Violence at the Harbour (DEL12)
| Costa del Sol harbor | コスタ・デル・ソル港 | Costa del Sol Harbour |
The Lament of the Shinra Manager
In the summary of the Honey Bee Inn article we learned from page 569 of the FFVII Ultimania Omega that Motomu Toriyama had a tendency to edit scenes a lot. Incidentally, I’ve found that the Shinra Manager only appears in fields which carry the signature of Toriyama. Could it be that the nervous, ill-fated Shinra Manager was a personal creation by this event planner, whom we keep revisiting? In any case, in Costa del Sol the Manager yet again falls victim to Toriyama’s editing frenzy.
AVALANCHE’s initial arrival to the harbor of Costa del Sol takes place on the DEL1 field. Once the player leaves, you are transported to DEL12; this field is solely devoted to the scene with Rufus and Heidegger, so no matter at what point you are in the game this scene will occur every time you visit it.
It is easy to completely miss the fact that the Shinra Manager is in this field. He is a red smear in the background, but events in DEL1 both before and after this scene confirm that this is indeed him. Accordingly, it is easy to miss that when the helicopter is descending onto the platform, the wind gusts slowly cause the crouching Shinra Manager to slide backwards, until he suddenly flies right off the dock!
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| “Damn you Toriyamaaaaaaaaa!” |
The Manager is fulfilling his role as the comic relief. In this used scenario, Rufus and Heidegger will emerge from the cargo ship. They converse, Rufus boards the helicopter, then Heidegger assaults the sailors who end up jumping into the water. Piecing together snippets of unused code and deactivating some used choreography unlocks a slightly different scenario, however.
Rufus and Heidegger do not emerge from the cargo ship. Instead we have to patiently wait for the helicopter to fly to and descend on the platform before anything happens. But what is this? The Shinra Manager did not get blown away by the gusts of wind.
We then see Heidegger stepping out of the helicopter. Before even taking a turn, he knocks the Shinra Manager off the harbor!
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| “They don’t pay me enough for this!” |
The scene lacks any sound effects and due to the event taking place far away in the background, the impact is somehow lessened just as is the case in the final game’s scenario. I decided to pay tribute to Shinra Manager and “improve” the scene somewhat in this 7-second video…
After Heidegger, Rufus steps out of the helicopter as well.
The Lament of Heidegger
From the moment that the field loads to the point when any actual dialogue appears, you have to wait 32 seconds in the final scene. In the older draft, you have to wait just above 60 seconds!
The text in this alternate scene is very similar to the final cut, with the exception of three extra text entries at the very end and the absence of one unimportant line by one of the sailors. Though many text entries are the same as in the final scene, they are activated via unused parts of the game code. For the sake of detail, I still mark the familiar lines as unused whenever their trigger is from a source that is normally not accessed.
As far as the scene choreography goes, the primary difference is that Rufus and Heideigger are further away from the camera in the unused rendition.
| “Geez what a long boat ride!!” | 「長時間の船旅 | Thanks for bearing with us |
| おつかれさまです！！」 | on such a long voyage!! |
A different sailor than in the final scene uses this line.
| Rufus | ルーファウス |
| “Hmmm… | 「ウム…… |
| Good work everyone…” | ごくろう……」 |
| Heidegger | ハイデッカー | Heidegger: |
| “Gya‚haa‚haa!! | 「ガハハハハ！！ | Gya‚haa‚haa!! |
| Hurry up with that!” | スキッフの準備を急げ！」 | Hurry up and ready the skiff! |
| “Yes‚ sir!!” | 「ハッ！！」 |
This is the skipped line that is present in the used scene, but not here in the unused version.
Rufus and Heidegger start walking towards the centre of the dock. In the normal scene it only takes them 7 seconds to reach their designated positions and begin the conversation, but in this scrapped version you have to wait 16 seconds before any text appears.
| Rufus | ルーファウス |
| “I heard Sephiroth was on board.” | 「セフィロスが乗っていたらしいな」 |
| Heidegger | ハイデッカー |
| “…Yes.” | 「……はっ」 |
| Rufus | ルーファウス |
| “And it seems {Cloud} | 「CLOUDたちも乗っていたらしいな」 |
| and the others were on board‚too.” |
| Heidegger | ハイデッカー |
| “…Yes.” | 「……はっ」 |
| Rufus | ルーファウス | Rufus: |
| “They all slipped through… | 「どちらも取り逃がした……。 | They all gave us the slip… |
| You messed up big this time‚Heidegger.” | 大失態だな、ハイデッカーくん」 | You messed up big time, Heidegger. |
| Heidegger | ハイデッカー | Heidegger: |
| “I’m ashamed of myself.” | 「めんぼくない……です」 | I’m ashamed of myself… |
| Rufus | ルーファウス | Rufus: |
| “Is that all you can do?” | 「いつから返事とあやまることしか | Since when have you been able to |
| “Give one word answers | できなくなったのだ…きみは」 | do nothing but apologize…? |
| and apologize for everything?” |
Dialogue is slightly moved around when you compare the used and unused scene. In the final game’s scene, the sailor says, “Ready for departure‚ sir!!” before Rufus’ next line. In the unused scene, the sailor’s dialogue comes first after Rufus says, “I’ll be expecting results.“
| Rufus | ルーファウス |
| “Do something. | 「……なんとかしたまえ。 |
| I’ll be expecting results.” | 期待している」 |
The above is the final line in the used, familiar scene.
