Author	Message
Xerol. No, Really.	^That'll help a LOT when modeling. When I get time. Right now it's Escape: The Movie stuff(YES I"M WORKING ON IT). Anyway, today I was helping my uncle with some plumbing-type stuff, and I had an idea. What if, for some reason, the main power grid got cut off, but Mario's working with a bunch of people to try to take down the bad guys, and they need power. So Mario comes up with this solution: Pipes! They're metal, they run everywhere, and since you need one 'line' for each direction, you've already got that in the water and sewer pipes. So a few missions to go hook up the water system to the power plant might be in order.
Specter	Bean wrote: Lemmie just say this: DAAYYYYYMMMMMN! Bean, your mad drawing skillz never cease to amaze me. Anyway, I just posted my finished gameplay suggestion sheet. If anyone has any questions, post 'em here. I, Mario Gameplay Suggestions
Bean	Xer-Off! wrote: That'll help a LOT when modeling. I'm glad someone will be getting some use out of it other than myself. I was hoping that the drawings would be helpful for more than just our concept artists as well. Xer-Off! wrote: Anyway, today I was helping my uncle with some plumbing-type stuff, and I had an idea. What if, for some reason, the main power grid got cut off, but Mario's working with a bunch of people to try to take down the bad guys, and they need power. So Mario comes up with this solution: Pipes! They're metal, they run everywhere, and since you need one 'line' for each direction, you've already got that in the water and sewer pipes. So a few missions to go hook up the water system to the power plant might be in order. A grungey, old, koopa-infested powerplant would be a really interesting setting. That's a right awesome idea. Specter wrote: Lemmie just say this: DAAYYYYYMMMMMN! Bean, your mad drawing skillz never cease to amaze me. Anyway, I just posted my finished gameplay suggestion sheet. If anyone has any questions, post 'em here. Thanks a ton. Heheheheheh. Your game suggestions are brilliant. You should write it out as if you were making an instruction manual for the game. Add moves, techniques, and a few other things such as keys, or other special items. As for moves aside from the weapons, I'd say a jump, stomp, and search. Jump is obvious. Stomp would basically be Mario raising and stomping his foot to the ground. This would help in defeating enemies that may be lower to the ground, and possibly under your weapon's swing. Goombas would be a prime example. By jumping and pressing the stomp button, you could do a sort of kick thing. Possibly an equivalent to the ground pound. Stomping might also provide a good way to make some puzzles more interesting. Search is also rather obvious. Search, take, activate... all the same thing. The stores are an excellent idea, however, very tricky. Generally, survival-horror games make you go solo to keep things scarier. It might be a bit difficult to keep a scary, or intense mood when dealing with cities. I'm sure with the genius floating around here, we can get it to work. I do agree that we need to have some way of purchasing items. Oh, I almost forgot. You might also want to come up with an idea for the question mark blocks. In the very early pages of this thread, many agreed that they should be represented through question mark graffiti on walls, or even trash cans. The question mark would be a way of signaling to a group of people (Koopas? Toads?) that there was something hidden there. I dunno, it's something that just popped into my head and seemed to fit with the layout you've made. "Just a trial balloon."
Specter	Thanks for the ideas. Your right about the shops, and I'll make an instruction booklet later, when more people give suggestions.
Vilecat	Woah! I've finally been able to get rid of all school work i had for the end of the semester, and i feel totally lost, lol. I haven't been around for at least 2 to 3 weeks. I'm happy to see that the project is still alive, even if many people must be busy with finals and such. Anyway, happy holidays to everyone, i don't think i'll be online during that time with so many things planned, relatives visiting, and mostly my bf coming over <3! Have fun all!
Bongo Bill	Great Scott, Bean! We've all got too much time on our hands, but you.... You, sir, are truly foremost among us with respect to sheer nerditude. The anatomy and skeletal structure of a koopa. I mean, wow. Congratulations. Question mark boxes.... Well, since we've got Luigi as a half-mad disembodied voice with unspecified but limited powers to interact with matter, how's about this: If there's something hidden somewhere, and Mario looks more or less directly at it, Luigi will make a question mark glow in front of it. But only when Mario looks at it, keep in mind.
