Beta elements, cut content, and related changes for Cartoon Network Universe: FusionFall and FusionFall Heroes.
Cartoon Network Universe: FusionFall[]
Park Project[]
After trying to get the project off the ground for years and through 2006, then Vice President/Executive Producer at Cartoon Network, Chris Waldron, was given the green light to create his MMOG project. CN had noticed the success of Disney's ToonTown Online, and wished to create their own game to rival it. Originally codenamed Park Project, the original project plan was structured much closer to ToonTown, featuring smaller worlds connected by warp points and a focus on minigames. The intention was originally to directly emulate ToonTown's gameplay and structure before they settled on further developing the ideas into their own.
Once their direction was better cemented, the relatively small budget allocated and focus on traditional MMO elements led the CN team to hire Grigon Entertainment, Korean developers with prior experience developing their own MMO, Seal Online. At least two different prototypes for FusionFall were developed to CN's specifications using the Gamebryo engine and the Unity engine. The team settled on using Gamebryo to develop the game and they went to work.
Cartoon Network MMOG[]
Cartoon Network's MMOG FusionFall
Cartoon Network MMOG (Beta FusionFall)
Early on, FusionFall was marketed as Cartoon Network MMOG (Cartoon Network Massively Multiplayer Online Game). In the initial trailer, concept art and illustrations for various characters and locations are shown. The first trailer for the game uses the original Gamebryo prototype. Early Infected Zone elements like slides and jump pads can be seen in primitive states in an early version of Charles Darwin Middle School. Early UI can be shown that is evocative of the final game but differs in design. Also present is the Nano Wheel, an earlier version of the display for currently equipped Nanos.
Near the end of development, the decision was made to switch to the Unity engine, so the game would run better on low-end computers, and be accessible through the use of a web browser using its fast download speeds and streaming of assets. Because of the relatively quick need to port the game to Unity, various people behind the engine worked alongside Cartoon Network and Grigon in order to port the game at such short notice. This conversion in engine caused a delay in release, pushing back to January 2009.
Tutorial[]
The tutorial section of the game was originally going to be far different from the one that ended up in the final game. The game would've started with an opening cinematic, and when that was finished, the player would be met by Young Ben. Ben directs the player to meet Numbuh Five at the treehouse, but before they go, they need to head to the Command Post at City Hall to customize their character and get an ID badge. After he explains this, he turns into XLR8, and speeds off. When the player arrives at the Command Post, Ben and other CN heroes help the player through the process. When this is finished, the player is directed to a transportation hub, so they can get to the treehouse. After arriving at the treehouse, they are greeted by Numbuh Five, who directs them to a receiving area, where she greets them and checks their ID. Once their ID is verified, the player enters the equipment area, where Numbuh Two dispenses basic gear. The tutorial then teaches the fundamentals of combat. After that, Professor Utonium gives the player their Nano holders, and explains what a Nano is. Players then choose a mentor, and report to them for their first quest.
Characters[]
Many characters were considered to be added to the game, but quite a few didn't end up getting in.
Mario Piedra Sketches[]
In very early stages of development, Mario Piedra, the art director, drew sketches of many characters. Some would not make it into the final game. These include Mike, Lu, Og, Agent Honeydew, and Monkey.
Considered Characters[]
There were other characters that were popular among the team that were never implemented. The team wanted to include Huntor so he could give players Missions to hunt down monsters. Action Hank and Uncle Pockets were also considered, but were scrapped in favor of characters from more popular shows like Ben 10 and the Powerpuff Girls.
Alternate Characters[]
The game's design docs had certain characters labelled as "alternates." These characters were Cheese, Terrance, Goo, Nergal, Fred Fredburger, and Raymond, with only Cheese and Fred Fredburger being added later in the game's lifespan.
Mee Mee and Lee Lee[]
Dee Dee, Mee Mee, and Lee Lee art
Artwork for Mee Mee and Lee Lee was made by Midori Foo due to their being easy to make as they're just altered versions of Dee Dee's art.
Early PPG & Dexter Art[]
This art has early versions of the Powerpuff Girls designs as well as Dexter's.
Rowdyruff Boys[]
In the early stages of development, there were plans for each region to have it's own transport system. They would mostly be differently designed Monkey Minions. The Rowdyruff Boys were intended to act as the flying transport in Downtown, but were scrapped due to art and time constraints.
Aku[]
Academy villains section of intro section, Aku's face can be seen in the top right corner.
Aku was drawn by Midori Foo, but his art was used only for promotional purposes. His head can be seen among the other villains in the Academy intro cutscene. A role for him was outlined early in development: Aku had sent some of his minions to investigate a Fusion camp in the Darklands, but they were easily dispatched by Fuse's forces. Aku grew to fear Fuse and decided it was best to observe the situation from the sidelines.
Camp Lazlo and My Gym Partner's a Monkey Characters[]
Despite having locations from their shows (e.g. Charles Darwin Middle School from My Gym Partner's a Monkey and Camp Kidney from Camp Lazlo), no characters from My Gym Partner's a Monkey or Camp Lazlo appeared in the game. In a developer journal post on the FusionFall website, the game's art director Mario Piedra explains that some of the more animalistic characters are harder to translate to the FusionFall artstyle and world, specifically mentioning My Gym Partner's a Monkey and Camp Lazlo.[1] This means that they likely were planned to be in the game at some point, but were scrapped due to satisfactory designs not being made for them.
