Sonic Adventure/Beta elements

This article pertains to the beta elements from Sonic Adventure.

Title
Sonic Adventure was originally titled Sonic RPG, to be released on the Sega Saturn. However, by the time the Dreamcast came out, the developers realized they would need a better system that could handle the creature Chaos.

Classic characters
Sega originally wanted the Classic forms of the characters in the game, but decided to fully use the Dreamcast's capabilities, and ultimately re-designed Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Amy and Eggman. Models would be the same as Sonic R.

E-Series
E-103 Delta, E-104 Epsilon, E-105 Zeta originally had the same color as E-102 Gamma (except their laser-cannons that are different). This can confirm in the E-102 Gamma tutorial.

Super Sonic
Like in previous games, Super Sonic was originally going to be playable in regular stages.

It is possible this was removed for more bug fixes. There is an unused audio file within the game's data in which Tikal explains how to transform into Super Sonic.

Emerald Coast

 * In Sonic the Hedgehog's gameplay, when he is chased by an orca, there are no Dash Panels on the docks.
 * In a shot, Sonic is sitting on a small sand island across from the beginning of his Action Stage. Unlike the final version though, but the beach is empty and Sonic does not strike his finishing pose for clearing said Action Stage. There is also another image showing Sonic doing his pose in a place different from the Goal in the final version.
 * The beach in Sonic's version is not filled with any Badniks.
 * In Big's gameplay, Froggy was originally in a secret passage, and Big had to catch him there instead of near the lighthouse.

Windy Valley
Windy Valley was a completely different stage in early development. There are a few screenshots showing Tails flying around in an unknown location and also some gameplay footage showing Sonic and the rest of the cast walking around in this unfamiliar environment. Even the final release's intro video and Amy's very first cutscenes show pictures of this place which was later proven to be a beta version of Windy Valley. Remnants of the stage were found within the files of the Sonic Adventure Auto-demo. Attempts to launch the level within the game itself weren't successful yet because of missing files which cause the game to crash when trying to do so. This geometry seems to be the beta version of the third section of Windy Valley which was partially used as a beta Chao Garden as well. Pre-release footage also shows that the first section had its own beta version as well and was partially recycled for the final design. Amy and Big were originally playable in this stage and there were several blue springs encased in a platform that were deleted from the final version.



Sky Chase Act 2
Originally, Sonic and Tails have their classic designs from Sonic R like Sky Chase Act 1, and they were supposed to use the Tornado instead of the Tornado 2, so that means that the Tornado 2 doesn't exist in the early version of the game. The Tornado 2 originally didn't transform.

Little purple enemies
Those little purple enemies of Final Egg were originally purple and yellow.

Unused Duck enemy
In the Sonic Adventure Auto-demo, an unused duck enemy was found in Final Egg.

Uppercut
Knuckles was going to use the uppercut but was then scrapped for unknown reasons. The Uppercut is used in the autodemo version of the game, and like the Punch Attack, it consists of three steps which end with a fully charged, upward punch.

Sky Chase Dragon
There was an unused mechanical twin-headed dragon that was going to be a mini-boss in both acts of Sky Chase. It is invincible, but it follows the Tornado in flight without damaging it. In a prototype image, the Dragon could breath fire. The battle against the monster was called "Sky Attack" in earlier screenshots.

Loading screen
The loading screen was originally in the middle of the screen and had the title of the game in black and white.

Chaos Emeralds
The Chaos Emeralds originally had their design from previous games.

Station Square
Originally, each area of Station Square was going to be completely connected. Some leftovers of this attempt can still be found within the final release if the player meets certain conditions and activates debug mode: an untextured floorless version of the Casino Area can be accessed from Station Square's coastal area which loads itself as a part of it, suggesting that at some point in development the Station Square hub area was supposed to be loaded in its entirety. Also, more pedestrians were originally planned to roam around the city as evidenced in some screenshots. It is also possible to see the Casino Area by loading it up, leaving it and glitching out of the map.

Timed Train
The train was possibly going to leave and arrive without the player's boarding, but this was possibly removed because the areas would overlap.

Chao lobby (used in SA2)
This video is about SADX Prototypes. Seven minutes and twenty seconds into it you can see Omochao and the beta version of the Chao lobby.

Character select
In early character select, the game urges the player to "Choose a Buddy!". The player has to select a character by highlighting their image and pressing the A button.

Loading screen and Chao emotes
A leftover loading screen from the AutoDemo version is still exist in the game files which displays various Chao emotion icons.

Unused item bonus
A stopwatch that would have likely frozen the timer and/or enemies appear in the game files.

Tornado Health Bar
The red "Tornado" life gauge is used in both acts of Sky Chase, despite the fact that Act 2 uses the Tornado 2. As such, the blue "Tornado2" life gauge is never used.

