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Author	Message
Stak	At first, I absolutely hated this idea. But if it were done correctly, it could be one hell of a fangame. My idea: the Shy Guys. They should be a rebel faction of mutant Koopas that Bowser has performed horrible experiments on. At one point during experimentation, they became horribly misfigured, and eventually were able to break out of testing and escape. The Shy Guys, after earning their respect, would be one of the few, if not the only, group of allies in the game.
Xelebes	I, Straziante wrote: I've been tinkering around with some music. Would we like to remix the original tunes, or come up with something original? Also, I thought that this would be pretty interesting if we set the game in 1985-1986 when the game originally came out. Nothing screams "flashy cool drug-related violence" like the Reagan years. I also thought that we should update Mario's threads into something like blue jeans, a red work shirt, and a Dodgers hat. The overalls are too worn out, in my opinion. I still don't like the idea of Mario still being a plumber. A plumber as a front sounds better to me. I mean, how many plumbers can afford enough drugs to get where we're going? Just some ideas. Break out the Bruce Springstein! or Throbbing Gristle.
Too Many Oranges	Its Springsteen.
Mr. 1-Up	Stak wrote: My idea: the Shy Guys. They should be a rebel faction of mutant Koopas that Bowser has performed horrible experiments on. At one point during experimentation, they became horribly misfigured, and eventually were able to break out of testing and escape. The Shy Guys, after earning their respect, would be one of the few, if not the only, group of allies in the game. Nice idea. Anyways, here is what Mario could look like: Props to HeroMaker and Thalzon for the picture.
friendlyHunter	I read some of the thread, sounds like a great idea. I was bored so I drew some concept stuff. I stayed away from the koopas though, that other drawing was just too awsome =D Here's a thwomp, a big solid block of stone with a face carved in it, and held to the cieling with a chain. A spiney, I don't know how big they'll be, but I think they should look something like this. I based the spikes on that crazy god-machine thing in the Matrix. The sections in the shell are unattached so it can roll into a ball, and so the spikes go all over the place when it walks. I thought the rotting mushroom idea was pretty cool, so I drew this. Through its 'eye sockets' you can see deep shadow, and a bright (red?) light.
Kyros	This idea gets better and better with every post. That artwork, too... wow.
endblink	I see the hands, but I have no idea what I'm looking at in that box art of yours. What is that?
Toasty!	More artwork please! I think we should do this more often with other games. Have people submit artwork of how they would "remix" classic games. I would love to see other people's darker interpretations of games like Sonic and Zelda.
krispy	Spooky Mario music? Why not . Always thought Id remix a RE Halloween song before a Mario one, but this thread is highly amusing.
Shael Riley	Friendlyhunter, I LOVE your concept art. It's totally up there with the hammer brother. God, this is great! You all are contributing some amazing things! Keep it up and the game will practically write itself. For my part, I'll keep contributing suggestions, feedback and hopefully music.
ArseAssassin	Shael Riley wrote: I whipped up a cheesey little idea of how the title screen might sound. It's pretty bad, musically, even for me and I only took a little over an hour to do it, but it does demonstrate how the Mario theme could be worked into some weird ambient/earie piano stuff. It could sound good if I could take the time and effort to revoice it properly and make it so it doesn't keep the same chord structure for 90% of it. I might go back and do that if I have enough time this week. Heck, might even do a few more versions of the theme and try to work in some of the other themes as well. Also, I stole a lot from Metroid. Am I really the only one who's digging this?
Shael Riley	Small update of the "I, Mario" title screen music. I added strings. Sounds much better. Still needs revoicing for 90% of it. Now available in mp3, for those with need
LinkShadow1978	You know. I haven't read any ideas for Bullet Bills. Instead of just bullets that fly. Why not make them this apocolyptic looking war machine. it could look like similar to the machinegun toting robots in RoboCop. (just to give a visual) But instead of having machinegun arms it could be like one large machinegun with legs. Can someone create an artwork of this? (Sorry not as talented drawing)
Straziante	endblink wrote: I see the hands, but I have no idea what I'm looking at in that box art of yours. What is that? It's just a guy crying in a very dramatic fashion. The title is covering up his face. The PS2 part is just a gag. I know it's unfreakinbelievable. I'll do a 'cube version tomorrow. My photoshop on this computer is teh ghey.
LinkShadow1978	I, Straziante wrote: endblink wrote: I see the hands, but I have no idea what I'm looking at in that box art of yours. What is that? It's just a guy crying in a very dramatic fashion. The title is covering up his face. The PS2 part is just a gag. I know it's unfreakinbelievable. I'll do a 'cube version tomorrow. My photoshop on this computer is teh ghey. what kind of hat Mario has? it looks like a top hat instead of his normal cap

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Author	Message
Straziante	Um it's not a top hat, it's part of the bg. I'm going to black that part out once I make the GCN box.
Straziante	HOLY CRAP Shael, that song is freaking awesome.
LinkShadow1978	I, Straziante wrote: Um it's not a top hat, it's part of the bg. I'm going to black that part out once I make the GCN box. Oh ok. It's a cool artwork though.
Frosty Flakey	Lovin the creepy Mario remix. Says psychological horror and drug crazed madness all rolled into one. Here's an idea I just thought of: Lakitu has a jetpack of some sort that chokes out lots of smoke. That way it'd look like he has a cloud of smoke around him and he would fly. Then he'd drop these mechanical spike eggs that would transform into the spikeys.
Straziante	Hey, that one water stage where Mario had to run across the bridge dodging the fish... That could be Mario running across the George Washington Bridge chasing a fish truck that he needs to commandier to sneak into a boatyard or something. The guys in back are throwing the fish at him to knock him off of his motorcycle or something.
-rz-	Shael Riley wrote: Small update of the "I, Mario" title screen music. I added strings. Sounds much better. Still needs revoicing for 90% of it. Now available in mp3, for those with need Shael, you rule.
LinkShadow1978	Speaking of levels. The first few levels could be of Mario traveling through a vermin invested sewer. this is where his drug odyssey begins. the sewers could be invested with mushrooms and goombas. then when he pops out he will be in the slums of the mushroom kingdom.
Straziante	LinkShadow1978 wrote: slums of the mushroom kingdom NEVER did I EVER think I would hear that phrase. That's so awesome.
chronotriggerfreak	That's because it's normally taken for granted that the whole of Mushroom Kingdom is its slums. And that everyone is on shrooms there. Constantly. (And that Mario is Communist.)
Khid	........ I'm glad this is a for fun thing-- I guess that's why they make the games and not... others.
RimFrost	chronotriggerfreak wrote: That's because it's normally taken for granted that the whole of Mushroom Kingdom is its slums. And that everyone is on shrooms there. Constantly. (And that Mario is Communist.) Considering that Mario collects hundreds of coins all the time ,doesn't that make him a fat capitalist pig ?
tyler_lucero	Khid wrote: ........ I'm glad this is a for fun thing-- I guess that's why they make the games and not... others. What are you saying? That this poject'll never get off the ground?
friendlyHunter	Although it is fun, with this many talented people interested, some progress could actually get done pretty fast. Anyway, I think we all need some clarification about this whole thing. From what I understand, Shael wants it to be a very realistic and insanely dark version of SMB1. I think that's what would work the best. The story isn't going to be "Mario hallucinates the MK", or "Mario the gangster non-plumber vs mafia Bowser the crime lord" is it? And it's a first person survivor horror, right? Please address this Shael! Here's some ideas that I think are really good, some are mine and some not mine, but I think they're worth reading: - Mushrooms and Starmans are drugs, but the toad people call them "magic" or "medicine" or something. - Mario can only jump a realsitic height (but maybe he can go higher with a mushroom?) - The game is simple, very challenging, and about the same length as SMB1. - When you use a starman, everything turns to slow-motion and seems to flash bright colors. Mario will run and attack super fast, but it will look normal in slow-motion. And of course he'll be able to run through enemies before they have time to react. - going down pipes will look awsome, whether you go down head first, or if you watch the light at the top quickly dissapear, followed by twisting through darkness and hearing Mario's screams echoing from the inside >=] - question boxes are bricks with a graffiti '?' representing something hidden there. - the toads are small and weak, and weather in the MK is mild. So, they built their buildings out of very lightweight bricks, which mario can punch through when he's on mushroom. - the enemies are recognisable, yet super-freaky. - When (and if) it is done, it should look like this is what really happened, and that SMB1 was a cheerful 8-bit interpretation of it. Some ideas that are also good, but not as good as the previous ones: - the engine used already has hand-to-hand combat in it - Mario can only carry a few items at a time, and needs room in his tool belt if he wants to use his fists (ei if your items are full and you're holding a hammer, you can't use your fists without dropping something first) And maybe you can only climb up walls when the 'fists' weapon is selected... - going up pipes involves pipes filled with water, and you have to go as fast as you can or you'll run out of air. - Mario's voice is realistic, not super high-pitched "It's me, Mario!" - The toads (or whatever you want to call them) put the mushroom toy in the pipe, hoping to bring a human into MK to defeat Bowser. - The toads are using peach as a "reward" to keep Mario going. Hence, "Your princess is etc..." - In the distance you can see a flagpole marking the end of the level, so you know which way to go. But not underground... - The toads have secretly organized Mario's path, marking the end of levels with a "toad house" disguised as a koopa-castle, and also a flag pole. When Mario arrives, the toad there sends up fireworks, sending a secret code to the other toads. - spray can + fire flower = fireball - When you enter the underground levels, you actually have to manually walk inside that pipe, and try jump down without breaking you legs. - Peach is actually Mario's ex-girlfriend, who he met saving her from a gorrila named "Donkey Kong" that escaped from the zoo. Edited for typo(s)
Straziante	friendlyHunter wrote: stuff I don't know I would go as far as calling this a "project" just yet. We're just throwing around some fun ideas. I don't know if anyone really has any idea where we're trying to go with this.
friendlyHunter	Did I call it a project? It looks like I called it a "thing". Oh well =P Yeah, and I'm just having fun too. But just a simple mario remake can't be that hard, can it? If I had the time, I could probably make some sort of flash thing based on this. But maybe somebody else does have the time................... maybe.... YOU! But probably not..... ok now I'm just rambling....

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Author	Message
Ubernym	Half-Life 2 mod, suckahs. I think this should become a Half-Life 2 mod. It would rule, would it not?
Straziante	Take a good in depth look at some of the stuff that's been posted. There are some good ideas here. It would be a shame if they went to waste. But that's freakin awesome that you would like to contribute. Perhaps Shael could really get this moving, or if he doesn't want to do it, he could choose somebody to organize this into an actual project. Just keep checking back to see if anything develops from all this brainstorming.