According to FusionFall Retro Gamemaster Devan, there was another reason for no characters from those two shows appearing: the developers felt that animalistic characters wouldn't fit in a serious plot. Devan also stated that Lazlo, Raj, Clam, Scoutmaster Lumpus and Slinkman were initially planned, but were all replaced by characters who could be taken more seriously. Roles for Slinkman and Lumpus were outlined early in development: both were meant to appear at Camp Kidney trying to make repairs to the camp while being forced to fight off monsters. They get the player to fight off the monsters for them and find some missing bean scouts.
Other Character Sketches[]
Concept sketches of Irwin, Andy Johnson, and Adam Lyon were done, but these characters never made it into the game, with only Irwin being referenced by Billy in the Mission Billy's Baloney (Part 1 of 3).
Doyle Blackwell[]
Concept model and texture for Doyle
Doyle Blackwell was planned to be put in the game as an NPC. A concept for his model and texture was made, but it never made it into the game. In the game, Doyle is stated to be making his way to the Darklands, which was likely hinting at his planned addition.
Van Kleiss[]
Van Kleiss texture
In the files of FusionFall Retro, the texture for a Van Kleiss NPC can be found. This is likely a leftover from the Academy version of the game, which suggests that Van Kleiss was planned to be an NPC as well, and not just a Nano. The model appears to be reused from Generator Rex: Agent of Providence.
Nanos[]
There are many Nanos that had models made for FusionFall (some of which can be found in the game itself), but ended up going unused.
Young Ben[]
Young Ben was one of the first Nanos developed, effectively acting as a test Nano to run through the process. He ultimately wound up shelved because the developers found he wasn't quite as interesting as the various aliens from Ben 10 and they felt his design wasn't good to look at. The Nano's appearance also came from an earlier time in development where the design philosophy for Nanos was drastically different.
Ben 10 Alien Nanos[]
The Ghostfreak and Upgrade Nanos were originally the level 24 and 36 Nanos respectively. As a result of the developers changing the core Ben 10 representation to the Alien Force iterations because of its popularity and more rich lore, they were replaced by Swampfire and Humongosaur. Four Arms was left in the game to represent an original series alien.
Fiskerton[]
Fiskerton Nano
Interestingly, concept art was made for a Fiskerton Nano, which was even developed into a model. Analyzing the UV map of this model reveals that it was used as a base for the NPC or vice versa.
Academy Nanos[]
Six of the Academy released Nanos were originally meant to be released in the cancelled expansion. These Nanos were Chowder, Flapjack, Zak Saturday, Johnny Bravo and Cheese. Johnny Bravo and Cheese can still be found referenced in the code for a pre-academy build of FusionFall. They are listed as the Nanos for levels 37 and 38 respectfully. The Nano for level 39 is listed as Ben, and is a Cosmix Nano. This Nano would've most likely been a Nano of Ben Tennyson based on his Alien Force iteration. Most of these Nanos were completely developed by the end of 2009, but Cheese and Johnny Bravo were completely developed by the release of the closed beta in late 2008. These six Nanos are of noticeably higher quality when compared to the other Academy Nanos as they were developed by the original developers, Grigon. The Nanos would've accompanied new areas and levels.
Alien X[]
The Alien X Nano was planned to be the first new Nano released in the cancelled expansion. Notably, the Alien X Nano had its Nano Power changed from Sleep - Cone to Reality Fade from its initial announcement and the actual game release.
Code Nanos[]
There were going to be several code Nanos released in 2012, but were never released because updates stopped in late 2011. Some of these Nanos included Bobo Haha, Way Big, Ultimate Big Chill, Ultimate Wildmutt, Lodestar and Spidermonkey.
Bobo Haha[]
Icon for the Bobo Haha Nano
After the Van Kleiss Nano was fully implemented, Bobo Haha was the next Nano to be released, but it never ended up getting finished due to content production being halted, leaving the Van Kleiss Nano as only obtainable via the Unstable Nano.
Nano Power Icons & Nano Power Item Designs[]
Inventory from beta version of the game
The Nano Power icons were originally much different. For example, the Recall power had an undo symbol instead of an arrow going through a portal. In addition, Nano Power Items had different designs. Both of which can be seen in the picture to the right.
Nano Tuning[]
The Nano power selection and changing system was once quite different. The remnants of this old system are still in the game, though they are unused, with certain items being referred to as 'tuning material'. Two of these items are called 'bolt' and 'gas tank', and unused vendors are selling the before mentioned items. Selecting and changing a Nano power in the game is still internally referred to as tuning.
Nano Icons[]
Nano Icons originally had all Nanos facing to the left at an angle while doing an A-pose. They were later given unique icons.
Fusion Monsters[]
Beta and changed elements related to Fusion monsters.
Normal Monsters[]
Street Sentinel[]
The Street Sentinel was an unused Fusion monster which is level 07 and Adaptium. Its boss version is the Super Street Sentinel. It was cut late into development as it was seen in footage at San Diego Comic Con 2008 which was only six months before the game's release. It appeared at Goat's Junkyard and Candy Cove. It appears in the cutscene where Ben and Numbuh Five explain Planet Fusion to the player. The monster was going to return in the Fusion Safari event. One of the game masters would've continuously spawned it in areas of Downtown, but never appeared as the game stopped being updated. There are other variants of the Street Sentinel called Tire Monster/Tire Giant/Tire Terror /Tire Titan which are Levels 1/8/12 /16 respectively. The monster appeared in FusionFall Heroes as a boss. The Tire Titan was added to FusionFall Retro on November 4, 2018. It was renamed as Rage Roadkiller and was made a boss. It could be fought at Habitat Homes.
