We are speeding through the world of FFVII, hence why the article titles will read as “Location A to Location B” for a good while from now on. In this case we start with the Chocobo Farm, move on to the intermediate areas of the Mythril Mines, Fort Condor, Junon, Costa del Sol, Mt. Corel, North Corel, and Gold Saucer, and then we end with a visit to the cosy desert spot of Corel Prison.
On the way we will, among other things, analyse a scrapped mechanic for the Fort Condor battles and see more unused scenes left behind by Motomu Toriyama.
Farm Inn (FRMIN)
Please {!}{Pause:Timed} for a second.
後はちょっとまってね♥
In the debug rooms there are occasional “please wait, still constructing” notes that end with hearts. This is without a doubt one of these lines.
Farm Stable (FRCYO)
ほんとはショップ
This is actually a shop
Before the shop menu was ready to be linked to, this placeholder note would appear when trying to access the store.
Choco Billy, the kid who sells you the Chocobo Lure materia, has a different name in the Japanese game. The literal translation is “GreenGreen”. This may have to do with the fact that he also sells greens to you. We see, then, that the name ‘Choco Billy’ is a very liberal translation.
Choco Billy
グリングリン
“In order for the Chocobo to mate,
「カップルはオスとメスがいないと…」
you need a male and a female…”
Choco Billy
グリングリン
“In order for them to mate,
「カップリングするには『実』も必要だよ」
you need ‘Nuts’ too.”
An earlier tutorial for mating.
Tutorial Misadventures
The English game is a bit lacking in a tutorial for how to mate two Chocobos. Choco Billy will only mention the necessity of Nuts if you pick the “Mating Chocobos” option but don’t have any Nuts in your inventory, as you can see in the snapshot below.
What has happened is that the actual tutorial on how to mate Chocobos is incomplete in the English game, but it is fine in the Japanese game. While technically not an unused text entry, it is a piece that was omitted from the English game.
Choco Billy
グリングリン
GreenGreen
“A male and a female Chocobo together can
「カップリングっていうのは
Coupling is when you take
produce an egg.”
オスのチョコボとメスのチョコボを
a male Chocobo and a female Chocobo,
カップルにしてタマゴを生ませることさ」
couple them, and produce an egg.
「けど、タマゴを生ませるには
However, in order to produce an egg,
『実』が必要になるんだ
you’re going to need nuts.
『ピピオの実』や『ルチルの実』とかね」
Pipio Nuts or Luchile nuts, for example.
「『実』はチョコボの栄ようざい
Think of nuts as stuff that
みたいな物だと考えてくれればいいよ。
makes Chocobos prosper.
もちろんここでも
We sell them here,
売ってるからよろしく！」
of course!
The same also happens in the tutorial when you ask what Classes are. Notably, the Japanese game calls him just “Green” here and not “GreenGreen”.
Choco Billy
グリン
Green
“Chocobos’ strengths are
「クラスはチョコボの強さを
Chocobos’ strengths are
divided by ‘Class’.”
あらわすものさ」
divided by ‘Class’.
「生まれたばかりチョコボや
Chocobos that have just hatched
捕まえたばっかりのチョコボは
and Chocobos you’ve just caught
ランクＣがつくんだ」
are rank C.
「ゴールドソーサーにある
If you win in the Chocobo races
チョコボレースで勝っていくと
at the Gold Saucer,
上のランクがもらえるよ」
you’ll get a higher rank.
Players of the English game were left to discover this mechanic by themselves.
Releasing Chocobos
Choco Billy
グリングリン
“Which Chocobo are you going to let go?”
「どのチョコボを逃がすんだい？」
This is about the option to release Chocobos which are already in your stable. In the final game you are transported to a close-up view of a Chocobo (with the option to toggle between each one) in front of a black background, while also being allowed to read the Chocobo name, class and gender.
I assume that before the close-up menu interface was implemented, the command box below would appear on the field instead.
☞ やっぱり逃がさない
☞ None of them.
☞ チョコボ１
☞ Chocobo 1
☞ やっぱり逃がさない
☞ None of them.
☞ チョコボ１
☞ Chocobo 1
☞ チョコボ２
☞ Chocobo 2
☞ やっぱり逃がさない
☞ None of them.
☞ チョコボ１
☞ Chocobo 1
☞ チョコボ２
☞ Chocobo 2
☞ チョコボ３
☞ Chocobo 3
☞ やっぱり逃がさない
☞ None of them.
☞ チョコボ１
☞ Chocobo 1
☞ チョコボ２
☞ Chocobo 2
☞ チョコボ３
☞ Chocobo 3
☞ チョコボ４
☞ Chocobo 4
Next we have unused text entries with Choco Billy judging the potential growth curve of a Chocobo and then a number of “Chocobo Name, Gender & Class” text entries. Noting that these and the scrapped command options are right next to each other, I assume that the “growth curve” and “Chocobo Name, Gender & Class” were to appear on the screen in some context when trying to pick which Chocobo to release into the wild; either when toggling the pointer between your Chocobos or after picking one of them.
Choco Billy
グリングリン
“There’s still lots
「まだまだ
of room to grow.”
成長の余地は
ありそうだね」
Choco Billy
グリングリン
“It might mature
「もう少し
a bit more.”
成長する
かもね」
Choco Billy
グリングリン
“Don’t expect it to
「もう、成長は
mature anymore.”
望めないかも」
{CHOCOBO NAME} {CHOCOBO SEX}
{SpecE2 00 06 04 40} {SpecE2 00 02 04 47}
Class {CHOCOBO CLASS}
クラス {SpecE2 00 01 04 4A}
As the brackets indicate, separate flags decide which chocobo name, gender and class are displayed. By making the text dependent on external factors you are able to condense it all into one text entry, unlike the ridiculous multitude of text entries below, one for each commutation of gender versus class. Placeholder names have been added for most, but two entries have the leftover of a “name-check” function.
