Badman III: Badboys Are Back!

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Badman III: Badboys Are Back!
Badman3Title.gif

Release type: Incomplete
Release date: 1996
Levels: 42
Author: PPP Team
Website: Bilou Homebrew's Blog
Related games: Badman, Badman II

If Badman II was sort of the Sonic 2 to Badman’s Sonic the Hedgehog — new sidekick and all — the unfinished Badman III: Badboys Are Back! is PPP Team’s Sonic 3 & Knuckles. This game is ridiculously huge — so much so that its 42 level nodes account for only the first world and a half or so. Even in its unfinished state the game is so vast and complicated that it’s difficult to take in.

As far as story goes, Badman III picks up where Badman II leaves off, recycling the "BadBoys" who abducted Rubish Binn and developing them into a larger, organised team of vilains in the spirit of a sort of Sci-Fi "S.P.E.C.T.R.E." type organisation (as detailed in Piet Martin's backstory document). Several design elements and techniques -- the multiple characters and destructible block monsters -- are derived from an earlier PPP prototype, 4 to Save Toon Land.

Again the visuals have received a total upgrade, this time with the benefit of Deluxe Paint gradients (lending the game that Sonic 3 flavor of 3D shading). Now the game gives a choice of two characters, each of whom can interact with and navigate the levels very differently. Badman himself controls much more smoothly, and has more abilities.

Toying around in Badman III

The team included some in-game cutscenes, and even managed to compose a bit of original music. During development, Piet found an Adlib tracker and discovered that the infamous .CMF file format is nothing more than a MIDI track with embedded Adlib instruments. Pype then reverse-engineered the format in ASM and developed an experimental .AST -> .CMF converter. Although it never quite worked properly, it did allow the team to insert one original, single-channel melody ("Stille Nacht") into the aforementioned cutscenes.

Overall Badman III gives an imposing sense of command and professionalism. Had they ever finished the game, PPP Team would have created a monster the likes of which rarely even saw a commercial release. This is proto-Cave Story material here.

Story

An intro cut-scene from Badman III starring Rex, the guidecat

Summary of the previous episode

Party in Egypt in search of his companion Rubish Binn who vanished during the prosecution of Seb Valenti (see Badman 1: "Pneu-Mania"), Badman discovers in the pyramid of Tote-a-Karton a curious room containing none other than a teleporter: Badman foolishly switches in a parallel dimension.

So, overcoming dangers unheard ... Passing countless trials, battle-hardened, he paved his way to the castle par-del in Skyville, to rescue his cowardly companion who had been abducted.

Our national Super-Zero awkwardly bypasses the traps laid by the two Badboys who tried to block his route: #1 Burner and #2 Skyboy...

Armed with the Astroflash Megawatt III of Skyboy, our two friends wander in the gloomy castle of the latter. When, at the turn of a corridor, they meet a friendly guide and familiar places that led them safely to the usual haunt of Skyboy (once Badman manfully clears the surface of the castle!). There, they discover with horror that the Badboys' project (in the most insidious of senses) is to DOMINATE THE WORLD!

Without hesitating a second, our three Zeros teleport from the installation of Skyboy in pursuit of the other Badboys.

The adventure begins (again)!

Instructions

Choosing a hero in Badman III

General instructions

F1: Instructions - help
F2: View status
F3: Stop ADLIB music
F4: Stop SOUNDBLASTER sound
F5: Save the game
F6: Load the game
F10: Calibrate the joystick

If the settings become troublesome, delete the 'config.dat' file in the game directory.

Some Blah

In this episode of the adventures of super-national zero, the Bold Badman*, You can freely run with Badman (the one with a cape) or his paunchy sidekick Rubish Binn* (the other guy).

Badman3-char.png

To aid in your decision, several 'SELECT ROUND' or selection levels will be offered throughout your career.

  • Any resemblance to persons existing or otherwise, and we would have a good laugh.

Badman

A super-zero of stupid situations (see previous episode), he possesses an array of weapons and has becomingly fashioned a noisy little car...

Generally he exhibits a disability that exceeds the limits of imagination.

Jump: 7 8 9
Walk: 4 6
Fire: / * -
Duck and crawl: 1 2 3

Rubish Binn

Badman's stupid, inept, useless companion. At a thought, I know that he was a garbage man before embarking on his fight against crime. He has the unpleasant habit of being systematically dispatched by the first villain who pass by (see Badman II).

He has cauliflower ears, and a purple leotard that perhaps he has a little too much cholesterol to be running and jumping around in.

Special Moves

BADMAN

Slide

[1] [3]

Fire upwards

[*]

RUBISH BINN

Spin around

[*]

Search, search...

  • Ace of clubs: 500 Points
  • Ace of hearts: 1 Life
  • Ace of spaces: 2 HP
  • Arrow: Direction
  • Key: (You know this.)
  • END: The exit

Credits

The nightmare of integrating levels in Badman III
(character select & cutscenes in purple)

The PPP Team Software

Pierre Martin ALIAS Piet

  • 18 years
  • Tracker under ScreamTracker III and Impulse Tracker, although his tracks couldn't be integrated in the game.
  • sound effects
  • some level design and gameplay consultant

Pierrick Hansen

  • Musician-designer-Programmer
  • Voice Acting for Badman
  • Badman character design, monster design consultant

Sylvain Martin ALIAS Pypein

  • Graphic artist / programmer
  • Pixel art, most level design and game-maker trickery.

Valentin Boigelot ALIAS Tentacle Bob Simon Boigelot ALIAS Puce

  • Additional NPC design

Pascal Deiting ALIAS Vegeta Lawrence Mazzapichi ALIAS Parmy Francois Bare ALIAS the Clicker

  • Quality Control Loop

So add it all up, and you've got a swell band of misfits.

Badman, Rubish Binn and the Badboys are original copyrighted characters by PPP Team. Free distribution and use of the game is granted. Production of derivative works without prior consent is forbidden.

Badboys

design sketch of 'toyboy', boss of the toy zone

The introduction of Burner in Badman II was followed by a boom of design documents that produced a storyline for what had been so far a mere collection of disconnected levels, that attempted to mimmic Fury of the Furries scene settings (to get great foreground/background color hints). Before even the bad3.gam file was created, all the characters on the title screen had a name, a suit, a gun, and a mission: take over the galaxy. Burner, Eco, Dalton and Tuba on the first line, Skyboy, Ratman, Toyboy, Ice and Smoke on the bottom line, and Flash (the leader) in the middle.

design sketch of the levels to be covered by the whole Badman cycle

Funny enough, a review on "James Pond III: Operation Starfish" brought the game in a completely unplanned direction right from the start, introducing the cheese zone, and then turning the 'school zone' into 'toys zone'.

Links

Downloads

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