Characters
There are unused characters seen in the game files that look like the Ranks. However, their purpose is unknown.

Unused Spring Model
A spring model which resembles the spring from Sonic Jam is seen in the game files.

How to play
How to Play pictures from the Tokyo Games Show demo version of the game can be found in the game files:

Tikal unused lines
There are variety of unused lines in the "Super Sonic" storyline said by Tikal though it is still in game disc, such as:
 * A warning about the Leon Badnik and Gohla.
 * There are a huge list of unused lines that was going to said by Tikal in the Chao Garden, but were excludes as Tikal did not appear in the Chao Garden in the final version of the game.

Unused Text
The line "Now, you can play with SONIC!" is seen in game files, but it is unused in the gameplay of the Dreamcast because Sonic is unlocked from the beginning. However, in some cases on the Gamecube and the old PC version, the line appears when completing others' storylines, if Sonic's story is unfinished.

Unused cutscene
An unused cutscene can be found for E-102 Gamma, which is implied to have been played after failing to complete Final Egg.

Eggman and Tikal
Dr. Eggman and Tikal objects used in the cutscenes are actually programmed the same way as the playable characters, and can be played via hacking, though they cannot be used completely.

Spring in Emerald Coast
Through certain glitches, other characters can access Sonic's segment of Emerald Coast. Completing the first part of the stage dumps the character into a void outside the playable level where a single Spring can be seen. This is actually the default starting point for characters other than Sonic, but the purpose of the Spring is unknown. With a well-timed Spin Dash, it is possible to jump so far that the Spring can be seen.

Blocked Passage in Casinopolis Sewers
Right at the start of the "Dilapidated Way" in Casinopolis, there is a passage up to the right. Although it is clearly visible, it is out of the way and cannot be accessed by Sonic or Tails,due to an invisible wall. It goes on for some time, twisting and turning, but abruptly hits a dead end. Its purpose is unknown though it resembles the other tunnels found in the same area.

Hidden Blocks in Mystic Ruins
Underneath the ground near the waterfall in Mystic Ruins, there is a row of fifteen blocks which are normally never seen.

Triangle
In the area where the player meets Tikal in the past, there is a triangle hidden inside the Shrine of Knuckles's race.

Unseen Ads
In the second section of Station Square, there are two ads which are positioned outside of the boundaries of the Adventure Field.

Sonic's pose
There is an unused pose that can make Sonic turn his head. On the character select, he will face his left, but during gameplay he will try to look towards the camera. This is cannot be done on the Dreamcast's controller since it does not have the required buttons to recover it. This is only possible with other types of Joysticks.

Perfect Chaos
There is unused attack used by Perfect Chaos in the game files where Perfect Chaos forms a small arm from the floods to attack Super Sonic with. However, the attack is not fully finished.

Autodemo
The AutoDemo is a build of Sonic Adventure designed to showcase the game through CPU-controlled demos in certain Action Stages in the game. With a burn date of October 16, 1998, this build predates the Japanese final release of the game by approximately two months.

Music
The are twenty-nine music tracks present in the game's build, some of which have noticeable differences from their final versions.

Knuckles
In Knuckles' version of Red Mountain, there are texture packs of ghosts. The game files also reveal that Knuckles was supposed to have tutorial textures.

Test levels
In the game files, there can be found three models of test levels for Sonic Adventure.

Station Square
By extracting the Station Square geometry, it is possible to see some differences relating to the field's earlier design:
 * The Twinkle Park entrance is completely different.
 * The hotel has a sign.
 * The dock which leads the player to the Egg Carrier does not exist. This may suggest that the player originally would not be able to go back to the Egg Carrier after completing the game.
 * In the Hotel area, the ladder shown in some of the prototype pictures still exists. The pool area also has different placements of the chairs and tables.

Windy Valley
The geometry and level design for the prototype version of Windy Valley seen at the game's official Japanese unveiling are partially intact. The proper textures are missing, however, and thus the model substitutes its textures for those of Red Mountain in the screenshots. All three parts have their original texture listings and start positions present in the game's coding, although the level file itself only contains Parts 1 and 3, skipping the tornado section. While the mesh for Part 2 does exist, it does not have the necessary entries in the level file itself.

