Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg (Windows)

Prototype Info Text Language DifferencesEarlier Japanese text found compared to the GameCube version.

Audio Oddities#

The PC version upon being first ran creates a Sound effects folder with .WAV versions of sound effects in the game's root directory. Despite this, it still references the original GameCube version's .MLT and .MPB soundbanks as some WAV files are missing (ex. Captain Glur's death cry). Though this varies depending on the level.

Audio Port differences#

For the 3rd mission for Sand Ruins where you turn the stone statues to face each other, in the GameCube version the cry they do after the following event is a low pitched rooster cry downsampled to 22.05KHZ. For whatever reason the PC port instead has the audio clip be the regular pitched cry, at 32KHZ

For the first phase of the Dark Raven fight, the sound for when you roll the egg through the Dark Pools is missing compared to the GameCube version. Notably the associated audio clip (SE404.WAV) is missing in the SE folder.

The 2nd phase of the final boss curiously uses a completely different set of audio clips for when its core is exposed, and when it sends a flurry of feathers. Deleting these doesn't default to the .MLT/.MPB sound banks.

Unused Stages#

There are a few stage models present only in the PC release of the game. It's not immediately obvious all differences between the final and proto versions for all maps, but there are some maps that don't exist in the normal game at all. These are the stg_battle_red unused vs map and stg_practice testing map. Alongside these are map models for stg_test (red/Dino Mountain), stg_test2 (blue/Pirates Island), stg_test2_n (blue/Pirates Island (Night?)), stg_test07 (purple/Blizzard Castle), stgtest08 (blue/Pirates Island Boss). There are matching camera, object, and enemy layouts for 'test' maps 1-8 and 'short' map 1 , along with design layouts (detail objects) for test and test2, an enemy layout for test00, set_ene_00.bin (This one is identical to the set_ene_green_boss.bin) and a camera for test with no numbering.

set_ene_green_boss.bin, set_ene_last_boss.bin, and set_ene_last_boss2.bin also seem to have an older version of the set layout format with shorter structures. While the game doesn't seem to use the enemy files for boss stages, these set files have extra enemies that circle the arena, perhaps to add to the backdrop in earlier builds of the game.

stg_battle_red#

This seems to be an unused vs stage for the red area, aka Dino Mountain. However it's named stg_battle_red instead of stg_red_battle for the used version. It actually does have matching object layout data, camera data, etc. but unfortunately it's all nulled out and essentially empty.

stg_practice#

This is a testing stage that's pretty much just a flat area with some stairs and bordering walls. While it likely contained a notable object layout at some point, there's now only data for the render model, BSP info, and collision.

stg_test07 / stg_purple - Blizzard Castle#

A comparison between the prototype and final versions of Blizzard Castle. The most clear change is the lack of one egg railing near the back of the map.

bm_stg01#

Textures from bm_stg01.gvm. There's no matching model and it's otherwise unclear what the level would have looked like. Given the PC version has many unused early versions of other assets, this might have been for a mockup, as the textures have a painterly, even anime-esque aesthetic in places, but appear different in style and tone to the vibrant, but flatter look of the final game.

Unused Object Models#

Similarly to stages, there are several unused character, enemy, or object models in files exclusive to the PC port, or ones handled differently to the GameCube original version.

Objects

Light Gates#

In addition to the usual Dark Gates to bosses, the game was apparently going to feature Light Gates that worked much the same way for an unknown purpose. They use duplicates of the model the Dark Gates use, but with different texturing for each area, except Giant palace, as well as a duplicate of the blue one without a color naming. Interestingly, the global texture ids indicate that the Light Gates were actually created before the Dark Gates. Copying a Light Gate archive over the Dark Gate model archive will result in a 'functional' Light Gate, as pictured, though the effects are still the Dark Gate's as the effects are set from elsewhere.

Items

Special Combs#

In the main game, all combs Billy can collect simply use the same model as default recolored. Here it seems they planned to have more unique varieties based on powerup, but was scrapped.

Egg Item Animals The PC version of the game has an unused set of item egg animals inside the ar_ma_*.arc files. They seem to have full animations and textures, but simply went unused. Surprisingly, there's a pig animal that has no analog in final so it's not clear what it might have been intended to do.

Unused	Final	Notes
		Bat item animal.
		First butterfly item animal.
		Second butterfly item animal.
		Chameleon item animal.
		Gorilla item animal.
		Hawk item animal.
		Lion item animal.
		Unused pig item animal. Unused entirely in the final game.
		Sheep item animal.
		Tiger item animal.
		Turtle item animal.

Egg Animals

iwhale#

This unused Egg animal seems to be intended to be an ice element animal like Ricky or Oritta. It has fully completed animations.

Enemies

ge_e01w - Test Dummy#

A test dummy model with target mark. Seems to be for debugging. Has a basic animation set.

ene_am04#

Has an identical model to the Giant Palace egg chicks. Has files in the same format as final, used enemies, but isn't placed in any maps.

Flag#

Object (ID 267) shows an unused flag that drapes slightly, non-interactive unlike the used ones. This potentially was an earlier version of the ones used in the final Pirate Island stages

Unlike the GameCube version this is textured, with it shifting the one used depending on angle, sourced from the stage GVM texture pack

Unused Text#

To do: Find and rip Japanese graphics.

Present in the game are leftover Japanese INI files, suggesting there may have been plans to release this port in Japan.

There's also console version leftovers, such as messages related to progressive scan and 50Hz/60Hz. Oddly, these messages exist in Japanese as well (50Hz/60Hz selection is not commonplace in Japan, where consoles were historically NTSC-based).

Unused File List#