Pikmin 3
Developers: Nintendo EAD Group No. 4, Monolith Soft Publisher: Nintendo Platform: Wii U Released in JP: July 13, 2013 Released in US: August 4, 2013 Released in EU: July 26, 2013 Released in AU: July 27, 2013 This game has unused areas. This game has unused playable characters. This game has unused code. This game has unused objects. This game has unused graphics. This game has unused models. This game has unused items. This game has unused music. This game has regional differences. This game has revisional differences. This game has a prototype article This game has a prerelease article

Forget Hocotate Freight's petty debt. In Pikmin 3, the Koppaites are starving to death. Really. Good thing we have giant fruits and friendly Pikmin on planet Earth, huh?

This article brought to you by...no one. The game has no product placement of any kind.

Unused Pikmin types

Pikpik carrots

Pikpik carrots exist as an almost fully-functional type of Pikmin, much like they did in Pikmin 2. Just like in that game, they float a bit above the ground, and aren't articulated, with their model animations consisting only of movements and stretches. They work like any regular Pikmin type, except they can't be thrown, if they attack something, the game freezes, and if they deliver a pellet, the Onion will do its spitting animation, but nothing will come out.

When idle, their stems glow peach, their spirits are white, and when carrying, the fraction numbers are cream. Like in Pikmin 2, the code for the "standby Pikmin" indicator on the HUD ignores this type of Pikmin completely.

Unused Enemies

Data for some unused enemies can be found on the /content/CMCmn/enemy folder. Unless otherwise indicated, these have no bumpmaps or other sorts of special textures, unlike used enemies. All of them have .ska animation files (content unknown), and none of the lists match their Pikmin 2 counterparts exactly, meaning all or most animations were rebuilt. Unless stated otherwise, they're roughly the same size as they were in Pikmin 2. For HP reference, a Dwarf Bulborb has 100 HP and a mature Bulborb has 1000 HP.

kakureimo

Now this is new! A fat slug-like enemy with a purple body, a yellow striped back, yellow stomach, three green eyes on each side, two long antennae and a circular sawteeth mouth. The texture is larger than the usual Pikmin 2 textures, but smaller than the usual final Pikmin 3 ones. This enemy is roughly the size of a Red Bulborb.

Its behavior seems unfinished. When it spawns, it pops out from the ground, without particle effects, and begins waddling about. When leaders or Pikmin get near, it becomes alerted, and runs to its spawn point, where it burrows itself (again, without particles). If it is left alone for a bit, it pops out and repeats, but if not, it will either stay under the ground, or occasionally pop its head out for a second. It's not known what triggers each of these behaviors. When it buries, its health is completely refilled.

• Internal name: kakureimo
  


• Poko value: 20


• HP: 3000


• Animations:
  
  
  
  • carry
  
  
  • dead
  
  
  • dive
  
  
  • eat
  
  
  • look
  
  
  • look_in
  
  
  • look_out
  
  
  • move1
  
  
  • move2
  
  
  • notice
  
  
  
  

crystal_maro_frog

crystal_frog is the internal name of the Calcified Crushblat, but this enemy is something else entirely. It's the Wollywog (the white one) from the previous games, with a rock attached to its bottom. The texture used for crystal_maro_frog is the same as the Wollywog texture in Pikmin 2, but with the colors somewhat shifted. It also has the same eye texture as in Pikmin 2, and a new, albeit tiny, rock texture.

• Internal name: crystal_maro_frog
  


• Poko value: 30


• HP: 750


• Animations:
  
  
  
  • attack
  
  
  • damage
  
  
  • dead
  
  
  • move1
  
  
  • type1
  
  
  • type2
  
  
  • type5
  
  
  • wait1
  
  
  • wait2
  
  
  • waitact1
  
  
  • waitact2
  
  
  
  

iwadama

A Beady Long Legs...with a foot for a head! It has two textures, which are the same as the standard orange Pikmin 2 one, but one is tinted pink and the other blue. The screenshot shown here uses the original orange for the sake of clarity. damagumo, the old internal name for the Beady Long Legs, is now used for the Shaggy Long Legs. "iwa" means "rock", "dama" is ball, and "gumo" means spider.

