Author	Message
Electronic Samurai	I'm all up for including ghosts like the Boo in the game. Because most of the creatures we've set down so far can be rationally explained through technology, evolution, or some other factor, it would provide a nice counterpoint to include a monster that cannot be explained in rational terms. Using 'House of Leaves' as a starting point is a very good idea - it has the creepy and often downright terrifying atmosphere that is appropriate for a ghost house. However, this one's up to Shael. I've got kind of an interesing idea for the Thwomps, but I'll go away and let it gell before I introduce it. There's some definately good work going on in here; don't scare me by letting it get to Page 2 again. Who's read '1408' by Stephen King? It has another very cool ghost house (well, room). Another possible starting point to jump off from.
Edgar Mullinß	Too lazy to go back and read through most of this, but has anyone actually tried recruiting one of the many great artists we have here to make this into a comic or anything? Sure, it's intended to be a videogame, bt who honestly thinks that'll pan out?
Dark Monkey	In the ghost house, there would have to be plenty of bizarre, incomprehensible things that manage to be creepy and menacing for no explainable reason. Salad Fingers is an example of this. Another example comes from Stephen King's short story "1408". It's about a guy that stays in a haunted hotel room. A lot of freaky stuff happens. The main scary thing that conveys this mood I'm reccomending is this: The lone phone in the room rings and the protagonist picks it up. An inhuman voice says "This is nine! Nine! This is ten! Ten! We have killed your friends! Every friend is now dead! This is six! Six!" The voice continues on like this. The story never explains what the things the voice said meant. You have no idea what's going on, but it's really creepy anyway. If you haven't read the story, it might seem kind of lame. It's integrated really well though.
Ice Dragon	Electronic Samurai, I agree, "this project has some definate commentary on the nature of war, government, and the dehabilitating effect that regular drug use has on society." However, this commentary when applied to the Mario universe is out of place. Just say the following out loud, "Post-apocalyptic mushroom kingdom". The closest the Mushroom kingdom has ever gotten to an apocalypse is when bowser stole the wishing wand from a bunch of stars! Sentora, I have attempted to contribute ideas, but they were ignored or had at least one individual make snide references to my idea. You also don't seem to get the point I am trying to make. I never suggested that what was being made was a GTA clone. Quote: I said in the beginning that these were not going to make a "mature" project, because in the way they are being used will only show the desperation of some people to fulfill some childhood need to have a Mario game or movie or whatever that they can play/watch with their "cool" friends that don't play "those kiddy games." As I said in the above quote, I ALREADY made the point clear before, near the beginning of this thread.
Dark Monkey	Ice dragon, about 18 pages or so earlier I would agree with you. Since then, we've been progressing away from the whole GTA: Mushroom Kingdom stuff and into more intelligent territory.
Sentora	Ice Dragon wrote: Electronic Samurai, I agree, "this project has some definate commentary on the nature of war, government, and the dehabilitating effect that regular drug use has on society." However, this commentary when applied to the Mario universe is out of place. Just say the following out loud, "Post-apocalyptic mushroom kingdom". The closest the Mushroom kingdom has ever gotten to an apocalypse is when bowser stole the wishing wand from a bunch of stars! Sentora, I have attempted to contribute ideas, but they were ignored or had at least one individual make snide references to my idea. You also don't seem to get the point I am trying to make. I never suggested that what was being made was a GTA clone. Quote: I said in the beginning that these were not going to make a "mature" project, because in the way they are being used will only show the desperation of some people to fulfill some childhood need to have a Mario game or movie or whatever that they can play/watch with their "cool" friends that don't play "those kiddy games." As I said in the above quote, I ALREADY made the point clear before, near the beginning of this thread. Then reinstate them now, because I don't recall them. And I understand your point quite clear, knowing how most people hate the 'kiddy image' Nintendo has. But that's not the attitude that's fueling the project, which you don't seem to understand. Because if that was the case and we were solely interested in making this something that 'is cool' like you said, there would be no plot, character development or any effort, we'd just copy the hell out of Resident evil apocolypse or whatever POS action movie is popular and have Peach around as a sex object/heroine with inflated boobs doing a Tomb Raider imitation with a plot a five year could write better. If that's what we were doing, and instead not trying to keep the standards of the series intact in a more twisted form, then yes I would agree with your point. And about your reply to Electronic Samurai...it's not as impossible as you're making it out to be. Again we stress, this is a ALTERNATE UNIVERSE. In the Canon universe established by the games, yes, this would be out of place. All we're doing is looking at SMB as how it COULD have turned out through a certain point of view and with mature concepts in mind. It doesn't HAVE to belong to the Canon universe to enjoy it, much like how people have enjoyed Out of continuity stories in comics such as Dark Knight Returns. DKR was dark, brutal and twisted compared to the 60's batman and offensive to some, but anyone who have read it can't say it's not among the best batman story EVER. So again I say, if it bothers you so badly, then ignore what we're doing or challenge the ideas. We're doing this, like it or not.
Bean	Perhaps you missed my boo earlier. I'll post it again just to be sure (and since we're on the topic). I've come up with some lyrics that go to the lullaby that plays when you're sneaking past piranha plants in M64. It might make for an interesting song that plays when boos are near. Goodnight, my child. The morning has gone to bed. Not a peep. Go to sleep. It's time to rest your head. Goodnight, my child. Sleep will come very soon. Turn out the lights. Close your eyes. Dream by the light of the moon. La la la la la La la la la la La la la la la la la La la la la la La la la la la La la la la la la la la Sweet dreams, my child. Gone is the light of day. Lay down your head. Now your dead. Gone with the boos to play. Unfortunately it's pretty sucky. I didn't spend much time working on it, and I'm not much of a writer. If anyone wants to improve upon it, be my guest. I thought it might be creepy to have it sung by a bunch of little kids. In fact, it may be interesting if the boos had the voices of children (It would play really well into that giggle they already use.). I'd imagine their faces would never move from that evil grin; the voice would just eminate from their direction.
Ice Dragon	Why the constant need to insert graphic language or sexual content into the Mario universe? Why drugs? Although Electronic says that the dangers of drugs are being spoken about, that has not been the main reason for the drugs in the first place, and it may have changed slightly only recently. Unfortunately, you can't just put Mario in a different universe without taking into account past Mario games. Nothing and nobody lives in a vaccum. My idea for this project was to have the Mushroom kingdom be the mind of Mario. Mario in the real world isn't doing so well economically and socially, so it is also affecting him mentally as well. This is reflected in the Mushroom kingdom. The various characters lend themselves more to a less realistic, and more allegorical existence. Like an Alice in Wonderland and Spirited Away sense, but more in line with the latter. Look up the word "manifestation" in this thread and you'll find more of what I am talking about.
Starlight	Ice Dragon, Isn't this game something like Alice? I never saw Alice hacking away and killing things in "Alice In Wonderland"? They are taking into account the past Mario games and putting a mature context into it, just like Alice did. Exact same thing, well except that this is more mature and, in my opinion, a different type of game(or movie I guess) than Alice. My only real problem is that Peach being raped tends to really mess up the story. I don't know if it's because I'm a girl or not, but hearing about this weird rape situation draws away interest and really doesn't make me hate Bowser but it makes me dislike the people involved for adding such crap to get a mature feel. I mean there is a difference between mature and too mature that no one would want to watch or play it. I think you guys should imply that she is going to be raped or something. Because if she has been raped, shouldn't she have already had a child. I mean it's been six years. Well that's my two cents. Other than that, I love this idea. I actually read through all 41 pages to understand this. Great work guys.
Mr. 1-Up	Bean wrote: You can scare a LOT of children with that picture. Anyways, about your lullaby....try to make it fit with the actual song that plays. And to whoever thought of Peach being raped. Try to think of somthing else. Not too many people would like to see that. Thank you, and keep up the good work!
DarthStar	I think that instead of the shadow of a rape, show the implantation of Bowser's "seed". I mean, he doesn't necessarily have to rape her.
Electronic Samurai	Starlight wrote: Ice Dragon, Isn't this game something like Alice? I never saw Alice hacking away and killing things in "Alice In Wonderland"? They are taking into account the past Mario games and putting a mature context into it, just like Alice did. Exact same thing, well except that this is more mature and, in my opinion, a different type of game(or movie I guess) than Alice. Exactly. For anyone who's heard about or played the game 'Alice', the idea was not to introduce canon into the 'Alice in Wonderland series' - rather to view the classic through a wildly different lens. The original series was a trippy, dreamscape adventure through a series of improbable locations, while the game gave a nightmarishly skewed interpretation of the same. This is exactly the kind of atmosphere we're trying to achieve with I, Mario. 'Alice' was clearly not meant to exist within the same continuity as 'Alice in Wonderland', rather, it put an old and well-loved story into a new light. I have played 'Alice' and thoroughly enjoyed it for what it was, and it has been an excellent guidepost for the sort of things we're doing in here. By the way, I <3 that Boo, Bean. Your art is always a pleasure to behold. That being said, I shall disappear for the remainder of the weekend. But I shall return! *swirls cape and disappears*
Bean	Actually, Raenok, the song was created specifically for the lullaby and fits well if you sing it correctly. Not all the syllables end up on the different notes. But, yeah, I admit it still needs work. Thanks for the compliment on my Boo. Scary was the intent, so hopefully I got it. It would be much creepier if put into the correct setting with the correct mood, so if this design is gonna be picked, it's location in-game will have to be modelled and lighted very well. ES, thanks for the compliment. Your work is also "a pleasure to behold." Even in Paint, you rock something fierce. Keep it up!
Dark Monkey	Bean, have you read the book "House of Leaves"? It seems that those who have read it agree that the house on Ashtree Lane would be a great basis for a ghost house. In case you haven't I'll describe it. Keep in mind that I just woke up. In "House of Leaves", the Navidson family goes on vacation. When they come back they find a small black hallway connecting their children's rooms. It was completely black and featureless. It wasn't there before they left. When the measured it, it was 3/16 (I think that's the right number) of an inch too big to fit in the house. Naturally they're way freaked out. One day, they wake up to find a new door in their living room. Will Navidson, the father, goes in with a camera to explore it. The room is the size of a football field, and at the end is another doorway. Each room Will sees is completely black and featureless, with doors leading different ways. He maps each room he goes through. While he's mapping he hears a low growl that keeps getting louder. He gets freaked out and decides to leave. He tries to follow his map, but all the doors have changed positions and the rooms are totally different! The house shifted around him. Throughout the book little details of the house come up. There are certain areas that are always there. For example, there is a big hub with a staircase that he and other characters cotinually encounter. There are long winding staircases that take months to descend, but going back up takes a day. Later on the architechture got more advanced. There were huge spires, deep ravines, sideways staircases, and even floating moving platforms. Maybe we could add evidence that people lived here, and little clues that the people who lived here were terribly twisted. There could be diaries and incriminating items.
sephfire	I did a little sketch a few weeks ago in class after reading this thread, but I haven't had time to scan it in yet and post. I'll get to it eventaully. Love all the ideas happening in here.

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Author	Message
DJ ChocoHearts	Bean wrote: I've come up with some lyrics that go to the lullaby that plays when you're sneaking past piranha plants in M64. It might make for an interesting song that plays when boos are near. Goodnight, my child. The morning has gone to bed. Not a peep. Go to sleep. It's time to rest your head. Goodnight, my child. Sleep will come very soon. Turn out the lights. Close your eyes. Dream by the light of the moon. La la la la la La la la la la La la la la la la la La la la la la La la la la la La la la la la la la la Sweet dreams, my child. Gone is the light of day. Lay down your head. Now your dead. Gone with the boos to play. Unfortunately it's pretty sucky. I didn't spend much time working on it, and I'm not much of a writer. If anyone wants to improve upon it, be my guest. I thought it might be creepy to have it sung by a bunch of little kids. In fact, it may be interesting if the boos had the voices of children (It would play really well into that giggle they already use.). I'd imagine their faces would never move from that evil grin; the voice would just eminate from their direction. 'Ey, that's something cool. Having the M64 soundtrack right here, I just played Pirahna's Lullaby and sang your words to it. I love it. ;P I could definitely see Mario wandering around the Ghost House (Maybe he was on the run from the Troopas and hid in the House?), and he hears the singing all quiet-like. He follows the sound, coming to a door at the beginning of the last stanza. Not understanding that this is a GHOST HOUSE yet, he walks inside curiously, and reaches the middle of the room at "Lay down your head", and the door slams behind him. He whirls around and sees the Boos, whose voices get all scratchy like an old record or something as they sing, "Now you're dead / Gone with the Boos to play!! *cackle*" *shiver* I just scared myself. XD Of course, that'd have to be a cutscene for the timing to work... assuming this turns out to be a game. Speaking of games, I'd put in my "vote", such as it is, for the Source engine. It's got the ability to do some cloaking action for the Boos, plus it's got the physics that could be used for some interesting situations. For example: I'm fairly certain one could make particular objects "fall" upwards using the density system (but I'm not POSITIVE, as they haven't released the HL2 SDK yet *shakes fist at VALVe* - but that's beside the point!). *cough* Ok, that's enough ramble for me, I guess. Keep up the good work, all you guys~
Mr Monday	Bean wrote: I'd imagine their faces would never move from that evil grin; the voice would just eminate from their direction. How about they look like Son-of-a-Gun from C-Cross? I peed myself when I saw him. So spooky.
Bean	Dark Monkey, I've not read "House of Leaves" but upon reading your description, it's something I'm definately going to try to find. It sounds awesome, and inspiring. Another pic. This is.. well, "my" goomba. It's not really mine. It's more me just using the pieces I liked from earlier goomba designs posted. For example, I really liked the shape of Electronic Samurai's goomba, as well as the expression on it's face. It looks almost sad, as if it's ashamed of what it is. I also like Blademaster's design a lot. Kinda reminds me of the Sheegoth from Metroid Prime. So I added those powerful leaping legs and strong jaws, perfect for chomping prey. To the description: Goombas are a form of carnivorous fungus; mutilations of the mushroom people. Created by Lakitu, they serve the koopas as dogs. They are mistreated, but follow orders. Goombas are sent in before the koopa troopas to hopefully exhaust the MK's defenses before the main force arrives. Goombas are best as pack hunters and will call for help when threatened. The reason for this is that their eyesight is very limited and their hearing is almost non-existent, only being able to pick up a small range of frequencies. They do have, however, a very keen sense of smell. Goombas in a pack will form a circle around an enemy and take turns leaping at it with their powerful legs, hoping to catch a mouthful of flesh in their powerful jaws. Goombas skin reacts violently to flame, quickly melting the creature into a puddle of boiling goo. Their hides are fairly weak allowing the attacker to smash a goomba with a couple stomps of his foot. While effective, it is rather difficult due to their teeth.
carra	Well, I was wondering why speaking about boos nobody said anything about the boo picture I posted... and when I got to other computer I found the image didn't show!! So, to see it you can click THIS LINK Any comments welcome.
Dark Monkey	I think that Bean's boo would be great for the regular "Boo buddy", and carra's would be good for a "big boo". It could be the boss of the ghosthouse, floating around at high speeds. Maybe you'd have to run from it through shifting hallways to try to escape the ghosthouse before the ghost gets you.
Blademaster	Cool, eh? I was going for a steampunkish feel for the mask, and i think it turned out quite well. I'm glad you all like my stuff! This is a very good topic for me, and I would apprechate any C&C. I love your goomba Bean! Very Fungish. The expression should be closer to the classic goomba, I think, but it's still kick ass!
