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Episode 2 Theme/Town Thread

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SAJewers
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Re: Episode 2 Theme/Town Thread

Post by SAJewers »

Hoeloe wrote:
SAJewers wrote:No no, what I'm saying was the impression of professional indie game in Ep1 was because of a few people who insisted on having that way in order to shows others up, despite people in the discussion thread for Ep1 mostly saying that we should aim for mostly the same thing as ASMBXT, but better.
Ah. I see. However, when the new development team came in for episode 2, the discussion gravitated towards "professional standard indie game" not to show people up, but because new tools were appearing (like LunaLua and PGE) that made it achievable, and people were excited to see the possibilities of a project that really makes good use of it. I think that is what has been worked towards, and it's worked out pretty well for the most part. I think it may have swayed people's views that it was approached from a more positive angle, and also that the tools were clearly there that made it a plausible goal.
And that's fine, I just don't want to force people to do certain things in their levels or whatnot, nor discourage people from making fun levels that are a bit Janky and may miss the mark slightly, but are still cool (like Everything is a Stone Block).
ano0maly wrote:
SAJewers wrote:No no, what I'm saying was the impression of professional indie game in Ep1 was because of a few people who insisted on having that way in order to shows others up, despite people in the discussion thread for Ep1 mostly saying that we should aim for mostly the same thing as ASMBXT, but better. That's why A2XT Ep1 is what it is.
But it ended up being better quality and better received anyway, despite those things being the intentions for the result. So why not keep that standard?
Because I don't think the better quality should be because someone is forcing quality, but because what we end up making ends up being of good quality. In the end, it should be good because what we all made together ended up being good, not because one or two people decided what good was and forced that standard. Everyone should be able to take pride in the finished product. For me, that was lacking a bit in Ep1.
freakin whatzit wrote:i, for one, am as interested in this game as i am because it's more than just some silly levels thrown together for raocow. obviously, the people working on cutscenes, towns, new mechanics, and the like think so too, or else they wouldn't be making these things in the first place. i don't see how this is a bad thing.

whether episode 1 was supposed to be 'professional indie game' or not has no bearing on this, because this isn't episode 1. it ended up being a good idea for episode 1 and episode 2 and things have been working out extremely well for this project.
I'm not saying it's a bad thing, I just don't want a extremely small group of people dictating what features are used, or what the standards for quality are, and that kind of stuff, and some people not getting a full say.
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Re: Episode 2 Theme/Town Thread

Post by Hoeloe »

That's all fine with me, but it's important that features are decided upon, just that they should be done by discussion rather than by someone just deciding it. So far, this is what the development team has tried to do, by discussing everything thoroughly in the Skype group, and by posting polls on the forums.

Ultimately, we're not trying to force a standard or change people's designs, we're just trying to set some goals so we have something to work towards, and a guide for people to work from.
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Re: Episode 2 Theme/Town Thread

Post by SAJewers »

Yeah, that's exactly what I want too. That didn't happen in Ep1.
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Re: Episode 2 Theme/Town Thread

Post by freakin whatzit »

SAJewers wrote:Yeah, that's exactly what I want too. That didn't happen in Ep1.
but it is happening in episode 2, so why did this argument even happen? it seems like you were asking for something that's already there???
help am i missing something im so confused right now
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Re: Episode 2 Theme/Town Thread

Post by SAJewers »

I think my issue was that people were still coming up with ideas on paper, when that should have ended a long time ago. Finalizing idea and setting them in motion probably should have been one of the first things we did, before we even started looking at levels.
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Re: Episode 2 Theme/Town Thread

Post by freakin whatzit »

but wasn't hoeloe suggesting to stop new ideas and just focus on what you already have? that sounds like just what you wanted, and i don't get where the disagreement between you two came from. was that all just a gigantic misunderstanding?
i had this impression that you wanted to just scrap everything that wasn't completed yet in order to make it more like asmt and asmbxt. that's why i thought you wanted to change the project's direction. was that a misunderstanding too?

i'm sorry if i caused any unnecessary annoyance or anything.
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Re: Episode 2 Theme/Town Thread

Post by Rixithechao »

Communication is key. This argument started with poor articulation on my part, and we've been working toward better communication between the skype group and the forum these last few months.

