Insomniac Museum (Going Commando)

Location information
Type	Insomniac Museum
Galaxy	Bogon

Trophy
Museum Tour Go to the Insomniac Museum
Museum Tour Go to the Insomniac Museum

The first Insomniac Museum appears in Going Commando as a secret location containing developer commentary on unused material from Going Commando and the original Ratchet & Clank. It features commentary from eleven different Insomniac Games developers.

The Insomniac Museum can be accessed in two legitimate ways. The first is through the Shortcuts menu, available once the player has unlocked and fully upgraded all weapons and purchased all modifications, which requires finding all platinum bolts. The second method is on Silver City, Boldan; when the console's internal clock is set to 3:00 AM, a teleporter on the city's central fountain will activate, leading to the museum.

A third, unintended method exists via an exploit on Boldan. On the "Ride the power lines" grind rail, the player can intentionally get hit and then use the Heli-Pack or Thruster-Pack to glide down to the left. By reaching a large garage building and glitching through the non-solid floor surrounding it, it is possible to enter the room with the teleporter to the museum.

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

Exhibits

Exhibits are found in various rooms throughout the museum and can be visited in any order. They are commented on by one of eleven developers after the player stops on a help message, marked by a floating icon over a pad. Each developer has a long introduction when first heard and a shorter one before subsequent commentaries. Along with the audio, a description appears on-screen, which sometimes has discrepancies with the developer's commentary.

Mike Stout

A robot NPC cut from the original Ratchet & Clank.

Mike Stout, a designer for Going Commando, was also the original designer of the museum. In his introduction, he welcomes the player and explains that the museum showcases content that never made it into the final game. He also presents an interactive Infiltrator exhibit that allows the player to create and test their own puzzles. Additionally, Stout comments on a robot non-player character intended for the original Ratchet & Clank, humorously claiming it was cut after a "Day of Poultry" where chickens destroyed the computer holding its data.

Brian Allgeier

Brian Allgeier was the design director during the development of Going Commando. He provides commentary on the Gravity Spheres, which were floating spherical platforms cut from Silver City for being too difficult and nauseating. He also discusses several parts of the large test room used during the development of the original Ratchet & Clank. These include rows of blocks for testing Ratchet's jump height, progressively steeper ramps used to establish a 45-degree maximum walking angle, and walls with varying widths to test the wall kick distance.

The Gravity Spheres.

Blocks used to test Ratchet's jump height.

Ramps used to test Ratchet's walking ability.

Tony Garcia

Tony Garcia was a programmer who provides commentary on several interactive exhibits. These include a shot effect demonstrator for creating custom weapon shots, an explosion effect demonstrator for modifying a versatile explosion used throughout the game, and a particle effect demonstrator with three pads to edit different effects in the center of the room.

The shot and explosion effect demonstrators.

The particle effect demonstrator.

Oliver Wade

Oliver Wade was the animation director, whose audio introduction differs for each exhibit he presents. He provides commentary on the "three-headed Hydra," a miniboss intended for Pokitaru in the original game that was fought on a boat but cut for not being fun. He also discusses the original Gadgetron vendor design, which was officially cut from the first game to save memory, though Wade humorously suggests the real reason involved "squirrels, hacksaws, and our lawyers."

The three-headed Hydra cut from the original Ratchet & Clank.

The original design for the Gadgetron vendor.

Sean Wissler

Sean Wissler, a tester, provides commentary on a large bug-ship model. He clarifies it was intended only as background scenery, not an enemy, but was cut due to time constraints. He also discusses a large enemy that was cut from the original game along with its level, which he refers to as the "ill-fated 'Jet Ski' level." Curiously, while the audio commentary refers to it as the "Jet Ski" level, the on-screen description calls it the "Water World" level.

The bug-ship scenery model.

An enemy cut from the water world level.

Tim Trzepacz

The car intended for the Giganto-Mech boss battle.

Tim Trzepacz, a gameplay programmer who introduces himself as "a Leo from Washington D.C.", comments on a boss intended for a cut water level from the original game. He notes that the boss was removed because its associated "Jet Ski gadget" never made it into the game. He also discusses a giant car that players would have driven during the Giganto-Mech battle on Snivelak, but it was removed due to a "lack of heavy weaponry."