Bean	Bongo Bill wrote: Great Scott, Bean! We've all got too much time on our hands, but you.... You, sir, are truly foremost among us with respect to sheer nerditude. The anatomy and skeletal structure of a koopa. I mean, wow. Congratulations. Uh... thanks? Eheh. I probably spent a total of 1 hour on all three images, however, I do have quite a bit of time to think. I work where I'm handed very tedious and time-consuming tasks to complete. Thinking about things is sometimes the only way to get through the day. I ponder about how things work, how things might look, ideas for stories, etcetera, etcetera. I sketch my thoughts when I get home because I have a hard time getting to sleep. So, yeah, I have a lot of time on my hands. At least it's not a waste of time.
friendlyHunter	There's not really much left to say about Bean's awsome sketches... NICE WORK! =D (I couldn't find the picture) For shops, there could be vending machines that take coins, and they have mushrooms and fire flowers and things in them. Or maybe food too. Or something to make your stress level go down. And when Mario gets a hammer, maybe he can just bash the machines open. Just an idea.
NeoS	*cough cough*... NeoS wrote: 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...
friendlyHunter	Sorry NeoS, I can't really comment on that, since I have no idea where/if Yoshi will fit in. But if he does, that would be a good way to include him. Here's my idea for SMB2 stuff, similar to another idea that was mentioned. All the enemies in SMB2 are NOT in I, Mario, but they are all hinted at in the form of something that scares Mario. All these fears eventually come back to haunt him in the form of enemies in "I, Mario II: the Nightmare"!!! We don't really need an "I,Mario 2", but just taking that into account would make the first story so much more deeper. For example, on his adventure, Mario finds: -A toad kid with a cloak and a shyguy mask, possibly at toad holiday or carnival or something. Mario can't get the mask out of his head. -A huge menacing phanto mask on the wall in a dark room -A tall white and red striped pot that he's afraid to look in (maybe he imagines a giant red snake jumping out at him) Also: -other fears from before the incident come back to haunt him, like porcupines, giant rats (mouser?), that crab boss, and giant sparks on the walls (maybe he took an electrician course?). And a giant frog-king guy? -He's also afraid of those red doors all over SMB2, it's always dark at the other side, and he doesn't know whether the door will slam on him on the way out, letting him drop from the sky. -He's obviously afraid of getting sucked into a different world; the SMB2 potions could show this Sorry, still haven't joined 'down the pipe', did you already discuss this?
Hogulus	FriendlyHunter - I know I play almost no role in the game's completion, I'm just someone suggesting ideas because he's bored, but I think the makers should definitely include Shyguys and Snifits as actual enemies. The other stuff, though, the references to Phantos and the red doors, could definitely work. Everyone seems to have forgotten Magikoopa. What with all this stuff that has a logical scientific explanation, we need a few things (like Boo) that can't really be completely figured out, and here's an idea that's sorta like that: The Order of the Magus Kamek is a secret society that works with the Koopa Kingdom for unknown reasons. Nearly all attempts to find out what acts they perform have failed, due to immediate identification and subsequent eradication of spies, but captured Magi have been administered truth serum by the Mushroom Kingdom, leading to a little information about their cult. They are known for entering a battle and leaving their opponents missing; the few survivors from a Koopa Magi attack have reported hallucinating that their allies were transforming into yellow-shelled Koopas. The interrogated Magi have said that they get their power from a frog-like elder god, which has been an oddly common feature in dreams for Koopas and Toads alike in recent years. They usually enter battle wearing navy-blue robes made from a type of cloth, wearing glasses (Koopa Magi practice self-inflicted wounds to the eye as a form of sacrifice to the elder god), and a scepter of unknown construction which seems to disintegrate upon getting any great distance from its owner. I'll be posting a little on the Shyguys and Snifits in a moment. Magikoopas might not be recognizable enough to be in the game, so I won't be offended if you guys decide to disregard this post completely.
