Rayman 2: The Great Escape

Rayman makes the (somewhat) glorious jump into 3D with Rayman 2: The Great Escape. It is the second and probably the most popular installment in the Rayman saga.

Development Info Prototype Info Prerelease Info

Unused Audio#

To do: Upload the rest of the closing pieces.

Closing Music Pieces#

The music in this game is made of short fragments that are looped, in addition to a single short fragment to close each track. There are 63 of these closing pieces, but most of them are never used.

Here are some examples:

Sanctuary Slide:

Barrel Flight:

The Sanctuary of Stone and Fire:

The Walk of Life:

The Woods of Light:

The Canopy:

The Fairy Glade:

The Sanctuary of Rock and Lava:

Beneath the Sanctuary of Rock and Lava:

Unused Prologue Audio Variants#

In the Windows version, the prologue audio is made of two files: JailMus.apm for the background music and Jail20 bruitages.apm for the effects (Volume for each audio depends from the settings).
There are three unused versions of the prologue audio where both audios are fused. These are Jail20.apm, Jail20al.apm and Jail20 alternate.apm.

Unused Areas#

"The Top of the World" level is split in two parts. In the first, you get into the moving chair, and you don't get out until the beginning of the second part. However, the room where you get out of the chair is also present in the first part of the level, with some collision and texture differences from the final room, with the most notable difference being the room's height. This room can be accessed through cheats.

Menu Stuff#

Collision#

There exist collision data for the Main Menu level, and the Hall of Doors level. This data is mostly unnecessary, especially for the Main Menu.

Hall of Doors#

• There's an unused path between the Echoing Caves and the Fairy Glade.

In the Echoing Caves level, there's a teleport to the Fairy Glade, that might explain the initial purpose of this unused path.

• There's an unused door to a level with the filename ASTRO_20 before the Woods of Light that doesn't exist in the final game. Its name is only present in the French language:

SURPRISE!
LE MONDE DES PIRATES

The name of the portal is however YAM_PASTILLE_WIPE10.
WIPE_10 seems to be a removed level which has references in the PC demo version, and the iOS version of the game.
Watch on YouTube

Main Menu#

At the right part of the main menu model, there's a cave that wasn't shown until the Dreamcast version (when selecting the audio options).

Unused Objects#

An unused switchable door was meant to be used in The Top of the World.

A red variation of the Caterpillar enemy with different eyes.

A third sphere and base (coloured red) were implemented, but never used.

A lightswitch from The Sanctuary of Rock and Lava with two different states on and off.

Unused Animations#

A Henchman 800 riding or driving something.

A Spyglass pirate throwing helicopter bombs.

A Spyglass pirate being burnt like in one of the pre-release concept arts.

Unused Graphics#

To do: There are probably more unused graphics, but it's a bit difficult to know unerringly.

There are lots of unused graphics from the Windows version.

Unused Loading Screens#

The following screens are included in vignette.cnt in the PC version, where the loading screens are normally stored. All images are stored in the 640x480 resolution. The last one is used in the PS1 version before the intro cutscene.
240px 240px 240px 240px 240px 240px

HUD Graphics#

The following sprites correspond to an early HUD:
Energy meter
Air Meter
Life meter
Fist meter
A timer?
???
A lock

There is also an unused meter:

A vertical meter for... Something.

An icon intended for rotating or changing the camera.

Baby Globox icon. (Normal Globox icon is used in the final release)

An icon for Axel. This is later used in Rayman Revolution, but for Grolem 13.

Sanctuary of Water and Ice textures#

A fish-shaped switch.

A base for a triangular switch.

A blue version of a fire-shooting statue and wall base from The Sanctuary of Stone and Fire.

A triangular piece with a wave design.

Sanctuary of Stone and Fire textures#

A wall carving later used for the Playstation version.

A torch that would eventually be used in Rayman Revolution.

Sanctuary of Rock and Lava textures#

A switch with a plant design. The final game uses an orange switch with a fire design.

Keyboard-Related Graphics#

Two graphics of a keyboard with unknown purpose. The second graphic was later used in the PC version of Donald Duck: Goin' Quackers.

