Unused & Removed Features/Wii

Drawn to Life: The Next Chapter (Wii) likely has the most cut and unused content out of any Drawn to Life Series game. This is explained by this quotes from Art Director, Ken Capelli.

“DTL was supposed to be a simple "safety" production that allowed other studio creative leads to focus on a big 1st-party project for Microsoft Game Studio. When the MGS project wound down and we put eyes back on DTL, we saw that the product was a shockingly scattered mess, barely playable/ parts on the floor, nowhere near being able to produce the expected alpha/ beta/ gold dates - it became an all-hands-on-deck emergency...My senior Art Lead and UI Art Director came into it with me, sleeves rolled up, to focus on lining up each area of the game (characters/ props/ cinematics, levels, user interface/ drawing tool). It was only as we were in the midst of alpha that I was able to offer visual feedback to help pull it all together with polish (TBH most of the individual assets developed by the team looked great, really cute and clean).”

–Ken Capelli

Characters

Early Raposa

In the package shared by Ken Capelli, early models for multiple Raposa can be found. This includes models for Raposa that did not make the final cut of the game, including Dr. Cure, Tubba, and NavyJ. These models ended up getting converted into images that were used for the crowd in the Raposa Sports minigames.

Mayor

In the package shared by Ken Capelli, a model of Mayor can be found, although all the documentation found in the package suggests that he was never meant to appear in any capacity outside of the statue and cutscenes.

Early Heather Designs

In the package shared by Ken Capelli, an early design for Heather can be found. This version of Heather was named Heathers, and was heavily inspired by the musical Heathers. This version of Heather has long, spiky hair that is half ginger and half shadow, split down the middle. She still has her mallet, but her early design wears a green sweater instead of a green dress.

Early Monkey King Design

In the package shared by Ken Capelli, an early design for the Monkey King can be found. This design is much more regal than the final design.

Snow People

In the package shared by Ken Capelli, concept art for a group of snow people can be found. It is unknown if they were meant to be sentient characters or decoration for Icy Wastes levels.

Jinxy

According to the Game Design Document (GDD) shared by Lead Designer Jason Weesner, there was supposed to be a character named "Jinxy" who would have needed to been saved. It is unknown if Jinxy was ever intended to appear, or if he was purely a placeholder name for this one example.

Eastern Winds Raposa

Zak and Mac

In the package shared by Ken Capelli, one of the Game Design Documents mentions a pair of brothers that would've been rescued in Eastern Winds. Underneath the attached image is the caption:

“In this example, Zak is on the left and Mac is on the right. We can see that Zak’s island is serene (God Rays and flowers). However, Mac’s island is under attack by Shadow Fliers. The player’s job is to defeat the enemies and then use the switch on Mac’s island (and the junction island between) to activate the rainbow bridges and reunite the brothers.”

–GDD

This mission would've been in the 3rd level of Eastern Winds, dubbed "Stormy Towns" at this point in development.

Other Eastern Winds Raposa

Other named and unnamed Raposa appear in the Eastern Winds levels:

• Hans – Stuck in Icy Wastes
• Doug – Owns the oldest windmill in "Horizon Town"
• Farmer – Owns a pair of prize winning farm animal at the "Sky Farms"
• Farmer’s Neighbor – Wants three prize winning animals to show his neighbor up at the "Sky Farms"
• Hollow Island Owner – Owns multiple hollow houses "Above the Storm"
• Gardener – Lost their garden "Above the Storm"

Objects

Book of Life

In the package shared by Ken Capelli, two models for the Book of Life can be found. The second model is supposedly in the final game, but goes unused for an unknown reason.

Ink Well

As seen on Ken Capelli's website, there were plans to have an Ink Well appear in the game. In the package shared by Ken Capelli, it was revealed that the Ink Well would've been found in Wilfre's Lair as the spawn point for Boss. It is unknown why it was replaced with the Ink Barrel in the final game.

Mizu's Trident

In the package shared by Ken Capelli's, a fifth Artifact of Power was found - Mizu's Trident. It would have been found in the cut Water World inside the belly of a giant squid, and would have been collected by Jowee and the Hero. After Circi's betrayal, the trident would have been one of the Dark Mannequin's arms.

Indee Idols

In the package shared by Ken Capelli's, a Game Design Document mentions collectible, gold idols that Indee had hidden throughout the levels. According to the GDD, they would have required Action Drawing to collect. It is unknown how many of these would have been in each level, but a counter would have appeared at the end of each level telling the player how many they had collected. This likely means that the idols would have functioned differently than Cookie's Ingredients, Farmer Brown's Seeds, and Zsasha's Treasures.