Generator[]
Concept art of the Generator.
A generator with three eyes and multiple wire-like legs. It was meant to appear somewhere in Downtown. Generator is an internal name, so it's unknown what the monster's real name is. It appeared in FusionFall Heroes, where it could be fought at DexLabs.
Motoro[]
A monster consisting of motorbike parts molded into the form of a sheep. This monster would have likely appeared in Habitat Homes. It could be seen on the loading screen. It is a level 16 Cosmix monster.
Wind Breaker[]
A monster that appeared in the FusionFall Game Guide, but never appeared in the actual game. It was supposed to appear in Marquee Row and it's boss version was called the Storm Breaker. Its description reads as follows: "It's easy to tell if a Wind Breaker's coming, at least in a stiff breeze. The wind passing over their bodies makes a sound like a bad symphony. Watch out, or you'll be the coda to this musical number."
Bullfish[]
Concept art of the Bullfish.
A monster that looks like a hybrid of a bull, a fish, and an eel. It is a level 15 Cosmix monster.
Roadblock Rhino[]
Concept art of the Roadblock Rhino.
A monster made out of vehicle parts. It likely would have appeared at Townsville Zoo. It is a level 16 Adaptium monster.
Zombie Robot[]
Concept art of the Zombie Robot.
A robotic monster with an abnormally large claw arm. It likely would've appeared somewhere in the Downtown area, as it is labelled as such.
Bird[]
Concept art of the Bird.
A bird-like monster made up of multiple musical instruments. It likely would have appeared at Marquee Row.
Mob 101[]
Concept art of Mob 101.
A monster that looks like a combination of a frog and a boat. It was planned to appear at Orchid Bay, near the wharf.
Freakshow Fred[]
Unused bounce house enemy icon
According to FusionFall Retro gamemaster Devan, there was supposed to be a bounce house-like monster in the game. It has an icon, but no model. It is Cosmix-type and Level 13. Its level and design implies it was going to appear at City Point.
Squidshark Rex[]
Unused texture for a squid enemy
In the game files, there is a texture for an unused fusion squid monster. It is a level 29 Blastons Monster.
Bulldozer[]
There is an unused monster texture referred to as 'bulldozer'.
Meteorbug[]
There is an unused monster texture referred to as 'meteorbug'.
Tablehorse[]
There is an unused monster texture referred to as 'tablehorse'.
Turret Monsters[]
Three turret-type monsters were going to appear in the cancelled expansions. They would have had very high HP, making them difficult to defeat. The first was a spherical spore-like enemy. The second was made of stone. The third was a metallic pyramid-shaped enemy. The spore turret became the Party Popper, which appeared at FusionFall Retro's 2019 Birthday Bash. The pyramid turret became the defense turrets found in Vilgax's Ship. They are internally referred to as Epsporeleaf, Epstonebeam and Eptrianglebeam.
Elephantine Freak[]
A monster that resembles an elephant and a tree. It was technically used as it appeared in the Fusion Safari event where it was called the Lake/Cove/Forest Beast which are levels 8/12/16 respectively. It was continuously spawned by a game master in areas of the Suburbs and the Wilds. It would've appeared in the cancelled expansions as a normal enemy. It appears to be incompatible with the game's toon shader.
Hibagon[]
Hibagon in it's lair.
The Fusion Hominid monster fought in the Titan Nano mission is internally known as Hibagon. The Hibagon was a cryptid from The Secret Saturdays. The monster bears a great resemblance to the cryptid. It would've appeared on Monster Island.
Furious Spawn[]
A variant of the Fusion Spawn. It is a level 1 Cosmix Monster.
Spiny Streetlight[]
A variant of the Spooky Streetlight. It is a level 1 Blastons Monster.
Shock Bug[]
A variant of the Caterplug. It is a level 1 Blastons Monster.
Magno Beetle[]
A variant of the Ultramagno Beetle. It is a level 1 Cosmix Monster.
Barrel Buster[]
A variant of the Barrel Basher. It is a level 3 Adaptium Monster.
Serious Spawn[]
A variant of the Fusion Spawn. It is a level 3 Cosmix Monster
Bash Loader[]
A variant of the Crash Loader. It is a level 4 Blastons Monster.
Heavy Hauler[]
A variant of the Heavy Pincher. It is a level 4 Adaptium Monster.
Petroleum Thug[]
A variant of the Petroleum Punk. It is level 4 Blastons Monster.
Barrel Brawler[]
A variant of the Barrel Basher. It is a level 7 Blastons
Treadnaught[]
A variant of the Dread Head. It is a level 7 Cosmix Monster. Its boss version is Brawler Number One.
Blazing Hydra[]
The boss version of the Fire Hydra. The Fire Hydra already has a boss version, but it is just called Fire Hydra. This version uses Dee Dee's model.
Growth[]
A variant of the Ghoulish Growth. It is level 14 and comes in Blastons and Cosmix variants.
Tentakiller[]
A variant of the Master Tentakiller. It is a level 15 Cosmix Monster.
