May 16th, 1998 build

This is a sub-page of Proto:Spyro the Dragon (PlayStation).

ArtisansDifferences in the first homeworld. Peace KeepersDifferences in the second homeworld. Magic CraftersDifferences in the third homeworld. Soundtrack DifferencesThey pay me for this!

Build Dates#

The following is a table comparing the various modification dates of each of the files within the ISO between the May 16th prototype and the final North American build.

The disc has some interesting primary volume creation and modification dates, too:

General Differences#

• The game starts with a landing screen not used in any other version. There is no option to select a save file.
• Only the first three worlds are present. Later worlds would have existed around this time, but were excluded from this build.
• There is no introductory cutscene.
  • Similarly, there are no end-of-game cutscenes.
• The HUD differs slightly from the final game. Specifically, the life and Dragon counters have swapped positions.
• There is no option to quit the game on the pause menu.
• Pressing circle or square in the pause menu or inventory functions the same as pressing X.
• The pause menu is displayed slightly lower on the screen than it is in the final game.
• The contents of the options menu are also slightly different:
  • There is no option for speaker setup in this version.
  • There is no vibration option in this version.
• Pressing triangle in the inventory doesn't switch it to the pause menu, as it would in the final.
• Dragon eggs in the inventory do not display next to the level they correspond to.
• Levels with no dragons - such as flight levels - display "0/0" Dragons in the inventory instead of a dash.
• When all gems in a level are displayed, the counter at the top does not indicate this to the player. In the final game, if the player were to collect all (for example) 100 gems in a level, upon collecting the final gem the counter will read "100/100".
• Many Dragons do not feature cutscenes at this point in development. Most of these Dragons instead display a full-screen text prompt containing dialogue.
• When speaking to the balloonist, the dialogue is displayed similarly to the aforementioned text dialogue Dragons. The options "Go" and "Stay" are listed beneath the text if he's offering to take the player to a different world.
• All balloonists wear the same clothing, instead of slightly different colours for each world.
• An invisible wall seems to surround each of the balloonists and balloons.
• Instead of allowing travel between any two worlds, each balloonist may only travel either to the next world or to the previous one. As such, each world between the first and final worlds would now have two balloonists, one ready to take you to the next world and one to the previous world. However, only Peace Keepers is seen to contain two balloonists, since the balloonist at the end of Magic Crafters was removed from this build due to the absence of Beast Makers onwards.
  • The balloonist taking you to the previous world is placed at the start of the level, where the balloonist normally lands in the final game.
  • In the case of the Magic Crafters, this explains why the beginning platform juts out slightly (where the balloonist to the Peace Keepers would stand) even in the final game.
• The requirements that the balloonists give to the player for entering the next world are vastly different.
• When traveling between worlds via the balloonist, no balloon animation is displayed. Instead, Spyro appears to fly into the void for some time before the level suddenly appears.
• The fairy that would appear above a dragon's platform after one is freed hasn't been implemented. As such, there is no way to save the game or replay dragon cutscenes, and stepping on the platforms do nothing except light them up.
• Dragon egg and key cutscenes cannot be skipped.
• Once you obtain a key in a level, it will remain visible in your inventory, even if you have already used it. However, it disappears if you re-enter the level.
• Spyro's charging animation lingers for about a second before it can properly transition into a different one, making the gameplay feel somewhat less responsive. As such, there's a slight delay when the player stops charging, which can also cause Spyro to start gliding with his head down if the player jumps into a glide immediately afterwards.
• When pressing triangle while gliding, Spyro reacts and falls much slower. There's also no thud animation when Spyro hits the ground.
• Spyro can charge through whirlwinds, rather than being picked up immediately upon touching them. This behaviour is also true of the level exit vortices, which allows him to collect the gems they hold without exiting the level.
• Sparx can't pick life statues up yet.
• Extra life statues are gold instead of silver.
• When multiple gems are spawned from a chest or enemy, they fly out much more slowly.
• Many sound effects are missing or different, especially in later levels.
  • There is no sound when moving through pages in the inventory.
  • Crystal dragons do not make their signature "rumbling" sound, nor do they rumble at all.
  • Many of the smaller Gnorcs make a different sound when they're killed.
  • Sparx does not make his usual chime sound when picking up a gem.
  • Thieves don't make any sounds when taunting the player.
  • Fan chests make a loud humming noise constantly, whereas they're silent until they're flamed in the final game.
  • There appears to be an audio glitch that occurs if the player flames whilst gliding and presses the Triangle button to cancel the glide, which will simultaneously cut off the flaming sound effect.
  • There is no sound effect for the gem count when travelling between levels.
• The silence between the soundtrack loops is significantly longer, than in the final version.
• Most levels' gem placements are different.
  • The red spring chest which infamously only appeared in a single level in the final game can be found in Dry Canyon and Ice Cavern.
• Many levels feature gaps between some of the polygons where gaps do not exist in the final game.
  • Occasionally holes large enough for Spyro to fall through manage to make their way into the level.
• At the end of each level is a home vortex. In this version of the game, the base of the vortex uses the dragon pad model instead of a unique model. Additionally, in some levels a gem can be found floating inside the vortex.
  • The dragon pad colouring always matches the colour used in the Artisans worlds.
• All flight levels are called "Flying" and all boss levels are simply called "Boss".
• When entering boss levels the text on the top of the screen says "Entering [Boss name]" instead of "Confronting [Boss name]".
• In the flight levels of the final game, once the timer is below 10 seconds, it will begin making a noise once every second to warn the player. In this prototype, it makes this noise every second regardless of time remaining.
• The fairies in flight levels take on an entirely different and more goofy appearance.
• The Game Over screen is extremely basic in appearance - simply the words "GAME OVER RETURNING HOME..." in the portal lettering on a plain black background.

