Wow I actually (barely) made the deadline.
Here we go... Flight 2. Because the first one was pretty well received. Keep in mind this one is a lot harder than the last one. Also, the glitch where the night spirits don't spawn still exists. To fix it, simply fly around the screen until they appear. (you might have to fly in some pretty weird areas)
Unfortunately... of course I got distracted. But, it might be curious to read and see a few things I toyed with for the contest.
Code:
Scenario 1# Max and Ilo
Connection... Established.
Portrait check.
Text check.
Visuals...
Visuals..................Error.
Running diagnostics...
Rerouting systems...
Visuals... Acceptable
Motion detected.
Threat... Unknown.
Audio check.
Language module loading...
"...away! Stay away from me!"
Threat... Low.
Communications module loading...
(YES/NO)
YES
"...You can talk?"
(YES/NO)
YES
"... You aren't going to attack me?"
(YES/NO)
YES
"... Thank goodness. I thought I was going to die!"
"Who are you? I thought all the robots were killers..."
(YES/NO)
YES
"... Hello?"
(YES/NO)
YES
"........ Great. It's broken."
(YES/NO)
NO
"... Sure. Whatever you say buddy! Just get us out of here!"
Advanced communications module loading...
Extrapolating scenario options...
(Hey you. Where are we?)
"HEY YOU."
"AHhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"
Adjusting output volume...
"Hey you."
"(whatshouldIdowhatshouldIdo)........ Y-yes?"
"Where are we?"
"... You don't know either?!"
"..."
"Wow. You know for a second there I thought to myself, hey Max, you might actually make it out of here!"
"The only ones who can navigate these tunnels are these acursed robots. And here I found the only one that isn't trying to kill me!"
"But what do you know, he's lost. Hahahahaha." *sigh*
Incoming Transmission:
[Protect the boy. Escape this place. Don't die. Tell him I lo-]
End of transmission.
Connection terminated.
"I lo"
"...? Ilo?"
"I will find the way out. We will survive. Ilo."
"What...? (is he serious? it, I mean? can I really trust it?)"
Movement activated.
Subroutines loaded to Menu.
"Your name is Ilo?"
Directive: Explore, protect, escape, survive.
Objective: Investigate the area.
"Ilo... that's your name?"
"Hello...?"
Designation: ????
Assigning Designation: Ilo
"I am Ilo."
[X-Calibar Presents]
[Max and Ilo]
(Saving Game)
[Save the boy. Escape this place. Don't die. Tell him I lo-]
Since I couldn't change the music without editing the .exe, I was attempting a minimalist approach painting everything a shade of gray. Including things like spikes and enemies, making it much more difficult to navigate simple areas if you aren't paying attention. I was going to remove music from most scenes, and instead focus on TSC sound effects and interaction with the environment.
Thus, I went through all the sounds and made a list of what they sounded like so I could use them at will:
Code:
Sounds:
72 same room blast
151 distant blast
154 very distant blast (this requires a trick to sound right)
29 teleport sound
107 mechanical gate opening/closing/heartbeat heavy
42 computer success
43 computer beep
2 text
14 energy/computer on sound
18 energy get/bing computer sound
5 prompt
1 choosing option
59 pressing button low
60 pressing button high
61 pressing button highest
65 activation
153 water hand splash
40 water running
41 water running
48 water droplet splash
20 health get
15 typewriter/jump sound
152 tick
100 tap tap
45 ting ting
31 ping ping
117 heavy swing
155 hit hollow metal
109 rat tat
34 rock bouncing
28 nice thump
23 small landing/heartbeat
12 knocking something out of the way
11 door opening
103 warning noise
110 door handle not opening
38 get equipped with
22 unlock something
4 change weapon/pang pang
37 trying to light something/empty sound
70 bullet hit
71 heavy fall
106 throw something
56 water splash
111 running thud
112 fast running thud
44 explosion
35 huge explosion
57 pain (female)
16 pain large (male)
17 death sound
3 hitting something with hand
54 punching/hitting creature heavily or being hit
49 swinging and hitting
25 monster nest of critters appear
26 large thump footstep
102 large bite
108 large creature jumping?
105 dog?