Lesley Mathieson

Lesley Mathieson was a designer who presents a water patch demonstration. She explains that it showcases a water system that was too demanding for the PlayStation 2 hardware and had to be "severely optimized" for the final game. She also discusses the Gravity Tower, an area created to test the Magneboots for the first game, noting that traversing it is much more fun with the faster Gravity Boots from Going Commando.

The water patch demonstration.

The Gravity Tower used for testing Magneboots.

Cory Stockton

Cory Stockton, a designer, discusses the Revolverator, a cut drill weapon from the first game. The weapon's signature move of spinning enemies on the drill left Ratchet too vulnerable and required too many resources. Its model, however, was reused for the Miner on Hoven. He also provides commentary on "Squiddy," a robotic squid enemy created for a Going Commando prototype level; both the enemy and the level were cut from the final game.

The Revolverator, a cut weapon from the original game.

"Squiddy," a cut enemy from Going Commando.

Chris Towne

The original helmet model for the Hologuise.

Chris Towne, a tester, provides commentary on the original model for the Hologuise. He explains it was originally a helmet instead of the final handheld device and humorously blames squirrels with hacksaws for the change. He also comments on the gravity ramps found in the museum, joking that at Insomniac, "we're so hopped up on caffeine that we bounce off the walls!"

Peter Hasting

Peter Hastings, a gameplay programmer, presents several technical exhibits. He discusses a dummy used to test the new enemy reaction system in Going Commando, which ensured enemies reacted appropriately to damage. Other exhibits include a tester for screen buffer effects like distortion bubbles, a widget to test the new "chunks system" (lovingly called the 'Corn' system) for prettier breakable objects, and a unique teleporter design that was cut from several levels due to time constraints.

The reaction dummy used to test the reaction system.

The screen buffer effect tester.

Carl Grande

An unspecified gadget cut from the original Ratchet & Clank.

Carl Grande, the QA manager, provides commentary for a single exhibit: an unfinished gadget model. He explains that the gadget was intended for the original Ratchet & Clank but was cut before it was finished. It is now preserved in the museum as "gone, but not forgotten."

Behind the scenes

The Insomniac Museum was created by developer Mike Stout in his spare time. Insomniac President Ted Price allowed the project on the condition that it did not create official work for anyone else. Price later liked the level so much that he showed it to the press, whose positive reaction led to Insomniac dedicating budgeted resources to polish it.

The idea for the 3:00 AM secret came from Colin Munson, who designed Boldan and joked about including a secret that appeared in the middle of the night due to the developer's name, "Insomniac Games". This led to the museum's teleporter being added to Boldan, complete with a clock that tracked the PlayStation 2's internal time. The teleporter was placed inside a building in Silver City that had been artistically detailed for no other reason, and enemies were added to the antechamber to test the player's skills. The building's prominent placement also led to players discovering the grind rail exploit to access it.

The save game file for the museum contains a portrait of the level from when it was simply a block-level prototype; this image was never updated for the final release.

The level was laid out like the Insomniac Games office at the time so that Stout did not have to design a new floor plan. The original plan was to include the donated concepts next to each corresponding developer's real-world desk.

Due to a programming requirement, every level in the game must contain a ship locator for Ratchet's ship to spawn, otherwise the level will not load. If a locator is not manually placed, the ship spawns at the map's default 0,0,0 coordinates. This is the case in the museum, where Ratchet's ship can be seen floating far below the main level near the Gravity Tower.

The water patch demonstration appears much larger in the PlayStation 3 HD version of the game, likely because the PlayStation 3's hardware could handle the complex simulation more easily.

The music featured in the museum is borrowed from the underground tunnels area of planet Tabora.

References

Video games

• Insomniac Games (2003). Ratchet & Clank: Going Commando [Game]. Sony Computer Entertainment. PlayStation 2.

Websites

• Ratchet & Clank Wiki (2019). Interview with Mike Stout. Interview conducted by Technobliterator.

Videos

• Allgeier, Brian; Fixman, TJ [@GDC] (2018, June 26). 15 Years of Ratchet & Clank: A Lombax Story [Video]. YouTube.
• Stout, Mike; Garcia, Tony [@uselesspodcasts] (2011, August 7). Ratchet & Clank 2 Dev Commentary: 22 - Boldan Grindrail [Video]. YouTube.
• Stout, Mike; Garcia, Tony [@uselesspodcasts] (2011, September 30). Ratchet & Clank 2 Dev Commentary: 37 - Insomniac Museum (Bonus 3) [Video]. YouTube.