I have no idea how many people still play Knytt Stories, but my memories of it, both playing Nifflas' stories, and creating my own one, were extremely positive.

A long time ago I posted screenshots, information and even a hand-drawn map about a huge level-in-progress called Non Serviam. Sadly, the game died in development hell, and I don't really know if I'll ever finish it. The truth is, it started out as a warmup for learning the editor, and the entire thing was just added to, slowly over time, in a stream-of-consciousness way, with no real goal apart from the idea that the player would be escaping from a prison and finding a way to free her fellow inmates by going on quests.

The game got larger and more complicated. While I'm confident I put a lot of creativity into it, from a design standpoint it is somewhat confusing, featuring a lot of open exploration, side areas, mini challenges, and extra features such as switches which changed parts of the world permanently, sections where you lose powers and have to find them again in new areas, and a very complicated layout which both the lore and layout just got so big that I couldn't handle it. Some of the platforming is also quite difficult in places (I tried to balance free exploration with challenge, and at least provide dead ends with something nice to look at or experience).

Then my life came apart somewhat, the relationship I was in went sour, I had personal troubles to work through, and the entire thing fell to the wayside. I was creating animated objects based on some of the tilesets I had permission to use, which I later found out was prohobited, which completely confounded me, and that was really the nail in the coffin. Add to that the fact that the art style was a mishmash of other people's work mashed together with my own edits, transitions and botches to get each room to flow into the next (hoping to one day be able to map out the whole thing as a continuous world).

So, what I'm thinking of doing now is just releasing what I have, flaws and lack of completeness included, and then moving on. It's totally unfinished, and I'll have to reset some stuff I put in for development purposes... so playing it might be tricky, but there are probably hours of gameplay in there which, while they might have problems, unfinished branches, poor design choices, and no conclusion to work towards, I did put a stupid amount of time into (largely because back then I spent a lot of time shut away). I think it would be a shame to let that go to waste.

All in all, it was too ambitious, and I was more interested in the escapism of creating a world, than I was actually finishing anything. I think it shows a lot about who I was then, that I was scared of finity, of wrapping it all up and coming to an end. I wanted to just create, create, create and then one day it would magically be finished. Combined with the memories it crystallized around and the unbearable size of the damn project, it just became too much to bare.

I'm also thinking of creating a new level from scratch, or maybe even finishing Non Serviam, depending on how I and others feel about it. If I were to start a new project, I would do my own art and sound/music, and I would set myself some kind of sensible size limit. If there's anything to be taken from all of this, it's never be afraid to start thinking about finishing your project even from the very beginning

This tileset was the third one I've ever made, and also the latest. It's a sewer tileset, and in a style that isn't very Knytt-like, but meshes well with the other sets I made, which include Beatific Halls (a series of opulent galleries with coloured tapestries and giant golden balls and chains everywhere), a temple, and a basic ice world.

I hereby donate these tiles (all posted in this thread) to the community to be used in any way seen fit, including but not limited to changing individual pixels, colour/tone changing, and cutting upping (to make CO's etc). All I ask is that I'm credited for the work somewhere within your project.

I only have this one on my memory stick, more to follow

Also, feel free to constructively critique! These were made a fair time ago as you can see, but soon, I'll be making tilesets for my next project, and I want to do my own spin on the Knytt style. So tips etc are very welcome!

This may sound silly, but since I invented names for the weird symbols under the buttons, you know, the smiley face and angular lines you see, I've never had to write a passcode down, unless it was longer than 6 or 7 entries.

Somehow, having a name for each makes it easier to concentrate on what the code is, and hold it in your mind. It's also fun to try and remember whilst playing a section of the level. Don't ask me why ^_^

I will go through the signs, as seen in bank 15 of the level editor, starting with object 13.

13 - "S" - I call this S because it's like a graffiti-fied letter S.

14 - "Golf" - This made me think of a ball on a tee (the right side), with the curved line sweeping into it representing the swing of the club

15 - "Rasher" or "Bacon" - Press button... Recieve bacon... Nuff said.

16 - "Battery" It's a square box, with a broken circuit, and a plus sign. I also see the rightmost tip as a minus sign. Thus, this is without question a battery.

17 - "Zigzag" Simply because nothing more suitable sprang to mind.

18 - "Right Atari" It looks like the right side of an atari sign (albeit a flipped one)

19 - "Smiley" Obviously...

20 - "Square Smiley" or "Corner Smiley", it's clearly a face, but with the mouth pointing to the top left corner, and it has a unibrow, or something.. (!?)

21 - "Left Atari" Same reasoning as object 18, only the other side of the logo.

Since using these I haven't had to write any codes down, though they might only work for me, because they were my first impressions. Try using your own if these fail you.

Hey, would it be possible to make a CO which animates the exact same way as the lasers do, so we can have our own laser graphics? Obviously you'd put the CO's over the preset laser objects. I'm yearning for red lasers myself..

Also, in other news, I could really use some custom water graphics, one tile high solid blue water which rises and falls with a tide... This is for my beach area to match the surf sound FX I have there. I may even try and synch the sound roughly to the tide animation loop, which would be pretty neat.

Hi, I'm Sendy, a long while ago I posted some screenshots and a bit of blurb for my KS level "Non Serviam", a story of enslavement, escape, and conveniently placed powerups spanning a ridiculously vast playing area with fully polished screen design, sound effects, custom puzzles and unique little tricks.

This could be considered a cautionary tale; the game (and it is really more of a game than a level) became so vast, and so logistically complex, that after working solidly on it for several months, I just couldn't bring myself to look at it.

I don't know if it's been 2 years now, but I'm feeling like I MAY be able to finish this. Most of the map is done, and recently, I added sound FX to about half of the map, which was a huge undertaking as I had left the ambience settings till later.

I MAY need help getting this playtested and off the ground. Cutscenes and loose ends need tying up. Not impossible by a long shot, but it will take a fair bit of work. I have no inclination to add music; I am a musician, but I simply don't posess the psychic energy to go on to soundtrack this project after the insane amount of time I already have put in. Which really is ridiculous by the way. 

So anyway... I doubt anyone here really remembers me or my game, but a few people seemed very interested a while ago, when I had a false start in trying to get back into this. Part of me just wants to get on and make a new Story, something smaller and more controlled than this sprawling nightmare/dreamscape! Screenshots to be added later if there's interest.