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The first Insomniac Museum appears in Going Commando, as a secret location containing developer commentary on unused material from Going Commando as well as the original Ratchet & Clank. It features commentary from eleven different developers throughout each of the rooms.

The Insomniac Museum can be accessed in two legitimate ways. The first is through the Shortcuts menu in the Special menu, available once the player has unlocked and upgraded all weapons, with all weapon modifications purchased, requiring the player to find all platinum bolts. The second is on Silver City, Boldan; when the console's internal clock is set to 3:00 AM, a teleporter on the fountain in the city will take the player to a room with another teleporter leading to the museum.

There is a third way to access through an exploit: on Boldan, on the grind rail featured in "Ride the power lines", it is possible to intentionally get hit, and then glide down with the Heli-Pack or Thruster-Pack to the left. By running to the large garage building and glitching through the floor surrounding it (which is not solid), it is possible to then enter the room with the teleporter to the Museum.

Visiting the Museum in the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita versions of Going Commando will unlock the silver trophy Museum Tour.

Exhibits[]

Exhibits of the museum are found in various rooms throughout the Museum, and can be visited in any order. They are commented on by one of eleven developers, which provide commentary after stopping on their help message, marked by a floating icon over a pad. Each of them has a long developer intro when hearing them for the first time, and a short one after that plays before their commentary. Along with their audio is a description that appears on-screen, which sometimes has a few discrepancies with the audio.

Mike Stout - Designer[]

Mike Stout was a designer at Insomniac Games for development of Going Commando, who provides the opening commentary for the Museum, as well as commentary for the Infiltrator puzzle, and a robot non-player character that was cut from the original Ratchet & Clank. He is the original designer of the museum.[1]

Museum intro[]

This intro plays upon stepping on the help message at the beginning of the museum.

Hi, welcome to the Insomniac Museum. Here you'll see some of the great things that never quite made it into the game, and you'll learn a little bit about life here at Insomniac Games.

Mike Stout

Infiltrator puzzle[]

This allows the player to create their own Infiltrator puzzle and test it.

Have you ever wanted to create your own Infiltrator puzzle?! Well now you can! Just stand on the blue pad and play around with the values a bit. Confound your friends and amaze your enemies!

Mike Stout

Robot NPC[]

Robot NPC render

The robot NPC was intended to be featured in Ratchet & Clank.

Fear the random robot NPC! This robot never made it into Ratchet & Clank 1 because of the fabled 'Day of Poultry,' when chickens swarmed over our offices and pecked the computer holding this mechanical darling to pieces. We were able to retrieve her eventually, though.

Mike Stout

Brian Allgeier - Designer[]

Brian Allgeier was the design director at Insomniac Games during development of Going Commando, and provides commentary for the Gravity Spheres, as well as three parts of the test room: the rows of blocks testing Ratchet's jump height, the ramps testing Ratchet's walking ability, and the jump slot test walls.

Gravity Spheres[]

Gravity Spheres screen

The Gravity Spheres are floating spheres in a room, reached with the Swingshot, which are walked on with the Gravity Boots.

These floating spherical monstrosities are the elusive 'Gravity Spheres,' which were originally going to be included in Silver City. They proved to be too difficult, and a bit nauseating, to be included. They are preserved here for posterity. Swingshot up to try running around one and then Swingshot again to get off the sphere.

Brian Allgeier

Jump test blocks[]

Jump test blocks screen

These blocks are featured in the large test room, with heights marked above them. These were used by the developers to test Ratchet's jump height for the original game.

These escalating rows of blocks were used when we were in the early stages of creating Ratchet and Clank 1. They were used to test Ratchet's jump heights and jump distances to see which would be the most fun.

Brian Allgeier

Walking test ramps[]

Walking test ramps screen

The test ramps feature in the large test room, and get progressively steeper, to test Ratchet's ability to walk up hills.

The help message commentary is as follows:

These ramps get steeper and steeper as you go on. They were used to test how Ratchet's feet respond to different floor angles. It also helped establish that a 45 degree angle was the sharpest that Ratchet should be able to walk up.

Brian Allgeier

Jump slot test walls[]

The jump slot test walls feature in the large test room, and get progressively wider to test Ratchet's wall jump length.

