Life is Strange: Wavelengths, the DLC prequel/side story to True Colors, was an enjoyable and fairly substantial entry in the series. Working within the confines of one location and one character, Deck Nine produced an episode longer than those in the main story, yet didn’t seem to drag on.
Indeed, if anything it felt like there was something missing, particularly during the New Year’s scene. For instance, it really seemed like there was meant to be some conclusion to the D&D game with Mikey, as Steph makes a choice about how to conclude the game without actually seeing it play out. Was there intended to be more here?
After poking around the DLC content, I believe I have found the answer. There was indeed another scene planned, and it even took place outside the record store. You can use your preferred tool for browing Unreal Engine 4 PAK files and check this out for yourself. These are the map files contained within Plugins/DLC_StephChapter/Content/Maps/Locations:
Set_BlackLantern_EP6_A
Set_BlackLantern_Stairs_EP6_A
Set_RecordStore_EP6_Vig1
Set_RecordStore_EP6_Vig2
Set_RecordStore_EP6_Vig3
Set_RecordStore_EP6_Vig4
Set_RecordStore_EP6_Vig5
In addition to the five Record Store maps (the four seasons in 2018, plus the present-day version in the ending), there is the Black Lantern! For whatever reason, the staircase leading upstairs (Set_BlackLantern_Stairs_EP6_A) is a separate map, which is the same setup used in the rest of the game.
This doesn’t tell us much on its own, so I loaded these two map files in-game and explored with the debug camera. This is not just a copy of the existing Black Lantern, but a custom version built for a chapter of Steph’s story which didn’t make the final release!
We can see that the gaming room has been decorated for a birthday party: Steph’s 25th birthday, which is indicated on a board sitting on the fireplace. Her birth date is December 17th, 1993, which means her 25th birthday would fall on December 17th, 2018 - or just a couple weeks before the New Year’s scene.
A wood panel sits atop the pool table, which has been repurposed for a D&D game. Lots of liquor is involved. Could this be an in-person match with Steph and Mikey? Maybe the finale that Steph plans during the New Year scene? You can see Elamon (Mikey’s character) among the pile of figures laid on the other end of the pool table, so this does seem likely.
Additionally, there is a notepad with a texture of sufficient resolution to make out the notes written on it:
The notes read:
- Order record player (completed)
- Organize new vinyl (completed)
- Pick up: Mr. Johnson 2:30
- New records next tuesday
-
This definitely indicates that this setup was for Steph and Mikey. There is no laptop present which Steph would use for playing remotely, so perhaps he really did visit her in-person for her birthday and played out the finale in this additional scene, rather than some time during the New Year.
I’d imagine that this scene got cut for budget/time reasons, and this could perfectly explain why Steph chooses Elamon’s fate in the New Year’s scene but never actually plays it out with him. That was intended to happen in this birthday scene at the Black Lantern, and when that got cut there was presumably no time left for anything but a quick reference.
This is really cool, and I’m glad that the dev team left the map in the game so we can get a glimpse at what they were hoping to include in the Wavelengths story, which is already quite long for a ‘bonus’ episode. It must have been disappointing to leave it out of the final release.
While it’s not clear how far along in development this scene was, the map itself is definitely not complete. For instance, the helium balloons have polaroids attached to them, containing the same obvious placeholder texture.
The rest of the Black Lantern looks the same as it appears in the rest of the game, although it’s clear that the lighting needs to be re-baked, as some of the lightmap UVs are incorrect. It’s likely that this scene took place entirely in the game room, so nothing special needed to be added to the bar or dining area.
Hopefully you find this as interesting as I did. It would have been great to see even more of Steph’s story, particularly with a scene that leaves the record store.