| “Ready for departure‚ sir!!” | 「スキッフ発進準備 | The skiff is ready |
| 完了いたしました！！」 | to depart! |
| Rufus | ルーファウス | Rufus: |
| “Very well then. | 「わかった。 | I see. |
| That was fast.” | 早かったな」 | That was fast. |
| 「ウム…君は優秀だ。 | Hm… you’re a good one. | |
| 覚えておこう」 | I’ll remember that. |
| “YES‚SIR!! | 「ハッ！！ | Yes, sir!! |
| Thank you‚sir.” | ありがとうございます」 | Thank you, sir! |
| Rufus | ルーファウス | Rufus: |
| “Remember Heidegger, | 「いいかね？ ハイデッカーくん。 | Get it, Heidegger? |
| Only one more mistake.” | 失敗は１度までだ」 | You only get one mistake. |
| 「次は君が作業服を着ることになる。 | Next time you’ll be wearing work duds. | |
| ポストは少ない……。 | There are only so many posts… | |
| だが、かわりはいくらでもいる」 | But so many who could replace you. |
| “I’m the boss!” | 「オレ、わかだいしょう！」 |
One can interpret that the scrapped dialogue adds an extra layer of humility to Heidegger, as in addition to being scolded by Rufus he has to stand there and listen to this mere sailor being commended by the President. Heidegger’s already in-character outburst thus also becomes an act of revenge against the sailor and not just him attacking whatever is in sight.
Though a bit hard for the eyes, I’ve decided to place snapshots of the used and unused scene next to each other so to allow a more detailed comparison between the two. The left side of each shot has been cropped so to fit within the walls of this article.
| Used | Unused |
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As stated before, the difference between the common elements in both scenes is that our two main Shinra heads are further from the camera in the unused version.
Sailor on a Boat (DEL1)
Moving on from a piece that was left behind after creative decisions, we now find a snippet that became unseen due to a lack of play-testing.
NPCs commonly have a “talk-to circle”, an invisible circle within which a press of the OK button will trigger the talk-to script. The “talk-to circle” command for this sailor NPC is an 8-bit operation; in other words, it can take on any value in and between 0-255. In this case it is set on max value.
What the debuggers missed was that the max value of 255 is not nearly enough for this sailor who is standing on a boat some distance from the harbour. The sailor walks back and forth on the boat in an infinite loop but even when he is the closest to the player he is not close enough.
The solution is to change the command to a 16-bit operation, allowing values in and between 0-65535. Set the talk-to circle to at least 411 (lower values can work but they make the task needlessly difficult) and the sailor will be possible to converse with when he is standing the closest to the harbour.
| “Ride the Shinra ship? | 「神羅のスキッフ、乗ってみたいかい？」 | Wanna try a ride on the Shinra skiff? |
| A: Yeah, I could go for that | A: そうだな、悪くないな | A: Yeah, I could go for that |
| B: Don’t think I could steer it | B: そうじゅう、難しそうだな | B: Looks tough to steer. |
| A: | “Oh…is that so?” | 「そうか……そうなのか」 |
|---|---|---|
| “Yep! | 「う～ん！ | |
| Actually, we do have an old junker | 中古の払い下げスキッフがあるんだけど | |
| we’re gonna get rid of, | 観光客相手の商売でもはじめようかと | |
| And I was thinking about | 思ってね」 | |
| going into the tourist business.” | ||
| “But it’s probably tougher than it looks | 「でも、いざやるとなると大変だから…。 | |
| I better think this through a little more…” | もすこし、考えさせてよ」 |
| B: | “Yeah. | 「そうだよな！ |
|---|---|---|
| It’s too much for an amateur!” | 素人には無理だよな！」 |
In North Corel we’re going to see one more case of a talk-to circle that is set at a too-low value.
Costa del Sol Square, Unknown NPC (DEL2)
| “Yo! Wassup! | 「よぅ！ 元気！！ |
| We jus’ hangin’ out!!” | オイラ、のんき！！」 |
| “Oh, the sun’s so bright! | 「あ～ん！ まぶしい太陽！ |
| Looks like another wonderful day!” | 今日もいい天気！」 |
The tone implies a male NPC but without complete context we can’t know if he is alone and meant to say “I’m jus’ hangin’ out” or if he is there with a companion.
Shinra Villa, Expensive Basement Items (DELMIN1)
| “All items in the basement | 「地下室の品は、ほんのサービスですよ。 |
| are included in the sale.” | まあ、お金でもたまったら |
| またおいでください」 | |
| “Well, | 「もっとも、ゴールドソーサーで |
| please come by again | ひとやま当てたりでもしなけりゃ |
| if you should strike it rich.” | むりでしょうけどねえ」 |
| “I wouldn’t hold my breath | |
| waiting for that to happen | |
| unless you win big at Gold Saucer.” |
The basement (DELMIN12) treats you to a weapon for Tifa, a weapon for Barret and then a Fire Ring. In the final game the items are always there for the taking and the guy sleeping in the basement will in fact make a point that all the items are for free. The weapons may be useful at this early point in the game, and the ring that allows you to absorb fire elemental attacks is a nice addition; but it is nowhere near a worthy reward for a villa that costs 300,000 gil.
It is safe to assume that when the above script was written the basement items and maybe even the cost of the villa was still under revision.
He tells you to return if you should “ever strike it rich at Gold Saucer”, which completely ignores the fact that you never win any gil there. You can get items which might be worth selling, but that’s it.
Costa del Sol, Hotel (DELINN)
| “Save Point” | 【セーブポイント】 |
| Access the menu and select | メニューを開いて{Color 3}「セーブ」{Color 7}を選ぶと |
| [SAVE] save your game. | ゲームの状態を保存できます。 |
The world map is only two loading screens away, which pretty much makes a Save Point in this field unnecessary.
| “Be careful!” | 「お気をつけて！」 |
The inn keeper has a used, similar line. The context of the unused line might be something different, such as your party wreaking havoc in the inn, or he might merely be telling you to be cautious.
| “Good morning. | 「おはようございます。 |
| Be careful traveling.” | 道中お気をつけて」 |
It is dangerous to go alone. Take this “Soft” item!
