N64 Beta Dumped! TONIC TROUBLE

[@CorrosionX4]

Oh God I'm having Vietnam flashbacks (I was a beta tester at Ubisoft on Tonic Trouble for 9 months)

[@hard4games]

How does this build compare to what you tested?

[@VenerabIe]

Hey Tony! I'm Venerable, an active Tonic Trouble community member and Tonic Trouble 64 100% WR holder. I wanted to give a huge thank you for all your hard work as this prototype surfaced, from identifying differences in the build to documentation and probably so much more. I've been a Tonic Trouble enthusiast since I was around six or seven years old, and even back then I was obsessed with betas and game development. I had long since quashed the childlike hope that something like this would ever exist, as all of the evidence seemed to be against that. Seeing this prototype pop up, playing through it for the first time, and seeing a community of people rally to document and celebrate it was all so magical. It really couldn't have been done without you! As an aside, I'm happy to have done a '100%' playthrough of the game (which I streamed to the TT community on Twitch; there's a vod on my KZbin channel for anyone interested) that, according to Rib, helped in identifying some more differences. Moreover, so much of the Tonic Trouble community came out to celebrate this game - it really was a wonderful time. I encourage anyone who has played Tonic Trouble 64 to give this build a try, as it controls so differently from the retail release that the game feels like an entirely new experience even before the numerous differences in aesthetics and design. Relatedly, as we speak, the TT64 speedrunning community is working on routing speedruns specifically for this prototype. We're exploring new movement tech, doing general glitch hunting, and more. Hopefully we'll be able to run this build and establish it as an important part of the Tonic Trouble speedrunning library soon, so be on the lookout for that! Anyway, all of this is to say that the hard work everyone put into this process has made so many people tremendously happy, and will continue to do so for years to come. I've already thanked Rib and Bryan personally, so this one's for you, Tony - thanks you so much again! Can't wait to check out that Cutting Room Floor article. (:

[@hard4games]

Wow! Thank you so much for the kind words. It really makes me happy to hear that people are getting so excited over this!!

[@jefflavenz7285]

9:48 I looked up what that French translates to and it means "This is a sketch and not the final version!"

[@juppukun]

Can confirm this is what it means.

[@Darkscenes-jp4ge]

The game itself was made in France and Quebec Canada but then got transferred to the N64 cartridges in Japan before realesed to the Public I think the PC version Discs were most likely released from France and Quebec

[@Fuchsfein]

I remember the PC "Special Edition" prototype being quite different from the final release and actually better in some ways. This N64 build appears to be more recent, but it's still fascinating to see the little changes and optimizations they made until release. Tonic Trouble is like Rayman 2's older brother. They created Tonic Trouble to become familiar with 3D design and reused the engine for Rayman 2. Sadly the N64 version is stripped back compared to the PC release. It will be interesting to compare the differences here to the two PC builds. N64 prototype discoveries are always a highlight for me.

[@F0nkyNinja]

Rayman 2 and Tonic Trouble released only like a month apart

[@Fuchsfein]

​@@F0nkyNinja Both games entered development in 1996 and both had a somewhat troubled development cycle and got delayed several times. Keep in mind that Rayman 2 was conceived as a 2D game initially. It was stated in "L'Histoire de Rayman" that Tonic Trouble started development as a 3D engine test for Rayman 2 that eventually became its own game. In an early Rayman 2 trailer that was shown at E3 1998 the game still had the Tomb Raider style tank controls which we also see in the Tonic Trouble Special Edition build.

[@SilverSpade92]

"I remember the PC "Special Edition" prototype being quite different from the final release and actually better in some ways." Here here! A friend of the Special Edition is a friend of mine! The Special Edition was much more ambitious in it's design. Seamless loading zones, dynamic music that would change from room to room (PC Retail lacked this), and just a lot more atmosphere in the levels. The alpha stage versions tho... We only have pictures and video of what that looked like, but there was a lot that got cut, and a lot that was redesigned even before the Special Edition. Suffice to say, this game had potential to be much more than it was.