113 bat like creature flap attack
101 shock explosion
58 strange bark
55 critter squeal
39 some creature popping or spitting
30 small hopping jump
27 weird high pitch creature call
21 watery creature
6 tiny critter
115 huge creature appear
114 huge creature noise
50 little critter cry
51 larger critter yell
52 huge critter yell
53 strange creature yelp
116 game over loud
Had a room with all the sounds so I could easily test which and find which ones I wanted to use...
Also, it's worth noting that some TSC tricks were made public around the time of this contest. Stuff like using out of bounds flags to trigger unusual effects or keys. I tested some of that in there.
However, in the end I got distracted with other things before long...
Around the summer I had some free time open up and since the contest was pushed back was hoping to cook something up still. Though, in the end I spent my time on another game's contest and that fell flat due to time constraints... should have just stuck with one until the end!
After playing around with TSC I made something that lead me to this idea:
Here's the prologue to Cave Story 2 : The Fallen Petals
Booster stayed behind on the island to find Jenka.
Misery has gone her own way.
The humans returned and eventually restored Itoh and Sue to human form... though the curse can return.
Balrog, Quote and Curly found a peaceful place to settle down away from the manipulations of the larger world.
Life on the island worked to rebuild their towns and heal their wounds.
Jack returned to an abandonded Mimiga Village.
Some humans returned to the island to provide supplies and new housing to the mimigas who lost their home.
Misery has gone missing.
1 year after the events of Cave Story...
Red flowers have begun to spread on the island. Just when their lives seemed to be getting back on track, an uneasy atmosphere descends on the island.
Could the Demon Crown have reincarnated? Booster reaches out to Kazuma and the others. He wants to find the scout robots again and ask them to return.
The humans learn of the disturbing rumors
How Sue has changed since that fateful time...
Her desire for a greater purpose grew after her near-death experience. She grew restless after returning to a peaceful life of solitude. As if it never had happened.
She had become a bit unstable after being exposed to the Red Crystal, its mark was left on Sue. Transforming into a mimiga was one thing, but becoming blood thirsty monster was something else.
Sue was always a bit of a Tomboy, challenging the much larger Igor, bossing around Kazuma... but afterwards she started having nightmares.
She hides it well, but finds herself unable to forget everything that happened.
How Balrog has changed since that fateful time...
He got really lazy. Curly would spoil him a bit too much. HUZZAH
How Quote and Curly changed since that fateful time...
They started helping the locals, running little errands and playing with the kids. After their mission was complete, they needed to find their own place in the world.
Their creators were lost, and the nations of the world would only want to get their hands on them.
How Misery has changed since that fateful time...
She began to age once more with her curse broken. After being a tool for corrupt, power hungry crown bearers for ages... She has vanished knowing the damage she was responsible for.
Whether it was her own will or not... she cannot forget the endless nights. Why had she created the Crown in the first place? A dream from long ago...
She now seeks solitude and the time she needs to find where she will go from here...
Is she seen praying? "Is it so strange to see a witch praying?" She realizes that she was like those terrible crown bearers, driven by strong desires; caught up in a whirlpool of self-destruction.
The closer they got to their wish the more they lost themselves in the process... What was her wish...? Seeing what her uncle was turned into by the cruel jealousies of the people he tried to save? Revenge?
Was it the promise of a kingdom free of the machnations of man? Power? Was it the manipulating whispers of whom she trusted? Or just a false hope that she could achieve the impossible?
A grimoire of power...? Something that could change fate...
Kind of ignore the text, it was a test of things I could do with just TSC. Like an extended intro, curious effects, silent text, etc. But that flower throne is what actually gave me the idea for a Cave Story sequel mod. (Though obviously I didn't get very far...)
I can't find my original notes so I'll try to summarize what I recall:
Technical stuff I played with:
Code:
- Some neat TSC stuff like a changing intro. As you advance in the game, it'll reflect your accomplishments.
- Silent text
- TSC projectile madness, fireworks and smoke, rain and more craziness.
- Ways to continue the game after death.
etc.
The spoiler concept for a sequel:
I accidentally created flowers on the throne as seen in the youtube video. That gave me the idea... How could one reasonably continue Cave Story after the best ending?
With Ballos defeated, it should have been over. He was defeated in the one prison that could contain him. Contain his power and drag him to the realm of the dead. Jenka's seal chamber should have done that. However...
Let's return to that fateful moment.
"There you are! Just like Misery said."
"You came to rescue us!"
"Hold on tight!!"
