WL1:SML3 Unused Graphics

[Tigrou]

Hello,

There is already a topic related to unused sprites. I wanted to post stuff there but I think it's better to create one is dedicated to unused graphics in general (like tiles).

In 2015, I have written a basic level editor for WL1. This was one of my favorite games when I was a child.
Recently, I have added possibility to view 8x8 tiles loaded in VRAM for debugging.

I found some stuff that does seems to be used in the game at all :

It is a small dot (seen in Sherbet Land 2).
Similar dot can be seen in Parsley wood 4 (along with small waterfall that is also unused) :

Do you know something about it ?
I wanted to post it on The cutting floor page, but I'll check it with you first.

 

[CM30]

Hey @Tigrou, nice findings. Certainly seems like stuff that's new to me, though I'm not exactly a Wario Land 1 hacker by any stretch of the imagination.

 

[Just a Wario Fan]

(along with small waterfall that is also unused) :

That looks like...



6:20

 

[CM30]

Huh, it does as well. Guess they had plans for something similar all the way back in Wario Land 1 (the face with a waterfall, not Wario Land 4's specific mechanics).

 

[ShyGuyXXL]

Guys, you gotta think outside the box!
Tiles that are next to each other don't necessarily belong to each other.
Here's where they are used:

The circle isn't actually a circle, it's 4 corners. ^^
The upper corners ARE actually used, even though you can't see them:

 

[Tigrou]

Nice catch! I should have checked a little bit more.

Do you agree that those tiles are not used :

They can be seen in last part of very first level (and many other places).
Again, the circle was probably intended to be used to make round borders. But I cannot see it used in any level.
The other one seems to be a variant of the wood boards you usually see on some walls. But again, I don't think it is used.

 

[ShyGuyXXL]

Again, the circle was probably intended to be used to make round borders.

It could... but I don't see what other tile it could've connected to.
The wooden board simply could've added a bit of visual variety.
Would've looked like this:

Or it could've been an early version of the used board.
So the round thing was likely supposed to be a porthole. Maybe it was supposed to be part of the S.S. Tea Cup tileset originally.
It IS a bit strange that there are no portholes anywhere on the ship.
It could've looked pretty cool:

Left: my version, Right: from the tileset

Actually, seems like there wouldn't have been any room for that in the tileset. Every tile seems to have already been used.

 

[Tigrou]

Wooden board: I came to same conclusion.
Porthole : I like the idea. Especially they usually have 8 bolts, like those 8 white pixels.
It could have been animated as well (like lava, water, ...) to simulate ship roll.

 

[Just a Wario Fan]

Here's where they are used:

Using a waterfall as foliage? Damn, that's what I call thinking outside the box indeed!