Nifflas' Support Forum

Released Games => Knytt Underground => Pre-release topics => Topic started by: Nifflas on December 18, 2010, 18:17:49

Title: Quest contribution!
Post by: Nifflas on December 18, 2010, 18:17:49

Basically, Knyttwaffle will most likely have a quest system, kind of like in some RPG's but on a much smaller scale. There will probably be a main quest, and then some smaller sidequests that unlocks new areas. I'm designing the game like I designed Knytt, I'm designing the entire world before I decide what the player should do in it. This means there's plenty of time to come up with quests for the game. They should be really, really simple. NPC's are limited to single locations like in Knytt Stories (well, they are be able to instant-travel to another area, as long as if it happens while the player isn't watching). The quests shouldn't have different outcomes either. They can be about locating items, delievering items or just messages, figuring out what happened to something or someone, racing to another location as fast as possible, and similar simple things.

Do you have any ideas for quests?

Legal stuff: I may use material submitted in this thread in my games. If I use it, I will credit you and give you a free copy of the game, but I will not offer any other compensation!

Title: Re: Quest contribution!
Post by: Widget on December 18, 2010, 20:15:56

I'm not much good at these sort of ideas but the first thing that came to mind was a sort of medium-/long-term quest involving either a single character or multiple linked characters (i.e. same family or species or similar). Possibly a moderately frequent string of letter deliveries similar to the moogles in Final Fantasy IX, so each would be in an out-of-the-way place or even slightly hidden and want a letter delivered to a specific character that described the area they're in or the journey they took to get there.

I'm not sure if you've got a mechanism that would suit for displaying letters in that way, though I suppose they could possibly show in standard speech/text boxes when they're handed to you.

Another thought was perhaps having a collector or inventor who would want a whole series of objects or parts from far-flung corners of the game world, one after another. Alternatively a similar sort of character who would be interested in a list or map you find that leads to him/her sending you off on a treasure hunt in their place.

Title: Re: Quest contribution!
Post by: LPChip on December 18, 2010, 20:31:32

Since the game comes with certain powerups, I would make one or two of these powerups as a quest. Basically, you face a problem and you are being told how to beat it without actually having the powerup. A few NPC's will tell you about this, and after you have talked to 2 or 3 NPC's, the next will give you a location of where to go, which at that point will become accessible (dunno if thats possible). I suppose that if one of the NPC's would give (read:learn) you how to climb or another powerup, and you are being sent to a quest to find another powerup it would greatly benefit the story I think.

Another quest could be a sidequest.

Basically when you head into a certain area where NPC's are, and you talk to them, you could create a storyline. For example you see an excavation and the NPC's around it talk about the discoveries that they have done there. You could use this to tell a bit of story about say... previous games. :)

Title: Re: Quest contribution!
Post by: Widget on December 18, 2010, 20:51:14

Quote from: LPChip on December 18, 2010, 20:31:32

Since the game comes with certain powerups, I would make one or two of these powerups as a quest. Basically, you face a problem and you are being told how to beat it without actually having the powerup. A few NPC's will tell you about this, and after you have talked to 2 or 3 NPC's, the next will give you a location of where to go, which at that point will become accessible (dunno if thats possible). I suppose that if one of the NPC's would give (read:learn) you how to climb or another powerup, and you are being sent to a quest to find another powerup it would greatly benefit the story I think.

That's a really good idea though instead of having it be a case of talking to the NPCs in a specified order it could possibly be an old story or a rumour that a number of the NPCs have fragmented parts of. That way it could be a little less linear and if a player can't find one of the clues they might be able to figure out the missing piece of information by exploring or trial-and-error.

EDIT: On the topic of which, an inventor or tinkerer type of character could possibly end up building (with enough parts fetched) a scene object that would open access to a new area, whether by opening a pasage (huge drill or hammer maybe?) or allowing the player to climb past an outcropping or onto a very high platform, either by simply being tall and climbable or by throwing or bouncing the player upward (a catapult the ball would fit into?). Probably very hard to find or create the objects for though.

I'd best try to occupy myself for a while so I stop spamming half-formed ideas up here  :P

Title: Re: Quest contribution!
Post by: Nifflas on December 18, 2010, 22:17:38

It's actually mainly the quest stories I need ideas for more than from a game mechanic perspective, like who the NPC's are, what their stories are, and what they need the player to do.

