Re: A2MT Plot thread

[flameofdoubt]

Nice work Servant, I like the first one because it should express well the player's probable frustration at having had to collect, but they're all good, and your last one is likely the best as you thought. I wouldn't worry too much about the melodrama; you kept it serious but handled it well enough that with setup I think the players will go there with you.

[Joelcll]

thinking on how she treated king charles, demo is a super jerk.
and the parrot didn't strike me as very nice...

so, jerk vs jerk ver.

Demo: Ok featherbag, we've finished... now my prize

Parrot: What are you talking about, bad mannered cabin girl?! weren't this old parrot's stories enough reward!?

Demo: No, give me my anything fast, i have kilometres of spaceship to clean

Parrot:So you really expected to get something for helping an old parrot, huh? Well, i'll give you something. A lesson on how charity works!

boss

Demo:ok... i'll proceed to get everything in your house. Hey, what's this shiny key for?

Parrot: Oh, i found it in the master's bedroom, it was a sunny day, he was relaxing in one of the beach zones of the spaceship and i used that oportunity to...

Demo: yeah, yeah, it's very important and it opens something, ok thanks!

change key for map if necesary

Also, has it been already decided what the stories will be?
i had a few ideas for trivial bits, betwen the relevant backstory ones

"These coins remind me of my adventures, when i was fighting an army of space crabs,all my comrades were captured... and that's how i invented inverted broccoli, wich would later be called momentum"

"You know? Cooking a goopa is quite dificult. But you can make an exquisite soup with a blue shell if you mix it with red juice. Make sure to eat it fast, because it still bites.Bring me more coins and i may buy you some"

"The scientists in the spaceship have proven these coins to be highly poisonous to demons... but don't worry, you will become inmune if you come in contact with enough of them... probably"

"By looking at how this place is built, it's evident that the Master isn't a great architect. Some say that he wanted to make some kind of amusement park and got frustrated, Those big poles at the end of each sector still send a debt to your bank, so you should get those coins fast"

or something...

[Money]

I thought that the each parrot level would be unlocked after getting a certain number of Parrot Coins, not all at once. Plus, I thought that the parrot was gonna be the final final boss, so it wouldn't make sense for him to give something after being beaten.

Also, some of the more "serious" backstory:

A really, really long time ago, the Master built this space station. I've got no clue where the Master came from, or what he was like before he built this station. I don't imagine many people do. I just know that making this space station was the Master's dream, and he was so happy when he finally accomplished it.

You know, I remember the day you were rescued from space after being left to die. It wasn't all that long ago, really. At least not compared to the amount of time this station's been here... What? You didn't know? Huh, I guess I've got a story to tell you... though maybe later.

So yeah, remember when I said something about you being rescued from space. Yeah, that's because you were left to die by someone called the Artist. He has the power to create new life from nothing. And he was bent on making the perfect creation.

More later

[Joelcll]

more than a final final boss, he is an extra boss...
the final final boss at the extra world could be

a duel against the master himself... that would be so epic...

anyway , parrot.

"let me think... i suposse you already know about the secret swich palace that controls diferent structures in the whole spaceship don't you. And that if you reutrn to some places after accesing to a switch the path may have changed... Then i can't think of anything else...so bring me more coins"

"You know? The Master used to be a lover of board games, he would force everyone in the ship to watch him play, those were good times. Pandimensional conflicts were solved with games...
He was a great player... well, there was someone... who managed to beat him at his favourite game... most of the ship workers were literally fired from the ship that day... I'm sure a war was declared that day..."

"Do you have any idea of who the Artist is? I don't know who or what it is exactly, but the Master has been mumbling that name since the attack."

"Those cyclopic invaders, who look a lot like you if you ask me... have some weird sense of style... last time i saw hats like those was in a war with mind controled soldiers... it was quite sad"

"Yesterday i was talking with Charlie, one of the engineers, he says that the spaceship seems to have been savotaged with something similar to paint... strange huh?"

" I was going to tell you something about secret treasure chests hidden all around the spaceship... but i just remembered a story, during the pumpkinonian wars some of our soldiers told tales of sculptures of eyes coming to life, there was someone helping the enemies defeat the Master... "

" "He cheated! He doesn't have a reason to come and attack! I won her fairly... i'm hungry..."
That's what the master was saying last night while he was sleeping"

or similar?

[kilon]

more than a final final boss, he is an extra boss...
the final final boss at the extra world could be

a duel against the master himself... that would be so epic...

Unless you can write both a good story for the Artist AND the master in as little words as possible (because otherwise people cry like little babies) there is zero reason to do this.

Actually, even if you can write a good story there is still zero reason for it. Don't try to add to many things and twists to this game.

[Money]

Plus, I'm pretty sure The Master is being reserved for A3MT, in case we ever decide to make a third one of these

[Joelcll]

i thougt the master was going to be important in this one...

and giving story to a bonus fight isn't really necesary, ¿wasn't that one of the problems in asmt?

It's not a twist, demo is simply caught wandering in the secret world by the master and he decides to test her

But if it still feels confusing then forget i said anything

[Servant]

I think I do feel the need to note that the "Iris" script I written actually have Iris call her bodyguard "Master", and that this was intentional. (Though one could make the argument that Demo was not actually fighting "her" Master and that there are minor differences between the histories of Demo and Iris, which is perfectly fine, I just wanted to lay some implications.)

[limepie20]

What ever happened to Demo saying Queen lyrics?

