We've been talking about it for some time now, and now we start C)p
What this is:
A round robin is basically a story that is started by one person, and then sent to another person to add more to the story. Here we apply the same concept to a Knytt Stories level.
Rules:
- We encourage you to use Smashy's tundra tileset
- You must add a minimum of 2 screens. No maximum.
- You can participate as many times as you want
- You have 7 days to deliver your contribution, or else you will be skipped.
- You have 3 days to let us know that you've got the level and are working on it, or else you will be skipped.
- Each new contributer starts on monday, and hence it should be in by Sunday.
- Custom gradients/objects/music/ambiance voluntary.
Participants:
1. Vegetal Gibber [done]
2. Bulbapuck [done]
3. Pick Yer Poison [done]
4. Headgrinder [done]
5. Razzorman [done]
6. Evil [done]
7. Firecat [done]
8. AClockworkLemon [done]
9. BioShock [done]
10. StraightFlame [done]
11. PeppyHare4000 [done]
12. Ultigonio [done]
13. Green.cookie [done]
Edit: 23 October:
We're working on finishing the level now. Writing the main plot and finishing the unfinished sections. This will be done in a similar fashion to what we've been doing now, but you can add yourself to this list even if you've contributed to the level in the past.
Current list
1. Headgrinder [done]
2. Firecat [done]
3. Sergiocornaga [done]
4. StraightFlame [done]
5. AClockworkLemon
6. Bulbapuck
7. Pick Yer Poison
8. Vinterrun
.
.
.
The level so far:
http://www.mediafire.com/?bhrh6s264549gt1
Flags used:
Flag0:
It is used to record whether or not the player has obtained the lab key card
It is used to record whether or not the player has obtained the second lab key card
Indicates whether or not the character knows what she needs keys for (gone to the room with the keyholes).
Indicates whether or not the character has spoken to the scientist about the whereabouts of the keys.
If you want to participate, post in this thread and I'll add you to the list.
@Headgrinder: I based my example on Hmpf's example (See spoiler.) It bothers me that there's no snow on the brown tiles when the foreground and the distant background are solid snow. I guess it would be best not to layer the brown and white together like that.
(http://nifflas.lpchip.nl/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=2809.0;attach=3369;image)
@Bulbapuck: Nice start. It'd be nice if there were save points before voids. Better yet a few tiles to walk on, so I could turn around and go back when I see the void.
Everyone, it needs a name. I propose Tundra Trek. I agree with Razzorman on the cutscene topic. The focus should be environment. It should start with a non-committal opening sequence as in A Walk at Night. After that, leave endings to those who are inspired. As for Evil's scenario, I think objectives stray from the environmental classification. Complexities like changing environments (i.e. the cave collapsing) should be avoided because of the community aspect. Simple is better.
The link doesn't work for me, would you mind uploading a mirror?
Edit: Works now, odd.. *downloading*
The blue parts are pipes. There are small horizontal bars beneath for support. I don't know which you are referring to. I tried all sorts of supports. There's so much detail already that adding substantial supports started mucking it up. That's why the pipes ended up blue too. Black pipes made a mess of things. I'll give it another go later when I can approach with a fresh look.
@Bulbapuck: I was sad too when I saw Nifflas' cabin on the first screen of the game knowing that I planned to make a cabin myself. What also makes me sad is that some of the ideas in these sets, I developed for the big level I'm working on. Now, parts of my level will be less unique. :( Honestly the first time I saw a screen shot of Smashy's Tundra in use, I thought my snow scape set had somehow been leaked.
(http://nifflas.lpchip.nl/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=2876.0;attach=4309;image)
As it is, it dosn't matter about SF, as i'm working on the lab. so far, i have added the personal quarters and am currently working on the reactor. I have used flags to add a bit of time into the area (you have to go and get a keycard to continue). For this reason, its probably not a good idea to play around with flags 0 and 1, with the exception that you can re-use flag 0 in an area you MUST have unlocked the reactor to get to (currently flag 0 means you have the keycard, flag 1 means you have unlocked the door. when flag 1 is activated, flag 0 is de-activated)
Quick question, is the reactor the blue ring or the contraption with green tubes?
I've finished my bit C)p
What I've added:
well, it doesn't look like much, but it is. I have completed the lab's personal quarters, and added a bit onto the reactor area. as i didn't understand the storyline/whatever, i have not made the reactor itself yet.
The area i have made also includes an animated cut-scene.