Enemies

Early Concepts

Some enemy concepts found in the various sources of beta content predate the gates, and as such cannot be organized by them. They will be listed here.

Oneeye

The Oneeye was one of the first enemies created for the game's development, being created by Thomas Denmark. It was used in the early stages of development to test animations on User Created Objects (UCOs). It could have possibly inspired the Hero seen in the Beta Jangala Level.

Jangala

Bird

In the game's files, there is an enemy named "junglebird." In the package shared by Ken Capelli, it was revealed that the Bird, also called the Exotic Bird in some documents, would have acted much like the Snow Bird, dive bombing the player.

Squirrel Enemy

In the games files are references to a squirrel enemy. In the package shared by Ken Capelli, it was revealed that the Squirrel, much like the Bird, would have acted much like the Snow Bird, dive bombing the player.

Hungry Plant

In the package shared by Ken Capelli, concept art and a model of a Hungry Plant enemy, also called the Pitcher Plant and the Audrey Plant, were found. Not much is known about what this enemy would have done, but according to the concept art, it would have acted much like the Helmet Dragon.

Emperor Monkey

In the package shared by Ken Capelli, concept art and a model of a Emperor Monkey were found. It seems like this is a beta version of the Monkey enemy, and it would have acted the same as the Monkey.

Tree Man

In the package shared by Ken Capelli, concept art and a model of a Tree man were found. It is unknown how this enemy would have functioned in the final game, but we do know it was designed by Eric "Koz" Kozlowsky.

Jungle Creature

In the package shared by Ken Capelli, concept arts for an called "Jungle Creature" were found. It is unknown how this enemy would have functioned in the final game, but we do know it was designed by Eric "Koz" Kozlowsky. It may have been a precursor to the Bonobos.

Eric Kozlowsky's Enemies

As part of development, Eric "Koz" Kozlowsky made some concept enemy sketches in a journal, all for Jangala. Many of these were uncovered in the package shared by Ken Capelli, and we do not know how any of them would have functioned. The first two may have been a precursor to the Monkeys.

Shadow City

Ink Goon

The Ink Goon was an enemy slated to appear in Shadow City levels. It would have acted similar to the Bonobo or Snow Warrior in that it would patrol an area and then charge at the Hero once they were close enough. It would have acted very zombie-like, with both of its arms out towards the Hero.

As shown in this promotional video, its possible that it was cut very late into development, as what may be a model for the monster can be seen.

Ink Bomb

The Ink Bomb was an enemy slated to appear in Shadow City and Icy Wastes levels. When it saw the Hero, it would have charged towards them. When the Hero attacked it, it would have begun to inflate, only to explode shortly after.

Ink Giant

The Ink Giant was an enemy slated to appear in Shadow City levels. It would have walked around its area, swinging its legs up high with each step, allowing the Hero to walk underneath it. It would also jump in the air and try to land on the Hero. Its weak spot would have been it's head.

Ink Tosser

The Ink Tosser was an enemy slated to appear in Shadow City, Icy Wastes, and Eastern Winds levels. It would have acted similarly to the Dart Bonobo, as it would have fired balls of ink at the Hero when they got close enough. When it was modeled, the Ink Tosser, now called the Shadow Tosser, had a massive redesign, becoming more insect-like and gaining eyes.

Ink Flyer

The Ink Flyer was an enemy slated to appear in Shadow City and Eastern Winds levels. This enemy was supposed to be a Shadow City equivalent to the Snow Cat, chasing the Hero throughout their area, either until the Hero was out of range, or they died. It would have come in two sizes, small and large. This enemy would have also appeared during the fight against the Boss.

Ink Bouncer

In the package shared by Ken Capelli, an enemy known as the Ink Bouncer can be found in a revision of the GDD. As shown in this promotional video, its possible that it was cut very late into development, as its model can be seen.

Icy Wastes

Seal

In the package shared by Ken Capelli, concept art of a seal enemy, grouped with the other Icy Wastes enemies, was found. However, the model for this enemy made it into the final game, and it is used as part of the backdrop in the level Frosted Cove.

Zombi Snowman

In the package shared by Ken Capelli, concept art of a Zombi Snowman was found. It's unknown who designed this enemy. It's also possible that this was a set piece for a level, like the Snow People may have been.

Misc. Icy Wastes Enemies

In the package shared by Ken Capelli, concept art of multiple Icy Wastes enemies were shared. These enemies were never given colored art, and some of them may have been grandfathered in from the Great Sea when it was cut.

