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January 8, 2001 Engine Tests

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This is a sub-page of Proto:SpongeBob SquarePants: SuperSponge (Game Boy Advance).

To do:
This sprite sheet consists of sprites from the development discs' AVI animations plus a sprite of Patrick.

Found within two separate development discs are a pair of very early builds along with documentation on the engine's technical aspects. Both are dated January 8, 2001, exactly 11 months before the game's North American release. Each build consists of the same engine, however, one puts emphasis on the game's mechanics and the other focuses on its graphical capabilities. As with the majority of prototypes for the GBA port of SuperSponge, there is very little resemblance to the final game.

Both builds along with their documentation can be found in the development disc archives at \Sponge Bob Disk 1\MaxArt\Ms5 agb\.

General#

  • SpongeBob uses a completely different, larger render model.
  • Compared to the November 28, 2000 Prototype, SpongeBob is slower and has less control during jumps.
  • You can do a chopping-esque move by pressing the B button.
  • The camera can be moved up and down with the Up and Down buttons on the D-Pad respectively. The camera moves faster compared to the final game.

Mechanics Test#

Watch on YouTube

Download SuperSponge Contours Test

File: SBSPants_Contours.bin (308 KB) (info)

Referred to as the "Contours Test" in its filename, this build emphasized on the engine's physics. Upon starting, you are taken to a very plain level graphics-wise as two rotating SpongeBob sprites float freely behind you. The words "Middle" and "Rear" appear in the background in order to test parallax scrolling.

Another variant of the Contours Test has been found inside a separate development disc. However, it appears to be corrupted.

SBSS_Contours_Map.png

Graphics Test#

Watch on YouTube

Download SuperSponge Graphics Test

File: SBSPants_Graphics.bin (334 KB) (info)

Unlike the Mechanics Test, this build focused on how the engine handled graphics. It consists of a Lava Fields-esque level with a very linear layout.

SBSS_Graphics_Map.png