D/L link: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4410179/Nifforum%20-%20Something%20with%20snow.knytt.bin (http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4410179/Nifforum%20-%20Something%20with%20snow.knytt.bin)
Please note: DONT USE FLAG 0! It is used to
record whether or not the player has obtained the lab key card
the secret lab that requires the card key (yes, i started a second area other than my official one)
Blarg, I totally left this unfinished. A lot of thing ended up getting in the way of me finishing this (had to leave the house a lot more than I thought I would this weekend, and I had tons of homework), so... I got stuff done, just not nearly as much as I'd hoped.
Also, to over-complicate things even more:
Indicates whether or not the character knows what she needs keys for (gone to the room with the keyholes).
Indicates whether or not the character has spoken to the scientist about the whereabouts of the keys.
Edit: Whoops, forgot link. Fixify'd it.
way long ; did read
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWESOME! That plot is great, much more epic than the current 'Juni gets herself some firewood' plot, and... um... did i mention great? Couldn't have made up something better myself.
Could we change to the 'eternal winter' plot, plz?
But wait,
wasn't it a tundra? Isn't a tundra supposed to be cold?
That reminds me, there are several trees in the village thingy. Trees aren't supposed to grow in a tundra.
Also, where it said 'heroine', it made me think 'C21H23NO5'.
Edit by Firecat talking about egomassive's list:
- Add missing labs. (They can be small outposts. Possibly connected by teleport.)
I was thinking of adding a small lab at the end of the HoI which was researching the time traveling tech on it. (For that i would have to change SF's time machine to look more... aciently)
- Remove waterfalls from trees. (That whole screen needs replacing imo.)
I can use the screen from my unofficial update i posted earlier
Edit: Also, how about putting a "skip" shift in the broken reactor?
Sorry, you'll have to skip me ... :/
JK!
Nah, i'll start work on when i get home today.
Edit:
ARGH FAGGOT! LIFE HATES ME! My computer had a hissyfit, and i've had to reinstall windows on a formatted drive. Next contender!
MEGA POST!!!!
Phew! :nuts: :crazy: :nuts: This was about 3 hours worth of work, so I hope this helps. Mr. Bulbapuck! Would you care to include some of this information in the first page of this thread so it is easily referenced? I was thinking plot (in spoilers) at the very least, though it would be nice to have quick reference to the todo lists as well.
So, I've gone through the WHOLE thread and have written a loose summery based off of almost all the plot suggestion we've had thus far. I've also traced all the flags and found a problem with them. The todo list is also updated. 8D So here we go:
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Plot:
Juni, by some unknown and probably inexplicable happenstance, finds herself in a tundra, one which perhaps should not even be as it is in a tropical zone. Perhaps she has heard about this region and/or its religion and came to investigate. Perhaps a friend lives here which she has come to visit. Her reason for coming is undecided, so feel free to decide on one or make one up.
She finds an abandoned cabin with no wood and begins to look for some. As she looks, she begins encountering labs, and information about an ancient religion centered around two deities which control the four seasons.
These two gods have always been in balance in this region through the religious practices of the indigenous people. (note: should the village be the decedents of these people? If so, lets use ego's interiors to do some backstory of the religion.) However, at some point in time, the people began abusing their "powers" over the gods, and they inadvertently gave the winter god full power over the region.
*** It should be noted that at this point, it is not fully implicit that there are actual "gods" or if there are only seemingly magical yet natural forces at work. However, there is a hint that there might be actual gods in lab 3. For now, however, I'll just refer to these powers as the two gods. It may in fact be more interesting if whether there are gods here or not is never actually revealed explicitly.
The Labs: At some point, a group of scientists have come to this region to investigate the strange weather patterns of this area. They discover the artifacts of the religion and find that they all have unique properties which they begin to experiment with. Among these are updrafts, portals of time and space, an influx of life giving energy, and a black portal that consumes life energy. These energies are discovered to be like positive and negative polls which try to stay in balance, but the method of bringing these energies into our world can be regulated, creating more life and warmth, or less. An experiment with the negative force causes the experience in lab 3 and several other labs to be shut down. The labs are abandoned except for one lone scientist who is determined to solve the riddle of the gods and their forces: the ironically named Dr. Wood.
SOOOOoooooo, this is where we are so far.
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Endings:
We need to decide on an ending or endings, and how best to achieve them. Greencookie suggested these 3 endings and I've edited them to what I think would fit the story thus far best:
Bad ending: Juni simply finds firewood somewhere and returns to her cabin. The end, eternal winter rules.
