Pikmin: Wide World/Development

Pikmin: Wide World, being a very expansive and detailed fan-made Pikmin game concept, has seen many changes during development. This article exists to detail those changes, although not all of them.

Earliest conception
The very idea of Pikmin: Wide World, although not named at the time, was conceived in 2017. The plot of the fangame, as well as practically all of its content, was nonexistent. Only a list of its areas existed, alongside a few fan-made enemy concepts that were unrelated to the game at the time. Pikmin: Wide World was only meaningfully expanded upon in 2020 when its article was created on the Pikmin Fanon. Initially, all of its content was presented on a single page, and so its article was by far the largest article on the wiki for a time, reaching close to ten thousand bytes in size until its content was split into other pages. Although its plot expanded as time went on and some details of it have changed, the differences were very minor.

Pikmin: Wide World was originally going to be an open-world game that allowed players to explore an incredibly massive, cohesive area with smooth transitions between areas, being able to traverse much of the landscape of PNF-404 in a single in-game day. Additionally, immediately from its conception, Pikmin: Wide World was going to include almost all of the content from, , , and , and even some content from , including enemies, vegetation, gameplay mechanics, features, and more. Pikmin: Wide World was also to expand upon already-existing features and mechanics as well as introduce new ones. Captain Olimar and Shacho, as well as Louie, who was to be found on PNF-404 at some point, were the only three playable characters at the time. Multiple landing sites existed per area, but neighboring areas could be navigated to and explored because of the game's open-world nature. The game featured eight areas compared to the six areas present in the final game. The following list contains details of any changes during development if any were made:
 * Balmy Highlands
 * Arid Oasis was originally going to be a hot, dry desert instead of a coastal area. These changes were made to increase the area's visual appeal and to better suit the tropical wildlife that appeared there.
 * Frigid Tundra originally didn't feature a subterranean section.
 * Humid Tropics was originally the game's tropical, coastal area until Arid Oasis later took its place.
 * Ancient Metalworks originally had an entirely separate area underneath of it.
 * Mycelial Sepulcher's existence was heavily inspired by the, an area in Pikmin 1. Although similarities to it still exist, they are majorly overshadowed by differences, although it is still a subterranean area in concept.
 * Subterranean Complex was a sprawling, industrial, subterranean area situated under Ancient Metalworks. It is named after, a cave in Pikmin 2. It was eventually removed in favor of having conventional caves in Ancient Metalworks.
 * The Endless Sea was a massive ocean surrounding the entirety of the playable area to serve as a boundary. Many, many creatures could be found on its sandy shores and in its clear, blue waters, and a steep dropoff combined with an invisible wall prevented the player from exploring too far out into the water. Before such a way of keeping the player in-bounds existed was a massive swarm of the area's aquatic wildlife emerging from the depths and ferociously devouring any leaders and Pikmin that dared explore too far out. The earliest concepts involved a massive, unseen fish devouring entire armies of Pikmin that didn't keep close to the shallows. When the concept of Pikmin: Wide World being an open-world game was scrapped, this area later became Endless Sea, a large swamp.

As mentioned above, a small list of enemies also existed. Although completely unrelated to Pikmin: Wide World at the time, the fangame did ultimately feature a few enemies and one boss from that list, which are: the Gilded Seedbagger, Skitterflake, Honeypot Skeeterskate, Hopping Clamclamp, and Tombcarver Mawdad.