Hogulus	Just a little thing about my ideas on what Shyguys and Snifits should be like. I borrowed ideas from several people, like the friendly-then-mean thing and setting themselves on fire, so it's not all my idea and don't give me credit as such. Quote: What was that? Mario thought he saw something out of the corner of his eye as he trudged over the hill. He turned his head... nothing. He shrugged and kept on walking until he heard a footstep. Okay, I know I heard that... Mario turned around. He couldn't see anything. Maybe that was my own footstep, he thought, continuing on. He stopped suddenly to kick a rock out of his way, and felt the thing that had been following him run into his back. He jumped forward and spun around to see what looked like a human in a red robe and white mask. The mask was expressionless, with only pitch-black round holes for eyes and a rectangular hole for its mouth. The mask and the hood of the robes together hid his head; the gloves and boots took care of the rest of the skin that may show. The creature jumped back, unsure of what to do when spotted. Mario drew a wrench from his belt, prepared to take care of this thing that had been following him - This thing wants to kill me, it was stalking me! In reaction to the threatening motion, the Shy One cowered in fear, then stuck out a hand offering a mushroom. Mario felt like smacking the thing's hand away, that mushroom was probably poisoned, but he got a real Super Mushroom from his pack and compared it. It looked and smelled the same as the one the creature was offering. This thing wasn't trying to kill Mario, it wanted to help him for some reason. Mario took the mushroom out of the fearful Shy One's hand, then put his wrench away. It turned its head back from looking away in inticipation of extreme pain, to looking at Mario in a friendly manner. It got up off the ground, nodded, and bowed, then pointed in a direction and made a "come with me" gesture to Mario. This guy must know the way! he thought, following the red-robed thing. He went down the hill and into a small depression with it, then heard gunfire. Wait a minute, who in this whole goddamn world has a gun? And where did that mask guy go? Suddenly, Mario saw a little black orb at his feet. Recognizing it as a Bob-Omb, he leaped backwards and fell to the ground, just before it exploded in a grenade-like blast. Looking up, he saw the masked thing leaning over him, only now it was holding a spear. Mario rolled out of the way, and the spear dug itself into the soft dirt. While the betrayer was trying to get its weapon out of the ground, Mario got up and swung his wrench at it. The Shy One collapsed after two strikes to the skull. Feeling victorious, and now knowing that this is what the Shy Folk the Toads discussed looked like, he took a few steps in his original direction before seeing a spear jab to his right side, grazing his arm. He spun around, and there was another Shy One. Mario grabbed the first weapon he could find, a Fire Flower and his lighter, and set the attacker ablaze with it. The dry robes caught fire quickly, but instead of flailing in pain, the creature jumped for Mario, using its body as a flame weapon. Mario barely dodged before it would have melted his face off with the heat, and soon after this lunge the thing fell to the ground - not from lack of wanting to attack Mario despite the pain, but because its robes had melted and fused with its legs, rendering it immobile. Feeling that he was finally done, Mario walked on until he heard more gunfire, and saw chunks of dirt fly up near his shoes. He turned toward where he could hear the shots coming from - a gray-robed thing that appeared to have a rifle mounted onto its face, crouching behind a rock. The gunner stopped to remove a Bob-Omb from its robes, giving Mario a chance to throw his hammer, the claw side of which went directly through the forehead of its mask. Mario walked over to the dead creature. He pulled at his hammer to get it back, but accidentally pulled the mask with it. The creature's hooded corpse spun around quickly so Mario couldn't get a good look at it, and he thought it might be for the best that he didn't know what these things looked like. He examined the gun-mask - though it was useless now, as not only was it too small but it was apparently triggered by movement of an appendage somewhere on what would be a human's cheek, it would prove useful if he ever got it modified for human hands. He pulled the hammer out from it and continued on his way...
Electronic Samurai	Here's the PHANTO I've been promising. (Someone came up with a really good acronym for this, but for the life of me I can't find it or remember what it was.) I added some notes to the picture, so I hope no one minds. It's a robotic sentry that guards specific objects. Think buzzsaw + jetpack + killer African mask and you've got the PHANTO. I'll post again tomorrow - IE ate my big long post and it's late.
Hogulus	I came up with AN acronym for it, though I'm not sure if it's the one you're talking about... Patrolling Homing Armored Noticer/Terminator Object. Anyway, that drawing is pure sweetness. Love the chainsaw blade around the edges.
Specter	Hogulus wrote: Just a little thing about my ideas on what Shyguys and Snifits should be like. I borrowed ideas from several people, like the friendly-then-mean thing and setting themselves on fire, so it's not all my idea and don't give me credit as such. Quote: Mario walked over to the dead creature. He pulled at his hammer to get it back, but accidentally pulled the mask with it. The creature's hooded corpse spun around quickly so Mario couldn't get a good look at it, and he thought it might be for the best that he didn't know what these things looked like. He examined the gun-mask - though it was useless now, as not only was it too small but it was apparently triggered by movement of an appendage somewhere on what would be a human's cheek, it would prove useful if he ever got it modified for human hands. He pulled the hammer out from it and continued on his way... Yay, recognition! (You did get the modifying the face-rifle thing from me, right? Right?) Anyway, I need people to tell me what to change to my big compilation writeup-thingie. I posted the new link as a .doc download, so even if you aren't part of downthepipe, you can still download it.

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Author	Message
dr_amazing	any chance of a bigger version of the phantoes so we can read all the writing?
