Skies of Arcadia Dreamcast prototype V0.830 2000/09/05 (subject to change) + V0.840 2000/09/14 (subject to change)
I thank Taikocuya on Twitter for looking in depth at the 2 different builds and for letting me use his photos.
Before going into detail in the subject, the dates and versions may not correspond to reality. I only relied on the IP BIN through the "GD-ROM explorer" program. They may be subject to change.
The Dreamcast hosted 20 years ago one of its flagship games, a game that will become cult for any RPG lover, the famous "Skies of Arcadia" known under the code name of "Project Ares" in its infancy. Fans are still waiting for a remake on current consoles.
The "Overworks" studio did an excellent job and delivered us a game that many qualify as magical, a work of art worthy of a masterpiece (yes I have to stop licking ..).
If you have always dreamed of being a pirate in a fantasy world, you will undoubtedly live an epic adventure alongside our heroes Vyse, Aika, Fina, Drachma, Gilder, Enrique.
The game takes part in a world where continents, cities and forests levitate in the air like floating islands. To explore this captivating universe, we will travel there by boat. The naval combat sequences are a rich idea and cut the monotony of the trips.
The soundtrack used is just magnificent. It took an orchestra of 41 musicians to compose the 2 hours of musical theme of the title. They haven't done things by halves.
The storyline and graphics are the strong points of the game. The combat system leaves a little to be desired, the strategy is perhaps a little forgotten.
To celebrate, with delay, its anniversary, I offer two American prototype versions of Skies of Arcadia.
The first contains a debug menu in all respects similar to the Pal version already online that you will find on Hidden Palace . The debug menu of the second build seems to have been removed, this version could have been a test to see how the product worked without debugging tools, the English texts are not yet final.
Even though the 0.830 debugging tools are Japanese, the build is much better compared to the Pal version because it uses the correct Japanese characters (Shift_JIS) and not the European ones (Windows-1252).
You should know that the debug menu is also present in the playable version of Skies of Arcadia which can be found on the demo CD us volume 9 of the official magazine. Did they forget to lock it?
How to use the debug menu of version 0.830:
Controller connected to port A:
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Main menu Debug: Hold L + R then click on homepage on the title screen. You will access a menu where you can choose the map, battle, naval battle, test sounds and modify the content of your inventory.
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Turn off collisions: Press L + R + Y.
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Battle Debug Menu 1: Hold L + R. Allows you to change party member and enemy stats (only in combat).
Controller connected to port B:
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Mouse Debug Menu: Press B to open it. You will be able to open a window for textures, information about Dreamcast devices, a performance monitor ect.
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Increase character level: Press Y to increase character one level on the team stats page.
Controller connected to port C:
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Camera menu: hold X + Y. Adjusts angle, position, zoom, etc. of the camera.
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Collision Info Menu: Press L + R + X to turn it on or off. When active, press A to cycle through the different options.
Controller connected to port D:
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System Debug Menu: Press X. The first four screens show different tables and editable values on the left side and a debug log on the right side, with most in-game actions printing something. The fifth screen displays the work in progress and the sixth screen indicates the MLDs currently in use.
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Battle Debug Menu 2: Press Start during a battle. Has multiple functions and information displays (only in combat)
Translations and explanations in photo to use the Battle option of the main debug menu. These photos were taken from the Pal version by Taikocuya. You can get an idea while waiting for the pictures relating to 0.830
You can download them below:
Prototypes with Debug Menu : Skies of Arcadia Dreamcast - Time Stalkers Dreamcast - Sega Marine Fishing Dreamcast - Sonic Shuffle Dreamcast - Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare Dreamcast - Headhunter PS2 - Shadow Man Dreamcast - Shenmue 2 Dreamcast (Game Jam) - Shenmue 2 Us Dreamcast - Geist Force Dreamcast - Jet Set Radio Dreamcast (E3) - Disney's Dinausor Dreamcast - MDK 2 Dreamcast -Test Drive: V-Rally 2 Dreamcast -Stunt GP Dreamcast -Slave Zero Dreamcast