Spoiler: Some information about the plot (click to show/hide)

I'll try to connect to the previous games as much as I can, the game takes place around the same time as Saira, which takes place around a millenia after Within a Deep Forest, which means 500 years after the war that WaDF mentions in the intro. Some WaDF locations will exist in this new game too, as the game takes place very closely to the original WaDF. As you know, in Saira, people went to space and started to live on Mars and and then more planets, but this game tells the story about the non-human characters who couldn't go there.

Title: Re: Quest contribution!
Post by: Alaquiddin on December 18, 2010, 22:32:55

How about this old unidentified man sitting in a cottage on a tall mountain, he would tell you of his long lost brother who one day wrote a letter to him. But the old man's legs were old and stiff, so he could never reach his brother to give the reply back. He then states that he requires you to deliver a letter to his older brother on the other side of the planet. Upon getting to the other mountain, in the other man's cottage, he reads the letter and says that it would be rude to not write back.

You then have to deliver that letter back to the original old man, and then HE wants to write back. After getting the last letter there, The older old man wants you to bring his brother to his cottage and while you're "Bringing" him to his older brother, he acts as a power up that makes your character a little slower, heavier and he's riding on the ball's back.

After traveling all the way across the world, when you bring him to his brother, he gets off the ball and goes to the cottage and they sit down on a log together. And as a reward for your hard work, the oldest man gives you a quarter, which you can use to buy a knytt power-up inside of a vending machine in some place wherever you feel the need of it to be put.

Title: Re: Quest contribution!
Post by: Widget on December 18, 2010, 22:42:26

Quite tricky without an idea of density of population, cultural and racial traits, aptitude for tools or advancement of technology (if any). Also I'm useless at naming things.

Only things that spring to mind immediately are the obvious (i.e. highly derivative) things, like a young knytt at the top of a well/cliff down which he's dropped his toy UFO.

I'll keep this in mind while I'm replaying games, reading, watching films etc.

Title: Re: Quest contribution!
Post by: J on December 18, 2010, 23:04:46

And some simpler ones with a quirk. "Deliver this egg!" C)p

Title: Re: Quest contribution!
Post by: Nifflas on December 19, 2010, 01:22:49

Quote

Only things that spring to mind immediately are the obvious (i.e. highly derivative) things, like a young knytt at the top of a well/cliff down which he's dropped his toy UFO.

Actually, that one is great! It's simple and work well as a mini quest. I might use it!

Title: Re: Quest contribution!
Post by: StraightFlame on December 19, 2010, 11:41:43

At the beginning of Second Act (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ThreeActStructure), there could be a guy who keeps saying random stuff about some ancient awesome legendary relic orb thing that is shattered into 3 to 8 crystal shards. Its purpose is unknown, but certainly something that will save the world. Each shard is hidden in an area you've seen before, and guarded by an awesome monster that's quite a challenge to beat. You give all of those to the guy, he fixes the ancient awesome legendary relic orb thing and says something about feng shui or something else that's completely anticlimatic, and he grants you access to the next area.

Spoiler: May be part of Knyttwadf's plot or ending, however chances are pretty low it'll be. (click to show/hide)

The ancient awesome legendary relic orb thing may turn out to be Chekhov's Gun (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ptitlexn9xzsjd5fif), and the guy who repaired it gives it to you near the end of the game, after which you'll use it to beat the final boss. It might be the final ball material you won't notice exists until you get it.

[mod]removed tiny text[/mod]

Title: Re: Quest contribution!
Post by: Widget on December 19, 2010, 12:28:32

Quote from: Nifflas on December 19, 2010, 01:22:49

Actually, that one is great! It's simple and work well as a mini quest. I might use it!

Oh! I thought it was inordinately cheeky to suggest references to your other games  :P
I guess, in that case, the other idea in a similar vein was a tiger that loves eating gumballs. It's a less elegant concept but I thought he might be found chewing away initially and comment that he really doesn't like the red ones and wishes he had a different flavour. My first thought was that a number of other gumballs (blue, pink, green etc.) could be hidden around the world, though it might be possible to extend the idea by having to collect a further item for each one that you could trade to a child in return for the one they own.