Bosses

Tree King

In the package shared by Ken Capelli, one of the Game Design Documents lists the Tree King as the boss of Jangala. There is no information known about the Tree King, as its section of the GDD is empty with the exception of its name and art.

Unknown Jangala Boss

In the package shared by Ken Capelli, a model titled "boss" can be found in a directory with cut props from Jangala levels. It is unknown what this model's purpose would have been, or if it even would have been a boss at all. A model titled "boss_Zed" is an exact replica of "boss," with the only difference being that boss_Zed does not have eyes.

Yeti

In the package shared by Ken Capelli, one of the Game Design Documents lists a Yeti as the boss of the Icy Wastes. There is no information known about the Yeti, as its section of the GDD is empty with the exception of its name and art. In a loose world map created by Jeannine Schafer, the Hero would have fought this boss by the Eternal Furnace, although this image does not reference the Yeti at all. The Yeti would go on to be one of the enemies for the Icy Wastes.

Squid

In the package shared by Ken Capelli, one of the Game Design Documents lists a Squid as the boss of the cut Water World. There is no information known about the Squid, as its section of the GDD is empty with the exception of its name and art. In a loose world map created by Jeannine Schafer, the Hero would have travelled inside the Squid's stomach to retrieve Mizu's Trident.

Creations

Hero Attachments

Mermaid Tail

The Mermaid Tail was the planned Hero attachment for the scrapped Water World. According to the Game Design Documents, the player would have originally sunk to the bottom of water pools, and this creation would have been required to swim through them. The player would have been able to get a temporary boost by pressing . According to either Billy Delli-Gatti or Casey Holtz, Scott Rogers said that the mermaid tail was also planned to be part of the original game, but this has not been confirmed by anyone.

Hockey Player

The Hockey Player was the planned Hero attachment for Icy Wastes. According to the Game Design Documents, this would have functioned exactly like the Skates and Sword do in tandem, albeit the hockey stick would have swung up instead of down, like the sword. The skates from this was adapted into the Skates, and the Hockey motif was incorporated into the Raposa Sports minigame.

Spacesuit

The Spacesuit was the planned Hero attachment for the scrapped Space World. Very little is known about this attachment, as none of the Game Design Documents elaborate on it in any way.

Scrapped Ideas

Among the cut Hero attachments, many more were drafted up, but never fully conceptualized. For Shadow City, the player was planned to get Platform Shoes, allowing them to jump higher and "kick the crap out of things." Also for Shadow City, a Shadow Disguise was considered that would've allowed the Hero to not aggro Shadow enemies. For Icy Wastes, a Big Power Glove would have given the player a stronger punch that would've allowed them to break through bigger objects. Also for Icy Wastes, Drill Bit Gloves would have allowed the player to drill through objects.

Vehicles

Zeppelin

There is some leftover code relating to an unused Zeppelin vehicle. The Game Design Documents shared by Ken Capelli shed more light on the Zeppelin, revealing that it would have been similar to the Helicopter. However, instead of being fast, it was meant to be much stronger than the Helicopter. It functioned in three different parts - the balloon, the gondola, and the blades.

Hang Glider

In the package shared by Ken Capelli, one of the Game Design Documents includes a section on proposed vehicles. The first of the flying vehicles is the Hang Glider, a vehicle proposed for Jangala and possibly Eastern Winds. It would have been made up of two parts, the glider itself and a gun. By pressing , the player would have been able to fire the gun, and by pressing , the player would have been able to gain height. By moving the , the player would have been able to stall out, speed up, or simply change their vertical direction.

UFO

In the package shared by Ken Capelli, one of the Game Design Documents includes a section on proposed vehicles. The second of the flying vehicles is the UFO, a vehicle proposed for the Icy Wastes. It would have been made up of two parts, the main body of the UFO and a gun. By pressing , the player would have been able to fire the gun, and by pressing , the player would have been able to jump like in the game Joust. By moving the , the player would have been able to move left or right.

Prop Cycle

In the package shared by Ken Capelli, one of the Game Design Documents includes a section on proposed vehicles. The third of the flying vehicles is the Prop Cycle, a vehicle proposed for Eastern Winds, Shadow City, and Rapoville. It would have been made up of five parts, the bike frame, a wing, two wheels, and a gun. According to the GDD, it's controls would have been identical to the UFO.

