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[bomblord1]

There have been some interesting finds over the years of unused content found lurking deep in the bowels of game data that was not meant to actually be seen by players. These range from minor things like textures to massive unused areas. I can think of a dozen or so examples off the top of my head. For example, the picture above shows an arwing that was found in the game data of ocarina of time with fully functioning AI. It flies around and will shoot at you and appears to be the basis for the Volvagia boss's AI.

Another somewhat humorous example is an audio clip in Lunar 2 of the game's main villain congratulating you for ripping audio from the disc in order to "cheat" and telling you that he has a special place for you by his side.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDunXSSQu9o

What are some of the best examples you have seen of hidden content found in a game's data gaf?

 

[Razzorn34]

Hot Coffee thread? Hot Coffee thread.

 

[RoboPlato]

I've wanted to know what this book is for years.

 

[BibiMaghoo]

I think Soul Reaver had a few bits. Paging Mama .

 

[TUSR]

Destiny

 

[Zombie James]

This wiki is a goldmine for this stuff: http://tcrf.net/The_Cutting_Room_Floor

 

[justsomeguy]

Destiny

Should have been first reply.

 

[Crimsonclaw111]

Wave Race: Blue Storm - Easter Egg (Bored Comment…: http://youtu.be/G-QfJ1jsmag

The sarcastic Wave Race announcer wasn't found until about 2010.

Oh wait, if we mean strictly unused content, the entirety of F Zero AX is on the GX disc and can be played in its entirety:http://tcrf.net/F-Zero_GX#Leftover_F-Zero_AX_Code

 

[CrunchyFrog]

The aliens in the background of SMG2's Shiverburn Galaxy.

 

[Wavering Radiant]

"Project Beast" in Demon's Souls ;P (http://demonssouls.wikidot.com/unused-content#toc8)

Spoiler

Still waiting for that last Archstone DLC

Edit: Pics:

The biggest reason I believed the "Project B" leak was real, early on.

 

[liquidtmd]

By no means the 'best', but Hidden Palace in Sonic 2 really captured my imagination for years in my youth in '92.

All from the Hidden Palace music within the Music Select screen. Such a sombre piece in a way, quite different from all other tracks.

 

[FrontalMonk]

I figured the cut content from KOTOR 2 would have been the first post.

 

[Garrett Hawke]

The unused worlds in Kingdom Hearts
Someone found an entire Jungle Book area that was never used.

 

[Banjotanooki]

Nintendo characters appearing in Mario and Luigi Superstar Saga:

http://www.mariowiki.com/List_of_Mario_%26_Luigi:_Superstar_Saga_beta_elements

No idea why they were scrapped...

 

[Tizoc]

This wiki is a goldmine for this stuff: http://tcrf.net/The_Cutting_Room_Floor

Yeah that's a great site, I personally like the Darkstalkers & JoJo stuff.

 

[Omnipunctual Godot]

I always liked the fact that SotN had a second track on its disc that contained some words from Alucard and a secret song.

 

[Funyarinpa]

Portal 2 had quite a few interesting ideas scrapped in beta phase (and were found later in the game files but are now removed with patches): YT video

 

[Dsyndrome]

Hot Coffee thread? Hot Coffee thread.

First thing that pops to probably everyone's mind.

Other than that, I'd say the Final Fantasy VII debug menu that you needed a Gameshark to access.

 

[Cymbal Head]

I don't know if it was exactly "hidden," but that thread about nudity in Geist was a wild ride.

 

[IntelliHeath]

Super Smash Bros Brawl: Dr. Mario, Dixie Kong, Mewtwo, Roy, Toon Zelda, Toon Sheik, and supposedly Plusle & Minun.

Marvel VS. Capcom: Dr. Octopus. I would love to see how he would work in Marvel Vs. Capcom. Frank West was in the file but he ended up become playable character in Ultimate version.

Chrono Trigger: Old Man was originally to be playable character

 

[SoulUnison]

Another somewhat humorous example is an audio clip in Lunar 2 of the game's main villain congratulating you for ripping audio from the disc in order to "cheat" and telling you that he has a special place for you by his side.

Similarly, if you put Skies of Arcadia (Dreamcast) in a regular CD player, Vyse will tell you to put the disc back in a Dreamcast "where they belong" so that they can "do their jobs."

 

[bomblord1]

Similarly, if you put Skies of Arcadia (Dreamcast) in a regular CD player, Vyse will tell you to put the disc back in a Dreamcast "where they belong" so that they can "do their jobs."

That's awesome.

 

[Loxley]

The quest for Shadow of the Colossus' last big secret

Eight years after its release, there remains a group of secret seekers looking to unearth Team Ico's final mystery.

Gametrailers also had an episode of Pop Fiction about the Colossi that were cut from the game.

 

[Rymuth]

Shadow of the Colossus easily takes the cake. Secret gardens, unused Colossi.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7SCDtk7_Uo

EDIT: Beaten

 

[FrontalMonk]

Similarly, if you put Skies of Arcadia (Dreamcast) in a regular CD player, Vyse will tell you to put the disc back in a Dreamcast "where they belong" so that they can "do their jobs."

I really enjoyed the CD track on Castlevania: SOTN.

"This is a playstation black disc. Track one contains computer data, so please, don't play it. But you probably won't listen to me anyway, will you?"

 

[barneystuta83]

Destiny.

