Nifflas' Support Forum
Released Games => Knytt Stories => Topic started by: ixMarcel on August 08, 2020, 15:18:04
-
Inspired by the recent trend, I decided to compile my own iceberg chart for Knytt Stories. Feel free to brag about how many of these references you understood!
(https://i.imgur.com/RSSmPmG.png)
-
And way, way below the iceberg, at the floor of the ocean, resides "using screen transition boosts purely to find completely pointless voidscreens that don't lead anywhere and ruin your immersion"
-
I take no responsibility for anyone who picked up the key, since I did warn them.
Also I always wondered if ego kept a record of what toast fact numbers he had used...
Shouldn't eating the mushroom be on there close to the top?
-
Shouldn't eating the mushroom be on there close to the top?
Yeah, I was noticing the same...
-
Lurker since 2010 here, though I would still consider myself a noob when it comes to the more advanced things. It was fun trying to guess each reference! A lot went above my head but here goes nothing.
"1.0.4. Installer version" I'm guessing it's just one of the earliest builds since it's currently on 1.2.1
"KS+" A community made launcher that has some added options and the abilities to create maps not possible in the original.
"KS Ex" Similar to KS+ with included Level Editor and other add-ons
"Juni in Knytt Underground" - Not sure. Guessing you can either play as her or she shows up as a cameo in Nifflas' other game "Knytt Underground"
"ni2.se before deletion" - Old website? I heard a rumor that he wasn't supportive of the fan levels or something like that.
Gradient0.png - No clue.
Picking up the key - references the level "Do Not Pick Up the Key" by Talps
------------------------------------
"Double tap down for holo" - I didn't know you could do this as opposed to just pressing "E"
"It waits" - creepy level created by Colossal
"Knytt Stories DS" - freeware DS game, never played it
"ORTOFAKTOR" - tileset mainly used in Knytt Underground
"Proto Jon" - does Let's Play videos of KS
"Unreleased music" - No clue.
"Lost forum levels" - May be talking about the lost levels that the community tried to find the files for a while back
"Cheat code in Explore Challenge" - Possibly CTRL+C which allows you to be invincible when holding space, and can save anywhere with down+space
"Ball mode" - No idea.
Code symbols interpretation - No idea.
KS Advanced - No idea. Possible port to Gameboy Advanced?
"Hidden Star Inn" - No idea. Maybe a forum section only available to those who were gifted hidden stars?
"Teenhmifnoeafgil" - Trippy level with an awesome boss fight. Made by KG
"Knytt Nano" - originally going to be a sequel to Knytt and was included in the Nano Pack.
"When we're dead" - Old custom level
"Sinrevah stalks Juni in different levels" - No idea.
==================================
"Red flower uncensored" - Reference to the red flower in Saving Thalanill? Hopefully not rule34...
"Gradient info bar" - No idea.
"The mushroom in Thalanill" - It's been a while since I've played this level so I'm not sure if I met the mushroom or not.
"When you get the umbrella, rebound" - No idea.
"KS Randomizer" - tool made by Purple Pineapple that randomizes enemies, objects, etc. in levels for replayabiltiy.
"Thalanill bad ending strat" - No idea.
"KS Level composer" - Tool made by xoft to edit levels
"Level archive animated icons" - No idea
"Hold S" - Jump higher, is that it?
"The Empty planet" - Map made by plural
"Hologram activated shift" - No idea.
"A walk at night" - Level made by Quincent Cartographer
"Rapid climbing TAS trick" - A way to climb faster in the Gliperal's TASer Handbook that is way to complicated to explain
"Level archive update" - No idea.
=======================================
"Title theme Bardo symbolism" - No idea.
Lost PNG map generator" - No idea.
"Original Forums crash" - No idea.
"Jordan Underneaths video" - Game reviewer?
"Advanced features demo" - No idea.
"Cheat code in other levels" - Using CTRL+C?
"All toast facts known" - Reference to a very annoying and knowledgeable piece of bread via Egomassive
"Every level is canon" - Treating community levels as canon?
"LPChils 100th star celebration" - No idea. Do I want to know?
"Juni in SMBX" - Juni as a playable character in Super Mario Bros X?
========================================
That's at least what these references sound like to a lurker. Would be interesting to hear about the things I missed. Maybe I'll learn a new mechanic or "lore" that I didn't know before
-
FYI it's considered bad form to post the cheat code on the forum (which is largely why it became famous in the ways Ix included in the chart). :)
I'll give it a shot...
"1.0.4. Installer version" I'm guessing it's just one of the earliest builds since it's currently on 1.2.1
I actually have no idea. Good start, Ix.
"Ate the Mushroom"
Reference to objectively the greatest KS level of all time, UncleSporky's 'Don't Eat the Mushroom'.
"KS+" A community made launcher that has some added options and the abilities to create maps not possible in the original.
