VectorMan/Development

This page consists of the developmental content of

Most of the following content is either unused, or was changed from early in the game's development. This page will cover as much Beta or unused content discovered.

There are at least three known Prototypes of *Vectorman*. Two of them (being made or catalogued only a day apart from each other) appear identical to the final game. One Beta build appears to be an early test build of the game and contains numerous and multiple differences.

## Early Beta

### General

* In the SEGA logo, there is not a TV present. also the SEGA can be jumped through underneath.
* "Lame" difficulty is pronounced "Tame".
* Vectorman's falling animation is different than in the final. in the early prototype, he doesn't flail his arms as much.
* All stages grant a Time Bonus. In the final build, only stages with TV items grant time bonuses.
* Multipliers are a simple image with a thick black outline. In the final, they are all white 3D models.
* Multipliers do not multiply 1-up items, making the game slightly more difficult.
* HP orbs are silver just like in the HUD bar.
* Vectorman does not shoot diagonally when crouching on a ramp. To hit enemies on a ramp, he would need to stand and fire diagonally.
* All weapon icons are a much basic and simpler animation.
* The Bomb Morph does not allow movement when touched until after Vectorman hits the floor.
* The Jet Morph and Fish Morph receive knockback when touching an enemy. In the final, the Jet and Fish Morph are powerful enough to ram through enemies, destroying them instantly.
* All morphs have a red blinking around Vectorman when the morph is about to expire. It is possible to glitch this blinking animation on Vectorman.
* The Turrets are sometimes able to hit Vectorman when he is ducking, if both are positioned on the same plane or surface.
* Sea Urchin tend to leave a scream sound effect behind when defeated.
* The hitbox for a Mecha Jellyfish enemy is less vulnerable than in the final. It appears to only receive damage if one fires at the tail of bubbles when they are whole.
* Shield Controllers bear a different appearance than they do in the final game.
* The credits are located in the Options menu.
* The game does not punish a player for cheating, meaning one can see the partially completed ending using cheats.
* The WIN screen simply says Vectorman, while also showing an image of Vectorman identical to the one used in the final.
* The "list of characters" credits roll features a different background than the final, also no boss characters are displayed. Submarine appears as a shadow.

### Stages

Some stages contain little or many differences:

#### Terraport

* There is a HP orb in the early prototype where the 5X multiplier is in the final.
* In the row of invisible platforms leading to the Bolo Gun, the one missing platform just before the TV in the final build is actually present in this early prototype.
* There is no standalone Photon at on the exit platform in the Drill Morph secret passage.
* A checkpoint is placed inside a TV located at the exit of the hidden pathway. In the final, it is a swirling line of Photons. A Turret placed on the walkable wall underneath the TV is also present.
* There is a Wave Gun in the early prototype where the Rapid Fire Gun is in the final.
* There is no Sludge Pilots at the alcoves of where Vectorman drops to fight the boss.

#### MetalHead

* The enemy drones are silver and award points.
* Part of Warhead's face is slightly glitched at times.

#### Tidal Surge

Statistics
Time Limit = 10:00.

* One of the Turrets at the beginning of the stage is positioned underneath the start platform. In the final, it is positioned directly above, and within plain view of Vectorman.
* The bunker caves have hollow openings that allows one to exit the bunker cave earlier. In the final, one has to walk all the way back to the bombable entrance. The first cave has one roof opening while the second one has two.
* The Bolo Gun is placed inside the first bunker cave, with the TV above it that is above the water containing an HP orb. In the final, the bunker cave has a Fish Morph and the Bolo Gun was placed above it, replacing the HP orb altogether.
* At the third and fourth metal platform constructs, a Turret is positioned above them, hanging on to the stage's roof border.
* The second bunker cave possesses a Shield in the prototype. In the final, it is replaced with an Orb.
* The Fish Morph lasts slightly longer than in the final.
* When shooting underneath while exiting out of water, Vectorman may float briefly. The jump physics may slightly feel floaty during this time.

