[Challenge] Boot Stamping On A Knytt Face Forever
? on: Saturday, November 15 2008 @ 16:55 ?


Hello, and welcome to the official ?Boot Stamping on a Knytt face Forever? topic! It took me awhile to carry it over from the old forum, mainly because I wanted to re-write it a bit. While collection information here and there it has become somewhat sloppy, and I wanted to group it up so it would be easier to digest. Every idea from the old topic, such and Level Design (LD) 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, etc; are just as they were previously, only slightly revised to suit the new grouping, and I added a little more detail in areas that were pretty vague. Well, what are you waiting for? Behold the concept of the creation before you!

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Topic Updates

Whenever I update this post, I will add ?(New, 0/0/00)? to the title. (0/0/00 will be the date the update was made) To see what I updated about the topic, just check this section for a description of what I updated.


?  on: March 09, 2009, 00:07:43 ?   This is a major update from the old post. All sections have been updated,
                                                         actually, considered all sections have been added.

?  on: March 09, 2009, 00:07:43 ?   Farik's involvement in beta testing was confirmed, and now all beta tester seats
                                                         have been filled.

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BSoaKFF's Level Design

There are several things that makes ?Boot Stamping on a Knytt Face Forever? different from most other levels. Here are a few details to its design you will see throughout the level.
   

1. A complete library of tilesets, none of which come with the game, nor found on the forum at all. I decided to break away from default tilesets completely, and as of last year, made the decision to have absolutely all brand new tilesets.

2. This level will use all 256 tileset slots, all 256 gradient slots, all 255 Custom Object slots, all 256 music track slots, and all 256 ambiance track slots. BSoaKFF will quite literally be so custom that I can?t actually add anything new unless I use the source files and create my own Knytt Stories.

3. Every music and ambiance found in the game will be fully custom. The .bin file itself will include a music library much smaller then intended. This is so the file size isn?t incredibly large, and because not everyone has a high speed connection. A music/ambiance expansion pack will be included as a .zip in the topic post. Simply download that file, delete the music/ambiance file found in BsoaKFF?s world file, and replace them with the new ones. Those with slower bandwidth will still be able to enjoy an amazing level, and ones that can stand to download bigger files will have the opportunity to experience this level as I truly intended it to be experienced.

4. Aside from the game only having a very loose storyline with a level big enough that the main storyline is barely noticeable, and not actually necessary to have fun and enjoy the game, there will be multiple side quests, some of which are only capable once. So which side quests you choose depends on how the end of the game turns out and what powers you get.

5. Something I thought was intriguing and you might want to hear is, besides being full of side quests, there are...how would I say... Side, side quests with no actual point, no progression in the game, solely existing for having fun.

6. This game will involve a lot of cutscenes and shiftscenes(by shift scenes I mean where you talk to someone more than once by pressing down, using sticky, no jump, sign, and shift objects) for further progression. Think of it like this, games you play nowadays have two types of cutscenes. Ones that reveal something, moves you on to the next town, gives you a sneak peek of a boss you must fight later, etc. Theses cutscenes always have voiceovers, different camera angles than normal, stuff like that. Within these cutscenes, words will be set up two different ways. A conversation between two people with be done with the text box that signs make, and any soliloquies and narrations will have on-screen text. Then there are scenes where you must stop and talk to people as they have a lot of information to give to you, these cutscenes normally being text based and don't really changed the camera perspective too much. Also, there will be some cutscenes with a purpose, but some are just meant to make you smile, enjoy the detail, etc. You'll see what I mean later.


7. Due to the new ability to make Custom Objects, I have decided that for the most important cutscenes, I might actually make a full animated 240x600 screen on layer 7, and it will use the same concept as the shift scene. You will be stuck and can?t move other then pressing down. Instead of seeing text though, you will see a fully animated cutscene. Of course these can be watched, or skipped. They will be hard to make though so in any case I probably won?t have a ton of them. These are still a possibly, but not a definite.    

8. Smaller towns mostly won?t have this because they aren?t really required, but in the cities, I plan to make them 3D in a sort. By this I mean you can literally map out the city by the street names and you could watch all the way around a building on all sides if you really wanted to.

9. The protagonist of this story is named Ariel.

10. The level will have a vast style of location, everything from man-made mind blowers to natural wonders. Man mad wise, there will be several small villages, several towns, and several big cities. The villages will have a more outdoorsy feeling, seeming integrated with nature.The towns will seem more commercial, more integrated with natural stuff. The cities will seem more commercial, even more so compared to towns. With huge buildings, etc. Besides skyscrapers and plazas, I will make monuments, dams, sewers, etc. Nature wise, their will be forests, deserts, plains, marshes, swamps, Volcanos, caverns, ocean floors, even space? Yes, I?m touching all corners of human existence.