Mr. 1-Up	As to the Boo idea, you need a King Boo. Most people would reconize him from Super Mario 64. Others, Luigi's Mansion and Super Mario Sunshine. Now, King Boo, could be huge, can speak normally with his mouth, and be MUCH scarier than any other Boo. But, I don't have any idea wether he would help Mario, or try to destroy him.
lawman	slightly off topic: Rougeport is independent from the mushroom Kingdom like most of the citys on the conteinet.
Hogulus	Wow, that's a good Snifit! Yeah, come to think of it high-caliber rounds wouldn't be too good on something mounted on something's face. Besides, I'm not sure Snifits are the careful, plotting sniper type, unless they're one of Lakitu's creations. Anyway, it's a far leap from the original but still has a sort of thread back to it, so people can look at it and think "Is that a Snifit?" BTW, I want those boots. EDIT for my ideas on Boos: Laki-Boo (forget the real name, it's like the Fishin' Lakitu but with fire instead of an item, it's from SMW) could be the reason why the Cloud is currently at Mk. IX. Before Lakitu could perfect his craft, he needed test pilots, often using kidnapped Koopa Troopas that were tied to the control seat and launched into the air in their prototype Clouds. The Cloud mk. VI was an initially promising model that was fueled by tanks of adenosine triphosphate, which was pumped into the pilot's bloodstream at enormous rates. The resulting massively excessive energy generated by the driver's own body was then siphoned out into the Cloud. However, there were more than a few mishaps after the Cloud failed to draw energy at a rate nessecary to keep the pilot's body temperature even remotely cool enough to be safe, so it was shelved. Being boiled alive by your own body's natural chemical reactions is not a pleasant experience, so the Koopa's spirits were understandably furious (and considerably insane due to heat-induced brain damage), and continued to roam the places where they were killed. (I'm thinking that, if there are multiple Ghost Houses, one could be a discarded Lakitu lab If not, see my idea in the next paragraph.) Because the Mk. VI ran on their bodies, it became a part of their souls, and thus when it died with the Koopa it continued to be harnessed by the Koopa's malicious spirit. Okay, assuming there aren't multiple ghost houses, we don't want the single one to be devoted to Lakitu. Whoops, there goes the whole unexplainable aspect of the Boos - they're either twisted Lakitu experiments or hologram sentry guards or something. So instead, Mario could be walking through a ghost house and find a huge crater in the ground, not to mention a hole in the ceiling. In the crater lies a hunk of twisted, charred metal with the Cloud's smile on it. Miracously, the blackbox-type computer still works. It begins with Lakitu explaining the technical stuff, punctuated by the Koopa's yelling, then a loud blast as the craft takes off. Then the Koopa screaming in pain. Then silence, followed by a loud CRASH. Just as the CRASH sounds, Mario hears another CRASH from elsewhere, but thinks it's just the blackbox. Mario presses a few buttons, trying to get the Cloud mk. VI to work, until the control panel bursts into blue flame. He jumps back and looks up to see a ghostly Koopa, now pointing his Cloud's flamethrower at Mario. The above's just an idea, it probably sucks but oh well. Now, as for the Cloud mk. VI, its front end should be quite smashed up because of the crash it was in, making its smile somewhat eerily crooked and/or broken. It should have several tubes connecting the driver (a run-of-the-mill Koopa, chained to his chair) and the engine. As for the rest, it looks like Lakitu's cloud, only with a smaller engine (because the driver's most of the engine), and of course somewhat translucent. I'd provide a picture, but there are three problems: I am not an artist (as said before), I have no idea whatsoever how you'd sketch something translucent, and you can get the general idea by taking the picture someone drew of Lakitu in his Cloud earlier, replacing Lakitu with a Koopa Troopa, and connecting the Koopa and the Cloud with some tubes. RE-EDIT: I just realized my idea for encountering the Koopa and his Cloud is a little bit of a ripoff of the part in Halo where you see the Marine's log up to when he's overtaken by the Flood. Oh well. RE-RE-EDIT: That line about adenosine triphosphate isn't total BS - ATP is the chemical that, after being produced by photosynthesis, respiration, etc. is used to provide the energy to power all known living cells. I can't imagine what would happen if someone were severely overloaded with it, though - would he or she overheat like I predicted, be really hyper, or just not have to eat or breathe for a while? Or would there be no effect whatsoever?
Raulimus	no idea if these ideas have been posted or not, b/c i honestly havent had the time to read the 40 or so pages of posts yet. how about the racoon suit be instead a jet pack or something ( no idead when it'd be used) and the frog suit be some kind of diving suit or air mask?? also I was thinking about the hammer bros. there always needs to be 2 together, but that doesnt mean mario will always see the 2 of them at the start. thought this would add to the headache of fighting them. imagine mario makes it past a horde of viscious goombas and koopas, stomping and punching his way through, only to find his way blocked by a big ass hammer bros. the hammer bro then launches his hammer at mario and barely misses giving mario an opportunity to obtain a new weapon. but just as mario reaches for it *BAM* the other bro nails him in the stomach or back with his hammer, thus forever embedding into mario's memory the fact that they are hammer BROTHERS!! i was pretty psyched while brainstorming this. also for the underworld, imagine an old trainstation. pretty much the underworld of our modern world isnt it? it would be like a safe haven type place for run away MK soldiers who's helmets have those spot patterns and are nicknamed the T.O.A.D.S. (Tactical Operation And Defense Squad) or something. Hope this stuff proves sorta helpful. take it easy and goodluck.
Toadofsky	I'm too lazy to look through all these pages, can you post the picture of Bowser (if there is one yet)? I'm not to keen on this whole idea, but hey, you guys can do as you please, and the artwork I've seen you guys show is mighty impressive. I wouldn't mind taking a look at the finished product. Keep it up. Hey, for a 3-D model, why don't you use the Jedi Academy character model of Mario and touch it up? There's one out there. I'm just too lazy to post a link. Just go to Google and type in Jedi Academy Mods. The first one is the best place to go!
Shael Riley	Can someone with HTML skillz compile all the pictures posted in this thread and make a dark-ambient themed gallery?
Hogulus	One more idea I've got: Cameos. We can't work every enemy in the Mario universe into this game, but we can still reference some. For example, keys used to open various doors could have a Phanto logo on them; the obligatory furnace room in one of the castles could contain a Fryguy brand furnace; you can overhear some Toads talking about the warlord Cackletta that's taking over the Beanbean lands to the south. This sorta falls into that category, so I'm not making a seperate paragraph for it, but maybe before Mario became a plumber he dropped out of medical school? After all, he was Dr. Mario at some point... Oh! How the hell did I forget Wart, everyone's favorite forgotten toad boss? I mighta mentioned this before, but he could be a sort of sewer-dwelling guard dog for Bowser's castle, ensuring no one tries the age-old trick of coming in through the moat. (Was 8-3 a water level? I forget. If not, just make him a guard to some other castle preceded by water.) Bred in a collaboration of Shyguy selective-breeding procedures and a little genetic-engineering from Lakitu, it's a constantly hungry creature that eats anything it can see. Its teeth are bent and deformed from trying to eat its unbreakable cage, and its belches are toxic due to eating, well, whatever comes down into a sewer. Oddly enough, though Lakitu accounted for Wart eating waste products from the entire Koopa army he never really perfected a normal digestive system; if someone were to trick Wart into eating some of the normal food that gets thrown in for various reasons (Koopa protocol says that if even one Goomba is found in a crate of rations the whole crate is thrown out), its modified digestive system would reject it, and it would vomit. This wouldn't be too big of an issue for Wart if his stomach acid couldn't dissolve steel. A few mouthfulls of healthy food (such as vegetables!) and the acid will have eaten a hole through his throat, Mario need not fire a single shot, shell, or fireball. BTW, I know it's not going to happen, but a part of me desperately wants to see Fawful in this. Maybe he could be cameo'd too, in some sort of memo or something? "To: Troopas - If you see the short Beanbeaner near the compound, eliminate him. He 'has fury' for me after I was 'in the stealing of his idea' and is no longer welcome. Failure to comply will result in the violator's use in the prototype Banzai Bill transport. -Lakitu"
Sentora	Oks, posted at Jedi Acadmey and Half Life 2 modding comunities, seeing how the reponses go. Any other games would you suggest for candiates? I'll comment on the new posts soon ^_^
Electronic Samurai	I put in a post at the Freedom Reborn forums. They've done some awesome stuff with the Freedom Force game, and there are some fantastic modellers there. Here's hoping we get a response. Also, the Thwomp is steaming along. It's BIIIG.

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Electronic Samurai	Wow, I have access to a scanner! A real, honest-to-god scanner! I'm so HAPPY (at least for now). Here's that thwomp I've been promising. I wrote up an ecology for it, but IE ate it so I'll write it up again later.
Mr. 1-Up	Optional bosses. If this is to be a game, we could add optional bosses. Mainly, Cackletta (Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga), King Boo (various), and the Shadow Queen (Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door). For Cackletta, we could have a side-mission where Mario has to go to the BeanBean border. There, he meets up with Luigi, and agrees to go with Mario. Then, they meet up with Fawful, have a short battle, then run off. When they catch up to Fawful, he introduces Cackletta, she speaks a monolouge, and the battle begins. For King Boo, place him in a hidden room in the Ghost House. After Mario finds the hidden key, it lights up to be a dusty throne room, King Boo appears in front of the throne, and threatens Mario. For the Shadow Queen, we put her trying to take over, you guessed it, Isle Delfino. The battle would be placed near the top of the volcano, and can only be hurt by some ancient weapon givin by the mayor of Delfino Plaza. I'm just trying to throw in some ideas for you guys, that's all. If you like them, be my guest. But be sure to credit me for the optional boss ideas.
Raulimus	Hey guys, I'm not sure if the shyguys have been written off totally for this yet, so I dug out my old Mario Bros.1-3 manuals and put together some sketches of the enemies for some references. This is one is just a few of the smb 2 enemies. I figured the shyguys and snifits at least could be worked in using the idea that was mentioned about them not working for Bowser. (sorry I forget the person who brought this up) Anyway the manual says that snifits and shyguys are members of a gang called "the 8 Bits" which would work perfectly with I,Mario. They don't fight for Bowser, but they're still no good and out for trouble. Anyway hopefully again this stuff can help some of you guys. I'm gonna try my hand at some sketching in this dark style to contribute. Ok guys later. <edit> adding in a pic of the Koopa Kids from SMB 3 in case anyone wants to work at them and needs easy reference.
Shael Riley	Sentora wrote: Oks, posted at Jedi Acadmey and Half Life 2 modding comunities, seeing how the reponses go. Any other games would you suggest for candiates? I'll comment on the new posts soon ^_^ Source engine?
Electronic Samurai	Notice to all members reading this forum for the first time: although we're trying our hardest to make a comprehensive reimagining of the Mario universe, it is simply not possible to include every major villain, location, and monster that Mario has faced. Instead, outside of the occeasional reference (such as including a reference to Fawful, as suggested by Hogulus above), we'll probably restrict inclusion to the well-known 'classic' enemies of Mario's, such as Bowser, Lakitus, Thwomps, etc. Basically, any really well-known enemy that has appeared in more than one game at least, or that seems to be a recurring staple in the Mario series. Ralimus and Hogulus, you both have some interesting ideas going on there. Using ATP as and energy source is an interesting concept, and one that hasn't been explored too much. Carra, your Ghost House picture is looking very nice. Keep up the good work. Blademaster, I love that Snifit. I was going to post something similar, but I like yours more. Bean, while your Goomba is top-notch (as usual), I have a beef with it. It just looks too strong for such a low-level monster. When designing the Goomba, we need to keep in mind that this is a mindless monster that will probably be attacking in swarms. My Goomba was also sort of designed around a common fear of spiders. Having just finished Thief, I know how nasty giant spiders can be. Feel free to debate this. Gah. I was about to post my Thwomp ecology, but IE ate it again and I don't have the strength to write it up again right now. Just keep in mind that they're roughly rectangular and squared off at the edges to blend in with stonework, longer than they are tall, and have four claws ringing a face on one end. They're maybe five by five by ten meters, with six-meter claws (yes, they're really realy big). Since the only time they expend energy is dropping, climbing and hunting, they spend basically their whole life dormant waiting for foolish or slow creatures to pass underneath. Also, they need to crush their prey because they can't digest large ojects. I'll probably write it all up again tomorrow. *sigh*
sephfire	Finally scanned it. It's nothing more than a result of screwing around in class. It's not really for the game or anything, just "inspired" by the thread. Keep the hilarity flowing.
Ice Dragon	I know that this issue has come up before, but I don't recall if it was ever resolved. If this is turned into a game, what do you plan to do if Nintendo sues you for copyright infringment or theft of intellectual property? I ask because I and a friend of mine were brainstorming ideas for a good Mario remix (largely to spite this project), but today we had to consider what would happen if we were to complete a game as we hoped to. Nintendo like any other company (Square-Enix comes to mind) will not allow such a project to come to fruition. Of course, my friend and I could simply work on it in secret and then release it anonymously, but then that leaves out the ability to put the project in our resumes as a testament to our ability to complete such a project. So have you considered this fully? Does that exclude the possibily to make a game, and instead make a mod or short movie of some sort?
Bongo Bill	They can't sue us. We're protected under fair use and whatnot. They could sue us if we tried selling it... but there are ways around that even if we wanted to sell it. They could also sue us if it weren't a derivative work, but simply a remake. Which, I might add, it most certainly is not.
