Behold, the Chim Eater!

[Master ZED]

http://s611.photobucket.com/albums/tt19 ... m%20Eater/

Description from the last photo in the album:

So... what is Chim Eater?

Given that it has no name in Rebirth, and definitely isn't used in Redemption, one can assume that this may have been the original enemy of the missing Chim Quest. Instead of the Assassin Dad kicking them all, apparently this shadow beast was to devour them instead. Either that was too gruesome, or the testers couldn't find the thing. It has no feet and it floats everywhere, so I doubt it kicked up a dust trail to follow. One could assume tracking Chim Eater down must have sucked horribly, since you only had a shadow to go by if anything, and if you only chased the shadow itself, you may have ended up in a position where you couldn't target it or something.

Whether I'm correct in my assumptions, I don't think we'll ever know for sure, but there you go.

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The original post:

It's my new avatar as well, because a floating shadow ball with big teeth sticking its tongue out looked cool.

Here's what I know: this creature, stuffed into 2tme and 2tme10 in the DATA.CVM files for all three games, is linked up in both Rebirth and Reminisce, but not in Redemption. The photos I took are from Redemption, and are proof that even if a model file isn't linked up, you can write in the file paths and pointers so long as you use space that isn't already taken up by another model's path data. I simply didn't care to try before now.

If you could see it without the shadow effect that makes it mostly see-through, it would look red-orange, like in the model skin:



Unfortunately, that's it. I don't remember ever seeing this thing before (it's not in the Moon Tree raid, like I mention in the photo album), and the model's construction may be off like with the Grunties since I used a generic PC to make it appear (see this link if you don't know what I'm talking about), but if this appeared in Rebirth somewhere, then it should be very quickly recognizable regardless to someone that cared about that glorified demo.

For now, I am merely assuming this is The World's Langolier, or perhaps a corrupt AIDA Chim Chim, given that skin kinda makes me think of a freaked out Assassin Dad that's stripped its clothing off and is high on crack.

[jvkdsh]

hmmm perhaps incomplete monster designs? im at a loss for words currently as for the grunty...id like to see it fighting with it its...i dont know what to call what he does to haseo when he calls "it" a pig perhaps the shadows are the out lining of the monster designs/character designs?[mine are only theories]

[Kuukai]

Model-wise I'm pretty sure that looks almost exactly like the head of an existing monster, doesn't it? I forget the name, but if not for the texture my guess would be some removed in-game scene where Haseo decapitates something. Though also I don't think the monster I'm thinking of was in Rebirth... Feel free to correct me, I never got very far on my monster manual on the wiki... Is there no hope of getting the data necessary to paint the texture on? Or at least fudging it? I don't think it's a Chim Chim, no legs...

[TheSorrow]

Interesting ಠ3ಠ
By looking at the skin, i immediatly think of Chim Assassin or that one flying Chim that drops grenades...but, i think those ones looked a bit "angelical" while this one doesn't look like that at all (plus the only game those things appear on is Redemption). And for some reason, that ball with teeth and what i can't tell if it's a tail or a tongue doesn't look new to me...i might be thinking of another game, but those teeth definetly look like something i've fought before D: The skin, however, does seem different to anything i've seen before, and the only reason why i'd think it's a Chim Chim it's because of the "W"...by looking at the actual model the last thing i would think it is would be a Chim Chim,

I'm a n00b when it comes to pointers and all, but since the data is linked in Rebirth and Reminisce, would it be possible to see the model there with it's correct skin and all, or it would be the same result? And what is as far as you can know when a model is "linked" in a game. For example, in the case with the mysterious blue bayonet thing you could find out it was being used in a certain cutscene...is there any way you could do the same with this model, and find out where it appears? Though...if you have to look for it manually, then that would certainly take alot >3>''
Also, is this the only model so far that is linked in a game, but not used in that one? Like, let's say, some character model that is linked and appears in Reminisce, but is also linked in Redemption even though it definetly doesn't appear in it. This could at least give the idea if the creature, if it appears, it only does in Rebirth or Reminisce while in the other game the data's just linked but for no real reason. Of course, there's too the chance that it doesn't appear at all...if there's no way to see the model with it's proper skin in any of the 3 games, then maybe it just wasn't fully completed for it to appear D:

[Master ZED]

Is there no hope of getting the data necessary to paint the texture on? Or at least fudging it?

would it be possible to see the model there with it's correct skin and all, or it would be the same result?

This is apparently how CC2 wanted the thing to look; I tried it on Rebirth, where I didn't have to write in the file paths and such, and it looked mostly the same. I found out the tongue sticking out and the teeth showing like that was because I made it a generic PC (so like Death Grunty, the game didn't know exactly what to do with it). As an NPC, it looks as it does in the last few photos of the album. It is indeed a floating head, and it goes by the name Chim Eater (see the first post for what I think may be the story behind it).

It has no name in Rebirth, but when I found out the Lucky Animal model data was listed only a few offsets down in both of the first two volumes (Chim Eater in Reminisce is at 8DA97C, Gold Bird, 8DA9FC), I went and looked up the pointer to Gold Bird's name and counted backwards to where the Eater should be. Some dungeon obstacles called Destroyer (4 in Reminisce, 3 in Rebirth), along with three of something else, are in-between. Once I saw how it looked, what its name was, and how it only had both a name and a model in a single volume, it was pretty easy to guess the Chim Eater's tale.

Oh! If you wish to see him for yourself in-game, here's the code to transform Bikman into the Chim Eater in Rebirth:

508112DC 0000000C
00841E9C 00000000

EDIT: Reminisce code for turning the Chim Assassin into Chim Eater:

508DA97C 00000010
008DAB5C 00000000

I don't know if this will cause a freeze or not, as I don't have a save at that point in the game. Use at your own risk.

