Aquaria Adventure

[Don Andy]

So, yeah, why not?

Let's do "Aquria Adventure" people. No better way to fully test what's doable with the editor

The premise'd be simple. It would basically be Aquria, preferably keeping most of its original story, still having a big world to explore and generally with less and most importantly, less harder fighting. An Aquaria that's less about quick reflexes and fast thinking and more about wits and puzzle-solving.

Now, naturally, making that project alone is pretty much impossible. Well, not REALLY impossible, but it'd take unnecessary long and would suck in the end :p
That, and I suck with level design. Give me a blueprint and I build you a level, but say me "build a level" and you will get a really boring enviroment. Also, I have another rather big thing going on, so I couldn't make this my main dedication in life. More of a hobby-ish side project.

So, the first thing we'd need to pull of such a "sub-project" would be a few people to work on this. Quemaqua and Alec both already voiced their interest in helping out. What I personally can't do, and we'd definitely would need someone for, are, as I already said, the level designs (and really just the designs, everybody who read the modding guide can make a level out of a good sketch) and a guy who thinks up all the puzzles. Naturally, since the focus shifts more on puzzling here, we'd need puzzles that are both "fun" and not too hard, as we are also aiming at a younger and less "hardcore" audience here.
So, we could make a absolutely mind-boggling puzzle, but then we would have people complaining about the puzzles instead of the fighting xD
Gladly, we don't really need much of a graphics artist, as we don't wanna do a completely new game here.

In the ideal case, we would naturally base this off the original Aquaria map, as we basically want to recreat Aquaria in a more "family-friendly" manner. However, I doubt (and this is very understandable) that Alec and Derek would just hand us out the complete mapfiles of the original Aquaria, as this would also pretty much equal them in telling us every single secret, easter egg and surprise this game has to offer xD

So, yeah, let's start at the beginning and rough up a few people

[Alec]

I dig this idea. Reusing as much content as possible but in new and clever ways would be sweet.

It'd also be good to build all new map layouts - then this mod would be a lot of fun for people who have already played the full game to enjoy!

[Alec]

Some thoughts:

Central Hub

The first area could be kinda like Naija's cave, but maybe a modified/alternative version of it. The surrounding area could be a "hub", a circular area that has open paths to 4-6 different areas. You can visit the areas whenever you want.

There could be a special song or ability that warps you back to this hub if you get stuck somewhere. (and then you can head back or head to another area if you like)

I think it'd be cool to have that kind of freedom, since this is a more easy-going mod. You'd have to accomplish a goal in each of the worlds off of the hub to open something inside Naija's cave. (the final level)


We could probably get by reusing a lot of the treasures, creatures and graphics from the main game. It'd be cool to give it its own title screen, and a couple original music tracks, maybe even a few voice overs if Jenna's up to it. (after she gets back from vacation)

Maybe we could have just a few new creatures/entities to frame a new plotline and give Naija a few different situations to interact with.

[Don Andy]

Aaah, that gots me an idea for the story (although it may sound a tad chlichee):

Centuries ago, Aquria was inhabited by a number of species, all living in either peace, neutrality or conflict (as I kinda don't see the Kronites as the peaceful utopia race). One day, however, all of these races vanished from the sea, never to be seen again, only leaving behind one family (Naija's great great great great parents or something) to guard something and make sure that what made them leave would never happen again. Over the course of time, however the purpose of the guardianship, and what they were guarding at all, was lost  (naturally, if the guardian parent, thinks "I don't wanna make my child bear the same heavy burden" and thus more and more information gets withdrawn over the generations) up till Naija, who only knows that she is pretty much alone in the sea and is to make sure to guard something.
Thus, she sets out exploring the corners of Aquaria, gradually uncovering the truth about what is not supposed to be out again.

Of course this story DOES come with its plotholes, namely the fact how one family was able to reproduce over several generations, and why Naija is the only girl in the current generation, but gimme some room here :p

Oh, and as the "twist" in the story, we could have a ghostly entity give Naija tips and pointers throughout the game, only to find out that this was indeed the dangerous thing she was supposed to guard, only helping her to get out.

Edit:
Wow, I shouldn't write stuff early in the morning. Cleaned up a few spelling and grammar mistakes.

And got another thing.
We could build in the whole "Humans do only bad things to the sea" vibe, by implementing Li as a conflicted member of the race who unleashed the now sealed horror into the sea in the first place, either because they thought dumping it in the sea would make it THEIR problem, or by accident.