{SpecE2 00 06 03 20} オス
{Var} Male
クラス Ｃ
Class C
ばばばばばば オス
babababababa Male
クラス Ｂ
Class B
チョコボ１ オス
Chocobo 1: Male
クラス Ａ
Class A
チョコボ１ オス
Chocobo 1: Male
クラス Ｓ
Class S
チョコボ１ メス
Chocobo 1: Female
クラス Ｃ
Class C
チョコボ１ メス
Chocobo 1: Female
クラス Ｂ
Class B
チョコボ１ メス
Chocobo 1: Female
クラス Ａ
Class A
チョコボ１ メス
Chocobo 1: Female
クラス Ｓ
Class S
{SpecE2 00 06 03 26} オス
{Var} Male
クラス Ｃ
Class C
チョコボ２ オス
Chocobo 2: Male
クラス Ｂ
Class B
チョコボ２ オス
Chocobo 2: Male
クラス Ａ
Class A
チョコボ２ オス
Chocobo 2: Male
クラス Ｓ
Class S
チョコボ２ メス
Chocobo 2: Female
クラス Ｃ
Class C
チョコボ２ メス
Chocobo 2: Female
クラス Ｂ
Class B
チョコボ２ メス
Chocobo 2: Female
クラス Ａ
Class A
チョコボ２ メス
Chocobo 2: Female
クラス Ｓ
Class S
チョコボ３ オス
Chocobo 3: Male
クラス Ｃ
Class C
チョコボ３ オス
Chocobo 3: Male
クラス Ｂ
Class B
チョコボ３ オス
Chocobo 3: Male
クラス Ａ
Class A
チョコボ３ オス
Chocobo 3: Male
クラス Ｓ
Class S
チョコボ３ メス
Chocobo 3: Female
クラス Ｃ
Class C
チョコボ３ メス
Chocobo 3: Female
クラス Ｂ
Class B
チョコボ３ メス
Chocobo 3: Female
クラス Ａ
Class A
チョコボ３ メス
Chocobo 3: Female
クラス Ｓ
Class S
チョコボ４ オス
Chocobo 4: Male
クラス Ｃ
Class C
チョコボ４ オス
Chocobo 4: Male
クラス Ｂ
Class B
チョコボ４ オス
Chocobo 4: Male
クラス Ａ
Class A
チョコボ４ オス
Chocobo 4: Male
クラス Ｓ
Class S
チョコボ４ メス
Chocobo 4: Female
クラス Ｃ
Class C
チョコボ４ メス
Chocobo 4: Female
クラス Ｂ
Class B
チョコボ４ メス
Chocobo 4: Female
クラス Ａ
Class A
チョコボ４ メス
Chocobo 4: Female
クラス Ｓ
Class S
チョコボ５ オス
Chocobo 5: Male
クラス Ｃ
Class C
チョコボ５ オス
Chocobo 5: Male
クラス Ｂ
Class B
チョコボ５ オス
Chocobo 5: Male
クラス Ａ
Class A
チョコボ５ オス
Chocobo 5: Male
クラス Ｓ
Class S
チョコボ５ メス
Chocobo 5: Female
クラス Ｃ
Class C
チョコボ５ メス
Chocobo 5: Female
クラス Ｂ
Class B
チョコボ５ メス
Chocobo 5: Female
クラス Ａ
Class A
チョコボ５ メス
Chocobo 5: Female
クラス Ｓ
Class S
チョコボ６ オス
Chocobo 6: Male
クラス Ｃ
Class C
チョコボ６ オス
Chocobo 6: Male
クラス Ｂ
Class B
チョコボ６ オス
Chocobo 6: Male
クラス Ａ
Class A
チョコボ６ オス
Chocobo 6: Male
クラス Ｓ
Class S
チョコボ６ メス
Chocobo 6: Female
クラス Ｃ
Class C
チョコボ６ メス
Chocobo 6: Female
クラス Ｂ
Class B
チョコボ６ メス
Chocobo 6: Female
クラス Ａ
Class A
チョコボ６ メス
Chocobo 6: Female
クラス Ｓ
Class S
Remember, we are still trying to decide which Chocobo to let go of. All these text entries about Chocobo name, gender and class were to appear during this process.
Choco Billy
グリングリン
“Is it all right to
「これを
let this one go?”
逃がすよ？」
☞ Go ahead
☞ いいよ
☞ No, don’t
☞ ダメ
グリングリン
GreenGreen:
「じゃあ、チョコボ２を逃がすよ？」
All right, will you release Chocobo 2?
グリングリン
GreenGreen:
「じゃあ、チョコボ３を逃がすよ？」
All right, will you release Chocobo 3?
グリングリン
GreenGreen:
「じゃあ、チョコボ４を逃がすよ？」
All right, will you release Chocobo 4?
☞ Go ahead
☞ いいよ
☞ No, don’t
☞ ダメ
From the looks of it, the now-absent “All right, will you release Chocobo 1?” was rewritten into the “Is it all right to let this one go?” command box we have in the final game. The other, shorter command box just above this paragraph was then to appear after GreenGreen’s question, but in the final game it is used for deciding whether to let go of Chocobos that you’ve just captured (which have not yet been accepted into the stable).
Feeding Your Chocobos
The final game has you pick a Green before you are brought to the previously mentioned close-up view menu where you toggle between Chocobos to make your pick. However, the unused text below implies the process was in reverse: you were to first pick a Chocobo, then decide on a Green. Another possibility about this older scenario is that you were to walk up to the Chocobo you desired to feed, rather than being brought to this more menu-like interface with the black background.
グリングリン
GreenGreen:
“What you gonna feed him?”
「どのエサをあげるんだい？」
What you gonna feed him?
The used line below naturally follows the order that you first pick a Green then a Chocobo, but the unflagged line just below that fits either as a superfluous intermediate line or as a message that was to appear when you walked up to the Chocobo you wished to feed.
Choco Billy
グリングリン
“Which Chocobo are you going to feed it to?”
「どのチョコボにあげるんだい？」
Choco Billy
グリングリン
“Is this Chocobo
「このチョコボ
all right?”
でいいかい？」
☞ Yes
☞ いいよ
☞ No
☞ ダメ
The Love Birds go Breeding
From feeding, moving on to arranged Chocobo marriage…
Choco Billy
グリングリン
GreenGreen:
“Which two Chocobos are you
「どのチョコボをカップルにするんだい？
Which Chocobo will you make a couple?
going to mate?”
２匹に話しかけて決めてよ」
Choose by talking to both.
“Talk to the two you like and
make your decision.”
☞ This one
☞ これにする
☞ Different one
☞ 他のにする
☞ This one
☞ これにする
☞ Different one
☞ 他のにする
☞ Never mind
☞ やっぱりやめた
The unused line is inferior as it does not have the “Never mind” choice which allows you to exit the mate selection process.
Choco Billy
グリングリン
“You got yourself a new Chocobo!”
「チョコボが生まれたよ！」
The used message above is immediately followed by a statement about the newborn’s gender and a request to name the Chocobo. We see here, however, that Choco Billy was to judge their stats also.
Looks like it’s got good speed.
スピードがありそうだね
Looks like it’s got good stamina.
スタミナがありそうだね
Looks intelligent.
あたまがよさそうだね
Too much energy?
元気ありすぎかな？
Might be a little too hyper.
The negative aspect of this last one might be that its stamina bar runs out too quickly.