Title: Re: Quest contribution!
Post by: DoomGoon on December 19, 2010, 14:34:27

How about the idea that there's another knytt/wadf causing trouble in a town or with npcs, with the idea being it's a throwback at the beginning, due to something like a time distortion or imposter, where you had to complete another task.  Such as picking flowers or moving stuff around on the 1st quest, but later on you're tasked with fixing this problem because it keeps happening to the townspeople over and over again.

Title: Re: Quest contribution!
Post by: Nifflas on December 19, 2010, 16:43:09

Haha, I like that too. I just need to know an explanation that's logical enough so the player will understand what happened and why.

Title: Re: Quest contribution!
Post by: LPChip on December 19, 2010, 16:55:56

Another form of quest could be that NPC's ask you a question you don't have the answer for. The question itself is rather meaningless. At a certain point in game, an NPC will actually give you the answer when you ask that question.

When you get back to the earlier NPC's (which isn't required) they'll say something like: oh wow, thanks.

Which would be an inside-joke.

Title: Re: Quest contribution!
Post by: PONTO on December 19, 2010, 19:10:04

A quest in which you find someone programming a video game in his house and who then asks you to find certain objects for him to photograph and use in the game. Take that gear you posted in the photo contribution topic as an example. The knytt/ball would pick it up as a tiny icon and perhaps later on find it as part of the scenery. Of course the guy would need to have a mighty beard. ;)

Title: Re: Quest contribution!
Post by: LPChip on December 20, 2010, 10:34:09

Quote

.... Of course the guy would need to have a mighty beard. ;)

And a funny accent I suppose? :nuts:

Title: Re: Quest contribution!
Post by: sergiocornaga on December 20, 2010, 12:07:39

I'd like to see a 'bake a cake' quest that involves gathering cake ingredients.

Title: Re: Quest contribution!
Post by: PONTO on December 20, 2010, 15:26:11

Quote from: LPChip on December 20, 2010, 10:34:09

Quote

.... Of course the guy would need to have a mighty beard. ;)

And a funny accent I suppose? :nuts:

I was going to suggest the swedish accent as well, but I suppose the game will use dialogue bubbles, and so that would be harder to convey.

Title: Re: Quest contribution!
Post by: Widget on December 20, 2010, 17:15:33

How about a character that has a friend to visit or an errand to run that involves them travelling from one screen or zone, through another to their destination in a third. They know where they're going and how to get there but are scared to go on and so they ask the player to go ahead to check the route is safe.

At that point there are a few possibilities; the player could just be required to make it to the NPCs destination and back, take some action or actions along the route in order to create a safe path, or possibly visit the NPCs destination and send someone back to guide them through.

The first option in an early area would probably be the most effective, so the player could go through and explore a bit before letting the NPC know there's nothing dangerous and it's okay to go on. Or, if it feels awkward to justify not seeing the NPC move, the third idea with a longer route to traverse would make it more believable that the player missed them while they took a different path. Actively creating a safe route would be nice but need a screen or zone set-up in that way anyway, around which to place the quest.

On consideration it's probably not easy to arrange believably but I guess it can't hurt to post  :oops:

Edit: And on even further consideration it's a silly, half-baked idea  <_<
Maybe a knytt who has a crush on someone and wants a particular flower from an out-of-the-way place to take them or, for a more involved quest, a bunch of flowers from a variety of places.

[...] And a possible fix for the original idea; a knytt (or any other creature with hands) that's written a letter to their (parent/grandparent/friend/sibling etc.) but can't or won't risk the path to take it to them. Probably a simple, mundane sort of letter, i.e.;

• I'm/We're (well/happy/tired/excited) after (celebrating X's birthday/planting a garden/taking a walk through...).
  
• I've/We've had (excellent weather/lots of rain/snow) which was (lovely/boring/fun).

and similar day-to-day things. Or possibly a letter written by someone for whom you've already done a quest that describes what went on in their own words.

Title: Re: Quest contribution!
Post by: Nifflas on December 20, 2010, 20:13:56

I actually really liked the one with the flowers :) Might go for that one!

Title: Re: Quest contribution!
Post by: PeppyHare4000 on December 22, 2010, 18:24:38

There should be a quest where this guy wants a super secret ingredient for what he is cooking but it is rare and cannot be found anywhere. There should be a certain area that is moderately difficult and long. At the end of this area, lies the secret ingredient then you give it to him and puts it in his dish. Since he is very thankful for you getting the ingredient for him, He gives you some of his dish and the character eats it... Gaining a powerup afterwards.