• Internal name: iwadama
  


• Poko value: 100


• HP: 2250


• Animations:
  
  
  
  • attack
  
  
  • dead
  
  
  • flick
  
  
  • landing
  
  
  • wait
  
  
  
  

buriko

The Male Sheargrub, but with a...different look. It's fat, so its body looks circular. Its back is also only one solid color. The texture for it is the exact same as the Pikmin 2 one. "Buriko" means "sailfin sandfish egg", the internal name of the Male Sheargrub in Pikmin 2 is ujib, and the internal name of the used Male Sheargrub in this game is ujinko_b, so it looks like they wanted to take this enemy in a different direction. Its behavior is very similar to the classic Male Sheargrub, but it can't be defeated easily, needing bomb rocks or Rock Pikmin to hurt it, and is very fast. So fast, in fact, that it has a hard time getting near and biting on Pikmin. It causes no damage to leaders, though.

• Internal name: buriko
  


• Poko value: 5


• HP: 75


• Animations:
  
  
  
  • attack2
  
  
  • dead
  
  
  • dead_p
  
  
  • eat
  
  
  • move
  
  
  • type5
  
  
  • wait
  
  
  
  

moguraimo

This caterpillar thing seems entirely new, but its texture is almost the same as the Ravenous Whiskerpillar's texture in Pikmin 2, just with the colors slightly altered. The model itself is quite a bit different though. It's slightly larger, has antennae where there used to be none, its eyes are a bit bigger, and its namesake whiskers are gone. Either the creature was meant to look mostly purple, or the model's texture mapping is not correct. The internal name for the Whiskerpillar in the previous game was imomushi, so it looks like this enemy was meant to be something different. Behavior-wise, it acts exactly the same as the kakureimo.

• Internal name: moguraimo
  


• Poko value: 30


• HP: 1125


• Animations:
  
  
  
  • carry
  
  
  • dead
  
  
  • dive
  
  
  • eat
  
  
  • fall1
  
  
  • fall2
  
  
  • look
  
  
  • look_in
  
  
  • look_out
  
  
  • move1
  
  
  • move2
  
  
  • notice
  
  
  • set
  
  
  • swallow
  
  
  
  

clione

The Honeywisp. Roughly the same model as Pikmin 2 and the same texture. Its internal name in Pikmin 2 is qurione however. A clione is a transparent sea slug, so the Pikmin 2 name is a Romanization of the word.

It is like its Pikmin and Pikmin 2 counterparts, and despite the textures being the same, it still looks updated in Pikmin 3. The egg it carries is also the same as the regular Pikmin 3 eggs. All that is known about its behavior is that it flies around, and eventually vanishes. Attacking it will lead to it dropping its egg, but will crash.

• Internal name: clione
  


• Poko value: 40


• HP: 1


• Animations:
  
  
  
  • appear
  
  
  • damage
  
  
  • hide
  
  
  • run
  
  
  • waitl
  
  
  
  

kingchappy

The Emperor Bulblax! Likely the same model as in Pikmin 2, but the textures and internal name are exactly the same. In-game, all it does is repeat its tongue attack preparation animation.

• Internal name: kingchappy
  


• Poko value: 100


• HP: 3000


• Animations:
  
  
  
  • attack
  
  
  • carry
  
  
  • cry
  
  
  • damage
  
  
  • dead
  
  
  • dead2
  
  
  • dive
  
  
  • flic
  
  
  • move1
  
  
  • type1
  
  
  • type2
  
  
  • type3
  
  
  • type4
  
  
  • wait2
  
  
  • waitact1
  
  
  • waitact2
  
  
  
  

marofrog

The (white) Wollywog in Pikmin and Pikmin 2. It uses the same model, apparently, but the textures and the internal name are exactly the same. When idling, it repeats its shaking animation, but when a leader gets near, it actually jumps and attacks. It returns to the shaking animation afterwards.