Ironjaw[]
A variant of the Great Ironjaw. It is a level 15 Blastons Monster.
Cogfish[]
A variant of the Wild Cogfish. It is a level 15 Adaptium Monster.
Squish Fish[]
A variant of the Squish Scaler. It is a level 15 Blastons Monster.
Jamcycle[]
A variant of the Ramcycle. It is a level 16 Blastons Monster.
Tar Tyrant[]
A variant of the Granite Grabber. It is a level 27 Adaptium Monster. Its name suggests it was planned to appear in the scrapped Tar Pits area.
Desert Bullfish[]
A variant of the Bullfish. It is a level 27 Blastons Monster. Its name suggests it was planned to appear in the scrapped Arabian Desert area.
Pharaoh Freak[]
A variant of the Mummy Monster. It is a level 27 Cosmix monster. Its name suggests it was planned to appear in the scrapped Arabian Desert area.
Colossal Centurion[]
A variant of the Jurassic Centurion. It is level 35 and comes in Blastons and Cosmix variants. Its boss variant is the Colossal Centurion Captain, which for some reason is level 33 and has smaller variants.
Boss Monsters[]
The scrapped boss monsters.
Six boss monsters were going to appear in the scrapped expansions. They were never implemented into FusionFall, but were being implemented into FusionFall Retro.
The Gatekeeper[]
The Gatekeeper would have been the largest fusion monster to date. As it's name implies, it was meant to guard a gate on Monster Island. As a result, it had no walking or running animations. According to one of the developers for OpenFusion, the Gatekeeper is programed to take less damage when more players are near it. The monster has been hacked into the game multiple times.[5]
Injustice Foe[]
The Injustice Foe is a combination of the Justice Friends. It was supposed to appear at Mt. Neverest. It was intended to be a final boss that served to conclude Dexter's guide missions. Its internal name is "Fusion Hero."
Shipwrecker[]
The Shipwrecker would have appeared in the Wayblue Sea expansion, but it's unknown where exactly it would've been located. It was added to FusionFall Retro on March 10, 2019 and it could be fought at Bravo Beach. Its internal name is "Shipwreck".
Stone Scorpion[]
A giant scorpion-like monster. Not much is known about it.
Column Colossus[]
The Column Colossus didn't appear in FusionFall, but it did appear in FusionFall Heroes. Its internal name is "Neverest", suggesting it was supposed to appear in Mt. Neverest.
Dark Horntail[]
The Dark Horntail was added to FusionFall Retro on June 22, 2019. It could be fought at Dinosaur Pass. It's internal name is "Chameleon".
Fusions[]
Beta and changed elements related to Fusions.
Original Fusion Concept[]
The general designs for the Fusions went through an overhaul during development. Fusions were originally going to be relatively authentic copies of the characters Fuse intended them to mimic, with only minor differences such as green eyes and slightly different colored hair and clothes. This was dropped to give them a more alien looking design. The remnants of their earlier designs can be seen in Missions where characters are fooled by Fusions.
Roaming Fusions[]
In one of the trailers for FusionFall, Fusion Professor Utonium is shown being fought by the gates of Eternal Meadows.[2] Because of this, it was widely believed that Fusions were originally meant to be fought outside of their lairs, but according to FusionFall Retro Gamemaster Devan, this was never intended and was just made for the trailer. While this does occur with the Fusion Blowfishes and Fusion Mega Echo Echo, the latter of which was part of a post-launch event, every other Fusion is fought inside of a lair, or an otherwise closed-off area.
Fusion Designs[]
Some Fusions have discrepancies between their character art and their in-game model. Most Fusions have yellow eyes on their in-game model; however, many of them are depicted with red eyes in their character art (e.g. Blossom, Bubbles, and Frankie). Notably, the opposite is true with Fusion Mandark, who has red eyes in-game, but yellow eyes in his character art.
Fusion Kankers[]
The Fusion Kankers were originally going to be very different. Instead of the three girls as separate Fusions, they would've been combined into the Kankersaurus Rex (similar to the Kanderator from Ed, Edd n Eddy: The Mis-Edventures and the Giant Kankers from the Ed Edd n Eddy episode "Once Upon an Ed"), a massive three-headed Fusion dinosaur boss that roamed around the Tar Pits in the Darklands.
Fusion Blossom[]
There is an unused lair for Fusion Blossom in Pokey Oaks Junior High (The Future). The lair is filled with unused Shock Bug monsters. There is no level 1 Blossom, which would have been used for this lair. This indicates it was scrapped early in development.
Fusion Coop[]
Fusion Coop has an unused level 19 variant that was meant to be fought at Morbucks Towers. He is mentioned in the mission, Appetite for Destruction. This mission where you were meant to have fought him was likely scrapped or not worked on and the developers forgot to rewrite Appetite for Destruction to accommodate this change. The Fusion Coop that is fought during Fusion Assembly Line (Part 5 of 5) drops level 19 C.R.A.T.E.s, which means this Fusion Coop is just the level 19 variant, but it only had its level raised to 35.
Fusion Tetrax/Shard[]
Fusion Tetrax has two unused level 24 Blastons and Cosmix variants. The Blastons variant is called Fusion Shard.
Areas[]
Beta and changed elements to areas.
Early Map[]
Early concept art for FusionFall's map
The concept art for the FusionFall map has many differences from the final game, including having many scrapped areas, different locations for areas as well as different names, and is missing other areas that were present in the final game.