Title: Re: Quest contribution!
Post by: Widget on December 26, 2010, 15:51:59

It's a bit of a cliched idea but how about an unwell individual who'd need a part of some medicianl plant to cure them. It'd be a little strange for them to have the required botanical knowledge themselves but they could (optionally) point the character to the specialist who would know what to look for. Alternatively the character could be required to find the specialist on their own initiative.

The specialist would probably want to be an expert on plants rather than a medical figure, considering the types of creature left, who would tell the character what to look for and (roughly) where to find it. This intermediary NPC could also function as the hub for a separate, loose quest about collecting rare plants, probably just suggested at by their dialogue if spoken to before or after taking on the medicine quest.

Each "zone" could have one defining plant which could, at a single place, be either dug up and taken back to the botanist for planting or picked and returned for drying. If they're to be dug and transplanted the hub NPC could give the player a "Gardening Shovel" or similar, to allow interaction with the plants, and have a small garden which the plants appear in as they're handed in.

Title: Re: Quest contribution!
Post by: TheDarkOne on January 03, 2011, 05:31:35

A quest to find the lost ball material?

Title: Re: Quest contribution!
Post by: jetio4 on February 02, 2011, 15:14:14

Spoiler: DoomGoon's Idea (click to show/hide)

Quote from: DoomGoon on December 19, 2010, 14:34:27

How about the idea that there's another knytt/wadf causing trouble in a town or with npcs, with the idea being it's a throwback at the beginning, due to something like a time distortion or imposter, where you had to complete another task.  Such as picking flowers or moving stuff around on the 1st quest, but later on you're tasked with fixing this problem because it keeps happening to the townspeople over and over again.

Quote from: Nifflas on December 19, 2010, 16:43:09

Haha, I like that too. I just need to know an explanation that's logical enough so the player will understand what happened and why.

While you're working on a quest to collect flowers, you run into it. (Assume that the other Knytt/Ball is an ice ball.) Once it sees you, it runs away. If you track it down and calm it, it tells you that the person you're doing the quest for force-fed him the flowers. Like the red flowers in Cave Story, it turns that Knytt evil. The guy then sent the Knytt/Ball back in time. Then the Knytt/Ball dissapears in a flash of bright light. If you confront the quest guy then, he remembers nothing.... If you give him the flowers before tracking down the Knytt/Ball, he'll feed you the flowers, but you'll die when he tries to send you back in time.

Spoiler: Quest Idea (click to show/hide)

1. A quest to explore a cave for someone else.

2. Save someone from aforementioned cave.

3. Transport a person from aforementioned cave to somewhere else.

4. Go back to the cave to do something for the person you saved. (Backtracking ftw)

5. Go farther into the cave, find a map, take it back.

6. Use the map to go DEEPER into the cave.

7. Find a key.

8. Take the key back to that person. Again.

9. Use the key to unlock a new area.

Spoiler: More on the saved guy (click to show/hide)

1. Save the person from the cave.

2. Find him again elsewhere (after the key thing)

3. He tells you he's going on another adventure.

4. Find him in trouble again.

5. Do something for him, unlock new area.

6. Rinse and Repeat as needed.

Edit: Added DoomGoon's Idea.

Edit: Added More on the saved guy

Title: Re: Quest contribution!
Post by: 1020/Collen on February 20, 2011, 15:12:41

Sorry for the bump, but I have an idea for this:
Basically, you find a Knytt that was turned into a ball for some reason, and in order to get him back to normal

Spoiler: (click to show/hide)

you have to take him into a UFO or something and place him in the middle of intersecting blue lasers. Then you have to guide him back to his home. As an added challenge, the UFO could be hard for a Knytt to get through, but easier for a ball, but in order to carry the ball/Knytt, you have to be a Knytt since you have hands.

Title: Re: Quest contribution!
Post by: Headgrinder on March 06, 2011, 22:40:34

So, I've looked around but I don't see any kind of plot summery/idea.  I love side quests and such, but I like them to be very connected to the main plot, so without knowing at least something of "why are we playing as a transformer knytt," it's hard to come up with ideas.  Did I correctly understand that it is on earth post wadf referenced war?