EDIT: Well, it was more than poor articulation, but I'm not going to spend several more hours looking for the right words. The bottom line is I screwed up, we're all generally in agreement that we're not doing the particular thing I was offering to do, and we're going to come up with a feature lock to help ensure everyone's on the same page as far as the scope of the game goes.
Last edited by Rixithechao 8 years ago, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: Episode 2 Theme/Town Thread

Post by SAJewers »

No, that was rocky.

I was just talking about how it was done in ASMBXT, and that if people have ideas, they should take it on their own prerogative to make sure that idea becomes a reality, rather than "here's an idea, let's do this", getting some support, then doing little to nothing it and leaving people in the dark with what's going on, and leaving people who were expecting something with nothing. The Ep1 cutscenes being an example, as no one really knew at any time what was going on with them, and causing frustration.
Rockythechao wrote:Communication is key.
This 100%. Cutscenes and the Siblings were what they were in Ep1 because of little communication, and most communication on those things IIRC being arguing over stuff that wasn't related to making them work in the best way possible.

EDIT: As for feature lock, that should be done now for almost everything except towns. At least, for levels, they should be.
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Re: Episode 2 Theme/Town Thread

Post by Mabel »

woah thats alot of reading.

anyways, I have a pretty barebones setup done for my town. Ill post progress if needed but anyways back to reading the thread!
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Re: Episode 2 Theme/Town Thread

Post by sedron »

Rockythechao wrote:Many things.
All right, thanks for the help, Rocky! I'll talk with Fluffi and we'll start our work shortly, as it sounds like a lot of the non-vanilla stuff can be implemented after the fact. If we need any clarification or anything we'll post in the thread again.
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Re: Episode 2 Theme/Town Thread

Post by Rixithechao »

Let's get started on the feature locks/specifications/guidelines for towns and the hub (the hub should probably get its' own thread because there's going to be a lot to it).

The previous post with the rough guidelines we've established so far for reference (further links within the post): viewtopic.php?f=36&t=15022&start=275#p360913


MAIN HUB:
- Chronoton city/central headquarters-type place called Temporis
- Exists outside of linear time
- Some NPCs will change locations based on story progress
- Made up of several sub-areas; each uses one or two sections, some unlocked over the course of the story
- Don't know if we should include a powerup shop or not

In order of least to most expendable:

R.E.T.C.O.N.:
- A massive machine/industrial complex that regulates time
- Large cube roughly the size of Ancheim from Bravely Default; "less castle, more clock/clockwork"
- Exterior and interior sections; exterior has walkways up and around the side with technician NPCs
- Has a fuel tank-esque chute thing for the player to dump the super leek into; should be relatively close to the entrance to minimize tedium
- Setting of the final story level; after beating W8 the wall is torn open near the fuel chute with the other pathways closed off; new opening takes the player to a level that weaves between deep inner machinery and parts of the hub with old pathways blocked off and new openings torn through walls; final battle takes place in the Core room, modeled after the area behind the clock face of Big Ben

Central market/plaza/area:
- Connects most/all the separate sub-areas
- Contains time portal to access world select, portal should be near (if not right next to) the entrance to the R.E.T.C.O.N.
- Geographically/aesthetically, could be set around a wall separating the R.E.T.C.O.N. from the rest of the hub city.

Tempura Anomaly:
- Single-section diner/restaurant
- Similar to Milliways from Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy -- customers come from all of space and time
- Customers change every world; includes talkhaus members, siblings and other side characters, chars from other games, future versions of the main characters (to foreshadow events in the current world or give the player words of encouragement for the W8 boss) and characters otherwise removed from the game after certain points in the story (for example, Broadsword in the postgame)
- Garish's "Palace": A run-down shack/warehouse Garish has converted into a combo palace/army barracks (accessible after the end of W2)
- Contains a war room, "throne room" and barracks/bedrooms for soldiers and two generals
- Uncle @sbestos appears in the throne room after W6

Nietzsche Niche:
- A "nihilist boutique" costume shop run by Mishi; accessible after beating W2