• Internal name: marofrog
  


• Poko value: 30


• HP: 1500


• Animations:
  
  
  
  • attack
  
  
  • damage
  
  
  • dead
  
  
  • hide
  
  
  • move1
  
  
  • type1
  
  
  • type2
  
  
  • type5
  
  
  • wait1
  
  
  • wait2
  
  
  • waitact1
  
  
  • waitact2
  
  
  
  

panmodoki

The Breadbug. Looks to be the same model as Pikmin 2's, and the textures and internal name are the same.

• Internal name: panmodoki
  


• Poko value: no data


• HP: no data


• Animations:
  
  
  
  • dead
  
  
  • flick
  
  
  • move1
  
  
  • move2
  
  
  • type1
  
  
  • type2
  
  
  • type3
  
  
  • type4
  
  
  • type5
  
  
  • wait1
  
  
  
  

Armored Cannon Larva Variants

Inside the Armored Cannon Larva/Arctic Cannon Larva archive are parameters for 6 variants of the enemy.

• 
  params.txt: Used, Armored Cannon Larva


• 
  params_fixed.txt: Unused, grounded version?


• 
  params_green.txt: Unused


• 
  params_red.txt: Unused, Decorated Cannon Beetle?


• 
  params_ruri.tx: Unused, るり means Lapis Lazuli


• 
  params_yuki.txt: Used, Arctic Cannon Larva (ゆき means snow)

Misc.

• 
  kokgamiegg was likely created accidentally, with kokagamiegg being the name for the Phosbat Pod. kokgamiegg cannot be opened with current tools, and the file size reveals that it's almost empty.


• 
  tuyukusa is likely an abandoned misspelling of tsuyukusa, which is the Burgeoning Spiderwort. It's considerably smaller, and current tools cannot fully open it.


• The fire geyser (hiba) has a parameter file for bubble and gas, suggesting that the gas pipes would return, and some sort of water geyser-like obstacle would be introduced.


• 
  /content/CMCmn/system/param_db.szs/generatorsave_db.txt has entries for GasHiba (the gas pipes, as in the previous bullet point), MureBuka (an unknown object related to the Scornets (Mure)), and Tamagumo (an alternative spelling of Damagumo, which is also in the file).

Unused Enemy Parameters

• The Nectarous Dandelfly has a Poko value of 5.


• The Armored Mawdad and the Vehemoth Phosbat are worth 1 Poko each. Most other big bosses are worth 0.


• The Scornet Maestro and the Scornet are worth 5 Pokos each.


• The Shaggy Long Legs and Baldy Long Legs are worth 100 Pokos each.

Unused Graphics

Bingo Battle

There are some unused textures for Bingo Battle inside /content/lyt/bingobattle.szs/timg.

nh_roulette5. A roulette powerup. Not to be confused with the +5 rare Pikmin powerup that is used.

nh_rouletteflower. A roulette powerup. Probably removed in favor of the spicy spray powerup, since spicy spray already flowers up your Pikmin.

nh_rouletterock. A roulette powerup. Like the Rock Storm powerup, but with only one rock.

nh_rouletteswap. A roulette powerup. Judging from the name and the icon, this would've swapped each player's card around.

bingo_fog. A placeholder texture. フォグ means "fog". It may have been intended to cover the opponent's bingo board.

Unused Level Data

Although there are no proper unused areas in the game's files, there is some unused data that says what these stages used to have.

mis_E3_test_a

Found in /content/CMCmn/course_arc, which has the files for the objects inside each level. "mis" is a prefix used in Mission Mode, so this is likely the stage that was playable at E3. The stage has the following objects:

• Enemies: Whiptongue Bulborb, Red Bulborb, Skitter Leaf, Skutterchuck, Medusal Slurker, Pyroclasmic Slooch, Dwarf Red Bulborb, Iridescent Flint Beetle, Spotcap, and Kingcap.