[Joelcll]

if someone is awesome enough to translate demo's dialogues into queen's references, it would be great... but who?

[Servant]

Queen Test, using the Jerk versus Jerk transcript

Demo: Here I am, I'm the master of your destiny, I am the one the only one, I am the god of kingdom come, Gimme the prize, just gimme the prize.

Parrot: What are you talking about, bad mannered cabin girl?! weren't this old parrot's stories enough reward!?

Demo: Hey, hey, hey clear the way, There's no escape from my authority - I tell you - Gimme the prize, just gimme the prize.

Parrot:So you really expected to get something for helping an old parrot, huh? Well, i'll give you something. A lesson on how charity works!

boss

Demo:The battle's fought and the game is won, I am the one the only one. Gimme the prize, just gimme the prize.
Parrot: Take this key. I found it in the master's bedroom, it was a sunny day, he was relaxing in one of the beach zones of the spaceship and i used that oportunity to...
*Demo leaves*

I don't recommend using The Queen; though it does technically save us some time because we have Demo's dialogue already written for us, it also constrains the personality of Demo heavily and requires at least some edit to the song lyrics to make it work. I'm also not sure how long the Queen gimmick can go before it just become grating.

[raocow]

It would work greatly if we keep cutscenes to a minimum.

[ProfessorDemetri]

The thing about cutscenes, is that it builds character developement, and if we scrimp on that, then... well.. ya know lol.

[raocow]

Am I seriously the only one that doesn't believe that Demo 'DOESN'T need 'a character?' What makes the fan art in the fan-art thread neat is how completely different some people's interpret her. And that's awesome.

She jumps on things, she grows big by eating a raddish, and she follows the direction of 'a master'. To me, that is more than enough. She dies all the time but somehow comes back anyway, has zero regard for any sentient life around her, and eating a hamburger makes her round and float in the air.

As far as I'm concerned, the least we develope that, the better.

[Money]

It would work greatly if we keep cutscenes to a minimum.

This is why I had the idea of the backstory being told via the parrot after you get enough Parrot Coins, so it could be optional. It helps you understand what's going on better, but without it you can play the game with only a couple cutscenes.

[Servant]

From what I remember, most of the cutscenes purposely refrain from building Demo's character, aiming to make her either the "straight man" or an empty shell by which everyone else plays off of.

I don't supporting limiting cutscenes, not because I want to build Demo's character, but because I want to build the characters of the people all around Demo, and I don't feel long monologues would work very well (it doesn't seem natural to me).

[ProfessorDemetri]

I can see it both ways.
Cut scenes are informative, but they also break up the game play...
And in a platformer, isn't that what the game is built around? The game play? lol

Maybe keeping the cutscenes to a minimum is a better decision?

[Servant]

Is there any ASM hack to allow for text to be displayed during a battle? If that's the case, we could dump some text to represent the enemy monologuing to Demo and delivering the story, without the need to break up the game by cut-scenes.

If nobody other than me objects to "Queen Demo", I'll begin "Queen" translation soon.

[Money]

I'm pretty sure "Queen Demo" was just a joke that everyone took seriously

[limepie20]

It was.



That doesn't mean we can't do it.

[ProfessorDemetri]

Lime: I freakin' lol'd.
It would be funny, but mostly only the older audience would get it... the younger audience would only think that Demo... didn't know how to talk without being epic as hell lol

[kil3]

I'm pretty sure "Queen Demo" was just a joke that everyone took seriously

I thought we were serious

[raocow]

I personaly see it as a safeguard against taking the story too seriously.

I WAS serious by the way, back in the day.

[Daarkbuu]

And we all know how fantastic ASMT's cutscenes were. Especially the super long ones which would have absolutely no relevance to the rest of the game until the one short one before the entrance to the "final world". By then everyone forgot that there even was a story.

[Servant]

Before we begin this "Queen Translation" project, I'll need a list of how much dialogue already exist. Since the OP has, um, been stripped of past information...let me do some reconstruction of all dialogue that have already been made so I know where to start (and we have left to do). If I miss a cutscene dialogue, and I'm going to guess I will because I only read the last few pages, please let me so that I can update this post.

*Introduction: Servant, Servant's revision (Demo Speaks)

Auto-Messages: None written, because there hasn't been any "worlds" designed yet...

"The Zoo" Auto-Message: None written. (Does there even need to be any, considering The Master will not inform Demo about where the animals come from, so no valuable information will be imparted by The Master's blabbering?)

The Bird's Quest:
*Parrot Giving Quest: MoneyMan
*All Coins Collected: Servant's Three Versions (Demo being a jerk, Parrot being a jerk, Demo v. Parrot), Joelcll's Jerk Demo v. Jerk Parrot, Queen Translation of Joelcll (Demo Speaks)
*Parrot Infodumps: Joelcll

Bosses:
*Pandeoma: Joelcll, MoneyMan
*Garish: Joelcll
*Nevada: Joelcll
*Science: Joelcll
*Mishi: MoneyMan
*Calleoca: None
*Pily: None
*Iris' Bodyguard and Iris: Servant (Demo Speaks)
*Artist's Boss #1, ???: None
*Artist's Boss #2, ???: None
*Artist's Boss #3, Reisen[1]: chdata (Demo Speaks)
*The Artist: Joelcll (Demo Speaks)

*Ending: None

[1]According to this wiki, Reisen was responsible for mindcontrolling Demo's siblings.