Grand Archive:
- A high-tech library to serve as the in-game encyclopedia
- Player can access character bios, summaries of other ASMT series games, cutscene summaries, additional lore


I'm out of time tonight but I'll start compiling the stuff for towns tomorrow. In the meantime, everyone feel free to discuss and iterate on the hub stuff; once those plans are finalized they can be the starting point for a new thread for the hub. We also need to start thinking about stuff like available Tempura NPC slots (# of permanent customers and # of temporary customers per world, how much of them are talkhaus members vs. characters, etc).
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Re: Episode 2 Theme/Town Thread

Post by Hoeloe »

Rockythechao wrote:Temporis
Temporis is the world 3 town, we don't yet have a name for the hub.
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Re: Episode 2 Theme/Town Thread

Post by Rixithechao »

Arright, here's the first draft of the town specs. Sorry for the wait, everyone!

TOWN GUIDELINES (DRAFT 1):
Requirements:
- Each town must have the following utility buildings: costume shop, powerup shop, leek sanctuary. A catllama stable is also required unless the majority of the world's levels filter catllamas.
- Each town should have one mysterious hidden penguin NPC (essentially the hidden Raolock Holmes NPCs in Ep. 1 except these ones say noot noot)
- Each town should have switch blocks for all 5 characters, ideally with a set grouped together in the same room/screen.
- No life farms (Ep. 2 won't have lives, just demos), goals/level-ending leeks, free powerups or non-reward raocoins
- No start-of-level cutscenes aside from awesome dramatic entrances (W2's town is the sole exception for story & pacing reasons)

Ideal, but not strictly required:
- 1 to 3 sidequests
- A replayable minigame that can award players with raocoins and/or collectibles
- 1-3 signs to mark spots for treasure chests containing raocoins/collectibles (use "CHEST" as the message)
- NPC dialogue related to the story or easter eggs/advice for specific levels in the world (some NPCs can be reserved for these to be added later)

General Design Process/Workflow:
- Towns should be built vanilla-first but with later lua insertion in mind; try and leave enough space and resources for the above elements, and do so in a way that they can easily be repurposed if any of the related features don't make the final cut.
- Lua peeps will handle code insertion & collaborate with town creators to ensure designs are converted to code correctly.
- Creators may opt to crowdsource any of required or ideal elements if they don't want to bother with them and don't mind others taking part in their design; any elements to be crowdsourced should be given reasonable space/resources for others to work with (i.e. if you want a crowdsourced minigame, leave a section for it; if you want others to come up with a sidequest for you, include hiding spots and/or landmarks they can build the quests around)
- When submitting the vanilla town files, creators should specify which elements they would like crowdsourced with ideal specifications (i.e. "I'd like the minigame to incorporate blarggs if possible", "at least one NPC should talk about scented candles", "please do not use the giant robot statue for the sidequests but the fountain is A-OK") and which of the non-mandatory elements they absolutely do not want included ("a minigame would conflict with the tone I'm going for, so please don't add one").
- Any non-mandatory elements that are not included/specified and not explicitly opted out of upon submission are assumed as "crowdsourcing permitted, include at others' discretion".

NPCs:
- NPCs will mostly consist of characters related to the world; only a handful should be talkhaus members as the majority of talkhaus self-inserts will be in the Tempura Anomaly in the hub.
- A custom pause menu system for viewing obtained collectibles/a quest log/library-related options is in the works; if we cannot replace the regular pause menu with it by the time all towns are ready for lua insertion, the menu will instead be accessed by a "lorekeeper" NPC in each town. Try to set aside an NPC near one of the shops/switch blocks as a candidate for the lorekeeper.