[TheSorrow]

Awesome findings overall, especially the name and how you figured out it was part of the Lucky Animals "section", which really speaks everything about this floating mouth. I suppose you're either completely right or at least almost right, though i lol at how you say testers just couldn't find the shadow XD I think it would've been fun if the Chim Eater was still the "animal" to hunt in such quest, and though literally eating Chim Chims might've been indeed gruesome in comparison to how the rest of The World's quest are (the "greatest evil" in some thingy with a creepy eye that squishes Vital Vistas), it would've perhaps made more sense or at least be more fun to hunt and even fight. Also, i don't think there should've been a problem about targetting it...he might seem like a floating shadow, but he should be just a model like any others, with it's collision blocks or whatever they're called, so while being pretty much invisible, it's still an object that couldn't stuck in a wall or any place you couldn't reach :P

But anyways, by "how they wanted the thing to look", does that mean that the Chim-eating orb was supposed to be like that EVEN if it was fully released for the quest? And so, what's the point of it having a skin then? D: I'd like to think that maybe he was supposed to be invisible until the moment you found him, and then his correct skin was shown (an event that doesn't happen anymore...if it even was set to happen before replacing it with the Assassin), because otherwise, there would be no purpose of the skin to exist at all D: Oh, and honestly...i can't identify any floating shadow ball in the Mac Anu pics; i seriously don't know where it's body should start or end or what shape it should have, and i can only assume it's supposed to be the same floating ball but with it's mouth closed x__X

Either way, awesome findings indeed, and this is all something only you could've done!! No one else in here has ever found out mysteries hidden deep within the games, that haven't been ever heard before, and solve them on his own while everyone else hardly understands what's been said. It's pretty amazing XD

[Kuukai]

Yeah, I would think that maybe they added the shadow/translucence flag after deciding not to use it, or were playing around with it and never needed to make it opaque. You definitely know more about G.U.'s engine though so I'll take your word for it. No chance of rogue strings describing the quest lurking somewhere on the disc, is there? I mean, they apparently left in and batch-translated "Chim Eater"...

[Master ZED]

But anyways, by "how they wanted the thing to look", does that mean that the Chim-eating orb was supposed to be like that EVEN if it was fully released for the quest? And so, what's the point of it having a skin then? D: I'd like to think that maybe he was supposed to be invisible until the moment you found him, and then his correct skin was shown (an event that doesn't happen anymore...if it even was set to happen before replacing it with the Assassin), because otherwise, there would be no purpose of the skin to exist at all D:

This is what I think is the case. The floating and camouflage are tools for stealth, so a Chim Eater can grab Chim Chims without being detected. Heatwave Hound, though a monster, is the only other example of an invisible enemy being the boss of a Quest, so it's not without canon precedent. I would assume the skin would show upon kicking and/or defeating the beast, but likely not prior to that since it would also help in evading enemies, such as adventurers hired to defeat it for example.

Oh, and honestly...i can't identify any floating shadow ball in the Mac Anu pics; i seriously don't know where it's body should start or end or what shape it should have, and i can only assume it's supposed to be the same floating ball but with it's mouth closed x__X

17 and 18 are the best ways to identify it in those pics, while 15 just shows the teeth (the pic was taken looking into it from behind). 17 clearly shows the bottom of the ball, and some good outlining of the mouth and (supposedly) the eyes while facing it directly, while if you combine 16 and 18 for a side view, you get a better view of its body when you see how the water in the fountain disappears behind it.

The Mac Anu pics were taken in Rebirth, so I didn't think there were too many areas I could show it off in. I can draw it out in any game and at least in any root town or guild area, so where would you like me to try again at and what NPC has the best spot in town amongst its peers for a photoshoot?

Either way, awesome findings indeed, and this is all something only you could've done!! No one else in here has ever found out mysteries hidden deep within the games, that haven't been ever heard before, and solve them on his own while everyone else hardly understands what's been said. It's pretty amazing XD

Eh, if I hadn't been tired when I decided to look into it, I would have solved it hours ago really. I wasn't really thinking too hard.

And I suppose I do have a problem with being understood, but I would think the pics are awesome by themselves since it's not something anyone outside the development teams have ever seen before... or ever will, for that matter.

Yeah, I would think that maybe they added the shadow/translucence flag after deciding not to use it, or were playing around with it and never needed to make it opaque. You definitely know more about G.U.'s engine though so I'll take your word for it.

Yeah, if this thing weren't supposed to be translucent, I probably would've encountered the problem a while ago. It is very strange that the skin appears to be missing, but there's no reason to assume it's there in Reminisce with it still being gone in Redemption. I'll check later to be absolutely sure.

It would help if anyone about to do The Silent Chim Quest try the Assassin replacement code and see if anything special happens, just for the hell of it. I doubt anything will happen other than a freeze, but ya never really know for sure.

No chance of rogue strings describing the quest lurking somewhere on the disc, is there? I mean, they apparently left in and batch-translated "Chim Eater"...

I'd be surprised if, like Delta: Screaming Idling Princess, Chim Eater was actually a clue about a dummied Quest lost in development. Assassin Dad replacing it for The Silent Chim makes plenty of sense given the name and the creature's theoretical function. Even so, I'm not sure where story dialogue, e-mails, posts, etc. are kept. They're easy to find in IMOQ's files, but G.U. does something different with that sort of text.

At the very least, I can filter through whatever's in the executable, which contains the subscreen and conversation text (so there's a ton of gameplay stuff in there along with PC dialogue and such), and there aren't any Quests for Reminisce that don't appear in the normal game.