Johnny’s New Home, Copied Excerpt (DELMIN2)
| “If you can’t do it, then I will! | 「あんたにできなきゃ、俺がやる！！ |
| And that’s that! | ただそれだけだ！ |
| I’m gonna do my best, | 俺もがんばるから、あんたもがんばれ！」 |
| so you hang in there too!” |
This is actually used, but as a part in a bigger text entry. Because of the used line being spoken by Johnny, I assume he is the speaker in the unused snippet above as well.
| Johnny | ジョニー | Johnny: |
| “No, no, NO!! | 「ダメだダメだダメだ！！ | No, no, NO!! |
| Meteor’s getting closer every minute!!” | メテオがどんどんでかくなってる！！」 | Meteor’s getting bigger every minute!! |
| “I wanna live my life right now!! | 「俺はいまがむしゃらに生きたい！！ | I want to live on the edge!! |
| I want to build a home | 彼女といっしょに生きのびて | I want to grow old with her, |
| and grow old together with her!” | 所帯をもつのだ！！」 | have a family together!! |
| “If you can’t do it, then I will! | 「あんたにできなきゃ、俺がやる！！ | If you can’t do it, then I will! |
| And that’s that!” | ただそれだけだ！ | And that’s that! |
| “I’m gonna do my best, | 俺もがんばるから、あんたもがんばれ！」 | I’m gonna do my best, so you hang in there too! |
| so you hang in there too!” |
La Playa del Sol (DEL3)
As many will recall, Hojo is surrounded by a small “harem” of women who openly worship him.
| “Professor Hojo is so sweet. | 「宝条博士ってやさしいんだよ。 | Professor Hojo is so sweet. |
| He’s going to experiment on me.” | わたしを実験してくれるんだって」 | He said he’s going to experiment on me! |
Do I even need to remind you that Motomu Toriyama’s signature is all over the Costa del Sol fields?
| “Hmm. Man, I’m draggin’ today. | 「う～ん、調子でません。 | Hmm. Man, I’m draggin’ today. |
| It’s all Shinra’s fault.” | これも神羅の男たちのせいさ」 | It’s all Shinra’s fault. |
| “I really hate Shinra, Inc.! | 「うらむよなあ、神羅カンパニー！ | I really hate Shinra, Inc.! |
| They’re all crooked, those Shinra.” | 悪者だよな、神羅」 | They’re all crooked, those Shinra. |
| “Hmm… | 「へヘ…… | Hehe… |
| What a bitter guy | でも、これってひがみってやつだなあ。 | But I guess that makes me a cynic. |
| Chill out a bit.” | さわやかじゃないなあ」 | Talk about a drag. |
No known NPC in this field exhibits this attitude so we can’t make a good guess as to who this line belongs to.
Now, let us head for the mountains of Corel!
Mt. Corel, Railroad Event (MTCRL_3)
The Japanese location names for Mt. Corel includes the note that you are either in the east or west part of these mountain terrains. You start off in the eastern area but once you get to MTCRL_3 you are officially in the west area. This detail was lost during localization, leaving out all pointers to compass directions.
Something is different about invisible Barret
Barely anything remains from the unused scene in this field. The text includes lines by all party members that the story makes available at this point, but no field model data exist for Aeris, Red XIII or Yuffie. Barret’s white-shirt “flashback self” exists, but not his present gun-arm version so he is effectively missing as well.
Aside from the text, the game code has unused actions by Cloud and Tifa, an unused prompt to cause the party to split from the party leader, and an activation of a flag which was to be the marker designating that “this scene has happened now and will not happen again”. Most surely, a border on the map was meant to trigger the party split and subsequent scene, but due to the lack of such a border I had the scene start out with Cloud walking to a designated position (one of his unused actions) as soon as he enters the field.
| BARRET | Barret: | |
| 「なあ、CLOUD……」 | Hey, Cloud… |
| CLOUD | Cloud: | |
| 「どうした？ | What is it? | |
| おかしな声だすなよ」 | Quit sounding weird. |
| BARRET | Barret: | |
| 「…………チッ…！ | ……Jeez…! | |
| なんでもねぇよ」 | It ain’t nothin’. |
| TIFA | Tifa: | |
| 「ひそひそ…… | Psst… | |
| （BARRET、なんだか変ね）」 | (Something’s different about Barret.) |
| AERITH | Aeris: | |
| 「ひそひそ…… | Psst… | |
| （BARRET、元気ないね）」 | (Barret looks kind of down.) |
| RED XIII | Red XIII: | |
| 「彼が物静かになるとは | It’s a wonder to | |
| 私にとっては、大いなる驚異だな」 | see him quiet. |
| YUFFIE | Yuffie: | |
| 「ありゃ、トイレがまんしてんな。 | Hey, I’m waitin’ for a toilet! | |
| そこらへんですりゃいいのにさ」 | I could go over there, but… |
Yuffie, who should be an experienced traveller at this point, is having an issue with finding lavatories for some reason?
In comparison, Barret’s anxiousness before reaching the new home of his old village comrades is highly downplayed in the final game, reduced to merely a sigh in MTCRL_0.
| {Barret} | BARRET |
| “… ahh.” | 「…………ああ」 |
We’ll see another unused sign of his troubled mind once we get to the bridge.
Call the Railroad Maintenance Department (MTCRL_4)
When the railroad breaks beneath Cloud’s feet, an FMV is initiated and then you are instructed to hold left or right and press the OK button repeatedly. The game then takes you to MTCRL_5. There are two items, one on the left and one on the right side of the screen, so the point is to end up in either if these sections after the previous button-mashing.
| うわ～！！ | Whoa!! | |
| Get the treasure by holding | 【方向キーの左】か【方向キーの右】を押しながら | If you keep hitting Circle while holding |
| the Left or Right Directional buttons down | left or right on the D-Pad to soar | |
| while repeatedly pressing [OK]! | 【○ボタン連打】で空をおよげば、お宝ゲット！ | through the sky, you’ll get the treasure! |
| うわ～！！ | Whoa!! | |
| Hold down the Left Direction button | {左キーを押しながら | If you keep hitting Circle while holding left on the |
| while repeatedly pressing [OK] | ○連打で空をおよげば、お宝ゲット！ | D-Pad to swim through the sky, you’ll get the treasure! |
| to get the treasure! |
| うわ～！！ | Whoa!! | |
| Hold down the Right Direction button | 右キーを押しながら | If you keep hitting Circle while holding right on the |
| while repeatedly pressing [OK] | ○連打で空をおよげば、お宝ゲット！ | D-Pad to swim through the sky, you’ll get the treasure! |
| to get the treasure! |
What we see here is that the tutorial, seemingly, was to change depending on whether or not you had already gotten an item on the left or the right side of MTCRL_5. No such change happens in the final game.
