July 10, 2003

This is a sub-page of Proto:The Simpsons: Hit & Run.

To do: Everything... Check if any more of the pre-rendered cutscenes are different.

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This prototype is documented on Hidden Palace.

A late PS2 prototype of the Simpsons Hit and Run was leaked on Jan 23, 2019. Almost all of the game's content is finalized, with most of the differences being relatively minor. The build was compiled on July 10, 2003, over two months before the game's release and a week after the July 3rd, 2003 prototype.

This version contains an odd bug if emulated where the characters appear upside down when driving vehicles.

General Differences#

• NPCs can still be kicked indoors.
• The mission briefing images now use the finalized diagram designs, and the scrapbook now shows images of levels.
• Character HUD icons now use their 2D artwork.

Linker Map#

To do: Document some interesting findings from the linker map.

In the root of the game disc is SRR2.MAP, a linker map that contains debug symbols useful for narrowing down what caused a game crash. According to this file, the prototype was a nightly build.

Cutscene Differences#

Many of the cutscenes will match their equivalent in the earlier build, but still have some differences.

Startup Scenes#

• There are a number of differences in the startup screen videos:
  • The Fox Interactive logo's music is different, being the 20th Century Fox/Studios logo's 1994 theme instead of its current 1997 theme.
  • The Gracie Films video appears to be taken directly from an SD-era episode of the TV series, while in the final game it was redone in 3D.
  • The Radical Entertainment video uses the same sound effects as The Simpsons: Road Rage, but with the added recording of Snake's voice which is present in the final game.

Level 1 Introduction#

• The Level 1 Introduction is the same as the July 3rd Xbox prototype.

Level 1 Movie#

• The cutscene's audio mastering is unfinished and very inconsistent. This is especially noticeable with Homer's line "Marge, that black van is spying on us" being 9 dB louder than the rest and clearly clipping.

Bonus Movie (500 Yard Gash)#

The cutscene is considerably more complete compared to the previous build, but with some small differences.

• There is no audio.
• The overall movie has a brighter color scheme, which is evident in the scene where Scratchy runs all over Earth.
• The Itchy and Scratchy Show title screen appears before the episode's title.
• Some parts were shortened or re-animated:
  • The scene of Itchy tossing the syringe was removed.
  • The scene of the syringe being lifted isn't present in this build.
• The hand holding the start-up gun was originally zombie, morbid-like where it was changed to a regular yellow hand.
• The effects of the steroids on Scratchy are slightly longer, showing visible measles and his groin being shrunk.
• The inner view of Scratchy's heart is slightly longer and the insides have a more realistic and glossy look.
• The back-and-forth scenes of Scratchy running and his heart beating fast was shortened.
• The photo of Itchy winning the race isn't on a polaroid.
• Itchy isn't wearing a medal on the podium nor is a trophy present, additionally, the view is different, showing the bottom part of the stadium with litter.
• The End screen is more unique, showing Scratchy's head next to Itchy's winnings.

Level 1#

To do: Mission item pick ups are placed differently.

S-M-R-T#

• Lisa's science project is placed in front of the Family Sedan, meaning you can simply drive into it to pick it up.

Prototype	Final

Petty Theft Homer#

• Barney's cooler pickup is placed further away from him in the prototype.

Prototype	Final

The Fat And The Furious#

• Due to a programming mistake, Homer's initial line when talking to Mr Burns is overridden by him saying "There he is!" (a line that goes unused in the final game) This line is likely supposed to play in the stage beforehand, when you first see Mr Burns, however one of the programmers made a mistake and put it in the wrong stage. In the final game this was never fixed, but due to some other changes to game's code, it is instead overridden by the correct line.

Stonecutters' Tunnel#

• A music track (stone_cutter_spoof) unused in the final game plays around the area of the Stonecutters' Hall. It is unknown why this was changed.

Level 2#

Better than Beef#

• The location of the satellite is moved further away from the player.

Prototype	Final

Level 3#

General#

• The texture used on the platform near the red ramp that leads to the C-Spanker shortcut is different.

Prototype	Final

Level 6#

Going To The Lu'#

The circle HUD icon was changed from a kid to a bus in the final game. Interestingly, the image was the only part of the file that was replaced, and as such the bus is still named "kids.p3d", is still located in the Objects folder (instead of the Vehicles folder) and uses a blue-purple background colour, unlike the yellow colour of any other vehicle icons.

Prototype	Final

Set To Kill#

A timer was added in the final version of the mission. This was likely done to increase the difficulty of a late-game mission, as without it the mission is very easy. Maybe they overdid it a bit...

Level 7#

Rigor Motors#

The final objective to enter the Simpsons' house is still present. This was commented out in the final.

Text Differences#

Some of the text is a tad different.

Any mention of the PS2 memory card was made less verbose.

Text was made more specific.

The text that appears upon collecting all the collector cards in the game is different.

Audio Differences#

banjo_main#

The audio mastering on this track is slightly different.

Oddities#

minigamecam#

A misplaced version of minigamecam.p3d is loose inside the main art folder. This model seems to use an earlier format that provides export data. With it, the following details can be found:

• Models were made in Maya.
• The game's project folder was referenced as 'Simpsons 2', the first game is likely The Simpsons: Road Rage which was Radical's previous entry.

Vehicle Scripts#

TT.con is missing from the prototype, despite the model assets being present.

Misc.#

To do: Compare scripts.

• Handling is still called "stability" in the Phone Booth UI as seen in some earlier screenshots.

left|framed

• The sun flare effect is incomplete and can still be seen through walls.
• The player characters do not perform a victory dance animation upon finishing a bonus race.
• Wasp AI is more aggressive to dodging attacks than in the final game.
• If your memory card is unformatted, the prototype has the option to format it for you, while the final game just displays an error.
• Level 7 actually contains some road nodes for the area past the blocked bridge, although they are extremely limited.
• The Phone Booth Menu accessible with the Unlock All Vehicles cheat code contains entries for a set of vehicles listed as "N/A XX" (the X's being replaced with numbers), as well another vehicle listed as "Charred Husk". Selecting the former will have no effect, and selecting the latter will spawn the wreck vehicle that can be driven after certain vehicles are destroyed. Driving this vehicle over a Wrench pickup does not do anything.
• If a player exits their vehicle during a stage where a 10 second time limit to re-enter the vehicle is given, and then triggers the next objective on foot, said timer disappears and the player can be out of the vehicle from then on. In the final game, the timer continues regardless of the fact the player triggers the next objective or not.