Crash Nitro Kart (PlayStation 2, GameCube, Xbox)

Prototype Info Prerelease Info Unused AudioVelo won't shut up. Unused TextAn entirely scrapped online mode.

Voodoo Doll Item#

This needs some investigation. Discuss ideas and findings on the talk page. Specifically: Attempting to force the item to load will do nothing when used. Check whether this claim about it being functional is true, and if so, explain or at least provide code to restore it.

Demo builds of the game featured a Voodoo Doll power-up which acted very similarly to the Team Frenzy mechanic present in the final, in addition to creating an "angelic" aura around the user. As the Team Frenzy meter builds up over the course of the race in accordance with how well you drive close to your teammate, the excessive power-ups it grants you are well justified, so having a regular item generating the same effect would likely make it overpowered and redundant. As such, its removal in the final appears justified...

...Until glancing through the coding reveals it wasn't actually removed from the game at all – it was merely disabled and still present in the "item cycling" animation after hitting a crate, with cheat codes being able to force the item to appear from the crates scattered around each track. The weapon has unusual yet devastating effects when activated in the final game, cursing the racer in first place by shrinking them as well as slowing them down and distorting their turning, complete with a rain cloud similar to the juiced up Beaker items in Crash Team Racing. On top of that, it also blesses the user by speeding them up while creating the same light effect, only lacking the pseudo Team Frenzy effect from the demo.

The weapon cycling table, found at .\common\dda\playerweaponselection.csv, contains a column for the Voodoo Doll across all selection tables, but with every value set to 0 causing it to be removed from the item pool. Setting these values to 1 will cause the item to appear in the roulette cycle, however using the Voodoo Doll does nothing.

The weapon's configuration file at .\common\weapons\voodoodoll.csv remains fully configured, containing defined values for grace and curse durations (including juiced and team variants), as well as shrink size and speed parameters for the cursed kart. The behavior data is present, suggesting the block is in the executable rather than the game's data files.

It is largely unusual how the item's effect not only differs between the demo and final builds, but that the item is considerably more unbalanced in the final despite not being used.

Playable Bosses#

Watch on YouTubeUnlike the handheld versions, it is not possible to unlock the bosses in the console versions of the game. However, they can still be made playable through hacks.

Playing as them reveals some stuff that cannot normally be seen during the boss races, such as the bosses featuring voice clips that are only heard when a player is controlling them. These include lines for bumping into a wall or taunting after dodging an attack. The bosses even feature proper animations for bumping into the walls.

They would later become playable in Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled.

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This code allows them to be selectable in the character select screen by replacing the existing characters from the bottom row:

• Pura = Krunk
• Dingodile = Nash
• Polar = Little Norm
• N. Trance = Geary
• Nitros Oxide = Big Norm
• Zem = Scrubber
• Zam = Velo Minion
• Real Velo = Emperor Velo

Unused Graphics#

Hyper Spaceway Minimap#

Hyper Spaceway is the only level in the game where it's not possible to switch between speedometer and minimap, since the speedometer will always be the only option available here. However, the minimap itself is still present in the game, just disabled. Restoring it reveals that it's actually a little broken, which is probably why it isn't normally available.

Hub Worlds Placeholder Minimaps#

The map data contains minimaps for Terra, Barin, Fenomena and Teknee hub worlds, which features an earlier version of Electron Avenue's minimap as a placeholder. It's possible the hub worlds were also going to receive a minimap at one point much like in Crash Team Racing, but the idea was ultimately scrapped.

Big Norm Icon#

Big Norm was originally intended to be treated as a proper boss, thus having his own icon that would be displayed during the boss challenge. That idea was eventually scrapped, possibly due to the difficulty in having to deal with two enemies at once. He ended up being a normal boss in the handheld versions of the game, which includes his icon appearing there as well.

Unused Models#

Team Meter Geometry#

The team meter model has an unused bursting geometry on the top that would appear once the gauge was full. It can be seen in pre-release footage.

Hang Time Meter#

Directory: "\ps2\gfx\hud\hangtime.igb"

Similar to Crash Team Racing, the game was going to feature a hang time meter that would pop up on the screen whenever the kart hopped. It was eventually scrapped for unknown reasons, although the hang time meter model still exists within the files.

Early Trophy#

Directory: "\ps2\gfx\ui\trophy.igb"

An earlier version of the trophy model went unused. It was notably based on the CTR's trophy design.

Early Key#

Directory: "\ps2\gfx\ui\key.igb"

The boss key also had an earlier version based on the CTR's key design.

Early Planet#

Directory: "\ps2\gfx\ui\citadel_planet_2.igb"

There is an unused orange planet for the citadel menu background that was replaced with the purple one. It can be seen in the first demo version.