"Let's go!"
"Duoooooooooooohhhh!"
"Is your head all right?"
"I'm not sure..."
... At that time, Balrog used his trademark strength to break the heroes free from the seal chamber. And at that time, I posit that like pricking a balloon, the seal chamber was breached, if only for a moment. The dying wild magic scattering into the wind... If there is a chance wild magic could find a way to evolve or escape the loss of that which sustained it unceasingly, that would have been the opportunity.
Wild magic: It took on a life of its own, preventing Ballos from dying. Bringing a good man into insanity and unleashing that power on a kingdom. While Ballos acted as a generator for the power, it acted like a radiation, affecting the island, even through its reactor core/seal chamber. Such as the appearance of the Red Flowers. Or the Demon Crown, which would respawn again and again. This overbearing power was safely balanced or fed on by the Core organisms.
At the time of the seal chamber breach, the Core had been defeated as well. Nothing would be nullifying this escaping madness.
Ballos was gone. The Doctor was dead. But, the wild magic had a chance to find a new host.
Elsewhere...
Did we forget anyone? A certain Mimiga that vanished without explanation?
The hero Quote swept in and rescued everyone... or did he?
Mimiga Village was once a lively little underground town. Arthur, King, Toroko, ... Jack ...
The best of friends. Now, Jack returns to a graveyard of a town. Mushrooms have overgrown the town.
Nobody came back to live there... except him.
The Doctor worked tirelessly to create his Red Crystal. Capturing Mimigas to be his test subjects. His ultimate goal to give humans the incredible power the Flower offered, without the side effects. Who's to say that Jack wasn't captured? That the Doctor didn't ramble on as he shared his vision with those in earshot. What if Jack *had* been captured... and left behind, broken after the news of his fallen friends. He would eventually escape the ruins of the half buried castle... a changed individual.
What becomes of those that the Hero does not save? When everyone else is gone, how do they move on...?
In the remains of that darkened castle, Red Flowers began to bloom once more.
...
And that's just spoiler backstory hints.
The game would start with Kazuma arriving with his Sky Dragon to find Quote and Curly. They are needed by Booster. Back on the island, some humans have been providing aid to the Mimigas. Sue and Booster is among those involved in helping out.
...And the rest... well, maybe I'll write more sometime if someone is interested.
After playing around with TSC I made something that lead me to this idea:
Here's the prologue to Cave Story 2 : The Fallen Petals
Booster stayed behind on the island to find Jenka.
Misery has gone her own way.
The humans returned and eventually restored Itoh and Sue to human form... though the curse can return.
Balrog, Quote and Curly found a peaceful place to settle down away from the manipulations of the larger world.
Life on the island worked to rebuild their towns and heal their wounds.
Jack returned to an abandonded Mimiga Village.
Some humans returned to the island to provide supplies and new housing to the mimigas who lost their home.
Misery has gone missing.
1 year after the events of Cave Story...
Red flowers have begun to spread on the island. Just when their lives seemed to be getting back on track, an uneasy atmosphere descends on the island.
Could the Demon Crown have reincarnated? Booster reaches out to Kazuma and the others. He wants to find the scout robots again and ask them to return.
The humans learn of the disturbing rumors
How Sue has changed since that fateful time...
Her desire for a greater purpose grew after her near-death experience. She grew restless after returning to a peaceful life of solitude. As if it never had happened.
She had become a bit unstable after being exposed to the Red Crystal, its mark was left on Sue. Transforming into a mimiga was one thing, but becoming blood thirsty monster was something else.
Sue was always a bit of a Tomboy, challenging the much larger Igor, bossing around Kazuma... but afterwards she started having nightmares.
She hides it well, but finds herself unable to forget everything that happened.
How Balrog has changed since that fateful time...
He got really lazy. Curly would spoil him a bit too much. HUZZAH
How Quote and Curly changed since that fateful time...
They started helping the locals, running little errands and playing with the kids. After their mission was complete, they needed to find their own place in the world.
Their creators were lost, and the nations of the world would only want to get their hands on them.
How Misery has changed since that fateful time...
She began to age once more with her curse broken. After being a tool for corrupt, power hungry crown bearers for ages... She has vanished knowing the damage she was responsible for.
Whether it was her own will or not... she cannot forget the endless nights. Why had she created the Crown in the first place? A dream from long ago...