The Future[]
The Sweet Revenge (The Future)[]
There are unused Dexbot warp-in and warp-out NPCs that were intended to warp you in and out of a future version of the Sweet Revenge infected zone. When used in-game, it teleports you close to the partially-sunken ship. There is also an unused SACT Agent that starts races for this infected zone, but starting a race will crash the game. In the final game, the Sweet Revenge can be seen in the distance, partially-sunken in the Fusion Matter sea. It is inaccessible by normal means.
Suburbs[]
KND Training Area (The Past)[]
There are unused Dexbot warp-in and warp-out NPCs that were intended to warp you in and out of a past version of the KND Training Area infected zone. When used in-game, it teleports you inside of the training area and the player is unable to use their map as if they were in an actual infected zone. In the final game, the training area of the past has not been infected yet.
Hookslice Country Club[]
A heavily infected golf course area located in the Suburbs. Players would've been able to traverse it on foot or by golf cart. It was cut during development because the developers didn't think kids had any interest in golf.
Swimming Hole[]
A swimming hole area was planned in the Suburbs, but never implemented.
Endsville Shopping Mall[]
This was going to be the Infected Zone of Endsville. It was likely scrapped due to its not fitting with the rest of the area.
Downtown[]
Galaxy Gardens[]
Galaxy Gardens' Infected Zone, the Tyrannical Gardens, was originally going to be the Arboretum. It would've been an outdoor structure containing flora from throughout the universe, and would contain many twisting paths moving from one micro-ecosystem to another.
Townsville Zoo[]
This area was scrapped late in development because it would have required the team to create a lot of models for animals which would have eaten into their art budget. It would've been located in Downtown.
Townsville Aquarium[]
Another Downtown area scrapped late in development for the same reason as the zoo. It would've been located south of Townsville Center.
Wilds[]
Mount Blackhead[]
Mount Blackhead's design was originally much different, with a far more mystical and fantasy environment that had been taken over by the Kids Next Door. The area would've been on a giant tree stump, instead of a hill as it is in the final game.
Tar Pits[]
An area filled with tar pits. It was cut during development.
Arabian Desert[]
In the concept art for FusionFall's map, there is an Arabian Desert area that was scrapped.
Darklands[]
The Darklands was originally supposed to be part of the Wilds, but they were separated from each other during development.
Dark Tree/Dark Glade[]
The Dark Tree was planned to house a gauntlet where the final boss of the area would be a Fusion version of the player. It was scrapped.
Caveman Village[]
In the concept art for FusionFall's map, there was a Caveman Village area that was scrapped. It was meant to be populated with cave-people similar to that of the Flintstones.
Other[]
Dexter's Laboratory[]
Dexter's Laboratory was planned to be explorable. It would be entered using an underground tunnel. Concept art for it could be seen in Mandark's Digitizer in FusionFall Retro.
Skull Rock[]
A location that can be seen on the map, but cannot be accessed without hacking. Not much is known about it other than it would have been a Kraken-shaped island. Players believed the area would be part of a Total Drama Island themed expansion. If a player went out of bounds to Skull Island, they could access an area used to test game mechanics. This testing area was moved east of Nowhere on December 2009.
Monster Island[]
Monster Island is a location from The Powerpuff Girls. It's where all the monsters from the show live. The Mother of All Blowfish, Fusion Blowfish, normal Blowfish and several monsters based on cryptids from The Secret Saturdays would've appeared in the area. V. V. Argost would've appeared, too. He believed the Blowfish are a type of cryptid and he tried to get footage of them for his show, Weird World. All of the Blowfish were used for the Thanksgiving and Mother's Day events, instead. Argost would disappear after the Birthday Bash. There are also unused NPCs in the game pertaining to Monster Island.
Stormalong Harbor[]
Stormalong Harbor is the home of the characters of The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack. Stormalong was the least finished of the expansion areas. Fusions would've entered Bubbie's mouth and made her sick, turning her mouth into an Infected Zone. Two unused NPC's in the game pertain to Bubbie. One of them is an NPC that starts a race for the planned Bubbie Infected Zone, and another is a Dexbot warp-in NPC for Bubbie. Bubbie's mouth would become Chowder's mouth, instead. Stormalong assets were also later used in Fusion Bubble's lair in the mission These are a Few of His Favorite Things. In the original game, it is stated by Flapjack that Stormalong was destroyed by Fuse.
The Absolution[]
The Absolution is TOM's ship. It would've crashed into the sea and become partially flooded. The inside of became an Infected Zone. TOM would give out Missions that required the player to save the Absolution.
Mt. Neverest[]
Mount Neverest at the top left during a part of the opening Academy cutscene.
Mt. Neverest was meant to be a full area instead of being used as a graduation area for the Academy. It was a home for the world's superheroes. It is believed that Major Glory, the Column Colossus and the Injustice Foe would've appeared there. The area was originally the lobby for the planned PvP mode, but ended up getting scrapped because it would have required a lot of tech and UI work.
Null Void[]
It is unknown what the Null Void would've been used for in the expansions. It would've most likely appeared in the first expansion as it was Ben 10-themed. A Waybig Infected Zone was also planned for this area. There's an unused Dexbot warp-in NPC in the game that serves as a warp to the Waybig Infected Zone. The Null Void was eventually used as the first area in the Academy. Players could access a scaled down version of it in FusionFall Retro from the Precipice.