Velo's Head#

Directory: "\xbox\gfx\hubworld\bosshead5.igb"

Only found on the North American Xbox version, there is an unused boss head planned for Emperor Velo that would appear inside the warp pad of the boss challenge, just like the other bosses.

Leftover Data#

Voice Events#

Voice clips that play during gameplay are tied to specific actions performed by the player, and have a certain probability of playing when that action is performed. The file that controls the audio can be found on .\common\audio\vofreq.csv and contains all the possible in-game events (such as when the character is injured, fires a weapon, jumps from a high place, etc.). Some of these events are not used and instead have a probability of 0% to ensure that they will never happen in-game. The voice clips associated with the scrapped events no longer exist, so attempting to restore them won't reveal any new clips.

0,1,# EventKnockout

As seen in the demo versions, the characters originally had a voice clip when they were hit by explosions, Missiles, or Bowling Bombs.

0,0,# EventMinionSpawn

In earlier builds, the sidekick bosses would respawn in the middle of the race after the boss had completed a lap.

0,0,# EventCrowned

Possibly related to when a character becomes a leader in a Battle match, which is represented by a crown icon in-game.

0,0,# EventBurnedShocked

As the name suggests, characters would make a unique comment or grunt when they were burned or shocked. In the final game, they ended up sharing the spinout clip instead, rendering this particular event unused.

0,0,# EventHitWall

Although characters do have a proper voice clip when hitting a wall, the event used by the game is the "EventInjured" instead.

0,0,# EventTeamPass
0,0,# EventTeamPassWeapon
0,0,# EventTeamPassShield
0,0,# EventTeamPassWeaponAway
0,0,# EventTeamPassShieldAway

Related to scrapped team features. In the demo versions, you can pass the Power Shield or Invincibility Masks when approaching your teammate while these power-ups are active.

0,0,# EventPublisherIntro
0,0,# EventDeveloperIntro
0,0,# EventTitleIntro
0,0,# EventPressStart

Unknown events related to the startup screens.

Unused HUDs#

A few HUD parameters for specific game modes went unused in the final game can be found on .\common\hud.

• The Virtual Lobby contains two HUD parameters for the Lobby area; one for Single Player and one for 2-player splitscreen.
• There are HUD parameters for Versus mode and various Battle types set to Single Player. These modes are only available for multiplayer in the final game.

Crystal Race Unlock Requirements#

There is an unused requirement needed for the scrapped Crystal Race mode to be unlocked, as can be seen in .\common\gameprogression\unlockables.csv. It is unknown what the criteria would be, though.

ModeCrystalRace,77

Scrapped HUD Features#

Located inside .\common\hud\params.csv, there are unused HUD parameters for the scrapped hang time meter and an earlier version of the speedometer labeled "Speedo". The final speedometer is labeled "SpeedometerNew" instead. The "Speedo" model file is no longer present.

[Speedo],Speedometer
graph,gfx/hud/speedo.igb

[HangtimeMeter],Hangtime
graph,gfx/hud/hangtime.igb
scale,0.69 0.68
bar height,93

Yellow Gem/Token#

Despite the original CTR having Tokens and Gems in five colors (Red, Blue, Green, Yellow, Purple) like the previous games, CNK only uses four of them (Red, Blue, Green, Purple). However, this was not always the case. Mentions of the yellow gem and yellow token can be found in a few of the game's files, such as .\common\gameprogression\goalstorewardsconverter.csv:

"# Rewards - trophy, key, relic, token_blue, token_green, token_red, token_purple, token_yellow",,
"# Rewards - gem_blue, gem_green, gem_red, gem_purple, gem_yellow",,

If a warp pad is given a yellow token as one of the rewards for any of the races on it, then it also gains a yellow coloring to its shine, similar to how other tracks have the same color as their token. However, if the rewards are modified, nothing happens if the player collects a yellow token or yellow gem, except for Aku Aku (or Uka Uka) still playing the corresponding congratulatory message.

Scrapped FMV Cutscene#

Located inside .\common\gameprogression\fmvhistory.csv, there is a cutscene row internally labeled as "VeloWinBonus" at the end of the list, which re-uses the FMV files from "VeloWinComplete" (Velo Vanquished) cutscene. Interestingly, the file in the July 29th, 2003 prototype makes reference to an extra FMV sequence named "Seq28.sfd" for this row, confirming that a bonus cutscene related to Velo's defeat was planned to be present in some form, as the name suggests. The video itself is also not present in this build, therefore it is unknown what might have been or if it was ever added to the game.