The only instances in the used game when the workers of the Chocobo Farm comment on Chocobo stats are after feeding your giant bird pets and when Chole determines which has the highest stat in a given category.
The Marshes (SICHI)
Because no forests are available before you pass through the Mythril Mines, you can’t face Yuffie (whom you can only encounter in forests) and recruit her into your party. Cheat her into your party before entering this field and see her hidden reaction.
{Yuffie}
YUFFIE
Yuffie:
“Geeeeez, Louise!”
「ウヒャ～！」
Whoa!
There is a trick to triggering this line which does not require a cheat device. When you are about to enter the patch on the world map that transports you to SICHI, enter the menu. Leave the menu, then immediately as you take a step towards the cave entrance, enter the menu again.
Repeat this a few times, just to ensure that you do it right, and you will see that Cloud has progressed beyond the border that normally triggers the scene. Go through the cave, recruit Yuffie, then immediately when you go back through the cave to the other side this scene will happen.
I consider this trick more of a glitch than a fair condition, which is why I list the text as unused.
Yuffie’s Scrapped Early Recruitment
Yuffie’s presence can be explained by the theory that originally she was meant to be recruitable earlier on. In the Character Files section of the FFVII Ultimania Omega’s Early Material Files, the recruitment info says that Yuffie was to be available any time after passing Kalm.
Semantics can argue that the earliest window in the final game to recruit her, which is after passing through the Mythril Mines (when you get to the first forest patches), is technically after Kalm, but the Ultimania passage is still arguably suggestive.
Also take into account the odd fact that even though you battle Yuffie in a forest, the scene that follows takes place on a grassfield with no trees in sight. This item too is with a counterpoint, specifically that the party may have dragged her out of the forest for reasons unknown, but the combination of this odd transition and the recruitment info in the Early Material Files adds credence to the notion that originally Yuffie was to be encountered on the grassy fields. In this scrapped framework, she would have been naturally present in the scene with the impaled Midgar Zolom.
Yuffie’s field model does not exist in the Mythril Mines, however, so no additional indication of her earlier recruitment can be found there.
About Party Member Dialogue
In order to understand why some party member dialogue gets shafted (a problem which we already glimpsed in the previous article) we need to review how these dialogue trees work. The game actually alternates between two systems.
PHS Menu System
The leader who is locked into the party is labeled “Character #0″, while the two others are labeled “Character #1″ and “Character #2″ respectively. Whenever you leave the main menu (or if leaving the PHS menu immediately takes you back to the field) the game will check from top to bottom if a character has a set position.
This is why simply entering the main menu and using “Order” to re-arrange character icons, or switching the optional characters in the PHS menu, will NOT affect which member is #1/#2.
To change this, a member must leave the party and a new one needs to be introduced. Only if you switch both of your optional characters and you are led to the main menu can you affect which character becomes #1 or #2 by using “Order”; the game does the check first AFTER leaving the main menu, so with no new spots settled yet, you can choose which optional member becomes #1 by placing them at the top (or if the party leader is at the top, place the optional member beneath the party leader).
A somewhat complicated affair to explain, but the dialogue system is simple enough. The game calls for Character #1 or Character #2 to speak and accordingly you can adjust members to change which dialogue they are assigned to use.
In the Submarine fields, Barret’s member #2 dialogue becomes unused because at one point the game forces him to be in the member #1 spot. This is the only case I know of in which dialogue becomes unused in the PHS dialogue system.
Priority/Ladder System
If Barret is in the party, he will speak. If he is not in the party, then Tifa will speak. If Tifa is not in the party, then Aeris will speak. If Aeris is not– yeah, you get the picture.
The order in which team members’ lines are prioritized vary greatly, but in general the early AVALANCHE members receive higher spots than the later recruits.
A logical necessity of this system is that when a priority ladder becomes long enough, the character at the very bottom never get to speak. Say that the game calls for the characters in this order; Barret, Tifa, Aeris, Red XIII, Yuffie, Cait Sith, Vincent & finally Cid. With our chain-smoking pilot in the last spot, he never gets the chance to speak because you will always have a party member of higher priority in your team.
In Fort Condor, which uses the ladder system, we shall see examples of characters never speaking up because they are last in line…
Mythril Mines (PSDUN_2)
Tifa? But I see only Aeris and Barret!
If you try to go through the Mythril Mines before the flashback events in Kalm, the party will split from Cloud and prevent you from progressing through the cave. The developers accidentally assigned Aeris with the wrong text ID, so when she is character #1 in the PHS menu she will use Tifa’s dialogue instead. This is why Aeris’ intended line is unflagged.
{Aeris}
AERITH
Aerith:
“{Cloud}!
「CLOUD！
Cloud!
“{Cloud}!
このまま進むと、カームの町から
If we continue this way, we’ll just get
If we continue this way,
どんどんはなれるだけ、よ」
further and further away from Kalm.
we’ll get farther and
farther away from Kalm.”
{Tifa}
TIFA
“Hey, {Cloud}.
「ねぇ、CLOUD。
Wasn’t Kalm right before
カームの町は、この洞窟の手前に
this cavern?”
あるんじゃなかったかしら？」
Take note that it is impossible to see this line used twice in the same sequence, even if you have both Aeris and Tifa in your party. This is because the referred text here by Tifa is solely a ‘character #1′ line and you can’t have two characters assigned the same spot.
Correcting this mishap is easy in the Japanese game. Simply change from text ID #10 to text ID #9 for Aeris and everything will be okay. Doing this in the English game, however, means that you have to manually change the size of the dialogue window in order to fit the new text.
In-game error.
Error fixed.
Press OK to see the next row.
Pressing OK exits the box. Full message never seen.
Sleeping Old Man (ZZ1)
Though technically available only after getting the buggy, we’re checking this now to avoid jumping between continents.
Sleeping Old Man
“…zzzz…zzzz…”
「ぐー、ぐー」
The man’s snoozing is always coupled with additional text in the used script.
Recruiting Yuffie, the Thief (YOUGAN2)
So many variations of used text in this field, all depending on the present party leader/members and the picked dialogue options! Such a surprise, then, that the field only has one unused piece.
1000 Gil Stolen!
１０００ギル盗まれた！
Yuffie can steal 200, 500 or 700 gil from the party. Generally, the penalty will be greater the later on you pick the wrong dialogue option. At no point will she steal 1000 gil, though.
Fort Condor, Interior (CONVIL_1)
As an act of mercy, I will spare the reader the more detailed discourse on just how odd the Ladder System is built here. All you have to know is that Fort Condor is ripe with used text and multiple scenarios, many of which will go unseen by the casual player. Setting the used and unused pieces apart was a trying task, but I believe I have accomplished the mission.