 

[TeddyShardik]

Basically everything in Soul Reaver. This site lists and explains a lot of it:

http://thelostworlds.net/SR1/index.html

 

[Mellahan]

Crash Bandicoot Warped, lab assistant enemies have profane names int he code:

The lab assistant enemies have very profane names, such as obj_asshole and obj_motherfucker, as a developer's joke. Crash's object in the level "Road Crash" is also profane (obj_willy#you_fuck), but not in other levels.

http://tcrf.net/Crash_Bandicoot:_Warped

 

[XenoRaven]

It probably shouldn't amaze me as much as it does, but I can't believe there's an entire planet in KOTOR 2 that was cut by the developer/publisher and then restored by fans.

 

[sflufan]

KOTOR 2: The Thread.

Seriously, I can't think of very many other games that were so thoroughly gutted as that one.

 

[Tenebrous]

Czar Dragon from Final Fantasy VI is a pretty cool one.

 

[raven777]

The unused worlds in Kingdom Hearts
Someone found an entire Jungle Book area that was never used.

holy shit why did they cut it I wonder?

 

[Azure Phoenix]

TimeSplitters 2 had an entire Gothic tileset for Mapmaker that was fully completed and cut super late (even some reviews mentioned it and the music was selectable), probably because someone took one look at it and decided that it was too satanic with all the winged statues and lava. Luckily unlike the Abstract tileset in TS:FP it's still accessible and playable with Action Replay (and ironically it is probably the best tileset).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wsKdbHDzsVc

 

[Mango The Magician]

There's a unfinished copy of the entrance to Gerudo Fortress in the Haunted Wasteland. The only way to get to it is to cheat, and all it does is send you back to Gerudo Fortress.

 

[Squishy3]

The shadow people in Super Mario Galaxy 2 have to count, right?

The filename of the skybox for the level they're in is called "BeyondHellValley" and the filename for them is "HellValleySkyTree." Weird stuff.

 

[Anarion07]

The broken archstone /world in Demon's Souls

 

[D Bo Chops]

Dark souls had a bunch of cut armors and enemies, including a different final boss than Gwyn. Too lazy to get pics.

 

[Spaced Harrier]

Confirming that my suspicions were true in regards to Wind Waker.

But my favourite is sonic the hedgehog.
From sonic 1's level select being out of order and getting to play level modifier with debug mode finding unused tilesets and getting a peak behind the curtain of the mysterious world of games production.

Sonic 2 level select being Yuji Naka's birthday and seeing the neame of stages that didn't exist..

 

[Doctor_Thomas]

Shadow of the Colossus.

 

[nowarning]

Mr Friendly from Half-Life, pretty weird.

 

[zeldarocks]

http://kotaku.com/5897828/long-lost-emulation-easter-egg-discovered-in-goldeneye

ZX Spectrum emulator hidden in Goldeneye 64.

 

[chozen]

Kraid Metroid Prime

http://vignette3.wikia.nocookie.net...P_Kraid.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20081008221230

Sky Dragon sonic Adventure DX

http://www.deco.franken.de/adventure/screens/screen5.jpg

Zelda OOT

Extra tunics and 2 other temples possibly gone for ever in nintendos basement file cabinet.

Destiny

Other possible planets places, old chicago, The reef. More open areas weapons and enemy types probably for dlc later.

Guild wars 2 Old Zhaitan

https://dviw3bl0enbyw.cloudfront.net/uploads/forum_attachment/file/86504/DragonCorpse.png

 

[UnluckyKate]

The quest for Shadow of the Colossus' last big secret



Gametrailers also had an episode of Pop Fiction about the Colossi that were cut from the game.

This is great watch. I wish the damn was in the final game part of the main path. It looks so epic

 

[TheLegendOfMart]

Jurassic Park Trespasser Pine Valley level. Would have been a forest level leading to the parks Geothermal Power Plant where you had to restore power to the island before you could call for help.

It was cut late into development because of the janky physics engine puzzles not working correctly and they had little time to fix them before the strict release date.

People have deconstructed the levels and found that two of the levels had been stitched together where the Pine Valley level would have been.

There are references including music files in alpha versions of the game that point to the level as well.

A cutdown version of the level that would have leaded to the Geothermal Plant was released as a demo for the game.

 

[sn00zer]

This wiki is a goldmine for this stuff: http://tcrf.net/The_Cutting_Room_Floor

Umm wow...had no idea about this HUGE SPOILERY AREA of Bioshock Infinite
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FD3-ZnzZK_8

 

[PotionBleue]

The giant Xenoblade Chronicles map that was seemingly cut (though I think it's barely used in the credits)

[Xenoblade] Unused/Beta Area: Bionis' Left Shoulder?

Spoiler

http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/960564-xenoblade-chronicles/59665594
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l86GCaqZuxY&feature=player_embedded#at=286

Screenshots on dolphin

Spoiler

http://i.imgur.com/9PCrZ.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/JeMUf.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/C0u6A.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/e6PFy.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/qDhWB.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/GVM3O.jpg

 

[DieH@rd]

Half of KOTOR2

 

[Seven Force]

holy shit why did they cut it I wonder?

Probably time constraints and the fact that it´s aesthetically similar to Neverland. Given the amount of neat stuff that tends to get cut from KH games while in development (Bahamut in KH1, Buzz and Woody in KH2FM, Pleakley in Birth by Sleep, Fantasia 2000 in KH3D) it doesn´t surprise me.

Anyone with the original JP non Final Mix release of the game can actually get a hold of a hacked savefile that takes you straight to what´s left of the Jungle Book world.

 

[Ysiadmihi]

The giant Xenoblade Chronicles map that was seemingly cut (though I think it's barely used in the credits)

You might want to edit out that screen.

 

[stn]

WWF No Mercy (N64) had Game Boy Color Mode, which was later made playable through Gameshark hacks. Unused animations, moves, attires, and other things were also discovered via memory hacking. In fact, I think things are still being discovered to this day.