Ramaniscence	Yea, I was bored >_>
Sentora	*Slow evil grin* I'd support this being a mod. Although instead of it being a Half Life 2 Mod, I think there's a better engine for this. Although you guys might laugh upon hearing it. Jedi Academy. Stop laughing, and think about it. Some of the same abilities Mario gets from Starman are already in the game as Force Enhance, and there's already mod/Skinning programs for it. It's got a kick ass combat system, the character skins can be easily redesigned for our purposes and personally, if someone Modifies the Rancor Model into Bowser or the Lakitu design I gave, that would kick so much ass. What you think?
Straziante	I like that idea, I'm surprised it didn't come up earlier.
chronotriggerfreak	RimFrost wrote: chronotriggerfreak wrote: That's because it's normally taken for granted that the whole of Mushroom Kingdom is its slums. And that everyone is on shrooms there. Constantly. (And that Mario is Communist.) Considering that Mario collects hundreds of coins all the time ,doesn't that make him a fat capitalist pig ? Hell no. Those are tax revenues, bitch.
beholdbojangles	I like the origional idea, it mildly amused me. As for the majority of the rest of it, it seems like a flash video that I'd turn off halfway, personally, with all the fanboyisms in it. Gear more towards "good, bad, I'm the guy with the gun", and less toward "OMG ITS LIKITU ROUND ONE FITE!", or else you're destined to make a video game or flash video paying homage to the origional MOVIE, instead of the origional GAME.
Straziante	I MARIO IS SERIOUS BUSINESS. Okay though, seriously, no one really knows what's going to come out of this. Don't take it so seriously.
Kyros	The Mario model has to be made to look like Bob Hoskins.
Blademaster	What a kick @$$ Idea!!! If someone could tell me how to post images on this bord, I would LOVE to throw in some Concept art.
Too Many Oranges	Wasn't nintendo trying to get a more mature image anyways? Sounds like the kind of thing to complete a full concept and ship it off to nintendo HQ. Projects can fail, so don't go calling it a project. It's "tossing around ideas", which can't fail since it's already happened.
Bongo Bill	More ideas.... I wish I could draw, I'd do some concept art. In the mean time, I can only describe it. Shy Guys: they're some sort of cult or organization or something, and the uniform is red robes and that crazy mask thing. They're psychic, and they're helping Bowser for their own purposes. They've got some sort of officer position, and everybody below them and most people on the same level (except for Magikoopas) are afraid of them. They don't speak. Magikoopas: Maybe they're actually magic, maybe they're not. They are privileged officers, calling the shots from behind the scenes rather than actually fighting. Also comprise the R&D department. There's probably a way to fit Donkey Kong into this, too....
UnforgivingEdges	Not Xerol wrote: Wasn't nintendo trying to get a more mature image anyways? Sounds like the kind of thing to complete a full concept and ship it off to nintendo HQ. My thoughts exactly.
Blood_Hawk	UnforgivingEdges wrote: Not Xerol wrote: Wasn't nintendo trying to get a more mature image anyways? Sounds like the kind of thing to complete a full concept and ship it off to nintendo HQ. My thoughts exactly. I highly doubt they would use it thou don't get your hopes one bit.
UnforgivingEdges	Blood_Hawk wrote: UnforgivingEdges wrote: Not Xerol wrote: Wasn't nintendo trying to get a more mature image anyways? Sounds like the kind of thing to complete a full concept and ship it off to nintendo HQ. My thoughts exactly. I highly doubt they would use it thou don't get your hopes one bit. You're right. Nintendo's fan service department personnel are dumb as bricks.

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Author	Message
Too Many Oranges	There's a difference between coming to them with an idea and coming to them with a half-finished game. Any chance of releasing this(free or otherwise) we'd have to go through nintendo at some point or another anyway.
Shael Riley	Straziante wrote: Take a good in depth look at some of the stuff that's been posted. There are some good ideas here. It would be a shame if they went to waste. But that's freakin awesome that you would like to contribute. Perhaps Shael could really get this moving, or if he doesn't want to do it, he could choose somebody to organize this into an actual project. Just keep checking back to see if anything develops from all this brainstorming. I don't want to direct a project, but I'd be thrilled to work under someone as a sound and music director or a contributing plot and dialogue writer. I'll also continue to give feedback on any suggestions and could act as a consultant during the development process, if the director so chose.
Shael Riley	friendlyHunter wrote: Although it is fun, with this many talented people interested, some progress could actually get done pretty fast. Anyway, I think we all need some clarification about this whole thing. From what I understand, Shael wants it to be a very realistic and insanely dark version of SMB1. I think that's what would work the best. The story isn't going to be "Mario hallucinates the MK", or "Mario the gangster non-plumber vs mafia Bowser the crime lord" is it? And it's a first person survivor horror, right? Please address this Shael! That's all exactly what I had in mind except for the firt-person part, though I'm not opposed to that. Quote: Here's some ideas that I think are really good, some are mine and some not mine, but I think they're worth reading: - Mushrooms and Starmans are drugs, but the toad people call them "magic" or "medicine" or something. - Mario can only jump a realsitic height (but maybe he can go higher with a mushroom?) - The game is simple, very challenging, and about the same length as SMB1. - When you use a starman, everything turns to slow-motion and seems to flash bright colors. Mario will run and attack super fast, but it will look normal in slow-motion. And of course he'll be able to run through enemies before they have time to react. - going down pipes will look awsome, whether you go down head first, or if you watch the light at the top quickly dissapear, followed by twisting through darkness and hearing Mario's screams echoing from the inside >=] - question boxes are bricks with a graffiti '?' representing something hidden there. - the toads are small and weak, and weather in the MK is mild. So, they built their buildings out of very lightweight bricks, which mario can punch through when he's on mushroom. - the enemies are recognisable, yet super-freaky. - When (and if) it is done, it should look like this is what really happened, and that SMB1 was a cheerful 8-bit interpretation of it. I'd originally imagined the toads as earie automotons chained to dungeons walls that can only say "Our princess is in another castle" over and over again but I like your idea better. The rest of the ideas are all good interpretations and of things that largely haven't yet been adressed. Good times. Quote: Some ideas that are also good, but not as good as the previous ones: - the engine used already has hand-to-hand combat in it - Mario can only carry a few items at a time, and needs room in his tool belt if he wants to use his fists (ei if your items are full and you're holding a hammer, you can't use your fists without dropping something first) And maybe you can only climb up walls when the 'fists' weapon is selected... - going up pipes involves pipes filled with water, and you have to go as fast as you can or you'll run out of air. - Mario's voice is realistic, not super high-pitched "It's me, Mario!" - The toads (or whatever you want to call them) put the mushroom toy in the pipe, hoping to bring a human into MK to defeat Bowser. - The toads are using peach as a "reward" to keep Mario going. Hence, "Your princess is etc..." - In the distance you can see a flagpole marking the end of the level, so you know which way to go. But not underground... - The toads have secretly organized Mario's path, marking the end of levels with a "toad house" disguised as a koopa-castle, and also a flag pole. When Mario arrives, the toad there sends up fireworks, sending a secret code to the other toads. - spray can + fire flower = fireball - When you enter the underground levels, you actually have to manually walk inside that pipe, and try jump down without breaking you legs. - Peach is actually Mario's ex-girlfriend, who he met saving her from a gorrila named "Donkey Kong" that escaped from the zoo. Edited for typo(s) Hahaha! Working Donkey Kong in like that is cool but a little too goofy for my tastes. What are the odds that the same guy would be pulled into an alternate dimension and rescue a girl from a gorilla?
UnforgivingEdges	Here's an idea: since we're going with a dark motif, what if the story was told through a sereis of journal entries, like, for example Mario is writing down all these things he's seeing on some paper or in a book or something? It would be a cool way to tell the story. I took the liberty of writing up a possible scenario, just for show purposes. Quote: January 13th As I write this, I sit amidst the vile green blood of the strange creature that attacked me tonight. Its body lies in the wreckage of an overturned dumpster; combined with the trash, the smell is almost more than I can handle. Ugh. I think I’m going to vomit. Yeah, okay, so I just barfed; I suppose it doesn’t help the smell much. I can see the damn thing’s skull just behind a garbage bag. I still have no fuckin clue what it is. It seemed almost like a turtle of some sort. A giant walking turtle with a goddamned hammer. What the fuck? Am I hallucinating? C’mon Mario, snap back into it. This is the kind of shit that you dream when you eat too much. Am I still here? Yep, I guess this is real. Mario Mario Mario. Wow. Anyways, I better keep this little scrapbook I found. Have a doctor take a look at it. … I swear the thing just moved. I bashed in its skull with a wrench. I mean Christ, I saw the hole in its head. The green blood inside shot all over me. Fuck, there it goes again. Okay, I think I’ll get up and move. Damn this night. I could swear I’m in some crazy movie; I mean, I’m in some dark, inner city alley, nobody around to help me, and I get attacked by some weird creature. Monster almost took my head off. It had these weird toes that looked like claws, and a helmet…of some sort, only it looked like its skull, like it was made from bone or something. I had better stop thinking about this before I vomit again. Speaking of that, I’m hungry as hell. Nothing to eat since this morning. Crap, a dead end. But hell if I go back past that thing. I guess maybe I’ll just look in the trash here…Hello, a bag of mushrooms? Huh. Must be a restaurant around here somewhere. They might be old….but I am hungry. Okay, I just took a bite, and it’s not so bad. Tastes alright. I think I’ll sit and rest a while. I need to contemplate what just happened. … Holy hell. I started feeling woozy all of a sudden, and I closed my eyes. I must have dozed off for a second, but when I woke up, there was more crazy shit. I swear one of the mushrooms in the bag has….a….a face. I swear I’m not lying. The mushroom has a face and it’s looking at me right now as I jot this down. Maybe I shouldn’t have eaten these things… Oh jeez. It just took off. The mushroom with a face just went sliding down the alley, like it was on some ice saktes or something. Okay, these go back in the garbage before they give me some weird disease or- [journal tears off here] Anyways, just a thought. I can write up some more of the scenarios if we finalize the story etc. or you can have someone else write. I consider myself a good writer but I just banged this out in a couple minutes. Something to consider.