Kite

In the package shared by Ken Capelli, one of the Game Design Documents includes a section on proposed vehicles. The fourth of the flying vehicles is the Kite, a vehicle proposed for Eastern Winds or Rapoville. It would have been made up of only one part, the kite itself. The kite would have been tethered to the ground, and the player would have moved the to grab coins while fighting against air currents.

Rocket Sled

In the package shared by Ken Capelli, one of the Game Design Documents includes a section on proposed vehicles. The fifth of the flying vehicles is the Rocket Sled, a vehicle proposed for Eastern Winds. It would have been made up of two parts, the rocket's body, and a boost. The player would have needed to use the Action Drawing mechanic to draw a track for the sled to travel on. By pressing , the sled would have accelerated, and by pressing , the sled would have fired a projectile. If the sled collided with any walls, it would have exploded, although whether or not this would have killed the Hero is unknown.

Walrus Mount

In the package shared by Ken Capelli, one of the Game Design Documents includes a section on proposed vehicles. The first of the ground vehicles is the Walrus Mount, a vehicle proposed for the Icy Wastes. It would have been made up of only one part, the walrus itself. When the player got on the walrus, it would have started to jump forwards, and by moving the , the player could have changed its speed. By pressing , the walrus would have rammed forward into obstacles, and if the player encountered a slippery floor, it would have gotten onto its stomach and slid across.

Pogo Stick

In the package shared by Ken Capelli, one of the Game Design Documents includes a section on proposed vehicles. The second of the ground vehicles is the Pogo Stick, a vehicle proposed for the Icy Wastes or Rapoville. It would have been made up of four parts, the pogo body and three springs. The Pogo Stick would have always been jumping, and by moving the , the player could have moved around inside. By pressing the while the pogo stick jumped, the player would have jumped higher, killing enemies and destroying breakable objects. Despite being called a stick, this vehicle more resembles a shoe.

Hamster Ball

In the package shared by Ken Capelli, one of the Game Design Documents includes a section on proposed vehicles. The third of the ground vehicles is the Hamster Ball, a vehicle proposed for Rapoville. It would have been made up of only one part, the ball itself. By moving the , the ball would have been able to roll, and by pressing , it would have gained a speed boost. When falling off an edge, the ball would have bounced, and it would have been able to roll over small enemies, killing them.

Anemone

In the package shared by Ken Capelli, one of the Game Design Documents includes a section on proposed vehicles. The first of the underwater vehicles is the Anemone, a vehicle proposed for the cut Water World. It would have been made up of only one part, the body of the anemone. It would have been able to climb up walls that weren't underwater by moving the . By pressing the , the anemone would have jumped off of the wall.

Puffer Fish

In the package shared by Ken Capelli, one of the Game Design Documents includes a section on proposed vehicles. The second of the underwater vehicles is the Puffer Fish, a vehicle proposed for the cut Water World. It would have been made up of two parts, the body of the fish, and the tail of the fish. By moving the , the player could swim about with the fish, and by pressing , the fish would have inflated, hurting enemies.

Tank & Pants

In the package shared by Ken Capelli, an image exists showing off four vehicles. Two of these are a tank and a pair of robotic pants, although nothing else in the GDD mentions these. It is currently unknown how they would have functioned.

Miscellaneous

Jungle Ants

In the game's files, there is an entry named "jungleants."

Thanks to Lead Designer Jason Weesner, we know that the Jungle Ants were supposed to be a creation found in Jangala. They would have acted as a moving platform according to the GDD that he shared. In this document, the creation is titled "Ant with Leaf."

“The player draws a leaf that a giant worker ant carries in its mouth. The leaf acts as a platform that the player can stand on as the ant moves.
The any can climb up walls, creating an ant elevator.
The ants can walk in tight groups on the ground, forming a fast moving leaf conveyor belt.”

–GDD

In the package shared by Ken Capelli, the premade design for this creation was found. The design for the leaf would end up being resized and used as the template for the Leaves of Ages creation.

Unused Developer Heroes

In the package shared by Ken Capelli, the original files for all the developer heroes, seen in the credits, were found. Among these were two completely unused heroes, an early version of Nick Bruty's hero, and a test hero "test_1.png", seemingly made of multiple Stamps.

Interestingly, the hero for Kevin Kaw was used during testing of the credits sequence, so it is unknown why it was cut.

Music

Tutorial

File:TutorialWii.ogg

This track is unused in the game and it likely would have been used in a tutorial, either for the platforming section or the drawing mode.

Boss Theme (Intro)

File:BossThemeIntro.ogg

This track is unused in the game and it likely would have played in the Boss's room before the rising Shadow is activated.