Title: Re: Quest contribution!
Post by: Nifflas on March 06, 2011, 23:24:26

Thanks for all the ideas! I'll be sure to use them! I haven't started to dig into making any quests for the game yet, but I'll contact everyone who's ideas I use when time is ready, so I can figure out credits 'n stuff.

Well, I'm not entierly sure what the main quest is going to be about yet, though I guess I can provide some backstory.

Spoiler: (click to show/hide)

The game takes place far into the future, probably at around the same time as Saira. As you know, the survivors were those to escape the surface of earth. However, while humans moved into space, all other creatures started to dig down. The game takes place long after the creatures have settled there, and as the surface is not habitable, nobody really knows what's up there any longer. That's however pretty much all I know about the backstory. It probably won't play an important role in the game either, the game will be about some much smaller task, just like in Saira which have a backstory about all humans disappearing but it all comes down to trying to find a way to travel to a specific friend. Got any ideas for the main story in this game? I'd love to hear them!

Title: Re: Quest contribution!
Post by: Headgrinder on March 07, 2011, 00:16:27

Ok, cool!  That helps fuel some thoughts!  And it nicely explains why all the tilesets must be black.  I kept thinking, "but that eliminates any since of light!  It's as if it is assumed that the tilesets are all underground and thus darkened." 

Any side quests that have to do with unraveling mysteries of the past would I think be ideal.  So, old rocket silos, or ancient human shopping malls which where completely buried and are in total decay (or is that still to near the surface?). 

Are most of the light sources from organic or strange natural sources, or are there ways sunlight makes its way into these nether realms?  I like the idea of these special locations where sunlight actually reaches into the realm of the knytts being an important destination, almost religious in connotation. 

I guess I'm not giving quest/mini-quest suggestions.  :/ 

Collecting artifacts touched by true-light (sun light), and collecting information about how to reach these locations would be cool.

I'll keep thinking.

Title: Re: Quest contribution!
Post by: Nifflas on March 07, 2011, 00:56:52

The place is just well lit up for some mysterious reason. I've not decided fully about what to do with light from the surface yet, but that's a good idea. Perhaps I can create a location like that where light shines down from the surface.

Title: Re: Quest contribution!
Post by: Headgrinder on March 07, 2011, 05:04:02

I had sketched out several locations for a KS level I have never gotten around to doing which would have required a simi complex tileset of the innards of many massive pipes, tanks, and pumps.  One area had sun light streaming down from shafts above and a great many tree like things growing in that light.  The plot was going to be that there are people all over the pipe area who no longer know how to run the machine and are made at the machines for not serving them like they use to.  All except for one outcast the others mistrust because he is actually trying to learn how to get the machines working again.  This sounds more like a knyttwadf area to me now. 

Title: Re: Quest contribution!
Post by: Grookie on March 07, 2011, 07:11:59

I don't know, if this is possible or it isn't a remake of some previous ideas, but:

Spoiler: (click to show/hide)

The Knytt/Knyttess or Ball/Balless (really, really dunno) gets a strange desease (in the town or somewhere else), that he/she cannot use one of previous collected powerups (like cannot climb walls or even ability to jump) and then:

1) he/she is going to ask other Knytts in infected area, what do they do to cure themselves - answer: there are special mushrooms, from which are falling small particles which are curing them (Knytt/Knyttess must find a large field of these mushrooms for cure forever, not only for a while)

2) there are little groups in the area, just like by the way, and while the Knytt/Knyttess is walking under/in front of/else, where the mushroom powder is falling, he/she can have his/her ability again, but only for a while, in which he/she is walking in the powder - he/she must find an area with lots of these mushrooms for cure forever

When walking in the area again, the Knytt/Knyttess won't have the desease again (because it would be very annoying to complete this quest again)

And yes, I LUV mushrooms!  :crazy:

Title: Re: Quest contribution!
Post by: Nifflas on March 07, 2011, 10:34:28

That's really clever! I like that idea! It's a bit tricky to get to work, but it would be really neat!

Title: Re: Quest contribution!
Post by: jetio4 on March 07, 2011, 15:13:35

How about some other Knytt/Creature asks you to go down a pit of some sorts to retrieve something for him. You go down, to find nothing there. As you climb up. he tries to trap you there. You have to escape through a hole in the wall or something.

