Gtown1 (also known as A Fist Full of Geckos) is a cut level from Gex 3: Deep Cover Gecko. It was meant to appear in Slappy Valley and is accessible in the December 30, 1998 prototype and Feburary 8th, 1999 prototype via debug menu. Despite this, in the latter prototype, level entrance resides uphill next to the teleporter that will transport the player to the Anime Channel level entrance. Additionally, it would reference main cast of the character, including Cuz’s original name as 'Jerzee' being on the wanted posters. It's one of the few unused levels which can still be accessed in the retail version by hacking the game's files. This method was discovered by Gex speedrunner, Tigame who uploaded a video on December 1st, 2018. [1] It's unknown why it was cut from the final release.
It's one of the few cut levels that have missions and fly coins. In addition, parts of the level have proper collision detection. Also, it shares the same music track as the Western Station, which is present in the final game. Out of all the unused levels, Gtown1 is the most finished of the bunch. However, despite the level itself being cut from the game and only being accessible through the above means, part of A Fist Full of Geckos’ level entrance made it to the final game regardless, this being one wanted poster of Gex that, in earlier prototypes, was the only wanted poster found below the level entrance.
Missions[]
As mentioned, from hacking the game's files, there were some proposed missions which never made it to the final build of the game. However, through the Feburary 8th, 1999 prototype build, the mission selection menu was present.
- Use the gatling gun, shoot 7 targets.
- Break into the bank, blow the safe
- Kill the 5 ghost cowboys
Easter Egg[]
Despite the level being scrapped in the main game. There's a possible Easter egg which can be found in this level. The easter egg in question appears to be picture of a dog. Presumbly, a picture of one of the Crystal Dynamics' developers pet. While, it hasn't been discovered in-game, the texture for the possible cube was found by Hankhill89 when looking through the VRAM for textures in the December 30th, 1998 prototype build. However, it remains unknown to how it can be triggered or if it can be triggered at all.
Gallery[]
PlayStation Magazine Demo Disc 17[]
December 30th, 1998 prototype[]
February 8th, 1999 prototype[]
Miscellaneous[]
Videos[]
Trivia[]
- Several visual gags can be seen on various buildings:
- Donner Eats is a reference to the cannibalistic tragedy of The Donner Party.
- Doc Holiday Inn is a double reference to both the gunman Doc Holiday and the hotel chain Holiday Inn.
- Catfields is a reference to the Hatfield–McCoy feud.
- Nick DeJugular is a play on the phrase Knick the jugular, a common injury from shaving methods of the time period.
- Megabucks may be a reference to Starbucks.
- In the December 30th, 1998 prototype, from the mission select screen; the placeholder name of the level is named 'COWBOY TV'
- Interestingly in the same prototype, the mission objectives appear in the GTOWN2 mission select screen. This could be have been an error during development.
- Also through the prototype, you can access the level through normal means by going to Itznot Mines in the Lake Flaccid hub. Paradoxically in the place where GTOWN2 was going to be. This could be because the Slappy Valley hub area was more unfinished. Thus, acting as a placeholder.
- In the Feburary 8th, 1999 prototype, the level name is revealed to have been 'A Fist Full of Geckos'. This would be a direct reference to the 1964 Spaghetti Western film, A Fistful of Dollars.
- It's only unused level in the game which contains a possible easter egg. Despite that the fact, it was removed from the retail release of the game. This implies the level was pretty far into development before it was scrapped.
- Gtown1 along with another unused level, Fish Frequency was showcased in the 1999 preview trailer for Gex 3: Deep Cover Gecko. However, both levels don't appear in the retail release.
- Despite, being removed from the game. There are leftovers of the level entrance still present in the Slappy Valley hub. Mainly, the Disentry Gulch sign and the Gex wanted poster.
References[]
- ↑ "Unused Gex 3 Level found after 20 years!", Tigame. Posted on December 1st, 2018.
Levels in Gex 3: Deep Cover Gecko | |||
---|---|---|---|
Gex Cave (hub) | |||
Mission Control | Holiday Broadcasting | Mystery TV | ||
Lake Flaccid | Tut TV | Army Channel | Western Station | The Buccaneer Program | ||
Slappy Valley | Mythology Network | Fairytales TV | Anime Channel | ||
Funky Town | Gangster TV | Superhero Show | ||
Boss levels | WWGex Wrestling | Lizard of Oz | Channel Z | ||
Bonus Levels | Marsupial Madness | Gextreme Sports | War and Pieces | True Grits | What a Crock! | ||
Secret Levels | Dial "A" for Arson / Peg Leg Polka | Braveheartless / Temple of Gloom | The Abyssmal | Cheesy Rider | ||
Unsused Levels | Fish Frequency | Gtown1 | Fvilla1 | Jaws1 | Pirate88 | Proto55 |