Utility Buildings:
- All utility buildings will have standardized mechanics and storefront sign graphics
- Insertion of the leek sanctuary and catllama stable will be mostly automated through their own libraries, so all you need to do for both is include the appropriate sign by a door/warp/pipe and reserve an empty section.
- For powerup and costume shops, give them their own section(s) with a bit of space for the blocks/other purchasing objects, and a flexible enough layout to expand or shrink the space if necessary; both types of shops will require space for the transaction blocks/pipes, and costume shops will also need space for an additional changing booth door/curtain/broom closet (the costume changing will be handled via a pop-up menu that appears after the player enters the warp, so the room behind the door/curtain should not be defined).
- Shop selections and prices will be determined and balanced during lua insertion and testing
- To save on BGOs and blocks, shop interiors can be made as images and displayed with lua (provided they aren't too ridiculously large)
- If you want to do unique variations like a run-down leek sanctuary or combo shops like outdoor markets/bazaars, malls/department stores, etc., those kinds of things can be arranged, but the space/layouts need to be planned accordingly.
- Sanctuaries and stables will use music packaged with their libraries. Shops should use different music from the town's main theme, though which music is up to the creator; pre-made themes are available here but creators may use any music of their preference.
- Plan for things that can take the place of the storefronts/shops, just in case.

Collectibles/Rewards:
- Sidequest/chest/minigame rewards will be determined and balanced during lua insertion and testing
- Possible rewards from minigames and sidequests will include leeks, exclusive costumes, trading cards and raocoin bundles
- Raocoins are the main currency and are used to unlock powerup generators, buy costumes, and rent catllamas
- Trading cards are unique arbitrary collectibles for fun/100% completion (card planning here, mockups here)

Minigames:
- Minigames can be done through mostly vanilla means, let us know if you need lua written for things like scorekeeping or rewards.
- Minigames will have leeks and cards as first-time prizes and high-score prizes, respectively, with raocoins being awarded otherwise.
- Minigames may or may not charge raocoins for replaying, we'll decide this during reward/raocoin balancing

Sidequests:
- Sidequests will follow this general format:
-- Player starts quest by interacting with a specific NPC/object and accepting their request/choosing to investigate further.
-- Player must complete one or more tasks (can be in a set order or any order the player wants)
-- Player finishes the quest by interacting with an NPC/object (doesn't have to be the same one that started it) once all tasks are done
- Sidequests-related UI, progress management, etc. will be implemented through an upcoming API (altruistX), not cinematX's sidequest system
- Sidequest activities/sequences can be implemented through vanilla event/layer shenanigans or submitted as design plans/notes; we'll handle converting/implementing the necessary lua.
- Place a moon on a hidden layer near the NPC you plan to end the quest with as a placeholder reward.
- Additional guidelines for quests that require the player to do something out of town:
-- Could be in the hub, one or more previous towns or one or more levels in the same world.
-- Out-of-town quests will be run as self-contained scripts launched by altruistX in lunaworld (no changes to level or level's code will be necessary and quest scripts will only run in their respective level(s))
-- Get permission from/collaborate with the creator of a level or town before involving their level in a quest.
-- Likewise, consider allowing others to include your town in their quest.
-- Design them around mechanics/NPCs/objects/etc already present in the level.
-- Out-of-town sidequests may be left out of Ep. 2 if we don't end up with enough to justify their inclusion, so keep that possibility in mind.
- Example quests:
-- Talk to a cook, get asked to retrieve fruit. Player must collect at least 5 berries from 8 different spots in a level without getting hurt. Collect them all, return to the cook and get rewarded.
-- Mail carrier is bad at their job, dropped several packages (resprited mushroom blocks) throughout town. Find the packages and deliver them to the correct recipients based on given info ("the red one goes to this person", etc.), then return to the postal worker and get rewarded.
-- Someone wants a tour around town, agree to escort them. After you take them there, finish the level and then meet back in town for a reward.
-- Sneak into a heavily guarded facility to retrieve the house keys someone dropped in there.
-- Kill X number of enemies from any level in the current world.


Regarding the stuff in the sidequest section, altruistX is about 80-90% done and the sidequest script functionality works. Here's a video of an example quest based on the berries in Muffin Bluff:




I'm not going to push for an out-of-town quest in every world (and I'm definitely not going to push for the bonus sidequest levels again), but I'd like to see if we can get at least one in four different worlds with a relatively balanced distribution, not counting the test quest; I made it before asking MonkeyShrapnel for permission to even show it here, so it'd be hypocritical of me to include it considering I specified "collaborate/get permission first, then design/build" in the guidelines. I may still use it if MonkeyShrapnel wants it in the game, but only if he wants it and we already have enough others to justify the inclusion of any OOT quests at all.

