Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep

Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep is a spin-off that is set 10 years before the events of the first game and is the fifth installment in the series. It revolves around a trio of Keyblade wielders, each of which provide different sides to the events that lead up to Sora's original adventure. Originally planned for the PS2, Birth by Sleep features the Command Deck system, which, combined with the Command Synthesis system, made for some interesting spells and moves in combat.

It received a Final Mix re-release in Japan, which served as the basis for the international release as part of HD 2.5 ReMIX.

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Notes

Unused Graphics#

Debug Screenshots#

BBS3.DAT contains several screenshots of various cutscenes throughout the game with debug text on them, possibly for testing purposes.

Placeholder Tutorial Information#

Like above, BBS3.DAT also contains placeholder graphics for tutorials. These are placed between the tutorial for D-Links and command finishers, although their true intended purpose is unknown.

Placeholder Ice Creams#

There are various placeholder graphics for ice cream flavors, many of which use the Honeybunny icon, except for one that uses the artwork of Double Crunch.

Placeholder Report Icons#

Like above, there are various grey and numbered placeholder icons meant for the sticker album that go unused in the final game.

Placeholder Vanitas D-Link#

Early	Final

Early graphics seemingly for Vanitas' D-Link icon can be found in BBS3.DAT, using an early version of Stitch's D-Link as a basis. The red text has the number 17, and underneath reads 鎧ヴァ二, "Armor Vani". As for the early Stitch, Ohana Beat can seemingly be accessed as the finish command even though it's only supposed to be unlocked after collecting two emblems.

Protagonist Icons#

Placeholder icons for the three protagonists can be found in BBS3.DAT. They're meant to be used for the Command Board minigame.

Aqua Concept Art#

An unused graphic meant for the battle report, which shows early concept art of Aqua wielding Stormfell, along with kanji that translates to Draft.

PlayStation 2 Buttons#

The graphics for the text boxes have PS2 button icons, carried over from Kingdom Hearts II.

Land of Departure Mini-Maps#

Mini-maps for the Forecourt, Mountain Path, and Summit exist, but due to the Land of Departure having no map, they are never seen during gameplay.

Enchanted Dominion Bridge Mini-Map#

A mini-map of the thorny version of the Bridge can be seen by using room mods to access the map. Unlike the other more stylized mini-map graphics, this appears to be a direct top-down render, resembling the ones used in Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance.

Now Image Thinking#

Another simple placeholder graphic for items, which says "NOW IMAGE THINKING".

Unused Models#

PlayStation 2 Models#

Except for Vanitas, all of the major characters have higher-quality models from when the game was originally developed on PS2. The models for Terra, Ventus, and Xehanort were seen in the Jump Festa 2008 trailer.

Aqua's Back#

B83EX.pmo contains a version of Aqua's in-game model where more of her back is exposed. Nomura mentioned in an interview that they were "trying something in between being completely open and completely closed"¹, which would explain why this part of her design was changed.

Early Aqua#

M91ex00.pmo has a...somewhat unsettling early version of Aqua's model, which resembles the one seen in the secret ending for Kingdom Hearts II. This unintentionally makes the model look somewhat realistic, especially in the facial area.

Treasure Chests#

G01JB.pmo (Small chest for Jungle Book)	G02JB.pmo (Large chest for Jungle Book)	G03DP.pmo (Large chest for Land of Departure)

Three unused treasure chests can be found in BBS3.DAT. Two are for the scrapped Jungle Book world, which uses a grey texture with the word "TEST" on it. The third one is a large treasure chest for the Land of Departure, which never appears anywhere in the world.

Frozen Kingdom Key D#

A unique model of Kingdom Key D being frozen by Xehanort if Ventus has it equipped during a cutscene, which is not possible to see under normal circumstances.

Pleakley#

Pleakley from Lilo & Stitch can be found in N04LS.pmo, albeit without textures. Ultimately, he goes unused in the final game.

Unused Areas#

Check the Notes page on how to access these areas in-game.

FOR EVENTS ONLY#

The Jungle Book#

The Japanese version contains various rooms from a world that was based on The Jungle Book. Each room is in various stages of completion, and the world was scrapped from the final game.

Jungle Book: Louie’s Ruins Court

JB01.pmp shows Louie's throne. This room is the most complete for this world.

Jungle Book: Eminence

JB09.pmp depicts a mountain with trees and a large river below.

Jungle Book: Jungle

JB10.pmp is a semi-large map where the player would jump on pink flower pads to progress. There is also a small diverging path containing a small red treasure chest, which is baked into the map and cannot be interacted with.

Jungle Book: Man-Village River

JB11.pmp features two long roads leading into a village. It's not clear if the village can be entered from this map or is a static background.

Jungle Book: BLANK

JB51.pmp contains a flat checkered map with text on it for testing purposes.

RESERVED#

JB02 to JB08.pmp, JB12.pmp, and SB13.pmp each contain a small grey room with two entrances. These may have been placeholder for rooms that weren't created yet. This map is used as a placeholder for cut maps from Enchanted Dominion, FOR EVENT ONLY, Louie's Ruins Path, Crossroad, UG Ruins Entrance, UG Ruins Passage 1, UG Ruins Passage 2, UG Courtyard, Jungle Near Ruins, and Bog, respectively.