Hogulus	A few thoughts: -Bullet Bills as self-controlling kamikazie ship things that fly all over the MK. They can be made from a cannon device, or the Banzai Bill, which is a sort of mothership for them. -Snifits. Due to technical issues in making a HUD for machine-gun carrying troops and helping it control aiming, while the gun still rests in a living thing's hands, the gun was instead mounted right onto the face. So basically, they're camoflage-wearing things with rifles mounted onto their faces. They'd be like snipers. -Gameplay-wise, Goombas could have the same status of the smallest Flood monsters from Halo or headcrabs from Halflife. -Pirhana Plants. I'm imaging a snake-headed vine monster. -Chain Chomps could be basically chombing robotic heads on a coil. -Birdo. Three words: Lose the bow. -Wigglers could be gas-filled monsters that minded their own business. If you blow one up, you might as well nuke the whole room. -Spiketops... Maybe as land mines? What about tank-treaded crawler things? -Wart would make a good miniboss. Imagine him as this vicious bugeyed bent-fanged killer toad, eating anything in sight. You'd have to throw some form of poisoned food as a decoy and it'd go after it instead of you, and eventually die. -Those spinning ball things in SMB3's castles? Plasma balls. Plain and simple. -Boomerang Brothers. I dunno how, but they HAVE to have some sort of crude blade instead of that crappy boomerang. -Boom-Boom... Some kind of huge hulking monster.
Tai_Zidek	I just finished reading all these pages through and I have a few ideas to contribute. First off, the Chain Chomps. Every post on here about them has them as a machine of some sort on a chain. But I see them as organic, like a bulldog, only bigger, hairless, meaner looking, blood stained teeth and skin, flesh hanging out of the mouth, and the chain being connected to the creature via a hook placed into the skin behind the head. Then there are the Toads. I see them as a force that were the rulers of MK and the Koopas until Bowser came along with his geneticaly enhanced Koopa Troopas and took control of the land. Now they are forced to live in the slums of MK and be slaves to Bowser and the Koopa's. They are helping Mario in hopes that he will help put them back in control of the land. The Toads shouldn't look as dark as the other creature, as they are to be somewhat peaceful, but they do wear dead Goombas on their heads. I was going to draw the characters, but I'm no artist, and I hope to have better descriptions of them later.
suzumebachi	Suzumebachi wrote: The shy guys should be simple robust mutant dwarfs with somewhat eerie masks. What lies under the mask however is too grotesque to describe, hence the reason the buggers wear the masks to begin with. Say they are basically koopa super soldier experiments gone terribly wrong and while being much more intelligent than the average koopa, they realize their own hideousness and attempt to cover it with their masks. Stak wrote: Shy Guys... mutant Koopas that Bowser has performed horrible experiments on. At one point during experimentation, they became horribly misfigured, and eventually were able to break out of testing and escape... A like mind? I think they are better left off as bad guys though. Sentora wrote: *Slow evil grin* I'd support this being a mod. Although instead of it being a Half Life 2 Mod, I think there's a better engine for this. Although you guys might laugh upon hearing it. Jedi Academy. Stop laughing, and think about it. Some of the same abilities Mario gets from Starman are already in the game as Force Enhance, and there's already mod/Skinning programs for it. It's got a kick ass combat system, the character skins can be easily redesigned for our purposes and personally, if someone Modifies the Rancor Model into Bowser or the Lakitu design I gave, that would kick so much ass. What you think? uhh you mean Quake 3? Right?
-rz-	UnforgivingEdges wrote: Here's an idea: since we're going with a dark motif, what if the story was told through a sereis of journal entries, like, for example Mario is writing down all these things he's seeing on some paper or in a book or something? It would be a cool way to tell the story. I took the liberty of writing up a possible scenario, just for show purposes. I'm not gonna quote it because it's too long wrote: Awesome I think that's the best written thing I've read of the whole thread, along with Shael's original description of the game. It would really be a great idea to consider. Reminds me of this
LinkShadow1978	Hogulus wrote: A few thoughts: -Bullet Bills as self-controlling kamikazie ship things that fly all over the MK. They can be made from a cannon device, or the Banzai Bill, which is a sort of mothership for them. -Snifits. Due to technical issues in making a HUD for machine-gun carrying troops and helping it control aiming, while the gun still rests in a living thing's hands, the gun was instead mounted right onto the face. So basically, they're camoflage-wearing things with rifles mounted onto their faces. They'd be like snipers. -Gameplay-wise, Goombas could have the same status of the smallest Flood monsters from Halo or headcrabs from Halflife. -Pirhana Plants. I'm imaging a snake-headed vine monster. -Chain Chomps could be basically chombing robotic heads on a coil. -Birdo. Three words: Lose the bow. -Wigglers could be gas-filled monsters that minded their own business. If you blow one up, you might as well nuke the whole room. -Spiketops... Maybe as land mines? What about tank-treaded crawler things? -Wart would make a good miniboss. Imagine him as this vicious bugeyed bent-fanged killer toad, eating anything in sight. You'd have to throw some form of poisoned food as a decoy and it'd go after it instead of you, and eventually die. -Those spinning ball things in SMB3's castles? Plasma balls. Plain and simple. -Boomerang Brothers. I dunno how, but they HAVE to have some sort of crude blade instead of that crappy boomerang. -Boom-Boom... Some kind of huge hulking monster. Isn't this a remake of Super Mario Bros. ONE? So shouldn't we leave out monsters from the other Mario games? The bullet bills and pirahna plant monsters sound nice though.
Stak	Make sure that you don't make the same mistake that the Chrono Trigger: Resurrection guys made, i.e. don't highly publicize this thing and get slapped with a cease-and-desist.
DarkMatter_the_Enchida	These are some really interesting ideas you got going on here. I'm curious, how would you handle these enemies? (Even though not all of them are from SMB1) Cheep Cheep (the fishes) Mouser Fryguy Blooper Banzai Bill Rex (they were the T-Rex's in Mario World you had to jump on three times) Boom Boom The Koopa Kids Dino-Rhino (from SMW) Sumo Brothers Chuck (the football guys from SMW)
Digital Coma	I have a great idea for this rad project! Mario wakes up in this non sequitur world in which he is a stranger and nothing makes sense. He seems to have been substituted for some dumbass character in a rip-off game. As soon as he beats it, he wakes up because it was all a dream! He OD's on Luiji's mushroom member and dies.
UnforgivingEdges	-rz- wrote: UnforgivingEdges wrote: Here's an idea: since we're going with a dark motif, what if the story was told through a sereis of journal entries, like, for example Mario is writing down all these things he's seeing on some paper or in a book or something? It would be a cool way to tell the story. I took the liberty of writing up a possible scenario, just for show purposes. I'm not gonna quote it because it's too long wrote: Awesome I think that's the best written thing I've read of the whole thread, along with Shael's original description of the game. It would really be a great idea to consider. Reminds me of this Hey, thanks for the kind words
chronotriggerfreak	Bongo Bill wrote: There's probably a way to fit Donkey Kong into this, too.... You guys remember those Ape Escape or whatever games on PSone? Yeah, those sucked.
DarkMatter_the_Enchida	Okay, I came up with an idea for Mouser. Let me know if it sucks or not. Mouser is a genetically altered mouse-like creature, with large and sharp claws and fangs. On Mouser's back he wears some sort of metallic pack. On Mosuer's face he wears a pair of dark colored sunglasses which have wires that are connected into the back of his head. The large metallic pack on his back ejects bombs, he throws three at a time. One he carries in his right claw, the other in his left and the third would be carried by wrapping his tail around it. The wires connected to the sunglasses and the back of his head would connect to his brain. The glasses have the purpose of seeking heat from hiding pray, in this case, Mario. So no matter where Mario hides from the creature it could find him. ...Is that any good?

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Author	Message
Vilecat	Does anyone remembers the fireball-thrower mounted by a shyguy in SMB2? Bullet Bill could kinda be based on the same thing, some kind of 2-legged mech (like Goliath from SC?) but not too big, that only has 1 cannon. To add to the whole organic stuff, it could shoot some kind of bug or something. Wasn't there a gun like that in Turok? Or i'm mixing with another FPS? You can always imagine one of those tennis ball guns on wheels shooting weird projectiles at Mario.
Bean	While possibly a little too dark for my tastes, I think this is an incredibly fascinating idea. Only one thing has bugged me as I read through the 15, or so, pages: noone has even touched on Bowser's design. I think if there are any characters that should be the most thought about, they should be Bowser and Mario, and while Mario's design is simple, Bowser, the king of Koopas, is going to be a bit tricky. Here's my idea: Sorry for the incompleteness, and the sketchiness. Just wanted to throw something out there. For homage's sake, you should include a scene where Bowser follows Mario over a rope bridge of some sort. Mario notices an axe (or something of the same nature) and cuts the ropes, sending Bowser into the pits below. This doesn't have to be Bowser's demise in the game, it would just be cool to see it. Also, what if Bowser and his Koopa troopas were actually the result of the mushrooms and starmen? Perhaps it has an effect on their mental as well as their physiological structure. Just something to think about that may give it a bit more back story.
UnforgivingEdges	That Bowser..... Awesome.
Vilecat	Wow! You're gonna make me jealous xP I just love that shading technique, but it's not really my style so i do it differently. It still looks professional-like and i love it ^_^ Just maybe the foot could be a bit bigger, but that'd be detail critism on the artwork itself and not the idea. I always imagined something GodzillaAlien-like, but i like your idea better <3! p.s.: he reminds me of a behemoth from the earlier FF games
Bean	Wow. I didn't expect to hear such praise. Thank you. I tried to make him sorta like Giga Bowser from SSBM, but I added some more dragon-like and lion-like qualities to him. I also wanted the spikes to be all twisted and gnarled, somewhat similar to Godzilla's back. Obviously the rest of the spikes aren't present, but oh well. PS. I'll work on the feet. Hahahaha.
Shael Riley	Really, really nice work on the Bowser concept art. That's a concept I could definatly go with. I can see him alternately walking upright and loping on all fours. It's a disturbing, yet elegant and emotive design; an unexpected touch of high fantasy--an exalted demonicness--that somehow fits the primary antagonist and last boss of the game. That being said, I'd still love to see other Bowser concepts. I was thinking something a bit like a cross between the 8-bit sprite and the Alien from Alien.