It’s Morphin’ Time (MTCRL_6)
| {Yuffie} | YUFFIE |
| “I don’t want to have to | 「あんなとこまで |
| go all that way!” | いきたかないよ！」 |
This is Yuffie showing reluctance to go to the shack and press the switch to lower the bridge.
| “Morph Menu” | 『へんせいメニュー』 | Formation Menu |
The best guess is that “Morph Menu” was the event tester’s alternate name for the “PHS Menu” and that this message appeared before the menu was implemented.
Coincidentally, this text entry marks one of the few cases where the English text is different between the American and the English European localization of FFVII. The European game says “Order Menu” instead of “Morph Menu”. Only a handful more cases exist where the text entries are different, with the most dramatic being that in the Beginner’s Hall and Expert Hall the name “PlayStation” has been replaced with the word “Console” in the European version.
| [Save Point] | 【セーブポイント】 |
| Access the menu and select | メニューを開いて{Color 3}「セーブ」{Color 7}を選ぶと |
| [SAVE] to save your game. | ゲームの状態を保存できます。 |
As per usual, there is no remaining save point data.
Bird Nest (MTCRL_8)
| {Aeris} | コレル山・西 | Mt. Corel, West |
| “How cute!!” |
The text entry for the location name is empty in the English game, so it jumps to the next available ID instead, which is why it displays Aeris’ used text entry in the menu. This normally is impossible to spot because access to the menu is denied.
Conversations on a Swaying Bridge (MTCRL_9)
Activate the normally inactive border and the scene is there for your viewing. Much like the Shinra Manager’s presence in Costa del Sol, the scene could have benefited from having the characters closer to the camera. The above screenshot shows the game in its default PSX performance and indeed there are not many pixels to direct your eye towards.
Yet again, the dialogue windows are empty in the English game.
So, the characters split from Cloud near halfway across the bridge. Here is what happens with Yuffie in your party.
| CLOUD | Cloud: | |
| 「んっ……？ | Huh…? | |
| おまえがなに考えてるのか | I think I have a pretty good idea | |
| だいたい想像がつくな」 | what you’re planning to do. |
| YUFFIE | Yuffie: | |
| 「ヘンだ！！ | Whatever!! | |
| やってやるよ！」 | I’m going to do it anyway! |
Yuffie is the first character the game checks for in your party. Next up is Tifa.
| TIFA | Tifa: | |
| 「すごいながめね。 | What an amazing view. | |
| すいこまれそう」 | I feel like it could swallow me up. |
| CLOUD | Cloud: | |
| 「こわいか？」 | Are you scared? |
| TIFA | Tifa: | |
| 「ほんのちょっとね」 | Just a little. |
| CLOUD | Cloud: | |
| 「大丈夫だ」 | It’s alright. | |
| A: 俺が受けとめてやる | A: I’d catch you. | |
| B: TIFAなら落ちても死なないよ | B: A fall wouldn’t kill you, Tifa. |
The Japanese line “TIFAなら落ちても死なないよ”, specifically calls out that Cloud is convinced Tifa would survive a fall, but he is not sure if anybody else would live after that.
| A: | TIFA | Tifa: | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 「CLOUDって誰にでもそういうこと | Cloud, I bet you’d | ||
| 言ってそうだよね」 | say that to anyone. |
| B: | TIFA | Tifa: | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 「あっ、ひど～い。 | Ah, you’re terrible. | ||
| そんなこと思ってるわけ！」 | How can you think that! |
Next, the game checks if Aeris is in your party.
| AERITH | Aeris: | |
| 「CLOUD……」 | Cloud… |
| CLOUD | Cloud: | |
| 「こわいか？」 | Are you scared? |
| AERITH | Aeris: | |
| 「……うん」 | …Yeah. |
| CLOUD | Cloud: | |
| 「大丈夫だ」 | It’s alright. | |
| C: 俺が受けとめてやる | C: I’d catch you. | |
| D: 俺といるほうが危険だ | D: You’re in more danger being with me. |
| C: | AERITH | Aeris: | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 「きゃっ、CLOUD。 | Oo, Cloud… | ||
| たのもしっ！」 | You’re so reliable! |
| D: | AERITH | Aeris: | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 「それもそうかも……」 | You might be right… |
Finally, Barret and then Red XIII are checked.
| BARRET | Barret: | |
| 「帰ってきちまったか……」 | So, I’ve come home… |
| RED XIII | Red XIII: | |
| 「人間とは不思議な生き物だな」 | Humans are mysterious creatures. |
Red XIII’s reaction is always the same no matter which other character is in your party.
Despite all the dialogue options given, Love Points are never affected here.
| Barret “So, I’ve come home…” |
North Corel, The Kid and his Materia (NCOREL)
| “” | 「」 |
Placeholder text entry with nothing but brackets.
| “I wanna play at the Gold Saucer…” | 「ゴールドソーサーで遊びてぇよ… |
| “And it’s only a Ropeway ride away… | 「ロープウェイに乗るだけで行けるのに |
| but I don’t have enough money to play…” | 金がねぇから遊べねぇんだよ…」 |
Remember the sailor in Costa del Sol with the small talk-to circle? This is another such case. Normally, you trigger this NPC’s script by talking to the border functions that surround him. This is what makes you able to enter his shop.
