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Little Big Adventure (DOS)

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This page details one or more prototype versions of Little Big Adventure (DOS).

This page is rather stubbly and could use some expansion.
Are you a bad enough dude to rescue this article?

This needs some investigation.
Discuss ideas and findings on the talk page.
Specifically: This mentions 'two very unique movies which were cut' from the game. Needs looking into. Is the ending cutscene one of them?

Two preview versions of the game were released just prior to the game's initial European release; one dated 8 August 1994, and the other 15 August 1994. The former can be downloaded here, the latter here.

August 8, 1994#

Debug Menu#

Texts for a debug display can be seen in LBA.exe at 0x33A04:

(Debug) LBA Tool (Aug 08 1994/15:30:21)
LBA Preview (Aug 08 1994 / 15:30:21)
%FIsland: %d
%FCube: %d
%FChapter: %d
%FNb Objs: %d
%FNb Bodys: %d
%FNb Zones: %d
%fNb Tracks: %d
%FNbFPS: %d
%FFree(K): %d
%FMemory at start: %d Ko
%FSize HQM_Memory: %d Ko
sla%FMax Used HQM_Memory: %d Ko

Although the function that activates this display is unreferenced, we can force it to be called when the user presses Esc to open the in-game menu. The following patches replace an existing call in the menu logic, to instead call the debug display function. The original call is also added before the debug display logic:

0x0FFAA = E8 53 FA FF FF
0x0FA02 = E8 55 C7 00 00

Differences#

  • There are unused items and unused item spaces removed in the final (all the same as the 15 August 1994 version, see below).
  • You start with four clover boxes instead of two (though only two are filled).
  • You only get the Holomap when you find your inventory in the prison, not Twinsen's ID card.
  • The centre cupboard in the room with the nurses' uniform in it has nothing in it.
  • There is no clover in the barrels outside the prison.
  • 'Aggressive' is misspelt 'Agressive'.
  • Athletic mode is called Sporty:

Preview

Final
  • At the end of the intro, the moon is not obscured, and there are some grammatical and text differences:

Preview

Final
  • The main menu positioning and backdrop are different:

Preview

Final
  • In the Option menu, Polygon is misspelt 'Polygone'. This is fixed in the 15 August version.

8 August 1994

15 August 1994

15 August 1994#

Debug Menu#

Texts for a debug display can be seen in LBA.exe at 0x48004:

(Debug) LBA Game (Aug 15 1994/18:28:39)
LBA Game (Aug 15 1994 / 18:28:39)
%FIsland: %d
%FCube: %d
%FChapter: %d
%FSceZoom: %d
%FNb Objs: %d
%FNb Bodys: %d
%FNb Zones: %d
%fNb Tracks: %d
%FNbFPS: %d
%FFree(K): %d
%FMemory at start: %d Ko
%FSize HQM_Memory: %d Ko
%FMax Used HQM_Memory: %d Ko

Similar in approach to the previous prototype, we can activate the debug display with the following patches, which replace an existing call in the menu logic, and add new calls to be executed: one for the replaced call, and another one for the debug display, finishing with a ret instruction:

0x1037A = E8 83 F8 FF FF
0x0FC02 = E8 8D 01 00 00 E8 14 CA 00 00 C3

Differences#

There is evidence of planned items that were never implemented, for in this preview version there are eight columns of four items, whereas in the final game there are only seven. The Keypad, Coffe Pot, and Bonus List do not appear to have been implemented yet. The nonexistent items have the graphic for the Meca-Penguin and an 'Empty Space' description. There are also several unused items in this preview (they all appear in the final). If the save file is edited so all the items are available (this, being a preview version, only lets you have the Holomap and the Lucky Clover Leaf under normal circumstances), the Book of Bù can be read, and the Magic Ball is fully functional, but the Meca-Penguin and Magic Saber do not work at all. The other items cannot be used.

Preview

Final

Attempting to use the Proto-Pack results in this error message appearing on-screen and Twinsen becoming invisible:

Athletic mode is still called Sporty.

This version adds an 'Aggressive' option to the menu, but it is still misspelt 'Agressive' (both in this menu and in the game).

Preview

Final

October 14th, 1994#

There is a demo version with a build date of October 14th, 1994, the same as the full game. Like the prototypes preview versions, you can only play the first couple of scenes. In these scenes, only the Holomap, Twinsen's ID card, and the Lucky Clover Leaf can be obtained, but all the items from the full game are intact and usable (if the item can be used in those scenes) if a savegame is modified so they are available. The other differences (from the preview versions) are that you only start with two clover boxes, the menus resemble the final, full game, and at the end there is a credits sequence instead of a cutscene of Twinsen.