Cheat codes#

The cheat codes present in this build seem to be in place mostly for testing purposes. They can be used at any time during gameplay by holding down the buttons for a few seconds at the same time. Aside from the level warp and XA playback code, whose activations are obviously signaled by audiovisual cues, the successful entry of the other combinations are indicated by Spyro doing a light jump into the air whilst in a frozen idle state.

Level Skip#

This code takes Spyro to the next level. The current level will just disappear and Spyro will be left flying in the void until the next level loads in.

When using this code, the levels go in order that they appear in the inventory. As such, using it on a flight level will basically take you to the next world's home. This is also the only way of accessing The End and Gnasty Place without the use of cheats. However, the level skip will not let you access any of the placeholder levels in the Machinists world (Bunchacrap, Boss (Gnasty's Loot), Flying). Using it on The End will take you straight to Gnasty Place and using it on Gnasty Place will warp you back to the Artisans home.

The game can softlock on certain non-accurate emulators and leave Spyro stuck flying in the void if the code is input while the XA audio is playing.

Toggle active/passive camera#

Does exactly the same as the option found in the pause menu.

Toggle Sparx' pick-up ability#

Entering this code makes Sparx behave the same way as if he disappeared (e.g. Spyro is on his last health point). He won't pick up any gems when you get close to them, leaving Spyro up to the task.

Toggle XA playback#

Hold down all four geometry buttons for three seconds to deactivate the music. Re-entering the code re-enables playback. However, the first track of the STR file in use is played instead. Pausing and unpausing the game reverts to the intended music.

Dongle Protection#

The game requires the presence of a dongle file in order to start. There are multiple dongles accepted by the game, each of which have different effects.

BASLUS00000-SPYROALL

The player starts in the Artisans Home and all levels can be accessed as usual. Passive cam is on by default.

BASLUS00000-SPYROLV1

The player is confined to the Artisans worlds. Any balloonist Spyro encounters will refuse to take Spyro to another world, saying "The other worlds are very exciting... I'll take you there in September", a line also used in the Tabloid demo. Active cam is on by default. A cheat code is also enabled allowing the player to restart the game with an instant game over.

BASLUS00000-SPYROLV2

Identical to the "LV1" dongle, but the player is confined to the Peace Keepers worlds.

BASLUS00000-SPYROLV3

Identical to the "LV1" dongle, but the player is confined to the Magic Crafters worlds. Loading Magic Crafters this way seems to sometimes crash the game, due to memory limitations.