An Open Letter Regarding Wii Play Motion and TCRF

An Open Letter Regarding Wii Play Motion and TCRF
November 21, 2016

Dear reader,

Hi! I'm RoadrunnerWMC. I found several unused minigames in Wii Play Motion a few years ago. I wrote down notes, intending to write a full TCRF article, but never got around to actually writing the article very well. Then my Wii broke, and now I don't even have the Wii available anymore. So it's up to you to finish what I started and record videos for TCRF! :)

I've looked over all my previous notes, put everything that's important into this document, and then rewrote most of it for clarity. I've also marked down things that I don't remember but should be checked.

If you want to talk to me for some reason, I'm always on Freenode, NoLimitNET and BadnikZONE as "RoadrunnerWMC." Query me. (Please give me time to get back to you, though.)


Good luck! (You're not going to need it, though; this is easy research. Except for Loony Cycle level 6. You'll really need it there...!)


~


A quick note: On the current WPM page's bob, "Developer: Nintendo" isn't really accurate. All the minigames were outsourced to various companies, as seen in the credits.


A brief explanation of minigame codes:
    Every minigame is referenced internally by a 3-digit code, such as "102".
    The first digit is always 1 (except for the title-screen demos, but those are separate anyway).
    The second digit represents the developer company:
        0: Arzest Corporation
        1: Chunsoft Co., Ltd.
        2: Mitchell Corporation
        3: NdCUBE Co., Ltd. (presumably -- more on this later)
        4: Skip Ltd.
        5: Vanpool, Inc.
        6: Nintendo
        7: Good-Feel Co., Ltd.
        8: Prope, Ltd.
        You can verify this by cross-referencing the minigame codes with the developers listed in the credits.
    The third digit is incremented for each game made by that developer, starting at 0.


Minigame codes:
    100: Spooky Search
    101: Cone Zone
    102: Jump Park
    110: Star Shuttle
    111: Dolphin Park*
    120: Loony Cycle*
    121: Treasure Twirl
    122: ??*
    130: ??*
    140: Flutter Fly
    141: Pose Mii Plus
    150: Wind Runner
    160: Teeter Targets
    170: Veggie Guardin'
    171: Skip Skimmer
    180: Trigger Twist

    *unused


Unimportant, but for the sake of completeness: title-screen-demo minigame codes:
    001: Kaliedoscope
    001: Bubble Ring
    002: Menu background Miis controller
    003: Dolphin Park demo
    004: Loony Cycle demo


How to Play Unused Minigames
    All minigame code files are relocatable module files in the "modules/" folder. As it turns out, you can simply rename any of them to replace any other, and it will actually work correctly! The Wii Play Motion main menu won't notice the change, but the options there will nevertheless work, where applicable: if both the game you're replacing and the game you're testing have a multiplayer mode, and you select that from the main menu, the copypasted game will load its own multiplayer mode instead. The same is true of level select menus. It's quite nice.

    This of course works for unused minigames, too. Just replace the code file for a used minigame with the code file for an unused one, and the game will load it as you expect. Personally, I used Star Shuttle, as it has both a multiplayer mode and a large selection of levels in its menu.


111: Dolphin Park
    This is entirely separate from title-screen demo 003. It seems that that was made from this when the full version got cut.

    The object seems to be to swim through as many gold rings as possible within the time limit. The Wiimote gyroscope steers, the B button speeds you up, and A slows you down. There's a tutorial that appears when you begin playing, where there are no gold rings. There are also other fish to avoid, boats floating around, and little fish in bubbles that you can swipe at with the Wii Remote cursor (think Super Mario Galaxy Star Bits) to get bonuses. The HUD (which is mostly non-functional, if I recall correctly) includes an overhead map, and a point meter that uses the Cone Zone icon (I don't remember what that means). Miis in boats hold even more gold rings over the water, which you can reach by jumping at high speed.

    The minigame doesn't seem to respond differently to choosing different levels in the Wii Play Motion main menu. Same with multiplayer mode.

