Sonic's Schoolhouse

Prototype Info

Unused Maps#

Found in the MAP folder is five unused maps for the ring collecting minigame, all dated December 5, 1995. These are left over from the prototype.

Unused Videos#

HOMEWORK.avi

Unknown purpose, likely used on the main dialog. Also unused in the prototype.

LOW.avi

This is used in the prototype for when the detail is set from medium to low. Leftover in the final due to the low detail setting being removed and the detail setting having its appearance changed.

Click Clock#

Present in four of the AVI files is an earlier design for the character, named "Click Clock" according to leftover release notes in the prototype. According to writer and designer Britton Jackson, the game started as an original IP but was changed to a Sonic game last-minute at the request of Sega and Orion Interactive,² so this character may likely be a leftover from that early stage. The voice actor is Keith MacKechnie who uses the same inflection for the hippopotamus in the Bus FMVs.

CC_HELP2.avi, CC_HELP3.avi, and CC_HELP4.avi

These three files, created on January 8, 1996, are all identical in content: an animation of a clock jumping up and rotating in midair while saying "Click on me for help!"

CC_HELP3 has noticeably blockier video quality than the other two, possibly as a test for video compression.

GUMC_.avi

Created on October 2, 1995, predating the aforementioned files. It contains the animation of the above files, played forward then in reverse until stopping on a still frame of the clock.

Unused Graphics#

FT_BAP.PCX

The BAP Interactive logo on the bus screen, a leftover from the E3 prototype.

AH0202.PCX

A cyan rectangle, possibly used for a sky.

AH0780.PCX, AH0781.PCX, AH0782.PCX, AH0783.PCX

Four images of a goldfish jumping. These are left over from the prototype.

Unused Audio#

The voice clips used in-game are dated no earlier than May 6, 1996, suggesting that these two were placeholders from before the Sonic license was acquired.

Debug Menu#

Present in the game's resources is a menu called "AHMENU". It is impossible to access by normal means.

AHMENU MENU
LANGUAGE LANG_ENGLISH, SUBLANG_ENGLISH_US
{
  POPUP "&Game"
  {
    MENUITEM "&Begin Game",  100
    MENUITEM "&Stop Game",  101
    MENUITEM "&Report Card...",  102
    MENUITEM SEPARATOR
    POPUP "&Players"
    {
      MENUITEM "&One Player",  120,  CHECKED
      MENUITEM "&Two Players",  121
    }
    POPUP "&Controls"
    {
      POPUP "Player &One"
      {
        MENUITEM "&Keyboard - Right Side",  131,  CHECKED
        MENUITEM "&Keyboard - Left Side",  132
        MENUITEM "&Mouse",  133,  CHECKED
        MENUITEM "&Joystick A",  134
        MENUITEM "&Joystick B",  135
      }
      POPUP "Player &Two"
      {
        MENUITEM "&Keyboard - Right Side",  136
        MENUITEM "&Keyboard - Left Side",  137,  CHECKED
        MENUITEM "&Mouse",  138
        MENUITEM "&Joystick A",  139
        MENUITEM "&Joystick B",  140
      }
    }
    MENUITEM SEPARATOR
    MENUITEM "E&xit",  105
  }
  POPUP "&Configure"
  {
    POPUP "&Difficulty"
    {
      MENUITEM "&Easy",  201
      MENUITEM "&Normal",  202,  CHECKED
      MENUITEM "&Hard",  203
    }
    POPUP "&Graphics Quality"
    {
      MENUITEM "&Floors and Ceilings",  210,  CHECKED
      MENUITEM "&Lighting",  211
      MENUITEM "Low &Resolution",  212
      MENUITEM SEPARATOR
      MENUITEM "&Test Frame Rate",  213
    }
    POPUP "&Sound"
    {
      MENUITEM "&Sound Effects",  220,  CHECKED
      MENUITEM "&MIDI Music",  221,  CHECKED
    }
    MENUITEM "Hold Mouse Down to Move",  230
  }
  POPUP "&Help"
  {
    MENUITEM "&Help...",  300
    MENUITEM "&About...",  301
    MENUITEM "&Credits...",  302
  }
}

Hidden Command Line Parameters#

Watch on YouTube

If you run the game from the command line, you can set the following parameters:

• CHEAT - Enables you to load any of the maps from a dialog box, add/remove PCX files from data files, record and play demos, and get all items (bus passes, minigame passes, etc.). Adding/removing PCX files and recording demos requires "BUILD" mode to be enabled as well.
• BUILD - This allows you to "build" the data used by the game, as seen in the "CHEAT" features.
• NODAT - Makes the game not load SONIC.DAT, and thus not load certain files, which can cause the game to crash.
• NOSOUND - Disables loading the sound subsystem.
• MSG - Takes a number from 40-200 and sets that as the controller poll frequency (not shown in the video).
• JOY - This one's functionality is strange. It takes a number from 0-100 (any other numbers will just cap it within that range), and if it's nonzero, what happens is that after the first time you press the "GO" stoplight button, it takes the number you put in and decrements it until it reaches 0. When it does, it plays the animation that plays when you press the "GO" stoplight button again. After that, the timer is never reset. This is the only time that happens. By default, this value is 0, so it never happens in-game normally anyways. This parameter has no other functionality.