Unused Keyblades#

Kingdom Key D#

Ventus holding Kingdom Key D	Kingdom Key D shown in the Equipment Menu

Ventus has an unused Keyblade known as Kingdom Key D (referred to as Light Seeker in-game), which is fully functional with its own unique stats. It is possible to use modded save data or cheats to restore this Keyblade, but only in the Japanese version.

XX#

Another unused Keyblade for Ventus, also only in the Japanese version. However, its stats are as follows: -87 strength and 57 magic. Nothing happens when attempting to equip it, and it has an unused icon of the yarn item from Castle of Dreams.

Unused Animations#

Pleakley#

N04LS00001E.pam	N04LS00002E.pam
Pleakley's idle animation.	Pleakley walking animation.

Pleakley has two unused animations (standing and walking) as an NPC.

PlayStation 2 Ventus#

H21EX10201A.pam	H21EX10202A.pam	H21EX10203A.pam	H21EX11110B.pam	H21EX11110E.pam
Ventus looking serious while holding his keyblade.	Ventus looking shocked after meeting Xehanort.	Ventus is hit by Vanitas.	Ventus lands on the ground.	Ventus is unable to get up.

Ventus' model from the planned PS2 version has some unused animations, some of which were used in the 2008 Jump Festa trailer.

Unused Music#

Kingdom Hearts Dearly Beloved#

113KH1TIT.ogg contains the version of Dearly Beloved from the first game, likely as a placeholder.

Development-Related Text#

CT00500.ctd#

DUMMY
DUMMY PRIZE

CT00500.ctd refers to dummy commands and obtainable prizes, none of which have any data whatsoever.

CT00000.ctd#

1 Alert window text sample
2 Help font
3 22 chars x 4 rows

CT00000.ctd has simple debugging text for the main menu.

Unseen Map Names#

Great Hall
Ventus's Room
Forecourt
Chamber of Waking
Castle Oblivion
Character Selection
Inside the Mirror
Entrance
Lanes Between
Realm of Darkness
FOR wm EVENT
Night Sky
Library
Racecourse A
Racecourse B
Racecourse C
Racecourse D
Ice Cream
Fruitball
Keyblade Graveyard
Will's Cage
Ventus's Mind
Sora's Mind
Terra-Xehanort's Mind
RESERVED
Winnie the Pooh BG
Louie's Ruins
Court
Path Crossroad
UG Ruins
Entrance
UG Ruins Passage 1
UG Ruins Passage 2
UG Courtyard
Jungle
Near Ruins
Eminence
Jungle
Man-Village River
Bog
BLANK
Realm of Darkness
The Hundred-Acre Wood
Jump Festa (sw10)
Jump Festa (cd07)
Jump Festa (cd09)
Jump Festa (sb10)
The Town
Poly. Partition Test
Battle Dice Test 1 Battle
Dice Test 2
Battle Dice Test 3
Battle Dice Test 4
Operations Test
Camera Collision Test
Planner Test
Grid
Swimming Test
Effect Test
Placement Test 1
Placement Test 2

CT00000.ctd also contains names for the maps that are only seen during boss fights or cutscenes. Curiously, some of these refer to Jump Festa and there are also some that are for testing.

CTCD600.ctd#

String test:
S string: %s
D string: %d
F string: %f

CTCD600.ctd has text strings for Castle of Dreams for testing dialogue boxes.

CTZZ400.ctd#

CTZZ400.ctd refers to a small debug menu for developers to quickly change locations.

CTZZ500.ctd#

CTZZ500.ctd refers to a program called "Exisa" used to test various things.

Regional Differences#

• Critical Mode has been added as a new difficulty.
• A new D-Link was added for Pete, unlocked through the Command Board.
• The Land of Departure remains on the world map and can be accessed following its destruction in the three main episodes, allowing access to chests that otherwise became miss-able. Only the Forecourt map with a moogle shop becomes inaccessible.
• A new boss, Unknown, can be fought at the Land of Departure after defeating Vanitas Remnant. He drops the new Keychain, "No Name".
• Crown Stickers were added as a new collectible, and their section in the Report was added.
• A new Command Board, "Skull Board", was added and is unlocked after completing Neverland.
• The Castle Circuit track has been added to Rumble Racing.
• Unison Rush and Voltage Stack commands were added.
• More Ice Cream Beat songs were added.
• Certain scenes had their character models' facial textures replaced with fully rendered faces.
• The design for Braig's first person targeting was changed to look more futuristic, mirroring a similar change for Kingdom Hearts II.

Japan	International

• A cutscene in Dwarf Woodlands in Terra's story was changed. Rather than influence the Spirit of the Magic Mirror with a red aura, the Evil Queen now throws a potion.

• After Terra is possessed by Xehanort, the music now fades out slightly earlier just before it cuts to the armor falling on the ground, as opposed to when the camera slowly pans up to Ends of the Earth also falling.
• A scene in Ventus' story was extended; at the start after he first meets Vanitas, a flashback montage of him and Terra plays with the track "Tears of the Light".

References#