You find a school that is missing something needed for a class. You find it later, and they reward you with something small. Then, if you check on them later, they're missing something else. You find it, they reward you again.

Title: Re: Quest contribution!
Post by: Nifflas on March 07, 2011, 21:45:32

Ooh, I like the first one a lot. I'll see if I can do that somehow.

Title: Re: Quest contribution!
Post by: Josh on March 07, 2011, 22:55:57

Since Nifflas is really good at getting intriguing little creatures in his games, would it be possible to have a small creature/intriguing device that is really interesting but runs off? If it left a trail, or clues as to where it went, it could eventually lead the player to a secret. Or a puzzly area in which they get stuck..

Or alternatively, if it was like a rescue dog or something (rescue spider thing?) lead the player into a small area where another character is stuck. Of course there would be a way out for you, and you take a note from the person who is stuck to someone else to inform them that this person is stuck.

Not so much a quest as a diversion  :)

Title: Re: Quest contribution!
Post by: jetio4 on March 09, 2011, 18:36:30

A dungeon with special areas in it. Every area takes a different power to go through. At the end of each area there's a prize. At the end of the whole thing, there's a HUGE prize.

You find a group of Knytts, and shortly after something happens to their leader. They naturally blame you, and "banish" you from them. If you find out the true culprit, they'll apologize and give you a reward.

You find a dying Knytt while out exploring. You bring him to the nearest Knytt doctor/nurse/apothecary. The doc/nurse/apothecary saves him, and tells you that the Knytt was poisoned (thus an apothecary could help). You must find out by who and why.

You find the first of a series of journal/diary pieces. After you piece it together, you learn of a very interesting and intriging story.

You find a, say, blue mushroom. This starts a trading quest, such as the one in Legend of Zelda Wind Waker, where you trade an object for another, go to another person, and trade THAT object for another.

Title: Re: Quest contribution!
Post by: Pick Yer Poison on April 01, 2011, 15:41:40

Quote from: Nifflas on March 06, 2011, 23:24:26

Spoiler: (click to show/hide)

The game takes place far into the future, probably at around the same time as Saira. As you know, the survivors were those to escape the surface of earth. However, while humans moved into space, all other creatures started to dig down. The game takes place long after the creatures have settled there, and as the surface is not habitable, nobody really knows what's up there any longer. That's however pretty much all I know about the backstory. It probably won't play an important role in the game either, the game will be about some much smaller task, just like in Saira which have a backstory about all humans disappearing but it all comes down to trying to find a way to travel to a specific friend. Got any ideas for the main story in this game? I'd love to hear them!

You know, the idea of the surface being abandoned brings an interesting thought to mind...what if your character was an explorer, archeologist, treasure hunter, etc? You could be trying to hunt down a famous ruin of legend built by the humans, or even several of them. If you find yourself wanting to make more levels, you might have them featuring different ruins.

For example, your goal could be to track down a legendary tower from humans times. It's an ancient (ancient being "from when the humans vanished" in this case) tower rumored to reach far into the sky, with a priceless treasure at the top. The catch is that nobody knows where it is, so you've got to explore a number of other "ruins" built by humans in order to uncover clues to its location. These could range from a mining shaft where you uncover shipping orders to an underground shelter containing a library with a map, or combinations of several such things. I'd imagine that since there were so many problems on the surface, people would've retreated underground, which makes it fairly feasable that there would be a number of ruins under there. (Other ideas include an automated factory that may or may not still be fully functional, a sealed research lab showing signs of a hasty evacuation, etc.)

Spoiler: Possible plot spoilers, should Nifflas choose this idea. (click to show/hide)

The game would, of course, culminate in finding the tower, which would have an underground portion (possibly subway access?) that you could enter through. You climb up the tower through increasingly damaged sections until you reach the top, which is an open floor with glass walls. Most of the walls would've been blown out already, so a few pillars might be in order to give a reason for the ceiling to still be standing. As your character looks out across a barren landscape and the devestated remains of a once-great city, it quickly becomes apparent that the "priceless treasure" at the top was a view of the city in its prime, something which will never again be seen.

Bonus points if you can work the phrase "priceless treasure" into a marketing campaign of some sort for the tower. :P