I've compiled some pictures of the newly-seen unused MMBN5DS 3D models. This should be more insightful than the previous, faceless pictures from nsbmd. I also explain the pictures and details.
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First up, ACDC Town.
The Honda building seems like the most out of place building in the town. Its design is based on the containers found at the SciLab dock. No idea why it would look like that which leads me to suggest that the name was merely added for no apparent reason. The doors and windows also look similar to the exterior design of Higsby's shop.
For some reason, when wireframes are on and transparency is off, strange shapes can be seen in front of the building as seen below.
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Next up is the 7-Eleven and metro.
The 7-Eleven is probably there as a filler, but it seems so accurately designed. Also, remember I pointed out that the texture for the front of the 7-11 is the same image from the 7-Eleven Japanese site with some modifications. Unfortunately, it seems they removed or relocated the image from the site. It can still be seen in the
archive.
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Here is Higsby's shop and Mayl's house.
While Higsby's shop doesn't have its name visible, it still resembles the GBA version very accurately. In fact, the texture calls it "Higsby's" despite it originating from Japan. Mayl's house is also fairly accurate. The size of the buildings makes the player's size questionable. They would have to be quite large; much bigger than the scale used in the GBA games.
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Now here is Dex and Lan's house.
Again, they're fairly accurate. However, Lan's doghouse is much bigger than in the original. The doghouse is almost as big as the door. This person-to-building scale would have to be way off for this. Also, the stairs in the back don't actually have steps. It's just a slope with a texture. It's also rockier which suggest the park may have been past the stairs.
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Here is Yai's house and boat.
Unfortunately, even in the 3D model, the rest of the house is lost. It just never felt like a big house ever since they started using the front gate as the house. Below the house, the boat sinks conveniently. The water shows through because transparency is on. It would look strange with black, too. Also, I have no idea why the water is that shallow. There is a cave or tunnel in the back so it makes no sense how the sip could go in our out without going in reverse. It may not be visible, but the boat is also labeled "Yai". Unusual since the Japanese GBA game has the boat labeled "Yaito". The hills are also notably low-poly. I'm sure if this was completed, the map would be more detailed.
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The town map has joints, which is apparently unusual. These joints, however they may have been used, provide clues about how the map functioned.
I doubt the map has animations, especially those involving the movement of buildings. All visible buildings and objects are all connected to the center for some reason. The Honda nameplate is connected to the invisible shapes in front of it. Who knows what that might have done. The park entrance also connects to the steps.
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This is the 3D model for the battlefield.
It's nothing special, really. When the model is opened, the blue side is on the left, but I don't know if that's significant. The stage doesn't have complex joints or individual polygons and materials either. The stage was made like this and the panels can't be changed individually. Obvious signs of halted or preliminary progress. The texture has an orange-brown panel which isn't seen here. It is also very similar to the GBA version except that it is influenced by perspective. In order for the panels to be perfectly square here, the camera would have to be directly on top of it as seen below.
Still, the idea of 3D Battle Network battles is still fascinating.
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The Net map also has joints.
Like last time, all the lines come from a center. They seem to connect to starting points on all the levels and the floating platforms. I don't know if those flying platforms are supposed to be like that, but they are linked somehow. There is also a red line for some reason. It doesn't go to a start of a platform.
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This is the platform from which the lines are generated.
You can also see a small, floating cube with a dash arrow on it. Could jumping have been possible? The warp also has an arrow, something the GBA game didn't do despite the texture being VERY accurate. Also, the platform from which the lines originate has a name. It is called "saka". I couldn't find a definition, but maybe it has some relevant meaning.
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Here is the entire map seen from above.
The map, like the previous map, bears little resemblance to the GBA version. I suppose with a 3D map, the second area could have just been a second level. It looks incomplete and there are no arrows or sub-roads. There are only 3 warps which means it could have been used instead of arrows. The arrow panels seem to suggest the warp on the left may have been the starting point. This map just lacks the qualities of a completed map and this seems like a bad start.
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Here is Lan's room.
For some reason, I always have a hard time exploring this model. It is very similar to the GBA one with the exception of the soccer mats, though those could have been separate objects that loaded independently from the map. The poster of Otenko is surprisingly lo-res. I think the GBA one is more distinguishable. There is also no picture frame and the strange blue curtain is hanging over Lan's computer. In fact, it's not even hanging over, it's just a flat texture.
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For some reason, there is a backside.
For the first time, Lan's closet can be accessed and there are PET boxes for some reason. They resemble the boxes found in Higsby's backroom. Also, there is no wall from the direction the camera is facing. If this were on purpose, I would imaging the camera would shift to a fixed location depending on where the player was. Also, the porch is designed. This is contradictory to the fact that the texture for the door shows cast shadows of the rails. I think this room gives a better idea on what the player-to-map scale was. On the previous picture, the size of the bed can directly be related to Lan's height. It means he would barely be able to move through that door.
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Finally, here are the character models.