Egomassive's mod - originally created just to add functions to KS that he wanted for his (never finished) level 'The Tree of Knowledge'; when he decided to also create a level editor allowing designers to make use of his features, and to take user suggestions for additional functions, he ended up making the most popular KS mod.
"KS Ex" Similar to KS+ with included Level Editor and other add-ons
Another KS mod, less popular as it required designers to have actual coding ability to use.
"Juni in Knytt Underground" - Not sure. Guessing you can either play as her or she shows up as a cameo in Nifflas' other game "Knytt Underground"
A secret in Knytt Underground allows you to play a bonus level as Juni.
"ni2.se before deletion" - Old website? I heard a rumor that he wasn't supportive of the fan levels or something like that.
A few years ago Nifflas suddenly decided to delete his website and withdraw from the internet, overwhelmed by all the trollishness. When he changed his mind on this a few days later, he realised he no longer had a backup of his site, and he has never made a replacement.
Gradient0.png - No clue.
In the KS editor, default gradient 0 is the purple void screen background. If you've ever been playing a KS level and stumbled into an area the level designer did not intend you to be able to access, you've probably seen this.
Picking up the key - references the level "Do Not Pick Up the Key" by Talps
I'm not sure on this one; considering all the warnings in the level, I don't think anyone would have been dumb enough to actually do this... :P
------------------------------------
"KS as illegal music distribution tool"
People including copywrited music in their levels, allowing for unlawful distribution (I would never do this of course *ahem*).
"Double tap down for holo" - I didn't know you could do this as opposed to just pressing "E"
I think this is one that a lot of people discover by accident; I don't think it was mentioned in the tutorial.
"It waits" - creepy level created by Colossal
"Knytt Stories DS" - freeware DS game, never played it
"ORTOFAKTOR" - tileset mainly used in Knytt Underground
"Proto Jon" - does Let's Play videos of KS
"Unreleased music" - No clue.
There were a few tracks composed for KS (and/or its discontinued sequel) that were not included in the game. They have been posted on the forums so you could probably track them down.
"Lost forum levels" - May be talking about the lost levels that the community tried to find the files for a while back
A loooong time ago the Nifflas forum crashed catastrophically and all its content was lost (I think; this was before my time). A lot of levels were orphaned as a result; the links to them were lost. Players have dedicated a lot of time to hunting for the lost levels (often known only by title and author) on other websites or in other players' collections. Like the lost episodes of sixties 'Doctor Who', there are many that are probably lost forever.
"Cheat code in Explore Challenge" - Possibly [REDACTED] which allows you to be invincible when holding space, and can [REDACTED]
Most players first discovered the KS cheat existed at all by finding a secret area in 'The Explore Challenge', as this custom level was (at one point at least) hosted on Nifflas' old website alongside the download for the game itself.
"Ball mode" - No idea.
KS Ex (I think) gives the player the ability to transform into the ball from 'In a Deep Forest', as in Knytt Underground.
Code symbols interpretation - No idea.
Reference to the symbol buttons that are used to unlock doors in some levels, famously used in 'An Underwater Adventure'. Since most people find abstract shapes difficult to memorise quickly, most players interpret them into words that are easier to hold in their short-term memory. They then argue with one another as to the correct word to use for each symbol (which is ridiculous, since they are obviously ball, kick, parallel, plus, tunnel, right, smile, corner, and left)
KS Advanced - No idea. Possible port to Gameboy Advanced?
Another KS mod, made by Purple Pineapple I believe.
"Hidden Star Inn" - No idea. Maybe a forum section only available to those who were gifted hidden stars?
There is definitely not a hidden board in this forum...
"Teenhmifnoeafgil" - Trippy level with an awesome boss fight. Made by KG
"Knytt Nano" - originally going to be a sequel to Knytt and was included in the Nano Pack.
"When we're dead" - Old custom level
"Sinrevah stalks Juni in different levels" - No idea.
==================================
"Red flower uncensored" - Reference to the red flower in Saving Thalanill? Hopefully not rule34...
Been ages since I played Thalanill... (sorry, Ix) Though I'm guessing this is a joke that arose from the level being streamed by speed-runners, rather than something in the level itself.
"Gradient info bar" - No idea.
I'm guessing this is a reference to the fact that if you create a custom tileset, there is a little bar at the bottom where you can credit yourself and any other creators without using up part of the set, and give or withdraw permission for other designers to use your set. Gradients do not have this, so they will generally be used and reused uncredited.
"The mushroom in Thalanill" - It's been a while since I've played this level so I'm not sure if I met the mushroom or not.
C.f. red flower. Sorry, Ix.
"When you get the umbrella, rebound" - No idea.
Pretty sure this was a semi-famous bit of Engrish in a level I've forgotten...
"KS Randomizer" - tool made by Purple Pineapple that randomizes enemies, objects, etc. in levels for replayabiltiy.
...replayability and chaos.