And it looks like I'll have to do this mostly alone afterall, oh well xD

And here goes even more. I'm not sure if it's doable, but we could make a song that lets Naija hear the "thoughts" of sea-dwellers, thus basically making conversation. Say, you have troubles reaching a ledge out of the water, which would be easily reachable with Hot Soup. Now, if you play said song near a nearby Dolphin, it'll think "Man, I always manage my best jumps with Hot Soup, but afterwards I always feel exhausted."
Something of a "trigger conversation" song.

Oh, yeah, and another thing sprang to my mind. Remember my story up there? Well, we could also skip on the whole Great grandparent part and instead make Naija the "eternal guardian". Basically, she has been guarding the thing for hundreds of years, but her mind got dull through the daily lonliness and monotony. One day, however "something" reaches out to her mind, sparking a new light, basically waking her up from her trance.

Or we replace the guardian part with "Last Survivor". Something terrible happened with Naija going unconscious in the process. As she reawakens, she finds herself completely alone, with no idea what happened or how long she'd been passed out (maybe she was frozen in ice and we let her start in an Ice Veil environement. Somewhat of a tutorial area.). Thus she sets out exploring what exactly happened, and where everybody's gone to.

And some feedback from a few people would also be nice, as ALL these story alternatives sounds nice to me, but I'd also like to know how good a story sounds to those who'll play it in the end

[Alec]

Sounds cool.

I think it'd be good to lock down a simple plot and get moving on outlining the maps roughly.

I like the human/pollution idea (it was actually in an old draft of Aquaria... eventually there would have been a war between humans and merfolk with Li and Naija caught in the middle)

[Alec]

Hrm... Maybe I should set up an IRC channel just for Mods. It'd be cool to talk about this stuff with faster back + forth.


Set one up here.

[Don Andy]

Sounds cool.

I think it'd be good to lock down a simple plot and get moving on outlining the maps roughly.

I like the human/pollution idea (it was actually in an old draft of Aquaria... eventually there would have been a war between humans and merfolk with Li and Naija caught in the middle)

I'm already thinking about the maps, but as I said, it's not exactly my speciality xD

As for the story, I'd still need to settle down on how Naija fits in there exactly. Personally, I favour the "passing out" thing for the most part, as it leaves the player, as well as the character itself, completely clueless about everything, which is the ideal setting for exploration

Also, I totally agree on the IRC xD
I just wish our Firewall at work wouldn't block out everything but the interwebs.

[Alec]

I guess one thing to consider is does the mod fit into the existing universe (same timeline) or is it happening in an alternate dimension. (where more liberties can be taken)

I don't really mind either way, and probably the later is easier to work with.

[broknecho]

I really like this idea.  I will try and Sketch out some Maps by the weekend.

I'm no artist but I will try to contribute to this idea as much as my schedule will allow.

[Don Andy]

I guess one thing to consider is does the mod fit into the existing universe (same timeline) or is it happening in an alternate dimension. (where more liberties can be taken)

I don't really mind either way, and probably the later is easier to work with.

Initially I wanted to recreate the original story as true as possible, but I decided to go with alternate dimension by now (like Marvel Multiverse xD)
Here's what I imagined for the story:
Everything will start out with camera pans over Aquaria showing the different races minding their business and interacting with each other. Then it'll put the main focus on a not yet so spooky Mithalas, where a few priest (including Naija's mother) are hectically disucssing something, with Naija waiting in another room. Naija's mother will then confront her, telling her that they have to get out of the city as fast as possible. As they approach the "backdoor" exit, things suddenly start to go haywire. Naija's mother tells her to proceed alone while she tries to prevent the worst.
Probably around then you will gain initial control about Naija, with small tooltips describing how to move around. As she approaches the end of the cave and emerges in some Ice Veil esque enviroment, she is just about to head off, as a weird creature emerges from the tunnel behind her and attacks her, wounding her. However, Naija's mother lands a blow on the creature dragging both back into the cave, causing it to collapse. Naija, woozy from the wound, collapses on the ground and everything fades to black.
A few seconds later, a voice calls out to Naija waking her up and we see her entrapped in an Ice crystal, which in a burst of light melts off. Naija has no idea how long she was entrapped in ice and sets out to discover what happened.

Oh and I VERY much appreciate the help broknecho

Edit:
I might leave out the introduction of the races and immediately start with the priests, for the sake of finding all that stuff out later.

[Alec]

That sounds awesome! 

I'd suggest that we don't try working on the cutscene until nearer to the end of the project though. (or maybe just use some still images for now) 'Cause that'll probably be the hardest part to make work right.

Just some kind of filler alternative for now would be good. (some text scrolling by to explain the story, or a series of still images or even a rough version of the cutscene with all the major players in place but no animation... etc)

[Don Andy]

That sounds awesome! 

I'd suggest that we don't try working on the cutscene until nearer to the end of the project though. (or maybe just use some still images for now) 'Cause that'll probably be the hardest part to make work right.