    I don't remember if the scenery implies Wuhu Island or not. Please check, if you can.

    I also don't remember if this game is referenced at all in the credits.


120: Loony Cycle
    Same scenario as Dolphin Park: title-screen demo 004 is a completely separate watered-down version of this scrapped full minigame. This one, I remember, is definitely referenced in the credits. This is by far the most interesting unused minigame!

    You maneuver through an obstacle course floating in the sky over a valley. You hold your Wiimote like bicycle handlebars and "pedal" it, avoiding hazards and collecting balloons. It's a rather wonky control system, but you get used to it. There are checkpoints and other stuff, too.

    There are two unused music tracks -- one for starting a level and one for finishing it. No music plays during levels themselves. I also have this note written down from before: "it looks like the game may be trying to load a nonexistent music file; if it is given one, will it play it?" I don't remember what evidence I had for that belief, unfortunately. Perhaps try searching the minigame's code file for the filenames of the two music tracks it uses, and looking for other filenames nearby?

    There are a variety of levels. You can choose the first few through the level-select menu of whatever minigame you're replacing to test this one, and you can play the others by renaming files in the "common/mg120/map" folder.

    There's even a functional multiplayer mode! You can crash into opponents, and there are now bombs to avoid (I don't remember how that works; please test). The HUD is different, and players react differently to getting hit by wrecking balls (I don't remember what that means, either). All balloons are gone in this mode.

    Level 1
        The tutorial level. A very linear, grassy level with a big grassy slide and some logs to jump over. The tutorial kind of works, but it's definitely unfinished.

    Level 2
        A level with some conveyor belts and grass slides. Not very difficult.

    Level 3
        Another level with some conveyor belts and grass slides. There's a glitch (or oversight) preventing you from completing it. (Specifically, there's a spot on a conveyor belt where you need to make a 180-degree turn, and the game prevents you from doing so.)

    Level 4
        This level follows a clockwise downward spiral featuring lots of grassy hills to slide down. There are also three (?) places where you can pick one of two paths. (Or at least, that's the apparent intention: only the first path-split section works properly. For the second and third path splits, you're forced to take a specific path because the other lacks collisions and you fall through the floor.)

    Level 5
        This seems to be a copy of the level seen in the final title screen demo. It's a very linear level with many thin bridges and wrecking balls to avoid.

    Level 6
        This is an extremely long and difficult level. It's possible to get about two-thirds of the way (be prepared to spend at least an hour getting that far), and then it becomes unbeatable due to a camera glitch. (I don't remember what the glitch is, specifically.)

    Level 100
        Seems to be the same as level 1. That said, the filesize is very different, so it can't be an exact duplicate. I don't know what the differences are.

    Level 900
        Seems like a testing stage for the developers, since it doesn't look anything like the others. It's a square field with walls on all sides, and a curvy road to follow. Lots of balloons.

    Level 999
        An empty level. The game will load it without crashing or freezing, but the Mii and his unicycle are not spawned, and it is impossible to do anything at all. Proof that the game isn't frozen: you can still press "+" to pause and exit.


122: ??
    This would have been the third minigame by Mitchell Corporation. There's code for it, but unlike the first two minigames, I was unable to get this one to load without crashing. Perhaps someone could try to debug it in Dolphin? Maybe it's missing a few files or something? (Also, I don't think I tried replacing many games -- please try various replacement setups.)

    Looking at the assets, it's definitely supposed to be some sort of circus with clowns.


130: ??
    Looking at development studios listed in the credits, through a process of elimination, studio "3" here is probably NdCUBE Co., Ltd.

    The only evidence that this minigame was ever planned is that the message translation file "common/mess/bin/US_English/mg130ms.msbt.lz" exists, although the file is unfortunately empty (except for a generic MSBT header). I think "mg130" is also mentioned in the main code file somewhere, too?


That's all I've got. I'm looking forward to seeing you complete the TCRF page! :D