It is possible to walk up very close to this store owner, but his normal non-shop NPC dialogue can’t be triggered because he completely lacks a talk-to circle! Implement the 8-bit version of the talk-to range/circle code and set the value on 86 or higher. (85 is possible, but makes talking to him needlessly difficult.)
When you exit his second dialogue box, his model instantly changes direction to look south even if he is in the middle of his sighing animation.
Now, the kid who finds the Ultima Materia doesn’t exist in this field, but judging from this unused dialogue he was at least planned to be here. In the final game you can receive the Materia either in:
– NCOREL3, the “Huge Materia Mission Successful” field, identical in appearance to NCOREL.
– NCOIN2, the tent. If your Materia inventory was full in NCOREL3, you can return here later to receive the Materia from the kid.
– NCOREL2, the “Huge Materia Mission Failed” field where North Corel has been almost completely demolished. Buy the glowing stone from the kid for 50,000 gil.
| “Sometimes, I see something glowin’ | 「時々イドの中で何かが光るの。 |
| inside the well. | ひろったら、お金にかえて |
| If I ever get it, I’m going to sell it | ゴールドソーサーへ行くんだもん」 |
| and go to the Gold Saucer.” |
Pretty much what he says inside the tent, although neither the English nor the Japanese text is exactly the same.
| “I’m gonna keep diggin’ in this well | 「このイドをず～っとほって | I wanna keep diggin’ in this well till I come |
| till I come out | 世界のうらがわまで行きたいな」 | out on the other side of the world. |
| on the other side of the world…” | ||
| “Then, I’m going to make lotsa friends.” | 「そしたら友だちを | Then, I’m going to |
| いっぱいつくるんだもん」 | make lotsa friends. |
In the tent, the kid instead says that when he grows up he will travel the world collecting glowing stones. A much more realistic goal, wouldn’t you say?
| “I got this out of that well. | 「イドの中からひろい上げたんだ。 |
| This rock must REALLY be something!!” | きっとスゴ～イ石だよ！！」 |
The exact same Japanese line is spoken by the kid inside the tent.
| “Whoops… | 「あれれ、おじさん？ |
| You can’t hold all those.” | それじゃ、持ちきれないよ」 |
| “Here, I’ll keep it in my pocket, | 「ポケットにしまっておくから |
| and you can come by later and | また、あとで取りにきてね！」 |
| get it, OK?” |
This unused bit is identical to the used version in the NCOREL3 (Successful Mission) field. Aside from a shorter first row, it is also identical to this same line by the kid inside the tent.
| Received “Ultima” Materia! | 『アルテマ』のマテリアを手にいれた！ |
Receipt lines are naturally the same in all iterations.
Corel, The Mining Town (COREL2)
We are now going through the fields for Barret’s flashback as told in the ropeway station.
| 0 | ０番街 | Sector 0 |
What is this location name doing here? Well, it actually appears in COREL3, CORELIN, BUGIN3 and MD_E1 as well.
 |
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| COREL3 | CORELIN |
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| BUGIN3 | MD_E1 |
So what does COREL2 and these four other fields have in common? The field author for all of these is Jun Akiyama. His credentials include being the planner for the excellent Snowboard minigame and (as the interview from the 10th Anniversary Ultimania reveals) creating many scenes for Yuffie because he felt a strong attachment to that character.
It is possible that these five fields once belonged in a duplicate group; in other words, they may have shared more text at some point but Akiyama did not bother to delete the unused location names. The actual “Sector 0” name naturally stems from MD_E1.
| That’s the first time I ever heard | 「魔晄炉」という名を初めて | I hadn’t heard the name “Mako |
| “Mako Reactor” mentioned since then… | 耳にする、あの時までは…… | Reactor” before then… |
| We all dreamt of the good life. | オレたちは豊かな生活を夢みていた。 | We all dreamt of the good life. |
| Then, all of a sudden, Shinra troops came… | しかし……突然神羅の軍が…… | But…suddenly the Shinra army… |
Corel, Mayor’s House (CORELIN)
| 0 | ０番街 | Sector 0 |
Corel is Burning! (COREL3)
Click here for image without the fire.
| 0 | ０番街 | Sector 0 |
Ropeway Station (ROPEST)
After Barret’s story, the guy in the booth tells you to hurry and get on the ropeway.
| “Ride the Ropeway?” | 「ロープウェイに乗りますか？」 | Ride the Ropeway? |
| ☞ Go on | ☞ 乗る | ☞ Ride |
| ☞ Don’t go on | ☞ 乗らない | ☞ Don’t Ride |
| “Ride the Ropeway?” | 「ロープウェイに乗りますか？」 |
| ☞ Yes | ☞ はい |
| ☞ No | ☞ いいえ |
The game code calls this NPC “mogiri”, which is Japanese for “Ticket Collector”. In the final game his presence is completely useless, however, as the actual ticket checks are made only after you’ve entered the Gold Saucer.
| {Tifa} | TIFA |
| “Everyone’s… | 「みんな、いろいろ…… |
| been through a lot of hardship…” | つらいこと持ってるんだね」 |
The party members all react to Barret’s tragic backstory, but this specific reaction by Tifa is not used.
Gold Saucer Entrance (GLDST)
When Cloud rejoins your party on Disc 2 and the Gold Saucer opens again, an NPC will randomly appear in the background and offer to give you GP (Gold Points) in exchange for gil. His used text is coupled with an unused version.
| “Hey, how ’bout it, | 「おっ、兄ちゃんたち | Hey, brother! |
| change your gil into GP?” | どうだい、俺がギルをＧＰに | I’ll change yer gil into GP for ya. |
| 変えてやろうか？」 | Whaddaya say? | |
| ☞ Yeah | ☞ ああ | ☞ Alright. |
| ☞ Not interested | ☞ 興味無いな | ☞ Not interested. |
| “Hey, thanks 1 GP is 100 gil.” |
へへっ、毎度 １ＧＰ１００ギルでいいぜ」 |
| “Would you like | 「ギルをＧＰに換金しますか？ | Shall I change your gil into GP? |
| to change gil” | １ＧＰは１００ギルです」 | 100 gil for 1 GP. |
| ☞ into GP? | ☞ ああ | ☞ Alright. |
| ☞ 1 GP is 100 gils | ☞ いや | ☞ Nah. |
Both the used and unused text specify that 1 GP equals 100 gil but the final game only allows you to buy multiples of 10 GP at a time.