* Needs a location for the wood, and an inside to her cabin.
* May need more of a reason, like she discovers her friend and leave with him/her, or she simply decides she's had enough of cold.
Balanced ending: Juni is able to reestablish a balance between the Summer and Winter gods and the region returns to its former cycle before the ancient people messed up the balance.
* Needs a location for the Summer goddess' power to be reestablished, perhaps by bringing to it an invention of Dr. Woods, or an ancient object.
Summer rules/end of odd weather for a tropical region: Juni is able to not only reestablish the Summer goddess (balanced ending) but goes on to lock the Winter god away from this region, returning it to a tropical region.
* Needs everything for the balanced ending.
* Needs a location for locking the winter god away. I might suggest Juni must go into the black tunnel with an object that protects her and doubles as the lock. The black tunnel will probably be an "it wait's below" like area.
SOOOOooooo, how much work do we want to keep putting into this? What is the interest level? Basically, if someone is willing to take on an ending or part of an ending, I think we should keep going until they are all done. But if we get to a point where no one want to contribute, than let's at least do just the balanced ending.
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Additional issues:
* Decide on an opening sequence. I feel we can leave this in the hands of any one person who wants to make the opening cut scene.
* A scene with Dr. Wood, furthering the plot, and perhaps receiving an object that helps disable the winter.
* Fix messages like, "I don't have a sound card." and, "I ran out of time." Also, fix bad spelling and grammar.
* A place where the underwater section exits (not into the sky)
* Add lab 1... maybe.
* Voids/SGEs
* Redevelop the room(s) at the end of the lab 3 radiation area to be person free and more key to the plot.
* Flag3 is broken. Do we want to fix this with something in lab 2 or 3, or just remove the whole flag 2 and 3 issue?
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Further plot and level suggestions:
* I'd like to see the insides of the village to the right of Juni's cabin and have that area tied into the plot. I like the idea of these being the descendants of the ancient culture. Perhaps the reason it doesn't snow in the village is someone there has an object we will need to get the balanced and tropic endings. Maybe we need to get their trust by doing something like investigating the labs, the cave, or something from Dr. Wood.
* I feel kind of bad for the way I've handled streightflames and his area. I think I tried to sweep it under the rug because I couldn't figure out how it could fit. Then someone said "perhaps it doesn't need to." Right. So, any suggestion on this? If not, I'm done trying to manipulate this area.
* The summer goddess area could be a cave (perhaps full of lush life, or maybe dead trees and such) with an alter/statue/thing that is somehow broken or blocked causing the influence of the summer to be blocked.
* The under water section MIGHT be an interesting place for the summer goddesses cave, as in you come up out of water and into the cave. Or, perhaps more fitting, maybe a flooded lab 1 is down here, though that might need some plot tie in. Maybe Dr. Wood needs something from there and can't swim! That would fit with the mechanical background. Either way, the "no climbs" would need to be removed so you can get back out of the original entrance, or else there needs to be a second exit from the water area. Would Evil like to be involved in finishing this area??? It is his after all.
* The "failed experiments" area in lab 4 might be a good place for the Black Tunnel. Either that, or Dr. Woods helps you unlock the Lab 3 lockdown. Hmm...
* Some thoughts on the conversation with Dr. Wood: "I don't believe it! You've been able to get all the cards so far? I soooo need your help!" He's trying to figure out how to end the eternal winter, and asks your help. There perhaps needs to be 2 visits to him, one for the compromise ending, and one for the tropical ending. Or perhaps it is the indigenous people who want the tropical ending because it means an end of the whole sources of power thing, something Dr. Wood would probably not want.
Soooooooo... lots of stuff to do still.
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Last of all, I was as confused as heck about the flag business and how to get into the ice cave. I'm pretty sure the reason is that I broke flag3. :oops: At any rate, since I took the time to put together a walkthrough, here it is too:
Lab 3, obtain Level 1 (flag0) key card in Private Quarters area
Lab 3, Reactor area to lean what you need keys for (flag2)
*** Apparently I broke flag3 to get to the ice cave when I rebuilt Lab3, so this needs to be fixed, as mentioned above.
Lab 3 with Level 1 (flag0) key card, red, blue and purple keys to get Level 2 (flag1) lab card.
Lab 4 to Dr. Wood... incomplete
I'd like to ALSO point out that this topic is 7 months old. I like that we have been dedicated enough to keep this going for that long.
Bthea bthea bthea that's all folks!