SwSh Pokemon Sword Shield Beta/Debug

[SerenaToAlola]

So apparently the Beta version of Pokemon Sword Shield leaked.

Here are some pictures:

Interestingly, there's already Greninja in game even though the're still not available. Stakataka that will only become available tomorrow is there as well. Rotom also appears with a map display.

What do you all think about this?

 

[Phosphene]

I like the idea of the map display and while I feel that SwSh is a hard game to get lost in, I still think a minimap option would be rather nice, though one not as intrusive as the Rotom minimap from the leaks.

Spoiler: Screenshot with minimap

It's interesting that it seems like a lot of Pokemon in the debug menu weren't implemented in the original base game.

 

[Puddle]

I actually really like that beta title screen. I can't help but notice that the stadium looks bigger, and is packed with more people, than any of the ones we saw in the final game.

 

[SerenaToAlola]

It's interesting that it seems like a lot of Pokemon in the debug menu weren't implemented in the original base game.

There's Mega Rayquaza and Autumn Sawsbuck. That's major tbh.

 

[Phosphene]

I can't help but notice that the stadium looks bigger, and is packed with more people, than any of the ones we saw in the final game.

I believe that stadium is an actual image--I think people were trying to find its source on one of the Twitter leak threads--while I think the final title screen uses in-game assets, so that might explain why the beta stadium looks that way.

 

[Esserise]

There's Mega Rayquaza and Autumn Sawsbuck. That's major tbh.

Well, that's a rough placeholder title screen. Another one from a later build has also leaked and is, um, let's say more "minimalist" lol. I wouldn't draw any particular conclusions from it:



My bet would be that they just picked a random, diverse handful of Pokémon, kind of like they seem to have done for all of the Pokémon Camp playtesting.

(I'm having some trouble getting links to go to the right places because this is all in one Twitter thread, so bear with me)

 

[Phosphene]

Something interesting that I've noticed here is that the Marowak model is from LGPE while the rest of the models appear to be from SwSh. Even more interesting is that Rockruff, because it was also added in the DLC, like Marowak, but appears to be in its SwSh model. Per Lewtwo:

If it wasn't clear at this point, the Dex cut hadn't been considered, and all of the Pokemon included in the builds were not indicative of any real decision-making.

This makes me wonder if some of the Pokemon in the DLCs had SwSh models built before the Dex cut had been considered, and then were removed from the roster for one reason or another to be implemented later in the DLC.

 

[SerenaToAlola]

My bet would be that they just picked a random, diverse handful of Pokémon, kind of like they seem to have done for all of the Pokémon Camp playtesting.

I wonder why they would put pokemon in and then take them out though. Was it really an attempt at curating the pokedex? Still, they could have just let the players import it in, the way we used to with Bank, instead of removing it completely.

 

[Kallyle]

@Esserise @SpinyShell @SerenaToAlola

All of this evidence is making it more and more likely that Dexit and a lot of other unpopular decisions for SwSh was enforced on Game Freak through the executive meddling of TPCi just because they couldn’t handle the thought of not having a yearly release for more dough.

All of this shows that Game Freak clearly needed more time and that Game Freak barely managed to complete the main games. Even with taking Dexit into account, TPCi is going to have to let Game Freak take more time with their games eventually; this yearly schedule is taking its toll on them.

 

[Esserise]

I wonder why they would put pokemon in and then take them out though. Was it really an attempt at curating the pokedex? Still, they could have just let the players import it in, the way we used to with Bank, instead of removing it completely.

I mean like I’ve been saying for a long time, it’s probably not as simple as just plopping them in and calling it done. Just because these models are usable for a developer test build that the public is never going to see doesn’t mean they’re appropriate for a product that’s going to hit shelves. For instance, we can see in some of the posts that Greninja is buggy, with its eyes not rendering correctly, as well as similar errors with other peoples’ attempts to port existing models into SwSh.

 

[Puddle]

I believe that stadium is an actual image--I think people were trying to find its source on one of the Twitter leak threads--while I think the final title screen uses in-game assets, so that might explain why the beta stadium looks that way.

That's interesting, would explain why that stadium looks so realistic! I mean, the ones we ended up with Sword and Shield still look fantastic, so I'm not complaining. But I hadn't really noticed until now how the stadiums, even Wyndon's, are actually a bit smaller than real-life ones.

