Batman: Arkham Asylum (Nintendo DS)

This game was never completed and/or given a public release. As a result of this, keep in mind that the developers might have used or deleted some of the content featured here, had the game actually been released.

This prototype is documented on Hidden Palace.

The DS Batman: Arkham Asylum was in development around 2007, well before Rocksteady's console versions were released. It appears to have been an internally cancelled concept from Full Fat, though the available build (released in December 2020) credits Eidos Interactive as publisher.

At this point, the game is pretty clearly early in development, containing just two playable areas and lacking story progression, menus, or a save system, though certain elements appear surprisingly polished (for example, Batman's cape features dynamic movement). Many assets and files suggest that the game was constructed using components from The Sims 2: Castaway (another Full Fat title), with some resources being directly carried over.

To do: Document unused text and assets here properly without screenshots of files. Every file here lacks the game's name and category tags. Please fix this.

Gameplay#

Gameplay begins with a slow cutscene of Batman atop a castle. After a simple press-to-start prompt, the player is taken directly into a rooftop area featuring Bane, followed by an interior "office" section containing a single enemy.

While collision detection and basic interaction systems such as doors and gadget selection are present, combat is incomplete: enemies cannot take damage nor do they actively attack, gadgets do not work, and no additional progression mechanics are implemented.

Locations#

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Referenced locations inside BatmanAA.nds\data\lots:

• arkam (misspelled in files)
• castle
• office
• rooftop

Usage:

rooftop	office	castle	arkam
Used as the opening playable area. Has Bane in the corner.	Likely the second playable area, accessible through the only door on the rooftop. Contains one enemy and some paintings.	Corresponds to the intro cinematic with Batman atop the castle, as files inside reference camera animations.	Likely used for the intro and surrounding buildings on the rooftop.

Unused Text#

A significant amount of text from The Sims 2: Castaway is present, primarily stored in main_english.text.nitro_text. These remnants include character creation prompts, user interface messages, language selection options, stat labels, and other leftover text.

The English text file appears to be the only one prepared for Arkham Asylum, as all other languages leave Batman's controls blank. Additionally, "DEBUG" text is present in the English file and James Barnard is credited as producer in every language except English, further indicating that only the English file had begun an early cleanup pass in this build.

Unused Sims 2: Castaway Code#

The ROM's file structure closely mirrors that of The Sims 2: Castaway, reflecting the use of the same underlying engine. While Arkham Asylum contains fewer files, its file structure follows the same organizational conventions, a common practice among development studios when creating prototypes or tech demos.

Many leftover files and code from The Sims 2: Castaway are present, suggesting that Full Fat repurposed existing assets extensively. This likely represents only a fraction of the material that could be uncovered.

The keyboard screen located in data\screens\keyboard is directly copied from The Sims 2: Castaway. Despite its presence in the files, no keyboard interface is actually implemented or accessible in Arkham Asylum.

Arkham Asylum	The Sims 2: Castaway

Several font files from The Sims 2: Castaway are also present:

Identical survival guide font	Identical item numbers font	Identical bold numbers font