Hogulus	A few more ideas, relating to Boos, technology, and some MK/KK/Shyguy history to go with the technology: Regarding Boo shyness, I think that they should stay invisible until in full-on attack mode. However, despite this invisibility, they'll emit light, but you can't see it directly. You can still look at the light's reflection off walls and stuff, and try to guess the Boo's location. For example, if you're in a hallway, and halfway down the left wall it's lit up for no apparent reason, you'll know to open fire over there (unless they're as invulnerable as they were in SMB3, in which case you stay away from that spot). As for technology, everyone's debating on how we could incorporate it into this, and I have my ideas. The Koopa kingdom itself is a little below the level of the Anient Egyptians. (Did the Egyptians have bows? I know they had the wheel, and the Koopa's don't). Only their species has existed as-is for many more millenia than humans have. They're, in general, stupid brutes who figure that it's harder to make a better weapon than to send more of their own to war. Lakitu is technically a Koopa, but with an odd disorder that meant his brain produced brain cells at an abnormally high rate. Like a certain breed of turtle (forget which one), Koopas do not have a normal death date, if they do not succumb to disease or injury. (This is another reason why the Koopas have numbers on their side, the survivors of one war can be used in any war from then on.) As the decades progressed, Lakitu became far smarter than any other Koopa. For a short time, he developed the Bullet Bill non-explosive anti-infantry UAV/missile hybrid, the Cloud (Bowser's clown copter, Lakitu's ship is the Cloud mk. IX), and a few other developments for the Koopa Army, until he realized he detested nearly all of his Koopa bretheren for their stupidity. He took over a small section of the Mushroom Kingdom and built a Bullet Bill-guarded compound there, ceasing all relations with the Koopa Kingdom. They were naturally angry, but a few thousand Troopa casualties from Podoboo (sp?) incendiary bombs later they backed off. Shy Guys and their bretheren are part of a country that used to exist between the Koopa and Mushroom Kingdoms. Bad ASCII map: Code: ----------------- |    M.K.        | |                | |                | |      -----     | |-----L| * |-----| |      -----     | |                | |       K.K.     | |                | |                | ------------------ The star is the former location of Subconia, land of the Shyguys. Neither of the other two countries officially invaded Subconia. The Shyguys knew it couldn't stand up to them, so whenever one asked to transport troops throught their land they gave permission quickly. However, the armies often spotted each other coming through Subconia and clashed. Immense collateral damage soon disintegrated Subconia's government, leaving the citizens homeless. Many took up arms against the two superpowers, using mainly guerilla tactics. When Lakitu took up residence near former Subconia's border (the L on the above map), the Shyguys saw an opportunity and went for it. As a prototype Cloud mk. III gunship (which Lakitu stopped making because the Koopas kept stealing them and dealing them out to Bowser and his spawn as personal attack craft) flew low over a Snifit encampment, they threw a Bob-Omb (a dud from another mk. III, fired at a Mushroom Kingdom platoon that got too close to Lakitu's lab, rewired to actually work) right into its engine's exaust hatch (left unprotected), then picked apart the wreckage for things that could be of use. Though they had no hope of replicating the massive ship itself, as the damage to many crucialparts of it was too great to let them be recognizable, they found many things that could work. Most had been accidentally left in the ship's cargo hold - Lakitu hadn't been plannning on anyone else having explosives. Unlike the Koopas, the Subconians had an intelligence distinguishably higher than that of humans, and quickly reverse-engineered almost everything on the ship. Flaming jets scattered on the Mk. III's deck were combined with an apparently non-military development called the "Super Kart" to make a rolling turret called the Autobomb; robotic versions of the Bob-Omb explosive shells were dismantled, then their insides copied down so they could be made with a specially-made machine en masse; "Phanto" security drones were also mass-produced and made to protect Subconian encampments; gun-fitted gasmasks were distributed to their elite troops, "Snifits"; even the Cloud Mk. II, a weaponless ornithopter, was slightly modified in design to drop Bob-Ombs at the touch of a button, was copied and renamed the Albatoss. The short-lived Cloud mk. IV was also found, no more than a pair of wings on a jetpack, and given to the spear-carrying, shorter Shyguys. ("Beezo" is Shyguy slang for "runt.") Of course, Lakitu found out, but instead of slaying them mercilessly with his new "Freezie" absolute-zero bomb, he asked some of them to guard his base with their new technologies. They did so for a while, but were scared off soon after a pink dinosaur-like monstrosity, a gigantic mouse with a mind-control device on its head and a grenade launcher on its back, and something looking like the Hydra but with metal heads and tentacles, all burst out of his lab and slaughtered most of the living things surroulding it. Lakitu took potshots at them with his "Mage's Wand" (also stolen by Koopa Troopas, and now they claim credit for their "Magikoopas") nanobot-firing device, programmed to deconstruct their enemies at a molecular level and use the protons and electrons to make an obedient Koopa-like slave, but he didn't see the nanobots hit their marks, as they chased them into the horizon. For all anyone knows, they may still roam in the lands surrounding Lakitu's compound... BTW, I know the paragraph directly above this one has little bearing to the plot, but it explains some stuff if you want to include it, like Tryclide, Mouser, Birdo, and Magikoopas. Last edited by Hogulus on Fri 12-3-04 1:20 am; edited 2 times in total
south pacific islander	Hogulus wrote: A few more ideas, relating to Boos, technology, and some MK/KK/Shyguy history to go with the technology: Regarding Boo shyness, I think that they should stay invisible until in full-on attack mode. However, despite this invisibility, they'll emit light, but you can't see it directly. You can still look at the light's reflection off walls and stuff, and try to guess the Boo's location. For example, if you're in a hallway, and halfway down the left wall it's lit up for no apparent reason, you'll know to open fire over there (unless they're as invulnerable as they were in SMB3, in which case you stay away from that spot). As for technology, everyone's debating on how we could incorporate it into this, and I have my ideas. The Koopa kingdom itself is a little below the level of the Anient Egyptians. (Did the Egyptians have bows? I know they had the wheel, and the Koopa's don't). Yeah they had bows. Practicly any culture has invented the bow, African countries are no exception.
Hogulus	Well, I know most of the well-developed ones had the bow, but they were pretty early, and I was wondering if they'd gotten around to it yet. I was pretty sure the Babylonians didn't have it, and a quick Google search says they did. Okay, let's just say the Koopas have many advancements in architecture, in order to make their humongous castles and a labyrinthian country-wide plumbing system, but for some reason they never got the bow and arrow. Or any other complex weapons, they have hammers and that's about it until SMB3. Their scientific knowledge is pretty much like their physical structure - mainly concentrated toward defensive measures, like castles. That bit about SMB3 reminds me - Fire Brothers could be either an evolutionary offshoot of a Koopa, elite Hammer Brothers (the best of the best in the Koopa army, Bowser and his spawn excepted) that are awarded with the choice to carry fire flowers along with their hammers, or a sadistic Lakitu experiment that genetically put a gland producing the same chemical in a Fire Flower in the mouth of a Koopa.
Northern_Fist	My, my, I read alot of posts with Alice mentioned. I wonder if there's any correlation between the two... This dark mario would definately be awesome. Me thinks the video game's intro should feature blurry, possibly black and white snippets of the original SMBrothers games. As these snippets display for a few secs, the screen blends out to a character in the darker mario. For instance, there could be a line of goombas (or whatnot), and the video fading out to a marching line of dark, red-eyed goombas (or whatnot)...
n64cs	I haven't read through everything, I just didn't have the time to but I get the gist and I think I like the idea and the concept art that's floating around. I'm going to school learning 3DS Max. I don't have much experience but am learning quickly. I'm also in a modeling job right now so I'm learning about 8 hours a day. If you need or want my help, just ask. If people are serious, this can really happen but we would need more structure. I'm on MSN Messenger: n64cs@yahoo.com if you want to directly contact me on the weekdays, up until around 4pm MST.
Mr. 1-Up	Hey, if anyone needs the SMW Ghost House music, here it is. I love your guys work. Keep up the good work! And why hasn't anyone looked at my idea yet?....
1link-jing1	okay. I'll put my two sents in.

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Author	Message
Amish	I've been following this thread for a little while. I went back and started reading it from the beginning, and it's got some amazing ideas in it. I just did a couple quick sketches and took a picture of them, for lack of a scanner, heh. Wart, a Goomba, and two sketches of a Chain Chomp. Wart isn't really as wacked-out as he could be, and my Goomba is pretty simple. Just sort of fleshed-out image of the video game version. I like the Chain Chomp, though. Sort of how they are in the game, but completely split in half. They're held together in the back with the long chain that holds them down. However, they have tiny chains on each side of their mouth, that keeps them from flying totally open and dying, pretty much. They don't swallow their prey, instead, thanks to all those little teeth, they just smash you up into mush. Their eyes, though, are drawn on, or even just painted on. Inanimate bowling balls with teeth and no reason for "living" other than to grind things up. Making them blind, so to speak, adds to their fear factor.
Hogulus	Just some ideas on the earlier attempts at the Cloud... Cloud mk. I - Nicknamed the "Clown Car" by Koopa forces, it's used by Bowser himself as a transport. No weapons, other than the need to drop the spheres of carbon its engine produces as a waste product. Mk. II - An unmanned ornithopter designed for reconaissance, it's been seen in use by Shyguy factions, only modified into a bomber and dubbed "Albatoss." Mk. III-Alpha - A top-of-the-line assualt flagship, fitted with cannons, Bob-Omb producers, flaming afterburner jets for both escape and immolating would-be boarders, and so much more. Frequently stolen by Koopa patrols and used by the lesser Bowsers. Somehow converted into a tank and sold to the Koopa army, probably by traitor Shyguys. Mk. III-Beta - Essentially a minutarized version of the above, but much faster and generally much less well-armed. Usually unmanned. (Remember that level in SMB3 world 8?) Mk. IV - Another ornithopter-type idea, only much simpler. It's a backpack with flapping wings on it, so the wearer has all the manuverability - and durability - of a hummingbird, only the controls have a nasty habit of locking in "forward" mode. Used by Shyguys to give their smallest members a fighting chance. Mk. V - A flat platform that can be programmed to fly in any set path. Designed as an easy way for Lakitu to get around his base, they were stolen by both armies and the Shyguys and used as a security system, placing them as the only way to get across the bottomless pits that plague the continent. Mk. VI - One of the closest to the Cloud's current incarnation, the "Fission Boo" (HORRIBLE PUN ALERT) used heat energy generated by the pilot's body when he/she was injected with massive amounts of ATP to power both the engine and its weapon, a ball of a substance unknown to all but Lakitu that will, as long as it's supplied with energy, burn with all the heat of a small atomic detonation. The ball is attached to the Mk. VI through a thin wire that resembles fishing line. Test pilots were usually boiled alive from the ATP overdose, so it was quickly discontinued. Mk. VII - A helmet-like apparatus with two attached jets and a multitude of weapons, including a "soul-sucker" that Lakitu discovered on accident, and thus he has no idea how it works. Its primary weapon, green balls of electrified plasma, have proven quite effective. It was only rejected because of its lack of defensive shielding. A Beanbean researcher has been constantly harassing Lakitu (a former colleauge) because he claims the designs were his originally. Lakitu has had little patience for this, and the Snifits assigned to guard his compound have been instructed to fire on sight. Mk. VIII - ??? (I'm not sure what this could be.) Mk. IX - The Cloud as it stands today. It holds a small incubator for "Spinies," genetically engineered killers that are modified from the Koopa's evolutionary predecessor. It is designed to be in a mad frenzy from the second it hatches from its shell, and to insure that this does not backfire on the driver they are also designed to only hatch once they violently strike something. These Spinies are dropped like bombs, devouring anything they see upon hitting the ground. Due to concerns relating to weight and speed, the top is left completely unprotected. Not that this matters - neither the MK nor the KK has projectile weapons, other than the Mk. III's cannonballs and thrown hammers, both of which are easily dodged. The only conceivable way to exploit this would be to physically jump into the cloud, and no known Toads or Koopas can jump that high...
1link-jing1	a couple more cents in: Mario sketch.
Electronic Samurai	Hey, all - I just wanted to pop in to say I'll probably be out of action on the I, Mario project for a few weeks while I study for finals. I'll be back once they are finished, and I want you all to keep up the good work while I'm gone and not let this slide into oblivion.
Dark Monkey	http://artpad.art.com/gallery/?i7nvpv1m87i4 This is a picture I drew of a shyguy that inspired me. What if the shyguys looked almost exactly like in the games? They'd be kinda cute and not really threatening. The twist is that even though they look so innocent, you see them doing cruel and disturbing things in the game (obviously more disturbing than in my picture, which just gives a tiny taste of the concept). I think this would work a lot better than making them big hulking monsters or anything like that.
RoeTaKa	Dark Monkey wrote: http://artpad.art.com/gallery/?i7nvpv1m87i4 This is a picture I drew of a shyguy that inspired me. What if the shyguys looked almost exactly like in the games? They'd be kinda cute and not really threatening. The twist is that even though they look so innocent, you see them doing cruel and disturbing things in the game (obviously more disturbing than in my picture, which just gives a tiny taste of the concept). I think this would work a lot better than making them big hulking monsters or anything like that. Um, I liked how the picture drew itself. Come to think about it, if I were thinking about an eviler looking shy guy the first thing that comes to mind are those annoying little covenants in Halo. They look evil, but kinda comedic and I think that's what portrays a shy guy right in an eviler world. Except it could be more homocidal with no care for itself, like it chases you, and if you lose it but can still see it, it becomes lunatic and starts rubbing sharp objects over it's body making itself bleed. I think that would be a good creep factor. Would a shy guy have to look like a shy guy? The name itself spawns many sick ideas of lonely sadistic creatures that are just plain sick.
Soma	RoeTaKa wrote: Dark Monkey wrote: http://artpad.art.com/gallery/?i7nvpv1m87i4 This is a picture I drew of a shyguy that inspired me. What if the shyguys looked almost exactly like in the games? They'd be kinda cute and not really threatening. The twist is that even though they look so innocent, you see them doing cruel and disturbing things in the game (obviously more disturbing than in my picture, which just gives a tiny taste of the concept). I think this would work a lot better than making them big hulking monsters or anything like that. Um, I liked how the picture drew itself. Come to think about it, if I were thinking about an eviler looking shy guy the first thing that comes to mind are those annoying little covenants in Halo. They look evil, but kinda comedic and I think that's what portrays a shy guy right in an eviler world. Except it could be more homocidal with no care for itself, like it chases you, and if you lose it but can still see it, it becomes lunatic and starts rubbing sharp objects over it's body making itself bleed. I think that would be a good creep factor. Would a shy guy have to look like a shy guy? The name itself spawns many sick ideas of lonely sadistic creatures that are just plain sick. They're called Grunts. Grunts rule. I don't care for that idea though, maybe just me.
Bongo Bill	Here's my idea for Shy Guys: they're distant descendants of some other humans who got stuck in the Mushroom Kingdom a long time ago. Somewhere along the line, they got it into their heads as a sort of religious notion that they're not allowed to show their skin, period, except for infants and the wounded. They're also slightly crazy. They see Mario, not covered by the ceremonial robes (there are several tribes of Shy Guy and each has a separate color of robe) and mask, and they say to one another "The heretic must die!" They don't speak in the presence of infidels or foreigners, but they have ways of communicating. They're more intelligent than Koopas, more belligerent than the Mushroom Kingdom people, and generally more technological than both; however, they are so greatly outnumbered that they have spread all over the planet and live in greatly disparate circumstances, frequently as nomads or mercenaries (snifits). Each tribe serves its own end, for the most part, and a very few have allied themselves with Koopas or Mushrooms. How's that for a good idea? Eh?
Dark Monkey	To add to my previous ideas about shyguys, I think that they should be smart, but sadistic. Shyguys could be osme of the smartest enemies Mario faces, building traps and ambushes for him, and such. They'd be weak by themselves though, so they use machinery. Once they get fighting they go into a frenzy and will do whatever it takes to kill their enemy, even going as far as to light themselves on fire and chase after it (like in Yoshi's Island!). Imagine walking up to a group of cute, harmless looking guys, expecting allies, then being viciously attacked in crazy ways.
Straziante	Sorry I've been gone so long. I've been traveling all over the damn place. I just got back from Ontario, visiting some relatives outside Toronto. I haven't really had any opportunities to write new scenes or anything, but I have brainstormed some new ideas that I think will fit well. I've also been working on the dynamics between Mario and Luigi, trying to change their relationship from mere brothers that disagree into Mario's bewildered hatred and dependence towards Luigi, while Luigi becomes less and less coherent in his encounters with Mario. I haven't really written the scripts for these things yet, but I do have a few pages of a notebook filled with ideas. Also, I haven't really gotten any feedback from anyone besides Sentora and Shael about the scripts. PM me and let me know what you think. Feedback is very important.
Straziante	Just a heads up (in case I manage to forget): I'll be leaving for Guatemala on the 17th, and I shouldn't be back until the 26th or 27th. So I would prefer to get some more feedback before I leave so I can continue on with writing.