"Thalanill bad ending strat" - No idea.
I've two thoughts on this one. Firstly, when 'Saving Thalanill' was first released it was impossible to get the good ending, because both paths linked to the bad ending (there was another glitch in Thalanill upon release, but WE DO NOT SPEAK OF THAT ONE, DO WE IX? ;)).
'Thalanill' has been speed-run (speed-ran? speed-runned?) on Twitch; taking advantage of glitches in the game allows speed-runners to skip a significant part of the level and save a big ol' chunk of time; I'm pretty sure this locks them into the bad ending, though based on this, maybe it's the good ending.
"The K in 'Knyght' is hard"
If Ix can fill this with references to his level, then I can do the same dosh garnit! After I released 'Dragon Myth', several players felt the need to tell me I had misspelled 'knight', overlooking the terribly subtle portmanteau of 'knight' and 'knytt' (knights who are knytts).
"KS Level composer" - Tool made by xoft to edit levels
"Level archive animated icons" - No idea
There have been numerous attempts to update the KS level archive with more advanced filters, icons, a rating system... None have ever come to light, despite several players over the years taking the project upon themselves.
"Hold S" - Jump higher, is that it?
Not sure if Ix was referencing advice in a specific level, or to general advice on how to overcome the game's most basic obstacles.
"The Empty planet" - Map made by plural
Plural's levels are deep and gorgeous and we all want to play them and own them and get lost in them and hug them and love them. 'The Empty Planet' has never been released, despite Plural stating for many years that it is sitting on the brink of completion.
"Hologram activated shift" - No idea.
There is a mechanic in the game so that shifts (teleports between screens or parts of a screen) can be programmed to not work when the player has the hologram activated. Despite being part of the default game and very prominently placed in the editor, this is hardly ever used by designers. There is no shift that works in the opposite way, only activating if the hologram is active.
"A walk at night" - Level made by Quincent Cartographer
An old, tiny, and rather obscure level that will not be forgotten by anyone who plays it. Quincent made some tilesets for other levels but never released the tilesets or the levels - heart-breaking, considering how beautiful his art was.
"Rapid climbing TAS trick" - A way to climb faster in the Gliperal's TASer Handbook that is way too complicated to explain
"Level archive update" - No idea.
There have been numerous attempts to update the KS level archive with more advanced filters, icons, a rating system... None have ever come to light, despite several players over the years taking the project upon themselves.
=======================================
"'Colour' misspelled in forum tags"
Yeah, I'm getting a bit annoyed by this as I write this post. :P
"Toasts saying 'Rawr' and tileset 73 roses"
My own Easter eggs, which no one ever noticed... :P I put the first toast in 'Eurydice' before Ego released 'A Knytt in Time', so my toasts are not a reference to his, even though everyone thinks they are.
"Title theme Bardo symbolism" - No idea.
I think this may be a reference to the fairly zen music and the swirly rings of dots on the KS title page.
Lost PNG map generator" - No idea.
"Original Forums crash" - No idea.
As above, the original KS forum crashed suddenly, taking with it most/all of its contents, including links to many old levels.
"Jordan Underneaths video" - Game reviewer?
A Youtuber who made a history-of-Knytt video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mbFo7ggm17Y&ab_channel=JordanUnderneathLostVideos).
"Advanced features demo" - No idea.
Rings a bell but I can't remember for sure. I think this is a reference to a level intended to demonstrate the features of a mod.
"Cheat code in other levels" - Using [REDACTED]
Other designers have occasionally given away the KS cheat in their own levels, though most players will often have learnt the cheat from a less obscure source before finding it in such a way.
"All toast facts known" - Reference to a very annoying and knowledgeable piece of bread via Egomassive
Egomassive began hiding toast enemies in secret areas of his levels that told facts to the players. These facts were numbered and presumably if you hunted through his levels you could find them all in numerical order. However, as other designers have referenced this Easter egg in their own levels, finding all toast facts ever written would be more difficult than just playing Ego's levels.
"Every level is canon" - Treating community levels as canon?
The intro to 'The Machine', the first ever KS level, and lore in 'Knytt Underground' imply that the many stories of Juni form a canon of myths that the fey tell of her. There are far too many stories (most of them introducing Juni as a simple non-adventurous girl), encompassing far too many contradictory genres and time periods, for them to all be true about a single person. Also I don't think I'd be wrong in saying that the majority of KS levels probably couldn't be adapted or interpreted as folk tales, however you look at them (c.f. abstract and slightly pretentious).
"LPChip's 100th star celebration" - No idea. Do I want to know?
About five years ago, some of us set out to make a level to commemorate LPChip becoming the second person to receive 100 merit stars on the forum. The level was about 95% completed before becoming stuck in a near indefinite hiatus - but thanks to the extra time lockdown gave me, the level will finally be released next month!