Marzipan City[]
Marzipan City was planned, but work on the area never began. The only assets made relating to this area are NPCs and Items.
The Underworld[]
There is no confirmation of this area existing, but there is some evidence of its existence. Jeff is internally labelled as an Underworld object.
Bunny Island[]
Unused Bunny Island radio tower asset
It appears that Bunny Island from Evil Con Carne was planned to be added to the game. An unused and fully animated radio tower asset in the game is stated to be from that area.
Misc.[]
Skybox Change[]
Skyboxes of certain areas such as Morbucks Towers were changed during the course of the games development and run.
Music[]
An unused song intended for Orchid Bay
Music pieces were originally intended to be around 2–3 minutes long, but were later shortened to be around 1-1.5 minutes long,[3] with some exceptions such as FusionFall's main theme. Known early versions of music pieces for FusionFall are as follows: "Science District", "Midtown", and "Stickybeard the Candy Pirate". There also exists an unused song for Orchid Bay, which ended up using the song "Seaside" in the final game. The Orchid Bay track would go on to be used in FusionFall Retro, where it would play in the Cutts and Bruises Skate Park. There was also an unused track that was later implemented in the Monkey Summit Infected Zone in FusionFall Retro.
Ben 10 Series[]
Originally, FusionFall was meant to use the 2005 original series version of the Ben 10 characters. However, with the introduction and growing popularity of Ben 10: Alien Force (which started in 2008), the developers shifted to using the Alien Force version of the characters instead. With the introduction of Ben 10: Ultimate Alien, more changes were made to be inline with the current Ben 10 series, but were not as drastic or major as the shift from the original series to Alien Force. This is likely because the art style and the majority of the designs from Alien Force were kept the same in Ultimate Alien. Additionally, it could of simply been a matter of priorities and changes in the development process that led to some elements getting changed and added over others. Unused and changed content related to the Ben 10 series is detailed below:
- The tie-in manga FusionFall: Worlds Collide uses young Ben instead of teenage Ben like in the final game. Notably, the last page of the manga showing Fuse's arrival to Earth was removed from the website, implying that more time passed between the manga's events and the full-scale invasion as a sort of retcon.
- The characters Hex, Tetrax, and Vilgax all had their original series designs when the game originally released due to not appearing in Alien Force at the time. All of them eventually made an appearance, but only Vilgax had his design updated to match his Alien Force incarnation, likely due to his continued involvement in post-launch missions, and because his redesign was more drastic than those of the other two.
- Fusion Vilgax is based on Vilgax's original series design, and retains this appearance despite Vilgax getting updated to match Alien Force.
- Fusion Kevin is based on Kevin's "Kevin 11" mutation instead of his in-game, 16/17-year old human appearance. Notably, sketches of Kevin 11 can be seen on the FusionFall website's credits page.[4]
- The Four Arms Nano is based on Four Arms's original series design. This is due to Four Arms not being used in Alien Force, as he was locked when the Omnitrix re-calibrated.[5] He did appear in Ultimate Alien, but his Nano was not updated to match his new design.
- The Vilgax Nano is based on his original series design (pre-enhancements[6]), rather than his Alien Force/Ultimate Alien design.
- Although art of Ben with the Ultimatrix was made to be consistent with Ben 10: Ultimate Alien,[7] art of him with the Omnitrix still gets used in some instances. For example, in the Academy version of the game, Ben is depicted with the Ultimatrix in the first scene, but has the Omnitrix in the ending scene. Additionally, Ben's in-game model was never updated to give him the Ultimatrix.
- Notably, Albedo's model depicts him with the Omnitrix as well. This is possibly due to Ben's model likely being used as a base for Albedo's, given that both of them have the same design. The only differences between Ben's model and Albedo's are the colors, and that Albedo has an evil grin on his. Art of Albedo for FusionFall does exist,[8] but his hands are blocked, so it's unclear if he has the Omnitrix, Ultimatrix, or any Omnitrix at all. It's also possibly an edit of artwork for Ben, given that he's in the same pose as one of Ben's art pieces.[9]
- Grandpa Max was originally one of the four Guides. He was replaced by Ben when he was given his Alien Force design.
Unused Features / Mechanics and Items[]
There were many features and items that were planned and/or made, but were never used in the game.
Features / Mechanics[]
Player Classes[]
There were originally three classes the player could choose from. These classes were Fighter, Gunner, and Bomber. Fighters specialized in melee and shotgun (shattergun) weapons, Gunners specialized in rifle and pistol weapons, and Bombers specialized in rocket and grenade (thrown) weapons. In addition, certain stat bonuses would be granted to those who had certain classes. They were scrapped during early development. They might've been removed because they limited the types of weapons players could use, which would make gameplay feel more restricted.
Weapon Type Abilities[]
Weapons were originally going to give players unique abilities depending on which type of weapon was equipped. For example, equipping a rocket weapon would grant the player the ability to do a summersault. They are still referenced in the games code, but were never fully implemented.
Weapon Overheat System[]
There is an unused feature in the games code where ranged weapons could overheat if they were fired too much, and blink red when they were unusable. However, this was never used in the finished game. The bar that it would've used is on the left.
Nanocom Alarm[]
There is an unused alarm system for the Nanocom. What it was meant to be used for is unknown. It could've been meant to highlight low Nanocom efficiency, or be used as a way to tell to active players that the game was getting an update. The UI for it is to the right.