Justin Mullens' Tracks

File:CaveofDreams.ogg File:HandsintheSky.ogg File:RefractingLense.ogg File:TakeItToTheTop.ogg

In the package shared by Ken Capelli, Justin Mullens composed four tracks for the game that went unused. These include Cave of Dreams, Hands in the Sky, Refracting Lense, and Take It To The Top. It is currently unknown what each of these would have been for.

Beta UI and Menus

As shown in this promotional video and the GDD, the UI for the game was originally very different.

Coin Counter

The Coin Counter is the only counter present at the top of the screen; no life counter is present. The design is more rugged than the final design and has no shimmer.

Creation Easel

The Creation Easel seemed to remain mostly unchanged during development, only lacking the palette icon on the front.

Hero Drawing UI

The Creation UI for the Hero was changed drastically during development. All of the drawing segments have the same color outline, there is an icon of the generic female icon in the top right, there are undo and redo arrows where the Joint Editor and Load Template buttons are in the final build. There is also a downward pointing triangle in a circle where the Instructional Prompt button is in the final build.

Drawing Tool UI

In addition to the Hero UI, the left sidebar also went through many changes during development.

In February of 2009, there was no set background, with the drawing background for the Forest Gate being used instead. Many of the icons on the left sidebar looked less polished than in any other public build, and the icons at the top are identical to those in the October 2009 build, with a few distinct differences.

For example, in this build, there are two extra icons, a green square with a star icon on it, and a blue square with an "X" on it. The "OK" button is also not in the center of the panel, rather being a square on the far right side. The notebook itself is also distinct, as it does not have any lines on it.

In the October 2009 build, the preview window was a full 3D area, instead of the two flat objects it is in the final build. The color picker was a lot less polished and there is no scrolling pattern in the background. The same undo and redo arrows, along with the downward pointing triangle in a circle from the Hero UI, are also present.

Book of Life Startup

The menu for the Wii game was originally planned to act similarly to that of the DS games. You would have been able to draw on the main screen and access your files on the next. The player would have been able to start a New Game, Load a Game, or access the Options, all of which function similarly to how they do in the final build.

Gates

Great Sea

In the package shared by Ken Capelli, a cut world was revealed - the Great Sea. According to multiple documents, this would have been a primarily underwater world, and was one of the first worlds to be fleshed out during production. It would have been the fourth gate, after the Icy Wastes and before Eastern Winds. As previously mentioned, the Artifact of Power recovered from this world would have been Mizu's Trident, and the boss of this gate would have been Squid. The gate could have been accessed by interacting with the Wishing Well.

Outer Orbit

In the package shared by Ken Capelli, a cut world was revealed - Outer Orbit. According to multiple documents, this would have been a world set in outer space, but it wasn't very fleshed out during development. It would have been the sixth gate, after Eastern Winds and before Circi Loves Wilfre. Unlike the other gates, this would have been accessed after Circi's betrayal. She would have drawn the Night Sky behind Creation Hall, sending it, along with Jowee, Mari, and the Hero into the world. The main focus would have been tracking down Creation Hall and returning to Rapoville. After clearing the gate and defeating the Giant Scribble Monster, Outer Orbit could have been accessed again by interacting with the Village Observatory.

Levels

Beta Jangala Level

As seen on Ken Capelli's website, Jangala used to have a very different background and slightly different tree models. As can be seen in the image, the Bonobo were set to appear in Jangala.

This image is from the build on November 18th, 2008, a little under a year before the game was released.

Beta Shadow City Outer Walls

As shown in this promotional video, Shadow City Outer Walls originally had a different appearance. The background is different in the final build - being more plain, as it is just a purple background. However, the Sinking Platform is still present where it is in the final build. The Sword is also able to be drawn, something that isn't available until the Icy Wastes in the final build.

Beta Icy Wastes

As shown in this promotional video, the Icy Wastes seem to be the most polished of all the gates, at least during this stage of development. The background is modeled, there are more details in the level, and a giant Golden Baki and a Bonobo can be seen roaming the level.

Credits

The Credits for this game were originally going to be much more important to the game as a whole. After collecting the Branches from the Tree of Ages, the celebration sequence would have started and a fake-out Credits sequence would have played. Halfway through, there would have been an explosion at the Mayor's House, and Circi would have begun her speech about loving Wilfre, all while the Giant Scribble Monster rose above her. The fight would have ensued, and the real credits sequence would have played. However, at the moment the explosion happened in the fake-out credits, there would have been a pause in the music before finishing out the crawl.