View attachment 137231
Something interesting that I've noticed here is that the Marowak model is from LGPE while the rest of the models appear to be from SwSh. Even more interesting is that Rockruff, because it was also added in the DLC, like Marowak, but appears to be in its SwSh model. Per Lewtwo:

This makes me wonder if some of the Pokemon in the DLCs had SwSh models built before the Dex cut had been considered, and then were removed from the roster for one reason or another to be implemented later in the DLC.

I'm quite sad that Steelix didn't get to be as big in the final game as it looks here.

 

[swiftgallade46]

@Esserise @SpinyShell @SerenaToAlola

All of this evidence is making it more and more likely that Dexit and a lot of other unpopular decisions for SwSh was enforced on Game Freak through the executive meddling of TPCi just because they couldn’t handle the thought of not having a yearly release for more dough.

All of this shows that Game Freak clearly needed more time and that Game Freak barely managed to complete the main games. Even with taking Dexit into account, TPCi is going to have to let Game Freak take more time with their games eventually; this yearly schedule is taking its toll on them.

I’m curious as to what evidence you’re referring to exactly. I’m not really seeing anything from the beta that points the Dexit finger at anyone more than we could blame them before.

 

[Kallyle]

I’m curious as to what evidence you’re referring to exactly. I’m not really seeing anything from the beta that points the Dexit finger at anyone more than we could blame them before.

You know how the debug build has barely any textures or Pokémon implemented in the game? That itself shows that Game Freak was struggling with developing for the Switch. This shows that Game Freak could barely handle getting the base game of SwSh out there in time. Yet TPCi still had them push out these games since they want Game Freak to stick with the yearly release schedule. Thus, TPCi would have had incentive to make Game Freak enforce Dexit. I never said it wasn't justified on Game Freak's end, but you can't deny that the yearly schedule enforced by TPCi doesn't have at least has some part in it.

Regardless, Dexit is the least of my concerns at this point if Game Freak has been struggling this much with SwSh's development. I'm worried that TPCi is pushing Game Freak to their limit.

 

[Phosphene]

You know how the debug build has barely any textures or Pokémon implemented in the game? That itself shows that Game Freak was struggling with developing for the Switch.

Could you please elaborate on this more? I don't really see how a barebones debug menu indicates that GameFreak was struggling. I thought most debug menus were like that.

 

[swiftgallade46]

You know how the debug build has barely any textures or Pokémon implemented in the game? That itself shows that Game Freak was struggling with developing for the Switch. This shows that Game Freak could barely handle getting the base game of SwSh out there in time. Yet TPCi still had them push out these games since they want Game Freak to stick with the yearly release schedule. Thus, TPCi would have had incentive to make Game Freak enforce Dexit. I never said it wasn't justified on Game Freak's end, but you can't deny that the yearly schedule enforced by TPCi doesn't have at least has some part in it.

Regardless, Dexit is the least of my concerns at this point if Game Freak has been struggling this much with SwSh's development. I'm worried that TPCi is pushing Game Freak to their limit.

Yeah, I’m not really seeing how the beta elements indicate a “struggle”. For all we know, all Pokémon games start out this way. Nothing here really (further) supports the narrative that TPCi is pushing GF to their limits or forcing the yearly releases on them either.

 

[SerenaToAlola]

Hmm, I'm not sure about @Kallyle 's point but I think this screen cap of Route 7 kind of shows how they were struggling.

It looks like they were trying to actually show us the gigantamax pokemon taking over which got reduced into mere offscreen dialogue.

 

[Boss1708]

@Esserise @SpinyShell @SerenaToAlola

All of this evidence is making it more and more likely that Dexit and a lot of other unpopular decisions for SwSh was enforced on Game Freak through the executive meddling of TPCi just because they couldn’t handle the thought of not having a yearly release for more dough.

All of this shows that Game Freak clearly needed more time and that Game Freak barely managed to complete the main games. Even with taking Dexit into account, TPCi is going to have to let Game Freak take more time with their games eventually; this yearly schedule is taking its toll on them.

I disagree completely.

This is an intelligent economic decision to give more reason to people to buy the DLC. It has nothing to do with "dev time constraints".

The base gane would have looked the same even if it had 5 more years of dev time.

 

[Alola]

Apparently there were beta versions of the Wild Battle and Gym Battle themes too!

Wild Battle Theme (Beta)

Largely sounds the same; not as polished as the released product.

Gym Battle Theme (Beta)

This one's a bit different, but I really like it.

 

[RC821]

This reminds me of when leakers actually leaked future GTA content from Rockstar (which turns out to be fake) back in December 2018.