Just some kind of filler alternative for now would be good. (some text scrolling by to explain the story, or a series of still images or even a rough version of the cutscene with all the major players in place but no animation... etc)

Heh, yeah, I figured it to be kinda complicated xD
I guess I will try to work on a halfway decent Home Waters (the hub) and Home Cave first. And of course the little Ice Veil you start in.

Also, a question. Is it possible to completely redo the energy form in so far that the bolts neither do damage anymore, nor do they automatically home at entities? Since this is more about exploring, I'm considering to rework the energy form into just that. An Energy form, that shoots energy that you can use to power certain devices.

[Alec]

Hmmm Yeah, you could create shot data overrides to do that I think.


Regular shot:
"EnergyBlast.txt"

Texture = Shots/EnergyBlastHead
DamageType = DT_AVATAR_SHOCK
BlendType = BLEND_ADD
BounceType = BOUNCE_NONE
HitPrt = EnergyTendrilHit
HitSfx = EnergyBlastHit
TrailPrt = EnergyTendrilTrail
Damage = 0
MaxSpeed = 1500
Homing = 0
HomingIncr = 0
Scale = 0.6 0.6
LifeTime = 4
Wave = 16 16
CheckDamageTarget = 1

Charge:
"EnergyTendril.txt"

Texture = Shots/EnergyBlastHead
DamageType = DT_AVATAR_SHOCK
BlendType = BLEND_ADD
BounceType = BOUNCE_NONE
HitPrt = EnergyTendrilHit
HitSfx = EnergyBlastHit
TrailPrt = EnergyTendrilTrail
Damage = 0
MaxSpeed = 1500
Homing = 0
HomingIncr = 0
Scale = 0.6 0.6
LifeTime = 4
Wave = 16 16
CheckDamageTarget = 1


Could set all the homing values to 0 and damage to 0.

Things would still be able to detect if they got hit.

[monele]

As a person who was disappointed by all the shooting, I'm looking forward to this kind of mod. I'm studying the modding doc, just in case I could help.

[Don Andy]

I've given the intro cutscene a bit more thought (while I was bored and couldn't work on any maps :p), so I thought I'd just jot it down here.

The Intro starts similar to the original by panning through the sky over to a flying city. Suddenly, a burst of light emits from the city and a small glowing object drops down from it into the sea. We then can observe the object, which seems to be a cube with strange markings on it, slowly sinking deeper and deeper through the ocean. Several creatures interact with it, resulting in them dying or mutating and further pushing it down. At last, we see it sinking into a darkness we can not look into. After a few seconds of nothing happening, a big monstrous eye suddenly lashes open and we can hear a loud, booming cry of agony. The camera quickly pans over to the city of Mithalas, were we see Mia (not the main story Mia) waking from her sleep, as if she heard this cry.
The scene changes into the Mithalian cathedral, where we can see Mia quitely arguing with some priest, and Naija sitting in a room next to it, looking bored.
After a while, Mia emerges from the room to Naija and tells her that they have to "go somewhere out of the city". To Naija's surprise, they don't swim to the entrance of the city, but to a small cave passage at the back of it. Just as Mia and Naija are about to enter the cave, the whole city starts shaking.
Mia and Naija hesitate to look back. We now see the camera slowly panning over the city, where we see normal citizens transforming into hideous beasts, and other monsters emerging from portals. As the camera pans back to Mia and Naija, Mia tells Naija to that "it" has begun and that Naija should get out of the city as quickly as possible, while she tries to "contain it, before it spreads throughout whole Aquaria".
Naija, while hesitating at first, continues through the cave, finally emerging in the Ice Veil. Naija, naturally, feels pretty much lost. As she wants to proceed, everything again starts shaking and a monstrous creature emerges from the cave, reaching out for her. Being pretty helpless, she gets fatally wounded by the monster. Just as it is about to land another blow, Mia appears and drags the monster back into the cave with the words "I'll be right back". However, the entrance caves in, leaving both the monster and Mia supposedly buried. Naija, from both the stress and the wound, collapses to the ground and everything fades to black.
After a while, a small glowing light shines in this blackness, and something says "Wake up, Little One." The blackness goes away and we see Naija encased in big crystal of ice, still lying where she collapsed. With a bright glow, the ice melts off and Naija regains her conciousness. She is left wondering to herself what happened, how long she has been sleeping and where her mother is.
This is where the player gains control and can head out of the Ice Veil and from there into the "Hub" from where the player can reach all parts of Aquaria and try to unfold the mystery around the sudden attack on Mithalas.

I also have the rest of the story pretty much planned out :p

And I'm currently working on the Ice Veil map, but I seriously suck with design xD