To do: Everything. July 24 has two separate builds - one for pre-Platinum merge (main_hg_dbg_20080724_BM_BEFORE), and another for post-Platinum merge (20080724_gs_merge_main). There seem to be a couple of more merger builds from July 18 and 22. Neither of them will launch in DeSmuME 0.9.13 though.

July 24, 2008

General Differences#

• Interacting with your partner Pokémon shows the Pokémon's current emotion like in the final, but no dialogue box describing what your Pokémon is doing shows up yet.
• Pokémon still use their Diamond and Pearl learnsets instead of the new learnsets introduced in Platinum.
• Ethan's Pokémon is a Jigglypuff, rather than the Marill that appears in the final game.
• When walking near the little wind turbine by the lower houses in New Bark, it plays a low, somewhat abrasive clattering noise that isn't present in the final.
• The Ruins of Alph weren't done yet, and are covered with white textures.

Touch Screen & Menu Functions#

The touchscreen menu still hasn't been changed from how it looked like in the January 31 2008 build.

July 24 2008	Final

Settings#

The Settings menu still hasn't been changed from how it looked like in the January 31 2008 build.

July 24 2008	Final

Pokégear#

The Pokégear menu's default theme already has been changed since the January 2008 build, but it still looks different from the final version. All the other themes are completely unchanged from how they looked like in the January 31, 2008 build.

However, a map function has finally been implemented!

To do: screenshot(s) of the Pokégear's map screen

Trainer Cards#

The Trainer Card menu still hasn't been changed from how it looked like in the January 31 2008 build.

Bag Screen#

The Bag Screen was still left unchanged from the March 31 2008 build.

March 31 2008/July 24 2008	Final

Pokémon Summary Screen#

To do: add image of ribbons screen when a ribbon is selected after adding it to the January 31 2008 page

The Pokémon Summary screen still hasn't been changed from how it looked like in the January 31 2008 build.

July 24 2008 Summary Info	Final Summary Info	July 24 2008 Summary Moves	Final Summary Moves	July 24 2008 Summary Moves Selection	Final Summary Moves Selection

July 24 2008 Summary Ribbons	Final Summary Ribbons	July 24 2008 Summary Ribbons Selection	Final Summary Ribbons Selection

Evolution Screen#

The top screen and the bottom screen have already swapped places, just like in the final build, but it otherwise looks the same like in the January 31 2008 build.

Sprite Differences#

To do: pictures

The design present for the player's mother is notably different, with black hair tied up with a red headband, more accurate to the original design from GSC, rather than the one later made for these games.

Audio Differences#

To do: Rip the music, maybe better categorize these.

The music that plays in New Bark Town is a slightly different variant from the final.

The music that plays in the Professor's lab is much more different, with a slower pace and more tambourine-based percussion.

The music on Route 29 is similar to the final, but with one section's melody replaced with a square-wave beeping instrument.

Cherrygrove City's lead instrument has a more chiptune-y instrument, and the lead in the second half of the song uses a lighter electronic piano instrument.

The sound that plays when jumping ledges is higher-pitched and quieter.

The music that plays in some places seem to use a variant of the first route theme from Diamond and Pearl as a placeholder. These places include Route 31 and 32, as well as Mr. Pokémon's house.

The music that plays in the Pokémon Center is more-or-less the same as final.

The Violet City theme is less refined and uses more kalimba and woodwind instruments.

The Gym theme has more prominent percussion and an interesting section near where it loops that uses a higher, more excited woodwind instrument.

Miscellaneous Changes#

• The Apricorn House guy doesn't stop you if you run right past his house like he does in the final. He doesn't give the Player the Apricorn Case, either.
• Apricorns don't seem to grow on the Apricorn Trees yet, as they're all bare.
• There is no dialogue for inspecting the machine that holds the starter Pokémon after battling your rival for the first time, unlike in the final, where it mentions that the final starter is protected by a sealed glass wall.
• The player's mother doesn't ask to save your money.
• There is no full capture demo. Instead, the player's friend goes into the grass, the two jump around, and then return to you.
• There's no jingle when you add a trainer to your phone list.
• There's no Apricorn Tree next to the guy you later deliver a Spearow to on Route 31, or on the way to Route 32.
• At the Violet City gym, the man that usually blocks off the entrance until you visit Sprout Tower is instead sitting by the statues at the door, like the original games.
• Falkner's team is different from the final; his Pidgey is level 7 and his Pidgeotto is level 9, compared to the final's 9 and 13, where the latter is identical to the levels of his team in Gold and Silver.
• Being called by someone on your Pokégear doesn't display their name like in the final.
• You receive the Egg from the professor's aide via the Pokémon Center instead of the Poke Mart. This also means you don't see the Kimono Girl afterwards.
• You can't interact with the Weird Tree in this version.
• Sprout Tower's center support sways back and forth in a different way from final, as though pivoting in the center of the beam, rather than from the bottom.

Bugs#

• Hatching eggs or picking up Apricorns makes the game freeze with the music still playing.
• Trading Pokémon with any of the NPCs crashes the game with an error handler.
• Defeating a Pokémon on Route 32 causes the world to turn white until you enter a building.