Darmani	First, hello Mankey Second haven't read the whole thing but can ya blame me! I made it to page 22 or so and this is what I would have to say. Just as it is Mario is very disturbing there is no need to scream drugs or dream. Maybe whisper but not scream. As such just do as the original post and the one I linked to suggest. Pick a theme and style that hints at being a bit grittier but not so far it gets ridiculous. Also some of the monsters are down right perfect as is. The original koopas, before their cartoonifying were large vulture beaked flesh eating turtles. Display them as that and you're golden. I mean Bullet Bills and Chomp Chomps need little changing. A vicious lunging metal ball with teeth restrained by a thin link of chains isn't scarey enough, WHEN! Unseen massive torpedo-sized bullets with slight anthropomorphic features like eyes, a mouth and a face like out of a world war II or so vintage plane or artillery Needs a spooky upgrade? Okay I guess the best way to do this is a break down monster by monster.. well more subjest by subject. Mario-I like what people have been saying, look wise. Bob Hopkins with the 'stache and using plumbing tools as weapons. Luigi- I'd honestly say that M&L should open just finishing the invasion of ghosts to the rent controlled apartment building they've just inheritted under mysterious circumstances. Luigi is with mario when are the final original Mario Brothers level we see a pipe open off the side wall (this is protrayed as a 2D peice right now) and then sucked in as the visuals bleed/shift over to the 3D version. Now we're in the Mushroom Kingdom and Mario and Luigi are seperated but in slightly like areas. Surreal coincidences occur making you wonder why they never meet up. Magic Mushrooms- I'd say that the various mushrooms can be used by him and Mushroom Kingdom just isn't like home. Its more weird and warpped than the ghost space that was invading his apartment. And the more he stays there the more moves and stuff he can do. I'd prefer that the Mushrooms make you grow and bulk out but like a barrelchested sumo-y/rikishi shorter bulk out for Mario, a slender plump muscley one for Luigi. More Mario 'Hulks' Luigi, pumps, but they are at this point equal. Fire Flowers return touching/ingesting them makes you secretely or produce an easily ignited/ionised 'gas' or something if it needs any explanation. Simply limited pyrokinesis works for me. Something solid but firey that bounces along or about. As you become more adept you can richochet and other things. BUUUT, the standard you take damage and then reset is still in effect. It doesn't reset your skill/adeptness score, tho. 1-Up 'shrooms- Its like this, the very land of the mushroom kingdom grows out magic. But a sorta creepier wilder magic that only skilled people control. 1-up shrooms are like a beneficial parasitic fungus. Eat one and it coats between your veins and cells so if you die the spores go wild recreating/growing your body as it slithers about to a safe point. Then you grown a new human body with all your memories and feelings and experience. If its a more SH/RE game they are as much saving devices as they are extra men. Princess Peach/toadstool Wizards and perhaps the Royal family can control this wild soil grown magic that can make "clouds" solid. This is what being a king or a princess really means. She can shape the metal in the ground with her prayers/heart into different objects like coins. If it falls form the heavens it becomes stars but it maintains its own independance (why it moves). Even grow single Powerups at will. She was creating them for her people in her castle seeding at a distance which was undermining Bowser's invasion. She was immune to his first offense (the transmute to flora or architecture spell) and his second (his monsters) thanks to her, ya know, Castle until he was able to flip the Goombas with promises of power and such. When they lead her to a trap she cast a powerful spell to continue funneling the land's magic to create the powerups growing. If she dies all of metal located underneath the castle will fly out as coinc and Bowser's spells reverse. Some retainers are just grasping the magic using concepts (explaining the numerous kingdoms in SMB3). Bowser's Castle is actually Peach's only redesigned with his readily availible construction labor and materials. But even he's running out of folks. And his magic isn't working on these ... "humans" directly. Bowser-I think Bowser should keep his Super Koopa look. He combined the powers of all the enemies practically. Hammers, Fire breath and near invincibility, he's only directly defeatable by using the fireballs but he suffers NO wounds or drawbacks until his very last one. This is one bad mofo. The dogfaced, flesh eating spikeyshelled turtle-dragon works for me. The only thing I would lose is the tail and even that not so much. Just go with his more current designs and give him lizard eyes or a more menacing tone. I would keep the drop him into Lava option of SMB 1. How to explain the many Koopas reveal they were transformed Buzzbeatles or Goombas (what happened often if you fireballed Koopa to death in SMB1) in clones or simulcras or whatever which will just add to the madness, but only if you fireball them alot, hello downard slide into violent overkill and note no grimey tools were needed just a difficult situation. Getting close with plumber weapons is suicide. Coins - When Bowser came in and literally began building his kingdom out of the former inhabitants they had few counters but their coins. Coins are used as Sacred Currency and Bargaining takes on a whole new meaning. You can buy anything in the Mushroom kingdom if you collect enough of the shapable radiant metal. ANYTHING. Your Wife's life, restored. More land to plough, DONE. A quicker way to get to work, here's a pipe. Mario's collecting the coins not so much for that high score or extra man- though that is a possible use for them- but because for every hundred he collects he can restore a single mushroomer. The coins he saves and collects without trading in for "another chance" he can spend to remake his own life back home, buy more powers or items, or raise an army to storm the castle. Anyone interested in these interpretations?
Bongo Bill	Most of that's already been addressed.... Not coins, though. I think your idea is going a bit too far, to say that coins can be used to buy peoples' lives back. But they're definitely currency.
Specter	AAAARRRRRGGGGHHHH! I just finished writing a whole crapload of stuff after finishing the thread, AND I DELETED IT ALL! Anyway, I gave a bunch of ideas regarding weapons and gameplay elements. I also volunteered to be the Gameplay coordinator guy, and maybe I'd do a smidgen of writing. I'll put my ideas up on Down the Pipe tomorrow, after I refine them a little.
Bean	It's been a while... I think a lot of us took a break at the same time. Hahahahahaha! Anyway, I was doodling again and came up with this. Needless to say, Shyguys don't really need to have their appearance changed all that much.

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Author	Message
Shael Riley	Bean, you are the best conceptual artist ever. I <3 U. ShyGuy gives me nightmares.
Warmech	I'm not sure what really, but I think that the ShyGuy needs some darker story about why it wears the mask and all. Some serious shit ya know? Maybe at one point Mario could rip one of the masks off, and then, damn.
Ffej	What if Shy Guys are a cult, and the people of MK just call them Shy Guys, as a nickname. Their leader could be some horribly disfigured ugly guy who has to wear a mask because his face is scarred from a fire or something, and as initiation into the cult, your face is burned off and you're given the mask to wear.
Chuckles	I dunno...the whole "Leader with a scarred face" thing seems to be so unoriginal after Ninja Turtles and all...masks on minions should be for a universal use, not just to emulate their leader.
Straziante	I was brainstorming last night and came up with the idea that Shy Guys are a cult of Toad people that sympathize with the Koopas. They feel that the MK is oppressive, and carry out rallies and protests, often resulting in isolated instances of violence. They share some of the same views as the Koopas and their followers, but actually act independently of the Koopas.
Bean	Okay, you may all call me crazy, but... how about we not give the shyguys a story... I mean, the mystery is what makes them so intriguing. No taking off masks, no explaining what they are. Of course their origin could be hinted to. I propose we have several different places where there is a slight description of the shy guys. The thing is, each time it's something different. That way we're allowing the audience to make their own judgement as to what they are, but still leave their history anonymous. I actually had this idea while messing with my previous shyguy picture in Photoshop. I would think that in most stories told to Mario, the shyguys would be sort of ghost-like or possibly told as a legend. Some Mushroom people don't believe in them. Many say they have seen them. Imagine a little mushroom child waking up in the middle of the night to a noise outside his window. Curious, he gets out of bed and walks nearer. Whatever it is it sounds big (Bigger than a cat or racoon or something anyway.). It sounds like it's going through the trash or something. He starts to get scared but curiosity still has the better of him so he peeks through his curtains to see the back of the shyguy. It is indeed going through the trash. It seems like it's looking for something in particular. The shyguy feels the presence of someone else and slowly turns around to face the camera with it's stark white mask that seems to stare into your very soul. Frightened, the shyguy takes off running. Anyway, some consider them evil and some say they're nice, just poor and tortured. Some say that they are mad, or follow strict religious beliefs. Some say they are mushroom people horribly disfigured, and some may think they are koopas... terrible creations of Lakitu. Either way, the shyguys do have an odd mixture of tribal and advanced technology (Advanced for the Mushroom Kingdom anyway.). That's how I would go about doing it. I think that by removing a shyguy's mystery, you remove what makes them so fascinating. Besides, not knowing anything about them is actually scarier than knowing what they are. It gives them the edge of being unpredictable.
Straziante	Bean wrote: something awesome Have my babies. Best idea concerning shy guys yet.
Ffej	I <3 Bean.
Mr Monday	I <3 L_i_z_z. But we won't get into that.
Electronic Samurai	Bean wrote: I'm guessing somebody's seen The Village recently? P.S. <3 P.P.S. Where did you find that awesome font? P.P.P.S. I suck at BB code, apparently.
Electronic Samurai	! Double post !
Cyrion	I've only read the last couple pages of this thread, but I think I'm gonna go back in a minute and read through the entire thing! Just had to add to the agreements with Bean's Shy guy idea. That picture really does them justice, taking the essence of the Shy Guys and expanding on it. It's true, their mystery is what makes them so interesting, and they don't need a backstory to be included. Looking at them again, even the original Shy guy design has something slightly sinister about it. (It's those creepy masks!!) That picture is fantastic, and instantly reminded me of "The Village". I suppose you could operate off a similar principle that was used for the creatures in "The Village." Everyone knows about the Shy Guys, but no one understands them. No one speaks about them, no one looks for them.... But everyone fears them.
Electronic Samurai	!! Triple post !!
Straziante	Urgent Question! When there is a scene where Mario isn't present, should he still narrate the scene and have an omniscient role? Or should he only know about what he sees with his own two eyes? I also thought that maybe the whole story could sorta be a flashback. Let me know soon!
StarZander	About the mask that the Shy Guys wear... I think they should have a different expression. Instead of the classic "ooooooo" look, they should have a look as if they are shrieking, or something. Fear and horror itself is forever stuck to their face through their mask, which should look like it's made in clay, imo. A worn clay mask, with a few small cracks and stuff, and a shrieking expression. That would make it awesome (even though Bean's pic is awesome anyway).

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Author	Message
Straziante	I think it would be neat if each Shy Guy had their own unique expression on their mask. This would offer conformity and individuality at the same time. Or, they could have a Hexadecimal (a la REBOOT) effect of changing expressions when you're not looking.
Claude	Claude wrote: Make the Shy Guy's gang member's in hockey masks. And make them midgets. With spiked bats. Like "the Jury" concept from Manhunt. Except with midgets. I think my concept went unnoticed. I'll do a sketch tonight.
Amish	If you wanted to do this as a whole Mario-mindfuck kind of thing...he could catch a Shy Guy, and try to ask him questions. When he doesn't answer, he gets pissed and rips the mask off. Underneath? Why, his own face, of course. Then the Shy Guy takes off running while Mario stands there, bewildered. Even better, refuse to explain WHY they look like Mario.
Claude	Mario should also have bandages around his head. Is he hallucinating? Or not?
Bean	Electronic Samurai wrote: I'm guessing somebody's seen The Village recently? Yes... I absolutely loved that movie. I saw it 5 or so times in the theatre. Hahaha. But actually, I didn't think of The Village till after I got done with it. Electronic Samurai wrote: Where did you find that awesome font? It's called Ticket Capitals. I knew that I was gonna need some fonts that were sorta grunge-like so I just did a Google search for some grunge fonts. I really liked how the Ticket Capitals font looked and so I went with it. Oh! The TC font has punctuation marks but they have the stamp edges on them so for puctuation like commas and periods, I use a font called Strokey Bacon which I found while looking for grunge fonts. Hope that helps. Straziante wrote: Urgent Question! When there is a scene where Mario isn't present, should he still narrate the scene and have an omniscient role? Or should he only know about what he sees with his own two eyes? I also thought that maybe the whole story could sorta be a flashback. Let me know soon! Mario should narrate only what he experiences. When there is a scene in which he is not present, there is no narration. It should be pretty obvious by the lack of Mario, the lack of his narration, and the things he says in his own narration that Mario is not aware of all that we as an audience are seeing. That's what I would do. Oh, and your writings are top-notch. Much better than anything I could produce, and the odd occurance that sucks them into the MK is starting to grow on me. Haha. Actually, there is a perfect insert for player control between scene 4 and 5 and also after 5. Luigi tells Mario to take a look around Wonderland, and it's the perfect place to let the player play with controls. You're basically guided to Land's End via small dirt path and the next scene starts. After 5 the player should head over to the waterfalls to start the next cinema sequence in which Mallow fetches Mario for dinner. It's really awesome how your writings can be easily put to a movie or into a game. StarZander wrote: About the mask that the Shy Guys wear... I think they should have a different expression. Instead of the classic "ooooooo" look, they should have a look as if they are shrieking, or something. Fear and horror itself is forever stuck to their face through their mask, which should look like it's made in clay, imo. A worn clay mask, with a few small cracks and stuff, and a shrieking expression. That would make it awesome (even though Bean's pic is awesome anyway). Straziante wrote: I think it would be neat if each Shy Guy had their own unique expression on their mask. This would offer conformity and individuality at the same time. Or, they could have a Hexadecimal (a la REBOOT) effect of changing expressions when you're not looking. If their masks look different or if they change, it should be incredibly slight. In fact, it might not even be necessary to change the face at all, but put the right angle and lighting on them. For example, in Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, at the end where Emperor Palpatine is zappin' Luke with his force lightning, the expression on Vader's face looks sad simply because of the way the scene was shot.
Hogulus	I like the whole mysterious Shyguy idea, better than my own with Subconia being a seperate country and stuff. However, I'm not sure if I like the idea of them looking like Mario. You'd think they'd try to initiate him as one of their own if they bore such a strong resebmlance to them, not kill him. My ideas: If at all possible (I know nothing about coding), the Shyguys should have completely insane AI. One moment they'll be doing a kamikazie run for you, knives/claws/whatever in hand, the next they'll jump back in fear, the next they'll stop and throw a Bob-Omb. They should also be relatively resilient, both to allow players to see this randomness and as a throwback to SMB2 (Remember, Mario alone couldn't kill a Shyguy. He needed to throw it into either another enemy or a pit.) It'd not only make them a fun enemy to fight (the Elites in Halo can be so strategic they're predictable at times, these guys would be the complete opposite), but it'd add to the Shyguy's mysteriousness. Is it doing these odd attacks as part of a ritual or bizarre strategy, or is it just schizophrenic? The Snifits, on the other hand, are a good opportunity for a typically strategic AI (use the "elite" enemy of whatever we're modding, so if it's Half-Life 1 use Marines, etc.) that we shouldn't waste, given they're the only bullet-shooting things out there (unless I'm forgetting an enemy). The Shyguys can't hand out gun-masks to the truly psychotic members of their organization, it'd either be a friendly-fire incident waiting to happen or a waste of a gun mask when the user ignored it and just blew him/herself up suicide-bomber style. So the Snifits are quite sane, at least compared to the other Shyguys. They should still have a bit of randomness in them, like if you're engaged in one of those duck-behind-a-rock type firefights with one of them, it'd suddenly disregard defense, jump out from the rock, and try to attack at close range. (I'm not sure Snifits would have any real melee attack, but they wouldn't need one. Getting shot in the face at point-blank range hurts. Beezos, if they appear, should act similarly strategic with a hint of insanity. One moment they'll be circling you and throwing down Bob-Ombs, taking regular swoops at you with their fork things, the next they'll be doing random corkscrews or mercilessly getting in your face and slashing away, pursuing you if you try and step back. One thing about the idea about the Shyguy leader having a scarred face and forcing everyone to have masks. A similar thing happened somewhere in Spain (I think). Some king had a lisp that he was very sensitive about, so to avoid insulting him all his citizens spoke with lisps too. To this day, people in that region have an accent that involves a lisp. So it's not illogical to say Shyguys might do something similar.