"The K is hard"
Where was this, Ix? The 'k' in 'Knytt' is not a silent letter - the word is pronounced kuh-nit. Most people don't know this.
"Juni in SMBX" - Juni as a playable character in Super Mario Bros X?
-
Let me address a few from a more developer perspective. :) I'll only talk about those that I feel actually need clarification, to keep the post size down. :)
FYI it's considered bad form to post the cheat code on the forum (which is largely why it became famous in the ways Ix included in the chart). :)
I'll give it a shot...
This was definitely the case when the game came out, but now that so many years have past and the cheatcode can be found in youtube videos etc, I think it has been kept from the forum long enough, so I don't feel the need to censor it any further.
"1.0.4. Installer version" I'm guessing it's just one of the earliest builds since it's currently on 1.2.1
I actually have no idea. Good start, Ix.
Oh, I don't remember exactly what, but there was something janky about the 1.0.4 installer version.
"ni2.se before deletion" - Old website? I heard a rumor that he wasn't supportive of the fan levels or something like that.
A few years ago Nifflas suddenly decided to delete his website and withdraw from the internet, overwhelmed by all the trollishness. When he changed his mind on this a few days later, he realised he no longer had a backup of his site, and he has never made a replacement.
Its a little bit more refined. Before this happened, Nifflas hosted the forums too on ni2.se. Then at some point while working on the site, he accidentally deleted the entire SQL database. The forum by that time already ran on my servers, so that was spared, but he did lose stuff on his website, so he had to recreate it from scratch, making his website already like half of what it used to be. He did not have backups of the sql database that were recent and he wanted an overhaul anyway. Then what Talps wrote happened. So the reference and explaination stands, its just a bit more refined.
Picking up the key - references the level "Do Not Pick Up the Key" by Talps
I'm not sure on this one; considering all the warnings in the level, I don't think anyone would have been dumb enough to actually do this... :P
I believe this became a meme because we also have don't pick up the mushroom.
"Knytt Stories DS" - freeware DS game, never played it
It was a port made by a forum member to play Knytt Stories levels on a Nintendo DS. Its homebrew.
"Lost forum levels" - May be talking about the lost levels that the community tried to find the files for a while back
A loooong time ago the Nifflas forum crashed catastrophically and all its content was lost (I think; this was before my time). A lot of levels were orphaned as a result; the links to them were lost. Players have dedicated a lot of time to hunting for the lost levels (often known only by title and author) on other websites or in other players' collections. Like the lost episodes of sixties 'Doctor Who', there are many that are probably lost forever.
This is not entirely true. The lost forum levels talk about when I hosted the forums after the first crash. The first crash was when nifflas still hosted it, but this was before Knytt Stories even existed. I hosted the forum afterwards, and something happened to the forum, I think it was a forum software update, and it just broke the forum. It did not crash, but it broke. I tried to revert back to a previous version but even then the forum remained broken. I removed the entire broken forum to a test facility and recreated the forum from scratch. The main problem with the pre-crash forum were all the different mods made to it. The lost forum levels were the topics about those levels posted in there. I've looked into porting them over, but the crash made it hard as for some posts it would say: topic does not exists, whereas with others it would assign the topic to the wrong user, stuff like that. Attachments did not work correctly either anymore, so levels that were attached were not linked. With the little time I had, it was just way too much work to port them over, especially since people were not just interested in the levels themselves, but also all the reactions. There has been made an effort to port many levels over, but some were just too broken and basically got lost.
"Cheat code in Explore Challenge" - Possibly [REDACTED] which allows you to be invincible when holding space, and can [REDACTED]
Most players first discovered the KS cheat existed at all by finding a secret area in 'The Explore Challenge', as this custom level was (at one point at least) hosted on Nifflas' old website alongside the download for the game itself.
The Explore Challenge was the level I made to be a third-party level that shipped at game launch. Nifflas made The Machine by himself, but wanted more content at launch, so a handful of people on the forum created a level that was included with the game launch through the third-party level expansion pack (or whatever the name was). During the development of Knytt Stories, I had a lot of contact with Nifflas and did a lot of playtesting. Some of the features in the game were my idea actually. I'm responsible for the green hologram power (hidden path). Nifflas made the red glow for enemies and I said: wouldn't it be cool if you could mark a hidden path to hint for secrets etc? And Nifflas liked the idea a lot and it was born. When I was working on my level I had a chat with Nifflas and proposed a big easter-egg. Something that was a secret, but if you find it, it would change everything. Nifflas agreed that it was okay to actually build in a cheatcode for this exact purpose. The idea was going to be to split the cheat in 2 parts and hide it in two levels. I had the idea to make a second level where you again had a normal story, but one area was a secret. The secret was guarded by a series of challenges that required you to know the first part of the cheat by placing moving enemies that would kill you, but would move through you so you could get past them using the cheat. After succesfully finishing the challenges, you would be rewarded with the second part of the cheat, learning how to teleport.