Mystico	i started this thread with a bad taste in my mouth, and now, well, it tastes like cigars. i like cigars. a few ideas... mario: everyone seems to want to go a little overboard with mario. maybe it's just my good naturedness talking, but shouldn't mario be a good guy? yeah, maybe make him a bit slovenly and uncultured, but not an antihero or a drugged out psycopath. i would make him pudgy but maybe barrel chested, some muscle showing beyond the gut. you would get pretty strong, dragging toilets and equipment around. keep the overalls, have a grungey red shirt with the sleeves rolled up to the elbows, a pair of stained work gloves, and some spikes hastily attatched to his work boots. maybe he could be used to the rough stuff from growing up in a bad neighborhood. his starting weapons should be his tools; wrench, bigass plumber's hammer(nothin' like a little blunt force trauma, eh?), screwdrivers, blowtorch, etc. keep a solid streak of goodness in him. he's mario, for fuck's sake. luigi: dont kill him. luigi should serve as the sole witness to mario's adventures when he gets back, if he gets back. keep luigi kind of similar to the conversion of mario, except more agile and with less strength. luigi should break down somewhere in the game, not being able to shake his basic innocence of heart. if it's not two player, make a sequence where mario has to protect a nervous-breakdown luigi from a boss. if you fail, then he dies, and mario becomes all the meaner. if you succeed, luigi will come around. why is he there?: perhaps a trap has been laid by one side of the struggle between the koopas and the mushroom people. maybe by both? mario reeled in by good guys, luigi by the bad? power-ups: red mushroom: this could be like gensing and gurana with a huge kick in the ass. it would boost strength and performance, and would have no psycoactive side effects, but not as effective as starman starman: this could be a flat out drug created by the koopas. it would radically boost the user's strength and speed, but create almost a berzerker-like rage where the user's decision making abilities almost flatline, and memory of what was done while under it's influence: sketchy in the very best case. green mushroom: this could be an extremely rare and misunderstood regenerative agent, prized above all other things for it's seemingly magical life restoring capabilities, sought by everyone, and king koopa himself is rumored to have one. this could also be used as part of a big decision in end of the game, forcing the user to give one to peach, or to luigi... fire flower: this bizzare flower emits a greatr deal of highly flammable pollen. the koopas have developed it into a flame thrower to refine the aim and control of it, but in it's natural form, combined with a simple blow torch... wow. bob-omb: if you remember the bob-omb in the movie, it's simplicity was pretty cool. making these highly destructive devices look eerily similar to some kind of toy could add an unsettling feeling. imagine a koopa troop giving one to a mushroom child as a toy, then watching the carnage from a distance. make them koopa produced, and have the faces something that people paint on them for looks. i'm tired as fuck right now, so i'll leave it at that. i like the idea, but don't darken it just to darken it. add a touch of poetic thinking. dark drama and tragedy beats chainsaw massacre any day. lemme know if you like my ideas. i would like to be a real contributor for this.
tyler_lucero	Nice Bowser sketch! I'm very impressed...
equiski	Has the Max Payne engine been mentioned? There are a whole bunch of mods that have implemented features that could be used in I Mario. Anyway, i think this is a great idea. By the way, where did the name come from? Is it like I Claudius, the autobiography of Claudius?
Sappers	I took the liberty of coloring for you. I hope you don't mind, but I read the entire thread, and I thought I'd drop 30 minutes on the cause.
LinkShadow1978	Nice Bowser! Cool colors too. Has anyone thought of what the Princess will look like?
Cool Cat Gorveg	Mystico wrote: mario: everyone seems to want to go a little overboard with mario. maybe it's just my good naturedness talking, but shouldn't mario be a good guy? yeah, maybe make him a bit slovenly and uncultured, but not an antihero or a drugged out psycopath. i would make him pudgy but maybe barrel chested, some muscle showing beyond the gut. you would get pretty strong, dragging toilets and equipment around. keep the overalls, have a grungey red shirt with the sleeves rolled up to the elbows, a pair of stained work gloves, and some spikes hastily attatched to his work boots. maybe he could be used to the rough stuff from growing up in a bad neighborhood. his starting weapons should be his tools; wrench, bigass plumber's hammer(nothin' like a little blunt force trauma, eh?), screwdrivers, blowtorch, etc. keep a solid streak of goodness in him. he's mario, for fuck's sake. I completely agree. Mario should be a good guy, if slightly surly/uncultured/what-have-you. That Bowser is 'teh pwn' as well. If an 'Aliens' Alien and Bowser had a child, that would be it.
-rz-	LinkShadow1978 wrote: Has anyone thought of what the Princess will look like? Well... I think she will look like what she will be in the game... A few pages ago, I wrote: It gives me an idea, btw... you know, the "sorry, mario, but the princess is in another castle" thing.... well... I think it will have something to do with prostitution. like, mario finds toad-pimp in a scene that happens in a 'castle', which would be a metaphoric word for, well... you know what I mean.
LinkShadow1978	-rz- wrote: LinkShadow1978 wrote: Has anyone thought of what the Princess will look like? Well... I think she will look like what she will be in the game... Uh, that's not what I meant. I mean how would she look when Mario meets up with her. After she'd been raped and abused by Bowser.
Psychochild	I think that by the time Mario reaches the game, if we do go with the direction that the Koopas and Bowser are all a product of abusing mushrooms and starmen, that the Princess would be barely recognizable, mutated and such. Bowser would be sure to have done something if she was to be his queen, and try to make her into one of them. There'd be things that you'd recognize, like mostly the torn stained dress, but her face would be all distorted. You could see a snout or whatever Bowser has growing over her nose, fangs starting to develop, her eyes dark and cold (Maybe an outrageous color too). Her dress is again, torn and stained, although the blue brooch that she always has is still intact, one arm is scaley and green while the other is only beginning to mutate, featuring somewhat scaley skin, and her nails growing to ridiculous lengths, her stomach is swelling thanks to carrying Bowser's seed, and her hair would be thin as if it started to fall out. You know, something very extreme, but would have some qualities that'd make you think "AW CRAP!! IT'S HER!" Maybe make that into the absolute final boss fight when you finally find the princess, she's crying, remorseful, and after a nice dialogue, she finally loses all rational thought, going into a blind rage and trying to kill you. Very dramatic scene, I'd imagine ^^

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Author	Message
Sappers	Colored Boswer Changes... look at the above picture again
-rz-	The Bowser picture is really cool, but I think there's something missing... like, a shell
Shael Riley	equiski wrote: Has the Max Payne engine been mentioned? There are a whole bunch of mods that have implemented features that could be used in I Mario. Anyway, i think this is a great idea. Wow! I think that's the best engine suggestion yet. It's third-person, allowing us to show off our Mario model and it's already made for a noir game. Quote: By the way, where did the name come from? Is it like I Claudius, the autobiography of Claudius? I read a book called "I, Strahd," part of a Ravenloft series of Dungeons and Dragons books when I was 14. It was about an angsty vampire or something and the naming convention stuck with me. I'm sure it was originally taken from I, Cluadius.
Arcana	I still think this would make its best incarnation as a movie. A movie is a little easier to make, although Mods are not extraordinarily difficult. I, Mario wrote: "Oh, shit. This is real shit." The plumber resisted the temptation to wipe his eyes. His grip tightened around the shaft of his plumber's wrench, which was now dripping with green ooze, covering his gloved hands, slowly. It was slightly cold. He glanced up at the sky - it was overcast, today, but he dreadfully wished, just for this moment, that it would rain, simply because it would provide him with a way to wash his hands. He looked down at the alien - at least, what was left of it - a grotesque being, which used to walk on all fours, with a vicious beak-like mouth snapping and lashing out at him. It was now crushed, cleaved almost in half with his wrench, a pile of goo forming around its sprawled form. Its carapace shell did not do enough to protect it - although it was strong (good strikes with his wrench did nothing), he had simply concentrated on the head. He felt like vomitting, but turned away. The smell was incredible, but he was, after all, a plumber, and had to deal with things equally disgusting. Mario gripped the wrench now with his other hand, and moved on toward what looked to be a castle in the distance next to an empty flagpole. ~~ It felt like a dream, or perhaps a drug-induced hallucination, but none of the experiences he had before were quite the same. He had never walked into a world where everything - even the flora itself, moved around in their attempts to kill him. Snapping mushrooms, charging turtles, plants that emerged from sewer pipes, snapping at him with razor-sharp teeth. Mario felt his stomach rumble, turning inside itself. Part of it might have been from disgust, but he knew that a majority of it was from hunger. If he didn't manage to eat anything soon... He continued his slow, lazy stride through the dust-covered plains, occasionally punctuated by grass and mud, when he saw a patch of fungus growing on a discarded pile of bricks. He stared at them from a distance at first, wondering if they were, in fact, another pile of man-eating shrooms. These mushrooms were purple and approximately half his height, like the man-eating ones were. Maybe... He spotted movement from the corner of his eye, and then made a quick dash, hiding behind one of the numerous green pipes that dotted the landscape. He could hear something like a rabble - maybe a chirping. He risked a cautious glance from behind the pipe, spotting something that looked like a badger or a mole, standing on hind legs. There were a group of three - a large one, followed by two tiny ones, which looked to be babies in comparison. The large one moved up to the mushroom patch by the bricks, and then sniffed it, and moved on. The babies were about to move on, but then the smallest one in the rear hopped over to the mushroom and, using its gigantic maw, bit a large chunk out of it. Mario's eyes widened as the large badger-like creature turned immediately. The way that it looked at its baby reflected a kind of intelligent awareness he would never have noticed in animals at the zoo. But then it turned back around and kept going forward, the one baby following, almost as if resigned. The baby badger who ate the mushroom suddenly collapsed, its limbs twitching, grasping randomly in the air. It went into a series of seizures, crying out in a loud, shrill voice, obviously in pain. In minutes, it was silent again, and the badger lay on the ground. The other badgers by now had long left. Mario took this opportunity to leave his hiding spot - so much for that breed of mushrooms. He could see the large badger foraging for food, still, with its lone baby, and followed them from a distance. Behind him, out of sight, purple mushrooms began to sprout from the carcass of a small, furry creature - tiny little caps forming across the fur, bursting past the skin.
Straziante	Wow, great sketches. Very nice. After a little bit of thought, maybe Mario could be the anti-hero drugged out psychopath and the good-guy hero. He could start out the anti-hero, and after seeing how his hallunogen-induced rages benefited (sp?) the people of the MK, he could clean up, act the hero part, and we could end up with some type of "happy" ending. Anyone have any comments about that? Also, we have a good creative mojo going, let's start coordinating a little bit and figure out where we want to go with this.
Klay	Mario should not be a 'good guy' under any circumstance. He should be a drugged up anti-hero. That's what makes this so unique and bizarre, in a good way. If he's a 'good guy' it's just a retarded mario movie.