• Objects: Climbing stick, crystal wall, dirt wall, large crystal, SPERO, and gold nugget pile.


• Treasures: Insect Condo, Cupid's Grenade, Golden Sunseed, Citrus Lump, and Sunseed Berry.


• Plants: dongurinome, inunohuguri, tamokinoko, turu_head, and turu_leaf.

Pretty much all of these objects are also earlier versions of the objects you find in the final game. There are differences in their models, textures, animations, or even parameter data, but nothing that really stands out.

Generator Files

The /content/CMCmn/generator folder has spawn data for each object in each level. It has data for quite a few areas that don't exist in the final game.

• damagumo_map
  
  • test: presumably a test map for the Shaggy Long Legs, or Beady Long Legs, if it was still around at the time.
  
  


• Demo_Test
  
  • test
    
  
  


• E3demo
  
  • test
    
  
  


• enemy_00: a lot of levels to test enemies in.


• hiramuki: Yutaka Hiramuki is one of the planning directors.
  
  
  
  • muraki: "muraki" means "whimsical".
  
  
  • test
    
  
  
  
  


• izumi: "izumi" means "spring"
  
  
  
  • boss_only
    
  
  
  • single
    
  
  
  • test
    
  
  
  
  


• koike
  
  • test: water current tests?
  
  


• koike_damagumo
  
  • test
    
  
  


• mapB_vp: mapB is the Garden of Hope.
  
  
  
  • single
    
  
  
  • test
    
  
  
  
  


• mapC_test: mapC is the Distant Tundra.
  
  
  
  • boss_only2
    
  
  
  • buta_only: "buta" means "pig".
  
  
  • test
    
  
  
  
  


• mapD_vp
  
  • test: mapD is the Twilight River.
  
  


• misBoss1
  
  
  
  • boss
    
  
  
  • test_demo
    
  
  
  
  


• nishibe
  
  • test: Yasutomo Nishibe is one of the area designers.
  
  


• object_00: several levels to test objects in.


• osanai
  
  • test: Akito Osanai is one of the area designers.
  
  


• patrol: a few different levels, to test some bosses and objects.


• perf_mapB
  
  • single: "perf" might be short for "performance".
  
  


• player_00
  
  
  
  • test
    
  
  
  • test2
    
  
  
  
  


• shimizu: Takuro Shimizu is one of the area designers.
  
  
  
  • benchmark
    
  
  
  • plant
    
  
  
  • test
    
  
  
  
  


• shirai
  
  • test: Shunichi Shirai is one of the area designers.
  
  


• takemura
  
  • test: Hiromu Takemura is one of the area designers.
  
  


• takemura01
  
  • test
    
  
  


• takemura02
  
  • test
    
  
  


• tamori: Yosuke Tamori.
  
  
  
  • benchmark
    
  
  
  • test
    
  
  
  
  

In addition, mis_E3, mis_test, and mis_watanabe (Ken Watanabe being one of the programmers) are all empty.

Unused Music

demo_dayend_bad.w.32.dspadpcm.bfstm

demo_dayend_good.w.32.dspadpcm.bfstm

In Pikmin 2, if you got no treasure during the day, a dull remix of the sunset theme would play, and if that day you obtained 15 treasures or more, a happy remix would play. This doesn't happen with Pikmin 3‍ '​s fruits, although it looks like it was initially meant to.