Before getting to the meat of Fort Condor, let’s review some errors in the dialogue trees that cause text to become hidden.
Red XIII’s Script Mechanic
When the old man asks the party what is on top of the mountain, Red XIII will only give a reply if Tifa is the party leader. Indeed, this is a primary example of the ludicrous ladder system constructions. A somewhat esoteric fact, however, is that Red XIII’s dialogue will change after the Cosmo Canyon events to reflect his newfound maturity after finding out the truth about his father. This is more noticable in the Japanese script than it is in the English counterpart.
The best example showing this change is in the scenario where Yuffie steals your money (YOUGAN2), to which the ‘immature’ Red XIII can respond by saying, “Greed… A perfect example of human nature.”
but post-fatherly-revelations Red XIII will say, “Give… give back what is rightfully mine!”
The difference here is shown by the lack of a demeaning note about the human species.
Going back to the old man’s question, what is Red XIII’s used ‘mature’ response versus the normally unseen ‘immature’ response?
[Late Response]
{Red XIII}
RED XIII
Red XIII:
“That’s the reactor.
「あれは、魔晄炉だよ。
That’s the Mako reactor.
And the Condor.”
それと、コンドルだね」
And the condor.
[Early Response]
{Red XIII}
RED XIII
Red XIII:
“That’s the reactor
「あれは、魔晄炉
That’s the Mako reactor.
and the Condor.”
それと、コンドルだな」
And the condor.
The difference in the English script is laughably irrelevant but the Japanese script presents something more important. The early/unused response ends with な (na) while the late/used one ends with ね (ne). How is this difference important to Japanese speakers and readers?
な is more commonly used by males; it has a more arrogant and strong-sounding tone. ね is more often used by females, although males can occassionally use it, as it has a “softer” feel to it. In Red XIII’s case it makes him sound more humble. If a male overuses this way to speak, though, he may come across as feminine and will be assumed to be gay.
Nitpicking here, the Japanese sentence in the early response, あれは、魔晄炉, is incomplete and should end with だよ。 (or at least だ。) like its used counterpart.
Scenario: Getting some shut-eye
{Cait Sith}
CAIT SITH
“Now, shall we get some rest?”
「ほんな、休みましょか」
When walking close to the beds, the party splits and a party member will ask if they should rest. Cait Sith is the last character in the ladder system, hence why his response is normally impossible to trigger.
Scenario: You’ve won! Now to visit Cloud & Tifa
{Vincent}
VINCENT
Vincent:
“You mean {Cloud}?”
「CLOUDだな……」
It’s Cloud, isn’t it…
In the scenario that you’ve already completed the North Corel mission, Cid and the team will talk about going back to Mideel. When the party realises that Cid is talking about Cloud, Vincent’s reaction is the last in the ladder system and is thus locked from the player.
The Unused Fort Condor Mechanics
If you lose the battle for the Huge Materia, Fort Condor will fall. The player will not get a permanent Game Over, but instead gets restricted from entering the fort and gets to see the party members react to this tragedy. This is all part of the accessible, used aspects of the final game.
As the quest for the Huge Materia can only happen on disc 2 when Cid is the party leader, the scenario of winning or losing the final battle can’t happen when Cloud, Tifa or Aeris are available party members.
However, in earlier builds of Fort Condor, the player was to be allowed a limited number of losses before the fort would finally crumble from the pressure. Jumping ahead a bit, an unused snippet in the shed (CONVIL_2) clearly spells this out:
[CONVIL_2 Text]
“Hang in there,
「後、{SpecDE}回負けると危ないから
If we lose {SpecDE} more times, we’ll
if we lose {!}{Var:1} more times,
がんばってくれよ」
be in trouble, so keep on fighting!
we’re in deep trouble.”
In the final game it doesn’t matter how many of the optional pre-Huge-Materia battles you lose; the fort will remain standing. No unused check for this mechanic remains in the game code so unfortunately we can’t tell if the number of allowed losses was ever decided.
Likewise, we find that the game has the unseen scenario of Cloud, Tifa and Aeris winning the battle for the Huge Materia and reacting to seeing the powerful shiny rock. Here it is unknown what the planned game mechanic was to be; was the final battle set to trigger after a set number of victories or was the Huge Materia quest set to be available before the death of Aeris? I have found no hints to explain the original conditions behind the final winning scenario.
Of course I can’t avoid mentioning the fact that the game doesn’t even try to hide the original mechanic to allow only a limited number of losses. When the man in the shed thanks you for offering your services, he will say:
[CONVIL_2 Text]
“Let’s get back to basics.
「話を元へもどそう。
If the enemy reaches this shed,
もしこの小屋に敵が進入したときには
you’ll have to fight them off
君たちが直接戦わなければならなくなる」
immediately.”
It’s not the end of the world,
「まあ、１回負けたからといって
but if you lose repeatedly,
それで、終わりにはならないけど
it could be dangerous.”
何度も負けてしまうと、危険だね」
When Cid is the party leader and this is your first go at Fort Condor, the strategist guy will use a different line that does not include the comment about ‘losing repeatedly’.
Then we have the comment in the tutorial if you ask about “conditions for victory”. Same here that this specific line is not used when Cid is the party leader.
[CONVIL_2 Text]
“If you lose during direct
「もし直接戦って負けてしまい
contact, and even if the enemy
魔晄炉に取り付かれても
gets to the reactor,
ある程度までならなんとかなる」
there’s still a chance to win.”
“But, it’s only a slight chance,
「ある程度といったが、どれくらい耐えられるかは
and we have no idea how much
実際にやってみなくてはわからないと思う」
the reactor can endure in an attack.”
No other part of the game, used or unused, speaks of a probability factor deciding whether the fort falls or stands. From the used text alone though we see that Kazuhiko Yoshioka, the event planner for Fort Condor and its minigame, was playing around with more ideas for how the sidequest was to work.
Not only that, but the old man (CONVIL_1) keeps track of your loss count. Lose a battle (that is, lose both the battlefield segment and the “boss” battle), leave the fort, then go back and talk to the old man.
“Up to now,
「これまでに{SpecDE}回負けてしまいましたね。
So far, you’ve lost {SpecDE} times.
you’ve lost {!}{Var:1} times.
あまり、負けてしまうと取り返しが
If you keep losing, you won’t
If you lose too many times,
つかないことになってしまいますよ」
be able to recover.
you won’t be able to come back.”
The counter is obscure not only because it is only seen when you have lost one or more times, but because the battles are so easily won and anyone who might lose is more likely to hit the reset button than to continue playing.