[@ocg-overwatchconsolegamepl2809]

I think the jetstream removal was to gain some frames. I would love next time to see FPS difference between the 2 as well so we can see where they've optimized the game

[@pjuster2]

It's also visually less cluttered on the screen without the jetstream

[@ebridgewater]

When doing comparisons, side-by-side would be useful to directly visually compare the differences 😊

[@BIayne]

How does this channel not have even 100k subs? Seriously. We have to share this channel with our friends.

[@gisanh]

I wonder the same, it's a very niche channel and idk why! I have recommended this channel to all of my fellow console enthusiasts but Tony deserves better, this is quality content right here

[@MusharnaMush]

They said once its due to the poor yt name

[@hard4games]

Any social shares, comments, etc are appreciated!

[@hard4games]

@@MusharnaMush Probably lol

[@nkw1985]

@@hard4games - I haven't heard it in a while but I always liked your theme song lol.

[@Eddies_Bra-att-ha-grejer]

5:50 Reminds me of Croc 2, it had product placement for Lifesavers in the US version but were generic in the European version.

[@Eddies_Bra-att-ha-grejer]

@@cloudycolacorp Same but I didn't speak English at the time so I didn't think much of it.

[@Eddies_Bra-att-ha-grejer]

I always love to see the error handler giving the message "Guru meditation" like on an Amiga.

[@Foulowe59]

9:48 This is such a cool thing imo

[@mickpatel5126]

Bro ty so much for sharing this kind of stuff. I literally only played a handful of games on the n64 but it truly warms my heart on days that are tough to be able to watch these videos. Shout out to all the people that make this possible. And I’m still waiting and praying that one day maybe when I’m fully old and gray… the beta goldeneye is sent your way :) only one collector I ever seen mentioned he had a copy but never responds to my email requests 😭

[@tabuoey]

cock01???? @9:26

[@KetwunsGamingPad]

I'm still waiting for any digital store to give this game a second chance: Steam, GOG or even Ubisoft themselves....whatever reviews were back then, I wouldn't worry. Sometimes seeing in new lens and new eyes can change perspective.

[@sammlerkiste7970]

The Art style & running animation reminded me always from Rayman 2.

[@hard4games]

Tonic Trouble was sort of Ubisofts "test run" for a 3D Rayman.

[@megamanfan3]

4:52 I thought the N64 was made using SGI hardware, not Amiga.

[@MozTS]

Assets could be created on any platform, sgi for compiling

[@Kosackk]

Reminds me alot of Rayman, the 3D version!

[@CDromatron]

As it should! Ubisoft wanted to make the 2nd Rayman game 3D, but didn't have experience with 3D games, so they built this game to learn, and reused the engine for Rayman 2.

[@thegreatbritishgamer751]

It's practically a prototype for rayman 2, and the sole reason why rayman 2 came out as good as it did.

[@Kosackk]

Ah ok, i kinda suspected it was something like that as you two explain!

[@Fuchsfein]

Tonic Trouble is like Rayman 2's older brother. They created Tonic Trouble first to become familiar with 3D design and then reused and optimized to engine for Rayman 2. Sadly the N64 version is stripped back compared to the PC release.

[@Schwarzorn]

It’s weird how much better some of the prototype stuff was over the final. Like that adorable sketch. I’d rather have that as my the end screen. And the Game Over screen stuff was much better in the prototype. It’s weird that they’d ruin those great cinematics.

[@Darkscenes-jp4ge]

A coffin eating someone alive is creepy for kids to see but I personally like the coffin better

[@skysamfreeman]

I loved this game as a kid. Mainly played the Special Edition "beta" version on PC. My friend had the N64 version and I later got the GBC version. Very cool to see this.

[@MrLimbo-lj9hc]

this was awesome, i love Tonic Trouble due to its similarities to Rayman 2, which is already my favorite game of all time. I wonder why that flamethrower guy got removed in the final version....