Arcana	I don't think Mario needs to undergo any kind of personal change, nor do we need to overemphasize his drugged-up-ness. I think that those proclamations saying that Mario should be a pimp, or a sex-starved maniac go too far - he should really just be a plumber who has a big of a drug addiction, and is slowly on the downward spiral. Nothing glamorous or excessive. He's not destined to be rich, but he's not beating up hoes on the street either. This is where some people got the "Grand Theft Auto: Mushroom Kingdom" image from - it's from the people who are describing this game with the focus on drug-dealing, prostitution, and rape, instead of the primary premise where this is supposed to be about mutant turtles, alien flora, and biological experiments. It just happens that the only effective way of fighting these monsters are through consuming items that have hallucigenic properties. To get an idea of who the character is, a movie would probably introduce the credits on a scene of Mario getting up out of bed, obviously confused and tired, and then struggling toward the bathroom, when he looks into the mirror, and looks at himself. The image is that of someone who's gone down the wrong path, with bloodshot eyes, bags forming beneath them, and total exhaustion in the mouth. It should be the face of someone who's life seems to have come to a dead end. The redemption is almost that he's thrown into an alien world, and although he does monstrous things to get out, like bashing in turtles with a wrench, crawling through sewers, and saving a princess he doesn't even really care about (I would personally claim that his primary mission would be getting home), he realises that his efforts have ended up helping people. Although me may return to Brooklyn and fall back into drugs, he'll be able to tell a story... "There was this one time... I was thrown into some world... some place with all kinds of mushrooms. They were huge, and moving all over, and everything had eyes and was staring at me..."
sephfire	Whoa, I didn't realize we had so much creative genius lurking in these forums. Friggin brilliant concept Shael! I've enjoyed every page of this thread and I'm gonna keep watching it. So many awesome ideas and great pieces of artwork... As for my two cents on what Princess oughta look like, well ... hmm, doomed to suffer unspeakable abuse from a demonic alien/lizard from hell ... I wouldn't wish that on anybody .... ... ... unless ..... hmm.....
Altruss	I've thought that there are some definitely good ideas floating in all of this, but why the obsession with Mario being on drugs? I think being sucked inot a pipe and having to fight vicious turtles, shrooms, and anything else you care to throw in would be bad enough. Dark is fine, but why does it HAVE to be drug induced? Why does Mario HAVE to be in a rage or a hallucination or both?
Straziante	New GCN box art:
DarkMatter_the_Enchida	I was thinking... maybe Lakitu could fly abour in a happy looking cloud. Considering how dark and disturbing the entire world is, wouldn't come off as creepy seeing this demonic creature flying in a cute little cloud?
LinkShadow1978	Straziante, cool art. I just noticed a man off in the background on the top of the box. is that supposed to represent Mario?
LinkShadow1978	I have another idea for the Hammer Bros. What do you think of they being two headed monsters? look fairly like in the first concept art for them earlier in this forum. but have them be two-headed?
Mystico	another thing. the koopa/peach rape scene? the best i could say about that is "interesting" while shaking my head, but if you really wanted to do it, remember one thing: it will make people disgusted and angry. if you want it to work, make them angry at koopa for doing it, not you for putting it in there. or just don't. also, who says that she has to be mutated? maybe just have her roughed up a bit, and when mario saves her, the last line of the game be: "i'm pregnant". oh, and last i checked, super mario 2 was about a dream. that could be your bad trip episode.
tyler_lucero	So maybe we could have a "game-within-a-game" concept going on, where Mario's in the MK, but he also dreams/hallucinates the world of SMB2? (Since it was origanally a dream anyway...) It would be a nice way of working in both sets of monsters, especially the Shy Guys, who have so much potential it's unbelievable. What do you guys think?

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Author	Message
Straziante	LinkShadow1978 wrote: Straziante, cool art. I just noticed a man off in the background on the top of the box. is that supposed to represent Mario? Well, the man in the foreground, being in such a dramatic pose, would be Mario. The figure in the background is really just there to fill the white space in; but I would go as far to say that that, too, is Mario, perhaps in an out-of-body experience or a self-haunting ghost.
Sentora	Bean, that Bowser kicks much ass. Going to draw any others?
Straziante	We need to get some people working out the storyline while we have all these great drawings coming in!
Shael Riley	Arcana wrote: I don't think Mario needs to undergo any kind of personal change, nor do we need to overemphasize his drugged-up-ness. I think that those proclamations saying that Mario should be a pimp, or a sex-starved maniac go too far - he should really just be a plumber who has a big of a drug addiction, and is slowly on the downward spiral. Nothing glamorous or excessive. He's not destined to be rich, but he's not beating up hoes on the street either. This is where some people got the "Grand Theft Auto: Mushroom Kingdom" image from - it's from the people who are describing this game with the focus on drug-dealing, prostitution, and rape, instead of the primary premise where this is supposed to be about mutant turtles, alien flora, and biological experiments. It just happens that the only effective way of fighting these monsters are through consuming items that have hallucigenic properties. To get an idea of who the character is, a movie would probably introduce the credits on a scene of Mario getting up out of bed, obviously confused and tired, and then struggling toward the bathroom, when he looks into the mirror, and looks at himself. The image is that of someone who's gone down the wrong path, with bloodshot eyes, bags forming beneath them, and total exhaustion in the mouth. It should be the face of someone who's life seems to have come to a dead end. The redemption is almost that he's thrown into an alien world, and although he does monstrous things to get out, like bashing in turtles with a wrench, crawling through sewers, and saving a princess he doesn't even really care about (I would personally claim that his primary mission would be getting home), he realises that his efforts have ended up helping people. Although me may return to Brooklyn and fall back into drugs, he'll be able to tell a story... "There was this one time... I was thrown into some world... some place with all kinds of mushrooms. They were huge, and moving all over, and everything had eyes and was staring at me..." Thank you for saying what I was just about to, Arcana. I'd also like to adress the idea of mutants. Having the monster be mutants is a gratiotous deviation from the original. The core idea of this project is that if Super Mario Bros. were to happen in a paradigm that just slightly resembled reality, it would not be a light-hearted children's story; it would be horrific. Lemme break it down fo' ya. The koopas, the goombas, Bowser, they're all unfamiliar creatures that live in a place that is not Earth, be it a different planet extra dimension or what have you. We don't need to explain their existence by calling them mutants because we already have a word that desbribes exactly what they are. They are aliens. Turning the princess into a mutant is even more excessive because she, being a human and all, already fits very well into our realistic paradigm. The thing that doesnt't fit is the minutia surrounding her abduction and emprisonment, so we make it a horrible experience for her. As for Mario not wanting to save the princess as a primary motivation, I like this a lot although it isn't what I originally had in mind. I had forgotten that the princess was not, in fact, of Earth origin, but was a native of the MK. Thus, it makes a lot more sense for the toads to coerce Mario into assisting them than it does for Mario to set forth into the MK with the intial goal of saving the princess. Last edited by Shael Riley on Thu 10-28-04 7:07 pm; edited 2 times in total
Straziante	Okay, I think we can say that Mario's characterization is nearly settled. Way to sort it out, Arcana and Shael. Everyone else agree?
Ice Dragon	"I, Mario" in nutshell: Mario is drugged up regularly. He realizes one morning that his life sucks rather badly and then gets pulled into an alien world. Of course, Mario just wants to get back to the crappy life he had in Brooklyn! Makes sense. Unless, of course, he'll change for the better before he returns (if he does). You've finally seen how stupid this was becoming, but yet for some reason you want Mario to be such a screwed up individual. And I'd love to see how one lone, untrained-for-combat, warrior high on drugs will be able to defeat the likes of Bowser or even a Koopa for that matter. *knock knock* reality is knocking, and it wants a more believable storyline.
Straziante	Ice Dragon wrote: "I, Mario" in nutshell: Mario is drugged up regularly. He realizes one morning that his life sucks rather badly and then gets pulled into an alien world. Of course, Mario just wants to get back to the crappy life he had in Brooklyn! Makes sense. Unless, of course, he'll change for the better before he returns (if he does). You've finally seen how stupid this was becoming, but yet for some reason you want Mario to be such a screwed up individual. And I'd love to see how one lone, untrained-for-combat, warrior high on drugs will be able to defeat the likes of Bowser or even a Koopa for that matter. *knock knock* reality is knocking, and it wants a more believable storyline. Okay, so the original fat small Mario was better suited? Dude, seriously, get a hobby.
Shael Riley	I'm gonna take a tip from Ari Asulin and suggest that Ice Dragon go ahead and get off my website.
Mr Monday	Mouser needs to be included. He could be this mutated sewer rat that tries (on several occasions) to eat Mario. Don't know what we'd do for the explosives he throws though.
Dark Monkey	I think there should be at least a passing nod to Yoshi's Island. Maybe Mario could have a flashback to when he visited the Mushroom Kingdom as a baby or something.
Ice Dragon	What, you don't want me to point out the rediculous things about your's or other's ideas? There are plenty of other most tasteful and believable storylines for a more mature Mario game than a doped up Mario hero. It just fits more with pop culture, so that's why the idea is being used. The idea is to make a game that, if packaged, would not be embarrising to display with the rest of your "cool" games (GTA). It's a lame sellout and it shows by how badly the idea fits.
Too Many Oranges	Ice Dragon wrote: It just fits more with pop culture, so that's why the idea is being used. The idea is to make a game that, if packaged, would not be embarrising to display with the rest of your "cool" games (GTA). It's a lame sellout and it shows by how badly the idea fits. Right. Which is why we're sticking with it. For any game to succeed, it either has to follow an existing game to the letter or be completely groundbreaking to the point where it can be original. The second part became impossible when whatever game after "Pong" came out.
Bongo Bill	Not Xerol wrote: Ice Dragon wrote: It just fits more with pop culture, so that's why the idea is being used. The idea is to make a game that, if packaged, would not be embarrising to display with the rest of your "cool" games (GTA). It's a lame sellout and it shows by how badly the idea fits. Right. Which is why we're sticking with it. For any game to succeed, it either has to follow an existing game to the letter or be completely groundbreaking to the point where it can be original. The second part became impossible when whatever game after "Pong" came out. Well, not quite - or else we'd only be playing Pong-like games today. And I don't know about you, but I can name at least three successful games that are nothing like Pong, except in that they're somewhat entertaining.
Too Many Oranges	Bongo Bill wrote: Not Xerol wrote: Ice Dragon wrote: It just fits more with pop culture, so that's why the idea is being used. The idea is to make a game that, if packaged, would not be embarrising to display with the rest of your "cool" games (GTA). It's a lame sellout and it shows by how badly the idea fits. Right. Which is why we're sticking with it. For any game to succeed, it either has to follow an existing game to the letter or be completely groundbreaking to the point where it can be original. The second part became impossible when whatever game after "Pong" came out. Well, not quite - or else we'd only be playing Pong-like games today. And I don't know about you, but I can name at least three successful games that are nothing like Pong, except in that they're somewhat entertaining. Ok, I might've exaggerated a little. But basically completely new and original ideas are rare. In fact, until VR technology develops more, I doubt we'll see any REALLY original games for a while.