Captain Regular	I think the classic "all circles" look is great. Anybody remember that "mask" that the first angel from Evangelion had on it? It really gave off a "kinda human, but you really don't know, but really suspect it's truly alien and horrible" vibe. Something like that, with mouth and eye holes that are just VOIDS would be perfect. I like Bean's sketch. As for how to incorporate them into the game, here's what I would do. Make them a sort of "line of sight" thing. They move slowly, or not at all, just out of attack range, watching you. When you see them, at least. When they're not on screen, you have them move silently to somewhere completely different. Closer to you. If you turn around, BAM he's right there, it'll scare the hell out of people, AND they only attack when they're in close, then retreat. They only move any real distance when you DON'T SEE THEM.
Electronic Samurai	Captain Regular wrote: I think the classic "all circles" look is great. Anybody remember that "mask" that the first angel from Evangelion had on it? It really gave off a "kinda human, but you really don't know, but really suspect it's truly alien and horrible" vibe. Something like that, with mouth and eye holes that are just VOIDS would be perfect. I like Bean's sketch. As for how to incorporate them into the game, here's what I would do. Make them a sort of "line of sight" thing. They move slowly, or not at all, just out of attack range, watching you. When you see them, at least. When they're not on screen, you have them move silently to somewhere completely different. Closer to you. If you turn around, BAM he's right there, it'll scare the hell out of people, AND they only attack when they're in close, then retreat. They only move any real distance when you DON'T SEE THEM. Damn. Reminds me of playing through Wind Waker. I absolutely hated going into an area infested with Miniblins (?) because you never saw them until they were RIGHT BEHIND YOU. Some clever programming must have gone into making sure that they stayed in the player's blind spot. I really like Hogulus's idea about them behaving unpredictably when cornered; it seems to suit the Shy Guys well. In one of the Yoshi's island games, Shy Guys would set themselves on fire and chase after you, kamikaze fashion. Now, imagine this in 3d. Has anyone contacted that 3D modelling forum that had the ultra-realistic girls, mentioned in a recent topic? I think it'd be a good place to get started on the models for these bad boys.
Dark Monkey	Bean, it seems that you and I are really thinking on the same wavelength about the shyguys. I loved your sketch and your ideas. The only thign I'd change is that I'd make the shyguy smaller and weaker looking. That way it's a greater surprise to see them go berserk on you, and it would make them look better in little gangs. Shyguys should definately remain mysterious. I really really like the idea of mario catchign a shyguy and trying to interview him in a cutscene, with the shyguy never talking, but doing a lot of odd things. I don't think the masks should ever be removed. The closest I'd go is to have mario try to rip the mask off and discover that it won't come off because the masks are their actual faces. I'd definately go with the whole crazy insane AI idea. They do all sorts of crazy things in Yoshi's Island like setting themselves on fire and hiding under flowers, so it's definately in character. In my opinion, shyguys should never make any noise or act like they're trying to communicate. If shyguys are working in a group, they work together, but never communicate with eachother about it. I think they should definately set up little traps for mario. They should be some of the more crafty enemies, but if their traps fail they go absolutely ballistic. Perhaps the first time you meet a shyguy it would pretend to be an ally, baiting you for an ambush.
Claude	Ooooh spooky...
Stak	Claude wrote: [img]*snip*[/img] Ooooh spooky... To reitterate: THIS IS "I, MARIO". THIS IS NOT "GRAND THEFT MARIO". That is all.
Claude	Stak wrote: Claude wrote: [img]*snip*[/img] Ooooh spooky... To reitterate: THIS IS "I, MARIO". THIS IS NOT "GRAND THEFT MARIO". That is all. Hmmm... Someone's a rude dipshit.
Captain Regular	Dark Monkey wrote: Bean, it seems that you and I are really thinking on the same wavelength about the shyguys. I loved your sketch and your ideas. The only thign I'd change is that I'd make the shyguy smaller and weaker looking. That way it's a greater surprise to see them go berserk on you, and it would make them look better in little gangs. Shyguys should definately remain mysterious. I really really like the idea of mario catchign a shyguy and trying to interview him in a cutscene, with the shyguy never talking, but doing a lot of odd things. I don't think the masks should ever be removed. The closest I'd go is to have mario try to rip the mask off and discover that it won't come off because the masks are their actual faces. I'd definately go with the whole crazy insane AI idea. They do all sorts of crazy things in Yoshi's Island like setting themselves on fire and hiding under flowers, so it's definately in character. In my opinion, shyguys should never make any noise or act like they're trying to communicate. If shyguys are working in a group, they work together, but never communicate with eachother about it. Definately crazy if you corner them. But I have the PERFECT idea for the mask. They CAN come off, if you choose to investigate it a little bit in the game. Thing is, at the end of that little "subquest" you finally DO get to take a mask off... as soon as you do, the shyguy cloak just collapses. Nothing. Like a lighsaber-skewered Obi-Wan Kenobi - poof.
Shael Riley	Stak wrote: Claude wrote: [img]*snip*[/img] Ooooh spooky... To reitterate: THIS IS "I, MARIO". THIS IS NOT "GRAND THEFT MARIO". That is all. Hey, Claude's ShyGuy concept art is not inconcurrent with the framework of the thread. I like it, actually. It's got some real grit. Keep in mind that one of the core concepts was a realistic reconception and,so far, Claude's is the most realistic piece of concept art we've had. That being said, I still prefer the haunting mystique of Bean's conception, but I enjoyed Claude's submission and I hope you haven't scared him off. There's just no reason to be rude, man.
friendlyHunter	Quote: There's just no reason to be rude, man. Agreed. But I personally like Bean's concept better. If this becomes a game, I think it would be really awsome with music that changes depending on the situation. Basically like Zelda:OoT or DK64, but on a more extreme level. Like when a koopa comes, the instruments change and these heavy drums come in, but the melody stays the same. So, this idea is actually leading up to something. When Mario kills a shyguy, he gets closer to it, and the music gets softer. And a suspensful string section kicks in, getting louder, louder, more intense, while the melody is played by a soft yet menacing music box. Mario gets closer, everything is extremely tense, maybe you can hear Mario breathing heavily. Mario touches the mask, slowly nudges it aside, and with a screech and a sudden rush from nowhere towards Mario's face - silence, blackness, game over. Now next time you play, you'll never do it again, and shyguys will be even freakier >=]

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Author	Message
Hogulus	Dammit! Forgot to mention how awesome both the Shyguy concept art things are! I like how Claude's looks disturbingly realistic, as you could imagine a Helter Skelter-esque cult adopting red hoodies, hockey masks, and baseball bats... Bean's looks more mysterious. I haven't seen The Village, but I think I get the gist of it, and his Shyguy would be well-suited to that kind of situation. I think that if we're going to explain the Shyguys as some kind of cult, we should go with something along the lines of what Claude came up with. They look pretty human, and maybe it'd leave the player wondering if these are descendants of humans or something. If we're going to have them as complete unknowns, Bean's idea would be best IMO. It leaves no clues as to what the thing under the mask is or what it's intending. For all someone knows after first seeing one, it's either going to befriend you or rip off its mask and bite your head off. EDIT for reply to previous post - FriendlyHunter, that sounds like a cool idea, but only if the game has autosaving on. I know that if I were playing this game, and I hadn't saved for three stages, and I was killed by a dead Shyguy, I would be very pissed off.
Specter	friendlyHunter wrote: Quote: There's just no reason to be rude, man. Agreed. But I personally like Bean's concept better. If this becomes a game, I think it would be really awsome with music that changes depending on the situation. Basically like Zelda:OoT or DK64, but on a more extreme level. Like when a koopa comes, the instruments change and these heavy drums come in, but the melody stays the same. So, this idea is actually leading up to something. When Mario kills a shyguy, he gets closer to it, and the music gets softer. And a suspensful string section kicks in, getting louder, louder, more intense, while the melody is played by a soft yet menacing music box. Mario gets closer, everything is extremely tense, maybe you can hear Mario breathing heavily. Mario touches the mask, slowly nudges it aside, and with a screech and a sudden rush from nowhere towards Mario's face - silence, blackness, game over. Now next time you play, you'll never do it again, and shyguys will be even freakier >=] Two words: Kick ass!
friendlyHunter	I think that since original shyguys are even shorter than toads, it would be strange to have them as tall as humans. And once again, my post just happened to be at the bottom of a page... I just remembered something from Paper Mario. In that game, the shyguys live in a toy box (you shrink when you go inside it). There's a bunch of different kinds in different costumes and colors, on balloons, dressed as jesters, but they all have the same mask. They also have a leader who can talk. But what would be awsome for I,Mario is the sound they make: A horrible wailing EEEEEEEEEEE!!! sound, that is only heard when the shyguys are in a big groups, "cornered" in complete darkness, running randomly knocking down walls.
Amish	Instead of a high-pitched squeal, just go the other direction entirely. Make them silent killers who pop up from nowhere. Their voice? A small music box behind the mask that plays a soft melody of odd, plucking strings. You can hear them coming, and you can hear them chasing you, and it's just a batshit insane contrast to how deadly they are.
Warmech	Well, you could have the Shyguys with the same 'O' faces, but how about blood or something coming from their eyes? If you don't want to go that violent, then just some black liquid.
Specter	What really irks me is that no one has discussed Mario having an inventory yet. In order for a survival-horror game to be succesful, it must have inventory. The only thing I can't decide is wether it should be based on blocks (Diablo, System Shock 2) or as a bag with different pockets for muchrooms, key-items, etc.
Darmani	Simple is best with Shyguys. The masks are so inhuman because they are so simple and uniform. I do like the Hexidecimal suggestion but only with an "npc" level Shy Guy. Whether its the leader or the yakker it doesn't matter. I've finished reading the thread BTW. I stand still by most of my suggestions. Mario and Brother are sucked in after what appears to be another surreal experience in a sequence of them that has pushed the brother/s further along into the surreal. First his heroic rescue with the unique apeking-Donkey Kong. The falling apart of his business after having his prize recaptured by what is thought to be the ape's son. The loss of his girl (loss lets not say if dead, missing or whatever with Pauline just she's out of the picture she may have walked out after his failure). Mario isn't going down the rabbit hole with I, Mario he's falling through the looking glass or at least further. So far its been fantastic but possible (escaped animal and he fights it off), unexpected but not inescplicable (DKJr's rescue from his exotic Zoo), devasting but normal (los of Pauline), and frayingly challenging (the haunted tenentment allusion to MB). So far weird but mostly just bad shit happens to him in the real World. And now he's weird in a different world where everything is alive. And not in that safe ingests and excretes and grows and reproduces way. In the mushrooms are talking and have families way. Or mushrooms are grouchy goombas who attack you on sight way. Or that fiery glowing flowers you swear are...winking? Coins shine and pulse with with a beat of light. Stars have eyes and hop. Even the nonpeople Mushrooms slide away with no visible means of locomotion after emerging from boxes/blocks. I'd not overemphasize his past too much if we do the stanard B&W during a stormy night opening, I'd say we have the guy's bare legs and the hem of his boxers slide over the side of the bed and land in his workboots. He picks up the receiver of old black phone on a nightstand with the edge of preserved news clipping hinting to the DK incident and his heroism and success gained thereafter. The cord extends out of the frame and we hear in a voice indicating he's just woken," Hey, ya idsmee, Mario...What is it? Brother! You got what?" Me move to a sequence of fast jumps and cut backs to him geting out of bed, articles, glare technicolorly happier times, suiting up in the original ruddy brown overalls over dull orange-brown shirt, in the back left pocket is a much abused coffee table/pocketbook with Alice in Wonderland barely visible. The hat would be adorn with no emblem on it, pulling on the belt and making his way onto the street and too the subway. VO about the crappy times that have come after the good ol' days are gone. Luigi meets him outside the aquired tenement, "Its ours if we eliminate the squeaks and spooks" Cut to the inside. We hear the standard haunted house noises and see spooking happenings (cameos for boos and the MB enemies). There would mostly be in the darkness and unreal space/architecture thick steam/gas that you swear forms faces and arms to draw attention. Cut to Mario just holding it together in the basement and wrenching a pipe and suddenly they are sucked in. If we go with Cheshite Luigi so be it. But I'd have it so you could run Luigi/follow him through what at the surface is the same adventure. A big thing throughout the adventure is extended stay changes things. He aquires more skill at the powerups. the more loved red and blue threads. his insignia'd hat. And his pocketbook when anthropomorphs and changes its own text. Is it communications from the princess, a sign he's losing it, a selfmaking diary, his own journal with bits he's forgotten. Use these new elements to add with the mind screw. The reveal is at the end when they finally face the real Boswer with one last trick. Oneside of Bowser approaches as if you're facing a profile on an oblong semi-ellipse(oval) of a bridge that twins and twists like a blurry magicmirror effect. Mario reflects Luigi and Bowser reflects his full body. The Last Bowser battle culiminates the various perception warpings we've been adding to the game. With gravity and positions changing and your constant reflection mirrioring your actions. So if you go for the "axe option" so does Luigi. And if you fireball so does Luigi. Then after it is done the floor shatters to reveal a GIANT chrome coin it flips about falling to the lava pit deep below and crushes Bowser inside. The castles wals sway like rubber and you must follow a voice to the Princess as Luigi enters in from the opposite direction. They compare notes. No your were disappearing or *I* shut down Laikitu, etc. The game resets and the plus option allows you to play through as Luigi (if this is ya know a single player) but with a different set of physics as he develops in his own characteristic ways (longer jump, faster, different move and fireball sets) on the adventures. Again to unlock Toad and other style characters. The epilogue depends of something things. Ending one the scarey tragic one everyone will hate probably dependent on you having a crapload of Mushroom stats or extra lives is the previously mentioned pull back and Mario's a 'sleeping' Mushroom colony. 2) If you freed alot of people or completed certain subplots we get Mario unable to leave. More due to lack of effort than capability. He's surrounded by the blurry adoration of fungi-fans next to the princess's dress on a foam faceless mannequin with a vapid smile on his face. He turns and so does the mannequin which is now a PEach/Pauline hybrid and they kiss suddenly in wedding-like attire. 3) The hard way with moderate shroom use and lots of dedication and spending coins on nongame stat uppage or what have you. Mario wakes up in the basement the spirits exercised and the house fixed but without his MK skills But the tatters paperback copy of WonderLand he brought with him still has the anthropomorphic effect on it and the faded lettering of "I, Mario" Inside the type face fades into scribblings and then photos of the monsters he fought with in an uncanny end a capitivating pencil in radiante color of Peach. 4) Mario and Luigi's tenement is grandly opened and then collapses everyone inside awakens to the mushroom kingdom. 5) Toad creates the 7 wands and with the blessing of Peach and the kingdom falls under their sway. and the enemies are purged to the darkness. 6) Bowser reins over broken stone statue versions of our heroes howling to the sky which tears back like clothe. We see the list of enemies as they prep and invade and then we seem them storm out of pipes and sewers into earth the Tenement transformed to Bowsers alot citadel.
