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[Shiggy]

As Rare Ltd. has become a fully integrated MGS studio last year, they don't seem to care about their history anymore. Some think this is bad, but when it comes to leaking stuff, this is great. Our old friend transparentjinjo (famous for his Sabreman Stampede, Banjo Pilot Voxel, and Grunty's Revenge beta videos) has decided to put up videos of Diddy Kong Pilot.

The first one ist from a late 2001 build, the second one from an early 2003 build which was later transformed into Banjo Pilot. It looks like they build two entirely different games - the 2001 version looks way more ambitious and unfinished though.
_____________________________________________________________

Single player modes in the 2001 version:
- Racing
- Dog Fights
- Stories
- Battles
- Clock Race

In addition, it should've had the opportunity to play with the D-Pad and a tilt sensor; the latter method was never properly implemented (did not really work).


Characters:

Crappy Kong only appears when the cursor is on him, otherwise he disappears. A few weeks later he was removed entirely. On the right you can see the character screen from Spaceworld 2001.


Games Worlds

Levels:

Dogfight levels:

Stories:

Some random levels/ objectives from the video:

Chicken Chase:

Video: Diddy Kong Pilot Pre-Alpha (2001-09-07 Build)


Comments by Jens (former team member); time relates to the Youtube video above:

11:06 or wait, did you need to collect the worms to feed an eagle? So long ago. The ghosts in the trees and on the ground were placeholders, so we could implement and test the mode without waiting for the graphics.

11:06 and I think this was a going to be a variation on the egg collecting MP game from Diddy Kong Racing.

9:57 on this stage you were supposed to collect the small ghosts and bring them to the pond while avoiding the big ghost.

2:50 whoa, bug in the camera spline code. The hut was supposed to be some kind of turret shooting at you.

2:02 debug menu. The first entry is the level select. I have no idea if the "blend" entry was hooked up to anything at that point, but it was probably to debug the distance fog used to hide flickering on the floor.

1:08 yes, it takes ~15 seconds for a round, less on some tracks. We were always told that this is exactly what they want. But one of the first things they asked me once the designer was changed was to change the software to allow bigger tracks.

1:04 the pylons were there to keep you on the track. You could miss three of them before you were disqualified. We were asked to take them out and add the invisible walls.

0:44 the small stars at the bottom are a simple profiler. I think the first bit was the code that drew the perspective floor, then the code that selects the correct sprite frame for each plane depending on viewing angle. The last bit was the music and sound effects, which were the most expensive thing in later versions. The green dots show the end of vblank and the visible frame.

0:30 I always called him Crappy Kong. I don't think he ever had an official name, and I think he was taken out a few weeks after this version.

Official description by Rare:

All sorts of play options are yours for the tinkering, including single-player and multiplayer tournaments, a classic time trial and detailed story modes for each character (ending in climactic one-on-one boss duels). You can even link up with three of your mates, competing for the title of squadron leader or simply blast each other out of the sky in frantic dogfights.

Other features of the game include interactive background scenery, rolling and looping manouevres, upgradable weapons and power-ups, secret features to unlock and of course the rarely-seen Tilt Technology, where, if you’re feeling particularly adventurous, you can set aside your D-Pad in favour of controlling the plane by actually tilting the Game Boy Advance.

______________________________________________________

It's kind of weird that the latest Diddy Kong Pilot build dates back to early 2003 as Rare was officially sold in September 2002. This version was originally shelved, a different team then started Banjo-Pilot with a Voxel engine, which was too expensive. Thus it was decided that the team should just reskin the DKP 2003 build.

The tilt pack idea was dropped, and…they showed the game to Nintendo who didn’t want it; reasons given included “there is no point in flying up and down on flat levels”. Some employees thought Nintendo was just being prejudiced against the company, as it was around the time of the Microsoft buyout.”

http://www.dkvine.com/?p=1082

The game was later picked up by another team, who experimented with a voxel engine (and found out the hard way why we didn't use one) and then re-skinned the original version with a Banjo theme.
The voxel engine looked great but was just too expensive.

Ah, this brings back memories...and not good ones!
After we were ordered to shelve the voxel version of Banjo Pilot, team morale was pretty low. Then we were given a build of DKP similar to this one and told to replace the graphics & frontend.
It took almost a month to even get the project building & running again (with much help from the original programmer), and bugfixing was a real challenge. The game still went out onto the shelves with loads of multiplayer bugs.

Single player modes:

- Cups
- Time Trials
- Cranky Challenges (collect 6 coins and win against Cranky)


Characters:

Cups:
- Klap Trap Kup
- Kritter Kup
- Klump Kup
- K. Rool Kup


Races:
Steamy Swoop vs. Spiral Mountain

Plain Pursuit vs. Jinxy's Dunes

Chilly Length vs. Freezeezy Peak

Magma Spurt vs. Hailfire Peaks

Cranky Kong vs. Bottles

Boss Bop vs. Kazooie Klash

Other levels:

Random Screens:

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sg7SYh1lWqQ&feature=feedu

 

[MNC]

Looks very neat. I love seeing the process games go through in the alpha and beta stages.