Gold Saucer, Terminal (GLDGATE)
Barret storms off after making it clear that he is no mood to have fun.
| {Tifa} | TIFA |
| “He’ll be fine. | 「あ、でも、だいじょうぶみたい。 |
| He seems to be doing | なんだかいつものBARRET。 |
| a little better now.” | 少し元気でたみたい」 |
| {Aeris} | AERITH |
| “Then, shall we!?” | 「それじゃ、わたしたちも！」 |
This is either directed towards Cloud or the party in general that they should go enjoy the Gold Saucer together.
Gold Saucer, Info Board (GLDINFO)
Walking up to the board in the terminal and pressing the OK button leads you to this screen that introduces you to every saucer level.
| Info Board | 案内板 | Information Board |
Speed Square, Stairs (JET)
Occassionally an NPC (using Johnny’s field model) will appear and announce his recent Speed Square score, impressing the girl next to him.
| “Hey, I finally got 5000 points.” | 「へへへ、ついに５０００点を |
| とったぜ」 |
Placeholders were created for other record announcements.
| “Hey, I finally got ‘Undecided 4′.” | 「へへへ、ついに「未定４」を | Hehehe, I finally got |
| 手に入れたぜ」 | “Undecided 4″! |
| “Hey, I finally got ‘Undecided 5′.” | 「へへへ、ついに「未定５」を | Hehehe, I finally got |
| 手に入れたぜ」 | “Undecided 5″! |
| “I’m dizzy!!” | 「クラクラ～！！」 |
| “Phew…” | 「ふう……」 |
Speed Square, Ticket Purchase Field (JETIN1)
| “Later, just a second.” | 「後、ほんの少～し、まって」 | Wait just a little! |
| “It’s currently under repair…” | 「ただいま、故障中でして…」 | It’s currently out of order… |
| “I’m sorry, please come again.” | 「ごめんなさい、また来てね」 |
| “Wait just a little longer please.” | 「もうチョットまって」 | Wait just a little more! |
The code surrounding the flagged line provides no hints at all regarding at what point in the game this dialogue was to be triggered.
It is equally possible that the Speed Square Shooter was planned to not be instantly available to Gold Saucer visitors or that these were lines to indicate that the minigame was still being worked on. No doubt, this roller coaster shooter took some time to complete.
Battle Square, Signing Up (COLOIN1)
I disregard the game continuity here, as you don’t get to visit this field until after the Corel Prison events.
| “I’m sorry to announce that | 『もうしわけございませんが | I’m terribly sorry, but our stock |
| our prizes have changed. | 商品が変わりましたので | has been changed, meaning |
| Your previous battle points | 前回までのバトルポイントは | your previous battle points |
| are no longer valid.” | 無効になりました』 | are no longer valid. |
This is different from how the Battle Square works in the final game. It looks like in the older design you got to keep your Battle Points as long as the prizes didn’t change. In the final game, however, you lose all your BP as soon as you leave.
| “Well, good luck.” | 「では、お気をつけて」 | Well, take care. |
In the final game the person at the counter never even wishes you good luck! How rude!
Chocobo Racing Square, Signing Up (CRCIN_1)
An NPC in the background of this field can provide you with some tutorials about Chocobo racing.
| “One usually buys tickets for the | 「俺らが普段買っているチョコボ券って | The Chocobo tickets we usually buy |
| B and C rank races, right?” | ＢランクとＣランクレースだろ」 | are for the B and C rank races, right? |
| ☞ Rank? | ☞ ランク？ | ☞ Rank? |
| ☞ Not interested | ☞ 興味ないな | ☞ Not interested |
| “Oh, that’s right.” | 「あっ、そう」 | Oh, I see. |
An unused reaction presumably from picking the “Not interested” option.
| “Welcome | 「ようこそ | Welcome! |
| Please purchase your Chocobo | ここでは、チョコボ券を | You can buy your Chocobo |
| tickets here.” | 買うことができます」 | tickets here. |
| “If your ticket is a winner, | 「お買いになったチョコボ券が | If your Chocobo ticket is a winner, |
| you will receive an item ticket | 的中した場合はパネルに振り分けられた | you’ll receive an item voucher |
| good for items on the panel.” | アイテム券をもらえます」 | good for items of that specific panel. |
| “Your item ticket may be exchanged for | 「アイテム券は入口右の交換所で | Item tickets can be exchanged for |
| an item or GP at the exchange counter | アイテムかアイテムに応じたＧＰに | items or equivalent GP at the exchange |
| to the right of the entrance.” | 変えることが出来ます」 | counter to the right of the entrance. |
This explains the completely pointless “EXCHANGE” counter to the right! The game instead gives you the “Exchange Ticket for GP or Item” option immediately, removing the extra step of having to walk over to the Exchange Counter.
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| “Oh don’t mind me, I’m just here as a leftover from an earlier design phase.” |
| “It should come in pretty soon…” | 「もうしばらくしたら |
| はいると思うの…」 |
An NPC talking about the Chocobo he is betting on?
| “I’m sorry | 「ごめんなさい | I’m sorry. |
| We can’t play yet…” | まだ、遊べないの…」 | You still can’t play yet… |
Yet again and not for the last time, this could be a “Minigame Still In Debugging Process” message as well as a plan to restrict Chocobo Racing in earlier parts of the game.
| Received “Exp Plus” Materia!! | 『経験値アップ』のマテリアを手にいれた！！ |
EXP Plus is never received here. You can buy it later in the first floor of the Wonder Square. The placement of this receipt line in the text data makes it unclear whether Ester was to give this to you or if it was a planned as a reoccurring reward in the Chocobo Races.
| “AUTOMATIC” |
| “SEQUENCE” |
| “MANUAL” |
| “OPERATION” |
These pieces do not exist in the Japanese game. Whatever do they represent? Keep in mind that the English version and the Japanese re-release were being worked on at the same time, with some pieces possibly entering the English game but not being carried over to the International edition.