Too Many Oranges	Oh, also, I had a new idea for what Mario could be: A "plumber" in a different sense. Remember from US History class when you went over the Whitewater scandal? Well, the Nixon-hired people that raided the DNC headquarters were called "plumbers". So, he's whittling away his days in a federal prison, when a large pipe appears in the floor one day. Take it from there...

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Author	Message
Hthe8th	This thread is funny to me because a friend of mine had the exact same idea like 4-5 years ago.
Bongo Bill	Not Xerol wrote: Oh, also, I had a new idea for what Mario could be: A "plumber" in a different sense. Remember from US History class when you went over the Whitewater scandal? Well, the Nixon-hired people that raided the DNC headquarters were called "plumbers". So, he's whittling away his days in a federal prison, when a large pipe appears in the floor one day. Take it from there... Not bad, but the plumbers aren't in prison. One of them, as I understand, lives in my town. My history teacher (who, incidentally, was in Washington at the time of the break-ins, being a member of Robert Kennedy's staff) has repeatedly failed to convince him to come talk to us about it. But we're getting off topic. I think we're going a bit too far with the "drug-induced hallucination" idea. We just have to make it more like an action movie: a guy singlehandedly faces down a quasi-sci-fi enemy that seems insurmountable at first, and does it for entirely personal reasons, or at least doesn't do it out of some naive sense of heroism.
DarkMatter_the_Enchida	CaptainGrunty wrote: Mouser needs to be included. He could be this mutated sewer rat that tries (on several occasions) to eat Mario. Don't know what we'd do for the explosives he throws though. I did make a post about Mouser a couple pages back. I think it got overlooked, though. ^_^;;
Sappers	Why does he have to start out a druggy? Can't he be a normal guy who slowly undergoes a transformation from normal brooklin plumber to drug addicted anti-hero. Anyway, I have a few random thoughts. Starman slows time, and gives him near-invincibility and super-strength. Say it slows time to 1/10th (with mario moving at a seemingly normal speed.) Well, sometime within 5 minutes after the effect wears off, you have a 'flashback', where you see the scene play out again in real time, Mario blazing across the screen in a fury, bodies flying. The colors should be skewed. And, as I see it, at first after defeating hammer brothers, he leaves the hammers on the ground. They are evil looking, and as a sane human, I'd rather knock things out with a wrench then gut them with a pick-axe. It's only halfway through the game, when Mario starts getting desperate, that he picks up a hammer and starts using it in battle.
Blood_Hawk	I'm sorry but I really hate the idea of Mario being a druggy. That's just... well vapid.
Luvmekoala	My initial impression of a non-kidnapped princess. I mean come on, who wouldn't want to kidnap her? I would like some ideas on how she would appear after being taken by Bowser. Hthe8th had some good ideas, but I'm at a loss for what she would be wearing and such details like that. I would like to draw a more psychotic, deranged, picture of her though.
Shael Riley	Koala, that pic is really, really hot. It makes my groin all musical. If you do another, could you put her in a dress more like her original? The bodice could be what she's wearing under the dress. As much as a love an oversexed 80s videogame character, a Peach who's gone nympho might be interpreted as a bit gratuitous. Which leads us to an important point of debate: How will we reconceptualize the Peach character? She was never nearly as developed as Mario, which gives us some wiggle room. Your thoughts?
Luvmekoala	Thanks, and thank you for posting that pic too. The only ones I could find that looked to me big enough on google didn't work for me, so I just did whatever. I think Tim thought something like the original dress would be more fitting to. I plan on trying to make something much more "mood appropriate" tomorrow, when I am not tired. As far as her character, well, she is a princess. Sheltered, but knowledgable. A mature woman, graceful and elegant of course. Most of this would revolve around her falling from grace though, so we would see, as Tim put it, a terrified and broken woman. How would someone of royal upbringing react when thrown into chaos? Physical, mental, sexual abuse, probably chained and starved. I'm gonna have to put alot of detail into this next picture, fun fun ^ ^
Mythril Nazgul	Koala. Hawt stuff, as usual.
Mystico	i had an idea, again. why should peach mutate? why in the hell would koop- aw fuck it, bowser go and kidnap her every week just to make her look like every other goddamn scaly thing in his harem? even from the dark standpoint, it does not make sense. and to those that seem to be loving to crap in our collective cornflakes: if you feel that this is such a stupid idea, what does it get you to keep picking at people's ideas? why not just wash your hands of this subject that you think is so stupid. i dont go tell kids on my street to stop playing with pokemon cards, or yugio, or whatever dumbass game that they are playing because i think that it's stupid. i can, i have that right, but why should i? what do i gain, other than a waste of time telling people that something i have not a damn thing to do with is stupid? just something to think about.
Shael Riley	Luvmekoala wrote: As far as her character, well, she is a princess. Sheltered, but knowledgable. A mature woman, graceful and elegant of course. Most of this would revolve around her falling from grace though, so we would see, as Tim put it, a terrified and broken woman. How would someone of royal upbringing react when thrown into chaos? Physical, mental, sexual abuse, probably chained and starved. I'm gonna have to put alot of detail into this next picture, fun fun ^ ^ Is she sheltered though? I'm under the impression that there is no King Toadstool, that she's an absolute monarch, making regular decisions that effect her entire populous of...gay midget mushroom people. I'd think she'd be just the opposite of sheltered. She'd have to be keeping constantly aware of what was going on in her kingdom and managing it.
Mystico	look at the monarchy of great britain. i guarandamntee you that no one, but no-o-o-o-o-o-o one, fucks with the queen. imagine that system, that of a beloved figurehead that isnt supposed to have to make the big decisions, except about ten times more extreme. wouldn't that be sheltered? and if whe were kidnapped? the shroom people would freak the fuck out.
Luvmekoala	Shael Riley wrote: Luvmekoala wrote: As far as her character, well, she is a princess. Sheltered, but knowledgable. A mature woman, graceful and elegant of course. Most of this would revolve around her falling from grace though, so we would see, as Tim put it, a terrified and broken woman. How would someone of royal upbringing react when thrown into chaos? Physical, mental, sexual abuse, probably chained and starved. I'm gonna have to put alot of detail into this next picture, fun fun ^ ^ Is she sheltered though? I'm under the impression that there is no King Toadstool, that she's an absolute monarch, making regular decisions that effect her entire populous of...gay midget mushroom people. I'd think she'd be just the opposite of sheltered. She'd have to be keeping constantly aware of what was going on in her kingdom and managing it. If that is the case I don't think a pink dress is what we are looking for. When I drew the original picture I wanted her to look a little badass as well. I'm not sure how a pink fluffy dress is going to make her look all-powerful and shit unless you want to compare her to the Queen of hearts. She was very powerful, and had quite the get-up, but was full of herself.
Shael Riley	Mystico wrote: look at the monarchy of great britain. i guarandamntee you that no one, but no-o-o-o-o-o-o one, fucks with the queen. imagine that system, that of a beloved figurehead that isnt supposed to have to make the big decisions, except about ten times more extreme. wouldn't that be sheltered? and if whe were kidnapped? the shroom people would freak the fuck out. That's assuming the Toads are human-like and competant enough to form a political counsel and advise/protect their monarch, while I got the impression that they were child-like, cloned automotons from the game.
Shael Riley	Luvmekoala wrote: Shael Riley wrote: Luvmekoala wrote: As far as her character, well, she is a princess. Sheltered, but knowledgable. A mature woman, graceful and elegant of course. Most of this would revolve around her falling from grace though, so we would see, as Tim put it, a terrified and broken woman. How would someone of royal upbringing react when thrown into chaos? Physical, mental, sexual abuse, probably chained and starved. I'm gonna have to put alot of detail into this next picture, fun fun ^ ^ Is she sheltered though? I'm under the impression that there is no King Toadstool, that she's an absolute monarch, making regular decisions that effect her entire populous of...gay midget mushroom people. I'd think she'd be just the opposite of sheltered. She'd have to be keeping constantly aware of what was going on in her kingdom and managing it. If that is the case I don't think a pink dress is what we are looking for. When I drew the original picture I wanted her to look a little badass as well. I'm not sure how a pink fluffy dress is going to make her look all-powerful and shit unless you want to compare her to the Queen of hearts. She was very powerful, and had quite the get-up, but was full of herself. But the pink dress is nearly as iconic as the red overalls! There's got to be a way to make it work. Maybe if you could find the aspects of it that aren't retarded and work with them?

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Author	Message
Luvmekoala	I'm sure it could work in a demented way. I'm just saying, as long as thats what we are goin for. I'd like to discuss any further details on IM sometime, just for quicker discussion.
kfvik	Sooo, I registered to simply reply to this thread.. Many's been talking about making this either a game, mod or a [flash]movie. Has nobody thought about making it into a graphic novel yet (ie, like a comic, maybe a web-comic)?
