These Levels are Unfinished (No, seriously)

In a certain place in time and space I recently revealed plans I've been procrastinating over since ages ago to release a bunch of unfinished, probably-abandoned projects.

All of these levels are unfinished and none are very long. I've added some in-game notes to the end of each level explaining what my plans were and why the level was never completed.


2012 - Deep Remembers [Small, Hard]
This level would have told the story of a Knytt waking up deep underground and trying to find her way to the surface. If that sounds familiar, it probably won't be a surprise to learn I made this not long after I finished 'Petals of a Dying Flower' and while I was getting close to finishing 'I Dreamed of the Sky'. I had a plan for the whole level with lots of weirdness and mystery - all the good stuff.

What's there is, well, the graphics are not amazing. Which is pretty much why this died; I didn't have the skill to make things look how I wanted. I also had plans for cutscenes that were way beyond my ability to make. Ambition overstretched reach and while this floated in the back of my mind for a good few years (as late as 2018 I was considering asking Vegetal Gibber if he wanted to make it as a collaboration), I never did more than tweak the script from time to time.


2013 - 100 Rooms and You [Medium, Very Hard, KS+]
I wanted to make a level with 100 small puzzles, ten sets of ten puzzles with a different theme for each set. The first were a kind of tutorial, the next were set underground, the next were to be made using Nifflas' tilesets...

I am not amazing at making puzzles. So in the end I found myself making a succession of increasingly nasty challenges.

The level went through two or three iterations where I made a small amount, deleted it and started again, before I realised this just wasn't working for me. I couldn't make the level I wanted to make, so... I put it to bed.


2013 - Remember Me [Small, Normal, KS+]


In 2013 I posted a few screenshots here and there for what ought to have been 'Remember Me'. It was gonna be an introspective, scenic level playing with revisiting areas in different periods of time, exploring the character's memories of familiar places.

It died for the stupidest of reasons; I wasn't happy with a single tileset that, looking back, actually looked great. What was the problem, Past-Talps? It's a shame because I really liked the story, and the concept of moving through time. I kinda would like to resurrect this project... maybe... one day.

Just a warning - the music track in the first area of the level might be copywritten.


2014 - Liangzhu [Small, Hard/Very Hard, KS+]


This level actually got a preview thread before I gave up on it; it generated a fair bit of excitement, so apologies to everyone I let down.

I wanted to make a levels using tilesets made in the Community Tileset Project. I once again had a plan for the whole level, including a sketch-map.

So why was it unfinished? Well. The story was miserable and I couldn't find a way to redeem it. And committing myself to using the Crystal Caves tileset for the whole level meant every area had to be a shade of turquoise that slowly causes your corneas to disintegrate. The project stalled and never got finished. Though I used some plans I'd made for this in 'Petals II'.

Ambition overstretched reach and while this floated in the back of my mind for a good few years (as late as 2018 I was considering asking Vegetal Gibber if he wanted to make it as a collaboration), I never did more than tweak the script from time to time.

Oooh... for a moment, I was curious if "Deep Remembers" was the project that originally spawned our past collab attempt (the one with a silhouetted world acting as a hub, from where you could access several "bubbles", each one with a different setting and in full color), but it seems that "Remember me" is the one that is actually based around that concept...?  Nevertheless, thanks for releasing these levels! It's a shame that they were never completed but, at the same time, it's great to get a chance to sneak a peek even in their incomplete status.

I'm very tempted to do the same with a bunch of unfinished levels that I will probably never come back to... sometimes, you need more courage to finally let go of something than to hold on and persevere. Then again, me refusing to completely abandon past ideas is what eventually drove me to create Forgotten Realms, so... gah!

Quote from: Talps on July 25, 2023, 20:41:00

Ambition overstretched reach and while this floated in the back of my mind for a good few years (as late as 2018 I was considering asking Vegetal Gibber if he wanted to make it as a collaboration), I never did more than tweak the script from time to time.

Oooh... for a moment, I was curious if "Deep Remembers" was the project that originally spawned our past collab attempt (the one with a silhouetted world acting as a hub, from where you could access several "bubbles", each one with a different setting and in full color), but it seems that "Remember me" is the one that is actually based around that concept...?  Nevertheless, thanks for releasing these levels! It's a shame that they were never completed but, at the same time, it's great to get a chance to sneak a peek even in their incomplete status.

Deep Remembers predates our attempt to collaborate by quite a bit. When we started talking about making a level together, I considered bringing up Deep Remembers before we started working on that original idea.

Huge privilege to play these levels. I'm going to be annoying and make a post for every one I play because that's just how I do things. Remember Me is really beautiful and I loved the explanation at the end, it was touching. I hope that someday you finish that level!!

(Actually I'm just going to modify the post when I play new levels)
Deep Remembers was good and had some very fun long jump challenges. I really like the idea of a dead soul leaving earth. The whole thing was very "on brand" for Talps.

I tried 100 Rooms but it was too hard and too stressful knowing it was going to get harder with each room.

Liangzhu was fantastic. The idea of slowly turning to solid is poetic, it reminds me of this one segment of The Witches (the book) and also that one terrifying, rare disease where people's muscle turns to bone. The screens look great and I don't think strong colors that melt your eyes is bad; Polana made a whole level out of it and it's one of my favorites (Hostile Landscape). Also, I love Xianu.

Deep Remembers was nice, even though I gently despise the silhouetted sprayers (17:1 and 17:5) for being so RNG-based. Its spirit definitely lived on in your other work, so I’m not too sad it was abandoned. The waterfall transition into the first colored area is lovely.

100 Rooms and You hooked me the least, but it was a treat to see ego’s Blueprints tileset used. I agree it may have been more fun as a puzzle level. I ended up cheating my way through the caves with the save anywhere function. The signs got a few laughs out of me. Also, surasshu is such a stellar musician—great selection!

I’d love to see Remember Me revisited, though I won’t hold my breath. Great concept and visuals. I particularly dug the mine tileset; it felt like what I might have done with mine had I possessed the artistic wherewithal back then. I do so adore the roses from Florescence Greens as well.

More than any of these, Liangzhu feels like a long lost treasure, perhaps a little like Schubert’s beautiful but unfinished 8th symphony. The track Path of Water is excellent and fit perfectly here. I actually didn’t mind the constant turquoise, nor do I balk at a depressing story, but I understand it’s one matter to be a bystander to the tale and quite another to be its author. Ah well, perhaps in another world!

Thank you for taking the time to share these little fragments of hidden Knytt history.