But yeah, do those sound like acceptable conditions, SAJ?
Everyone else feel free to chip in and offer your thoughts, make suggestions, etc. as well so we can revise and finalize these guidelines.
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Re: Episode 2 Theme/Town Thread

Post by Willhart »

That looks good. I think having a quick checklist or something for required and optional things woulf be good too. Something that is quick to keep up with and help people to not forget anything.
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Re: Episode 2 Theme/Town Thread

Post by Rixithechao »

Some quick changes based on Skype discussions. I'll leave the checklist Willhart suggested and the next draft up to someone else.

TOWN GUIDELINES (DRAFT 2):
Requirements:
  • Each town must have the following utility buildings: costume shop, powerup shop, leek sanctuary. A catllama stable is also required unless the majority of the world's levels filter catllamas.
  • Each town should have one mysterious hidden penguin NPC; the penguin can say whatever, and it'll play a noot noot sound when spoken to
  • Each town should have switch blocks for all 5 characters, ideally with a set grouped together in the same room/screen.
  • No life farms (lives won't do anything in Ep. 2), goals/level-ending leeks, free powerups or non-reward raocoins
  • No start-of-level cutscenes aside from awesome dramatic entrances (W2's town is the sole exception for story & pacing reasons)
Ideal, but not strictly required:
  • 1 to 3 sidequests
  • A replayable minigame that can award players with raocoins and/or collectibles
  • 1-3 signs to mark spots for treasure chests containing raocoins/collectibles (use "CHEST" as the message)
  • NPC dialogue related to the story or easter eggs/advice for specific levels in the world (some NPCs can be reserved for these to be added later)
General Design Process/Workflow:
  • Towns should be built vanilla-first but with later lua insertion in mind; try and leave enough space and resources for the above elements, and do so in a way that they can easily be repurposed if any of the related features don't make the final cut.
  • Lua peeps will handle code insertion & collaborate with town creators who aren't proficient with lua to ensure designs are converted to code correctly. Assuming scope is not reduced, this includes converting all vanilla NPC messages to cinematX dialogue calls.
  • Creators may handle some or all of their dialogue and quest conversion if they want assuming they still have a vanilla version provided.
  • Creators may opt to crowdsource any of the required or ideal elements if they don't want to bother with them and don't mind others taking part in their design
  • Any elements to be crowdsourced should be given the necessary space/sections/resources for others to implement them (i.e. if you want a crowdsourced minigame, leave a section for it; if you want others to come up with a sidequest for you, include hiding spots and/or landmarks they can build the quests around; see the Utility Buildings section for the sanctuary and stable.)
  • When submitting the vanilla town files, creators should include a readme.txt specifying which elements they would like crowdsourced with ideal specifications (i.e. "I'd like the minigame to incorporate blarggs if possible", "at least one NPC should talk about scented candles", "please do not use the giant robot statue for the sidequests but the fountain is A-OK") and which of the non-mandatory elements they absolutely do not want included ("a minigame would conflict with the tone I'm going for, so please don't add one").
  • Any non-mandatory elements that are not included/specified and not explicitly opted out of are assumed as "crowdsourcing permitted, include at others' discretion".
NPCs:
  • NPCs will mostly consist of characters related to the world; only a handful should be talkhaus members as the majority of talkhaus self-inserts will be in the Tempura Anomaly in the hub.
  • A custom pause menu system for viewing obtained collectibles/a quest log/library-related options is in the works; if we cannot replace the regular pause menu with it by the time all towns are ready for lua insertion, the menu will instead be accessed by a "lorekeeper" NPC in each town. Try to set aside an NPC near one of the shops/switch blocks as a candidate for the lorekeeper.
Utility Buildings:
  • All utility buildings will have standardized mechanics and storefront sign graphics
  • Insertion of the leek sanctuary will be mostly automated through its' own library, so all you need to do is include the appropriate sign by a door/warp/pipe and reserve an empty section. The same goes for the catllama stable; place a storefront & warp, reserve another section.