Bean	Disclaimer: This one's gonna be a bit long-winded, so bare with me. *Takes a deep breath* I was under the impression that the Koopas were once rather peaceful and somewhat tribal-like before the rise of Bowser, the young koopa radical that wished more for his people and despised the great Mushroom Kingdom. I thought I heard somewhere that he acquired a weapon of terrible (Magic?) power which he used to transform the Kingdom's citizens. Turning them into mushrooms seemed a fitting demise, since they named their kingdom after the fields of large mushroom "trees" that grew around the area. His real reason for doing so, however, was to make them incompatible with the princess ensuring that she would have no offspring to continue the royal lineage. He would then, with noone opposing him, capture her to bare his children (How he'd have her bare his children, I have no clue.). His children, who would be raised by him of course, would then be the natural successors to the Mushroom Kingdom's throne allowing him to have his "Koopa supremecy." Maybe I dreamed all of this up or something (I have a tendancy to do that... often.), but I think it sounds rather plausible. As to why he couldn't just rule over the people of the Mushroom Kingdom with them being so weak... well, perhaps his Koopa forces were nothing like they are now. Or maybe the people still commanded great power and knowledge as long as the princess was alive. Just a thought I had. Mario. Was he "destined" to be the Kingdoms' savior? Or was it intentional? Perhaps the people of the Mushroom Kingdom were rather advanced technology-wise and were able to bring in someone who was, in our "dimension," an average Joe, but in this "dimension" a near-invincible "super hero," capable of destroying even the mighty king of Koopas. As for my earlier-stated idea that the Koopas were a result of the "drugs," it was more intended to be an explanation of Bowser's appearance (Why he is much larger and looks nothing like any normal Koopa.) than for the Koopas themselves. Again, maybe this is something I had a dream about. Perhaps it has roots in the old cartoon which I watched almost ritualistically as a kid. Maybe it's from the movie (I haven't seen it in ages... I wonder why. Hahahaha!) But my point in bringing this up is, if you're going to make a story, game, movie, what have you, you're going to want a back story. There has to be a reason things are so glum when Mario arrives. There has to be a reason for kidnapping Peach. Why are the toads the way they are? What keeps Bowser from just killing them all off? Adding a past to the world gives it much more credibility, and since realisim is one of the targets of this "project" I would assume you'd want to focus on this as well as the main story. I think my idea is a nice start, but I'm sure there are plenty of things I've missed, messed up on, and derived from places other than the Mario world. Feel free to bash my idea, or keep it. Just throwing some stuff out there. On to another topic that seems to have this thread in a bind at the moment: is Mario good or bad? Mario should be good-natured to begin with. He's Mario. Sure he's had some rough spots in his life, from growing up in a bad neighborhood to, perhaps, even recovering from a recent alcohol problem (This may make his transition to drugs a bit more inticing for him, if this is indeed the will of everyone here.). Basically, he should be a fairly good-natured individual. Sure, he's a little rough around the edges and could even make a sailor blush occasionally, but he has a good heart. When he comes to in this other dimension, he's gonna be freaked the hell out, as any normal person would be. Perhaps he starts out being paranoid, scared, and homesick, but he would eventually get used to it (At least a little.). He'd have enough of a cool head to take on Bowser, although he may piss his pants upon seeing the colossal king. I just think that making Mario some sort of drugged-up, homicidal maniac keeps him from being a sympathetic character. You still want to be able to connect with him on some level. Anyway, enough of my opinion. I've taken up waaaaaay too much space on this thing already. I appologize. PS. Thank you Sappy, for taking the time to color my Bowser for me. The colors are very close to what I had in mind. Very nice job too. I'll post my own colored version, which will express what I had in mind for colors when I drew him, whenever I get it finished. And Shael... thank you, thank you, thank you for such praise. My jaw dropped when I read what you wrote. The "loping on all fours" is exactly what I had in mind, and I'm glad at least that amount of what I imagined got out on paper. And thanks to everyone else who complimented on it. I don't get praise like this all to often. Hahahaha. Oh, and I'll probably do some sketches of a few more creatures I'm interested in pretty soon. Yoshi for one. Thanks again, everyone, for putting up with me.
LinkShadow1978	Shael Riley wrote: Luvmekoala wrote: Shael Riley wrote: Luvmekoala wrote: As far as her character, well, she is a princess. Sheltered, but knowledgable. A mature woman, graceful and elegant of course. Most of this would revolve around her falling from grace though, so we would see, as Tim put it, a terrified and broken woman. How would someone of royal upbringing react when thrown into chaos? Physical, mental, sexual abuse, probably chained and starved. I'm gonna have to put alot of detail into this next picture, fun fun ^ ^ Is she sheltered though? I'm under the impression that there is no King Toadstool, that she's an absolute monarch, making regular decisions that effect her entire populous of...gay midget mushroom people. I'd think she'd be just the opposite of sheltered. She'd have to be keeping constantly aware of what was going on in her kingdom and managing it. If that is the case I don't think a pink dress is what we are looking for. When I drew the original picture I wanted her to look a little badass as well. I'm not sure how a pink fluffy dress is going to make her look all-powerful and shit unless you want to compare her to the Queen of hearts. She was very powerful, and had quite the get-up, but was full of herself. But the pink dress is nearly as iconic as the red overalls! There's got to be a way to make it work. Maybe if you could find the aspects of it that aren't retarded and work with them? just because she has a pink dress doesn't mean she can't have her badass look. the picture alone depicts her wild sexy side. How about instead of it being a dress, it could be a night-gown. Somewhat see-through. We could say she was captured in her sleep.
Arcana	I would prefer Mario be at least a little into the drugs. He's a plumber and thus can't afford to shoot up every day, but it's kind of his own magical adventure. There should be a tone of irony in this - Mario gets high in order to experience an adventure. He dreams of being a hero, of saving the princess, settling down, and getting married. He wishes desperately that he had more drugs because he has a dead-end job that doesn't pay, no wife or girlfriend, and few friends. I would argue that his brother Luigi, who's taller and leaner than Mario, is probably more successful than he is. Luigi might have a girlfriend. He's a plumber too, but Luigi might not have went down the road of drugs. The irony, of course, is that when the opportunity actually arises for Mario to try to save the princess and the world, he's freaked. Suddenly, he wishes he was home and his life suddenly seems so very kind and peaceful. It's the old, "Be careful what you wish for" adage, but I believe it would work in this case. I would think it would be better that, after the ordeal is finished, Mario would be more inclined to drop drugs and all of the nasty shit because he realises that life is what you make it to be. However, Shael's already stated that we've pretty much decided on Mario as a character. Remember that, despite our characterizations, the world and the enemies are going to be ultimately more important. When you play the game, you're not going to see a lot of backstory other than in cutscenes and occasional dialog. Does anyone have the original Super Mario Bros. video game with the instructions? I believe that that manual refers to the Mushroom King. His daughter is Princess Toadstool. The magic wand was taken from Super Mario 3, and isn't directly applicable to SMB, but Bowser used magic to turn the people into things like monsters and bricks according to the first game's manual. That said - it is relatively fitting if we want to fit in the mutant theme. Instead of magic, I would suggest science and biotechnology - organic larvae using the Mushroom retainers as hosts to create goombas, for example. Taking ordinary beetles and turning them into three-foot-long tanks through mutations. The core of the army would be the Koopa, of course - both land-based and flying ones. Instead of turning people into bricks, I would have them turned into different kinds of flora through a method of de-evolution. Flowers, grass, etc. I would go as far as to suggest that anything with a face in the game Super Mario World would originally have been a Mushroom Kingdom citizen. Obviously, they wouldn't be smiling, and it wouldn't be in pretty primary colours - things would be grotesque, disgusting, and generally disturbing. I would suggest that tossing shells be a core part of the game, as well, but instead of "popping koopa from shells" like in SMW, you should be able to throw the dead bodies of your enemies. The Castles, of course, are remnants from the propserous kingdom. I would suggest that the simple trickery the Mushroom Kingdom people could suggest is that only the Princess knows "how to enter and exit this world". Compare all of the retainers and then the princess. Notice anything? The Princess looks really human, unlike the short shrimpy toads. It is highly possible that she arrived in the world before Mario a few generations ago, started to rule the world in splendor, before it was taken over by Bowser and his sentient Turtle race. As a result, rumours can be easily spawned by the Mushroom people . Quote: "Look, this man looks just like our Princess." "What?" said Mario. "Our princess... she looks like you." Mario stared at the three-foot tall Mushroom man standing in front of him. "You... kind of look like me too. Except... your face is brown. And you have this bad-ass-ugly cap for a hat." "Hat? No, this isn't a hat. This is a part of my head. But Princess, she's not like that! She has fur on her head, like you do." "Fur... hair, you say?" "Long ago, the King of the Kingdom and Princess Toadstool came to us from a pipe just like that one. The King managed to band our people together and we grew from a people who used to fight over everything into a unified country. Now his daughter, who came with him, is taking over the country to be the ruler." Problem with the excerpt is that it's cliche - people coming from pipes, one is the legendary hero, and the hero is reluctant. Can you say, HAS BEEN DONE BEFORE?
Sentora	Arcana wrote: I would prefer Mario be at least a little into the drugs. He's a plumber and thus can't afford to shoot up every day, but it's kind of his own magical adventure. There should be a tone of irony in this - Mario gets high in order to experience an adventure. He dreams of being a hero, of saving the princess, settling down, and getting married. He wishes desperately that he had more drugs because he has a dead-end job that doesn't pay, no wife or girlfriend, and few friends. I would argue that his brother Luigi, who's taller and leaner than Mario, is probably more successful than he is. Luigi might have a girlfriend. He's a plumber too, but Luigi might not have went down the road of drugs. The irony, of course, is that when the opportunity actually arises for Mario to try to save the princess and the world, he's freaked. Suddenly, he wishes he was home and his life suddenly seems so very kind and peaceful. It's the old, "Be careful what you wish for" adage, but I believe it would work in this case. I would think it would be better that, after the ordeal is finished, Mario would be more inclined to drop drugs and all of the nasty shit because he realises that life is what you make it to be. However, Shael's already stated that we've pretty much decided on Mario as a character. Remember that, despite our characterizations, the world and the enemies are going to be ultimately more important. When you play the game, you're not going to see a lot of backstory other than in cutscenes and occasional dialog. Does anyone have the original Super Mario Bros. video game with the instructions? I believe that that manual refers to the Mushroom King. His daughter is Princess Toadstool. The magic wand was taken from Super Mario 3, and isn't directly applicable to SMB, but Bowser used magic to turn the people into things like monsters and bricks according to the first game's manual. That said - it is relatively fitting if we want to fit in the mutant theme. Instead of magic, I would suggest science and biotechnology - organic larvae using the Mushroom retainers as hosts to create goombas, for example. Taking ordinary beetles and turning them into three-foot-long tanks through mutations. The core of the army would be the Koopa, of course - both land-based and flying ones. Instead of turning people into bricks, I would have them turned into different kinds of flora through a method of de-evolution. Flowers, grass, etc. I would go as far as to suggest that anything with a face in the game Super Mario World would originally have been a Mushroom Kingdom citizen. Obviously, they wouldn't be smiling, and it wouldn't be in pretty primary colours - things would be grotesque, disgusting, and generally disturbing. I would suggest that tossing shells be a core part of the game, as well, but instead of "popping koopa from shells" like in SMW, you should be able to throw the dead bodies of your enemies. The Castles, of course, are remnants from the propserous kingdom. I would suggest that the simple trickery the Mushroom Kingdom people could suggest is that only the Princess knows "how to enter and exit this world". Compare all of the retainers and then the princess. Notice anything? The Princess looks really human, unlike the short shrimpy toads. It is highly possible that she arrived in the world before Mario a few generations ago, started to rule the world in splendor, before it was taken over by Bowser and his sentient Turtle race. As a result, rumours can be easily spawned by the Mushroom people . Quote: "Look, this man looks just like our Princess." "What?" said Mario. "Our princess... she looks like you." Mario stared at the three-foot tall Mushroom man standing in front of him. "You... kind of look like me too. Except... your face is brown. And you have this bad-ass-ugly cap for a hat." "Hat? No, this isn't a hat. This is a part of my head. But Princess, she's not like that! She has fur on her head, like you do." "Fur... hair, you say?" "Long ago, the King of the Kingdom and Princess Toadstool came to us from a pipe just like that one. The King managed to band our people together and we grew from a people who used to fight over everything into a unified country. Now his daughter, who came with him, is taking over the country to be the ruler." Problem with the excerpt is that it's cliche - people coming from pipes, one is the legendary hero, and the hero is reluctant. Can you say, HAS BEEN DONE BEFORE? Unless you throw in a nice fat, bitch of a twist into that excerpt. Remember the drug angle? Who's to say that's not what's really kept the Princess there? That this has happened before? That would be one hell of a twist if the Mushroom People weren't as much victims as we thought. That opens up a shit load of options to fuck with the player/reader's minds.
