Drill-X' Big Rig is the eleventh chapter in Skylanders: Giants. The Skylanders journey here to destroy Drill-X, the giant, singing drill machine that Kaos is using to unearth the Lost City of Arkus.
Description
Drill-X's Big Rig is an industrial drilling rig equipped with various forms of machinery, from conveyor belts to spinning hooks and crusher traps. Its sky is a lurid, smoggy green color, and barren islands float beneath the big rig's gyrating drill.
Elemental Gates
Areas To Find
- Utility Deck
- Machine Retrofit Assembly (Tech)
- Drawworks
- Aux Hanger
- Aux Storage Area
- Riley's Tube (Fire)
- Lower Transition Station
- Spore Works (Life)
- Middle Transition Station (Air)
- Southern Rig Platform
- Golem's Fortune
- Ventilation Platform (Fire)
- Gas Refinery
- Rock Works (Earth)
- Upper Transition Station (Magic)
- Middle Auxiliary Deck
- Centrifuge
- Aux Piston Platform (Tech)
- Aux Control Room (Magic)
- Landing Deck
- The Apex
- Triple Piston Trouble
New Enemies
Legendary Treasure
- Propeller Engine
Soul Gem
Hats
- Safari Hat
- Traffic Cone Hat
Story Scroll
- Nice Try, Kaos
The Store
- Unerring Arrow Charm - 25,000 gold
- Combat Hat - 1,000 gold
- Beret - 1,000 gold
- Chompy Bot 9000 3 Skystone - 650 gold
- Regeneration Power Up - 325 gold
- Lock Puzzle Key - 500 gold
- Fairy Dust - 50 gold
Gallery
Concept art by iRene Chan.
Trivia
- The various environmental occurrences around the rig are in sync with the music that is playing. The pattern is Steam > Steam > Flames > Steam > Steam > Steam > Spark, before repeating after every eighth beat.
- As seen in concept art, Slime Pipe was once part of Drill-X's Big Rig.[1]
- Along with Zap's Wow Pow, the area Riley's Tube is named after a Skylanders fan, Riley, who passed away in 2012 due to a rare condition of cancer.
- Drill-X's Big Rig was originally called Stop the Digging Machine or Stop the Drill.
- Underneath its smoggy cloud layer, Drill-X's Big Rig has a dark blue upper skybox, scattered with stars. (Its skybox is identical to the sky in Aerial Attack!, but the clouds conceal this similarity.) Although this starry sky is hidden in the final game, it can be seen in some Soul Gem footage from Giants, as well as in the alpha versions of the game.[2]
- In early versions of Giants, Drill-X's Big Rig possessed notably different features from the final level.
- The level initially began in the Drawworks, omitting the entire first island present in the final game. Attempting to take the camera toward these skipped platforms - which are present but not naturally accessible in the alpha - causes the game to slow and flash black.[3]
- Originally, there was no battle gate or Molekin NPC before the first crushers, and the wall to the right required a key rather than a Giant to open.
- The alpha level lacks all of its collectibles and regular enemies (with the single exception of the Crystal Golem). In addition, its conveyor belts do not affect Skylanders' movement, and the level's layout is slightly different in places, altering the position of buttons and battle gates.
- Series of rising/falling metallic platforms originally appeared behind several battle gates, but these superfluous features were removed entirely from the final game.[4]
- In the earliest alpha build, Drill-X's Big Rig lacked the elemental barriers around the entrance of its Life Elemental Gate, so Skylanders of any element could enter. Curiously, the camera within the Life area was originally zoomed out farther, allowing the player to see more of the details upon its vine-laced walls. A narrow gray-green visual effect (possibly a vine or a dust stream) repeatedly fell from the ceiling into the ground by the Life area's first bounce pad.[5]
- Unique destructibles (shaped like metal boxes stacked with gray plates) appear scattered throughout the alpha, but these decorations were removed from the final game.[6]
- The Earth Elemental area was originally called "Spit Rock Scrubber." It featured large stone walls and buzzsaws, which had to be destroyed using bombs. Unlike other areas of the alpha level, the Earth area's conveyor belts functioned normally, and (unusually for elemental areas in the Giants alpha) this area also includes a hatbox. These details suggest that the Earth area was polished earlier than the rest of the level.[7]
- Besides the skipped starting platforms, entering other sections of the alpha level cause the sky to flicker black.[8] The cause of this visual issue is unknown; the problem is unique to Drill-X's Big Rig.
- The entrances to the level's indoor rooms were originally shorter, appearing more like tunnels than the enlarged doorways in the final game.[9]
- Purple-jeweled coins and a large collectible crown were originally used as placeholders for treasure.[10] Similar placeholders also appeared in the alpha build of Kaos' Kastle.
- In the alpha, the Giants' jumping point was marked by a bounce pad rather than a Giants icon.[11]
- Instead of dropping down to read the Story Scroll beyond a gate, players originally had to push a block down from The Apex. Auric also stood directly before Drill-X's boss arena, which had no raised platforms in the alpha.[12]
- The earliest alpha build of Drill-X's Big Rig omits the final boss battle entirely;in its absence, the level ends once the player ascends to the Apex and walks to a certain point of the final platform.[13]
References
- ↑ Concept for sewer level. Artstation.
- ↑ Skylanders Giants Alpha Build 1: Full Playthrough. (Date Posted: Jan. 28, 2024). YouTube.
- ↑ Skylanders Giants Alpha Build 1: Full Playthrough. (Date Posted: Jan. 28, 2024). YouTube.
- ↑ Skylanders Giants Alpha Build 1: Full Playthrough. (Date Posted: Jan. 28, 2024). YouTube.
- ↑ Skylanders Giants Alpha Build 1: Full Playthrough. (Date Posted: Jan. 28, 2024). YouTube.
- ↑ Skylanders Giants Alpha Build 1: Full Playthrough. (Date Posted: Jan. 28, 2024). YouTube.
- ↑ Skylanders Giants Alpha Build 1: Full Playthrough. (Date Posted: Jan. 28, 2024). YouTube.
- ↑ Skylanders Giants Alpha Build 1: Full Playthrough. (Date Posted: Jan. 28, 2024). YouTube.
- ↑ Skylanders Giants Alpha Build 1: Full Playthrough. (Date Posted: Jan. 28, 2024). YouTube.
- ↑ Skylanders Giants Alpha Build 1: Full Playthrough. (Date Posted: Jan. 28, 2024). YouTube.
- ↑ Skylanders Giants Alpha Build 1: Full Playthrough. (Date Posted: Jan. 28, 2024). YouTube.
- ↑ Skylanders Giants Alpha Build 1: Full Playthrough. (Date Posted: Jan. 28, 2024). YouTube.
- ↑ Skylanders Giants Alpha Build 1: Full Playthrough. (Date Posted: Jan. 28, 2024). YouTube.