Daedalus42	For now it just seems like this is for making art/storyline. And on that note, all the art is amazing. I'd like to invite all artists who have submitted work/will submit work to also post it on the yahoo groups for I Mario, which is located at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/downthepipe. I spent about two hours sorting through all the posts to find the art... having it all here would make everything MUCH easier. Also, I think that Shael should post a link in his first post, with a summary/database of everything that has been done so far, so that people just checking out the idea won't be pushed away by the length of the whole topic. Just my two cents! I hope to help with the storyline, maybe do some sketches, or colorize stuff in photoshop in the future (when I actually have some free time!) Keep up the great art and text!
Hogulus	Yeah, Specter, I got that from your idea sheet thingy. BTW, I love the plot idea you have set up there - doesn't paint the Toads as helpless innocent victims.
Wintermute	Noticed a distinct lack of 3d model renders. Ergo...
Kupi	First off: Wintermute, that is freaking cool. Second: Okay, so I finally came up with something else to contribute: an idea for how to implement I, Mario. NeverWinter Nights. Bear with me, here. For one thing, we've already established that I, Mario is going to be heavily melee-based. For the most part, so is NWN; to put it another way, you can make a melee-based module. NWN has the right set of tools to implement some of our ideas, like making Koopas immune to everything but piercing damage or taking and using an enemy weapon or a Fireflower that, when used, shoots flames. I'm pretty sure you can put your own music in there as well. However, there's an even better reason to do NWN: from what I've heard, there's a free 3D rendering program that can export models to NWN called GMax. You can find it at http://www4.discreet.com/gmax/ . To export to NWN, you need a plugin found here: http://nwvault.ign.com/Files/other/data/1072761698656.shtml . I'm not certain of the scope of what you can do with the GMax/NWN combination, but NWN was built to be customizable and the scripting language beats trying to figure out something in C++ when all I'm trained for is Java. The only downsides I can see is that it might be difficult to implement that huge Bloober design and a few gameplay ideas might have to be slightly re-tooled (I only have a vague idea of how to implement a Phanto), but that's a small price to pay for not having to wade through professional-level programming.
friendlyHunter	Kupi wrote: Okay, so I finally came up with something else to contribute: an idea for how to implement I, Mario. NeverWinter Nights. The more I think about it, the better your idea seems. The whole feeling of Mario journeying, fighting, interacting with NPCs, and just trying to survive is all captured in NWN. Everything in the gameplay fits: the inventory system, the melee combat, other characters, the enemies, and the setting. Instead of a cutscene with Luigi talking to Mario, you actually get to chose how to respond to Luigi. I haven't played NWN much, but I think a NWN mod could be done without much extra coding needed, and would definately play this mod if it's made. With mainly custom images, music, and models, this could become more art than a game, yet you control Mario the entire time. =D Congratulations, Kupi, you SAVED I, Mario! (Please sign these papers indicating that you did not save I, Mario)
Bean	Wintermute, those koopas are freakin' brilliant! I'm actually curious as to whether or not you used my references. If you did, I may just start doing that more often. I do, however, think the arms/hands need to connect more. A turtle's arms mesh with their hands. They should taper out to look a little more like how you've done the feet there. Turtles also generally have some long, wicked claws that could easily work with all of this. Sorry for being a critic. Eheh. Kupi, NWN is actually a really good idea, seeing as how we have a few RPG elements thrown into this. My only concern is the camera angle. I've never played the game, but from what I've seen of the screenshots, the camera seems to stay pretty far above the character. I don't know how customizable it is, but keeping the camera away from Mario is risky. To keep a survival-horror game scary, you need to stay fairly close to your character. It puts you more in the character's shoes, and makes it so you're not entirely sure what's around you in some cases, which heightens the suspense. Other than that, I think the idea is a very good one. ES... your P.H.A.N.T.O... it's freakin' sweet! Awesome job. I would like to see what your notes say though. Heheheh. I imagine they'd be quite difficult to destroy. Targeting them would be a pain anyway. I would suggest giving them a minimal role to play. Maybe have a room with three of them as a miniboss or something, and then one or two in a few other places. It would be better not to overuse them. I can imagine them in a trophy room with some heads mounted on the walls. NeoS, that would be a really nifty intro for Yoshi. I think Sentora wants to have them added, but I don't know how Shael feels about it. I know he was hoping to stay as close to the original as possible. Anyway, what you've written there is pretty acurate to how I'd imagine a yoshi to behave. They're generally peaceful creatures, but you don't want to get one angry with you. It would take a while to gain one's trust too, and since they have a voracious appetite, feeding them would be a great way of getting it to trust Mario. Daedalus42, I think the only thing I haven't uploaded to the group is my Bowser, but I think you're right. Everyone needs to post as much as they can there, so that there's one place people can go for all the great work that's been provided. And on that note, I go to upload my original bowser sketch.