Sentora	Luvmekoala wrote: My initial impression of a non-kidnapped princess. I mean come on, who wouldn't want to kidnap her? I would like some ideas on how she would appear after being taken by Bowser. Hthe8th had some good ideas, but I'm at a loss for what she would be wearing and such details like that. I would like to draw a more psychotic, deranged, picture of her though. And in a word. DAMN.
endblink	Luvmekoala wrote: My initial impression of a non-kidnapped princess. I mean come on, who wouldn't want to kidnap her? I would like some ideas on how she would appear after being taken by Bowser. Hthe8th had some good ideas, but I'm at a loss for what she would be wearing and such details like that. I would like to draw a more psychotic, deranged, picture of her though. While this is really, really good, I have some suggestions: • Remember, you're trying to go for a pseudo "gritty realism" to match the darker vision of the Mushroom Kingdom. Hence, the crown has got to go. It's too "cartoony". Might I suggest a tiara? Or at least a more realistic crown that would befit royalty. • I would also give her a royal cloak of some sort. As for after kidnap: Thing Princess Laia. Try making a variation to the Laia motif. That's be pretty hardcore.
endblink	Sappers wrote: WOW. GOOD work here. It even works with the old skool Bowser colour scheme. Some REALLY talented people on this board. Colour me impressed.
Arcana	Sentora wrote: Unless you throw in a nice fat, bitch of a twist into that excerpt. Remember the drug angle? Who's to say that's not what's really kept the Princess there? That this has happened before? That would be one hell of a twist if the Mushroom People weren't as much victims as we thought. That opens up a shit load of options to fuck with the player/reader's minds. That's actually a really awesome idea, Sentora. Really, really awesome. It's a great twist and certainly justifies why the Princess would want to stay. It fits into the idea that this is a reality that is warped out of perception. I would go as far as to say that everyone in the Mushroom Kingdom would be regularly involved in recreational Drug Use. It would probably be similar to Soma in "A Brave New World", except then Bowser jumps in on this and ruins the utopia.
LinkShadow1978	Arcana wrote: I would prefer Mario be at least a little into the drugs. He's a plumber and thus can't afford to shoot up every day, but it's kind of his own magical adventure. There should be a tone of irony in this - Mario gets high in order to experience an adventure. He dreams of being a hero, of saving the princess, settling down, and getting married. He wishes desperately that he had more drugs because he has a dead-end job that doesn't pay, no wife or girlfriend, and few friends. I would argue that his brother Luigi, who's taller and leaner than Mario, is probably more successful than he is. Luigi might have a girlfriend. He's a plumber too, but Luigi might not have went down the road of drugs. The irony, of course, is that when the opportunity actually arises for Mario to try to save the princess and the world, he's freaked. Suddenly, he wishes he was home and his life suddenly seems so very kind and peaceful. It's the old, "Be careful what you wish for" adage, but I believe it would work in this case. I would think it would be better that, after the ordeal is finished, Mario would be more inclined to drop drugs and all of the nasty shit because he realises that life is what you make it to be. However, Shael's already stated that we've pretty much decided on Mario as a character. Remember that, despite our characterizations, the world and the enemies are going to be ultimately more important. When you play the game, you're not going to see a lot of backstory other than in cutscenes and occasional dialog. Does anyone have the original Super Mario Bros. video game with the instructions? I believe that that manual refers to the Mushroom King. His daughter is Princess Toadstool. The magic wand was taken from Super Mario 3, and isn't directly applicable to SMB, but Bowser used magic to turn the people into things like monsters and bricks according to the first game's manual. That said - it is relatively fitting if we want to fit in the mutant theme. Instead of magic, I would suggest science and biotechnology - organic larvae using the Mushroom retainers as hosts to create goombas, for example. Taking ordinary beetles and turning them into three-foot-long tanks through mutations. The core of the army would be the Koopa, of course - both land-based and flying ones. Instead of turning people into bricks, I would have them turned into different kinds of flora through a method of de-evolution. Flowers, grass, etc. I would go as far as to suggest that anything with a face in the game Super Mario World would originally have been a Mushroom Kingdom citizen. Obviously, they wouldn't be smiling, and it wouldn't be in pretty primary colours - things would be grotesque, disgusting, and generally disturbing. I would suggest that tossing shells be a core part of the game, as well, but instead of "popping koopa from shells" like in SMW, you should be able to throw the dead bodies of your enemies. The Castles, of course, are remnants from the propserous kingdom. I would suggest that the simple trickery the Mushroom Kingdom people could suggest is that only the Princess knows "how to enter and exit this world". Compare all of the retainers and then the princess. Notice anything? The Princess looks really human, unlike the short shrimpy toads. It is highly possible that she arrived in the world before Mario a few generations ago, started to rule the world in splendor, before it was taken over by Bowser and his sentient Turtle race. As a result, rumours can be easily spawned by the Mushroom people . Quote: "Look, this man looks just like our Princess." "What?" said Mario. "Our princess... she looks like you." Mario stared at the three-foot tall Mushroom man standing in front of him. "You... kind of look like me too. Except... your face is brown. And you have this bad-ass-ugly cap for a hat." "Hat? No, this isn't a hat. This is a part of my head. But Princess, she's not like that! She has fur on her head, like you do." "Fur... hair, you say?" "Long ago, the King of the Kingdom and Princess Toadstool came to us from a pipe just like that one. The King managed to band our people together and we grew from a people who used to fight over everything into a unified country. Now his daughter, who came with him, is taking over the country to be the ruler." Problem with the excerpt is that it's cliche - people coming from pipes, one is the legendary hero, and the hero is reluctant. Can you say, HAS BEEN DONE BEFORE? I agree with you. Since this game has a mature tone it should have some mature circumstances. Mario drugged up does seem like a nice angle. He does come from Brooklyn. And he is a plumber. So it would make sense that he is a lonely man looking for a life of his own. And being thrown into such a horrific looking world as the Mushroom Kingdom it would make sense that he has some horrible experiences. To cope, he would turn to drugs. Like you said, we should concentrate more on what this world and all the characters would look like. So as to explain why Mario turns out like he does.
Shael Riley	Arcana wrote: I would prefer Mario be at least a little into the drugs. He's a plumber and thus can't afford to shoot up every day, but it's kind of his own magical adventure. There should be a tone of irony in this - Mario gets high in order to experience an adventure. He dreams of being a hero, of saving the princess, settling down, and getting married. He wishes desperately that he had more drugs because he has a dead-end job that doesn't pay, no wife or girlfriend, and few friends. I would argue that his brother Luigi, who's taller and leaner than Mario, is probably more successful than he is. Luigi might have a girlfriend. He's a plumber too, but Luigi might not have went down the road of drugs. The irony, of course, is that when the opportunity actually arises for Mario to try to save the princess and the world, he's freaked. Suddenly, he wishes he was home and his life suddenly seems so very kind and peaceful. It's the old, "Be careful what you wish for" adage, but I believe it would work in this case. I would think it would be better that, after the ordeal is finished, Mario would be more inclined to drop drugs and all of the nasty shit because he realises that life is what you make it to be. However, Shael's already stated that we've pretty much decided on Mario as a character. And none of that's incompatable with the concept we came up with. It seems like a natural extension of it, actually and the drug use/escapism vs. return to home and familiarity/safety is what I had in mind as a central tension when I started the thread. Man, you should, like, be the plot director or something.
Sentora	Arcana wrote: Sentora wrote: Unless you throw in a nice fat, bitch of a twist into that excerpt. Remember the drug angle? Who's to say that's not what's really kept the Princess there? That this has happened before? That would be one hell of a twist if the Mushroom People weren't as much victims as we thought. That opens up a shit load of options to fuck with the player/reader's minds. That's actually a really awesome idea, Sentora. Really, really awesome. It's a great twist and certainly justifies why the Princess would want to stay. It fits into the idea that this is a reality that is warped out of perception. I would go as far as to say that everyone in the Mushroom Kingdom would be regularly involved in recreational Drug Use. It would probably be similar to Soma in "A Brave New World", except then Bowser jumps in on this and ruins the utopia. Thanks. This gives you opportunity to stray away from the Cliche of 'Snobby princess turns into ass kicking hot momma' and really work on her character Shael. What was she before coming here and why was she chosen? And how will she react to being woken up? Will she be outraged and hate her beloved people for decieving her or will she cling to that deception cause it was better than where she came from? Hell, her and Mario could have known each other in the past before she became Princess. lol. Gods, I'm winding up giving a reason for the reader to see Bowser as somewhat of a hero from a certain point of view. Creepy thought.
Mad Hatter	Sentora wrote: Luvmekoala wrote: My initial impression of a non-kidnapped princess. I mean come on, who wouldn't want to kidnap her? I would like some ideas on how she would appear after being taken by Bowser. Hthe8th had some good ideas, but I'm at a loss for what she would be wearing and such details like that. I would like to draw a more psychotic, deranged, picture of her though. And in a word. DAMN. Double DAMN. -Note: Any mention of Daisy in any of this? Or are we thinking sequels once we include Luigi?
DJ ChocoHearts	Arcana wrote: Luigi might have a girlfriend. Mad Hatter wrote: -Note: Any mention of Daisy in any of this? Or are we thinking sequels once we include Luigi? Simple - Daisy was Luigi's girlfriend back home. Maybe there could be a dream sequence in the game where we see excerpts of the Mario 2 storyline, where the Bros, Toad, and Peach have to save Daisy. Or else that could be the sequel. And yes, I realize that the Daisy and Luigi angle was from the movie - I liked it, what can I say? *coughSamanthaMathiswashawtcough* >.> BTW, wonderful piccie, Koala. I've always had a soft spot for Peach, and your version is extremely awesome.