Darmani	Specter wrote: What really irks me is that no one has discussed Mario having an inventory yet. In order for a survival-horror game to be succesful, it must have inventory. The only thing I can't decide is wether it should be based on blocks (Diablo, System Shock 2) or as a bag with different pockets for muchrooms, key-items, etc. You start with standard tools; wrench, plunger, poxy, nuts and either buy or reaquire a snake weapon, the smashing block hammer of justice (or whatever its called), bigger belt and the powerups. However I am leaning more to the RPGish/action adventure camp of the more Powershrooms you eat even after/if the immediate effects wear off there's some slight benefits like lightly increased stats or moves and special abilities (some which require the powered up state). Whether like Oni (a good game with little inventory and suckTAstic controls) where or Legend of Mana its not so much the levels as the levels of certain stats and skills that you manipulate. I admit this clashes with the SH and Mario theme some. But I just want the dependence on the 'shrooms et al. to be mechanically reinforced That fanny and leg pouches would be the coin purses and every item has weight and bulk allocation. You can for instance carry on your back/in arms ONE riflish item while the melee or sidearmish item could be tucked away or doubled up. Powerup combinations and alchemy would be experimental or learned in game. If things get really out there have several "subplots." One is about the weight and how even if he has infinite coin capacity his physical abilities are limited if he holds too much hence why he has to cash them on on something. The raise the army or buy certain effects part (in the MK money buys anything) or just dump the coins into yourself giving yourself extra lives (if you die its like it never happened and you can try it again but for your memories, so did it happen?) But if you do that you may not free enough people to lower security in Bowser's Keep and have to fight too many baddies. And some folks can lead/teach you some stuff.
Bean	As for item carrying... how about a nice carpenter's tool belt that references his DK history some more. Something like this: Mario kept it around... Well, I would guess for sentimental reasons more than anything. He'd probably use it for plumbing also. It's nice to have nearly everything you need on your person, y'know? Plus they have plenty of pockets for bottles of pills, mushrooms, coins, fireflowers, wrenches, guns... hell, it has a hammer cradle on the back. Oh, I nearly forgot... a nice big keyring for all the keys he'll most probably be collecting. It's a nice way of keeping things pseudo-realistic and even gives more character to Mario. It would be really nice to have your inventory actually be the belt. Either sprawled out (Like above.) on a new menu that allows you to throw items into the pockets, or have the game freeze and the camera zooms in on Mario's belt allowing you to spin around him to access different pockets. As for how I think mushrooms should go... why not have them like herbs in Resident Evil? Healing items. That's what they are in all the RPGs anyway, right? Maybe have them heal you and then, as a bonus, give you slightly increased power and speed for a limited time as Darmani suggested. A starman could work in the same fashion, however the stat boosts and time period are raised quite dramatically... obviously. Oh, and touching back on the shyguys real quick. I was playing Mario Power Tennis going through the tournament mode with all the characters. When you beat a cup with someone they each have their own special victory sequence in which they recieve the trophy from Luigi. The shyguy's was particularly interesting to me. He waddles up the steps merrily to grab his prize from Luigi. On the last step, however, he trips and falls... his mask falls off. His back remains to the camera so his face is never shown, but you can definately tell by Luigi's expression, that they are some wickedly scary people under those masks. Luigi drops the trophy. After the shyguy puts his mask back on, he continues on his merry way to get his trophy. Luigi backs out of his way and falls over in disbelief. If there is to be any taking off of the shyguys' masks, this is what we should do. Simply explain what they look like through the main character's expression. Shyguys' faces should never be seen. It's Nintendo's job to show us what they look like. I'd also like to say that while the voice for the shyguy in that game is somewhat comedic, I think that we could easily take that sound and turn it into something creepy. If I were to describe it, I'd say it's a "quack" muffled by the mask.
Claude	Saw this in the silent hill comic. The shguy without a mask should have no eyes whatsoever and blood trails coming from the sockets, mouth, nose, and ears. Spooky, eh?
Claude	I just got this great ending. After bowser is beaten and bloodied... Mario hears the princess STILL screaming from a pipe. Mario climbs in. Cut to firstperson, Mario is heading toward an oddly pixelated light. When he reaches the light, have an animated GIF from "Super Mario Brothers" of Marioo coming out of a warp pipe. Then he has a big question mark over his head as the classic midi tune plays. THE END? I'm a fucking genious!
Bean	Claude wrote: Saw this in the silent hill comic. The shguy without a mask should have no eyes whatsoever and blood trails coming from the sockets, mouth, nose, and ears. Spooky, eh? Hella spooky. My only problem is that I don't feel we have the "right" to make the shy guy's appearance underneath the mask. I feel that there needs to be some discretion in what we show and what we don't show. Like I stated above, I feel that it's Nintendo's job to show us what these things look like and for us to go off of their visualizations to create our own versions. I dunno, but some part of me says that that would be going too far. I'm not the director though, so I have to stay indifferent. If Shael and Sentora say, "Take off the mask," I will comply. But still... I guess there's no harm in speculating... Heheheheheheh.
Electronic Samurai	Nice work, everyone. I came up with a rather interesting idea: I, Mario should have a stress meter, like in recent survival horror games. Except this meter will have no onscreen representation: instead, you will be able to hear Mario breathing very quietly in the background, and the screen will bob gently. As Mario gets more stressed (by fighting, taking damage, etc) the screen will bob more violently and Mario will breathe harder. When this meter is full, the screen will be shaking violently and Mario will be hyperventilating, and taking damage. Mushrooms and Starmen will cause the meter to rise - there needs to be a tradeoff to using drugs like a healing item. So, using a mushroom fills the meter perhaps halfway, and using the Starmen will fill it completely. I admit I haven't played many survival horror games (RE 1's terrible controls made me turn the game off before I was more than a half-hour in), but I think that adding something like this would be very immersive and really put the player into Mario's perspective.
Cyrion	Bean wrote: Simply explain what they look like through the main character's expression. Shyguys' faces should never be seen. It's Nintendo's job to show us what they look like. A couple more thoughts on the Shy Guys. I'd have to agree with Bean, the Shy Guys true faces should never be seen by the audience. But you can definitely convey the horror of what's underneath by Mario's reaction. I also think that the Shy Guys should remain silent basically all the time. (someone else mentioned this, I seem to remember) But if we follow the idea of Mario finally removing the mask, I think that should be the only time we hear anything from a Shy Guy - and what we hear should be a shocking, sudden scream. Mario jumps at the sound, and jumps a heck of a lot further when he sees what's beneath the mask...
Straziante	How about this? Whenever someone actually touches a Shy Guy, the get these overwhelming images in their mind of super scary stop-your-heart kind of shit. When the person lets go, the images stop, but the Shy Guy is gone. The person is left in an extreme state of WTF.

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Author	Message
Claude	Claude wrote: I just got this great ending. After bowser is beaten and bloodied... Mario hears the princess STILL screaming from a pipe. Mario climbs in. Cut to firstperson, Mario is heading toward an oddly pixelated light. When he reaches the light, have an animated GIF from "Super Mario Brothers" of Marioo coming out of a warp pipe. Then he has a big question mark over his head as the classic midi tune plays. THE END? I'm a fucking genious! Another unnoticed idea... I still think I'm a FUCKING genious!
Straziante	They sorta did that in Mario RPG. It just wasn't at the end.
Kupi	It's been a while since I've posted anything (due to not having anything to contribute), so I've got less of an artistic contribution and more of a planning thing. I've thought up every enemy I could from the S/NES era of Mario games and compiled them into a list in no particular order. I think we've considered almost everything of importance, but there are a few fringe baddies we might want to hammer out. Goomba Troopa Hammer Brother Piranha Plant Bloober Cheep-Cheep Bowser Lakitu Shy Guy Bomb-Omb Cannons/Bullet Bills Boo Eerie Thwomp That Giant Fish That Eats You In Mario 3 Thwimp Paratroopa The Sun Buzzy Beetle Spike Top Spiny Swooper The fire-breathing Piranha Plants Blaarg Chain Chomp Ninja Guy Those Moles Whose Names Slip My Mind Crayzee Dayzee The Flying Masks From SMB2 Mechakoopa Those Electricity Ball Monsters Dry Bones Also, here's one concept that nobody's mentioned yet: what the heck are we going to do with the beanstalk to the Coin Heaven? An area of of weight-supporting clouds with endless riches seems a bit too mythological for a serious setting like I, Mario. Perhaps the beanstalk could become something more conventional... say, a plant called a Ladder Vine that grows incredibly fast and fixes to whatever it's grown on. It creates massive, sturdy leaves on its sides in an alternating pattern, which makes it perfect for climbing up. The catch is that the Ladder Vine has an extremely short lifespan. It reaches maturity within a minute of being planted and watered, and it dies nearly as quickly. However, it doesn't die without first releasing several seeds from pods in the undersides of its leaves, ensuring the species's survival. The whole process leaches nutrients from the soil as fast as everything else, which is convenient for another reason: the Ladder Vine can be used as a potent weapon. The Ladder Vine doesn't care where it gets the nutrients it needs so long as it gets them. It will even take root in living things, if it has to... throw a Ladder Vine seed at a Koopa and spray it with water, and that's one less turtle you've got to deal with. As for origins? Hrm. Maybe the Ladder Vine has a powerful temporal component to it that makes it run through its lifespan so quickly. Heh. So much for not having anything to contribute. Enjoy!
Freewheel	Just for clarification (and because it bothered me): "That Giant Fish That Eats You In Mario 3" = Boss Bass and "Those Moles Whose Names Slip My Mind" = Rocky Mole. I still think that it should be clarified as to which games (and therefore which enemies) I, Mario will cover. We can speculate on every Mario enemy ever for a very long time, and no actual progress will be made. It seems that the plot is centered on SMB1, (and I believe that Shael's original idea was "the original Super Mario Bros. story") which would indicate to me that the enemies should be limited to that game.
Dark Monkey	I've combined some of the ideas stated with my own to form my idea of what would happen when you take a shyguy's mask off. You'd hear a very distorted screaming sound, get a rush of freaky images in your mind, feel a gust of hot air, and the robe and mask would collapse. For the whole freaky images thing, it could be like the cursed video tape in "The Ring" but faster paced. A rush of totally unrelated creepy little scenes. Nothing ver gorey, just WTFish and creepy. Also I'd like to know if anyone agrees with my opinion that they should be pretty cunning, settign up traps and ambushes.
Dark Monkey	About the enemies, I think that only the most popular recurrign enemies should be used. Speaking of which, what about wigglers? A giant centipede could be a pretty nice addition.
Stak	Hey Claude I am sorry about yelling at you last night It was kind of mean and I apologize I just don't want this to turn into Grand Theft Mario when this project has so much potential I really liked Bean(?)'s Shy Guy concept Again, I am sorry that I yelled at you
Bean	Freewheel wrote: I still think that it should be clarified as to which games (and therefore which enemies) I, Mario will cover. We can speculate on every Mario enemy ever for a very long time, and no actual progress will be made. It seems that the plot is centered on SMB1, (and I believe that Shael's original idea was "the original Super Mario Bros. story") which would indicate to me that the enemies should be limited to that game. The thing with that is that you're cutting out so many enemies that have more potential. The original game only consisted of Koopa Troopas, Paratroopas, Goombas, Buzzy Beetles, Spineys, Lakitu, Bowser, Cheep Cheep, Bullet Bills, Bloopers, Hammer Bros., and Piranha Plants. In my opinion there needs to be a few more added to that list. I would suggest using all of those enemies and adding just a few like Shyguys, Boos, Thwomps, Bob-ombs, and Chain Chomps (Trying to limit it to mostly 1 with a tiny hint of 3.). Also, there's no guarantee that we'll make an I, Mario 2 (Although I'd like to see it.) so, by adding some of the enemies we want to see in this one, we'll ensure that they'll be seen.
Bios-Revision	There's probably more than enough shy guy pictures but I drew this anyway. On another subject, has anyone really talked about including Yoshi and how that would work (would Mario still ride him, would he slurp up enemies with his tongue, etc.)?
