Cursed Gallery Hub

Vegetal Gibber's picture
gallery_preview.png

This is supposed to be the starting area for the Another Knytt Stories Collaboration Level collab project (the proposed idea being "The Cursed Gallery"). It's currently 16 screens long.

Some notes that may or may not be of interest:

* Features a freshly new tileset made almost from scratch and a couple COs for the lighting effects. There are still 3 unused tiles in the set, suggestions for these are welcome.

* Since this is just a hub area with no challenges, there's not much to do here, but I suppose it can still be somewhat enjoyed as a simple playground level and "appreciate the art" while taking a relaxing walk.

* There are 10 big framed portraits with a golden plaque that can be used as access points to the other upcoming areas of the level (if the final number of areas end up being less, it's just a matter of removing a few plaques).

* All the portrait pictures are just placeholders for now. I made the area in a way that only tileset A is needed in every screen, so tileset B can be used to hold the preview pictures for each area (plus other decorative pictures). The picture for each frame has to be cropped by 4 pixels from the outer border and overlayed over the background texture ("Tileset19.png" may serve as an example).

* The door at the end can be used as an ending room that would only be unlocked once the player has finished the other areas or accomplished any specific goal (collecting a certain power, all KS+ coins/artifacts...)

* The stairs at x1000y1000 and x1005y1000 caused a wallswim when they went all the way up due to the triangular collision mask, so I resorted to cut them off at the upper border and make the last step a simple jump. If anyone knows of a more elegant solution, please tell me.

* No KS+ features used for now, but if the whole level ends up requiring KS+, I wouldn't be opposed to adding some extra lighting effects and bonuses.

Made For: 
An event

Comments

sergiocornaga's picture

This is amazing! It makes me

This is amazing! It makes me so happy. I can't wait to build on it!

Vegetal Gibber's picture

Thanks, glad you liked

Thanks, glad you liked it!

I must confess I was listening to Symphony of the Night's library area BGM in loop while I was building/playtesting this.

Pretty cool! Perhaps, if

Pretty cool! Perhaps, if enough conditions are fulfilled, the left door could open up to one giant secret ending that everyone pitches in (one screen per person).

Vegetal Gibber's picture

I like that idea! I didn't

I like that idea! I didn't think of giving that door any use other than making it the starting point.

zilard's picture

good idea

I like the idea. I'll be incorporating artifacts into my level. I can always change them to coins or remove them :)

zilard's picture

NICE

Looks damn good! Perhaps we could put artifacts in each of the painting/levels, which unlocks something special in the hub? My section is going to be exploratory/environmental anyways.

Vegetal Gibber's picture

Thanks! Actually, I'm

Thanks! Actually, I'm working on a small challenge/scenic area and I was thinking of adding a single artifact as well, as a prize for reaching a certain screen that requires a somewhat tricky jump. We could use those for unlocking the left door, as ncrecc suggested, and that would lead to a secret ending.

zilard's picture

Awesome! Do the

Awesome! Do the numbers/colors/amount of artifacts matter? We can also use coins instead for a coin-specific shift. Once all of the coins are collected, going back to a previous screen will teleport you somewhere else, etc... We could also have a chat to coordinate this if neccesary and everyone wants to do it (Discord, skype, etc.) Or let sergio fix it up at the end

Vegetal Gibber's picture

I'm fine with any of those

I'm fine with any of those approaches. Let's see how many areas we end up with. For now, I'll reserve a few hidden screens in my upcoming area for this purpose.

Artifact warps can be combined (e.g: you can use red artifacts to warp along the X axis and the yellow artifacts to warp along the Y axis), so we can use up to two full sets, which should be more than enough. Alternatively, we could also reserve the 4 keys to use them in tandem with the artifacts. I wouldn't mind switching to coins if that'd be more convenient, though. We could even customize the coins and change them into something entirely different (e.g. pieces of a broken painting, which the player can re-assemble and have it displayed in an empty frame in the gallery).

Have a composition for this

Have a composition for this yet?

Vegetal Gibber's picture

Are you referring to the

Are you referring to the music? I have the same problem here as in my other area, I can't quite decide if the area would work better with or without music. A song with a "mystery" vibe would be nice, but I also think that the absence of background sound conveys a calm and mysterious atmosphere that fits the scenario very well. I'll try looking for a fitting song this weekend. If you have anything in mind, feel free to make a suggestion!

This rendition of the

This rendition of the Jitterbug Waltz is a nice piece, though it might not help the "ominious" feeling.

pensive-mosquitoes