Unused Maps of Crisis Core: Part 3
· Light of Doom (Banora Underground - Goddess Statue)
More or less famously, this unused version of the "Light of Doom" area holds the JP version of the Goddess statue regardless of which version you are playing. The twisted tree is notably absent.
Map ID #597
Picture 1
Picture 2
Thanks to the debug menus, we have it confirmed what this map was used for: Rendering the scene that takes place immediately after you defeat Genesis.
In the debug menu, follow this path:
Mr. Oka → Chapter 10 → S10E06A ... S10E09 → S10E06B
The debug menus continously refer to the real-time render versions of cutscenes as the "prod ver." (production/produced versions?) and the pre-rendered cutscenes as "MF" (Movie Film/Filter?).
By picking "S10E06B Goddess comes down (prod ver.)" you get teleported to Map ID #597 and get to view the cutscene, minus the FMV, in glorious real-time render.
The US/PAL model for the Goddess Statue is, as seen above, imported and so that's what we get to see even though the map itself holds the JP version of the statue.
In the final game, the player remains in the map with ID #590, where you battle Genesis, as the pre-rendered cutscenes take place.
The debug menus can lead you to dozens of real-time cutscenes. I have not found any real-time renders of DMW cutscenes (and FMVs only exist in their downgraded, for-PSP quality state) but I am still very happy with the treasures that are available.
Teleporting to the map without triggering the cutscene shows a lifestream that isn't animated: It is perfectly still. I can't manipulate the camera enough (yet) to see if the JP Goddess statue has been automatically replaced with the US/PAL version.
Pressing the Square button reveals no menu-map. If you enter the main menu, the zone is called "????", which is common for maps where menu access wasn't intended.
· Midgar Wasteland
"We're friends, right?"
Map ID #598
Picture 1
Picture 2
Picture 3 (rough replication of final angle showing the yellow truck)
When the pre-rendered version of this cutscene with Zack and Cloud on the truck happens, the player is still in Map #337 (Shinra HQ Helicopter Pad). The player has been viewing pre-rendered cutscenes ever since they left Map #590 (Light of Doom - Banora Underground) and got teleported to Map #497 (Banora Ruins).
*EDIT: Minus the real-time rendered scene where Nero and Weiss pick up Genesis.*
To view the real-time render, follow this path from the top debug menu:
Mr. Oka → Epilogue → SEPE01 Yellow truck (prod ver.)
Note: The "Return" selection is broken. When selected, you are left in the black space without a menu and without moving anywhere. There are a handful of these broken Return selections among the debug menus.
Notice that the yellow wall on the lower left of the snapshot is present in prod but not in MF. This may be an artifact of the PSP emulator performing differently from a real PSP, or the wall was intentionally removed for the MF.
Unfortunately the real-time render ends after the zoom-in on Cloud. The yellow truck disappears, screen turns black and the FMV with Reno and Rude begin. Ergo, we only have the pre-rendered version where Zack says "We're friends, right?". Maybe it exists in the real-time render data, maybe it doesn't.
Multiple real-time rendered versions of cutscenes have incomplete or imperfect elements compared to their pre-rendered counterparts. Almost all of them have no voice-acting, for one. Sound effects and music cues are also limited.
Roaming the map without a cutscene shows a map with some awkward transitions and pretty much no sideways collision. YouTuber _ ExMajik showed some of this in their Room Mod video.
No menu-map pops up when you press square but the zone is called "????", as expected.
That covers it for the unused maps of Crisis Core, some of which were completely unused and many of which were only "technically" unused.
The neglected, unused mission maps clearly reveal that there wasn't a lack of space that led to the overuse of maps for the 300 missions. The fact that the three reactor/facility maps were ignored is perhaps the most mind-boggling example. The snow maps should also have been used, the animal trail should have been completed to fit for missions, and the unused variations of familiar maps (green cave, dark watery cave, green mines, etc) should have been repurposed to become entirely new maps since the disc space is clearly there.
In an HD remaster of Crisis Core, disc space will obviously not be as much of an issue and we'll get to see all these pre-rendered cutscenes in full, real-time glory. I just hope that along with the HD-ification, if it ever comes to pass, that we get a handful of new maps for the missions.