We now get back to the unused text.
Scenario: You’ve come at a good time
If you promised to help the old man before the Huge Materia sidequest began, he will be relieved for your arrival once the final battle for the Huge Materia draws near. Whatever the mechanic was meant to be, in the earlier draft Cloud, Tifa and Aeris could be present at this point.
“You’ve come at a good time.
「いいところへ来てくれた。
You’ve come at a good time.
Shinra’s changing its strategy now.”
神羅がやり方を変えてくるぞ」
Shinra’s changing its strategy now.
“It seems that Shinra will destroy
「どうやら、魔晄炉を破壊して
It seems that Shinra intends to destroy
the reactor and then take out
中からマテリアを
the reactor somehow, and retrieve the
the Materia that’s inside.”
取り出すつもりらしい」
Materia that’s inside.
{Cloud}
CLOUD
Cloud:
“I see. I guess that means
「そうか、ここもか。
Here, too, huh.
this area, too.”
もう、負けられないな」
We can’t lose again.
“Well, we can’t afford to
lose any more.”
Cloud’s line indicates that battles have been lost in the past, but that is not a necessary condition for the line to appear. Might it be so that, aside from the plot progression prompt, Yoshioka never figured out a mechanic to trigger the final battle other than losing a set of battles? That is, assuming Cloud is talking about losses in Fort Condor and not elsewhere.
{Tifa}
TIFA
“Now is the time to dig in.”
「今が、がんばりどきね」
{Aeris}
AERITH
“We can’t afford to be beaten!”
「負けられない、ね」
Scenario: Congratulations, you won!
The normally impossible presence of Cloud, Tifa and Aeris repeats after victory against Shinra. The programmers forgot to include Red XIII in a part of the ladder system, hence why he has one unused line as well.
Old Man
“Yes, yes, and there’s one thing
「そうそう、それと
I forgot to tell you…”
言い忘れていたことが少し……」
Received Key Item “Huge Materia”!
キーアイテム『ヒュージマテリア』を手にいれた！
The party members split from the party leader.
{Cloud}
CLOUD
“This…is…”
「これは……」
{Aeris}
AERITH
“What is this?”
「な～に？
これは」
{Tifa}
TIFA
“This Materia is really
「このマテリア、すごい……」
out-of-this-world!”
Tifa’s dialogue is the same even if she is the party leader.
{Red XIII}
RED XIII
Red XIII:
“Wow, it’s something!”
「これは、すごいよ！」
Wow, it sure is something!
This line is not included in the dialogue branches, but Red XIII’s own code group has this line flagged. Just link it to the ladder system and voila!
Old Man
“The truth is, this is the Materia
「実は、これがあの魔晄炉の中にあった
The truth is, this is the Materia that was
inside the reactor.”
マテリアなのですよ」
inside the reactor.
[If Cloud is the party leader]
{Cloud}
CLOUD
“Then you’re telling me
「じゃあ、俺たちはマテリアのない
we protected a reactor that
魔晄炉を守っていたわけか……」
didn’t have any Materia inside?”
[If Tifa is the party leader]
{Tifa}
TIFA
“If that’s the case,
「それならそうと言ってくれなくちゃ。
then you should have told us.”
別な戦い方があったかもしれないわ」
“There may have been
another way to fight Shinra.”
[If Cid is the party leader]
{Cid}
CID
“What the hell
「つうことはよ
did we fight for?”
オレ様たちゃ、何のために戦ったんだ？」
Old Man
“I didn’t mean to fool you, but
「だますつもりでは、なかったのですが
I guess that’s how it ended up.
結果的にはそうなってしまいましたね。
I’m really sorry.”
申し訳ありません」
[If Cloud is the party leader]
{Cloud}
CLOUD
“Well…
「いや……
Maybe it was for the best.”
それで良かったのかもしれない」
“Besides, there was no guarantee
「俺たちだって
we’d defeat Shinra.”
絶対に勝てる保証はなかった」
[If Tifa is the party leader]
{Tifa}
TIFA
“No, I think what happened is good.
「いいえ、それで良かったと思います。
‘Cause we didn’t know
私たちも、勝てるかどうか
if we’d win.”
わかりませんでしたから」
[If Cid is the party leader]
{Cid}
CID
“Just forget about it.
「そんなこたぁ、もういいよ。
Anyway, we’re still alive.”
とりあえずは、生きてるからな」
After reviewing the unused text of the shed, we’ll look at the unseen dialogue from losing the final Fort Condor battle with Cloud, Tifa and/or Aeris in the party.
Fort Condor, Watch Room (CONVIL_2)
The image of the condor and its egg is actually a separate layer of CONVIL_2, so in essence we have two maps in one.
“We have {!}{Var:1} allies left,
「味方は、{SpecDE}体残ったから
There are {SpecDE} allies left,
so here’s {!}{Var:1} gil.”
{SpecDE}ギル返すよ」
so here’s {SpecDE} gil.
“We have 20 allies left,
「味方は、２０体残ったから
There are 20 allies left,
so we’ll return 4000 gil to you.”
４０００ギル返すよ」
so here’s 4000 gil.
This abides with the how the final minigame works; for each troop, independent of type, left standing on the field you will receive 200 gil. You can employ a max of 20 troops, so indeed with 20 allies left you’ll get back 4000 gil.
Perhaps formerly the field had one text entry prepared for each remanining number of allies, much like the Chocobo Farm has over a dozen text entries for commutations of Chocobo gender and class.
“Hang in there,
「後、{SpecDE}回負けると危ないから
if we lose {!}{Var:1} more times,
がんばってくれよ」
we’re in deep trouble.”
No such check remains in the code of the final game. For this reason, we do not know what the allowed number of losses was, assuming this was ever even decided upon. As has already been explained, in the final game it is the story (i.e. the plot progression value) that decides when the fort can meet its end.
“How goes it?
「やあ、ひさしぶりだね。
The Shinra troops have attacked
あれから神羅が{SpecDE}回やってきたよ。
{!}{Var:1} times since you were here.”
おかげで資金がかなり減ってしまった」
“So we’re getting a little short
on funds.”
“You’re just a little too late…
「ちょっと、遅かったな。
You’re just a little too late…
They attacked when
つい先ほど神羅に
They attacked when
you weren’t here.”
攻めこまれてしまったよ」
you weren’t here.
「次はもうすこし早く
Next time,
来てくれよな」
try to get here faster.
The unflagged line became useless when the text entry with the counter was introduced.
“You must pay for every weapon you set up.