VeloWinComplete,Seq26.sfd,Seq27.sfd,0
VeloWinBonus,Seq26.sfd,Seq27.sfd,0

Unused Code#

Team Meter Discharge#

Team mode would originally discharge the meter if the player left the teammate's range. It can be found on .\common\weapons\team.csv:

0,,,,# float ,# m_DecSpeed,# How fast does it decrement outside of buddy range,#0.08

The "#0.08" was the previous value that was used while the feature was still active. That means it would take about 10 seconds to completely discharge if the meter was full before.

Invincibility Mask Behaviors#

The invincibility mask would have a special behavior related to the team mode. It can be found on .\common\weapons\invincibilitymask.csv:

15,,,,# float,# m_TeamSpeed,# How fast mask travels to buddy from buddy
40,,,,# float,# m_TeamBlastRange,# How big explosion is for team effect
5,,,,# float,# m_TeamMeterFull,# How full does the buddy meter need to be before explosion
1,,,,# float,# m_ExplScale,# Scale of explosion normal
1.5,,,,# float,# m_ExplScaleJuiced,# Scale of explosion juiced
2,,,,# float,# m_ColRadius,# Collision Radius

Originally, activating certain power-ups such as the Invincibility Mask and the Power Shield while being close enough to your teammate would cause them to automatically receive said power-ups as well. For the Invincibility Mask, the mask would travel from the player to the teammate's kart.

The second feature would cause an explosion once the Invincibility Mask effect ended if the team meter was full, causing nearby opponents to be hit by the blast.

Power Shield Shock#

The Power Shield originally had a unique feature where it would generate spheres of energy inside the bubble, which would then emerge from the bubble and automatically zap to the nearest opponents, causing them a shock. It can be found on .\common\weapons\powershield.csv:

7.5,,,,# float,# m_RangeForZapping,"#15, 10"
9,,,,# float,# m_ZapSpeed,

AI Weapon Behavior#

Normally, the game is hardcoded to only allow the AI to acquire Bombs and Missiles, despite the AI having defined chances for acquiring other weapons, which can be seen in earlier versions of the game. However, it's possible to re-enable some behavior that allow them to also use TNT, Freezing Mines, Turbos and, in Adventure Mode, Tornados - although that seems to have been hastily changed in the final game. The codes below simply bypass those checks, allowing for more varied weapon selection.

Domination Config#

There is a leftover file for the scrapped Domination mode that still exists in the game. It can be seen in .\common\gameprogression\domconfig.csv:

1,# integer,# File Version,

3,# int,# m_DominationScore,# The amount of score received when we set all pads to our team color
1,# bool,# m_bResetPadsAfterDomination,# 1 = pads will be reset to a neutral color after a team has dominated

Adventure Mode Race Requirement Settings#

The requirements needed for a race to be unlocked go a bit further than what's used in the game, as can be seen in .\common\gameprogression\adventuretracksmanager.csv:

"# Reward Needed is the reward need for this submode on this warp pad, it should be one of the following: (relics can be either relicnumber or relic_type)",,,,,,
"# trophy, key, relic(or relic_saphire), relic2(or relic_gold), relic3(or relic_platinum)",,,,,,
"# token_blue, token_green, token_red, token_purple, token_yellow, gem_blue, gem_green, gem_red, gem_purple, gem_Yellow",,,,,,

A specific number of a specific type of relics can actually be used as a requirement for a race, though this feature is never used. Despite this, however, Aku Aku (or Uka Uka) will tell the player that they need to "earn more relics" if they approach a warp pad that has gems as its requirement, such as the warp pad for Hyper Spaceway's Relic Race. However, approaching a locked warp pad that requires relics will have the masks tell the player they need more trophies to unlock it.

Furthermore, "relicnumber" is actually non-functional, or a typo.

Unused Sound Definitions#

Gameplay#

Found in .\common\audio\tracks_2devents.csv, the file handles sound effects related to 2D elements, such as menus and HUD.

# name,# type,# count,# filename,# pitch,# volume,# volume group,# voice group,# tweak volume,# split aware
hud:buddymeter:fadein,nothing,1,frnzloop,1.2,0,UIBalance,default,0.7,1
hud:buddymeter:fadeout,nothing,1,frnzloop,0.8,0,UIBalance,default,0.7,1
hud:lights:spin,nothing,1,litespin,0.05x+0.95,0.05x+0.1,UIBalance,default,0.7,1

Three HUD definitions are intentionally nulled out by setting the # type row to "nothing" and the # volume row to "0".

• The buddymeter entries would have played a sound (frnzloop) whenever the team meter fades in or fades out.
• The lights entry would have played a sound (litespin) for the traffic lights during the countdown.

