Autumn Plains Worlds

This is a sub-page of Proto:Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage!/August 11th, 1999 build.

From the Autumn Plains worlds onwards, the differences in this build begin to appear a bit more frequently. Perhaps one of the most notable design changes in this version of the game are the relatively vast scale of differences within the Autumn Plains home, resulting in this build having a total of 65 orbs, rather than 64.

Differences#

Autumn Plains#

Aug 11 Prototype	Sep 30 Final

• The final theme for this level isn't yet present, and so the Glimmer theme is used instead.
• Part of the ground beneath the arches in the section leading up to the ladders was elevated in the final.
• The Breeze Harbor portal is in a completely different position, and is slightly closer to where the player starts in the level.

Aug 11 Prototype	Sep 30 Final

• One of the archways has an extra rung which holds a single yellow gem.

Aug 11 Prototype	Sep 30 Final

• The Scorch portal is slightly more indented into the wall than it is in the final.
• Similarly, there is a small indent in the wall nearby.
  • All of the differences in the level geometry listed above match the level model from the "Boo..." cutscene in the final game.

Aug 11 Prototype	Sep 30 Final

• The breakable wall near to the entrance to Gulp's Overlook that leads to the roof is not present - rather, the wall is open, instead.

Aug 11 Prototype	Sep 30 Final

• The pathway through to the roof leads to a different side of the tower than it does in the final.

Aug 11 Prototype	Sep 30 Final

• The grass area on the roof is sunken slightly when compared with its surroundings.
• There is a breakable wall on the roof leading to an area inside the wall that was removed in the final. This leads to the inside of the tower.
• The whirlwind on the roof is not located where it normally is - instead, there's a whirlwind located on the inside of the tower, leading to the top of the tower through a hole in the middle.

Aug 11 Prototype	Sep 30 Final

• There is an extra island between the Icy Speedway portal and the castle which was removed later on.
• The surrounding mass near the death boundary is more stuck out and prominent in this build.

• Oddly, the pause menu still refers to the level by an earlier name, Autumn Castle. The Guidebook also refers to it as such.
• There is an orb behind the breakable wall on the roof, which wasn't present at all in the final game. This orb is also referenced in the Guidebook as "Bottom of the tower". As a result, the level has three orbs, and this version has a total of 65 collectable orbs.
  • However, the pause menu and Guidebook only reference two orbs; the tower orb and the orb behind the breakable wall on the wall surrounding the level. The orb on the island - referred to as "Long glide!" in the Guidebook in the final - is present, but not referenced by either the pause menu or the Guidebook.
  • Additionally, the array listing the number of orbs present in each level indicates that Autumn Plains should have 2 orbs (like in the final, and also matching the Guidebook amount).
  • Interestingly, the orb along the outer wall of the level is referred to as "At the aquaduct" instead of "The end of the wall" in this version - this is a remnant from an earlier version of the level, when the wall was in fact an aqueduct, instead.
• The homeworld vortices leading to Summer Forest and Winter Tundra are placed in seemingly random places in the first section of the level, and there's only a single pair of them. In the final, one pair of vortices is found near to the first ladder in the level, and another pair is found near to the entrance to Gulp's Overlook.
  • Additionally, the vortices are extremely different in appearance from their final look.

• The "Gulp's Overlook" text hovering in front of the entrance to the level is missing.
• Some of Elora's dialogue - in particular, when all talismans have been collected and Gulp is ready to fight - has not been recorded yet.
• There are no flags on the castle representing whether or not Gulp has been defeated.

Skelos Badlands#

• The theme used in this level appears to be an uncut version of the theme heard in the demo versions - it's similar to the final, but is missing a lot of its instrumentation. See the soundtrack page for more info.
• Neither of the minigames play unique themes; they instead continue to play the level's main theme (i.e., neither the lava lizard themes nor the bone dance theme plays). While the latter theme isn't present at all, both of the lava lizard themes are present in the game, albeit unused.
• The flags in this level are red instead of yellow.
  • Additionally, when flamed, the skull at the top of the flag plays a little animation where it falls down and becomes lopsided. The final flag design removes this animation, and the skull instead stays put.
• The NPC at the beginning has some cut dialogue if spoken to after finishing the level, however the associated text was already removed by this point. This is a leftover from an earlier version of the game where some NPCs would have additional dialogue if the player spoke to them again.
• The life jar normally near the lava at the end of the level is located near the bridge surrounded by enemies, in the area that leads back to the start of the level.
• The shape of the bridge in the area leading back to the start of the level was somewhat altered in the final game.