In all retail editions, “Automatic Sequence” (Auto Pilot) is the default setting when beginning a race and you must press Select to change to “Manual Operation”. Perhaps these unused lines represent a plan to set either one to default before a race? Maybe the localizers planned to remove the Japanese sections in the icons that appear in the minigame?
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Ok, enough with all this speculation. Moving on.
Wonder Square, Terminal (GAMES)
| 『CAIT SITH名前入力』 | “Cait Sith Name Entry” |
‘Event Test’ note to skip the naming process or because the “Name Character” menu was not implemented yet.
Wonder Square, First Floor (GAMES_1)
| “I’m sorry. | 「ごめ～ん | I’m sorry…! You can still only |
| You only played about half the games here…” | ここも、まだ半分くらい遊べないの…」 | play about half the games here… |
The available games on the first floor are never restricted. The second floor has six games, two of which are not playable early on in the game. Again, this might in fact be a debugging note.
| “I can’t get that…” | 「あれが、取れないんだよな…」 |
| “I can’t stop because they have | 「中には、いいのも入ってるから |
| good stuff in ‘em.” | やめられないんだよな」 |
| “I’m just gonna spend all my money | 「もう、こうなったら | At this rate, I’m gonna |
| and play until I drop!!” | ここで、遊びまくって | keep playing forever! |
This line is meant to become available when PPV>1008 (when Meteor has been summoned), but the NPC is also set to be absent at this point!
Wonder Square, Second Floor (GAMES_2)
This field has two “Out of Order” lines that possibly acted as “Minigame Still Under Construction” notes.
| “Out of Order” | 故障中 |
Impossible to determine which specific game this referred to.
| “This place sure gets expensive… | 「まったく、ここは金がかかるなぁ… |
| ‘To play, or not to play’…” | 遊ぶべきか、遊ばざるべきか…」 |
| Your lucky number is {!}{Var:1}. | ラッキーナンバーは{SpecDE} |
No unused flag is directly related to the script of the fortune telling machine, so we don’t know anything about which number interval was to be chosen from.
| “Out of Order” | 調整中 | Under Adjustment |
This one is placed after text related to “Mog House” but before script about “G Bike“, so it might refer to either one.
“Mog’s House” Story Game (MOGU_1)
| Oh? | おや？ |
| It seems like Mog’s decided to | ついにモグは、飛ぶかくごを |
| take another shot at it. | 決めたようです。 |
| All right, Mog, fly! | さあ、飛ぶんだ、モグ。 | All right, Mog, fly! |
| Your future happiness may depend on it. | きみと彼女のしあわせのために。 | Fly for her happiness and yours! |
Battle Square, Terminal (COLOSS)
| “…” | 「……………」 |
Ellipses from a dead Shinra soldier, yet again?
| {Cloud} | CLOUD |
| “!!” | 「！！」 |
The grunt falls down.
Battle Square, Massacre Field (COLOIN2)
| Arena Lobby | 闘技場ロビー |
Same location name as is used and accessible in COLOIN, the normal Battle Square field.
Battle Square, Fighting Arena (CLSIN2_1)
The image rip reveals surrounding areas that are never seen when playing the game normally.
| Arena | 闘技場 |
| {!}{Var:1} | {SpecDE} |
| {!}{Var:1} | {SpecDE} |
| {!}{Var:1} | {SpecDE} |
As you should be familiar with by now, Var:1 and SpecDE is not the actual text here. It is just a way for the script editors to interpret that these represent value checkers. These variables could honestly represent anything. Settings for the party members?
The code for the animation of the water has three initial “variables” in a row. Maybe this line is a debug note for testing the water animations then.
| doing it. | してる |
The Japanese snippet could mean almost anything, but probably represents that something is being tested. In other words it’s another debug line, but with even less context than the other one we just dealt with.
Corel Prison, First Field (JAIL1)
| {Barret} | BARRET |
| “…” | 「………」 |
Sometimes the game’s unused parts are so exciting it makes you swoon, doesn’t it?
Corel Prison, House of Former Mayor (JAILIN2)
| {Cloud} | CLOUD |
| “{Barret}!” | 「BARRET！」 |
| {Barret} | BARRET |
| “Didn’t I tell you not to come here!?” | 「来るなと言ったじゃねえか！」 |
| {Cait Sith} | CAIT SITH | Cait Sith: |
| “Ju…just hold on for a second! | 「ちょ、ちょっとタンマ！ | Ju…just hold on for a second! |
| We just want to talk! | 話し、しましょ！ | Let’s talk! |
| You’ll understand if you just hear us out!” | な、話せばわかるって！」 | You’ll understand if you just hear me out! |
| {Cloud} | CLOUD |
| “{Barret}!!” | 「BARRET！！」 |
In the final game Cloud is silent, standing in a restricted demeanor. Was this a conscious choice by the writers or event planners as a way to show Cloud’s trust in his comrade?