The help message commentary is as follows:

These walls, which range from narrow to wide, were used to test wall kick distances for the original Ratchet and Clank.

Brian Allgeier

Tony Garcia - Programmer[]

Tony Garcia was a programmer at Insomniac Games during development of Going Commando, and provides commentary for the shot effect, explosion, and particle effect demonstrators.

Shot effect demonstrator[]

Shot and explosion effect demonstrators screen

The shot effect demonstrator allows the player to modify a shot effect from a weapon and create their own.

This little demonstration allows you to create your own shot effect! Using the magic of debug technology, you can edit the shot's size and color and then watch the bandit shoot it at the block man. Don't feel too sorry for the block man, though. He's evil.

Tony Garcia

Explosion effect demonstrator[]

The explosion effect demonstrator allows the player to modify an explosion effect.

This wonder of an explosion was created especially for Ratchet and Clank 2. Its extreme versatility allowed it to creep into many different places in the game. You'll even see it in the Electrolyzer puzzles! Stand on the blue pad to make your own explosions.

Tony Garcia

Particle effect demonstrator[]

Particle effect demonstrator screen

The particle effect demonstrator is a set of three blue pads that allows the player to modify three particle effects in a room.

Using these three blue pads, you can edit the three particle effects in the center of the room. Go ahead -- play around with them. You can achieve some truly great effects this way.

Tony Garcia

Oliver Wade - Animation Director[]

Oliver Wade was the animation director at Insomniac Games during development of Going Commando, and provides commentary for two exhibits cut from the original Ratchet & Clank: the three-headed Hydra, and the original Gadgetron vendor. Unlike other developers, Oliver Wade's intro differs depending on the exhibit he comments on. During the commentary for the original Gadgetron vendor, he puts on a British accent which he describes himself as "atrocious" in his intro.

Three-headed Hydra[]

Hydra render

The "three-headed Hydra" was an enemy created for Pokitaru in the original Ratchet & Clank fought while riding the boat. In the final game, the player instead fights puffoids that attack the boat.

The three-headed Hydra was a big cut from Ratchet and Clank 1. It was originally intended as a miniboss on Pokitaru. Ratchet battled this beast whilst riding a boat through blowfish-infested waters. However, it didn't ended up being that much fun at all, and rather than spend inordinate amounts of time on it, it was eventually scratched.

Oliver Wade

Original Gadgetron vendor[]

Original Gadgetron Vendor render

The original Gadgetron vendor design was cut to save memory.

This is the original Gadgetron Vendor from Ratchet and Clank 1. The official reason it was cut had something to do with saving memory. The real reason has a lot to do with squirrels, hacksaws, and our lawyers. I can say no more.

Oliver Wade

Sean Wissler - Tester[]

Sean Wissler was a tester at Insomniac Games during development of Going Commando, and provides commentary on the large bug monster seen in scenery, and a cut enemy removed from the removed water world level from the original Ratchet & Clank, in which the player would have rode a jet ski.

Bug-ship scenery[]

Bug monster render

The bug-ship in the Museum is not a design for an enemy, but for a creature-like ship design that would be featured in background scenery only. It was cut due to time constraints.

Don't worry. You wouldn't have had to fight this monster even if he did make it into the game. This giant bug-ship was intended to act as scenery only, flying from place to place to ensure high detail on buildings while leaving the play area open for you to run around and fight the giant Robot. Alas, it was cut due to time constraints.

Sean Wissler

Cut water world enemy[]

Cut water world boss screen

This enemy would have been featured on a water world which was removed from the original game.

This guy was originally intended to be an enemy in the ill-fated 'Jet Ski' level that never made it into Ratchet and Clank 1. A moment of silence, please, for this gentle giant, torn down in his prime.

Sean Wissler

Curiously, while Sean's audio commentary refers to the level as the "Jet Ski" level, the on-screen description refers to it as the "Water World" level.

Tim Trzepacz - Gameplay Programmer[]

Tim Trzepacz was a gameplay programmer at Insomniac Games during Going Commando, and provides commentary on the cut water boss and the giant robot car intended for the boss battle on Snivelak. He introduces himself as "a Leo from Washington D.C.", and says he likes "anime and shiny objects".