Darmani	Kupi wrote: It's been a while since I've posted anything (due to not having anything to contribute), so I've got less of an artistic contribution and more of a planning thing. I've thought up every enemy I could from the S/NES era of Mario games and compiled them into a list in no particular order. I think we've considered almost everything of importance, but there are a few fringe baddies we might want to hammer out. Goomba Mario calls them this. Its a common "italian" epithet to describe a person. Either as thuggish, stupid, a pretender, etc. Quote: Troopa Greens are feirce but reckless. They come at you in a straight line but can over step themselves. I would keep the jumping option. You hit them in the head and they "fall out" into their shells. Depending on the surface you can kick the shell but it can richocet and come back. If we use the growing mushrooms they're half Super Mario's size but just a smudge bigger than regular mario. If we use just one size through the game make them about range throughout the game to 1/2-8/6ths Mario's size. Quote: Hammer Brother They pull the hammers out of their shells. If we stick with the always in pairs have them be strategic. One does the classic rain of hammer tosses the other comes up close to slash and smash. Because they are often upright smashing works more. I'm debating whether or how players should get their equipment to add to their own. They are on their feet alot so appear larger. Quote: Piranha Plant Keeping the mushroom kingdom and its pipes as warps and other things features as is. As a basic idea anyway. They rock as is. Popout plants that rise in reaction to your presence chompchomp and go back in or not. They are SCARY in those pipes as you never know when they're coming up and stuff. They are the Am-Bush I'll be here all night. Size at least 1/2 Mario's the Giant Piranha's don't seem necessary at least this time out. Color and patterns denote behavior and possible toxicity if we go there. Quote: Bloober Anthro squids. That is squids with human faces and some intent intelligence are good as is. Have some of them spray ink clouds in the water. Have them snag and drag you down more than instantly hit and kill you 1/8 Mario's size. Quote: Cheep-Cheep To this day I can't get over that the original mario got it so right. Its less resolution and graphics enhanced the possibilty of these bird-fish just working. Enhanced graphical detail has made these mishappen beak wonders NEVER translate well for me. We might have to exorcise them or bring in a pro. No clue on the rations either. Quote: Bowser I've said before Bowser in the original, in the cartoon, and in his modern version looks like a super koopa. He seems to intergrate the visuals and abilities of all the enemies before or after him pluss he breathes fire. He's a dog-faced turtle-dragon with a spiney back. That's more important than even his colorscheme of red-yellow-green, wilde red hair, or even his tail. Just messing with the current Bowser design's color tones and detailing would end up with something terrifying but also person-like but not too much so. GIANT. Equal Giant Mario and then some. A hulking figure. Quote: Lakitu I think the guy should have a puffy cloud not a squarish one. The texture of the gas should make it clear its not a normal cloud. His shell-less turtleman man look works. Just more line work to make him scare more. And make the eyes large glasses that distort the size of his eyes with no arms/earpeices. The Hovercovar lakitu pictured some pages back only in a greyish wispy mass-wherein with RL clouds or the Machine God in Matrix Revolutions you see the smiley face- tossing out the large spiny eggs that unfurl as Spiney's is my preference. NO GD wings. A smaller than most Koopas but somehow oversized figure. Quote: Shy Guy I'd transplant theme as is with their pointed folded over in cloth arms thrusting out and stabbing like knives. NO ooze from the mask. Its a simple all circles thing. The real men as shy guys pic I think should be down for the sequel. Maybe all of them are in the "sequel" if they cameo its in a photo or picture or image just out of reach. Variable size here but mostly short. Just over small Mario and under half Super Mario. Quote: Bomb-Omb I think the solid block feet mouthless spheroid with slightly expressive slot eyes works here. I never really liked the windup key. And they can come out of pipes, machines, or be planted in the ground. Maybe they show up in Bowser's fortress only. But I'd save for the sequel. Variable sizes for variable explosions. Quote: Cannons/Bullet Bills you hear them launch before that come. Forward jumpjetted/launched, and with a shark like open 'grin' and eyes they steer themselves with their tiny arms with oversized fists. You can bat them away Smash them into the ground with your stomp. Use the snake to redirect them into into each other. Perhaps stick on and be drawn by one with the plunger. One size 3/4ths Super Mario, Always. Quote: Boo The one around page twenty or so. that flies up its 'arms' to cover his face making a new "bashful" face. The size of mushroom kid, or Mario's head. Quote: Eerie Who? Quote: Thwomp Pretty much as is and what's been suggested. The face would alternate between grimace and scream (its a mushroomer transformed and brainwashed) Three sizes, a fourth bigger than Super Mario, Giant very very large, and small half Super Mario's size. Quote: That Giant Fish That Eats You In Mario 3 A black woman in red vinyl an...okay This is as is only scalier and more nuanced to look fleshlike especially inside the mouth. White eyes with near as white pupils that turn black and chase her prey. Able to swallow Mario whole and have some space let over. Not Whale sized more like a large Walrus or Seal Quote: Thwimp No. or if about as background skipping, whirling, whatever blocks that artificialling make the game straighline/2D at points. Quote: Paratroopa Raw wings only the flesh shapes as the feathers. They don't just disappearance your attacks BREAK them. A biograft? A mutation, who knows. Greens hop and such. Red's go in patterns. Quote: The Sun Absolutely NOT in the first one. Unless we've go a Mario against nature level. Quote: Buzzy Beetle Like shaped football helmets only thicker, black, and with some soft orange thing peering from underneath. Their shell invokes the idea of a beetle and the sound of fire failing against them makes a ZZZ sound. Smaller than a Small Koopa Troopa but not by much. Quote: Spike Top Redundant with the spinies and their full 3D mobility. Quote: Spiny As is only with the suggestions I made above. More bold and deep ruddy than cartoony colors. Half the size of Koopas, twice as deadly. Come up to Mario's knees, midway Super's calves. Quote: The fire-breathing Piranha Plants The venus Fire traps are not necessary with the whirling firebars and hopping fireballs. If they do exist only on the final level. Small Piranha plants with big compensator Quote: Blaarg Who? Quote: Chain Chomp As if If anything I'd change besides the obvious this is in 3D stuff it would be that the Chain chomp would be 1/3 or so Mario's size. ITs dangerous becaise its a viscious pitbull combined with a chain hammer restrained only by a thin chain to something. Quote: Ninja Guy Okay now I feel just dumb when and what Ninja's has Mario had? Quote: Those Moles Whose Names Slip My Mind No unless for brackground as a visual clue to what makes a few of the underground caverns they wouldn't be enemies I'd really NOT want them about. Quote: Crayzee Dayzee *cries* I thought I knew this stuff! Quote: The Flying Masks From SMB2 I think these Phantasm masks would only cameo and they seem to me to BELONG in Mario 2. the long diameter would be twice the size of Mario's face. Quote: Mechakoopa Cameo in certain parts or levels hint at Koopa experimenting with some clockwerk-mechanising process. Siza: n/a Quote: Those Electricity Ball Monsters I swear I know this. Just like the Boes in Zelda's Majora's mask only with more patroling in a pattern (directed by circuit lines on the floor). Throughout the story it seems everything lives a little in MK. Now even raw energy does to. foot or equal to your size. The smaller are faster. The larger slower. Quote: Dry Bones I really think these should keep away until the sequel/whathave you but being in the final level works too. skeletal Koopa's with flickering fires in the sockets of their eyes. Their bones reassemble unless tossed into a pit or lava. They never hurry or hasten. Just continue. constantly at pace. brisker than your walk easily outrun. Quote: Also, here's one concept that nobody's mentioned yet: what the heck are we going to do with the beanstalk to the Coin Heaven? The vine is activated like any otther powerup and it grows and entangles and takes you high.. high into the sky covering you. You break out in an area like the steam room in the tenement or composed entirely of Lakitu's mist/gas. What the heck. Azure cloud tendrils and billows flow to the side over Coins and other power ups. Its a bank of the heavens but its moving too fast! The ground seems to waste beneath you or you tear through it. You hop hoping where you land is solid and collect what you can. until the clouds run out and you fall back to the earth on a descending fading platform to a still world that resumes once you set foot on Earth. A little fantastic.. yeah. But dark necessarily isn't the key here. Realistic meets surreal. Gothic in the actual not subculture definition.
Claude	Here's an idea, Mario doesn't know where the fuck he is right? He's clueless as shit... So we should give the player some kind of explanation. As the game goes on the enviornment should progressively more and more covered in assorted fungi. Hence the name "Mushroom Kingdom" Kind of like "Rat City" in Spawn. The explanation (If you actually decipher it between the babblings) Should be given by a short, hunched back, hobo wearing oddly large glasses and a sack full of sea creatures; specifically Sea Urchins. Who could this person be? Why Lakitu of course! Later on when you invade his "home" or den he will go on a rampage and throw sea urchin's at you. FYI Sea Urchins are sharper than shit and poisonous. Clever, eh? BTW the ninja things are "Ninji" Super Mario Bros. 2
Zakharov	I'm in the biz, so I can offer whatever advice you guys want\need. I've read over the entire threat so far, and I have to say, I'm impressed. I'll offer my services, but obviously real life has to come first (damnit! working on games takes all my time to play games. Ironic, no) Anyway, here's an idea for the Boo's, both from a "mutant" and "druggie" perspective. Mutant: Perhaps the Boo's arn't really ghosts at all, but a species of Koopa with camoflague, which, however, is not complete. They've evolved as a stealthy species, and to make sure their prey doesn't fight back, they've evolved giant jaws that don't camoflague (the white face you see). They sneak up on you, but when you look at them, they turn around and blend in, effectively camoflauging them selves and their jaws. Druggie: The Boo's are actually guys in really dark cloaks, who effectively act the same way as the chameleon koopas above, but they are just plain guys. Perhaps their masks glow in the dark and have that wierd motion trail effect seen with glow in the dark objects when subjected in total darkness. For this to work, wherever they show up would have to be really dark. Perhaps that's one way Mario can get by them, is by using his light. Anyway, best of luck. I'll be keeping my eyes on this thread...
monkeyFWD	http://www.texahol.com/buckethead/bhlnd3.html There's a couple versions of these, but they're all kind of weird. Maybe you can play these for some inspiration.
Refelos	cirtis and i made this back in the summer. i dont know if its relevant, but you can sort of see what a realistic piranah plant would look like with it.
friendlyHunter	I have that picture I made for art class, however in the form of a low-quality digital photograph. Enjoy =]

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Author	Message
Chrono Ripper	Here's what I think of those bloody shy guys...
1link-jing1	Chrono Ripper wrote: Here's what I think of those bloody shy guys... So friggin awesome. Now for ideas. -For Mario's Wing cap, feather, racoon costume, or any other flying items he uses, they should be rebar wings made of shrapnel. Between them would be a mini "Cloud", or the vehicle Latiku uses to fly. A decal slapped on the side of the mini Cloud would say 'Racoon'. Useless once it's out of fuel. -For his invisibility cap, he would use the scarf that the Boo's wear (see Bean's reference to a Boo on page 26) as a blanket or cape around his neck. He can discover this by killing a Boo then using the scarf for warmth in the cold graveyard. After a while the scarf becomes thinner, then just disinigrates. -For his metal cap, he could just be wearing a metal suit, or body armor. He could find a cluster of metal clothing. Solid titanium hat. Brass knuckles. Chainmail. Iron boots. Found in warm areas or wet areas. He could sink quickly with this. For breathing, a small air tank is fused on the chainmail. Once it runs out of air, then the suit is useless (all parts connected together with wire to keep from separation). Agility is lowered drastically with his metal suit.
InfinitysEnd	Hey everyone, I've been following this for a while now but I've never posted. You speak of this being a psycological horror game or whatever, but everyone just seems hung up on ShyGuys for some reason. Y'know what 2 characters always scared the complete bejesus out of me? Phanto-those masks that chase you when you take the key in Mario 2 (made me PISS MY PANTS) Spike-the things that pull big mace balls out of their mouth and throw them at you. They're also in Yoshi's Island. Why haven't anyone made concept chars. of THOSE guys? They're freakin' SCARY!
Hogulus	I think I posted earlier that Phanto could be a Lakitu-developed security drone, but Spike... hmm, gimmie a minute... Another of the native species that flourished due to the Great Physics Lawbreaking (an event some say was caused by Lakitu's time-travel experiments, some say was the effect of entropy, the Shy Guys say was the work of an angry toad-god named Wart), "Spikes" evolved on a continent with a perfect predator - one that ate the weak, but not too many of the strong. Said predator, known to biologists as "Flurries," quickly went extinct due to a heat wave ten years ago, but that's besides the point. The Spikes had a completely revamped excretory system. Instead of merely removing waste products from food, a series of chemical reactions turns it into a malleable substance, which is then formed into a spiked ball and chemically changed again to make it into a metallic material. These spiked balls are flung at threatening objects as a self-defense weapon, and due to the world's altered physics it is unaffected by gravity as it sails through the air en route to its target. Buster Beetle (I think that's the name, thing from SMB3) - An evolutionary offshoot of the Buzzy Beetle, a common cave-dwelling shelled animal. After the Great Physics Lawbreaking broke the land into the large and small chunks we see today, some animals that were a common predecessor to the Buzzy and Buster Beetles ended up on a fairly large floating island. The island was, due to sheer luck, devoid of predators, making its hard shell useless; however, the only source of food was the Block Tree, often recognized by the question mark on its cubic fruit. Since Block Tree fruit have a hard shell, the weaker Beetle predecessors (known as Spiketops) died out while those strong enough could get the food inside. Eventually, all of these creatures had gained tremendous strength for their size, though their vestigal shells are at best useless and at worst give it a false sense of confidence that make it charge into battle, throwing anything it can see and making a mad rush toward its target. Pirhana Plant - Unlike most of the Mushroom, Koopa, and Beanbean Kingdom's flora and fauna, this has no clearly defined evolutionary path back to single-celled organisms. Rumors say its earliest known form, the "venus flytrap," was brought here from another dimension, but these can be ignored. Because the insects it preyed on started to become too large for the plant to eat, it too grew larger. The cycle repeated for thousands of years, and the plant in its current form could quite easily eat two Koopas alive simutaneously. When its prey grew too smart to be lured in by a bright color and a nice smell, mutations led to it being able to move freely as long as its roots stay anchored, and its objective changed from luring prey to hunting it down. Any living thing that comes anywhere near a Pirhana Plant's domain can generally expect to be torn apart by its tooth-like thorns (evolved to break Koopa shells), then slid into a digestive system usually hidden by the pipe it rests in. EDIT: Phanto - The Patrolling Homing Armored Noticer/Terminator Object is one of Lakitu's favorite creations. Hung up in a room, it looks like nothing more than a decorative mask, probably purchased from Sarasaland's Easton area. However, if its designated object to guard is disturbed in any way, it activates its hover device and its spinning blades on its sides, then charges toward whatever might be carrying the object. Once the object has stopped moving entirely (note that even if the perpetrator stays entirely still, his or her heartbeat will move the object slightly), PHANTO will stop its pursuit. It's more merciful than most of Lakitu's security devices, in that it allows thieves to surrender and escape unharmed. Though a PHANTO has never failed to stop its designated object from moving through some means, it is programmed to set off an alarm if it is ever defeated, signalling another PHANTO to chase the target object.
Straziante	Guys, remember, although we do want this experience to be engrossing, we have to remember to make it simple, as well. There are many great ideas here, but some of them will have to be left out. I'm having a hard enough time writing the script because I'm not sure what to include and what to leave out. We're pretty much going to be dealing with woods, villages, the city, the castle, a ghost house (maybe), some fortresses, and bowser's keep. I'll implement a water level into one of these areas. But remember, you don't NEED to explain things. Mario isn't going to give a shit why he can walk on clouds and why there is a flying mask chasing him. We've got to keep it simple. I'll be posting the next scene in a few minutes.
Straziante	Scene 0006 – Luigi Reveals the Truth… sort of. This scene shows Mario arriving at the cascades at Land’s End. Luigi is sitting on a small boulder next to the stream. The trees are filtering the sunlight in an almost eerie manner, due to the overcast sky. Mario was half-expecting Luigi to be there. Luigi: (laughing) Oh my god, you should have heard this joke the other day about a fat guy and a waterfall! Mario: What are you doing here? Luigi: Okay, there’s a blind guy, a deaf guy, and a fat guy. Mario: Answer me. What the hell is going on? Luigi: And they all jump off of a waterfall… Mario: (sighs) You’ve got to be kidding me… Luigi: Who hits the water first? Mario: I don’t give a fuck, Luigi! Luigi: (sighs) And I was getting to the good part. Mario: I don’t care about your lame-ass joke. What the hell is with this place? Luigi: I told you, this isn’t Brooklyn. We’re in a whole new world. Mario: No shit. I got that much. How did we get here? Luigi: (laughs) Magic! (gesturing broadly) Mario: (turns and walks a few steps away) Luigi! Seriously! (turns back around) What? Luigi is gone Luigi: (from behind, walking quickly towards Mario) Well, how would you explain it? Mario turns around. Luigi is gone. Mario: (looking around) I don’t know. I could come up with something better than “magic.” Luigi: (from behind) Then tell me: how did we get here? Mario: (with his back to Luigi) Easy, I’m dreaming. And you’re such an asshole, you have to haunt me in my sleep. Mario turns to face Luigi. Luigi is almost nose-to-nose with Mario. Luigi: (very sternly) You wish you were dreaming! Luigi grabs Mario’s head with his hands over his temples. The screen goes white. Several erotic visions of Pauline flash through Mario’s mind, before a few very horrific visions of her make Mario snap out of it. Luigi is gone again. Mario: (almost hysterically) What the--? Luigi? Where is she? Answer me? Mario falls to his knees. His face is pale and his hands are quivering. A young boy walks up behind Mario. Mallow: Um, Mario? Momma said we’re ready to eat when you get home. Mario: (getting up slowly) Oh. (with a flat voice) I’m on my way. Mallow: Okay, just don’t be too long. It gets weird here after dark. Mallow exits. Mario: (following Mallow) What the hell is going on around here? Luigi: (hidden from view) She’ll be looking for you before long, Alice. Mario: (under breath) I hate when he calls me that.
Hogulus	I know we can't use every Mario enemy ever, and I'm only going into such in-depth explanations because I can't draw, and I'm hoping said explanations would help people get a picture of what I'm imagining with these things, without having to decipher my horrible attempts of art. Plus, I'm bored.
