Spherical Atlas

The Spherical Atlas 　is a treasure in Pikmin 2. It is a northern hemisphere of a ; this being a representation of Earth suggests that PNF-404 is Earth. This heavy treasure is found on the last sublevel (2) of the Emergence Cave in the Valley of Repose. It requires at least one Purple Pikmin on it to lift it, as it weighs 101 units, more than 100, the maximum weight one hundred weaker Pikmin can carry. This is also the first cave Purple Pikmin are found in, on the same sublevel as the treasure. Before carrying the treasure, it is recommended to defeat the Snow Bulborbs nearby.

When this treasure has been retrieved, the Sphere Chart, part of the Exploration Kit, is unlocked, granting access to the Awakening Wood. This is made possible through the coordinates it provides the Hocotate ship. The day automatically ends as well. The Geographic Projection is also a globe half, this time a southern hemisphere; and it too unlocks a new area, the Perplexing Pool.

Model and texture
Every region of the game rotates the model for this treasure, such that the model's "front" shows the part of the world that matches the region. In-game, the "front" side is the side that faces the camera when:
 * The player lands on the second sublevel of the Emergence Cave and looks at the treasure,
 * The treasure's discovery cutscene plays,
 * The treasure's naming cutscene plays,
 * The player opens its file in the Treasure Hoard.

This means that, for instance, a player playing the Japanese version of Pikmin 2 can open the Treasure Hoard and have the camera show the globe's Japan straight away.



The Geographic Projection does something similar, but not quite the same. Bizarrely, both parts of the globe are missing the North Pole and the South Pole. The Treasure Hoard icon for this treasure is the same in all versions, and because of its low resolution, it is hard to tell which region is being shown. The highlight texture for this treasure's model is called, and is the same highlight texture used for the Careening Dirigibug. This is also true for the Geographic Projection's model.

The globe depicts the world prior to the dissolution of the Soviet Union on 25. Although central Europe is hardly recognizable, the Baltic and central Asian states are clearly part of what is now the Russian Federation. An odd design choice, considering the game did not start development until more than ten years later, yet the globe was not textured to show signs of aging as would be expected.

Trivia

 * In the North American version of the New Play Control! game, with the language set to French, the upgrade this treasure gives is called "Carte Sphérique" (Spherical Map) in the Ship's dialogs and "Système Solaire" (Solar System) in the pause menu. Since another upgrade is also called "Système Solaire" (the Solar System), this is likely a mistake.