Mt. Corel, Village on Fire (COREL1)
| {Barret} | BARRET |
| “What the hell happened?” | 「なんてこった……」 |
| Dyne | ダイン |
| “What’s done is done.” | 「とりかえしがつかねえ…」 |
Mt. Corel, Bloody Flashback (MTCRL_3)
| Scarlet | スカーレット | Scarlet: |
| “Kyaa, haa, ha!!” | 「キャハハハハハ！！」 | Kyaa, haa, ha!! |
| “You can shoot all day and never | 「下手な鉄砲はいくら撃っても | No matter how much you shoot, |
| hit them with aim like that.” | あたんないんだよ！！」 | those weak guns will never hit anything! |
Scarlet casually shoots one of the grunts, though the final game does not follow up with this line below.
| Scarlet | スカーレット |
| “Kya, ha, ha!!! | 「キャハハハハ！！！ |
| Looks like one hit you!!” | ちゃんと当たるじゃないか！！」 |
| Scarlet | スカーレット |
| “Kya, ha, ha!! | 「キャハハハハハ！！！ |
| Stop playing around | ほら、遊んでないで援護しな！！」 |
| and cover me!!” |
Barret’s hand gets shot and he loses hold of his friend.
| {Barret} | BARRET |
| “Dyyyyyyne!” | 「ダイーーーーーン！」 |
Perhaps this line was to be imposed over the FMV, or maybe the sequence was not originally part of an FMV at all.
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| Barret: “Dyyyyyyne!” |
Barret’s Omitted Confession (JAILIN2)
Like the incomplete tutorial translations in the Chocobo Farm, so does Barret have a revealing line in the Japanese game which was greatly reduced in localization.
| {Barret} | BARRET | Barret: |
| “@#$%! {Tifa}, | 「へっ！ | @#$%! Tifa |
| you oughtta know by now.” | TIFA、もうわかっただろ？」 | you oughtta know by now. |
| 「星を救うなんてカッコつけてるが | I may act like I’m helpin’ the planet, but | |
| オレは神羅に復讐したいだけなんだ。 | really I jus’ want revenge on Shin-Ra. | |
| 自分の気がすむように | I only wanna satisfy my own | |
| したいだけなんだよ！」 | thirst for vengeance! |
In the English game, some players might have derived this insight into Barret’s character from the context of the scene, but the only similar confession in the English edition doesn’t happen until the end of disc 2.
| {Barret} | BARRET |
| “You’re right…” | 「たしかに……」 |
| “It sounds cool sayin’ it’s | 「星を救うってのは、なんとなく |
| to save the Planet.” | カッコいいよな」 |
| “But I was the one who | 「でも、オレにできたのは |
| blew up that Mako reactor……” | あの、魔晄炉爆破だ……」 |
| “Lookin’ back on it now, I can see | 「今となっちゃあ、あんなやりかたは |
| that wasn’t the right way to do things.” | いけなかったってことは良くわかる」 |
| “I made a lot of friends and innocent | 「仲間たちや関係ない大勢の人間を |
| bystanders suffer…” | 不幸にしちまった……」 |
| {Barret} | BARRET |
| “…At first, it was revenge against Shinra. | 「……最初は神羅への復讐だった。 |
| For attackin’ my town.” | オレの故郷を奪ったよ」 |
Corel Desert (DESERT1)
| Corel Desert | コレルサバク |
If you get to this field via JAIL3, the displayed location name will be “Corel Prison”. However you can also get here from DESERT2, a field that does use the location name “Corel Desert”, so taking the path to DESERT1 via DESERT2 will result in the correct location name being displayed in the menu.
Dyne in Hell (DYNE)
| Dyne | ダイン |
Barret confronts Dyne…
| {Barret} | BARRET |
| “{Cloud}, you stay the hell out of it! | 「CLOUD、手を出すな！ |
| This is MY problem!!” | これは、オレの間題だ！！」 |
| Dyne | ダイン |
| “…{Barret}…” | 「……BARRET……」 |
| {Barret} | BARRET |
| “Dyne!!” | 「ダイン！！」 |
| Dyne | ||
| “Back!!” | 「来るな！！」 | Stay away!! |
Whether these unused snippets belong before or after the battle is unknown.
Waiting Room, Chocobo Racing (CRCIN_2)
Players will normally never see the elevator door closed. It has some writings on it which are still indiscernible even in full size.
| Waiting Room | ひかえ室 |
For no real reason you are never allowed to access the menu here.
| Joe | ジョー | Joe: |
| “So why did you get put down?” | 「いったい、下で何をした？」 | What on earth did you do down there? |
| “Sorry…we’re not supposed | 「いや……ここで過去を聞くのは | Nevermind… it’s taboo to ask |
| to ask about the past here.” | タブーだったな…」 | about the past here… |
| Joe | ジョー |
| “Hmm.” | 「フッ」 |
| Joe | ジョー |
| “Pretty interesting… | 「おもしろいよ…… |
| I have a feeling that we’ll meet again.” | 君とはまた、会えそうな気がする」 |
| ３Ｄチョコボレーシングスタート… | 3D Chocobo Racing Start… | |
| 調整中…、調整中…、調整中… | Tuning… Tuning… Tuning… | |
| ☞ 1 | ☞ １着になったよ | ☞ First Place |
| ☞ 2 | ☞ ２着だったよ | ☞ Second Place |
| ☞ 3 | ☞ ３着なの | ☞ 3rd |
| ☞ 4 | ☞ ４着以下みたい | ☞ 4th Place or Less |
“Tuning” probably means that the Chocobo Racing minigame was still being worked on, but even if it was finished the event testers would not have played the game manually in order to test out different scenarios. In this case, they were testing Esther’s reactions depending on your final place in the race. Quickly summarised, here they are. All reactions are used.
First place: “Congratulations!! Now you’re home free!”
Second place: “You were so close.
Third place: “I expected more from you.”
Fourth or less: “That was a tough break.“
Cloud emerges victorious in the Chocobo races, winning the freedom of himself and his friends, when suddenly he is interrupted by a placeholder note!
| トゥルルルル | Ring ring ring! | |
| （とりあえずのメッセージ） | (A message) |
Perhaps at this point Minoru Akao, the Sound Programmer of FFVII, had not yet provided that sound effect or the event planners could not find it in their sfx list.
So now we have a buggy we can continue the journey! Read about the unused content of Gongaga, Cosmo Canyon, Nibelheim, Rocket Town, Wutai and later parts of the game…in Part 7! Stay tuned.
I used to have dreams of the marshes as a child.