· Light of Doom (Banora Underground - Goddess Statue)
More or less famously, this unused version of the "Light of Doom" area holds the JP version of the Goddess statue regardless of which version you are playing. The twisted tree is notably absent.
Map ID #597
Picture 1
Picture 2
Thanks to the debug menus, we have it confirmed what this map was used for: Rendering the scene that takes place immediately after you defeat Genesis.
In the debug menu, follow this path:
Mr. Oka → Chapter 10 → S10E06A ... S10E09 → S10E06B
The debug menus continously refer to the real-time render versions of cutscenes as the "prod ver." (production/produced versions?) and the pre-rendered cutscenes as "MF" (Movie Film/Filter?).
By picking "S10E06B Goddess comes down (prod ver.)" you get teleported to Map ID #597 and get to view the cutscene, minus the FMV, in glorious real-time render.
The US/PAL model for the Goddess Statue is, as seen above, imported and so that's what we get to see even though the map itself holds the JP version of the statue.
In the final game, the player remains in the map with ID #590, where you battle Genesis, as the pre-rendered cutscenes take place.
The debug menus can lead you to dozens of real-time cutscenes. I have not found any real-time renders of DMW cutscenes (and FMVs only exist in their downgraded, for-PSP quality state) but I am still very happy with the treasures that are available.
Teleporting to the map without triggering the cutscene shows a lifestream that isn't animated: It is perfectly still. I can't manipulate the camera enough (yet) to see if the JP Goddess statue has been automatically replaced with the US/PAL version.
Pressing the Square button reveals no menu-map. If you enter the main menu, the zone is called "????", which is common for maps where menu access wasn't intended.
· Midgar Wasteland
"We're friends, right?"
Map ID #598
Picture 1
Picture 2
Picture 3 (rough replication of final angle showing the yellow truck)
When the pre-rendered version of this cutscene with Zack and Cloud on the truck happens, the player is still in Map #337 (Shinra HQ Helicopter Pad). The player has been viewing pre-rendered cutscenes ever since they left Map #590 (Light of Doom - Banora Underground) and got teleported to Map #497 (Banora Ruins).
*EDIT: Minus the real-time rendered scene where Nero and Weiss pick up Genesis.*
To view the real-time render, follow this path from the top debug menu:
Mr. Oka → Epilogue → SEPE01 Yellow truck (prod ver.)
Note: The "Return" selection is broken. When selected, you are left in the black space without a menu and without moving anywhere. There are a handful of these broken Return selections among the debug menus.
Notice that the yellow wall on the lower left of the snapshot is present in prod but not in MF. This may be an artifact of the PSP emulator performing differently from a real PSP, or the wall was intentionally removed for the MF.
Unfortunately the real-time render ends after the zoom-in on Cloud. The yellow truck disappears, screen turns black and the FMV with Reno and Rude begin. Ergo, we only have the pre-rendered version where Zack says "We're friends, right?". Maybe it exists in the real-time render data, maybe it doesn't.
Multiple real-time rendered versions of cutscenes have incomplete or imperfect elements compared to their pre-rendered counterparts. Almost all of them have no voice-acting, for one. Sound effects and music cues are also limited.
Roaming the map without a cutscene shows a map with some awkward transitions and pretty much no sideways collision. YouTuber _ ExMajik showed some of this in their Room Mod video.
No menu-map pops up when you press square but the zone is called "????", as expected.
That covers it for the unused maps of Crisis Core, some of which were completely unused and many of which were only "technically" unused.
The neglected, unused mission maps clearly reveal that there wasn't a lack of space that led to the overuse of maps for the 300 missions. The fact that the three reactor/facility maps were ignored is perhaps the most mind-boggling example. The snow maps should also have been used, the animal trail should have been completed to fit for missions, and the unused variations of familiar maps (green cave, dark watery cave, green mines, etc) should have been repurposed to become entirely new maps since the disc space is clearly there.
In an HD remaster of Crisis Core, disc space will obviously not be as much of an issue and we'll get to see all these pre-rendered cutscenes in full, real-time glory. I just hope that along with the HD-ification, if it ever comes to pass, that we get a handful of new maps for the missions.
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, which is actually from a chinese word (立直
I was expecting a complicated process like in Dirge of Cerberus where I had to rename files into "whiteimgu.x360.bin" and "filelistu.x360.bin".