Early UI & Slider[]
During the games development, the UI went through revisions. One early version of the UI can be seen in this video being demonstrated by Chris Waldron. Another iteration can be seen on the website of Dwayne Tatum, the games UI designer. The work Dwayne shows there is far more advanced and detailed than what ended up in the final game. This version was rejected most likely due to it being too complex for children to understand. The pictures to the right display an early version of the UI and combat UI, as well as an early version of the slider.
Climbing and Button System[]
The dev team experimented with adding a climbing ability and a button-based platform activation system. Both of these never ended up in the game publicly, but they are still accessible via debug land. Climbing was never added publicly due to the amount of server packets that needed to be sent in order for it to work. The button system was scrapped because the team were afraid it would lead to griefing.
Diamond Egg[]
There is an unused line of Computress dialogue that refers to 'a Diamond Egg'. These eggs likely would've been above Gold Eggs in rarity. They would've given the best and rarest items.
Item Enchanting System[]
Menu of the unused enchant system with an item in it.
Croc potting was originally referred to as item enchanting, and had different requirements to achieve an enchantment, as seen in the picture provided. A video demonstrating the remnants of the system can by found on Devan's YouTube channel.
Unused Gumball Effect[]
In the games code, there is an unused effect that allows the run Nano Power to be enhanced by using gumballs. This was later re-implemented into FusionFall Retro.
Premium Store and Cash Shopping Mall[]
A premium store was planned for the game at launch. When the developers were discussing the game's revenue model, this was what they settled on. This store sold boosts, potions, leveling potions, cosmetics and vehicles. A month prior to release, the store was scrapped in favor of having ads in the game. According to a developer, this was the biggest mistake they had ever made and contributed to Grigon Entertainment going bankrupt and the game having a much shorter lifespan than anticipated. Many of the Items intended for this store became available as racing rewards in FusionFall Retro. There was also planned to be an in-game shop for special items, but this was also scrapped. An unfinished menu for this shop can be accessed by a command in OpenFusion.
Auction House / Player Shop[]
The unfinished player store menu
According to the official planning documents for the game, an auction house system was supposed to be added not long after the initial launch of the game, but it never came to pass. Ironically, the document states that the auction house is to be added as soon as possible. This ended up being a player shop mechanic, where players could sell items to other players. It was partially implemented into the game via a store menu, but it was never finished. The remnants of it can also be accessed by a command in OpenFusion.
Clubs/Secret Bases[]
What appears to be a guild and player housing system was supposed to come after the initial release of the game, according to the beforementioned documents.
Mini-Games[]
Some type of mini-games were planned to be added after launch according to the planning documents, but nothing more is said about them.
PvP Area[]
The game was planned to have an area where PvP combat would be possible, but it was never fully implemented into the game due to issues with the client. The remnants of this PvP system can be found when using GM mode, as GM players can attack and kill non-GM players, but non-GM players cannot fight back.
Unused Character Escort Animations[]
There are many characters in the game with unused animations, with varying amounts of unused material. The characters from the initial release version of the game have unused walking and running animations. Blossom has an entire unused combat suite, complete with voice work. Eddy has unused combat animations, and Wilt's combat animations are incomplete with him having no death animation. Some later characters such as Flapjack and Chowder were similarly equipped with more unused animations due to being produced by the original Grigon team. However, characters produced after Grigon's closure were outsourced, and were not given any extra animations.
These animations were likely made either due to the characters being planned to take part in escort missions that never came to be, or in case they were ever needed for an escort mission made during future development. The Control Center Assault mission line was likely planned as a series of escort missions with the character present inside each lair. The first mission in the saga has Blossom in the lair, one of the characters with unused combat animations. It appears that all the characters escort functionality in this mission line was removed late into development.
Mission Giving Vendors[]
There is an unused NPC in the game that was meant to be a test for NPCs that sold items while also giving out missions.
Items[]
Regular Items[]
Scooby Tail item info window
Scooby Tail[]
There is an unused backpack item in the game based on the tail of Scooby Doo. The item was later remade and was obtainable during FusionFall Retro's 2019 Halloween event.
Ultra Rare Prototype Gear[]
In the games code, there are items known as 'Ultra Rare Prototypes' that go unused. According to the description of the items, the player would've been able to combine these items with an item of the same type, making the item stronger. It is possible that these items were going to be involved in croc potting. Due to the items already being fully added to the game, they must have been cut late into development.
When the Academy update released, models of some of these items can be seen on a rack at Providence HQ.
Brainstorm Armor Set[]
Brainstorm set concept art.
There was originally meant to be a full Brainstorm set at launch, but only the helmet made it into the final game and the backpack was later added as a code item.
Marching Band Set[]
Marching Band set concept art.
A slightly futuristic-looking Marching Band set was planned at some point. It is unknown if it was ever modelled.
Grigon Test Items[]
The item window for a level 100 test item
In the games code, there are items that are level 100. These items were used by members of the dev team for development purposes. While they are level 100, they only have level 36 stats. If the test items did have level 100 stats, then the jacket shown would have a defense stat of 536.
Consumable Items[]
Weapon Battery Item[]
Icon of the unused weapon battery item.