 

[Peru]

who didn’t want it; reasons given included “there is no point in flying up and down on flat levels”.

a fair point.

Still, it's neat to see these kinds of things and hear about the processes behind the scenes.

 

[storafötter]

I remember back in the day being so excited for this game by looking at beta screens.

 

[_Alkaline_]

Wow, awesome stuff. You never seem to disappoint Shiggy.

 

[Nuclear Muffin]

Funny, I think that the 2001 build actually looks more fun than the 2003 build/final version of Banjo Pilot.

 

[speedpop]

DKR is the greatest "kart" racing game out there. I'm still pissed that we never got a worthwhile sequel - and the DS port was lame as heck.

 

[Shiggy]

Funny, I think that the 2001 build actually looks more fun than the 2003 build/final version of Banjo Pilot.

Me too, don't know why. Maybe it's just the track design/colours. The old logo also looks much better

 

[[Nintex]]

Cool stuff and that voxel engine they used to mess around with still looks mighty impressive for a GBA game.

 

[KevinCow]

Interesting that they apparently weren't planning on including any of the original characters from DKR, instead making it more Kong focused.

 

[Nuclear Muffin]

Me too, don't know why. Maybe it's just the track design/colours. The old logo also looks much better

It actually takes advantage of the aspect of flying in (quasi) 3D space much moreso than the later build/final game. The boost ring/pad placement, the item/banana placement, the track design, the Wave Race style buoys, the camera being further panned backwards (which gives you more room to manoeuvre) all serve to take advantage of the flying aspect in a way that the final game does not.

It's funny, because that complaint about the flying being "pointless" is much more applicable to the final game!

 

[Foliorum Viridum]

The best thing about DKR was the changing between vehicles. A game where you're just in a plane doesn't appeal to me.

 

[JazzmanZ]

Interesting how there's a lot of Diddy kong racing mechanics used in this game, as if a spiritual sequel, they even originally went on to using Krunch as a playable character! I wouldn't have been surprised if Wizpig was planned as a secret final boss in the game.

 

[big_z]

The best thing about DKR was the changing between vehicles. A game where you're just in a plane doesn't appeal to me.

same with me. imo the planes were the worst part of DKR.

 

[Nemo]

Freezeezy!

That sounds awesome as hell

 

[Shiggy]

It actually takes advantage of the aspect of flying in (quasi) 3D space much moreso than the later build/final game. The boost ring/pad placement, the item/banana placement, the track design, the Wave Race style buoys, the camera being further panned backwards (which gives you more room to manoeuvre) all serve to take advantage of the flying aspect in a way that the final game does not.

It's funny, because that complaint about the flying being "pointless" is much more applicable to the final game!

Pretty true. I still don't really understand why they did this game twice with the 2003 build being entirely different.

 

[∀ Narayan]

Crappy Kong? Crackpot Keep?

Heh!

 

[Hot Coldman]

Wasn't Banjo Pilot an absolute piece of shit when it eventually came out? I remember seeing some scathing reviews at the time.

 

[Berordn]

Wasn't Banjo Pilot an absolute piece of shit when it eventually came out? I remember seeing some scathing reviews at the time.

It wasn't good, especially when we had Super Circuit on the same system.

edit: And it looks like it was never that great an idea, even though the 2001 beta looks better than the final game.

 

[wrowa]

Wasn't Banjo Pilot an absolute piece of shit when it eventually came out? I remember seeing some scathing reviews at the time.

It was. And the beta footage doesn't look any good or promising either. It was a game that failed to be interesting from the start.

I also agree with Nintendo's point of view here. The whole premise of the game seems like a pointless gimmick.

 

[Nocturnowl]

I'm a tad upset that I'll never get to play as Aviator K.Rool, but that's about it by the looks of things.

 

[SpacePirate Ridley]

2001 Beta sounds just like Big Red Racing. I mean the actual sounds.

 

[Fularu]

Both betas show a bland, uninspired and uninteresting game. Interesting for history purposes I guess but I doubt the gaming world lost much.

 

[DICKS AHOY]

Wasn't Banjo Pilot an absolute piece of shit when it eventually came out? I remember seeing some scathing reviews at the time.

It was, but in defense of the game's development at one point it had some pretty amazing-for-the-GBA looking 3D tracks which probably would of made the game a far more memorable experience for the hand-held instead of the weird, neutered version of Diddy Kong Racing/Mario Kart it wound up being. Also while getting rid of Candy Kong and 'Crappy' Kong made sense, why'd they get rid of that Red Baron version of K. Rool and just replace him with his generic 'King' look? :/

Against the defense of the game you flat out have ex-Rare employees saying the game is sort of shit in those youtube comments.