• Skill Points are not yet implemented, and as such, this level has not yet received its Skill Points. However, should the player flame all of the cacti, the last cactus will release 10 extra life butterflies upon exploding. This seems to have been an initial concept which was ultimately reworked into the idea of Skill Points.
• Like all other levels in this version, the intro and outro cutscenes have some additional dialogue from Elora overlaid on top:

Crystal Glacier#

• An earlier version of the level's theme is used. The theme is also present in the final game, albeit unused.
  • There are also some very minor mixing differences between this version's theme and the unused one found in the final game.
  • The same theme is also heard in the intro and outro cutscenes for the level in the final game.
• The flag at the end of the level is missing.
• Though many levels have dialogue differences, this one notably includes an unusual line in Moneybag's text dialogue, which was oddly shortened in a later prototype despite not being fixed - his audio dialogue remains the same as it is in the final game, however:

• Like all other levels in this version, the intro and outro cutscenes have some additional dialogue from Elora overlaid on top:

Breeze Harbor#

Aug 11 Prototype	Sep 30 Final

• There is no trolley minigame theme - the Breeze Harbor theme continues playing, instead.
• The flag at the beginning and end of the level is missing.
• The target symbol found on the catapult is not present in this version.
• The NPC at the start of the level can be talked to again after obtaining the talisman, which shows a blank text box with no audio dialogue attached. This seems to be a leftover from when NPCs at the start of the level were planned to have additional dialogue if the player backtracked and talked to them again.
• Like all other levels in this version, the intro and outro cutscenes have some additional dialogue from Elora overlaid on top:
  • There is no music in the intro and outro cutscenes.
  • The outro cutscene displays incorrectly, as the boat at the end of the level returns to its original position and blocks the camera in a few of the shots.
  • The outro cutscene reuses the intro cutscene dialogue.

Breeze Harbor is the home to the Breezebuilders. Recently, they've been fighting battles with the Land Blubbers from Zephyr. The Breezebuilders use steam power to drive their flying boats, now the Land Blubbers have invaded and put out all of the fires. It's really weird, they got along fine until Ripto arrived. I think he's just trying to stir things up so he can take over Avalar more easily.

Zephyr#

Aug 11 Prototype	Sep 30 Final

• The final theme for this level isn't yet present, and so the Glimmer theme is used instead.
• Seargeant Tub doesn't turn to you when you speak to him on the cannon, resulting in some rather awkward dialogue.
• A caterpillar fodder is not present inside the section after the first cannon, which one of the yellow bird enemies would normally be seen chasing in the final game. Instead, this enemy is just doing their usual chirping animation.
• The section containing the superflame powerup was entirely redesigned later in development. In this version, as a result of the shape and placement of this section, the superflame powerup is visible from the section of the level where the seed challenge takes place.
• The ? jar contains a single red gem - this results in the total number of gems in the level being 401 instead of 400.
• Like all other levels in this version, the intro and outro cutscenes have some additional dialogue from Elora overlaid on top:
  • There is no music in the intro and outro cutscenes.

Metro Speedway#

Aug 11 Prototype	Sep 30 Final

• The tracks are bare in this version, rather than being lit up in green like in the final.
• Metro Speedway is missing some of the light rays in its skybox.
  • This is also the case for its portal and loading screen skyboxes.
• Skill Points are not yet implemented, and as such, this level has not yet received its Skill Point.

Scorch#

• The portal, in-level skybox and loading screen skybox for this level depict a brown desert. In the final, the desert is instead yellow.
  • Notably, the credits model for the level still uses the brown desert skybox in the final game.
• The flag at the beginning and end of the level is missing.
• The superflame powerup HUD wrongly uses the superfly icon when active in this level.
• Skill Points are not yet implemented, and as such, this level has not yet received its Skill Point.
• Like all other levels in this version, the intro and outro cutscenes have some additional dialogue from Elora overlaid on top:
  • There is no music in the intro and outro cutscenes.