Unused Upgrades

The /content/CMCmn/keyitem folder has data for the upgrades in the game (from the devices that unlock new areas to the suit tools like the Scorch Guard). But it also has a series of unused – and weird – upgrades.

drcopt_radar

It's The Key from Pikmin 2, on top of a blue pedestal. "drc" is the internal name for the KopPad, as well as the internal name for the Wii U GamePad.

energy

Some white battery of sorts. It has a radiation symbol on the cyan label.

engine_*

There are four "engine" upgrades, named from engine_1 to engine_4. They are colored bolts going through a gray nut. 1 is red, 2 is blue, 3 is yellow, and 4 is green.

test_item_1

Louie lying down... inside a capsule?! Half of the capsule is fully blue, with some yellow rivets, while the other half has a see-through side. Louie is inside, and is not wearing a helmet.

test_keyitem_0

Just like drcopt_radar, except it's a red, smaller pedestal.

test_keyitem_1

Some sort of control panel for a toddler. It's too simplistic to tell out exactly what it is. The blue base is a lot like the pedestal used on drcopt_radar, and it has 6 round buttons on top, surrounding a large yellow button.

Duplicates

The following upgrades are almost exact duplicates of other unused upgrades, with no notable differences:

• drcopt_radar_2 and navi are copies of drcopt_radar.


• test_item_0 is a copy of engine_1.

Unused Objects

There are a few objects that do not seem used in the slightest.

dragonball

A sphere with two placeholder textures, simply called dragonball. These textures are the dots on a Red Bulborb's back, one texture being the normal one, and another with a white back and grayish dot.

test_box

A cube with a checkerboard-patterned texture. The top and bottom sides, as well as two of the horizontal sides, have a white-gray pattern. Another side has a red-pink pattern, and the final one has a turquoise-light turquoise pattern.

Candypop Buds

There is an unused bud, a large one resembling Pikmin/Pikmin 2 buds with purple tips on the petals that seems to eat Pikmin.
Other types of normal Candypop Buds can be created, including pikpik carrots and leaders.

Poison Geyser

There is a poison geyser that seems to behave like a modified fire geyser, acting in exactly the same way but with an early poison effect.

Floating Bar

There is a floating bar entity which can be locked on, but it is intangible.

Unused Logic

If the game is hacked to allow control of five leaders, swapping between them works just fine. What's impressive is that there is actually logic for drawing all five of their health icons on the HUD.

Leaders have damage parameters, but their punch ignores this.

Most enemies can be resized individually, although the function is never used.

Health ratios for individual enemies is modifiable.

Leaders and Pikmin can be spawned interchangeably, although this is likely just a minor bug due to their highly similar coding.

Unseen Details

SPERO's text

The SPERO in Mission Mode has a lens on it, and on its frame is some Koppaite text imprinted. Nobody would be able to understand why this text is so important because a) you need the Koppaite text cypher to understand what it says, which the regular player likely does not know, b) you'd need to zoom in the game camera more than what is allowed in order to see it, and c) you'd need to understand what the text is a reference to. The words on the lens read, when translated into English, "AUTOMATIC ULTRASCOPE". This is a reference to the Japanese name of a periscope toy released by Nintendo in 1971.

Inside the Palm Trees

If you manage to place the camera inside the palm trees outside the Sandbelching Meerslug's arena, the tree's stump will be modeled. The radar is unrestricted when you enter a Defeat Bosses! mission, and becomes restricted like normal if you choose the pause menu's retry option. After you get it to work, you simply pan to the trees and look at the TV screen.

References to Deleted Files

Inside /CMCmn/system/resident.lst is a list of files that serves some unknown purpose. This list references some files that have since been removed from the final build, and comments them out with a "#" at the start. The following is a list of commented files:

• system/mission_set/miset_mis_chappy_a.szs


• system/mission_set/miset_mis_dun_conc_a.szs


• system/mission_set/miset_mis_dun_conc_p.szs


• system/mission_set/miset_mis_dungeon_a.szs


• system/mission_set/miset_mis_dungeon_p.szs


• system/mission_set/miset_mis_dungeon_t.szs


• system/mission_set/miset_mis_dungeon_t2.szs


• system/mission_set/miset_mis_E3_a.szs


• system/mission_set/miset_mis_E3_n.szs


• system/mission_set/miset_mis_E3_n2.szs


• system/mission_set/miset_mis_E3_n3.szs


• system/mission_set/miset_mis_E3_n4.szs


• system/mission_set/miset_mis_E3_s.szs


• system/mission_set/miset_mis_E3_z.szs


• system/mission_set/miset_mis_island_a.szs


• system/mission_set/miset_mis_jungle_a.szs


• system/mission_set/miset_mis_kinoshita.szs


• system/mission_set/miset_mis_kuma_a.szs


• system/mission_set/miset_mis_kuma_p.szs


• system/mission_set/miset_mis_miniland_a.szs


• system/mission_set/miset_mis_miniland_p.szs


• system/mission_set/miset_mis_miniland_z.szs


• system/mission_set/miset_mis_novemb_a.szs


• system/mission_set/miset_mis_novemb_p.szs


• system/mission_set/miset_mis_shoot_a.szs


• system/mission_set/miset_mis_slider_a.szs


• system/mission_set/miset_mis_slider_n.szs


• system/mission_set/miset_mis_slider_n2.szs


• system/mission_set/miset_mis_slider_p.szs


• system/mission_set/miset_mis_takemura_00.szs


• system/mission_set/miset_mis_takemura_01.szs


• system/mission_set/miset_mis_watanabe.szs


• system/mission_set/miset_mis_y_test_a.szs


• system/mission_set/miset_mis_yanma_a.szs


• system/mission_set/miset_vs_antsnest.szs


• system/mission_set/miset_vs_buildingblocks.szs


• system/mission_set/miset_vs_flowerbed.szs


• system/mission_set/miset_vs_pipeworld.szs


• system/mission_set/miset_vs_sandbox.szs


• system/vs_set/vsset_first_prototype.szs


• system/vs_set/vsset_takemura.szs


• system/vs_set/vsset_takemura01.szs


• system/vs_set/vsset_takemura02.szs


• system/vs_set/vsset_vs_kando_chichukai.szs


• system/vs_set/vsset_vs_kando_pipe.szs


• system/vs_set/vsset_vs_kando_small.szs


• system/vs_set/vsset_vs_kando_triland.szs


• system/vs_set/vsset_vs_pipeworld.szs


• system/vs_set/vsset_vs_pipeworld2_test2.szs


• system/vs_set/vsset_vs_puddle.szs

Regional Differences

To do: Document the differences in dialog.

The following strings were changed between the US and the European versions of the game. Obviously, regional differences in spellings of normal words (e.g. Armored vs Armoured) will not be mentioned here. In addition to these changes, a lot of the in-game dialog (Exploration Notes included) was completely changed for the European version, for whatever reason.

As was the case with New Play Control! Pikmin and New Play Control! Pikmin 2, in the European version of the game, Yellow Wollywogs and Wogpoles have been renamed to Yellow Wollyhops and Wolpoles, as "wog" is British slang for a dark-skinned person.

The feature that lets your characters talk to one another while on the Drake.

This is the first category of the KopPad's Exploration Notes. Maybe in the UK, they wanted to make a pun like "Piklopedia"?

The tenth Bingo Battle stage got renamed for the European version.

The message on the winning player's screen on Bingo Battle.

Revision Differences

• 
  Version 1.1.0: adds SpotPass and Miiverse functionality. The player can also view world record scores for completing the game.


• 
  Versions 1.2.0 and 1.3.0: add new challenges to the game, with each containing 5 new challenges. Record scores can now also be seen for individual stages in either Solo or Co-Op.


• 
  Version 1.4.0: adds some more DLC missions. Changes how the main character falls into an abyss.


• 
  Version 2.0.0: adds an additional control scheme, where the player uses the GamePad and the Stylus to control their Pikmin. It works much like Pikmin Adventure from Nintendo Land.

Internal Project Name

The project's internal name is "Carrot", according to the file carrot.rpx, and the line d:homeProjectCarrottrunk2buildtoolsmakebineuCAFEProductcarrot.rpx inside it. A reference to the pikpik carrots, perhaps? The internal name may also be reflected in the game's two-letter code "C3" ("C" for Carrot and "3" for Pikmin 3).