There is an unused consumable item in the game called Test (K) that has this Korean text on its picture "무기 건전지", which means "weapon battery", and it is known in the code as eGI_Battery. It is unknown what it was going to be used for. It could be a remnant of a scrapped game mechanic.
Infected Zone Racing Tickets[]
The icons of the Infected Zone Ticket items
Initially, races were going to require special ticket items in order to be done. These were left in the game as unused items called "containers". They are referred to as "small container", "medium container", "large container", and "free container". The description of the items say that the player can "redeem at item list", which could refer to the scrapped Premium Shop/Cash Shopping Mall.
Remote Items[]
The Warp Monkey item window
There are three unused consumable items in the game known as eGI_RemoteNano, eGI_RemoteBank, and eGI_RemoteWarp. RemoteNano allows the player to use a Nano Station from anywhere, RemoteBank allows the payer to access the bank from anywhere, and RemoteWarp likely would've allowed the use of S.C.A.M.P.E.R.s and/or Monkey Skyway Agents to be used from anywhere. The Warp Monkey item is the only item in the game involved with eGI_RemoteWarp.
Misc Consumable Items[]
There are many other consumable items in the game that never got used, along with some that did. The list is as follows: Invulnerable, FM Bonus, Taros Bonus, Bank Expansion (which was somewhat implemented into FusionFall Retro), Upgrade and Upgrade 2 (which could possibly be the Mechamorph E.G.G.E.R. E.G.G.s), Revive Token (which was later implemented into FusionFall Retro), an item in the code called eGI_Store, which was going to be used for the unused player stall mechanic, another item in the code called eGI_Potion, which has an unknown effect, but is used for an unused "posion potion" item, yet another item in the code called eGI_Scroll, which has an unknown effect, and a redeemable item that allowed the player to change an avatars hair. This could also have been from the unused shops. Two of these items, FM Bonus and Taro Bonus, were sometimes given out by gamemasters to players they interacted with, and when used, their effects lasted until the player logged off.
Misc.[]
FusionFall Asia[]
The coming soon page used for the FusionFall Asia website.
A version of FusionFall was planned for Asian and Pacific countries, with a website set up for it that had a coming soon page displayed, but it was never released, likely due to Grigon Entertainment's closure.
Beta Website[]
The FusionFall website during the beta looked quite different than the website that was used after its official release. Here's a video of it.
iPhone and Wii Ports[]
According to an Engadget article, Matt Schwartz (content designer and writer) and Chris Waldron (executive producer) hinted that iPhone and Wii ports of the game could be made, with Schwartz stating that their tech director had a mockup with avatars running around on the iPhone.
Unused Computress Dialogue[]
In the games assets, there is an unused line of dialogue that has Computress say this.
| “ | The Cartoon Network Universe needs you. Without your help, our world may soon belong to Lord Fuse. Ask your parents permission to upgrade your account today. | ” |
– Computress, Unused dialogue from the games assets
This line was likely removed as it was manipulative towards children.
Fusion Safaris[]
Fusion Safaris were meant to continue up to October 2012, and have enemies that dropped more variants of the Lagoon and Rojo sets, but due to difficulties with the game, they were canceled.
Bleedman Involvement[]
According to Maxwell Atoms, Vinson Ngo, aka Bleedman, the artist known for the Powerpuff Girls Doujinshi fan-comic, was offered to work on the game. It's likely that he ultimately wasn't chosen to work on the game due to the misgivings of higher-ups in the company.
FusionFall Heroes[]
Dexter[]
Dexter's model was slightly altered when transitioning from the original FusionFall to FusionFall Heroes. The lenses of Dexter's glasses are lighter and more vibrant on his FusionFall Heroes model in comparison to his original FusionFall model. The lenses were also made completely opaque, rather than being somewhat transparent like they were before.
Finn[]
Finn's eyes were adjusted from his FusionFall model to more closely resemble his FusionFall artwork for FusionFall Heroes. His shoes were also changed from black to brown. In contrast, most character models remained the same from FusionFall to FusionFall Heroes.
Unused Models[]
Only one of Titan's arms and head appeared in the Scrapheap and Tina and Goat's Junkyard areas, but has a full model in the files.
Trivia[]
- Four Arms is a playable character in FusionFall Heroes, but lacks an attire based on his Ultimate Alien appearance. Only the original series Four Arms and Omniverse Four Arms designs were used.
- Dexter, Dee Dee, Ed, Samurai Jack, Numbuh Three, Ben, and Mandy are all shown in the alpha trailer, which suggests that they may have been some of the first characters redesigned for the game. Though notably, Ben, Gwen, and Kevin would've been redesigned again so that they could be based on Ben 10: Alien Force rather than the original series, assuming that they were all designed before this decision was made.
- While the Ghostfreak Nano was scrapped, the model was used as a prop for the ghost house at Dizzy World. The developers didn't want the work they put into the Nano to go to waste.
See also[]
References[]
- ↑ (06.09.2010) Wayback Machine - Community/News/Developer's Journal #1 - "Meet Art Director Mario Piedra"
- ↑ Fusion Professor Utonium being fought outside of his lair (time stamp: 1:38).
- ↑ Devan - Science District V1 Video Description
- ↑ [1]
- ↑ Ben 10 Wiki - Ben 10: Alien Force Episode - "Ben 10 Returns: Part 1"
- ↑ Ben 10 Wiki - Vilgax (Classic)
- ↑ [2]
- ↑ [3]
- ↑ [4]