Shady Oasis#

• The portal, loading screen and in-game skyboxes for the level feature a strange blue-brown gradient, which is nothing like the cloudy blue-grey sky used in the final.
  • Interestingly, this level uses yet another skybox in the September 15th prototype that resembles the one from Scorch, with a lighter tan sand colour. This one is also used in the credits model in the final game.
• In the final, the level has a foggy theme, and this visual effect is a result of the level having no low-poly LOD model. In this build, the level still has a low-poly LOD, meaning much more of the level can be seen from a distance.
• The flag at the end of the level is missing.
• The NPC that guides the player throughout the level has a sound effect where he says "I'm right here!" in a high pitched voice whenever he signals for the player to keep up. In the final, no sound effect is included with this animation.
• The ? Jar contains no gems in this level, for some reason. Despite this, the level still contains 400 gems.
• The invincibility powerup HUD wrongly uses the superfly icon when active in this level.
• Like all other levels in this version, the intro and outro cutscenes have some additional dialogue from Elora overlaid on top:
  • There is no music in the intro and outro cutscenes.

Magma Cone#

• There is no crystal popcorn minigame theme - the Magma Cone theme continues playing, instead.
• The flag at the beginning and end of the level is missing.
• The crystal popcorn icons are just identical grey crystals instead of a headshot for each player.
• Like all other levels in this version, the intro and outro cutscenes have some additional dialogue from Elora overlaid on top:
  • There is no music in the intro and outro cutscenes.
  • The volcanic rock in the intro cutscene looks a bit different.
  • The party hats in the outro cutscene are plain orange, rather than the white and pink striped hats used in the final.

Fracture Hills#

Aug 11 Prototype	Sep 30 Final

• Despite the fact that the final theme is present in this version (as the level would usually reuse the Idol Springs theme), the Glimmer theme is used here instead.
• There is no satyr release theme - the Glimmer theme continues instead.
• The grass texture was changed later in development to be more uniformly shaded.
• Several ridges near the start and end of the level were reshaped slightly.
• There's a cut NPC standing by the bridge to the temple.
• Skill Points are not yet implemented, and as such, this level has not yet received its Skill Point.
• Like all other levels in this version, the intro and outro cutscenes have some additional dialogue from Elora overlaid on top:
  • There is no music in the intro and outro cutscenes.

Icy Speedway#

• The music used in this level is an unfinished loop of the beginning section of the track, looping four times.
• The HUD uses the icons from Metro Speedway instead.
• There is no ring counter in Hunter's mission.
• No fragments are released by the igloo when it is destroyed.
• The camera is not angled correctly when speaking to Hunter, so his head is out of shot.
• The paraglider parachute has no textures, and instead just appears grey.
• A static shot of the skybox is seen in the completion screen instead of a panning shot of the level.
• Icy Speedway's loading screen skybox has lighter clouds, rather than the more darkly coloured ones used in the final. The level itself uses the final skybox, however.
• Skill Points are not yet implemented, and as such, this level has not yet received its Skill Point.

Gulp's Overlook#

Aug 11 Prototype	Sep 30 Final

• For some reason, the music stops about a second after entering the level. It will restart again after dying or by pausing and unpausing the game.
• The HUD icon showing Gulp's face is not present.
• The level's lowpoly model has the same polygon count as its highpoly model.
• For some reason there seems to be some sort of movement boundary at the base of the level which maintains Spyro's height should he fall into it. This can be put to its full potential should the player manage to get out of bounds, where they can observe that even diving into the boundary will not cause Spyro to fall through it. No such boundary is present in the final, meaning it's perfectly possible to fall into the abyss in that version.
• Gulp is able to jump onto the lava in pursuit of Spyro, should the player make their way outside the arena.
• The edge of the arena is flatter and narrower, and the lava is slightly higher.
  • The level appears to be a close match for the version of the level used in one of the level's cutscene models in the final game.
• Skill Points are not yet implemented, and as such, this level has not yet received its Skill Point. Should the player shoot a rocket at Ripto, it'll pass straight through him.
• There are no story cutscenes before and after the level.