the cutting room mirror

Cutscene Differences

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This is a sub-page of Proto:Spyro: Year of the Dragon/September 4th, 2000 build.

Watch on YouTubeThe story cutscenes were a late addition to this game, and as such, they are the source of many differences in this build.

Cutscene Differences#

General Differences#

  • The images which display before the cutscene starts are all missing from the game's data. Instead, there is a single image of an empty Atlas page which is used for all cutscenes. The text on this screen is in the upper-middle of the screen instead of near the bottom.
    • Interestingly, the versions of the cutscenes that the final's cutscene images depict appear to be from an earlier point in development than this build.
  • All cutscenes feature minor visual differences and more significant audio differences. Notably, all cutscenes are dialogue-only in this version, missing their music and sound effects (aside from recorded voice-based sound effects, like snoring or burping - rather, sounds used elsewhere in the game and sounds originating from a sound effect library seem to be the ones missing).
  • This build has some subtle drawing and Z-fighting differences here and there.
    • While this sometimes appears to be "worse" than the final game, oddly, there are a good number of cases where this build seems to draw what is supposed to be depicted more accurately than the final does.
    • Notable examples of this will be included below.
  • Hunter is consistently depicted in these cutscenes with brown eyes and a pink blotch on his right arm, similar to his appearance in the Japanese version of Spyro 2. In the final, his eyes were recoloured green and his arm was given additional orange shading for all but one of the cutscenes (his appearance in "A Desperate Rescue Begins" was erroneously left unchanged).
    • This aligns closely with the changes made to his model and textures in levels, too, though in levels he is rarely depicted with brown eyes this late into development.
  • If a text box or an in-level cutscene plays immediately before a story cutscene starts, the aspect ratio of that interaction will persist into the cutscene.
    • When paying Moneybags to free a critter, the screen borders which are revealed during the dialogue interaction can briefly be seen retreating to the top and bottom of the screen.
    • After defeating the Sorceress, the aspect ratio from the cutscene of her reaching out of the lava remain throughout all of the post-Sorceress cutscenes.
  • All cutscenes from the final are included. The final also includes empty placeholder files for a cutscene with level ID 72 - in this build, miscellaneous data occupies these slots instead, including the data for an early test level.

Particle Differences#

Some of the most common differences relate to particles, which are often missing in this build's cutscenes.

  • In "An Evil Plot Unfolds", sparkles are generated by one of Bianca's hands. This effect was removed entirely in the final.
  • In "A Powerful Villain Emerges" and "A Desperate Rescue Begins", the sparkling and glowing particles are missing from Zoe's wand. Similarly, in "The Second Warning" and "Hunter's Tussle", the sparkle and glow particles are missing from Bianca's magic spells, and in the latter, the smoke particles released when she creates a butterfly are also missing.
  • In "The Second Warning", "Hunter's Tussle", "Deja Vu?", and "One Less Noble Warrior", Sparx does not generate his usual particles.
  • The flame visual is missing in "The Second Warning".
  • In "Bianca Strikes Back" and "A Monster To End All Monsters", the particles which swirl around the Sorceress's wand are absent.
  • In "Byrd, James Byrd", the rocket Sgt. Byrd shoots is absent, as are the particles it releases. Similarly, in "One Less Noble Warrior", the rocket shot by Sgt. Byrd, the particles released by this rocket, and all firework visuals are missing.

Model Differences#

  • In "The Second Warning", "Hunter's Tussle", "Deja Vu?", and "One Less Noble Warrior", Sparx has the wrong colour applied to his model, making him appear a very dark blue-black colour.
  • The portals to the critter levels (in "No Hard Feelings", "Byrd, James Byrd", "A Duplicitous, Larcenous Ursine" and "The Dancing Bear") are all similarly different in appearance - their level portals are missing, and the portal frames instead appear as if they hadn't been activated yet.
  • In "Byrd, James Byrd" and "One Less Noble Warrior", the rocket models shot by Sgt. Byrd are absent.
  • The food Bianca gives to Hunter in "An Apology, And Lunch" has some extra shading on it not seen in later builds.
  • The doorway Bianca exits out of in "An Apology, And Lunch" is brown, and looks much more like a wall than a doorway. In the final, it's a much darker black.
  • In "Deja Vu?", the microphone appears to be at a slightly different angle.

Other Visual Differences#

  • Briefly, at the end of the "The Second Warning" cutscene, hunter's neck can be seen through his mouth.
  • Several minor drawing issues present in "Hunter's Tussle" in later builds are not present in this version:
    • When Bianca is laying on the floor with the book behind her arm, the book renders behind Bianca. Oddly, it renders in front of her arm in later builds.
    • On a couple of occasions, Bianca's face appears to be partially visible through the sides of her hood, in later builds. This version doesn't seem to have this issue, in this cutscene.
  • In "An Apology, And Lunch", Hunter (seemingly correctly) renders as in front of the bars when he leans through them. In the final, he appears to remain behind the bars, despite apparently leaning through them.
  • Some visual issues, such as polygons from the world geometry disappearing, are present in the "A Duplicitous, Larcenous Ursine" cutscene in this build. The visual issues are also present, albeit much worse, in the later September 11th build.
  • In "The Escape!", the camera is much closer to Hunter during the close-up scenes, even including the one where the camera swings in close rather than moving instantaneously. At times, the camera appears to move entirely inside the cage.

Other Differences and Notes#

  • In both "Bianca Strikes Back" and "Spike Is Born", the cutscene audio ends with a loud popping sound, and the rest of the cutscene stutters dramatically (pausing for roughly 1 second for every 2 seconds of the cutscene). In the latter cutscene, this seems to cut off the end of the Sorceress's last line of dialogue slightly too early, when she's in the middle of saying "for lunch".
  • Oddly, watching the "Byrd, James Byrd" cutscene makes Spyro spawn next to the Sparx sign instead of in front of the Sgt. Byrd's Base portal. A similar bug in the later September 11th build causes the player to spawn at the start of the level instead of in front of the critter portal when watching the "No Hard Feelings" cutscene, but this bug isn't present in this build.
  • The "Spike Is Born" cutscene plays under normal means, as the bug which stops it from playing in the earliest final release (and in the September 11th prototype) is not yet present. Conversely, a somewhat similar bug in Super Bonus Round is present, which causes the "THE END" cutscene to not play.
    • Specifically, the latter only plays if the flag set by watching it is already set, rather than if it's unset. Setting this flag will make the cutscene play every time this level is finished.
  • Like other cutscenes, the music is missing from the "THE END" cutscene. The only sound that plays throughout this cutscene are two burping sounds, both of which are identical, and neither match the ones used in the final game. Amusingly, the burps are totally absent in the later September 11th build, despite this build having the music and some of the sound effects for this cutscene.