#### Absolute Zero

Statistics
Photons = 106

* The first TV off to the right of the start of the stage has a Fish Morph.
* Angler and Submarine appear within this stage. Both seem to appear within walls and launch themselves forward whenever Vectorman is near. Their kamikaze attacks can catch players off guard.
* Vectorman turns a icy shade of blue palette when in certain caves or at the boss's arena.
* The first cave to the left where a TV containing a Rapid Fire Gun appears in the final contains a Wave gun in the prototype. also there is no Urchin or Jellyfish enemies in the cave in the beta.
* The first right most cave containing a TV with a Shield in the final has a HP orb in the early prototype.
* The second leftmost cave containing a TV with the Max HP orb in the final has the TV more closer to the entrance of this cave in the beta.
* The checkpoint located underwater had its TV location moved further to the right in the early prototype, closer toward the exit cave entrance.
* The TV where Aurora Borealis is at is moved to the far left, and contains a HP orb instead of a checkpoint in the beta.
* Aurora Borealis shifts between phases in the beta. If Vectorman is toward the left of the arena, the Bear appears and is actually on the top of the large iceberg platform. If Vectorman is on the right of the arena, the Pteradactyl will appear, also it does not have the final's flying pattern and instead follows Vectorman around. When one form is defeated, the other form will appear. There is no large scale explosion implemented like in the final when the entire boss is defeated.

#### Bamboo Mill

* Howitzer appear as an enemy here, marking their first official appearance. In the final game, they are replaced by Sludge Pilots, who are absent in this stage in the beta.
* The game may sometimes fail to load Clockwork, resulting in a crash.
* Clockwork's bullets do not glow. If hit too quickly, it may fail to fire any bullets when opening its mouth consecutively.

#### Rock 'N' Roller

* A full body Warhead is present as the boss, with his hands swatting and smashing the table. To win, Vectorman must continuously fire at his moving hands. There is no walls at all, and there is red exclamation marks that damage Vectorman whenever he steps on one.

#### Death Alley

In the area with the Max HP orb, there is only one Jaws present.

#### Stayin' Alive

The twisters have a more simpler look than the final.

#### Worldlink Center

* Jaws and Howitzer are not present.
* The highest area near the first part of the stage is open, meaning it is possible for one to walk from the beginning of the stage to the beginning of the second half using the moving rows of lights. In the final, there is a large section of wall that blocks the top area, forcing the player to move under the wall to reach the other side of the top first half of the stage.
* At the first large area next to the one-way entrance leading from the start of the stage, there is no platform up. To get up, one would need to utilize the Bomb Morph shortcut inside the area, or backtrack to climb all the way on the ropes passing through the large open top-area.
* The one-way barrier underneath the Max HP orb is not present here, allowing a player to backtrack partway into the stage.
* The game may crash if Vectorman hits his head on a roof while riding a glitched platform.
* The horizontal moving platforms appear glitched.

#### Twist and Shout

* There is only benches swirling around the stage.
* The rooves that Vectorman can stand on have a chimney design on each of them.
* It is possible to glitch Warhead out of his shooting phase by immediately destroying him two levels.
* There is no Life bonus implemented in the prototype.

#### Bonus Round

* Vectorman doesn't move at all, also he fires tiny green orbs at the player. The orbs are slightly larger in the final.

There is more room when facing against the top screen. Ironically, the bottom screen has closer room to Vectorman.

* Points are awarded for destroying a Warhead.

#### Unused

Two unseen stages exist within the game: RCity and STAGE. Both stages can be accessed from the Private Options Screen. RCity appears to be a test stage, while STAGE is a simple animation test demonstrating 3D graphics on Mega Drive/Genesis hardware. The model of Vectorman (Character) for STAGE seems very similar to Ballz 3D (to which *Vectorman* may have initially reused model data from).

## Unused Content

In addition to some of the above content, some of the following content went completely unused in the final game.

## Other

A magazine AD shows a Sludge Pilot in Nightscape, however none of the prototype builds nor the final game have Sludge Pilots in this stage.

## Gallery

RCitySTAGE. Pressing the A/B buttons moves the camera right/left.The early prototype crashing when attempting to load Clockwork.A full-bodied Warhead serves as the Table stage's boss.