The idea was that the entrance of the secret was guarded with a code. This code is visible at the last screen in The Explore Challenge when you get rejoined with Uncle. Unfortunately I never made that second level and the full cheat got out so I lost interest in actually making that second level to reveal the full cheat.
"Ball mode" - No idea.
KS Ex (I think) gives the player the ability to transform into the ball from 'In a Deep Forest', as in Knytt Underground.
Yep, this was big when it first came out. Unfortunately only a few levels were actually made with it.
Code symbols interpretation - No idea.
Reference to the symbol buttons that are used to unlock doors in some levels, famously used in 'An Underwater Adventure'. Since most people find abstract shapes difficult to memorise quickly, most players interpret them into words that are easier to hold in their short-term memory. They then argue with one another as to the correct word to use for each symbol (which is ridiculous, since they are obviously ball, kick, parallel, plus, tunnel, right, smile, corner, and left)
So this is a fun one. Nifflas and I had a discussion about a password system. He wanted to create a password system and asked if I could make a tileset with the numbers 1 to 0. I said that it would be cool to create glyphs instead of numbers to force people to not be able to just spoil the code in forum posts. Nifflas really liked that idea as it was a worry of him and asked if I wanted to design the glyphs. I did so with the idea in mind that it would be really hard to describe them, but they would be distinct enough from each other that remembering them would not be too hard. Nifflas wanted them to appear like an alien language if possible.
"Hidden Star Inn" - No idea. Maybe a forum section only available to those who were gifted hidden stars?
There is definitely not a hidden board in this forum...
Before we went to forum version 2.0.15, we were on 1.1.19 I think. This old forumsoftware does not run well on php 5.6 and my hosting basically removed support for older versions, and will remove 5.6 at some point. While the old forum still did work reasonably well on 5.6 it simply did not on 7.
I basically had to migrate to 2.0.15 at some point. In the old forumversion I had hacked in the ability to reward posts by giving a hidden star. By having 10 stars or more, one would get automatically added to a forum permission group that gives access to a hidden forum called the Hidden Star Inn. I was unable to bring this back to live in version 2.0.15. The forum still exists but now requires a different means to get access to it. I'm not spoiling how, but its like an achievement that is set automatically based on certain criteria.
"The K in 'Knyght' is hard"
If Ix can fill this with references to his level, then I can do the same dosh garnit! After I released 'Dragon Myth', several players felt the need to tell me I had misspelled 'knight', overlooking the terribly subtle portmanteau of 'knight' and 'knytt' (knights who are knytts).
As betatester for this level, I was one of them. :D
"Level archive update" - No idea.
There have been numerous attempts to update the KS level archive with more advanced filters, icons, a rating system... None have ever come to light, despite several players over the years taking the project upon themselves.
Me included... I even had integration with the forum, something that is broken now with 2.0.15 and due to how different this version works, not even possible for me to recreate. :(
"'Colour' misspelled in forum tags"
Yeah, I'm getting a bit annoyed by this as I write this post. :P
color is the USA way of saying it, colour is the UK way of saying it. color is native to the forumsoftware, so nothing I can do about though. It was named color because it is also color in HTML, which was standardized in the USA.
"Original Forums crash" - No idea.
As above, the original KS forum crashed suddenly, taking with it most/all of its contents, including links to many old levels.
No, this is a reference to the first crash, when the forum was still entirely on Nifflas' servers. The forum was WaDF themed, which is why there actually still is a WaDF theme. To keep the spirit of the old forum alive.
"Advanced features demo" - No idea.
Rings a bell but I can't remember for sure. I think this is a reference to a level intended to demonstrate the features of a mod.
The advanced features demo can refer to 2 levels actually. The KS ex demo showcasing the ball and other KS ex features, or the level that showcased many things could be made by using custom objects for animations. In this level, you could shoot out of a cannon where this animation was a custom object and 2 shirts/screens.
-
Also, wow, that post turned out waaaay longer than I thought... Sorry... (and didn't want to edit it in to make it even longer...)
-
Ahh, but it was interesting, especially about the forum crashes.
I get that about the HTML tags; cannae be helped. I just got a bit fed up with my tags breaking because I was instinctively spelling 'colour' the proper British way. *Sips tea*
-
I'll try to shed some light on these icy depths:
1.0.4. Installer version: The last official version to have an installer. It remained available alongside the most up-to-date version on Nifflas' site.
KS+: My intention from the start was to upgrade KS with the features it sorely lacked or which level makers were doing crazy things to accomplish, myself included. I attribute its success to my 2 main design philosophies: make it easy to use, keep it feeling like a Nifflas game. The artifacts are definitely something I wanted for my level though.
Red Flower: It's a level. If Knytt-sized pixel art can be triple-X rated, this level has it. Creative design but disturbing, I don't recommend.
"Hold S": I'm sure this refers to the essential knowledge that umbrellas have a dramatic performance boost if S is held, especially in updrafts.
