Proto:Amber Gold 1/TGS Spring '97

The Tokyo Game Show Spring 1997 Prototype is a very early build of Amber Gold 1. It is very incomplete, with missing locations, missions, graphics, a map that was almost entirely reworked in the next build (E3 1997) and an entirely different soundtrack. Although it has been shown publicly in the Spring Tokyo Game Show of 1997, there is evidence that suggests it is actually from 1996, such as the copyright information, files and this part from an interview with Akifumi Chiyotanda:

"Akifumi Chiyotanda: That was actually an early build from around early December of 1996, I believe."

This build was dumped by ackerlt in 2005.

General Differences

 * There is no intro, and most of the cutscenes are either not implemented or in a rough state.
 * All characters are completely mute.
 * The soundtrack is completely different, with almost no resemblance to the final. Only echobeat, song3 and paninaro were kept, which are all unused here.
 * The map is also different, with many scrapped ideas, unfinished locations and weird collision detection.
 * There is a noticeable lack of any overworld music.
 * This version lacks a pause menu, and only displays the word "PAUSE" when paused.
 * Save points are placed in certain locations, instead of saving through the pause menu.
 * There are no pedestrians or traffic.
 * This version has a constant HUD, instead of being HUD-less during free roaming like the final version.
 * Sound effects are completely different.
 * Music is mono-only.
 * Building interiors aren't loaded when not in a task, causing the player to fall to his death when the player attempts to enter a building.
 * Several objects and most interiors that have been modeled use a (very offensive) placeholder texture containing a programmer rant. Fumino is one of the artists for Amber Gold who ran away early in development. Fc.png
 * Atmosphere used in the city is the same as the one in the forest.
 * Tasks do not have titles, and instead use the Super Amber Gold Format.
 * Red invicibility lasts slightly longer, at 1 minute and 6 seconds (instead of 1 minute and 1 second.)
 * Weapon-based tasks are not implemented.
 * Eye textures have black pupils.
 * 2-player mode was not implemented yet.
 * The usual font used is the same as the one in the Genesis version of Super Amber Gold, minus the lowercase letters.
 * There is no description after mission cutscenes.
 * Vehicles are untextured.
 * Locations had different names, named after musical instruments.
 * When entering a new location, there would be a chorus chanting the name of the location. This was removed from the final game, as welcome signs were put instead.

Title Screen

 * An extremely simplistic title screen featuring an early version of the Amber Gold logo, several usual options and copyright information.
 * There is no option to load or delete a game, neither are statistics.
 * The sound test and theater options were now moved to Options.
 * The sound test does not have VU-meters, display the channels or have the option to disable individual sound channels.
 * There is music present in the menus, unlike the final release.

Cadence City (Gran Cassa City)

 * There are no advertisements in the city.
 * Cliffsides have glitchy textures.
 * In the Gran Cassa Restaurant's (which is unnamed in this build) backyard, there is a small triangle hole from which the player can fall out of bounds.
 * The collision detection is strangely off, as some buildings have either strange collision detection or not have any. There are also some invisible walls, pointing to the fact that there may have been an even earlier version of this map.
 * By looking at the collision map with an editor that supports the Playstation format, there is a lot of ground missing, there are no trees, there is possibly a sort of clock tower in the middle of the city (this was replaced with a small fountain in the actual game, also idea was reused 10 years later with Amber Gold 5) and also no docks.
 * The city blended less smoothly with the countryside, as cliffs had no roads on them due to the lack of a suburban area.
 * The suspension railway is enitrely missing.
 * An entire third of the city is missing: the more suburban area, and thus, lots of missions which involve this area of the city were either redone or absent in the early builds.
 * There are not nearly as many unique buildings as in the final game, with lots being reused.
 * The car showroom was originally a supermarket.

Karion Countryside (Kora Countryside)

 * The only part of the countryside which is somewhat finished is the part leading to Scisly's mansion.
 * The mansion itself lacks all the foliage and vegetation around it.
 * The only scenery present here are trees and bushes, as there are no telephone poles or houses yet.

Karion Forest (Cimbalo Forest)

 * In this build the forest is MUCH smaller compared to the final, being only around half the size of the city.


 * Unlike the final game, this forest is completely devoid of any roads, traffic or any paths, making it seem more "wildlife"-like.
 * While the forest in the final version is more of a tropical rainforest, this one is a decidous forest, similar to the Tameon Forest in Amber Gold 2.
 * Originally it looks like there was supposed to be a working tramway, when in the final game it only appears once in a cutscene and in a mission. However, once trying to enter the tramway, the game crashes since there is no animation for open tramway doors.
 * Unlike the forest in the final version with lots of elevations, steep hills, cliffs, and canyons, this one is relatively flat.
 * There are giant placeholder textures in the sky.
 * There are a few unfinished empty hangars in the northern part of the forest, pointing to the fact that there may have been plans for planes to be part of Amber Gold 1, however, this concept wouldn't be introduced until 4 years later with Amber Gold 3.

Debug Menu

 * At one point in development, it seems that a time-based weather system was to be implemented, which would not be introduced until 7 years later with Amber Gold 4. However, this only causes weird colors in the sky and fog covering the entire screen.