  • For powerup and costume shops, give them their own section(s) with a bit of space for the blocks/other purchasing objects, and a flexible enough layout to expand or shrink the space if necessary; both types of shops will require space for the transaction blocks/pipes, and costume shops will also need space for an additional changing booth door/curtain/broom closet (the costume changing will be handled via a pop-up menu that appears after the player enters the warp, so the room behind the door/curtain should not be defined).
  • Shop selections and prices will be determined and balanced during lua insertion and testing
  • To save on BGOs and blocks, shop interiors can be made as images and displayed with lua (provided they aren't too ridiculously large)
  • If you want to do unique variations like a run-down leek sanctuary or combo shops like outdoor markets/bazaars, malls/department stores, etc., those kinds of things can be arranged, but the space/layouts need to be planned accordingly.
  • Sanctuaries and stables will use music packaged with their libraries. Shops should use different music from the town's main theme, though which music is up to the creator; pre-made themes are available here but creators may use any music of their preference.
  • Plan for things that can take the place of the storefronts/shops, just in case.
Collectibles/Rewards:
  • Sidequest/chest/minigame rewards will be determined and balanced during lua insertion and testing
  • Possible rewards from minigames and sidequests will include leeks, exclusive costumes, trading cards and raocoin bundles
  • Raocoins are the main currency and are used to unlock powerup generators, buy costumes, and rent catllamas
  • Trading cards are unique arbitrary collectibles for fun/100% completion (card planning here, mockups here)
Minigames:
  • Minigames can be done through mostly vanilla means, let us know if you need lua written for things like scorekeeping or rewards.
  • Minigames will have leeks and cards as first-time prizes and high-score prizes, respectively, with raocoins being awarded otherwise.
  • Minigames may or may not charge raocoins for replaying, we'll decide this during reward/raocoin balancing
Sidequests:
  • Sidequests will follow this general format:
    • Player starts quest by interacting with a specific NPC/object and accepting their request/choosing to investigate further.
    • Player must complete one or more tasks (can be in a set order or any order the player wants)
    • Player finishes the quest by interacting with an NPC/object (doesn't have to be the same one that started it) once all tasks are done
  • Sidequests-related UI, progress management, etc. will be implemented through an upcoming API (altruistX), not cinematX's sidequest system
  • Sidequest activities/sequences can be implemented through vanilla event/layer shenanigans or submitted as design plans/notes; we'll handle converting/implementing the necessary lua.
  • Place a moon on a hidden layer near the NPC you plan to end the quest with as a placeholder reward.
  • Additional guidelines for quests that require the player to do something out of town:
    • Could be in the hub, one or more previous towns or one or more levels in the same world.
    • Out-of-town quests will be run as self-contained scripts launched by altruistX in lunaworld (no changes to level or level's code will be necessary and quest scripts will only run in their respective level(s))
    • Get permission from/collaborate with the creator of a level or town before involving their level in a quest.
    • Likewise, consider allowing others to include your town in their quest.
    • Design them around mechanics/NPCs/objects/etc already present in the level.
    • Out-of-town sidequests may be left out of Ep. 2 if we don't end up with enough to justify their inclusion, so keep that possibility in mind.
  • Example quests:
    • The test quest in this video
    • Mail carrier is bad at their job, dropped several packages (resprited mushroom blocks) throughout town. Find the packages and deliver them to the correct recipients based on given info ("the red one goes to this person", etc.), then return to the postal worker and get rewarded.
    • Someone wants a tour around town, agree to escort them. After you take them there, finish the level and then meet back in town for a reward.
    • Sneak into a heavily guarded facility to retrieve the house keys someone dropped in there.
    • Kill X number of enemies from any level in the current world.
[/spoiler]
Delightful Adventure Enhanced is out now!

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Wohlstand
Moondust and TheXTech developer
Posts: 186
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First name: Vitaly
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Re: Episode 2 Theme/Town Thread

Post by Wohlstand »

Rockythechao wrote:A catllama stable is also required unless the majority of the world's levels filter catllamas.
Are restrictions for specific colors (for example, generate only one green or disallow most powerful of them)? or I just can put generator per all 8 types?
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