Rockman Betas, Trials, Promos and scrapped projects. The more rare, the better.

[The Great Gonzo]

Seems they inadvertently predicted that Cossack was not the real Big Bad of MM4.

Agreed on Sphinx boss, but I know I'd hate to have to fight that.

[VixyNyan]

Seems they inadvertently predicted that Cossack was not the real Big Bad of MM4.

Yea, those were some positive EGM assumptions back then.

[Rodrigo Shin]

Well, now that you guys brought EGM to the table...

There was this (apparently) spin-off called "EGM²" (yes, ²). In its November 1995 issue if I recall right (cover had Thanos and the main story was about Marvel Super Heroes) they had a walkthrough for a beta version of X3 - down to the boss names and weapons still being in Japanese and what have you.

The most obvious difference I could sight is that Bit and Byte's sprites are different from the final version. But I took a closer look at the article, and there are some other different sprites for some of the eight bosses, as well as some swapped backgrounds. Nothing nowhere as enticing as removed bosses, but a curiosity nonetheless. Here:

Catfish's and Buffalo's sprites are different from the final versions. If Sprites INC is any notice, Buffalo doesn't even have that dash pose in the final version.


Tiger's sprite also seems a little different, and his background and the sub-boss' were swapped in the final version.

And the most glaring differences, Bit and Byte:

[The Great Gonzo]

Pretty cool find there, Mr. Shin.




Seems there was going to be a bonus game in MM Mania.

[VixyNyan]

I want that Preview Build!!! O_______O *readies stab knife stance*

Posted on: April 30, 2009, 22:25:02You should all take a look at this.

[Sapphire✧9]

^^ Youre makin me happy alot xD.

[Zan]

http://img218.imageshack.us/img218/1994/guesswha.gif

I'm getting the distinct impression it is way too small...

[Sapphire✧9]

I made it smaller than original because original somehow disgusted me lol.

[VixyNyan]

It would be good to have it as close to the original though. Just rip from the ROM then. ^^

[Bag of Magic Food]

Sphinx boss looks awesome.

More awesome than this one?

[Protodude]

More awesome than this one?

Curses, I forgot about this guy. Gave much so much trouble back in the day.

[Gauntlet101010]

Awsome?  I think the sphinx boss looks awful!  I can see why it was removed ... it reminds me of Super Mario Land.  But as far as beta stuff goes this is awsome!  Very nice!  And great job on the customs!

I think the canon in Ring's stage are supposed to be red ... if it weren't for image quality.  Interestingly enough, this looks like a different build than the beta pics I have in the Mysteries right now.



Notice Ringman's level.

Edit:  Someone's making a list?  How about the Rockman 6 Trial?  Info is scant on that, tho.



The the sprite viewer; still in the game, but undoubtibly a testing tool.



Rockman 2:

Blocky trees!    Sadly, the only beta pic that's worth it's salt.


This counts as a trial too.
It's kind of nostalgic.  Was anythign changed from this build?  Aside form the obvious...


RM9 test stage with Proto.

[Zan]

I made it smaller than original because original somehow disgusted me lol.

Yours disgusts me lol. >.> Rule of 16.

[Gauntlet101010]

What?  Nothing else?  No more EGM magazine stuff?

I heard a rumor that Hardman can be seen in an early shot of RMSoccer ... anyone happen to have any proof of this?

[Protodude]

This guy has a LOT of beta/prototype stuff in his possession:

Ok, I went through my Mega Man/Rockman betas, and I have:

GameCube NR Disk-Mega Man Anniversary Collection

NES-
Mega Man 2
Mega Man 3
Mega Man 4
Mega Man 5

SNES-
Mega Man 7
Mega Man Soccer (early, no gameplay)
Rockman X3 (early version, says Sample on the title screen)

Game Gear-
Mega Man

Game Boy
Mega Man 2
Rockman World (similar to the one found on Yahoo Auctions, but in English with NOA info on title screen
Mega Man 3
Mega Man V

GBA-
Mega Man Battle Network 2 (debug version)

Anybody care to bargain/persuade this fellow into dumping some of these? I mean c'mon, a Mega Man V prototype?  That's insanely awesome.

EDIT: Found the guy who owns the X7 E3 build.

I say we all pitch in some cash and take these babies off their hands. Some of this stuff has to be worth hundreds.

[Sapphire✧9]

Yours disgusts me lol. >.> Rule of 16.

Youre annoying sometimes, Zan.

[Gauntlet101010]

I really wish people who had betas like this would post some info about them.  Dumping might be too much to ask, but a bit of info .... and some screens .... that'd be nice.

[Zan]

Youre annoying sometimes, Zan.

And if you didn't catch the point: all tiles have to be 16x16, dictating the size of that boss to be much larger.

[VixyNyan]

There's also 8x8. Rockman fits inside a 24x24 tile. ^^

You might need 8 more pixels on both sides for Rock to be able to shoot, walk and jump (32x32).

[Zan]

In terms of what can be shown, tiledata takes multiples of 8x8, but a lot of those can be transparent. However, when it comes to actual environmental tiles, Rock always stands on a multiple of 16x16, nor more no less. With the way SpeedReemix drew that boss, Rock would be standing in the air!

[Gauntlet101010]

Of course MM could just take damage if he touches it...

Edit:
http://www.disgruntleddesigner.com/chrisc/RMProto/ - and, speaking of prototypes, why not include the Rockman World 1 proto?  The unused enemy covered in this article is actually in R20.  It's a shame he won't distribute the rom, but at least we have a pretty detailed article.  Let's keep on finding stuff like this!

[Flame]

haha... I agree with him, this is much more diabolical.

[The Great Gonzo]

This isn't really a beta, but there's a picture of an MMX SNES cart...made by U.S. Gold. I dunno if some pirate just slapped U.S. Gold's logo on the cart label or if U.S. Gold changed parts of MMX's code, but I thought it was worth mentioning...

...because I just wondered what Best of Megaman was like during development. Anyone bothered searching the ROM for unused bits yet?

[Gauntlet101010]

I searched the rom and it looked pretty clean to me.  But I'm not very good at the tile stuff, so there still migtht be something interesting there.  I wish i could hack it so that MM has Toad's and Wave's weapons at the beginning of the game .... just to see if they were programemd to interact with RMs they weren't supposed to.



From my pirate games section ... although it might be legit.  I dunno.  There's no nintendo seal of quality on it.

[marshmallow man]

This is probably my new favorite thread. That R4 sphinx is fab-u-lous!

So, are any of those betas really for sale by those guys?