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Something I've been working on for the next release:

Not sure if anyone ever managed to get these working, but the test levels are in fact functional maps. The Ice Level is the only one present in the cfg by default, and it can be made to load correctly with a small amount of editing. Basically the map lacked the properties for the menu bmp/position and the level links. In addition to this, the map is missing a NERPs file, meaning it would be wise to comment out/remove that line from the config for the test level. Otherwise you can just make a NERPs script to fill in the blank. Below are vids I've uploaded showing off what each one looks like. (If you are wondering why these last two are 640x480 and not the first one, it's because I figured out what was going on with the resolution shenanigans I was having.)

Well, while fiddling around with NPL scripting, not only have I discovered that reordering some lines seems to prevent the game from running its .npl (more on this when I can replicate it). I've also managed to crash it in a vast number of interesting ways: WELCOME BACK CADET, IT'S TIME FOR YOU TO LEARN (this wasn't endless, the game crashed to desktop at the end of this clip)

Welcome! Totally allowed. It's an early UI animation of the Chief, similar to how he appears in the final game, but it's a hologram of him and it's pre-rendered. Seems it dropped down from the upper left corner, going by early screenshots. Here's the tool we have for working with the format: Much of this was cleared up by Karl, one of the game's programmers, in this thread - this post explains the plans they had for the multiple raider types, and there's discussion of some unused/revised buildings throughout the thread, would recommend taking a read through the whole thing, it's pretty cool: I heard the game has some old test levels (one per biome?), but their formats are outdated and can't be loaded. Don't know any details myself, would be cool to see them though. Edit - Yeah, they're at Data\Levels\TestLevels. Dunno if anybody has ever tried figuring out what they look like, or adapting/remaking them in the final level formats. Edit again - @Slimy Slug says the test levels can be made to work with some tweaks to the cfg, might be uploading a video of 'em.

Also relevant: You can go up the back of the IGP shortcut on the 2001 version but not 1999. The track data is identical, so the difference must be in the physics. Also, last month I used Beyond Compare 4 to spit out a nicely formatted report of what files differ from the 2001 and 1999 JAM contents. It's not the first time someone's done a comparison, but it's more readable IMO. I've just uploaded it here: As you can see, the only differences to the track data are making the Pirate Skull Pass load screen consistent with the others (they gave the map a blue frame), and some mysterious changes to Rocket Racer Run. Greycatmon had mentioned encountering a bug where laps weren't always counted on that track, and he's on the 1999 version - and one of the files changed for the 2001 release is STARTFIN.BVB, and another file (COLLIDE.WDB) which doesn't have much in it, but references STARTFIN.BVB if I remember correctly. So I suspect they just fixed that problem. And hey, as long as people are discovering features they didn't know existed but were always in the manual: Super sliding exists, y'all.

if this is true and car size affecting speed and control is seriously another difference between the 99 and 01 versions and all the time trial and speedrun records are rendered invalid as a result until it can be verified which version they were done on i am going to go f****ing nuclear

Made a small video of the Rock Raiders map.