「一度設置したものを、てっきょしても
Each piece of equipment you set up costs a certain
Even if you decide to move it later,
設置するために使った費用があるので
amount to install, so even if you remove it,
you can only get back
設置に要したギルの半分しか返ってこないぞ」
you can only get back half of what you spent.
half of the gil you spent.”
“Weapon” refers to the “Shooters” you can deploy: Stoners, Tristoners, Catapults and Fire Catapults. You can delete these from the battlefield but you can’t move them, so the translation should be “Even if you decide to remove it later“.
Removing the shooters will not give you back any gil whatsoever, so what we read above is another mechanic that was either scrapped or they forgot to implement it.
Received “{!}{Var:1} gil”!
『{SpecDE}ギル』をもらった！
Received “40,000 gil”!
『４００００ギル』をもらった！
If you’ve given gil to the fort, before the final battle you’ll receive the gil you’ve deposited. The strategist will say, “Let’s give them all the gil we have!”
However when your funding reaches 30,000 gil, later deposits will be denied. The max value is 32,767 gil, so even if you make a large deposit before reaching 30,000 that should exceed this amount, the final value will not be greater than 32,767. Ergo, receiving 40,000 gil is impossible in the final game.
Here we see two debug lines which no doubt must have been used quite fervently.
scenario = {!}{Var:1}
「シナリオフラグ＝{SpecDE}」
Scenario Flag = {SpecDE}
number of defeats = {!}{Var:1}
「負けた回数 ＝{SpecDE}」
Number of Defeats = {SpecDE}
“Scenario” might have decided if the present battles were the optional ones, or if this was the final battle for the Huge Materia.
☞ win
☞ かち
☞ Win
☞ lost
☞ まけ
☞ Lose
To speed up debugging, this line probably appeared in the place of the actual minigame to work out the scenarios. Though a battle only counts as a loss if you lose both the minigame and the “boss” battle, we can’t be sure whether the above options led to the post-minigame scenes or the post-boss-battle scenes.
We now find a problem that is exclusive to the English version of the game. When winning battle #10, #11 or #12 in the list of optional battles, the receipt line for the reward will be too small to display any text.
But when the text entry is expanded, we see this:
Received three “Elixir”!
『エクスポーション』を５個手にいれた！
Received 5 “X-Potion”!
Depending on the settings of your script viewer, this text entry will either be empty or claim that you receive three Elixir. This is because occassionally an empty text entry will adopt the entry that is next in line. This phenomenon is especially prevalent with location names and we shall see an example of this later on in Mount Corel. So although the English game appears to be lying, this receipt line was in fact never translated. Victory in battle #13 and upward, not counting the Huge Materia battle, will reward you with three Elixir.
Fort Condor: The Bad Ending (CONDOR2)
Final Fantasy VII : The Shakespeare Edition
If you lose the battle for the Huge Materia, your party leader will fall unconscious in the shed, then wake up here, with no access to the fort as Shinra has killed all its inhabitants and taken the Huge Materia. Many will never have unlocked this scenario due to how easy the minigame and the optional boss battles are. Despite its esoteric nature, I shall have this section present only the unused text.
{Cloud}
CLOUD
“What happened?”
「どうなったんだ」
{Tifa}
TIFA
Tifa:
“Where are all the villagers?”
「村のみんなは？」
What happened to all the villagers?
{Aeris}
AERITH
Aerith:
“Where is everybody?”
「みんなは？」
What happened to everyone?
With each line the character stands up.
{Cloud}
CLOUD
“You mean to tell me
「俺たちだけが
we’re the only ones who made it?”
助かったのか……」
{Tifa}
TIFA
“I couldn’t do anything.
「私、なにもできなかった。
It was just too much.”
あまりにも……」
{Aeris}
AERITH
Aerith:
“I…
「わたし……
I……
I couldn’t save anyone…”
命、救えなかった……」
I couldn’t save their lives……
Scenarios now split depending on who is the party leader.
Scenario: Cloud as the Party Leader
{Cloud}
CLOUD
Cloud:
“You mean to tell me
「俺の力はこんなものだったのか？
This is how strong I am?
that’s the extent of my powers?”
この程度なのか……
So, this is as good as it gets…
“So that’s as good as it gets?
これじゃ神羅にも……セフィロスにも……」
At this rate, I’ll never beat Shinra… Or Sephiroth…
At this rate I’ll never beat
the Shinra…let alone Sephiroth…”
{Barret}
BARRET
Barret:
“Yeah, ain’t no way you gonna win.”
「ああ、勝てねぇよな」
Yeah, we couldn’t win…
“But if we give up now,
「でもよ、このままやめちまったら
But if we give up now,
what’s gonna happen to Fort Condor?”
コンドルフォートの連中に
we’ll never make it up to the
もうしわけねえぜ」
citizens of Fort Condor.
{Tifa}
TIFA
Tifa:
“No, {Cloud}.
「ダメよ、CLOUD
No, Cloud.
You mustn’t give up.
あきらめちゃダメ」
You mustn’t give up.
Survivors never give up.”
「生き残った私たちが、がんばらなくちゃ」
We survivors have to keep fighting.
{Aeris}
AERITH
“{Cloud}…
「CLOUD……
Cloud……
You won’t find the answer
自分責めても、答え、見つからないよ」
You won’t find the answer by blaming yourself.
by blaming yourself.”
「現実は現実……
What’s done is done…
“Things are the way they are…
でも、思いつめてもしかたない……ね？」
But there’s no use brooding over it… right?
But you can’t blame yourself
for that, right?”
{Red XIII}
RED XIII
Red XIII:
“Don’t be too hard on yourself,
「あんまり悩まないで、CLOUD。
Don’t be too hard on yourself, Cloud.
{Cloud}.
先のこと、考えようよ」
Think of the future.
Let’s think about
what we should do next.”
{Yuffie}
YUFFIE
“No use crying over spilt milk.
「ま、やっちゃったことは
Right?”
しょうがないよね」
{Cait Sith}
CAIT SITH
“Geez, you don’t pull any punches do you?
「きっついなぁ。
We’ll just try not to fail next time.”
次、失敗せんようにせんと」
{Vincent}
VINCENT
Vincent:
“We have to fight to
「これ以上、犠牲を増やさぬため
We have to keep on fighting to avoid
avoid any more casualties.”
戦わなければならないのではないか？」
anyone else being sacrificed, right?
{Cid}
CID
Cid:
“We’ll do it next time, OK?”
「次がんばろうや、な？」
We’ll do our best next time, OK?
{Cloud}
CLOUD
Cloud:
“Yeah.”
「そうだな」
That’s right.
“They’ve had their fun,
「これ以上、やつらの思い通りにはさせない。
We can’t let them have it their way anymore.
but it’s over as of now!
