High Impact Games Treehouse

The High Impact Games Treehouse, was the name of a secret level in Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters and Secret Agent Clank. In both games, certain conditions had to be met to unlock this level. This level contained things that did not make into the final game, including never used characters and weapons, concept art, Easter Eggs, secret codes and more. Although in both the games the level had the same name, concept and was also a secret level, the two differed from a different look and of course, content. The purpose of the treehouse was similar of that of the Insomniac Museum in Ratchet & Clank: Going Commando and Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal.

Ways to get to the Treehouse
In Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters there were two ways to get to the High Impact Game Treehouse.

The first way was to go to the planet Metalis, once Ratchet had the Polarizer. Behind his ship there was a large circular door, that looked like a sewer door in a way, with a Polarizer icon on top of it. Target the icon and use the Polarizer; the door will open revealing a death course. If you had never completed this course before, you could complete it now and make it to the crate area between 2:42am and 2:47am (you can change the clock from the PSP menu if you need to). If you already completed it, there is a teleporter that Ratchet could take next to the sewer door, that would bring him to a crate area. In the area there are many crates, a teleporter in the front of them, and if you made it at the right time, a teleporter behind the end of the crates.

The second way to get access to the Treehouse, was to earn all the skill points, and then activate one of the cheats.

Content
Ratchet's ship would land at a circular platform; in front of you will be a building, resembling a treehouse. Inside the whole treehouse, there were designer desks, lounging chairs and signs explaining things. Inside the Treehouse, there was the main room, which had a giant television screen which would let Ratchet play Clank Gadgebot Survival Challenges if the player clicked triangle. There was a non-finished weapon that was never put into the game, called the CUT, since it was cut from the game. The weapon's real name was going to be the Mini Turret Glove, and it was deleted for resembling the Bee Mine Glove too much. The player could also find an unused Ratchet Clone, and by pressing triangle it performed different animations. This Ratchet was ape-like and held a wrench, and was deleted because there were too many melee-type Ratchet clones. On the most top floor, there was a grind lock, which Ratchet could enter and complete, but when he completed it, nothing happened. Also, he could find a test module, which showed all its animations.

Ways To Get to the Treehouse
In Secret Agent Clank, there was only one way to unlock the HIG Treehouse. The Treehouse could only be unlocked on a second play through. When the player got to the entrance of the Boltaire Museum on their second play through, they would gain the Therm-Optic Shades. With this item they had to spot all alien codes in the game. There were three in every Clank level, except for the final confrontation with Klunk. Once they were all obtained, the Treehouse would appear last on the list in 'Special Missions'.

Content
Upon entering, the player would see a giant Treehouse in front of you. In the whole Treehouse they would find Designer messages, Designer desks, gift boxes to play the game Robot Finds Kitten, and concept art. In the first room (the one in front of Clank after landing), the player would find a Guard Dog that shot "death missiles" that could not harm Ratchet and that was unable to be attacked, some picnic tables, a carpet with a rope hanging on top from it attached to the ceiling, cubicles, and a televisioin screen Qwark's Opera could be heard with, but this time if the player turned on subtitles, it would tell you the words and verses cut from the game. On the other side of the TV, there was find a picture of Ratchet in his prison clothes, and a secret code for Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction.

In the room to the right there were more playable Ratchet challenges and a table tennis table. In the room from the left of the first room, the player could find still versions of all the bosses of the game, which were the Jack of All Trades, the Kingpin, Klunk, Doctor Nefarious (robot clone) and Robo-Ratchet (a robot clone of Ratchet) to be scanned with Clank's Holo-Monocle. There was also a group of game designers that tried to sing Qwark's Opera and Bolt Boss, a enemy character that was cut from the game. In the last room the Dallas Chalise could be found. To activate it, the player could enter the following code: up, up, down, down, left, right, left then right - which is the main sequence in the "Konami Code". It restored Ratchet's Nanotech, but was possibly used once in a level. The last room was behind the point where Clank landed and was guarded by a door that only opened if he had all three keycards.

Robot finds Kitten
Robot finds Kitten was a minigame inside the Treehouse. Scattered around the treehouse were present boxes. Clank had to try to open the one with kitten in it. To open it, all he had to do was hit it. There was no reward for this mini-game, and if he won, the only thing he would receive in return was a messsage if the player wanted to play again.

Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters

 * On one of the desks there was a picture of the High Impact Games staff.
 * On one of the desks there was a ton of cereal boxes stacked on top of each other.
 * Strangely, The High Impact Games Treehouse looks completely identical to Pokitaru. This Treehouse could actually be located on Pokitaru since when traveling to the planet, the name of the planet is never mentioned. It could also be because this was a bonus level and the designer's did not want to waste time on making an extra planet skin.
 * If Ratchet jumped on top of one of the signs he would respawn to the beginning of the level. The reason why this happened was because when Ratchet jumps on top off the sign, it started his falling animation, then the game thinks he was falling of the Treehouse, so it made him shout his Death Shout, and then he respawned. If he jumped on the sign, the player could watch his falling animation, and if he got off quickly enough, he would not die.
 * At one of the rooms that was outside, there was a giant bulldozer that was from a demo.

Secret Agent Clank

 * On one of the desks there was a picture of a woman and if the following buttons were pressed, a memorial for the mother of a game designer appeared: Circle, Circle, Triangle, Circle, X.
 * After getting the Dallas Chalise, it can be used any time by entering the following code. It restores Maximum Nano-tech: Up, Up, Down, Down, left, right, left, right. This is the same as the famous Contra code (used in the NES game Contra), which is possibly a reference.
 * In the Treehouse, it revealed that the Walloper and the "Lightning Gun" (Thunderstorm Umbrella) was inspired by the developers desk lamps.
 * If the player went to the main room or first room, and turned right, they would be on a rope bridge. If they cedross the bridge halfway and look into the sky, above the treehouse, Clank's ship would just float there in the sky motionlessly. Why the ship was there is unknown.
 * The Carpet, with the rope hanging from the ceiling above it has captured the attention of some fans. Many think that there was a way to pull it and if that was done, it would reveal a secret. This may be fan speculation.

Appearances

 * Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters
 * Secret Agent Clank