[@millennialchicken]

This looks fun, love to see a HD of it for modern hardware

[@jasonblalock4429]

Yeah, to my knowledge Ubi has never rereleased it. Maybe because it just comes off like a rough draft for Rayman 2? (Which it kinda was...)

[@Darkscenes-jp4ge]

@@jasonblalock4429 Because no one liked the game and it didn't sell well

[@Bitstacker]

Mission impossible!! But why does ebay take 14% of all sales wtf wheres the competition

[@theconfusingwords]

Your videos are so incredibly good. I think everyone needs to see this

[@hard4games]

Thank you 😊

[@zimmslounge]

Loved the video and I really enjoyed learning about an earlier build 👍

[@arnoldfranklin]

I subscribed to RibShark recently already? What are the odds? Good video and thanks for making.

[@SilverSpade92]

Funny you say that. I spotted your name in the comments, and I could swear there was something familiar about it. You're that guy who's been making the exploit videos. I've seen some of them recently, since I periodically run a search for new content tagged "Tonic Trouble". Interesting stuff. I hope you keep it up! At the risk of sounding like I'm dropping names: I know Ribshark. We're both members of a Tonic Trouble Discord server. We're two minds about which version of Tonic Trouble is the best, but even though he is wrong, he's still a good bloke. Theres a Rayman server as well. If you like these games as much as your videos imply you do, we'd love to have you. If you're interested, drop me a line. Or look the games up on speedrun.com. You'll find the links there.

[@arnoldfranklin]

@@SilverSpade92 I don't really do Discord but thanks anyways. That was nice. :)

[@chrismartin583]

I had this game when I was younger it was very strange to me and I never really beat it, I may try again

[@blatz423]

Strange they removed the "Jetstream" effect instead of just toning it down, bc as you can see at 2:23-2:25 they had some basic detection of surfaces set up (it doesn't show up when sliding on the ice) so they clearly put a small bit of work into this graphic xP

[@hard4games]

I kinda liked it, despite it being a bit busy on screen.

[@Dashx64]

Rayman used to be the MASCOT of Ubisoft, I dreamed of a Nintendo crossover.... and its was the F'n Rabbits instead. Now Rayman resides in a phone game, and UNO. nah Im not depressed about it. Not at alllllllllllll WHYYYYYYYY UBISOFT

[@bobafett4265]

True, I'm also disappointed with Ubisoft not making a killer Rayman Console Games anymore, but considering they are firing all cylinders on Free2Play garbage, it's likely they'll auto destruct themselves and return to other franchises they can avoid Free2Play trouble, so the world of Rayman is always open, it's just a matter of time.

[@joenziii]

why are these all the suddenly coming out now I feel like this would of been ages ago

[@Darkscenes-jp4ge]

yeah your right it's really weird it could've been available to play when Project 64 first released back in 2001

[@Darkscenes-jp4ge]

I always wondered if Suzy would kiss Ed in the gameover screen just to make Grogh jealous or if it would be the same way even if he wasn't there now after all these year's that finally answer's my question that she kisses Ed there just the same whether Grogh is there or not

[@KetwunsGamingPad]

I can see why they would have changed the Game over option: a little bit violent and macabre for the classification rating they were aiming for I guess.

[@Darkscenes-jp4ge]

A coffin eating someone alive is definitly not suitable for young kids to see but at the same time it should be rated T for teen anyways cause Suzy grabs and kisses Ed in a sexual way

[@CallMeKai2k]

I remember this game as a kid, good times

[@THOMASS_P]

This was the game I last wanted on N64 I never got as a kid, I still have the game magazine with its advertisement that made me want it.