Speed Highway

 * When Sonic hits the Spring taking him to the helicopter in Speed Highway, he is facing the camera (with his back to the helicopter) while in the air. In the final version, he is facing the helicopter, with his back to the camera.
 * When Sonic pushes on the barriers in Speed Highway, a sound effect is played that sounds like something scraping along the floor. This does not happen in the final version.
 * Sonic's version of this Action Stage contained an unspecified section.
 * The camera angle at the start of Speed Highway is quite different.
 * The textures are completely different and some are incorrectly mapped.
 * There are a lot more Jump Panels in this version than in the final version.
 * The Jump Panels are slightly different in design, some of them being similar to Target Switchs.
 * There are large buildings above the tunnels in the "At Down" section.
 * In the final game, all the areas are enclosed within buildings, but in the Autodemo, they are free from each other. Also, there is a blue van that was removed from the final game.
 * The fountain in the final section is seen in on a bridge above the section in the Autodemo. Said bridge is also deleted in the final version.
 * There is a big hole in Knuckles' gameplay which was removed from the final version of the game.
 * In Tails' first section of Speed Highway, the buildings are quite different and brighter that in the final game. There are also no Dash Rings in his version.
 * In the final game, the area with the first Rocket is vastly different from the Autodemo. Also, all enemies are all removed from the Autodemo.
 * Tails' Goal is located in a different place in this version of this Action Stage.
 * The Hanging Bell is silver, while it is golden in the final version.
 * Some of the tunnels are absent from the final version.
 * Cars are missing texture in the Autodemo version.
 * There are random Dash Panels not removed from the Autodemo version.
 * Some of the rooftops are different from the final version.

Ice Cap

 * At one point Sonic is strutting along the peculiar bridge which did not make it into the final version.
 * Some of Sonic's snowboarding tricks are deleted in the final version.
 * At different points, there are "Beta trees" and a trick ramp that is split in half with a score counter.
 * The camera angle when Tails escapes the avalanche is different from the final version.
 * Big's animation is seen from a different angle and the camera is further away from him.

Red Mountain

 * There is a couple of areas in E-102 Gamma's version of Red Mountain that do not look similar to the final version. The enemies' locations also greatly differs.
 * The background drastically differs from the final version. In the final version of the game, the horizon is obscured by rocky walls, but in the autodemo version, forests and distant mountains are visible in the background. The bridge in the Action Stage was also originally red.
 * In the autodemo of Sonic's version of the Action Stage, the elimination inside the Red Hot Skull section was a lot harsher, lava pools were present and the lightning made Sonic look pitch black.
 * In the final version, Red Hot Skull section has very different floor textures, almost light brown. In the autodemo version however, they are dark with black splotches.
 * The Bumper design of the Switch is green button in the Autodemo.
 * The launching platform of the rocket is very different in the autodemo, being a lot bigger than in the final version.
 * There are black areas under Red Mountain in the Autodemo. However, they are filled with clouds in the final version.
 * Sonic's Homing Attack is not working very well in the stage, as his movements are kind of circular due to bending downwards. In the final version of the game, Sonic dashes directly into enemies.
 * In E-102 Gamma's version of Red Mountain, Gamma can lock onto enemies, but no numbers are popping up next to them.
 * Some sections lack some enemies.
 * Sonic gives the camera a grim look with an animation not shown in the final game.
 * Some of Knuckles' sections are greatly modified, if not deleted.

Other differences

 * In the opening movie, Tails opens his mouth as he is flying away from the building. In the final he keeps his mouth closed.
 * There are extra Hint Orbs in Speed Highway than in the final version.
 * The cutscene with Tails outside Casinopolis is playing to another music track.
 * In the same cutscene, the textures for Tails' mouth, nose and eyes does not work properly. This also happens in the cutscene with Gamma and Sonic on the Egg Carrier.
 * In the cutscene with Amy and Gamma, there are Item Boxes inside one of the jail cells which are not there in the final version. Likewise, there would normally be a black Chao Egg inside one of the cells which is not there in this version.
 * Knuckles digs without the Shovel Claw.
 * In the cutscene with Amy and Sonic near Casinopolis, birdie has no wings.
 * In Final Egg, when Amy runs at top speed, her Piko Piko Hammer is not visible
 * The question mark and exclamation marks above ZERO's head look is different. Likewise, ZERO's target laser looks different and he has different sound effects.
 * In Final Egg, there is a 1up near the end of the demo that is not there in the final version.
 * In Gamma's cutscene with the other E-100 robots on the Egg Carrier, the purple robot looks like he has a white face rather than black.
 * In Big's cutscene, Froggy's model looks a bit odd. The colors also look quite dark.
 * When Big hooks Froggy, the "hit" music does not play.
 * Knuckles was going to have a complex list of combat-based moves in battle at some point, but they got scrapped.
 * In the game files on the Autodemo, there is a wallpaper showing Sonic with a Neutral Chao.
 * In the case of Amy's, her dress was going to reach her chest when she was falling.
 * In the autodemo, the Light Speed Attack and Light Speed Dash were mixed into one move and was executed differently. When using the attack, a blue orb appears and circles Sonic. Sonic can then home directly into a nearby enemy or along a trail of Rings. Also, the action button must be pressed each time the player wants to attack an enemy as opposed to the final where its targets all enemies at once.