Cut water boss[]

This boss would have featured in the water world level which was cut from the original game.

This monstrosity was intended to be a boss battle fought on the water. Seeing as the water traversal gadget never made it into Ratchet and Clank, however, neither did this boss. May he rest in pieces.

Tim Trzepacz

In the audio help message, Tim instead refers to the water traversal gadget as the "Jet Ski gadget", describing the boss as fought using the gadget.

Giant robot car[]

Giant robot car render

The car would have been driven by the player on Snivelak to fight the Giganto-Mech, but was removed due to lacking heavy weaponry. In the final version, Ratchet shoots from turrets.

This car was originally going to be included in the battle with the Giant Robot on Snivelak. Unfortunately, its lack of heavy weaponry proved its bane. It now calls the Insomniac Museum its home.

Tim Trzepacz

Lesley Mathieson - Designer[]

Lesley Mathieson was a designer at Insomniac Games during development of Going Commando, and provides commentary on the water patch demonstration and the Gravity Tower used for testing.

Water patch demonstration[]

Water patch demonstration screen

The water patch demonstration is a patch of water used by developers to test the water system developed for the series. However, it requires too much memory and processing power for the PlayStation 2 hardware and the game engine, meaning the final version based on this was modified and optimized severely. The demonstration allows the player to watch the patch ripple and move like normal water.

This was intended to be the water system for Ratchet and Clank. However, as even this little patch of water taxes the game engine to its limits, a modified and severely optimized form was what eventually made it into the game. To see this patch in action, press Circle. To pause it, press Square.

Lesley Mathieson

Gravity Tower[]

Gravity tower screen

The Gravity Tower was created by the developers to test the Magneboots for the original game. It can be traversed by the player using the Gravity Boots.

This Gravity Tower was created to test the Magneboots in Ratchet and Clank 1. However, with the new Gravity Boots that Ratchet gets in Ratchet and Clank 2, this tower is much more fun. Can you imagine scaling this tower while walking at half of Ratchet's normal speed? Yeah, we thought so.

Lesley Mathieson

Cory Stockton - Designer[]

Cory Stockton was a designer at Insomniac Games during development of Going Commando, and provides commentary on the Revolverator weapon from the original game, and the cut Squiddy enemy from Going Commando.

Revolverator[]

Revolverator render

The Reolverator is a cut melee weapon intended for the original game. It is a drill that would have been used by Ratchet to defeat enemies by striking enemies, after which Ratchet would spin them over his head on the drill. This animation left Ratchet vulnerable to attack and required too much memory, meaning the weapon was cut. However, the model for the Revolverator was used for the Miner's drill on Hoven.

You may recognize this drill from Ratchet and Clank 1. It was held by a large construction worker who gives you a lump of Raritanium. This was originally a weapon called the Revolverator. Ratchet would strike enemies with it and then spin them over his head with the drill bit. Unfortunately, this ended up leaving Ratchet open for attack, and also required a lot of resources to pull off, so it was cut.

Cory Stockton

The audio commentary omits the reason final sentence explaining why it was cut.

Squiddy[]

Squiddy render

"Squiddy" is the name of a robotic squid enemy created for an unspecified Going Commando prototype level. The enemy was removed along with the level that did not appear in the final game.

This monstrous robotic squid was created for one of the Ratchet and Clank 2 prototype levels. Since that level never made it into the finished game, however, neither did poor Squiddy.

Cory Stockton

Chris Towne - Tester[]

Chris Towne was a tester at Insomniac Games during development of Going Commando, and provides commentary on the helmet originally used for the Hologuise in the original game, and a help message for the gravity ramps.

Hologuise helmet[]

Hologuise helmet render

The Hologuise helmet is an old model for the Hologuise in which the player would have worn it as a helmet rather than held it as a handheld gadget.

This helmet was the original model for the Hologuise gadget in Ratchet and Clank 1. It was eventually changed to the hand-held model you see in the finished game for reasons unknown. However, we once again suspect that it was due to squirrels with hacksaws.

Chris Towne

Gravity ramps[]

The gravity ramps are featured throughout the museum, allowing the player to travel up one of the ramps and walk on the walls. A help message can be found for these ramps in one room containing several ramps around it.