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Level Features

Level Features are concepts I am incorporating into the game that aren?t really part of the game, but seem to be integrated with the system. Like additional items and things you normally won?t see as part of the Knytt Stories.

1. When you past someone, you can have a conversation with them, but when you meet them again, they will say something else, give different tidbits of info, allow for different missions, etc.

2. Every house found in the game can be entered. No exceptions. Will they be open at all times? Probably not. Most nobody is home all day long.
         
3. There will be no powerup objects found throughout the game. To get powerups you must complete certain tasks and be rewarded by someone to gain the power. For instance, after saving a bodybuilder's child from a well, he gives you permission to use his exercise room. After running on the treadmill, burning some calories on the bike, and giving you legs a workout on the weight bench, you gain the ability to jump higher.
      
4. Water depth is something that should be taken into consideration. People often use the waterfall top for ankle deep water, so I was thinking. Considering we know our protagonist can walk in ankle deep water, why can?t see walk in waist deep water? Well with the use of Custom Objects, any water that doesn?t go above Ariel?s head will not kill her. So waist deep water is just as traversalable and ground, though you will move slower while in the water.   

5. For long distance communication, I plan to use cellphones. I will be creating a tileset for a giant cell tower which can be found in random locations, the first being outside of your town. Within the designated area you will be able to access your phone and make phone calls to people who give you the number.I will use cutscenes for the dialogue between the person you need to call, and after the cutscene it will take you to the next duplicate screen with the new mission. Of course you can call other people, but those cutscenes will just loop you back to a duplicate of the contacts list with the person you called blacked out. That would use complicated shift work though (Nothing more than what I'm already doing), but I might just make it so all the other numbers except the ones you need to call are blacked out.

6. I have also considered making an inventory for Ariel. I plan to have an traveler's pack/inventory section so you can store the items you pick up along your travel (the ones that aren't powerups). There will be places that you can access your inventory, though I haven't thought much into that one. The interface will look like a giant backpack in which Juni can climb around in. There will be a lot of gradient work in that situation though.


Yes, this level will be massive, and the filesize will probably be HUGE (definitely a mediafire upload) , but I hope it to be one of the most fun, detailed, enjoyable, replayable levels on the Knytt Stories forum.

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Storyline Details

This section if for details and info on the storyline of the game, and anything related to the storyline.

"One morning Ariel wakes up to the sound of her mother's voice calling her. She got up from bed and went downstairs. Upon reaching the living room her mother asks her to run an errand for her while she takes a trip to the grocery store. She asks that Ariel travel across town to the post office and send a letter to her mother, which used to live in Ferdalgo, but now lives in Erdalgo, the sister town. She then tells Ariel she will have a surprise waiting for her when she gets back. After hugging her mom, who was walking out the door, she goes upstairs and gets dressed. Stepping outside to a warm, summer morning, Ariel looks around to hear birds chirping, see small creatures enjoying the sun, and the river running at a steady pace as always. She then starts walking.  As she travels across the town there is the occasional speak of some strange power that has taken over a small village, but most think its just a hoax to get more visitors. Continuing her short journey, she meets some strange new people from far outside her village, but are these newcomers dangerous, or friendly?"      

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Level Updates

This section is directly for updating the progress of the level before it?s release. I will document what is being added to it, how far it is along, and other information related to it?s progress.
   
(Due to a decision to rework certain parts of the level, I have labeled most previous info as n/a until I am finished and settled on what with be what.)

I will update by the filesize.

Updated* As of Mar.8, 2009 6:33 P.m
n/a screens: n/a MBs

Estimated Release Date: n/a (If the release date were as I had posted previously, The level would be out in 8 days )

Tilesets made: 10/256
Tilesets in use at the moment: 8/10
Music chosen: 4/256
Music in use:4/4
Ambiances chosen: n/a
Ambiances in use: n/a
# of cutscenes: n/a
Icon chosen: n/a
Info screen chosen: n/a

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Future Updates
   
This section is for information for additions for BsoaKFF?s updates after it?s initial release.

I would like to add that I plan two major level updates (not fixed bugs) that expand the game much... much more after its initial release.

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Beta Tester Info

I have selected, some volunteered, some handpicked, a group of beta testers for BSoaKFF.
It will be a private beta, and only those on the list below will see the level before it?s final release. Considering the size of the level, Beta testers are needed because mistakes will happen.   

1. shawnachu
2. Strange Darkness
3. Yonowaaru
4. EarthBound015
5. RunMan
6. bokabeed
7. dj gopher
8. emeraldfire7
9. B-Man
10. Farik

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Screenshots

As of now, I have removed all previous screenshots due to the complete reworking of the level.
Many things about the screenshots haven?t been accurate for a while. Until I am finished with the reworking of the level then I will not release any new screenshots.