She now seeks solitude and the time she needs to find where she will go from here...
Is she seen praying? "Is it so strange to see a witch praying?" She realizes that she was like those terrible crown bearers, driven by strong desires; caught up in a whirlpool of self-destruction.
The closer they got to their wish the more they lost themselves in the process... What was her wish...? Seeing what her uncle was turned into by the cruel jealousies of the people he tried to save? Revenge?
Was it the promise of a kingdom free of the machnations of man? Power? Was it the manipulating whispers of whom she trusted? Or just a false hope that she could achieve the impossible?
A grimoire of power...? Something that could change fate...
Kind of ignore the text, it was a test of things I could do with just TSC. Like an extended intro, curious effects, silent text, etc. But that flower throne is what actually gave me the idea for a Cave Story sequel mod. (Though obviously I didn't get very far...)
I can't find my original notes so I'll try to summarize what I recall:
Technical stuff I played with:
Code:
- Some neat TSC stuff like a changing intro. As you advance in the game, it'll reflect your accomplishments.
- Silent text
- TSC projectile madness, fireworks and smoke, rain and more craziness.
- Ways to continue the game after death.
etc.
The spoiler concept for a sequel:
I accidentally created flowers on the throne as seen in the youtube video. That gave me the idea... How could one reasonably continue Cave Story after the best ending?
With Ballos defeated, it should have been over. He was defeated in the one prison that could contain him. Contain his power and drag him to the realm of the dead. Jenka's seal chamber should have done that. However...
Let's return to that fateful moment.
"There you are! Just like Misery said."
"You came to rescue us!"
"Hold on tight!!"
"Let's go!"
"Duoooooooooooohhhh!"
"Is your head all right?"
"I'm not sure..."
... At that time, Balrog used his trademark strength to break the heroes free from the seal chamber. And at that time, I posit that like pricking a balloon, the seal chamber was breached, if only for a moment. The dying wild magic scattering into the wind... If there is a chance wild magic could find a way to evolve or escape the loss of that which sustained it unceasingly, that would have been the opportunity.
Wild magic: It took on a life of its own, preventing Ballos from dying. Bringing a good man into insanity and unleashing that power on a kingdom. While Ballos acted as a generator for the power, it acted like a radiation, affecting the island, even through its reactor core/seal chamber. Such as the appearance of the Red Flowers. Or the Demon Crown, which would respawn again and again. This overbearing power was safely balanced or fed on by the Core organisms.
At the time of the seal chamber breach, the Core had been defeated as well. Nothing would be nullifying this escaping madness.
Ballos was gone. The Doctor was dead. But, the wild magic had a chance to find a new host.
Elsewhere...
Did we forget anyone? A certain Mimiga that vanished without explanation?
The hero Quote swept in and rescued everyone... or did he?
Mimiga Village was once a lively little underground town. Arthur, King, Toroko, ... Jack ...
The best of friends. Now, Jack returns to a graveyard of a town. Mushrooms have overgrown the town.
Nobody came back to live there... except him.
The Doctor worked tirelessly to create his Red Crystal. Capturing Mimigas to be his test subjects. His ultimate goal to give humans the incredible power the Flower offered, without the side effects. Who's to say that Jack wasn't captured? That the Doctor didn't ramble on as he shared his vision with those in earshot. What if Jack *had* been captured... and left behind, broken after the news of his fallen friends. He would eventually escape the ruins of the half buried castle... a changed individual.
What becomes of those that the Hero does not save? When everyone else is gone, how do they move on...?
In the remains of that darkened castle, Red Flowers began to bloom once more.
...
And that's just spoiler backstory hints.
The game would start with Kazuma arriving with his Sky Dragon to find Quote and Curly. They are needed by Booster. Back on the island, some humans have been providing aid to the Mimigas. Sue and Booster is among those involved in helping out.
...And the rest... well, maybe I'll write more sometime if someone is interested.
I love the idea for #2! This has lots of potential and I like how Jack isn't just "another leader" He's alone, and broken which makes for some great inner conflict and Sue's psychological damage is really inventive, I like the idea of a character going insane not only from the thrill of an adventure but also from an object that transformed her into a monster like the red crystal.
I'd say for Misery, make her story of solitude possibly a prolouge, or maybe have it as a side story with little scattered bits by the remaining Mimigas/inhabitants.
