E3 Demo

This is a sub-page of Proto:Ratchet & Clank (PlayStation 2).

This prototype is documented on Hidden Palace.

The E3 demo of Ratchet & Clank was handed out to attendees of E3 2002. With its build date of April 7, 2002, it represents about five months' worth of development time and was the first build released to the general public. Despite being a very early build of the game, it is a milestone for its development cycle - many elements seen in pre-release footage were finalized or removed from the game by this point.

General Differences#

• Ratchet cannot double jump in this demo.
• Ratchet cannot throw his wrench in first-person mode.
• Cutscenes cannot be skipped.
• Ratchet is fixed in place and can't move or use weapons while riding a taxi.
• The Qwark robot at the start of the fitness course cannot be blown up unlike in the final game where it awards the player with a skill point.
• Al's glasses are fully opaque.
• Al has an additional animation where he looks left and right.
• Al and Helga both have an extra cutscene that plays when you attempt to buy from them without having enough bolts.
• The win condition for the "Ride the train" sequence is only to destroy all the enemies and does not require getting to the front of the train like it does in the final game.
• The infobot at the end of the train sequence plays the cutscene for Rilgar instead of Eudora like in the final game.
• There is a Blarg Chopper near the infobot at the end of the "Ride the train" path which is not present in the final game.

Proto	Final

• Blimps have the old "The Adventures of Ratchet & Clank" logo on them from an earlier stage of development.

E3 Demo	Final

• The Pause Menu is very different from the final game, but mostly finalized compared to other pre-release footage.

E3 Demo	Final

• Ratchet doesn't play any animations upon selecting a weapon.

E3 Demo	Final

• Kerwan has a completely different design and name in this demo, with a more earthlike appearance and going by Caldera.
  • The planet's design would eventually be reused for Todano in Going Commando, and finally for Kerwan's return in Up Your Arsenal.

E3 Demo	Final

• The starting area is very different. In the demo, it's much smaller and lacks the ship.

E3 Demo	Final

• The fog on Metropolis is a different color, giving the level a more washed-out appearance.

E3 Demo	Final

• The statue on top of Al's Roboshack has a different design, being grey instead of yellow. This was seen in the infobot cutscene for Kerwan in the final game.

E3 Demo	Final

• The Gold Bolt near the train station is missing.

E3 Demo	Final

• Helga has a completely different appearance, wearing a black tracksuit instead of the tanktop and shorts she wears in the final.

• When Ratchet takes damage, Clank's eyes will turn reddish-orange for a few frames.

• When Ratchet has one sphere of Nanotech left, Clank's eyes will turn yellow.

• Some wanted posters can be found to the right of the vendor platform. They could be seen in the infobot cutscene for Kerwan in the final game.

Menu Differences#

Title Menu#

E3 Demo	Final

• The title menu only contains two options. One to play the demo and the other to watch a trailer for the game.

Help Menu#

E3 Demo	Final

Controls Sub-Menu#

E3 Demo	Final

Moves Sub-Menu#

E3 Demo	Final

Options Menu#

E3 Demo	Final

Help Desk Sub-Menu#

E3 Demo	Final

Weapon and Gadget Differences#

Weapons#

With the exception of the Pyrocitor, Blaster, Glove of Doom, and Devastator, all of the weapons in this demo are different in one way or another.

Wrench#

• The wrench makes a unique "whoosh" sound when performing a Comet-Strike.

Blaster#

• The Blaster does not have a reticule.

Bomb Glove#

• By holding L1 whilst running towards the camera, Ratchet can throw bombs behind him.
• The bombs have a different appearance.

Mine Glove#

E3 Demo	Final

• The Mine Glove has completely different functionality in the demo. Rather than throwing out mines that seek out enemies, the weapon instead deploys landmines similar to the Mine Layer enemy.
• Just like the Bomb Glove, holding L1 allows Ratchet to throw mines behind himself.
• The mines are capable of harming Ratchet if he steps over them.

Taunter#

To do: Find exact source and speaker for the first clip.

• Rather than the cacophony of whistles and honks used by the Taunter in the final game, the Taunter in this demo uses several humorous placeholder sounds.

A voice saying Oh, a wise guy? from The Three Stooges. A clip from the 1992 film Army of Darkness. Another clip from Army of Darkness. Scorpion from Mortal Kombat shouting out his infamous catchphrase.

Suck Cannon#

• As seen in pre-release footage, the Suck Cannon has a completely different HUD graphic compared to the final. It is functionally useless in the demo, as there aren't any enemies small enough to suck up.

Walloper#

E3 Demo	Final

• The Walloper in the E3 Demo is pink instead of grey.
• The weapon lacks the plasma effects seen in the final.
• The sound the weapon makes is different:

Visibomb#

E3 Demo	Final

• The on-screen effect for the Visibomb is yellow instead of green like in the final game.
• The missile cannot be detonated manually with Circle.
• The missile has infinite range and can go out of the level boundaries.