Kupi	Straziante Synthesized wrote: Guys, remember, although we do want this experience to be engrossing, we have to remember to make it simple, as well. There are many great ideas here, but some of them will have to be left out. I'm having a hard enough time writing the script because I'm not sure what to include and what to leave out. We're pretty much going to be dealing with woods, villages, the city, the castle, a ghost house (maybe), some fortresses, and bowser's keep. I'll implement a water level into one of these areas. But remember, you don't NEED to explain things. Mario isn't going to give a shit why he can walk on clouds and why there is a flying mask chasing him. We've got to keep it simple. I'll be posting the next scene in a few minutes. I'm quite well aware of the fact that we can't possibly put every idea we come up with in the final product, nor does the gamer/viewer have to hear our explanations for why things work a certain way. However, as I said before, sometimes to have to consider the totally irrelevant things because they can have an effect on what actually is relevant, as was the case with my write-up on the social structure of the Koopas. That could have ramifications in AI... for instance, the fact that Hammer Brothers are the most respected fighters could mean that the Koopas under their command will become scared of Mario if you take out the Hammer Brother first. However, I'll admit that there is a line so far as what needs to be considered. I just don't think we've hit it yet, since technically we're still in the planning phase. The more ideas, the better. Once we hammer out exactly what we're doing and when, then we can start cutting ideas out. (To some extent that's already started, but I'm talking about monste design and such.)
Citris	friendlyHunter wrote: I have that picture I made for art class, however in the form of a low-quality digital photograph. Enjoy =] That's really good. I like that a lot.
Shael Riley	friendlyHunter wrote: I have that picture I made for art class, however in the form of a low-quality digital photograph. Enjoy =] This is now my wallpaper. Makes a good wallpaper with the pastal-for-high-contrast-with-icons thing too.
JM_Zen	Citris wrote: friendlyHunter wrote: I have that picture I made for art class, however in the form of a low-quality digital photograph. Enjoy =] That's really good. I like that a lot. That's awesome; submit it to dA or something, if you have an account.
friendlyHunter	JM_Zen wrote: That's awesome; submit it to dA or something, if you have an account. I'm gonna have to get a better photo of it first, it doesn't show enough detail, the camera flash makes the center to bright and the edges too dark, and the colors are all kinda wierd. But I will eventually =] Anyone know where I could find a photographing art tutorial or something? (sorry for getting off topic)
Bongo Bill	I do like the idea of an instant "Game Over" accompanied by extremely creepy images if you try to take off a Shy Guy's mask. You'd have to include a way that you could disarm and tackle one and then go for the mask. The complete perfect blandness of the mask adds layers to it - it would be the creepiest thing in a world full of carnivorous monster turtles and drug-induced hallucinations and what-have-you. Boos? Shy guys in black, in a dark area. Snifits wear gray. Bob-ombs have to have robotic legs. Period. Grenades with robotic legs. Make 'em heat-seeking. Since the koopas are ectothermic, they don't have to worry about them turning back on them. They just lock onto the nearest object larger than, say, 95 degrees, then crawl toward it over every territory, even up walls and underwater. The only thing that can stop them is to distract them with a nearer heat source. They don't detonate until they're within blast radius from their target. We need to come up with weapons. It's probably going to be mostly melee-centric, right? Let's see what we've got so far.... Wrench Fire flower + lighter Hammer Brother's hammer Snifit's rifle Bob-ombs (reciprocate them or find them later in the game) ...yeah, we need more.
Bean	Bongo Bill wrote: Boos? Shy guys in black, in a dark area. I still don't see why we can't just leave 'em as ghosts. Seriously, just because we add a few things that are supernatural doesn't make it less believeable. It's already quite unbelievable to begin with. If you reveal boos as shyguys they lose most of their appeal. I would hate to find out that these things I think are ghosts are really just some guys dressed in black with white masks. It really turns the spooky factor down quite a bit, even if shyguys are spooky themselves. Think about it... what makes ghosts, monsters, and anything else of that nature scary? It's because of the mystery that surrounds them. It would be stupid to discover that the Mothman was just an airplane or that Nessie is just some guy in a submarine playing a practical joke on everyone. Don't get me wrong here, I love giving things an interesting backstory, or a meaning, but there is a place for it. I think the first priority is to make this game a survival-horror. Things are generally creepy in survival-horror games, and things are generally creepier when they are left unexplained. Making it "realistic" is second priority. I may be going out on a limb here, but I feel that what Shael meant by realistic was to put a gritty, textured filter over the original Mario concept. To remove that sugar coating over the whole idea, not to change things so drastically that it ceases to be Mario and becomes something else. At least that's what I got out of it. I've tried to keep my drawings very close (or at least recognizable) to how the subject looks in the games. I think Bowser and Lakitu are the farthest removed that I've drawn, and they're still easily recognizable to anyone who is familiar with the Mario games. I'm not trying to bash anyone's ideas. They're all great ideas, and could work well. However, in most cases, simpler is better and we may be over-thinking some things... at least that's what I feel. Bongo Bill wrote: We need to come up with weapons. It's probably going to be mostly melee-centric, right? Let's see what we've got so far.... Wrench Fire flower + lighter Hammer Brother's hammer Snifit's rifle Bob-ombs (reciprocate them or find them later in the game) ...yeah, we need more. I say give him a pistol of some sort and give it to him late. Perhaps Luigi gives it to him as he nears the KK border. Don't give him a whole lot of ammo. That way we keep it closer to melee, and force the player to conserve as much as he/she can. I can remember playing through a good portion of Resident Evil with no weapon save my knife because the ammo was so scarce. It just made it that much scarier. Even slow-moving zombies are difficult to kill with a knife. Throw some crimson heads in there and you're seriously hurtin'. As for Bob-ombs... remember Bob-omb buddies? Have red Bob-ombs used by the MK that are reverse-engineered from the Koopas'. They could be like slow versions of chuchu bombs in The Legend of Zelda and in the same way they could be used to solve certain puzzles.
Hogulus	One thing about Boos: I'd like to see black-robed Shyguys, but not as a replacement for Boo. That way, when you see Boo you prepare to pump it full of Snifit lead, but then it just disappears... One more weapon idea, though this would be the game's closest equivalent to the BFG 9000, so it'd be rare: rewired Bullet Bills. Press a button on one and watch it fly out of your hand, punching through every enemy in sight! Of course, it's just as likely to go after Mario - the rewiring makes it classify everything that moves as its targets. You could also allow Mario to pick up Buster Beetles for the same use as Half-Life's Snarks. Just an idea.

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Author	Message
Specter	I am about to add that huge list of stuff onto downthepipe. I know I said I'd do it a while ago, but I had finals. Anyway, I'll post a link. EDIT: I used other peoples ideas in this. I'm not taking anything as my own. Further EDIT: Link is now up and running. It is incomplete, and I will add to it later. More EDITing goodness: Changed the link from a download to an actual webpage. My file is IMS. (btw, my profile name is CheapasFree, for those who care)
Eleor_D	I know this is unlikely to be able to be programmed into the game, thought it might be interesting though. If you kill a shy guy, and insist on looking at the mask, the game would cut to a scene: -Mario picks up the mask, looking slowly over its pristine white surface, the mask completely unmarred by the beating Mario had just given its previous wearer. Watching him from behind, he seems intruiged, and gradually brings the mask to his face, at which point the camera angle swivels around to show the front of the mask, the eye and mouth holes still complete voids. As the camera moves, Mario can be heard talking to himself, his shock, confusion, and horror evident in his tone and words. As he tries to pull it away, thin white tentacles stretch from the sides of the mask, wrapping around the back of his head and pulling the mask closer. Panicked now, Mario begins screaming and cursing at the mask, his frenzied strength unable to keep it from settling on his face. We see him now from a slowly spinning bird's eye view as he drops to the ground and begins to writh, his hands clawing ineffectually at the mask, and he begins screaming, "I don't want to see! I don't want to see!".. And in a matter of moments he lies still, the tentacles retreat back into the mask, the view ceasing to spin.. and then Mario silently stands, moves over to the robes left behind by the shy-guy he killed, and puts them on, then heads off into the distance. The screen fades to black as he walks off, changing to a very ghostly form of the "Game Over" screen.-
DreamcatcherE	?
Bean	Specter wrote: I am about to add that huge list of stuff onto downthepipe. I know I said I'd do it a while ago, but I had finals. Anyway, I'll post a link. EDIT: I used other peoples ideas in this. I'm not taking anything as my own. Further EDIT: Link is now up and running. It is incomplete, and I will add to it later. More EDITing goodness: Changed the link from a download to an actual webpage. My file is IMS. (btw, my profile name is CheapasFree, for those who care) Very, very nicely done, and quite balanced to boot. The only thing I'd change is how the hammer bros.' hammers work. Instead of giving a second click to use the spiked attack, have it similar to the wrench in that you hold the button to increase the swing. After you hold it for a period of time, Mario will flip it around in his hand increasing the damage even further. I got the idea from the axe in Turok Evolution actually. Crappy game, but the axe is almost exactly how I'd imagine the hammer. Either way it's fine, I just had the idea. I can't wait to see it finished.
Chrono Ripper	Liberal goomba interpretation + Kuribo’s shoe = Mario’s worst nightmare
Straziante	I like the idea that maybe somehow, Lakitu obtained earth weapons, distributed them amongst certain underlings, and Mario can win them from said underlings. I had another good idea, but I's like 7:30am or something.
Straziante	Oh yeah, I found the perfect song for the ending credits, which coincides with my new direction to take Mario and Peach/Pauline's relationship. The song: "Three Fools" by Swift While listening to it, the phrase "some things will never change, like the way I see you" struck a chord with me. The way Mario was talking about Pauline in the opening scenes, I think instead of Mario getting so messed up and kinda pushing his feelings out of the picture, I think that I'm going to work it to where the only constants in Mario's mindframe are his confusion and his love for Pauline. HOLY RUN-ON, BATMAN! I can achieve this by having the MK advisors hide Peach from Mario, making him ignorant to the fact that Peach is Pauline until he finally meets her face-to-face. Naturally, this will be a bad time for Peach, and perhaps the moment of clarity for Mario. Also, if we make a trailer for this, "Swell Guy" by Swift would be a good song for that. PM or IM me if you would like either song. And please let me know what you think of my idea.
Electronic Samurai	Straz, your name changes are making me dizzy. Good work on the scripts and the music choices; I've listened to both of those songs and I think they'd fit well. Awesome work, everyone. There have been lots of excellent ideas posted. Bean, your stuff is impressive as always. Specter, I read through your list of stuff and I like it a lot. This is a really good idea - we should start compiling our ideas together like this. I'll probably be on again after Friday, but I won't be posting as often because I'll be trapped in 56k hell. However, I should be getting a new computer on Boxing Day with all my cool gizmoes, so I'll post some new work when I've got it set up. I'm still following this thread fervently, but I just don't have the time to post ATM. (Finals and all.) Keep up the good work!
Toadofsky	Straz- Man, Myth, Legos wrote: Scene 0006 – Luigi Reveals the Truth… sort of. This scene shows Mario arriving at the cascades at Land’s End. Luigi is sitting on a small boulder next to the stream. The trees are filtering the sunlight in an almost eerie manner, due to the overcast sky. Mario was half-expecting Luigi to be there. That's creepy...
Straziante	Electronic Samurai wrote: Straz, your name changes are making me dizzy. I know! I keep forgeting which name to use when signing in! Quote: Good work on the scripts and the music choices; I've listened to both of those songs and I think they'd fit well. Lyrically and atmospherically, both of those songs fit so well. The context similarities is almost scary! Thanks for the complement. Quote: Awesome work, everyone. There have been lots of excellent ideas posted. Bean, your stuff is impressive as always. This needs to be emphasized. Everyone is being very productive and supportive. I couldn't be happier with the progress. Once I get back from Guatemala, I should been recharged enough to pump out more scenes. I have the most wicked awesome development all planned out. Quote: Specter, I read through your list of stuff and I like it a lot. This is a really good idea - we should start compiling our ideas together like this. Although I didn't read all of it yet, I'm quite impressed. I'll definitely print that out and use it as a reference in my writing. Quote: I'll probably be on again after Friday, but I won't be posting as often because I'll be trapped in 56k hell. However, I should be getting a new computer on Boxing Day with all my cool gizmoes, so I'll post some new work when I've got it set up. I'm still following this thread fervently, but I just don't have the time to post ATM. (Finals and all.) Don't rush it. Get your priorities taken care of, have a great Boxing Day, and get back to us when it's good for you. Quote: Keep up the good work! Quoted for emphasis. Toadofsky wrote: Straz- Man, Myth, Legos wrote: Scene 0006 – Luigi Reveals the Truth… sort of. This scene shows Mario arriving at the cascades at Land’s End. Luigi is sitting on a small boulder next to the stream. The trees are filtering the sunlight in an almost eerie manner, due to the overcast sky. Mario was half-expecting Luigi to be there. That's creepy... I suppose I should take that as a complement?
Straziante	Double post ahoy! I just uploaded a weird song thingy that I made around the beginning of this project: Click on newsong.mid
Electronic Samurai	Bad link. Oh, and I came up with some great ideas for the Phanto earlier today, walking home from classes. Expect to see new things soon.
Straziante	I fixed the link, somewhat. Sorry.
NeoS	Wow! Check out the artwork/storywork! Great talents here. I never actually liked SMB as a story, but now it's getting me interested. I like McGee's Alice too. Here's some bull i came up with: Mario walks through the forest, hungry. It's dark and he hasn't eaten in 7 hours now. He stumbles upon a bigass dead tree. The tree is hollow and a dozen of small red eyes peer through some holes. Slowly Mario walks backwards (thinking: "holy shit" or something like that), but bumps into another tree, being infested with dozens of small Goombas. They ferociously attack Mario, who stumbles and falls on his back, trying to beat them off with his wrench. Suddenly, some big mean-looking green eyes light up behind Mario and the goombas. A loud roar is heard, and the Goombas flee. A big WTF moment for Mario, cause Yoshi steps out from the dark and starts chasing and devouring Goombas. Mario takes this chance to bash in some goomba heads and put them in his utility belt. After all the Goombas fled, Yoshi turns to Mario. Mario jumps in defensive mode, since Yoshi is a big bad flesh-eating dino. Yoshi calmly sits down and looks at Mario in a kind and calm way. Somehow Mario feels like he knows this dino, but he can't place him... Mario picks up a long, thin branch and shoves a dead Goomba over it. He throws another one to Yoshi, who devours it without even chewing. In 3 minutes Mario started a fire and is roasting his trophies he killed earlier, with Yoshi by his side, protecting him from evil things in the night. But what if Mario runs out of goombas? Well, that's it. I'm not a good writer as some of you, but this would be a nice addition and thought: Yoshi being Mario's "friend" as long as Mario gives him something to eat. And if he doesn't...
Bean	Well, I wasn't going to post this, but I think it's time this thread be shoved back to the top... consider this a bump with a purpose. These are a few things I sketched up for turtle/koopa references for myself. Seeing as how the thread dropped so far down the list, I decided I might as well scan 'em and let everyone else use them. I also found this turtle site that I thought might be helpful color and texture inspirations. I hope these are at least sort of helpful. And if they aren't... well, then I just bumped the thread. Heheheheh.