Early Ssssam Textures#

Ssssam the water-snake from the The Marshes of Awakening was once meant to be metallic, and there are leftover textures from his model:

Debugging Graphics#

These unused graphics seems to have been intended for developing/debugging purposes:

Electoon Leftovers#

Textures of the Electoon's hands and feet before they're replaced by the Lums.

Miscellaneous Textures#

There are also a number of miscellaneous unused textures, which don't seem to have any clear purpose:
Glasses, presumably correlating to the fairy seen in Bonus Levels.

• A seemingly modified version of this texture ended up being used for a missile shot by the end boss of the PS1 port.

A butterfly with a rather goofy smile. While this is not used in most ports, this is used in the Dreamcast version.

Level Select#

In the Windows version, you can access any level of the game from the pause menu by typing the cheat code

GOTHERE

If you still don't have enough lums to access the selected level, they will be automatically gained.

Miscellaneous#

Grappling Power Flag#

There's a flag in the game's data telling if the grappling power (for purple lums) has been unlocked.
Since you see the first purple lum after Ly gives you the grappling power, you'll never shoot a purple lum with this flag disabled (except for in the Dreamcast port, in which a purple lum appears in the first level, the Woods of Light).
If you manually disable this flag by cheating, Rayman won't grab the purple lums when shooting them. There's also a useless cheat that can be typed from the pause menu

HANGON

That enables the grappling power flag.

Debug Features#

Windows#

Watch on YouTubeThe Windows version of the game has a Rayman animation debugging functionality that can be enabled by setting the byte at 0x500370 to a non-zero value. Doing this, will freeze the current Rayman animation (Not affecting the environment), and force the camera to move behind Rayman. Pressing the '0' key hides the Rayman model. Rayman doesn't take damage or drown until this functionality is disabled.
This functionality can be disabled at any moment by setting the 0x500370 bit again to zero.

PlayStation#

The PlayStation version has some debugging options which can be enabled with GameShark codes:

Camera Related Debug Mode
300A480E 0001
No Clip Debug Mode
300AAAB0 0001
Disable Animations Debug Mode
300AAAB4 0001
Disable Walking
300AAA67 0001
Activate Debug Menu (Stage Select)
300AAAF8 0001
Debug Menu Selection
300AAB24 0021

To do: Document this. Some screenshots or videos would be useful.

Throughout the game, the tty debug console displays a lot of debug messages. This is not visible to the user.

...
...
...    
KERNEL SETUP!
Configuration : EvCB=16h TCB=04h
boot file     : cdrom:\SLUS_012.35;1
EXEC:PC0(801E99A0h) T_ADDR(801E4000h) T_SIZE(00011000h)
boot address  : 801E99A0h 801F8600h
Execute !

                S_ADDR(801F8600h) S_SIZE(00000000h)
ResetGraph:jtb=801f0f34,env=801f1044

Start loading...
CD_init:addr=801f48ec
Clear screen...
Exec level 56...
CD_init:addr=80085400
ResetGraph:jtb=8007d360,env=8007d470
*** Simulated known Patch: missing_cop0r13 (6-opcode variant)
*** Simulated known Patch: early_card_irq_wait_irq_release (totally inefficient variant)
*** Simulated known Patch: extra_card_delay (copy variant)
Initial stream ID: 0
Now playing part 0
Now playing Theme 0
Leave Water
*** Simulated known Patch: patch_uninstall_early_card_irq_handler_inefficient
ResetGraph:jtb=8007d360,env=8007d470
ResetGraph:jtb=801f0668,env=801f0778

