What The Jak and Daxter Design Bible Tells Us

[@frogradar]

One thing I have ALWAYS been bothered by, and it's quite honestly my one gripe with the game, is how Gol and Mia were never really expanded on. They're just generic evil villains BUT it's (well in my interpretation anyway) clear that Gol is a sage just like the others, but his eco proficieny is dark eco but at one point he was part of the "sage council". Then you have the fact that they both wear precursor armour yet they don't do any actual fighting and even have the lurkers on their side. And unlike the other sages, who have their own villages and places of residence.... they own A WHOLE CITADEL that has dark eco SILOS. I know it's a cliche to have light good dark bad, but it makes me wonder... would the other sages have gone insane with their ecos? Green eco seems to be sustainability or recovery, would the green sage have turned into a "Poison Ivy" type character if he abused Green Eco. Red Eco enhances strength, could the Red sage have become an Iron fist, demanding more power so that none could topple him.

[@AVX512]

I think the idea is that dark eco begets corruption even if you're the sage of dark eco

[@mar_speedman]

While the possibility isn't zero... Dark eco was always meant to be this dark, unknowable and corrupting force. It corrupted Jak, it corrupted the precursors, it's volatile... Sure, it turned Daxter into an ottsel, which makes it capable of creation as well as destruction, but only in so much that it's highly unpredictable. I believe all sages (And their surrounding villages) are affected by exposure to their eco, and it alters them in different ways. Like how the red eco sage is huge or the blue eco sage is skittish. Regardless of a sage's affinity for corruption and evil, dark eco itself has a corrupting presence, and Gol wasn't careful enough with it, which caused him and his sister to slowly descend to madness.

[@TheLastDose]

I think the chance of them being corrupted is low seeing that their ability to formulate white eco together, that being said the only way they can be corrupted is with dark eco, even Lurkers are made partly of green eco, but the dark overwhelmed them. Life is a biproduct of the insanity and chaos for green and dark eco mixing. I like your poison ivy and iron fist analogy , I think with even the smallest amount of dark eco and it would drastically effect the character's character

[@sycho-tech5104]

Well… we Technically only got like half the planed game. The dev team ran up against budget and deadline issues with the horde pushing up the release for Christmas. That’s why the final zone is kinda abrupt.

[@misanthropicservitorofmars2116]

Honestly the ecos do affect all of them. They’re all influenced by the eco they study. The blue and red sage. Red eco is mined on a large scale by the red sage in the mountains. He’s even growing crystallized red eco. The blue sage is huge into electricity. The ancient precursor city under the sea is EXTREMELY interesting.

[@JoeDower101]

Maya is still pronounced like Maia. The names Gol and Maia came from the design software Naughty Dog used, GOAL and Maya. I figured they changed the both of the spellings to make the connection less obvious.

[@michaelross778]

The story of the Precursors reminds me of the writing of comic book creator, Jack Kirby, and his story of the Celestials in early Marvel human history.

[@sheriffdraws8789]

Eternals!!!! Also giving me Alien/Prometheus vibes

[@Zorklis]

as a long time jak and daxter fan these behind the scenes tidbits are awesome!

[@matty_mather]

An interesting thought - I was playing last night and in volcanic crater when walking near the red sage’s hut heard Kiera say “we’ve got to get to Precursor City!” which I’ve never noticed before. Must be because Gol & Maia’s Citadel was going to be Precursor City originally?

[@rcummin3]

yes

[@mar_speedman]

Huh. I don't remember hearing that. Maybe she meant the underwater city? Though I guess at that point you had already 100%'ed that area?

[@misanthropicservitorofmars2116]

@@mar_speedmanyeah you’re already passed the ancient precursor city under the sea by that point

[@productivitywizard6406]

That section on the Precursor robots was absolutely SICK! The image of the Ottsels using those robots to terraform the planet is exciting. I always thought the Precursors where under-explored and could have been a cool ancient alien sci-fi concept, especially after they were revealed to be literal and figurative weasels in the end. Also the small fact about Maia being the older sibling is quite the revelation. The wiki, which is one of the most tightly wound wikis I’ve seen, has always said Gol was older because he looked older and seemed like he’s been at the dark eco thing for longer. Kind of changes the inferred dynamic and history of those two. If there’s ever a remake of the games Maia should be made out to be more of the big bad than Gol.

