its own graphics over Beam Rocket's. The logical explanation is that originally Knuckles wasn't planned to fight Big Arm and as such, the bomb graphics would still be loaded by the time the cutscene takes place.
As it turns out, this is the behavior present in every build up to and including the 0525 prototype, and playing any one of them sheds further light on the narrow sprite's original purpose: it's a chute to release the bomb from!
When the developers added the Big Arm boss to this sequence, they hit a snag: the bomb chute graphics are no longer loaded once Big Arm is breaking apart, and Beam Rocket's graphics can't be reloaded because Big Arm's parts are still on screen. So they did the only thing they could do, and removed the bomb chute sprite entirely.
Once the boss is offscreen, the game can reload Beam Rocket's graphics in order to display the bomb sprite. Curiously though, it keeps the Big Arm palette around, and so the sprite is drawn a little redder than was originally intended.
For such a small piece of art you would think they could have just squeezed it into Big Arm's art.
ReplyDeleteAlso, why is there a copy of the FBZ Gapsule boss in the disassembly labelled as unused? Is there anything special about it?
They couldn't squeeze it into Big Arm's art because the art for both bosses is read from the Sonic 3 cartridge. And they didn't include it with Big Arm's art in the Sonic 3 cartridge because they hadn't decided to have Knuckles fight Big Arm yet!
DeleteI've added the duplicate Gapsule art to my backlog. I'll cover it at some point.
If the bomb art was able to be reloaded, why wasn't the chute art? Big Arm is gone from the screen before the score tally even begins due to the animal capsule, and there's clearly no problem reloading the bomb art.
ReplyDeleteThe problem is, when Big Arm breaks apart, the bomb chute should already be attached to the Egg Mobile, but the graphics aren't loaded. The developers could have made it so the chute only appears after the score tally, but I guess they either didn't appreciate the inconsistency, or most likely, it was just easier to remove the object entirely rather than fiddle with the timing of when it gets spawned.
DeleteThis should be implemented fully in "Sonic 3 Complete".
ReplyDeleteHe taking a shit
ReplyDelete