Start loading...
CD_init:addr=801f3c08
Clear screen...
Exec level 0...
CD_init:addr=80093d04
ResetGraph:jtb=80092a08,env=80092b18
*** Simulated known Patch: missing_cop0r13 (6-opcode variant)
*** Simulated known Patch: early_card_irq_wait_irq_release (totally inefficient variant)
*** Simulated known Patch: extra_card_delay (copy variant)
Initial stream ID: -1
Found cinema data file !        
rate = 30   sr = 0
rate = 12   sr = 0
rate = 15   sr = 0
rate = 15   sr = 0
rate = 15   sr = 0
rate = 15   sr = 0
rate = 15   sr = 0
rate = 15   sr = 0
rate = 15   sr = 0
rate = 15   sr = 0
rate = 15   sr = 0
rate = 27   sr = 0
rate = 26   sr = 0
rate = 27   sr = 0
rate = 27   sr = 0
rate = 27   sr = 0
rate = 26   sr = 0
rate = 24   sr = 0
rate = 25   sr = 0
rate = 21   sr = 107
rate = 18   sr = 0
rate = 16   sr = 267
rate = 15   sr = 0
rate = 16   sr = 314
rate = 15   sr = 0
rate = 14   sr = 0
rate = 14   sr = 0
rate = 14   sr = 0
rate = 14   sr = 0
rate = 14   sr = 0
rate = 14   sr = 0
rate = 15   sr = 458
rate = 14   sr = 0
rate = 14   sr = 0
rate = 14   sr = 0
rate = 14   sr = 0
rate = 14   sr = 0
rate = 14   sr = 0
rate = 14   sr = 0
rate = 16   sr = 140
rate = 16   sr = 0
rate = 16   sr = 211
rate = 15   sr = 0
rate = 16   sr = 215
rate = 15   sr = 0
rate = 15   sr = 0
rate = 16   sr = 338
rate = 15   sr = 0
rate = 15   sr = 0
rate = 15   sr = 0
rate = 15   sr = 0
rate = 17   sr = 0
rate = 20   sr = 0
rate = 27   sr = 0
rate = 29   sr = 0
rate = 26   sr = 0
rate = 26   sr = 0
rate = 29   sr = 0
rate = 30   sr = 0
rate = 30   sr = 0
rate = 30   sr = 0
rate = 30   sr = 0
rate = 30   sr = 0
rate = 30   sr = 0
rate = 30   sr = 0
rate = 30   sr = 0
rate = 30   sr = 0
rate = 30   sr = 0
rate = 30   sr = 0
rate = 30   sr = 0
rate = 30   sr = 0
rate = 30   sr = 0
rate = 30   sr = 0
rate = 30   sr = 0
rate = 30   sr = 0
rate = 30   sr = 0
rate = 30   sr = 0
rate = 30   sr = 0
rate = 30   sr = 0
rate = 30   sr = 0
rate = 30   sr = 0
rate = 30   sr = 0
rate = 30   sr = 0
rate = 30   sr = 0
rate = 30   sr = 0
rate = 30   sr = 0
rate = 30   sr = 0
rate = 30   sr = 0
rate = 30   sr = 0
rate = 30   sr = 0
rate = 30   sr = 0
rate = 30   sr = 0
Leave Water
*** Simulated known Patch: patch_uninstall_early_card_irq_handler_inefficient
ResetGraph:jtb=80092a08,env=80092b18
ResetGraph:jtb=801f0668,env=801f0778

Start loading...
CD_init:addr=801f3c08
Clear screen...
Exec level 1...
CD_init:addr=800949d8
ResetGraph:jtb=800936dc,env=800937ec
*** Simulated known Patch: missing_cop0r13 (6-opcode variant)
*** Simulated known Patch: early_card_irq_wait_irq_release (totally inefficient variant)
*** Simulated known Patch: extra_card_delay (copy variant)
Initial stream ID: -1
Found cinema data file !        
rate = 30   sr = 0
rate = 23   sr = 0
rate = 30   sr = 0
rate = 30   sr = 0
rate = 30   sr = 0
rate = 30   sr = 0
rate = 26   sr = 0
rate = 26   sr = 0
rate = 26   sr = 0
rate = 24   sr = 0
rate = 24   sr = 0
rate = 25   sr = 0
rate = 26   sr = 0
rate = 16   sr = 158
rate = 15   sr = 0
rate = 16   sr = 157
rate = 15   sr = 0
rate = 17   sr = 202
Now playing part 0
Now playing Theme 0
Found cinema data file !        
frame = 12331 
rate = 30   sr = 11805
rate = 26   sr = 0
rate = 29   sr = 0
rate = 29   sr = 0
rate = 29   sr = 0
rate = 28   sr = 0
rate = 29   sr = 0
rate = 24   sr = 0
rate = 27   sr = 0
rate = 30   sr = 0
rate = 29   sr = 0
rate = 30   sr = 0
rate = 30   sr = 0
rate = 30   sr = 0
rate = 28   sr = 0
rate = 30   sr = 0
rate = 30   sr = 0
rate = 30   sr = 0
Leave Water
Now playing part -1
*** Simulated known Patch: patch_uninstall_early_card_irq_handler_inefficient
ResetGraph:jtb=800936dc,env=800937ec
ResetGraph:jtb=801f0668,env=801f0778