Decoy Glove#

E3 Demo	Final

• The Decoy Glove is named the Inflato-Ratchet Glove in this demo.
• The design for the decoy is different, resembling an earlier design for Ratchet from when he lacked ear stripes.
• The weapon lacks sound effects.

Drone Device#

• As seen in concept art, the Drone Device was once known as the Defense Drone Glove.
• Despite Ratchet equipping the glove in the pause menu, the drones are automatically deployed around him upon returning to gameplay.
  • If the Drone Device is hacked into Ratchet's hand, the throwing animation will play but no drones will be deployed, suggesting that the weapon was reworked sometime before the demo.

Tesla Claw#

E3 Demo	Final

• The electricity fired by the Tesla Claw has a different effect and color in this demo.

Morph-o-Ray#

E3 Demo	Final

• This weapon does not work correctly in the demo.
• The Morph-o-Ray has a much more simple effect in the demo.
• The weapon completely lacks sound effects.

RYNO#

• Functions exactly the same as it does in the final game.
• The sound effect it makes is completely different.

Mackerel 1000#

• There is partial data for the scrapped Mackerel 1000 weapon in this demo, including text and a weapon ID of 15. Trying to equip it will crash the game.
  • The Mackerel 1000 was intended to be a weapon which would replace Ratchet's wrench with a fish. It was cut because "the humor lasted for about three seconds" according to Insomniac.

Gadgets#

• The PDA, O2 Mask, and Pilots Helmet are all absent from the demo.

Metal Detector#

• The Metal Detector does not have any working effects.

Hydrodisplacer#

E3 Demo	Final

• The Hydrodisplacer in this demo has a completely different design.

Hologuise#

E3 Demo	Final

• Shares the same model as the Drone Defense Glove.
• Attempting to use the Hologuise will crash the game.

Rocketpack#

• Ratchet can perform a move similar to a double jump by using the Rocketpack (Thruster-Pack) in this build.
• By jumping, and then jumping again just before landing Ratchet will perform a higher rocket propelled jump followed by a forwards flip.

• Instead of doing sideflips while having the Rocketpack (Thruster-Pack) equipped, Ratchet will instead dash to the side.

Unused Models#

Early Nanotech#

• An early Nanotech item. Despite its appearance, it is not a pill bottle, but a battery, and in pre-release footage, the health meter was a battery icon.
  • The item is fully functional and can be spawned with memory editing.
  • To spawn this item, go into a memory editor such as Cheat Engine. Search for the array of bytes

    99 00 04 24

    and replace it with

    76 01 04 24

    , then fire the Devastator to spawn the object.

Unused Animations#

• An unused animation for the Vendor Salesman.

Unused/Early Text#

Planet Names#

With the exception of Aridia, all of the levels had different names at this point in development, most of them placeholders.

%s is the conversion specifier for strings in C. The following location names were found elsewhere in the game's data:

Planet Beladonis
Deforestation Site
Blarg Tactical Station

Early Mission Text#

Early Menu Text#

While only the first two options are selectable in the main help menu, all of the options have placeholder text descriptions which are normally inaccessible.

Interesting Unused Strings#

• There is a "Special" string amongst the other menu options in the demo's game data which suggests that challenge mode's Special menu was already planned or partially implemented at this stage of development.
• The demo contains a mysterious button prompt string for an NPC that goes unused. Given the demo contains data for the first eight planets, this may be a placeholder prompt when buying the R.Y.N.O from the smuggler.

△ Do mysterious trade

• Several variable or function names are present in data/levels/level3/level.wad. Anything that uses snake case has been provided below:

Camera_CollPrimTest WARNING! - grid out of bounds! (RAR)
MB_CheckCollPill: No collision data for this moby... aborting
MB_CheckCollPill - Strange collision type %d
Invalid anim detected on pLD->anims[%d]->anim in walk_init2LegAnim.
MB_GetSuckVars: Error! No suckVars in moby at %8x
MB_Sucking: Tried to suck a NULL pointer!
MB_Sucked: Tried to suck a NULL pointer!
MB_Blown: Tried to blow a NULL pointer!
SUCKSTATE_DEATH: should not be called any more!
Ratchet_idle_with_gun
look_left1d"
walk_short_stride_w_$
jump_no_ztrans_softerlanding$
fall_pose'
crouch_w_
no_ztrans_
fall_pose'
crouch_w_
vator_moving
    train_engine
clank_test_idleT
vendor_cube_closed@
bomb_fragment
ne_blink)
Suck_gun_ammo_noblink
rocket_poly(
Missle_master_0"(Th
MagnetoBoot_M0 }
AgentsOfDoom_Run_1.6ms@
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agent_doom_1_hud
agent_doom_2_hu
agent_doom_3_hu
Grindboots_Master_0
InflatoRatchett_BallX
    pickup_rocke
hook_open
Agents_Doom
Chicken_idl
health_chunk_1d
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R_Missle_MAster_01@
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easy_break_box_3X
D       health_crateX
dogcharger_idle_secondary
wake_off_leash
    skid_attack
dogcharger_release_s
BHC_idlet
close_attack_tk_2
fire_rocke#
BHC_knocked_bac%
ride_chopp
small_turn_jig
bomber_bot_idleD
run_small_yet_big
knocked_back_no_xz_tran
down_getup/
clankpack_body_idle5H
rocket_stom.
tread_wate#D
heliarms_pose\
clankpack_rocket_idle5P
hydro_ope
tread_water
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Blarg_Coptor_idl
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infobot_id&`
SwingHook_spin_0&
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BigAl_nervous_idleP 
QuarkBot_idle_A
weenie_idle
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weenie_idle
look_idleT
weenie_cower
weenie_idled
look_i+
watch_idl
weenie_duck
Grappling_idle@
pickup_Bullets
small_monitor_appearX
mainmenu_position1_out
to_cityname
2_to_planet2
gadgetron_logo_masterp
cclankglowingball_master'8
Ratchet_standing_upright_idle"!
_look_left&
walk_shor
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left_no_tr
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right_no
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Ratchet_c
turn_left
jump_rocketpack_notrans
running_longj
left_no_t
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Ratchet_j
soft_skid
3hit_combo_part1of3_slower_new#
Ratchet_fire_devastator_cycle
jump_twist_left_no_tran%
right_no
Ratchet_jump_helipack_no_tran%d6H
Ratchet_jump_grab_ledge_no_tran
double_jump_rocketpack_notrans#P8D
    _rot_landing
ledge_traversal_left_
rocket_superman_
3hit_combo_part1of3_bounce_o"
rocket_stomp_cannonball_no_tran
x   jump_attack_
Ratchet_bomb_toss_short_distance_in_place
suck_enemy_in_w_recoil_no_trans#D5X
Ratchet_suckgun_fire1\  
    pull_no_tran%
tarzan_grab1T
swing_cycle_in_place_with_legsL
fire_devastator_
bolt_gun\
crouch_w_&M
`   run_bomb_tos
crouch_w_big_gun_fire_cycl%
wipe_brow1"
Ratchet_clank_combo_idle_finalP
wire_grab_slidin"
hoverboard_spee#
method_full_cycl
Ratchet_hoverboard_nosegrab
Ratchet_jump_wire_
Ratchet_standing_upright_idlY
Ratchet_standing_upright_idle_look_
Ratchet_standing_upright_idle_look_lef#
Ratchet_hoverboard_mute_full_cycl
Wrench_appear3
bounce_off
open_screw_run
PSX_expandingX
visibomb_expand2x
gadget_expanding2\
ratchet_boltgun_hud_27A
Taunter_expand3
    firing_antict$
Tesla_Claw_transform_5P
walloper_expand2
    punch_scaled
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.RYNO_Master_02P
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built_idle|H-
on_cycleH+}O? 

Unused Audio#

• In this clip intended for the Eudora infobot, Drek has a completely different voice actor. It is unknown who provided the voice for him at this stage of development.

• A voice clip from the Gadgetron Vendor that didn't make it into the final game.

• An underwater bubble sound that didn't make it into the final game.

• A loud buzzer sound, possibly meant to be an early sound for the TNT crates.

• A sound of a bullet ricocheting.

Debugging Features#

Debug Menu#

An early debug menu is accessible by editing the following memory addresses (using a memory editor like Cheat Engine):

Show Debug Menu
Set 2015274C to value 4294967295
Show Debug Menu (Alternate)
Set 20152790 to value 1

This debug menu is missing some of the functionality present in later prototypes and the final game.

Additionally, the "Bolt" option in this debug menu actually controls the Blaster ammo count. This is likely a leftover from earlier in development when the Blaster used bolts as ammo.

E3 Demo (April 7, 2002)	EB Games Demo (June 11, 2002)	Final/Retail

Enable Cheats#

Debugging cheats can be enabled by editing the following memory address:

Enable Debug Cheats
Set 2019A924 to value 1

Once cheats have been enabled, press L1+R1+L2+R2 to unlock all weapons and gadgets, including ones not normally available in the demo. This includes some weapons and gadgets which have different names and/or function differently than they do in other builds.

Defensive Droids (Drone Device)	Inflato-Ratchet Glove (Decoy Glove)

Level Select#

Before Ratchet's interplanetary spaceship could warp you to different planets/levels, there was a level select screen. Not much use here since the E3 demo only contains one level, but it's interesting nonetheless.

You can activate this screen by pausing the game and setting the value at memory address 2019A8D0 to 17.

Blackwater City Infobot#

Watch on YouTubeRilgar was going to be named "Planet Blackwater" at one point - the lipsync animation in the final game still reflects this. Also odd is the fact that Darla Gratch says "Channel Sixty-Four News", but her microphone has the number 2 on it.