Here at Insomniac, we're so hopped up on caffeine that we bounce off the walls! You can do the same with these gravity ramps.

Chris Towne

Peter Hastings - Gameplay Programmer[]

Peter Hastings was a gameplay programmer at Insomniac Games during development of Going Commando, and provides commentary for demonstrators, including the dummy enemy used to test the reaction system in Going Commando, the screen buffer effect tester, the 'Corn' chunks system breakables, and also an unused teleporter design.

Reaction dummy tester[]

Reaction dummy screen

The dummy block man enemy was used by the developers to test the reaction system in Going Commando, in which enemies react to being damaged by Ratchet's weapons. The player can hit this dummy with a weapon and watch its reaction.

This dummy was created to test the new reaction system which was added to Ratchet and Clank 2. With this new system, enemies would always be sure to react appropriately to being damaged without a ton of hassle! Go ahead and hit him. He won't mind.

Peter Hastings

Screen buffer effect tester[]

Screen buffer effect tester screen

A tester for screen buffer effects can be found which showcases various effects.

This was created to test screen buffer effects. Screen buffer effects are used to create things like distortion bubbles and heat hazing. This, however, ends up looking like a hall of mirrors. Can you guess why?

Peter Hastings

Corn system chunks breakables[]

The chunks system, known by developers as the 'Corn' system, was used by developers to test breakable objects in Going Commando. The widget allows the player to test this system by hitting it.

This little widget was used to test our new chunks system. We lovingly call it the Corn system. Notice how all the breakables in this game are much prettier? Well that's Corn working hard for you! Give it a whack and see what it does.

Peter Hastings

Cut teleporter design[]

The cut teleporter design would have been used in many levels, but was cut due to time constraints. This teleporter can be used to reach the large test room from the main Museum, and has an unfinished animation. In the final game, all teleporters use the same effect and design, with the exception of the Translocator in Megapolis, Endako.

These teleporters were originally intended to go into several of the levels. Due to time constraints, however, they were eventually cut.

Peter Hastings

Carl Grande - QA manager[]

Carl Grande was a QA manager at Insomniac Games during development of Going Commando, and provides commentary on the cut gadget from the original game.

Cut gadget[]

Cut Gadget render

The cut gadget from the original Ratchet & Clank has an unfinished model. It is unclear what the gadget was intended to be used for.

This gadget was originally intended for Ratchet and Clank 1. Unfortunately, it didn't make the cut and so never saw the light of day. It now makes its home here at Insomniac Museum -- gone, but not forgotten.

Carl Grande

Behind the scenes[]

This Insomniac Museum was created by Insomniac Games developer Mike Stout in his spare time,[1] which Ted Price allowed on the condition it did not create work for anyone else. Price later liked the level so much that he showed it to some press, who also reacted well to it, leading Insomniac to give it budgeted resources and make it look good.[2][3]

Colin Munson, who designed Boldan, joked about a secret appearing only at 3AM in the morning, due to the developer name "Insomniac Games". This led to the Museum being added in Boldan, where the clock appeared that tracked the player's PlayStation 2 internal clock. When using the teleporter to get inside a building with another teleporter to the Museum itself, enemies were added that the player had to get past first as a test of their skills.[4] This was added inside a building in Silver City that had been given art for no apparent reason. The placement of the building led to people finding it through an exploit in the grind rail segment.[5]

The save game file for the Museum contains a portrait of the Museum from when it was simply a block level. This was never updated.[6]

The level was laid out like the Insomniac Games office at the time, so Stout did not have to design a new level. The original plan was to include the donations by each developer next to their desks.[2] In the distance well below the level, near the gravity tower, Ratchet's ship can be seen floating. This was because, due to the programming, every level has to have a ship or the game will not load, as the ship has to be loaded in first when the level is loaded in. A locator was placed into a level for where the ship spawns, and if there is no locator it will instead spawn at 0,0,0, which is where the ship spawns in the Museum.[7]

The water patch demonstration appears much larger in the PlayStation 3 HD version of the game, possibly because the engine of the PlayStation 3 can easily handle a simulation as complex as this.

The music featured in this level is borrowed from the underground tunnels part of planet Tabora.

Citations[]

References[]

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