This model's internal name is"pl00_kage". I know for a fact the term "pl" refers to player which makes this model, player model 00. I hadn't seen the term kage before, so I looked it up and apparently it means "shadow". But what makes more sense is that this model was probably used as the overworld model for Megaman. Lan's model also uses the same naming convention and obviously he doesn't battle. That could also explain why this model uses different texture. I always knew there was something wrong with this model. It isn't based on the finished 3D model used in the retail release of Megaman Battle Network 5 DS, and I can prove it.
On the top is the unused overworld model. On the bottom is the final model used in the released DS game. The differences should be VERY obvious. The top one is notable low-poly and fairly inaccurate. This isn't the first time using low-poly models for overworld has been done. In Final Fantasy IV DS, Kainazzo had a very obvious overworld 3D model which was low-res/low-poly.
In this case, the character model is very distorted. The head is much larger than it should be and the shoulder pads are stretched. The emblem is also much larger than it should be. And the legs are very scrawny. Still, these are the features which were most exaggerated in the GBA sprite version. The head is probably in the same proportion as the sprite and the body is probably that small. But compared to the final version, the overworld one is really short. When the models are compared to the
concept art, the bottom one seems more accurate. Also, this is the only model to have a shadow attached to the 3D model. I have transparency off so the round shape can't be seen.
If I were to theorize, though. I would say the one on the bottom would have been used for battle. The other models seem to support that theory.
The back of the overworld model also has no pack. This could be a program error, but I can't be too sure. The pack is still present in the texture.
But can you see? The rings on the arms are cubes!
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Here is Lan's overworld model.
Its internal name is "pl01_kage", which suggests the second playable character. However, this doesn't follow standard MMBN ordering conventions. If this model suffers from the same distortions as the Megaman model, then the head should be slightly smaller and the height could be higher. At least the model looks complete this time.
Well...almost.
The 3D model doesn't have roller skates. If this isn't a program error, then Lan could have ran! Maybe if animations can be found, Lan can be seen running.
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There are NPCs as well. One for each world.
This is the generic boy's 3D model. His textures are surprisingly complicated compared to the rest of the textures. It also uses a different name; its internal name is "sb01". I don't know what "sb" means. But seeing how low-poly the model is, it most likely was an overworld model. The eyes are really blurry, and for an obvious reason. It seems that only for this model, the one with the more complicated textures, they decided to rip from their own sprites to make the face texture.
They took it all from the mugshot. They took a small piece from the already small sprite, enlarged it with some upscaling algorithm, the used it as part of the face texture. If you zoom into the face, you can even notice there is a skin color difference. This is likely because the mouth and the rest of the skin is based off Lan's texture and the sprite uses a different color. Also, the eye was drawn in perspective for the sprite. Using the sprite's eye as a texture was a bad idea, and it is exactly why the eyes look irregular.
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This is the Net's NPC.
This model has always shown up incorrectly for some reason. But then again, Protoman's 3D model also has similar errors, so it is likely a program error. This model also has the smallest texture. Its internal name is "sb04" which means there are 3 models missing in between. The feet may look stuck together South Park style, but there are joints there meaning they are separate. What's even stranger about this model is that its materials aren't called "material". Instead, its naming it "Scene_Material", a name used for the PET effects in the final version of BN5DS. The only other models to use that name are the blue squares, the white box, and the green hexagon from the PET screen. The green hexagon is also likely unused. It still seems sloppy for the names to just change like that.
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Here are the last two 3D models: parts of Megaman.
This model only contains the Mega Buster and there isn't too much to go on, either. Obviously it would have been used in battle. The internal name is "pl00_Larm" which is a match to the BN5DS model named "pl00". However, it says it's a left buster. I thought Megaman was right-handed? It would have made more sense to leave the right arm. The texture for the buster is also VERY similar to the BN5DS model's texture. It's the same texture with the exception of the hand part. That box floating above the buster could have been used for positioning. The buster only has one joint and it is called "joint". If there are even any animations for, it would probably match an animation from the model where the buster is pulled out.
This is the last and final model in the Megaman Star Force 1 models.bin archive: a foot.
I left the joint on this one which seems to connect to part of the upper thigh. Its internal name is "pl00_Lleg" which means its a left leg. The texture used on this leg is an exact match to the BN5DS model. The model, however, is not. The small blue square is too low on the leg. And where it should have been, is a strange blue line. The upper part of the leg is also really inaccurate. Instead of a circular shape, there is a V-shape. I kind of don't want to say this, but it looks kind of like the Star Force Megaman leg shape-wise. There is one joint and it is called "hidariasi". I couldn't find a definition for this. When they feel like using Japanese, they do and when they don't, they don't. Any animations for this would probably resemble the battle stance and other attack animations, if any.
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That is all I have. I hope that has provided some more insight on this mystery. I will do anything to know the truth behind this scrapped project.
Before I conclude, I would like to give thanks to
ReploidOf20XX from SpritesINC. I think he deserves more credit than he has been receiving from all this. After all, he found the textures first. I only explored it. Thanks a lot for the support and I hope one day there will be answers.
I knew this would happen sometime this year. Megaman Legends 3 has been announced for the Nintendo 3DS. This is solid evidence that the fans get what they want. Now I feel like actually buying a 3DS. I've only played the first Legends game (mainly because PSX controls are terrible) and I like it. A third game seems deserving for them.
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