Start loading...
CD_init:addr=801f3c08
Clear screen...
Exec level 2...
CD_init:addr=8009f0a4
ResetGraph:jtb=8009dda8,env=8009deb8
*** Simulated known Patch: missing_cop0r13 (6-opcode variant)
*** Simulated known Patch: early_card_irq_wait_irq_release (totally inefficient variant)
*** Simulated known Patch: extra_card_delay (copy variant)
Initial stream ID: 0
Found cinema data file !        
rate = 30   sr = 0
rate = 23   sr = 0
rate = 30   sr = 0
rate = 30   sr = 0
rate = 30   sr = 0
rate = 30   sr = 0
rate = 30   sr = 0
rate = 30   sr = 0
rate = 30   sr = 0
rate = 30   sr = 0
Now playing part 0
Now playing Theme 0
Now playing part 1
Now playing part 2
Now playing part 3
Now playing part 0
Now playing part 1
Now playing part 2
Now playing part 3
Now playing part 0
Now playing part 1
Now playing part 2
Now playing part 3
Now playing part 0
Now playing part 1
Now playing part 2
Now playing part 3
...
...
...

Unused Text#

To do: Check if all of them are, de facto, unused.

There's some dialog text that is never used:

THE DREAM TEAM

don't listen to him!
he's nothing but
a dirty liar!!

win, and i'll melt my gold
to make a statue of you.

you are the greatest hero
i have ever known!

we'll be dancing to
bring you luck!

go ahead and relax!
you're about to die!

look how easily we tame
these savage beasts!

ha! globox was a
better fighter than you!

did you remember to
say goodbye to ly?

piranha farm

Property of admiral
razorbeard!

public notice!

witch Ly, presently
languishing in the
stronghold, will be made
to walk the plank at
dusk.
reservations are advised.

Anti-Piracy Measures#

Please elaborate. Having more detail is always a good thing. Specifically: Be more detailed. For now, transfer information from the video to this article.

Watch on YouTubeIf the game detects that it was played on an illegitimate copy, at certain points in the game, a huge pirate head would be rendered on the screen along with the text "CD missing! Insert the CD and restart the game" below it making the game nearly unplayable. This is a common problem known to prevent original PC copies of the game from being played on later operating systems, with original and exclusive PC copies only working up to Windows Vista.
Some digital re-releases can bring up this measure due to a bug even when playing on a legitimate copy. Shortly after its release, Ubisoft released a patch for the game preventing any measures appearing. The Rayman Collection and other re-releases such as on GOG have already fixed this bug, alongside fixing issues for post-Vista operating systems.
Aside from the pirate head appearing, the game will render some cages, exits, mushrooms, keg dispensers, portals, etc. unusable, rendering the game impossible to complete.

Revisional Differences#

To do: Should individual ports of the game not receive their own pages? Also, Japanese Dreamcast version differences.

Nintendo 64#

The Nintendo 64 release features a rearranged MIDI-based soundtrack which changes dynamically according to the player's actions. Most tracks sound similar to their original CD-quality counterparts, but some are completely different (e.g. Prologue and Tomb of the Ancients). Distinctive feature is that the soundtrack features pronounced reverb, which is special for the Nintendo 64.