Toasts saying "Rawr": I can't seem to find this one in the iceberg Talps. Object 4:18's "Rawr" originates with Talps. Naming them "Toasts" is my joke. Before that they were mostly known as hedgehogs or Static Spikers in the source code. Just like the code symbols, people come up with their own names for things.
Advanced features demo: It's a Nifflas made level for demonstrating some advanced features. I imitated the name and some content when making "Features Demonstration" for KS+. LPChip's answer is mixing a few more levels into it. "Features Demonstration" also imitated a tiny level I made called "Automation Technique" showing how to use wall-swims to make animated sequences in original KS. That's where the 2 screen cannon originates. GrayFace released 2 levels, "Extended Version Example" and "Ball Tutorial", for his KS-EX mod at around the same time.
-
I did a bit of research on the "Juni in SMBX" thing a few years ago. Basically, Juni was a playable character in a fan game called Super Mario Bros X. But it was decided that she would be removed from it in the future because the guy who added her turned out to have done some very messed up things, which is why the rest of the developers chose to purge his contributions from the game.
I'd advise against looking into this any further. It's not a pleasant story.
-
I see the chart stimlated some good conversation around here. Let me clarify some things for the record:
1. The chart is very vague and that is deliberate. I made this to be in spirit of all the other iceberg charts floating around, sparking both curiosity and confusion. It's fun to see everyone trying to "decipher' the meanings behind the words.
2. There's a lot of Saving Thalanill references in there, because the chart was made with DonDoli's (https://www.twitch.tv/dondoli) Discord server in mind (also the reason for the speedrunning references). He's played that level religiously, trying to bring the completion time as low as possible. He and Gliperal found a lot of exploits together, and so I mentioned those in the chart (explained below). I'm not a total narcissist, I swear! :^^:
The chart explained in-full, as intended (spoilers?):
Surface level
- 1.0.4 Installer version: On Nifflas' website there are two KS versions available to download. The 1.0.4 version features an installer and isn't that different from the one we know and love, from what I know.
- Tutorial secret area: In "Tutorial - Nifflas", there is a secret area. Most people know about it! The screenshot can be seen in the chart too.
- KS+: Egomassive's prominent mod (https://nifflas.lp1.nl/index.php?topic=4175.0) that most people nowadays use to create more sophisticated levels. Thanks, ego!
- Picking up the key: References "Do not pick up the key - Talps" (http://knyttlevels.com/levels/Talps%20-%20Do%20not%20Pick%20up%20the%20Key%20V2.knytt.bin). At the end of the level the player can make the decision to either do it or not... the consequences can be dire!
- ni2.se before deletion: Nifflas' official website looked a lot nicer than before he decided to take it down. Some people might still remember the minimalistic, yet endearing style of it.
- KS Ex: A mod created by GrayFace (https://sites.google.com/site/sergroj/ks). It has some neat features that KS+ lacks, and is probably the 2nd most popular mod out there.
- Juni in Knytt Underground: References the secret level in KU where you get to play as Juni.
- Gradient0.png: References the default void-screen background that players see when they somehow get out-of-bounds in a level. What some might not realize still, is the the pink "pattern" in it actually says "void".
Beneath the water level
- Double tap down for holo: You can activate the hologram by tapping down arrow key twice.
- ORTOFAKTOR: References the strange Tileset208, which appears in various levels at some point. The figure itself is mysterious and somewhat ominous.
- Knytt Stories DS: The KS port for Nintendo DS (http://www.rodrigoroman.com/rrc2soft/nds_dsknytt.html) homebrew made by rrc2soft. Unfortunately, it is very prone to crashes and not reliable at all. One interesting thing about it is the fact that the screens aren't displayed in-full and so the screen scrolls to the sides while Juni is moving.
- Proton Jon: A popular youtuber, who back-in-the-day popularized KS and drove a lot of new fans into it by uploading his let's play of "Don't Eat the Mushroom - UncleSporky" (http://knyttlevels.com/levels/UncleSporky%20-%20Don%27t%20Eat%20the%20Mushroomv121.knytt.bin).
- It waits: References the classic level "It waits - Eric Colossal" (http://knyttlevels.com/levels/Eric%20Colossal%20-%20It%20Waits.knytt.bin), which is very memorable due to its creepy atmosphere.
- Lost forum levels: References all the levels mentioned in old forum threads that have been lost due to the download links expiring.
- Unreleased music: Music created for KS that hasn't been included in the game, nor used in any official level. They have been recently uploaded (https://nifflas.lp1.nl/index.php?topic=6773.0)and have been used in some fanmade levels since then.
- Cheat code in Explore Challenge: References the famous secret cheat code, which can be found in "Explore Challenge - LPChip" (http://knyttlevels.com/levels/LPChip%20-%20The%20Explore%20Challenge.knytt.bin).