[@Darkscenes-jp4ge]

most n64 owners had this game but a lot of people didn't like it

[@AshurathDR]

It's crazy I see this video just as I'm looking up old win95 games because I happened to see "A Bug's Life" for the pc and my nostalgia seeing it's just like the n64 version I had and had to start from the beginning because of no memory pak. But this definitely brings back memories playing Rayman 2 and Rayman Arena on PC and they had a video file for Tonic Trouble that had me hooked and my child imagination had me believing that if I play the video enough times I'd unlock the game lol Messed up part is a friend who was older had it next door but ya'know when you're young and wanna play what the big kids are playing most you got to do was watch

[@subtledemisefox]

I loved that Bug's Life game on N64 as a kid. Wonder how it holds up today

[@harrysanders1089]

Awesome content, as per usual👍👍

[@hooblefloob]

Tony you should do a video with John Linneman of Digital Foundry

[@uselesspersonafan4938]

Everyday we stray closer to the earthbound 64 Prototype

[@fahimabdul8733]

Wow... it’s very similar to Rayman 3

[@StickFiguresMaster]

Looks like sheen from jimmy neutron when he wears his ultra lord mask lol

[@xCheckMate]

Or Fanboy from Fanboy and Chumchum

[@StickFiguresMaster]

@@xCheckMate oh that show was unbareable XD, I couldn't keep myself in 1 piece with it, I will always remember Jimmy Neutron though had a big place in my heart for a show :)

[@MickyVideo]

I wonder what's the level called "Cock01" (9:26) among the list

[@SilverSpade92]

It's short for Cocktail. It's the second ice stage with the puzzles and giant fridge.

[@MegaManNeo]

One of the more interesting prototypes to look at, in my opinion.

[@Darkscenes-jp4ge]

how is it so interesting? The entire game is almost the same from the prototype and the retail The Special edition is actually more interesting cause it's almost completely different from the retail

[@Bitstacker]

Reminds me of earthworm jim! Tommy Intellamico!

[@zedokaiba6047]

Gotta love Cocko1

[@perpetualcollapse]

Aight then

[@Emperor_Mateus_of_Palamecia]

9:26 uhhhhhh

[@imikegaming2070]

My guy has all the cool toys.. thank you for creating history.. what are grandchildren will think lol

[@commonsensei8719]

N64 has the best game theme songs. (Mario64, Pilotwings, Turok, Waverace, Shadows of the empire etc. Prove me wrong!

[@Wallyworld30]

According to Wiki Ubi Soft spent 4 million dollars designing the game engine for this game. I wonder if they used this engine for any other games?

[@plume...]

There's a list here: www.pcgamingwiki.com/wiki/Engine:Ubisoft_OpenSpace This bit of info is at the bottom of the page: "Originally known as ACP (Architecture Commune de Programmation) or CPA (Common Programming Architecture) prior to 2001." It changed its name to OpenSpace after this, seems they just kept updating, adding and building upon it as the years went on, but it started with Tonic Trouble :)

[@chadz34]

The pixels look gorgeous! Is it running high res?

[@hard4games]

Via emulator. Can't remember the exact resolution but certainly higher than native.

[@NathanBoehm]

Man I love this kinda stuff!

[@TerraWare]

Never played or heard about this game but I do get some Rayman vibes.

[@Darkscenes-jp4ge]

Almost every Nintendo 64 owner had this game you probably were born in the Gamecube era then

[@CameronAllOneWord]

This is the kind of news I like to see

[@Kimarnic]

Someone call Nitrorad

[@hervemackovic4015]

Hi, i have the tonic trouble prototype too, i want to sell it but i don't found the price. Can you help me? Sorry for my english, i'm french 😅 thank you.

[@ThaMetalMan]

Awesome!

[@bobbarksofficial4335]

Cool

[@ThePikkutyyppi]

Did these have any overdumb data

[@pijinio]

Sup, Awesome video

[@justandardprocedure]

Dope

[@lilCh4se213]

Lets gooooo!!! 🥴

[@EmergencyChannel]

Comment for the algorithm

[@hard4games]

Appreciated

[@raymxslappedyall3660]

who the fucK approached who for a salad dressing promo and why?

[@somerandomguyontheinternet1114]

S U P E R E D D