[@ECxTheMaster]

there was a fan fic story i read just a week ago that tals about gol and maia before they became the villains of the game, it was actually fairly decent

[@puffpuffpassmako]

Well Gol was exposed to dark eco longer than Maia since he was a dark eco sage. He didn't even look human anymore. Even Samos yells at Gol that the exposure made him unrecognizable. While with Maia, she only received a small dose Gol gave to her, which changed her appearance only a little but affected her sanity. It's hinted that Gol was once a good person but the eco exposure affected his mind. It's unknown if Maia was forcefully given eco or of she willingly submitted to his experiments

[@mar_speedman]

@@puffpuffpassmako I imagine she was already being affected by the dark eco just from her extended proximity to it, and had went coocoo along with him long before the experiments.

[@AymanWehbi]

Great video. Also we appreciate the time put into scanning the book.

[@PowercellZeke]

No worries mate, and cheers!

[@zbaksh101]

Maia's ability to see the future could make her an interesting threat.

[@Gigamex2]

Thank you so much for this. Jak and Daxter was my first PS2 game and this gives me tons of head canon to add to something I love dearly.

[@MartianBlobfish]

I'm not so sure Spider Caves is the first place the precursor robot was placed? The page with the winged precursor robot probably was a very old design, looks like back then the plan was to place these large yellow-green orbs into the robot's eye sockets in order to activate it so it seems the mech battle was planned very early in production. But that's not the most interesting thing about this, the world map in the bible doesn't have spider caves in it? The closest thing to what it could've been is "4C Cave Under Falls" and it seems too far out of the way for something so integral to be placed. I recon it was supposed to be within the precursor ruins, 4A, not only did Jak apparently suffered an accident there that caused him to be filled with light eco, him getting zapped by the heart, but it would also explain how they found out that's the eco the heart needs so fast. Seeing how it's in the fourth out of the fifth hub it would've happened after them finding out Gol's plan but excavating it would be the perfect time for Gol to nab Samos. There's a cliff of to the side of the ruins to so they can blast a hole out the side of it in order to make a path to the entrance for the underground village, though I suppose the plan was to use the zoomer to get in there? Edit: turns out the initial story had the accident happen at the start of the game so I guess that point is void.

[@PowercellZeke]

I totally forgot about the page detailing the 5 villages, that would have been a lot better to base my speculations on. Precursor Foundry or Underground Forest also could have been where the robot was. Also, notice that Spider Cave isn't even listed on the page. Maybe that was the Lava Mines?

[@MartianBlobfish]

The other two levels other than Snowy are Sierras and Lava Mines. Sierra's has it's own page and it's supposed to be a trek up the side of a mountain, similar to the cliff in Snowy but at a much larger scale. It's been ages since I heard this but I remember hearing about an entire level that was cut from Volcanic Crater, down the path with the miners, and there's this mini-game where you need to collect crystals, doesn't sound too much like Sierras but I'm betting it was Lava Mines. So I don't think it's either, what do I think it is then? Well my best guesses would be: Cave Under Falls, early images don't have any signs of dark eco and water seems to be pouring from the roof of the cave. Or Underground Jungle: Not many trees, but there's allot of mushrooms sooo? I'm going with Cave Under Falls.