Unused Text#

Old Game Title#

Present in various places in the executable are strings referring to the game as "Answer Hunt". This was the game's original name prior to acquiring the Sonic license.

An error message is at 0x2FD74, meant for video playback-related errors:

AnswerHunt - MCI Error

And at seven different places (0x351E2, 0x3561A, 0x35842, 0x3594E, 0x359D6, 0x35DE2, and 0x35E12) is this:

A.n.s.w.e.r. .H.u.n.t.

Additionally, in the first line of all of the .BLK files is this:

Answer Hunt block database file version: 1.0

Internal Recess Minigame Names#

At 0x2E440 are the internal names of the Recess minigames, as well as a third minigame that is not accessible.

TREASUREHUNT....MEMORYMATCH.SHAPEPUSH

The ring collecting minigame is also referred to here as "TREASUREHUNT", which is likely its original name from the "Answer Hunt" period of development. A treasure chest graphic is also left over in the prototype near the ring graphics.

Unused Grade#

At 0x2CE38 is the names of all of the grades, as well as a fifth grade that is not accessible.

Kindergarten........
1st Grade...........
2nd Grade...........
3rd Grade...........
4th Grade...........
5th Grade

Function Names#

Various error messages for handling of .DAT files (called datafiles internally), beginning at 0x2AB54 in the main executable.

DatafileOpen: unable to open file %s in mode %s
DatafileOpen: Bad read reading ID
DatafileOpen: Bad ID
DatafileOpen: Bad read index position
DatafileOpen: Bad seek
DatafileOpen: Bad read index count
DatafileOpen: Out of memory allocing index.
DatafileOpen: Bad read index sort flag
DatafileOpen: Bad read index
DatafileClose: Datafile file not open
DatafileGetData: seek error.
DatafileGetData: comp none read error.
DatafileGetData: Out of memory alloc'ing temp.
DatafileGetData: COMPRESSED read error.
DatafileGetData: unknown compression type %d.
DatafileAddData: Datafile entry %s already exists.
DatafileAddData: Out of memory allocing index.
DatafileAddData: Out of memory on index resize.
DatafileAddData: seek failure
DatafileAddData: comp none write failure
DatafileAddData: out of memory on temp alloc.
DatafileAddData: FAST COMPRESSED write failure
DatafileAddData: write failure
DatafileAddData: unknown compression type %d.
DatafileAddFile: out of memory on temp alloc
DatafileAddFile: read error.
DatafileExtractFile: file name not in index
DatafileExtractFile: out of memory on temp alloc
DatafileExtractFile: write file failed.
DatafileRemoveData: couldn't open temp file.%s
DatafileRemoveData: seek error.
DatafileRemoveData: couldn't remove old Datafile.
DatafileRemoveData: couldn't rename tempfile. %s
DatafileRemoveData: couldn't reopen Datafile. %s
DatafileRemoveByName: name not in index

Hidden Credits#

Present at 0x2C080 in the main executable is a credit for the "I3D Tool Kit". I3D was a toolkit used to create 3D applications in MS-DOS and Windows, created by the game's lead programmer, Jim O'Keane, and used one year earlier in another game developed by BAP Interactive, "Bloodwings: Pumpkinhead's Revenge" (see here for more).

I3D Tool Kit 2.1 (c)1993-94 Jim O'Keane

Oddities#

• The animation for when all 10 questions are completed correctly is duplicated four times, as STAGE1.AVI, STAGE2.AVI, STAGE3.AVI, and STAGE4.AVI.

• Besides MAIN, all of the game's map files have prefixes with a letter and an underscore to denote which subject they belong to. However, E and F are skipped over, having no maps associated with them.
  • A: Math 1
  • B: Spelling
  • C: Math 2
  • D: Reading
  • G: "TREASUREHUNT" (Ring collecting)
  • H: "MEMORYMATCH" (Memory Match)

Revisional Differences#

The 1.1 release of the game is mostly just a repackage by Expert Software, with very minor changes to the game itself.

• The name of the configuration file used for storing asset paths and player info is changed from SONIC.INI in 1.0 to SONICSH.INI in 1.1.

• In 1.1, SETUP.INS and SETUP.PKG in /INSTAL95 have their dates changed. In v1.0, SETUP.INS and SETUP.PKG have are dated October 1st, 1996, while in 1.1, they are dated November 6th, 1996.

• 1.1 adds a directory to the root of the disc called EXPERT.

• The main game executable has its date changed from October 14, 1996 to November 6, 1996 in the 1.1 version.

• 1.1 contains a text file on the root of the disc named 6806.TXT, dated October 22, 1997, containing the text '"Version: 0680602 Version Number:1.1"'.

• 1.1 moves the installation notes for the game to a file called README.TXT.

References#