- Ball mode: Inputing the secret cheat in KS Ex allows Juni to turn into a ball, similar to the one from Within a Deep Forest.
- Code symbols interpretation: People playing KS make up their own shorthand names for the code-symbols used to open locked areas.
- Teenhmifnoeafgil: References "Teenhmifnoeafgil - KG" (http://knyttlevels.com/levels/KG%20-%20Teenhmifnoeafgil.knytt.bin). A classic psychedelic level.
- KS Advanced: A less-known KS mod made by BloxMaster. It features a fun underwater-themed title screen and menu.
- Hidden Star Inn: When you receive enough stars for your posts on the forum, you gain access to...
- Knytt Experiment: The less-known game by Nifflas (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIgQ-TdWJds) which features the main character from the game Knytt. The player can traverse multiple interconnected areas, each composed by a different author and with a different tileset I suppose. I think it might've been created with online connection and world updates in mind?
- Knytt Nano: Another Knytt game by Nifflas, released in the nano-pack on his website.
- When we're dead: References the classic level "When we're dead - Strange Darkness" (http://knyttlevels.com/levels/Strange%20Darkness%20-%20When%20we%27re%20dead%20%28fixed%29.knytt.bin). It's memorable for its use of gore and its disturbing plot.
- Sinrevah stalks Juni in different levels: Eh... a weird self-insert into the chart if I can be honest. The main villain from "Saving Thalanill - ixMarcel" (https://nifflas.lp1.nl/index.php?topic=6841.0) is named Sinrevah, and she's the vanilla "ghost lady with red eyes" enemy. Some players have caught onto the idea that since in the level's lore she has the ability to travel through "dimenisons", every time you see that stock enemy in a level - it is indeed the same Sinrevah stalking Juni.
The dark waters
- Red Flower uncensored: References "Red Flower - GBoots". It's a very strange and controversial level, with a perverse charm to it and a lot of incredibly unique ideas. It has been uploaded one day to the level archive by an unknown author, and even featured a readme HTML file in the level's folder. After my review (https://nifflas.lp1.nl/index.php?topic=6604.msg72034#msg72034) of it was posted, the level has been removed from the archive. Nowadays it can be found there again, but it's a "censored" version edited by me (the NSFW anime fanart has been pixelized). The original can be found on GBoots' Deviantart page (https://www.deviantart.com/gboots2/art/Red-Flower-800086702).
- Gradient info bar: Did you know that gradients can have their own info bars just like tilesets?
- The mushroom in Thalanill: References the hidden mushroom in the swamp area in "Saving Thalanill - ixMarcel" (https://nifflas.lp1.nl/index.php?topic=6841.0). It's an easter-egg alluding to the iconic level we all know.
- /r/KnyttStories: A subreddit of this name (https://www.reddit.com/r/knyttstories/) for KS exists, however it isn't very active and is restricted as of now.
- KS Randomizer: A piece of software made by Gliperal (http://www.ksruns.com/resources/) which is able to randomize various elements of any given level, making for a very good challenge sometimes.
- "When you get the umbrella, rebound.": A DonDoli meme (https://youtu.be/6P5YIhqOlSY?t=40m50s) that emerged due to a miscommunication between me and Fubaka when designing "What happened next - ixMarcel & Fubaka" (https://nifflas.lp1.nl/index.php?topic=7217.0). The textbox talks about a part of the level that has been removed by the time of release.
- Thalanill "bad ending" strat: A speedrunning strat for "Saving Thalanill - ixMarcel" (https://nifflas.lp1.nl/index.php?topic=6841.0) discovered by DonDoli (or Gliperal possibly). Once you get the umbrella, you can try to backtrack all the way to the starting area of the level. Once you reach a point near the Blue Caves entrance, a cutscene triggers depicting a "bad ending" where Juni abandons her adventure. Afterwards, the player is transported back to the Heaven area. This "bad ending" trigger can be reached before you get the umbrella though, allowing you to skip a bug chunk of the level. See here at 5:05. (https://www.twitch.tv/videos/514553234)
- KS Level Composer: A handy tool made by xoft (https://nifflas.lp1.nl/index.php?topic=165.0) for editing levels.
- Level archive animated icons: It is possible to upload a level with an animated icon to knyttlevels.com, and so far two creators have taken advantage of this bug: strange lands and me. You can see it by searching for our levels there.
- TASers Handbook: A compendium of knowledge (http://www.ksruns.com/resources/KS_TASers_Handbook.pdf) about KS TAS making, written by Gliperal.
- The empty planet: References "Empty Planet - Plural" (https://nifflas.lp1.nl/index.php?topic=5005.0). It's possibly the most anticipated and famous unfinished level out there.
- Hold S: A DonDoli / Gliperal meme. Holding S makes Juni fall slower, especially with the umbrella. Or something like that... ask an expert.
- Hologram activated shift: Did you know you can set some shifts not to activate while the player is using the hologram?