[@siirgeatz613]

Thank you Z, I really appreciate your channel especially on Jak & Daxter as Jak and Daxter is the very first video game I ever played and I grew up with playing collect-a-thon games such as Jak & Daxter and Ty the Tasmanian Tiger. Thanks for bringing up my childhood

[@lasthopelost9090]

Cool I never knew that the giant robots were terraforming machines

[@rinzaigigen2640]

1:24: PS3. 1:37: It did, when you capture the Muse. 4:35: Precursor Robots are insects? *Daxter Theory confirmed.*

[@prey2guy805]

so much detail in the characters mayas big honkers are there to hold more dark eco

[@supernoeru4437]

Such an interesting video! Thank you for making this video of my childhood , and omg I love the The Doors too! Earned yourself a sub and a like

[@PowercellZeke]

Eyy cheers mate. And that's awesome!

[@Sycorix9]

A big thank you for scanning the design documents to share with us all. I love looking through that sort of stuff. :D

[@ifrekeumana7121]

Just goes to show, so much untapped potential! Thanks for sharing!

[@xXCdOg24Xx]

I never noticed the giant precursor on the tutorial island. So cool

[@ElJorro]

Still learning new things about this game.

[@ooiiooiiooii]

12:12 Jak is taking a peek

[@kevinmoore2474]

I think the lurmers were digging up the robot in spuder caves for Maia to pilot. But because of story plot and the fact it needs to be there when returning to the level, they didnt have enough time to get it out before Jak defeats them.

[@PsychadelicoDuck]

Oh this was so cool. I really adored this game as a kid, loved the world-building and sense of discovery. Feels like closure, finally knowing what the thinking was.

[@jesterlogic6886]

Wow I can’t believe they tied it so neatly why did they vanish? Who where the precursors? And then to quote the third game dark forces reclaiming this un-finished world? Just wow what an incredible story

[@mar_speedman]

Well we know now about the metalheads and the dark makers. One of those two probably caused them to vanish. I'm thinking the dark makers started revolting back on their home planet and the precursors quickly had to retreat and leave everything behind, since they (the dark makers, that is) hadn't found that planet until so many decades later.

[@Gisakia]

Message at the end in Precurian translated SUBSCRIBE! POWERCELL FREAK I didnt know the language actually had meaning. Thanks for sharing those books

[@ZanicaKnight]

Imagine a Precursor robot kaiju fight or robot vs robot for Jak 4!!! with the end goal of the game being to take on the very task of the Precursors and finish creating this world

[@stevenmorgan7043]

Great Video powercell freak.

[@brandonnumbskull58]

Since I was young I always thought gol and Maia were a couple, interesting! The precursors were awesome and honestly I think the ottsel twist at the end ruined a lot of mystery in the lore

[@jakubp1315]

Thanks for sharing this. Awesome

[@janbaltes2863]

Great work!

[@saltystick_99]

I wonder if they reused the "Chase the Evil Precursor Robot" concept for the Jak 3 final boss...

[@tr3ntonrunnion493]

Hey man I have a question from jak ll when they go back in time to bring young jak back on the rift thingy on jak ll ending isn’t that the thing that was in boggy swamp breaking the tethers

[@bastmode882]

Dope video bro.

[@Syncopiia]

It would be really cool if they had Keira become a white eco sage in a future game. It would give her powers she could use for combat, and offer some greater potential in the overall plot if they weave it in properly.

[@misanthropicservitorofmars2116]

This is the worse idea I’ve seen going through these videos. Well done

[@cristhianperez1189]

The precursor robots are “shielded from dark eco” so this alone kinda confirms Maya and Gol are still alive! (I know there is other hints to it also)

[@solidoperative]

I wish there was a 4th village.

[@marcuswehle1833]

I know I'm years late to the party but it could be a coincidental chance that the power cells contain light ego in them which could power the giant precursor robots. Also might explain why the power cells have a divine glow about them. I think they used eco in many ways of fuel, weaponry and resources to accomplish their goals. And from seeing how the land has so much abundant growth I think the precursors were overtaken and overrun by the nature on the planet. And for the oracles I think they were merely telephone spots design for the main character for the last remaining precursors to talk to Jack. And safeguard power cells. Maybe for stockpile reasons or in case of emergency.

[@BlindBison]

Love these vidyas, Jak games are awesome.

