Rance 4.1 & 4.2:Cut Content

This page details content cut from Rance 4.1 and Rance 4.2.

Both Games

 * Because the 32-bit English port automatically tells the game that it supports certain technologies, various failure messages have been dummied in that version. The game has failure messages that would have occurred if you played the game with less than 256 colors, or if you tried to switch to CD or FM sound without the appropriate hardware. The port will always open by saying you are playing on "PC-98," but the original version checked your OS to see if you were on PC-98, FM-TOWNs, or "Win3.1."


 * Kisara's combat sprites, as well as sprites for her projectiles, are present in Rance 4.1, even though she functionally doesn't join you until Rance 4.2. Likewise, Feliss' images are in Rance 4.2. Feliss' images are not numbered along with the rest of the party for whatever reason, and are instead found among the monster sprites, which may imply she was a late addition, possibly the last addition, to the first game's combat art set.


 * Options exist for menus that would allow you to give commands to your teammates instead of them being automated. This may have been a debug function or may be an entirely cut feature. The dummied code is only able to select character actions, not to target them at specific enemies, but the targeting code will happily support other characters if called at the right time, which may suggest a change. There is also an unused magic targeting routine that would never have been used for Rance (discussed briefly further below). The 32-bit port restores access to this the ability to control allies via the Ally Control option with the System God, complete with targeting controls.
 * The ally combat controls were not without their problems that had to be corrected in the port:
 * Athena's Rapid Fire requires 30 Power to select from the dummied menu, but only consumes 20 Power when used by the AI. The 32-bit port changes the menu to require 20 Power.
 * Athena's Recovery technique would originally only appear in this dummied menu if, among other things, RND (aka VAR0001) is greater than 5. The intent of this condition is unclear, as RND is not set between the start of the turn and when Athena would take her turn, so its value a total unknown (if Athena's actions are only determined after the check to see if she skips her turns due to wounds, as in the 32-bit version, then the value will always be below 5, making Recovery inaccessible!). The port makes it so you have to win a fifty-fifty coin flip to use Recovery. This is partly because "RND > 5" is most frequently seen in Alicesoft's code as part of a check for 50-50 odds, and partly to represent how rarely the AI has Athena use Recovery, especially in comparison to Genri's, which it uses far more freely.
 * Genri's Prayer technique does not appear in the dummied menu for Rance 4.2, and had to be added there by the 32-bit remake.


 * Rance 4.1 has a debug attack for Rance called "We're gonna take victory by force!" This command can be used to instantly win a battle and requires no Power (besides the minimum 10 Power required for Rance to take his turn to begin with). It can only be activated by modifying the code to turn VAR0475 to 1. The 32-bit port of Rance 4.2 ports over this debug command behind the scenes, there attached to VAR0997.


 * Other combat remnants (both games):
 * Magic target selection code, which includes the text, "Magic will be used. Choose an enemy."
 * An error message used if an invalid attack number is sent to the animation code. This includes the text "FIGT_ANM Command Error Command = " followed by the attack number.

Rance 4.1 Only

 * An unreachable page jump in the Rance 4.1's Alice's Mansion code suggests that the mansion's "Credits" option originally played the full end credits, rather than the variant credits you see in the mansion in the final game. There is no equivalent, cut code in 4.2.


 * An alternate portrait for the security guard exists, featuring an background full of stop signs. Images below.


 * There is also an entirely unused portrait exists depicting a young boy with green hair.


 * A few filler inset CGs exist among the dungeon art, alluding to rooms dropped during development. They include the following English text: "Waiting Room," "Dungeon Entrance," "Dungeon Passway," "2-2 Normal," "2-8 Sky Room," and "2-10 Dark Room / Hole in Ceiling."


 * Unused graphics also appear for the recurring monster HERO and a strange blunderbuss-like enemy called Khruschev. Neither HERO nor Khruschev have attacking sprites. There is also a "card back" sprite labelled "Rance 4.1." While HERO and Khruschev were removed from 4.2's data, the card back, complete with "Rance 4.1" label, remains.


 * Summon-chan has battle graphics, both a standard sprite and a casting animation, even though she never fights you in person in the finished version.


 * Rance also has a debug attack in 4.1 that was outright removed from the command menu, though its code remains. This unused attack would have had Rance declare: "Sure-kill!! Die for debugging!!" followed by the narration: "Rance cheated." This attack would deal 10x the usual damage (Rance Attack, for comparison, does 3x). The 32-bit release adds this back to the attack list behind the scenes if the debug variable, VAR0475, is set to 1. The attack does not appear in 4.2's debug mode.


 * A cut puzzle sequence in Rance 4.1 involved searching for Bird's dormitory. A scene exists in the code for the security room where Rance would arm wrestle Conan for information. Rance would then suggest he plans to invade Bird's privacy, but the only follow-up is the option to Move to Bird's Room in the dormitory, producing the filler text: "Bird doesn't have a room yet." The 32-bit port restored these scenes, changing the ending of the first scene to say Bird is living off-site to explain why Rance gives up. The art for this scene is below.

Rance 4.2 Only

 * A long jump contest minigame was coded into the page for the sandbox and its surrounds, but is never used. The player must stop a rapidly changing timer to get a high score. There was no reward. In the game's words: "The one who wins will be happy. That's it..." This minigame was restored in the 32-bit port.


 * A handful of combat-related text and data tied to 4.1-exclusive enemies still exist in 4.2's data, such as the Marty Suzuki's "released a 386 beam!"


 * Jofuka has an unused, partially nude combat sprite, perhaps intended for use after she was defeated. This likely went unused because no code exists for distinct, defeated sprites.


 * An image with the word "Dummy" written in English can be found in the data among the Alice's Mansion CGs.


 * Filler portraits exist for "Giant" (presumably Eagle) and "Partie Surrender."


 * The "Wickedness Survey" available in Alice's Mansion after clearing the game includes error text that reads: "This is a test message. If this appears, there's a flaw in the algorithm."

Coding Peculiarities and Notables

 * The 2-in-6 odds of a party member using a Seirogan, described on the Game Mechanics page, actually represents two distinct code blocks that run back-to-back, which are near copies of one another, except that one checks if RND is 1 and the other if it's 2, duplicating other applicable checks in the process. This is an irregular way of programming, and similar sections of the game's AI would have simply checked to see if RND was < 3. One possibility may be that one of the two blocks was originally meant to be used for Seirogan 3s instead of just Seirogan 2s.


 * Kisara is the only character who shows their exact attack value on the subscreen. The other attack values are secretly higher, perhaps accounting for the character's weapon (or not, since the True Iceberg Sword doesn't follow this principle).
 * Rance's attack is actually 30 points higher than it appears.
 * Genri's attack is a mere 3 points higher than it appears.
 * Athena 2.0's attack value is 15 points higher than it appears. Curiously, her attack is dynamically calculated in both games, but cannot actually be changed in Rance 4.1. In 4.2, it can be increased with the onion.


 * Kisara's magic cards always hit, but the game performs an accuracy check all the same, doing nothing with the results. As this entire section is unique to the cards, it is very odd.