もう、悲しみは増やさない」
There isn’t gonna be anymore suffering!
There isn’t gonna be
any more suffering.”
The party joins Cloud and the player gains free mobility.
Scenario: Tifa as the Party Leader
As a reminder, Tifa is only the party leader on disc 2 when Cloud is still missing.
{Tifa}
TIFA
“{Cloud}…
「CLOUD、私……
What should I do?”
どうしたらいいの？」
{Barret}
BARRET
“{Tifa}…”
「TIFA……」
{Red XIII}
RED XIII
“…”
「……」
{Yuffie}
YUFFIE
“{Cloud}
「CLOUDか
I wonder what’s going to happen?”
どうなっちゃうんだろ」
{Cait Sith}
CAIT SITH
“Y’know, worryin’ only tires you out.
「気にしすぎたらしんどいだけやで。
Why don’t you take it easy?”
もうちょい楽にしいや」
{Vincent}
VINCENT
Vincent:
“You’ve got no choice
「今は耐えるほかはないな」
You’ve got to endure it for now.
but to take it for now.”
{Cid}
CID
“Oy, such a bitter pill to swallow.”
「ちっ、しょっぺえなあ」
Scenario: You’ve lost! Now go visit Cloud & Tifa!
In the case that the North Corel mission has already been completed, Cid will talk about going back to Mideel. Again, just like in the scenario that you won, a reaction by Vincent gets left out because he is the last character in the ladder system.
{Vincent}
VINCENT
Vincent:
“{Cloud}, it’s you.”
「CLOUDだな……」
It’s Cloud, isn’t it…
Thusly we end our tour of the unused content of Fort Condor; a primary example of how messy the planning and execution of FFVII could be at times and how even the used text hints at scrapped ideas.
Under Junon, Resuscitating Priscilla (UJUNON4)
Junon, Costa del Sol and Mt. Corel are all areas that Motomu Toriyama was responsible for. He left behind surprisingly little in Junon, but the two latter areas will present us with some entertaining bits.
Location Name
Dolphin Offing
イルカのいりえ
Dolphin’s Cove
“Just take a deep breath, hold it in.
「とにかく息を大きく吸いこんで
Just take a deep breath,
Then breathe into her.”
限界までに息を止める。
and hold it as long as you can.
そして、その息を口うつしするのじゃ」
Then breathe into her.
“Understand?”
「わかったか？
☞ Once more
☞ もう一回
☞ Got it
☞ わかった
The tutorial is always present during the CPR event making the above dialogue unnecessary.
“That’s still not enough!”
「まだ、たりん！」
Then why don’t you do it yourself, old man?!
“What are you doing?
「何をしとる！？
What are you doing?! Hurry up, hold your
Hurry up! Breath deeply and
早く息を止めて人工呼吸するんじゃ」
breath, and give her mouth-to-mouth!
give her mouth to mouth!”
Pressing Square then letting the bar reach the top of Cloud’s lungs four times will cause the elderly man to use the above line. Not unused, just easy to miss.
Under Junon, Inn (JUMIN)
{Tifa}
TIFA
“{Cloud}, come here.
「CLOUD、ちょっと来て。
Everyone’s here.”
みんなそろってるわ」
Intended for after Cloud wakes up and before he asks Tifa about Nibelheim. Simply add this line of code to the scene choreography at the proper place.
{Aeris}
AERITH
“Want to rest?”
「休もっか？」
{Aeris}
AERITH
“What are you thinking?”
「何かんがえてんの？」
Her inquiry would fit in the scenario when Cloud wakes up and is deep in thought about Nibelheim. It could also be an alternate line for when she asks Cloud if the party should rest.
Dolphin’s Beach, High Voltage Tower (UJUNON3)
Location Name
Dolphin Offing
イルカのいりえ
Dolphin’s Cove
Accessing the menu will still yield this location name as it is the same one used in the previous field you were in.
Junon, Hallway (JUNIN1)
Shinra Commander
“Here!!
「ほれっ！！
Now, see here!!
Get in the room!”
部屋にはいらんかっ！」
Are you getting in the room or what?!
“I’m sorry.
「ごめんね。
Not yet.”
まだなの」
Is this Cloud denying that he has to follow the commander’s orders? Is it a debug line? Is it a soldier saying that the parade has not started yet? In the final game you will not have access to this area until after the parade has begun.
Training Session #1, Locker Room (JUNIN1A)
Cloud is now dressed up as a Shinra grunt and has to learn how to march in line! Not much unused here, so for the fun of it I also include the entirety of the (somewhat fragmented) Marching Song lyrics.
Shinra Grunt
“Hey, come on now.”
「こりゃこりゃ！」
Here we go!
Shinra Grunt
“Dum, tada!
「ズンチャカ！
Boom chaka!
Dum, tada!!”
ズンチャッ！！」
Boom cha!!
Shinra Grunt
“Now!”
「さんはいっ！」
And…!
Shinra Grunt
“And…march!!”
「行進はじめ～！！」
“One, two!
Three, four!”
「おいっちにっ！
いっちにっ！」
Rufus—
Rufus Shinra—-
ル～ファウス～
ル～ファウス神羅～
We—are—Shinra Company—-
The new—–President——
わ～れらが～ 神羅カンパニ～
あ～たらしい社長～
Oh—Oh—
Shinra—-
おっ～ おっ～
神羅～
Oh—Oh oh—
Shinra, Inc.—
おっ～ おおっ～
神羅カンパニ～
Realization—of the new era—
New—President—Ru–fus—
ニュ～エイジ～ 時代をきずく～
ル～ファウス新社長～
Oh—Oh—
Shinra—-
おっ～ おっ～
神羅～
Oh—Oh oh—
Shinra, Inc.—
おっ～ おおっ～
神羅カンパニ～
Building—the new era—
Shinra—forev—er—
ニュ～エイジ～ 時代をつくる～
これからも、神羅がいちばん～
After the final line an empty text entry appears (after which the song starts over from the beginning). This is never noticed by the player because all the text boxes related to the lyrics are transparent. Either this empty text entry was included just as a pause or the developers forgot to add lyrics to it.
The empty text entry made visible.
Transition Field (JUNON)
As soon as you follow the Shinra grunts out of the hallway, the game transports you to this field. The ensuing FMV starts playing so quickly, however, that technically you never get to “see” this actual field, but only the FMV rendition of it.
Location Name
Upper Junon
アルジュノン
Al-Junon
Even if you cheat so to allow access to the menu, this can only happen when the FMV has not yet begun playing so the time window is extremely short.