E3 Prototype

 * All the characters have all their Level Up Items enabled.
 * When the players select a character, they go to a list of Action Stages, like trial mode in the final version of the. The players ds not get a list of all the Action Stages that were available in the final version. Also, the sub-Action Stages and regular Action Stages are in the same list, unlike the final game.
 * If the players do not move for a while (whether while playing or in a menu), they will return to the title screen.
 * A "Coming Soon" screen appears after playing an Action Stages.
 * Most of Knuckles' lines are different from the final version.

Gamecube preview
The GameCube preview is a direct port of the Dreamcast version of Sonic Adventure with debugging features enabled and a few changes added for the game's GameCube release. The date the disc image was created on was 2002/04/10.

Visual differences

 * The title screen uses a 2D artwork of Sonic over the final version's 3D artwork of Sonic.
 * The save icon is more simplistic in this version.
 * An Easy Menu, which is accessed by going to the Pause menu during gameplay and quitting.
 * PLAYER - Select the player character
 * STAGE - Change the Action Stage number by pressing left or Right and L or R to change the Act number.
 * MODE - Choose the game mode.
 * EVENT - Select a cutscene.
 * MEMORY CARD UTILITY - Opens up the memory card utility menu.

Mission Mode
The Mission Mode is incomplete. Only a handful of missions are programmed at that point and are mostly used for testing the game.

Prototype images differences

 * Near the beach in the Station Square Adventure Field where Sonic and Tails chat, all the humans are missing from the prototype shot, along with their chairs.
 * Near Knuckles' entrance to Speed Highway, groups of people are walking out from the Entrance. These people are removed from the final version.
 * All of Station Square in general is filled with more humans than in the final version.
 * In an image from Amy's storyline, all the humans and cars are removed.
 * In an image, people can be seen waiting at the Kiosk in Station Square. This Kiosk does not have a line of people waiting at it in the final version. The humans present seem to be the same ones coming from the entrance to Knuckles' Speed Highway in the image above.
 * In an early shot from the Chaos 0 boss fight, the battle area has a more purple hue as opposed to the blue in the final version while Chaos 0 is more transparent and blue.
 * For the boss fight against Chaos 2, the lighting of Chaos is fairly off due to issues.
 * In the boss fight, the background was very dark and gloomy in the prototype images. In the final version, the chairs and windows are clearly visible in the background.
 * Inside Big's version of the Egg Carrier Adventure Field, the EGGMAN buttons green and very small, whereas in the final version, they are orange and a lot larger
 * In Knuckles' version of the Egg Carrier Adventure Field interior, the floor is very lightly colored. In the final version, they are transparent with machinery visible behind them.
 * Some of Knuckles' punches make his back turn black.
 * When Sonic is talking to Eggman in the cutscene before the Chaos 6 fight, his mouth moves very differently from the final version. He has a huge bottom lip and seems to just jabber up and down.
 * The Egg Carrier's control room is differently colored from the final version.
 * When Sonic is showering in Casinopolis, the shower is different. He also does not do his 'cleaning' animation.

Lost World

 * The room down with a fire blocks rising up and down are slightly with different textures.
 * The first Checkpoint of the internal world is slightly put back in the prototype screenshots.
 * The same section also lacks the floor texture seen in the prototype scenes in the final version.
 * At the beginning of the level, Sonic can easily drop down the first steps, but in the prototype video Sonic has quite some difficulty in getting down, stopping and starting on each step.
 * Just down a little further is a hazard area (in the prototype videos). Sonic must cross three rows of fire arrows, and another caterpiller enemy. Both these items are taken out of the final, with the Fire arrows only seen in the mirror area later on.
 * The snake room is still intact, but the giant snake seems to be floating in thin air.
 * The end of the Water-slide down, which goes down the waterfall. Here, Sonic is running down the waterway, but in the final he slides down it.
 * Knuckles is lacking the Shovel Claws in the prototype videos.
 * In the prototype video and the Japanese advertisements Knuckles is seen running and jumping around the Chaos room, but in the final he cannot enter it at all.
 * Knuckles can also proceeds to fly around the room, seeing Perfect Chaos' mural. In the final game, this is where Sonic finishes Lost World.

Trivia

 * In the final version of the game, there are some leftovers from the beta that were surprisingly not deleted and can still be seen without using any tools or software. These are likely developer oversights since the game has gone through a number of revisions:
 * When Amy is remembering "her old times" the beta version of Windy Valley can be seen.
 * In the mini-game Hedgehog Hammer, Eggman's objectives are in his classic version.
 * In Sonic's pinball table located in Casinopolis, the images of Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Amy and Eggman that are in the slot machine are in their classic styles.
 * In Gamma's tutorial gameplay, E-104 Epsilon has Gamma's color design (except for his laser cannons).
 * In Sonic's tutorial gameplay, the beta version of Windy Valley can be seen in the screenshots.