I love the original DKC trilogy but considering DK64 and the spinoffs like this I'm sort of glad Rare lost the rights to the DK franchise. Jungle Beat gets mixed feelings from me as a DK fan (though as a platformer fan I absolutely love it), but the series eventually went full circle and we got DKCR, so as nostalgic as I am for Rare's take I really did not want to risk more DK64 or other 'Banjo-lite' takes on the character.

 

[Shiggy]

Crappy Kong? Crackpot Keep?

Heh!

Apparently he was called Crappy Kong and Redneck Kong, depends on whom you ask.

 

[VGChampion]

I wanted this game so bad. I still have old videos on my computer of this game.

I'm also still holding out hope that we'll get a big Nintendo Kart for the Wii-U.

Edit: Nevermind, videos on my computer are the Donkey Kong Racing game for the Gamecube.

 

[Luigi87]

At first I thought some sort of ancient thread was bumped, so I had to check it out.

Seeing the actual information, this is awesome.

It does make me feel a little sad inside, I loved 90s Rare so freaking much, but it is neat to see new screens of that which disappeared ages ago.

 

[hyduK]

Would have liked to play this, Diddy Kong Racing was amazing.

 

[tapedeck]

Ok now show us KI3.

 

[zephervack]

Love seeing stuff like this, its amazing how much time Rare gave this guys to play around with the idea of voxels, so sad it didnt pan out.

 

[Anth0ny]

Awesome. I'm sure Rare has a TON of stuff in the vault. Beta Banjo Kazooie goodies anyone? Stop n Swop?

 

[Shiggy]

Awesome. I'm sure Rare has a TON of stuff in the vault. Beta Banjo Kazooie goodies anyone? Stop n Swop?

I'm a bit surprised that developers could easily smuggle these prototypes out of the company.

 

[Shiggy]

November 5th will be the THE day

 

[V_Ben]

November 5th will be the THE day

Where all the rare prototypes leak? I hope so

 

[Shiggy]

Where all the rare prototypes leak? I hope so

It looks like we are getting one every few weeks now

 

[iKeepPlaying]

November 5th will be the THE day

KI related?

 

[Lord_Byron28]

The one that always really had me excited personally was Donkey Kong Racing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ThbbN3o5yw

 

[Shiggy]

KI related?

No, RareWareCentral.com releases Diddy Kong Pilot to the public on that day
Don't know what else they have, but the site's owner seems to be very dedicated to this subject

 

[Nuclear Muffin]

The one that always really had me excited personally was Donkey Kong Racing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ThbbN3o5yw

Oh man, if this ever leaked...

Spoiler

Hey, a guy can dream!

 

[Shiggy]

Oh man, if this ever leaked...

Donkey Kong Racing will never leak because it didn't really exist. Sabreman Stampede on the other hand...

http://www.rarewarecentral.com/diddy-kong-pilot

 

[Cygnus X-1]

Poor Rare.....

 

[Deadly Cyclone]

I don't plan to buy a Wii-U, but a new Diddy Kong Racing game would make it a day one purchase. Do it Nintendo.

 

[A Black Falcon]

DKR is the greatest "kart" racing game out there. I'm still pissed that we never got a worthwhile sequel - and the DS port was lame as heck.

I know it doesn't have DK characters in it, but Mickey's Racing USA for the N64 is actually a pretty solid game...

 

[Shiggy]

Poor Rare.....

Happy Rare fans?

 

[Nuclear Muffin]

Donkey Kong Racing will never leak because it didn't really exist. Sabreman Stampede on the other hand...

Well, I know it at least got to the point of having a full game design document (with the animal hopping mechanic in place), so it clearly went further than that mere concept trailer. Don't know how far it actually got into development before it was moved over to Xbox though (I only have 2nd hand info from someone who knows a former Rare employee and they're not telling me anything else)

Would gladly settle for a Sabreman Stampede beta though!

 

[Cygnus X-1]

Happy Rare fans?

I was just thinking at the old days. I really miss the period in which Rare was one of the best developers of the planet.

 

[Shiggy]

Well, I know it at least got to the point of having a full game design document (with the animal hopping mechanic in place) Don't know how far it actually got into development before it was moved over to Xbox though (I only have 2nd hand info from someone who knows a former Rare employee and they're not telling me anything else)

You might be right, I remember that they had footage ready for E3 2002, but with the sale happening at that time, only SFA was shown there.

 

[Nuclear Muffin]

Hope the earlier ROM makes its way out too (though that's probably expecting too much)

 

[Shiggy]

Hope the earlier ROM makes its way out too (though that's probably expecting too much)

The one uploading this stuff just said:

A lot more to come.

http://www.assemblergames.com/forums/showthread.php?t=35978

So who knows

 

[Nuclear Muffin]

A lot more to come.