Notable changes
Many changes to the game's assets were made, and they are all listed here, grouped by similarities but in no particular order:
 * Pikmin: Wide World was originally for the, rather than the.
 * The debt was originally, but was changed over time, and is now.
 * There used to exist a defined, complicated list of treasures in Pikmin: Wide World, although it was removed in favor of just having generic, nondescript treasures. They all have names, but they are not mentioned anywhere on the Pikmin Fanon. Treasures are much like they were in Pikmin 2, although many variants of treasures were included.
 * Battle Mode was originally named Two-Player Battle, then Multiplayer Battle, before finally being named Battle Mode. As only Olimar, Shacho, and Louie were the only playable characters at the time, two players could only choose two of the three leaders to play as during a match. As the game expanded, four players could play together, each playing as a different leader.
 * Sparklium dust that was contained within enemies originally had to be extracted from their corpses, which meant that both Pokos and Sparklium would be gained from bringing a body to the Dolphin Lander. This was changed so defeated enemies yielded raw Sparklium dust outright, which could be collected using Sparklium jars.
 * Random number generation, or RNG, in Pikmin: Wide World originally affected the sizes of enemies and fruits, affecting how much they weighed and how much of something they yielded when collected. Smaller remains and fruits yielded fewer rewards than larger ones.
 * Olimar's capture by the Plasm Wraith in Ancient Metalworks was originally triggered by defeating the Greater Studded Beeb rather than the Greater Bulbot. The Greater Studded Beeb later became the boss of Robot Workshop, where it is fought alongside the Greater Bladed Beeb on its final sublevel.
 * Marie originally didn't exist. She was added so that four leaders existed in the game, and so there existed at least one playable female character.
 * Captain Hunnigan did not exist either, and he was created alongside other related game elements to expand upon Marie's backstory of how she ended up stranded on PNF-404.
 * The Hocotate ship was originally going to be the ship used by Olimar and Shacho to reach PNF-404 before the Dolphin Lander took its role. The Hocotate ship was then renamed the Freight Voyager and became a mentioned character. It would have retained its golden hull, as seen by completing the debt in Pikmin 2, and its pompous and quirky personality. Pikmin: Wide World originally explained that, while in Pikmin 3 the Freight Voyager was seen wrecked in the Quaggled Mireclops's arena, the two ships are not the same, as the Freight Voyager seen in Pikmin 3 is instead "the spare one Shacho trusted the two employees would not destroy".
 * , introduced in, is considered only partially canonical to Pikmin: Wide World. Specifically, only Olimar's Assignment is, while Olimar's Comeback is not. After the staff credits of Pikmin 3 and its rerelease, a flaming object is shown plummeting from the sky, and the Pikmin run in the direction of its impact site to investigate. This flaming object, canonically to Pikmin 3 Deluxe, is the pod Olimar and Louie use to reach PNF-404 to collect the pieces of the Hocotate ship that were scattered around the planet. Canonically to Pikmin: Wide World, the flaming object is instead the S.S. Dreamstride entering PNF-404's atmosphere.
 * Golden fruits were to appear in Pikmin: Wide World. They would have been golden variants of fruits that functioned as treasures rather than fruits. Their only planned appearance was in Bottomless Abyss, though they may have also appeared in other game modes. Golden Grenades are the only one of the golden fruits that still remain in the game, and they are used strictly during Battle Mode.
 * Data Fragments were upgrades that unlocked a new area the day after they were collected. They were micro SD cards that were spat out by the major boss of an area upon its defeat. Because Balmy Highlands was the starting area, it lacked a respective Data Fragment. Data Fragments were scrapped in favor of a particular leader reflecting on themself or their actions while they gaze out a window of the Dolphin Lander as it orbits PNF-404, eventually seeing a potential new area to land in the following day. This sequence only occurs when enough tasks are fulfilled in a certain area. In order, the Data Fragments and their purpose were:
 * Dirty Data Fragment: unlocked access to Arid Oasis.
 * Grit-Infested Data Fragment: unlocked access to Frigid Tundra.
 * Preserved Data Fragment: unlocked access to Ancient Metalworks.
 * Rusted Data Fragment: unlocked access to Mycelial Sepulcher.
 * Weathered Data Fragment: unlocked access to Endless Sea.
 * Weather is a major gameplay element in Pikmin: Wide World. It was thought for a brief moment that Arid Oasis would be affected by sandstorms instead of rain, but the idea was eventually decided against as the location was based around a beach, not an actual desert, and as such, it should have occasional rain.
 * Every boss in Pikmin: Wide World used to have a unique introduction cutscene planned for it. However, this changed to just the major bosses of areas and caves having an introduction cutscene, which was then changed again so only the game's most important bosses and secret bosses had one.
 * Purple Pikmin and White Pikmin originally didn't have their respective Onions and were stored in the Dolphin Lander's PikHold. Both Onions have to be saved from peril, and obtaining them is optional but well worth the effort.
 * Yellow Bulbmin were originally to appear in Balmy Highlands as the parasitic Pikmin counterpart of the Yellow Bulborb, but their inclusion was accidentally scrapped at an unknown point in time. Adult and juvenile Yellow Bulbmin would have behaved identically to Red Bulbmin, but the adults would have periodically slept much like Yellow Bulborbs and the juveniles would have wandered about a group they were part of.
 * Black nectar originally was not present in Pikmin: Wide World. It was originally a harmful substance that slowed leaders that walked through it and reduced the maturity stages of Pikmin that drank it. Over time, its function was changed dramatically in that it could be used like a spray that deterred most enemies and served as an effective fungicide that was instantly lethal to ordinary mushrooms and sporovids alike. An additional purpose of black nectar is that it is the only way to purify Mushroom Pikmin and revert them to their normal forms.
 * Ultra-bitter spray originally had the same function as it did in Pikmin 2, where it was used to petrify enemies. However, ultra-bitter spray in Pikmin: Wide World could be used on enemies, leaders, and even Pikmin, and originally only petrified the portion of them that was hit by the spray, rather than the entire being. Eventually, ultra-bitter spray was changed so that most enemies would refuse to swallow Pikmin or chew leaders it was used on, needing to be reapplied after being spat out, contacting water, or enough time had passed.
 * Ultra-toxic spray originally did not appear in Pikmin: Wide World either, being added after some time in the game's development.
 * Burgeoning Spiderworts were originally the only spiderworts appearing in Pikmin: Wide World, until Spiny Spiderworts and Sunset Spiderworts were introduced. They would have been able to grow any type of berry.
 * The Toasty Breadbug and Giant Toasty Breadbug were originally going to appear in Pikmin: Wide World but were eventually replaced respectively with the Buttery Breadbug and Giant Buttery Breadbug.
 * The Ancient Bulblax was originally the final boss of Pikmin: Wide World, as a callback to the final boss of Pikmin 1, a massive Emperor Bulblax. Canonically to Pikmin: Wide World, the Ancient Bulblax is that very same bulblax, and this is confirmed in Olimar's notes about the creature. Eventually, the Ancient Bulblax became a secret boss found in Balmy Highlands, its original location.
 * The Grimacing Cremblub replaced the Ancient Bulblax as the final boss of Pikmin: Wide World. It was originally located in Balmy Highlands before it was moved to Chance Pit, the final cave in the game.
 * The Titan Dweevil originally had its four weapons, which were the, , , and , and each of the four weapons had a variety of appearances. This concept was scrapped in favor of the Titan Dweevil simply being able to utilize those hazards itself.
 * The Quaggled Mireclops originally was not going to appear in Pikmin: Wide World. Its inclusion was to truly feature every enemy appearing in official Pikmin games outside of those appearing in Pikmin Adventure. The Quaggled Mireclops appears in Endless Sea as a secret boss.
 * Spiked pine cones, an obstacle appearing in Hey! Pikmin, were originally to appear in Pikmin: Wide World until they were replaced with sweetgum pods, which function in a similar manner.