Meteor Gorge#

Found in .\common\audio\barin1_3devents.csv, Meteor Gorge has two sound effects linked to objects that never play in-game due to the # volume row being set to "0".

# name,# type,# count,# filename,# pitch,# volume,# volume group,# voice group,# min dist,# max dist,# falloff,# listener doppler,# object doppler,# reverbable,# tweak volume,# split aware
hazard:dooropn,event,1,dooropn,1,0,FxBalance,default,20,50,1,1,1,0,0.9,0
hazard:doorcls,event,1,doorcls,1,0,FxBalance,default,20,50,1,1,1,0,0.8,0

Unused Maps#

Test Level#

There is a test track on the disc called "test0", which has the shape of a figure-8 circuit. It has placeholder textures, and contains two ramps in the center of the geometry.

Lobby#

The Virtual Lobby hub used in the scrapped online mode still exists. It's mostly identical to Velo's Citadel, but featuring earlier versions of the hub world icons.

Cut Battle Arenas#

Included with the Battle Courses in the game's files is a string simply known as "ARENA 6". It would seem that a sixth Battle Course was planned, but was never elaborated upon further in development. As each Battle Course is based on each of the four hub worlds, in addition to Velo's Citadel, it is unknown what this arena would have corresponded to. There are also some unusable files for a seventh arena (appropriately called "arena7").

3D Track Maps Oddities#

Some miniatures of the maps displayed in the level select screen contain early geometry from earlier revisions that are not present in the final layout.

Meteor Gorge#

The shortcut is a speed boost ramp instead of a single platform in the middle of the lava pit.

Thunder Struck#

There is an extra ramp on the left side of the track before the spiked swings at the end of the level.

Clockwork Wumpa#

• The free-fall jump section has an extra floating floor in the middle of the bottomless pit.
• There is an extra pit before the giant swinging pendulum afterwards.

Electron Avenue#

• There is an extra pit at the end of the first anti-gravity section.
• There are small round platforms over the pits preceding and succeeding the second anti-gravity section, as well as one on each side of the edges of the narrow path in the final electric fences section.

Internal Names#

Bosses#

Krunk was originally named Kongo and Geary was named Otto. They are still referred to by those names in some of the game's data.

Levels#

Engine Information#

All versions of the game have a hidden string relating to the version of Alchemy they use:

Intrinsic Alchemy  v3.0 -0909 (Static/Release) 
Built by rdy on Tue Sep 9 19:28:21 2003

Intrinsic Alchemy  v3.0 -0723 (Static/Release) 
Built by rdy on Wed Jul 23 12:12:32 2003

Intrinsic Alchemy  v3.0 -0909 (Static/Release) 
Built by rdy on Tue Sep 9 17:37:50 2003

Intrinsic Alchemy  v3.0 -0919 (Static/Release) 
Built by rdy on Fri Sep 19 13:04:51 2003

Version Differences#

• The PlayStation 2 versions use low-poly variants of the tracks for multiplayer modes, while the Xbox and GameCube versions simply re-use the default model regardless of the number of players.
• The initial North American PlayStation 2 release lacks proper audio parameters files for Velo's Vault, meaning that global sound effects such as entering the vortex, warp gates, or winning a prize won't play.

Main Theme#

The main theme on the Xbox version has an extra section not present in other releases.

Character Icons#

The North American PlayStation 2 and Xbox versions feature the icons from the top row (also used for the handheld versions everywhere). All the other versions use the updated icons from the bottom row.

Terra Artwork#

Old	New

The North American PlayStation 2 and Xbox versions display a Terra artwork featuring Coco alone. In other versions, it features Cortex and Nitros Oxide being ejected from his kart.

GameCube Changes#

• Included in the Extras menu are a set of features that make use of the Nintendo GameCube – Game Boy Advance link cable.
  • Crash Party lets you play a minigame on the GBA called Crash Party USA, similar to how Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex lets you play Crash Blast upon linking both consoles.
  • GBA Link lets you link your GameCube copy of the game with a copy of the Game Boy Advance version to unlock certain content. In the GameCube version, you unlock Polar, Dingodile, Zem, Zam, Pura, and Fake Crash as playable characters, and the race and battle courses Hyper Spaceway and Terra Drome.
• The "Loading..." text is located on the top of the screen.
• There is an extra sound effect after the green light.

Regional Differences#

Title Screen#

After First Demo#

Banner#

Japan	International

Main Menu#

Japan	International

Race Interface#

Japan	International

Race Results#

Japan	International

Crash Party#

Japan	International

TNT#

Japan	International

Nitro#

Japan	International