It also has a slightly different HUD, lower-resolution textures, lower draw distance with increased fog, and fewer polygons for certain objects including Rayman's model.

The N64 version was ported to the DS under the title Rayman DS. This version has no texture filtering, no reverberation effect for the music, and suffers from unique glitches, including falling from Umber during his cutscene.

PC#

The PC version of the game is largely identical to the N64 version but features the original CD-quality soundtrack. In addition, it features higher quality textures, increases the polygon counts of certain models, and supports higher resolutions.

Dreamcast#

The Dreamcast version of the game is based on the PC release, but received some minor graphical enhancements, some additional enemies, and a redesigned hub level that visually resembles an island called the Isle of Doors, rather than the surreal void used in other versions. This version was the only console release to include native widescreen support. It also included additional multiplayer minigames located in a new area called Globox Village, with new collectible items within levels called Glob Stones used to unlock them.

The Dreamcast version was ported to iOS devices without the end-of-level or Dreamcast-exclusive minigames. The iOS port features touch-based controls and allows the player to control Rayman using the device's accelerometer during his initial escape from the Prison Ship.

This version was also ported to the Nintendo 3DS under the title Rayman 3D. This version also omits the Dreamcast-exclusive minigames and, like the DS port, suffers from unique glitches, including one in which a spiderweb fails to act as a trampoline, preventing the player from collecting the 1000th Yellow Lum without exploiting other glitches. It also modifies the lighting to be brighter, eliminates all damage previously dealt by falling or dying, changes certain level elements slightly to reduce difficulty, includes a higher-polygon model for the exploding kegs, and replaces the 2D plum sprite with a 3D model. The ability to stabilize the flying shell was removed.

PlayStation#

The PlayStation version of Rayman 2 features significant differences from other ports of the game:

• Most levels are truncated or heavily altered, sometimes eliminating entire sections from the original versions or replacing them with new areas. "The Top of the World" level has been removed.
• The game features a redesigned version of the hub world that incorporates the giant Lum Gates preceding boss levels.
• Certain levels have been renamed: "The Woods of Light" became "The Clearing", and "The Iron Mountains" became "The Gloomy Island".
• Graphics are downgraded compared to other versions, with opaque water effects and lower-polygon models. The PS1 version's water texture can be spotted in an early pre-release screenshot of the original game.
• The game features full voice acting unlike the gibberish "Raymanese" in other versions.
• The music in the game is in 44kHz compared to other versions.
• Certain story elements are fleshed out, including new cutscenes added before Rayman confronts each of the 3 Guardians. They reveal that Axel and Foutch have gone insane, explaining their belligerence towards Rayman, while Umber considers it "an honor to serve a hero such as yourself."
• A new enemy, the Ninja Pirate, is introduced in this version. It is first fought as a boss at the end of the Sanctuary of Stone and Fire, and then recurs as a regular enemy in several later stages.
• All Lums in the game are smaller and have beady black eyes, consistent with pre-release screenshots of the original game. They all make the same sound upon being collected: the "dizzy" sound effect that only plays in other versions when Rayman first lands in the Woods of Light, or is attacked by an enemy.
• Rayman can no longer scale walls by stretching his hands and feet between them. Sections where this ability was used have had ladders added or their geometry altered to allow Rayman to climb up without it.
• Only 800 Lums are present, compared to 1,000 in other versions.
• Cages work differently; instead of releasing Lums, they release various creatures that refill Rayman's health and extend his health bar slightly. As a result, more cages are present in each level.
• Murphy is not present; instead, generic members of his species are rescued from cages. Ly gives Rayman advice in his stead, and she appears on all Stones of Thought in Murphy's place.
• The 2nd phase of the final boss battle is completely different: instead of Rayman piloting a flying shell around a large enclosure to knock the Grolgoth into the lava, he chases the Grolgoth down a long corridor, dodging attacks and shooting at him.
• After collecting 90% of the Yellow Lums in this version, the player can access two levels from an early 2D prototype build of Rayman 2. In other versions, this 2D prototype was replaced with a text minigame.