- A walk at night: References "A walk at night - Quincent Cartographer" (http://knyttlevels.com/levels/Quincent%20Cartographer%20-%20A%20Walk%20at%20Night.knytt.bin), a classic environmental level which was remade into a "creepypasta version" of itself many years later in "An Evening Stroll - Pentavo Mapmaker" (http://knyttlevels.com/levels/Pentavo%20Mapmaker%20-%20An%20Evening%20Stroll%20v3.knytt.bin).
- Level archive update: References the many times a level archive update has been discussed on the forums.
- Rapid climbing TAS trick: A TAS technique allowing Juni to rapidly climb, seen in some TAS videos out there.
- KS Online: A mod made by hugobros3 (https://nifflas.lp1.nl/index.php?topic=2129.0) allowing for online KS play (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IEpcYNuYFLc) with multiple people. It's defunct as of today, unfortunately.
The depths
- Title theme Bardo symbolism: The game's title theme is called "Bardo", which is a Buddhist term for a transitional state between death and reincarnation. It could be a symbolical representation of the fact that while the player is choosing a level, Juni is in that state before incarnating again in a new story.
- Lost PNG map generator: References the old and lost utility that was able to generate a PNG image of any given KS level.
- Original forums crash: See LPChip's explanation above.
- Jordan Underneath's video: A deleted video by Jordan Underneath (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mbFo7ggm17Y&ab_channel=JordanUnderneathLostVideos) about the Knytt games.
- Advanced features demo: References "Advanced Features - Nifflas and X Sheep" (http://knyttlevels.com/levels/Nifflas%20and%20X%20Sheep%20-%20Advanced%20Features.knytt.bin), a level showcasing the many features added to the final version of KS. There's still some surprising info in there.
- Cheat code in other levels: References the fact that the secret cheat code can be found in some other levels than "Explore Challenge - LPChip" (http://knyttlevels.com/levels/LPChip%20-%20The%20Explore%20Challenge.knytt.bin), though I do not remember any specific examples.
- All toast facts known: The enlightened state one achieves after comprehending all of the existing toast facts!
- Every level is canon: A conspiracy theory.
- Juni in SMBX: References Juni as a playable character (https://youtu.be/Ik_pIkZTkVo) in SMBX.
-
ni2.se before deletion: Nifflas' official website looked a lot nicer than before he decided to take it down. Some people might still remember the minimalistic, yet endearing style of it.
https://web.archive.org/web/20040509142025/http://nifflas.ni2.se:80/ (https://web.archive.org/web/20040509142025/http://nifflas.ni2.se:80/) - the first version of the site 2004.05.09
Or
https://web.archive.org/web/20110803202448/http://nifflas.ni2.se/ (https://web.archive.org/web/20110803202448/http://nifflas.ni2.se/)
Yes, it was a good site, now it's worse :nuts:
-
- ORTOFAKTOR: References the strange Tileset208, which appears in various levels at some point. The figure itself is mysterious and somewhat ominous.
There's some more/sad aspects of 'ORTOFAKTOR' that I thought this could be referring to, you can find out more in this thread (https://nifflas.lp1.nl/index.php?topic=6123.0).
- Level archive animated icons: It is possible to upload a level with an animated icon to knyttlevels.com, and so far two creators have taken advantage of this bug: strange lands and me. You can see it by searching for our levels there.
And me! (http://knyttlevels.com/?s=pits) I guess I was too subtle about it, haha. I also have a feeling 'strange lands' is actually 'mathexpert' and this is a classic example of confusion resulting from the level name/author fields not being in the order you expect when you go to create a level.
-
There's some more/sad aspects of 'ORTOFAKTOR' that I thought this could be referring to, you can find out more in this thread (https://nifflas.lp1.nl/index.php?topic=6123.0).
A very interesting read. That's another reason why I didn't feel like explaining everything myself in the first place, there's more to some of these things than just I know.
And me! (http://knyttlevels.com/?s=pits) I guess I was too subtle about it, haha.
Whoa, this is totally new to me. Very cool.
-
ni2.se before deletion: Nifflas' official website looked a lot nicer than before he decided to take it down. Some people might still remember the minimalistic, yet endearing style of it.
https://web.archive.org/web/20040509142025/http://nifflas.ni2.se:80/ (https://web.archive.org/web/20040509142025/http://nifflas.ni2.se:80/) - the first version of the site 2004.05.09
Or
https://web.archive.org/web/20110803202448/http://nifflas.ni2.se/ (https://web.archive.org/web/20110803202448/http://nifflas.ni2.se/)
Yes, it was a good site, now it's worse :nuts:
Also this version (I liked the most):
https://web.archive.org/web/20081106145029/http://nifflas.ni2.se:80/
-
The actual last thing way down in the Marianas Trench should be "people who get the game to run at proper 50 fps instead of 32-ish"