Marching Parade (JUNONR4)
Location Name
Upper Junon
アルジュノン
Al-Junon
Training Session #2, Locker Room (JUNIN1A)
In line with the game’s natural progression, we’re back in the locker room, this time to drill in preparation for a send-off routine for Rufus.
Now, the only way you “present arms” in the final game is after the entire send-off routine at the docks. Pressing any directional button will cause Cloud to “present arms” like the other two Shinra grunts while Triangle, Square and Cross (assuming you did not change the controls) will trigger other animations.
Presumably then, timing this change to the formal stature was to be an important part of the performance. In the final game, however, this military send-off event ends after you perform the special.
This might explain the glaring oversight that the game never teaches you that pressing the OK button triggers the special move. If the “present arms” move was the original finisher, then you can easier see how the developers forgot to adapt the tutorial to this new choreography.
The final game creates a scene around the fact that Cloud comes up with the finishing move but the button prompt is never revealed. Maybe it was actually an excessive focus on the humor in this scene that caused the forgetfulness with the tutorial.
If you are playing the minigame at the docks for the first time, you will in other words be very disoriented at the end.
Basement Pub (JUNPB_3)
“The Shinra people are having a party
「今夜は神羅の人の打ち上げパーティで
Tonight’s the Shinra launch party,
tonight, and we’re all booked up.”
店がいっぱいになるんですよ。
so the shop will be full up.
どうです、あなたもいらしてみたら？」
How ’bout it, will you come?
I would attend but I need to fight Jenova·BIRTH on the Cargo Ship. Sorry.
Soldier Barracks (JUNMIN1)
Shinra Grunt
“Hmmm?
「むっ？
Hmmm?
No rookies!!”
新入りはいかん！！」
No rookies!!
“Only veterans can go through!
「ここはベテランしか通さん！
Only veterans can go through!
Come back when you’ve grown up.”
出直してきなさい」
Come back some other time.
A grunt is guarding the entrance to the ‘Expert Hall’ tutorial room below. In the final game you are allowed entrance even when in the Shinra uniform but perhaps earlier on you were denied admittance due to the costume change.
Expert Hall (JUNPB_2)
The unused text found here is almost identical to the one found in the Beginner’s Hall of the Sector 7 Slums (see Part 2, second page).
{Cloud}
CLOUD
“I’m not so low as to take money off
「おまえたちから金をとるほど
a bunch of low-lifes like you.
落ちぶれちゃいない。
I’m just doing this to kill time.”
ひまつぶしにつきあってやる」
This one is actually a left-over from the Beginner’s Hall, where Cloud will use this line when initiating in conversation with the tough-looking men. The Japanese text is exactly the same in Sector 7 as it is here in the unused Junon equivalent but the English translation is different.
Sector 7, MDS7_W2 dialogue
{Cloud}
CLOUD
“I’m not hard up enough
「おまえたちから金をとるほど
to take money from guys like you.
落ちぶれちゃいない。
But I’ll rap with you for a while.”
ひまつぶしにつきあってやる」
I’ll leave it to the reader to extract humor from the idea of Cloud “rapping”.
{Cloud}
CLOUD
Cloud:
“Wiped Out…
「{Color 5}【全滅】か……
“Wiped out”…? I don’t remember that
I’ve never really seen it,
俺の記憶にはないから、これは人から聞いた話だ」
happening to me, so this is what I’ve heard from others.
but someone told me about it once.”
“When you get Wiped Out, you can
「{Color 5}【全滅】{Color 7}したときに
When you get wiped out, they say the
continue from your last Save Point.
前の{Color 3}【セーブポイント】{Color 7}からかせいだ経験値は
experience points you’ve collected since
Your Experience points will not change.”
そのままのこるという」
the last Save Point will stay the same.
“Even wimps like you should be able to
「おまえたちのような弱いヤツでも
Even weaklings like you should be able to
get out of difficult areas
地道に戦えば、どんな難所でも脱出できるはずだ。
escape rough spots if you keep on fighting.
as long as you fight steadily.
ありがたいことだな」
Lucky for you.
You ought to be thankful for this.”
Having all party members killed off instantly triggers the “Game Over” statement. There is no intermediate “Wiped Out” message or any such status spelled out anywhere.
In the case that you try to trigger the “How to cure party members” tutorial but you don’t have any potions in your inventory, the guy will give you one.
“Man, ex-SOLDIERs sure are cheap.
「せこいなあ、元ソルジャーさん。
You’re awfully stingy, Mr. Ex-SOLDIER.
OK, I’ll GIVE you a Potion…”
そらポーションの一個くらい、さしあげますぜ」
OK, I’ll GIVE you a Potion…
{Cloud}
CLOUD
Cloud:
“Thanks.
「悪いな。
Sorry.
I’ll take that as my pay.”
報酬だと思ってもらっておく」
I’ll think of it as my pay.
Performing for Rufus! (JUNDOC1A)
社長好感度 {SpecDE}！
President’s Mood Gauge {SpecDE}
President’s Mood Gauge
社長好感度
The earlier Mood Gauge text box was to use a variable to present your score. The annoyance with this function, however, is that it requires the text window to refresh every time the value of this variable changes; otherwise, it won’t be updated.
To avoid this, the developers ended up using the same animated counter that is used for the mako reactor explosion countdown (among other instances).
Cargo Ship, Interior (SHPIN_2)
Hidden in plain sight between the boxes, in the final game, exists an All materia for the taking.
Put back the “All” Materia…
マテリア『ぜんたいか』を
もとにもどした……
The message strangely lacks brackets. We can’t tell if this was to be the game’s response if your materia list was full or if a sailor was to catch Cloud in the act of stealing the All materia.
No known prompt in the game code leads you to this field but it is easy to picture this clean version of the cargo room as parking space for the buggy during the trips between Costa del Sol and Junon. Any planned scene showing the buggy parked here does not exist, however, as the only field model data here are those of Cloud and the other eight playable characters.
The field entirely lacks exit/entrance data. It has a solid walkmesh so you can walk wherever it appears you should be able to. The field consists only of one bottom layer which means that without a top layer Cloud (or any other field model) is never obscured by the environment. See example below when the model should be only partially visible behind the stairs.
Cloud on the ground.
Cloud on the stairs.
Same effect if you go through the door, plus the field entirely lacks animations so the door can never open, either.
The Dead Speak Silently (SHPIN_3)
“…”
「…………」
The two other deceased NPCs use this same text entry, but the flagged instance by the red commander is normally inaccessible because he is on the other side of a border which triggers a scene that removes him from the field.
The Cargo Ship sure was lacking in unused text. The interested can find a few, scrapped snippets in the Early Material Files, though. It is unknown if those pieces ever existed in the game code.
I used to have dreams of the marshes as a child.