[@misanthropicservitorofmars2116]

I think the oracles are literally just the precursors in the earth. The oracles are connected like a telephone or radio to the precursors bros chilling underground. They’ve been communicating with their creation since they got here.

[@td370]

I assumed the robot in the cave was a prototype for the robot in the final fight

[@DxBALLxD]

Huh. So that's what the robots are. Gives me a hitch-hiker's guide to the galaxy vibe

[@arielbalangue6489]

Holy shit amazing HD pictures

[@domenik8339]

The oracles look a lot like the precursors, is precursor robot design based off them?

[@andresmarrero8666]

So the Precursors were active terraformers. Interesting though I do wonder why.

[@MisterZimbabwe]

Weren't otzels revealed to be the precursors in the final game? Did they ever explain why daxter was transformed into a Precursor after being exposed to Dark Eco? If Dark Eco is so toxic and vile, why would it turn people into precursors?

[@garfieif8187]

I hate to say it, but my theory is that Naughty Dog was just sick of the Jak games and wanted to be done with them. I think that plot twist was added just to completely tie up all the loose ends in a cynical and sarcastic way. If you listen to devs talk about the game, they don't seem to respect it very much. And Naughty Dog had previously tried to kill Crash Bandicoot by adding an alien. I think they tried to kill Jak by completing ruining the precursor lore.

[@Yashahiro_]

i have some theories. Maybe the oracles are extremely advanced A.I. that the precursors used to guide their choices

[@Loic-57]

Great vidéo ! You are a wonderfull guy !!! PLEASE ! I want a similar video with Design Bible of Jak 2 and 3 !!! =O

[@PowercellZeke]

Thanks, that means a lot. I was planning on it, so I'll definitely be doing videos on the other Design Bible's

[@Gecko1993HogheadIncOfficial]

Wait a tick... The Emotion Sensor... I’m pretty sure it was a nod to Sony’s Emotion Engine?

[@jojoa.3916]

What's the decryption key

[@PowercellZeke]

It's under the mega link

[@darksiderwxiii9200]

Do you think that the game naughty dog told about they re making for ps5 is actually a new part of Jak and daxter (i do hope with all of my existance😂)

[@dark0ssx]

The story really went to ebola in the 3rd game

[@zadiefluxx7140]

Nice doors shirt

[@raisoho7087]

So kiera would have become a light eco sage in the original story huh? Didnt the lost frontier end with that as a plot point? You find the light eco well or whatever and she becomes the sage of light eco?

[@magicmanscott40k]

Makes sense

[@AbyssalMerc]

Naughty Dog did the writing for The Lost Frontier. Kiera was always leaning toward sage tendencies; building things using eco from the very first game, being a mechanic in Jak 2, designing the hoverboard, being the team mechanic in Jak X, and then taking further steps towards sage training in TLF. I think she became a general eco sage, not just light eco.

[@mykelmellen2378]

It would have been amazing to see what Jak 2 could have been if GTA 3 didn't come out. 🤦

[@darrianrobinson9299]

that's fucked up how you did daxter @2:30

[@PowercellZeke]

I skipped heaps of content that was in the book, I wanted to focus on new or interesting info, so you can read the PDF I scanned if you want all the information

[@bugsmoney1264]

Why do so many people not know how to pronounce Maya?

[@PowercellZeke]

I was pronouncing it how it was spelt in this book. It's spelt Maya in this book, but in the final game it's spelt Maia, hence why I was pronouncing it differently.

[@PowerFan5]

To be honest,they shouldn't have called it the jak and daxter bible. But it looks nice

[@BurntPie]

That's a common term in any media creation. Its taught in all screenwriter classes.its not a naughty dog term it's a media culture term

[@SupportGamin2024]

while the concept of this book is interesting,I don't like the fact that it's called the bible...this isn't religion ya know.

[@SCHMALLZZZ]

Bible means book. That's why it's called The Holy Bible, because it's a Holy Book, not just a Book.

[@carlosluismendez7392]

those designs were bad