Specter	Ok, I've got another game we could mod... System Shock 2. It's almost perfect. I mean, it was designed to be a survival-horror game, it has a built in inventory/money system, and it can be had for free at http://www.the-underdogs.org/. The [Dark] engine (it was used in the old Thief game) also has a total object interaction, so that almost anything can be picked up. The downside is that the graphics aren't very pretty, and it is first person.
Xerol. No, Really.	Those models kick the shit out of the ones I did(although I only put about 20 minutes into them). I can work with NWN too.
Specter	One more idea, why don't we have a chat on the irc thing. I don't know how that works, but we should give it a shot.
Darmani	I hate to be the damper on good effort. I can't render 3D models. But those aren't koopa. The skin texture is nice the details the picture is NICE But those aren't koopas. Koopas are sapient flesh eating turtles. In the original they have almost vulture beaks with large eyes and monster expression. Anthro turtles are kinda freaky. These are GREAT CG models. But I think you missed it with the koopas. I think you may even have to go to the drawing body and start the model over again with the experience, learning you received from this one. Gawd, I hate saying this. It isn't bad. Its good. Nay its perfect. But its not what is right.
friendlyHunter	----- And now, the "I, Mario" mod auditions: ----- NWN: "Whoa! A Mario mod! What were you guys smokin' when you came up with that?" STRAZ: "We were eating rotisserie chicken. Can you just read the line, please?" NWN: "I'm 'I, Mario', the Mario mod!" SHAEL: "You're perfect! In fact, you're better than perfect! Next to you, perfection is crap!" SS2: "I'm 'I, Mario', the Mario mod! Hi, I'm System Shock 2. You may remember me from such remixes as 'cy-AMP' and 'Glory to the many'." SHEAL: "You're even better than this guy!" (to NWN) "Take a hike, you bum." ------------- I just got new really good headphones as an early Christmas gift, and then downloaded System Shock 2... WOAH!!!! It would be perfect for I, Mario! BUT: Is it modable? If so, is it legal? I don't know anything about the "[Dark] engine", so don't ask me. But if someone here is willing to use that engine, I think we have a winner. Unless of course there is some other free FPS engine that was made for modding purposes. Is there?
Bean	Badda-bing. Badda-boom. Just a quick sketch I did. It's not finished, but I wanted to post it while the topic was still fairly koopa-based. This is what I had in mind for the Koopas.
Kupi	Well, Bean, I've heard of at least one hack for NWN that changes the function of the camera in at least one way; it removes the distance limit on the camera. So you can zoom out as far as you want (and peg anyone you want with a Magic Missle, since it doesn't have a range limit). I know a friend showed me a first-person hack as well, but it wasn't entirely function. Regardless, with some finesse (and a REALLY good programmer; read "not me") we should be able to lower the camera so it's closer to ground-level. As soon as I finish with the Flash project that I'm working on, I'm going to start working on a generic NWN module so I can learn how the scripting language works. That, at least, I should be able to use reliably.
Electronic Samurai	Thanks everyone, for your comments. I don't have much time to post, seeing as it's the Christmas season and all, but know that I still fully support and will continue to contribute if time allows. I'm having some difficulty posting a larger version of the PHANTO, so at the end of this post will be the notes as they read. I didn't realize before how small the picture was, but enlarging it may not help: I have horrible handwriting. Hogulus: Yes, that was the acronym I had thought of. Your post was what inspired the drawing, by the way. Wintermute: THANK GOD. And you also. We've needed more modellers desperately, and these koopa renders look fantastic. There are others that could critique your model better than I, but it looks great to me. I look forwards to seeing more of your stuff. P.S., I love your Illusion of Gaia song. Bean, thanks for your comments. You're right - I drew on various African ritual masks when designing the PHANTOs, and they would work well when hidden in plain sight among many similar masks. Also, the Sun from that one level in SMB3 seems to be a suprisingly popular and memorable villain - could it be a gargantuan PHANTO, perhaps as an end-level boss? I imagine a very large scary-looking sun blasting jets of flame down on our hapless hero as he runs through a quicksand-filled desert would make for a similarly memorable encounter. Kupi, using NWN as a base is a clever idea. I have NWN at home, so I'll look into learning how to program for it. One problem, though - doesn't NWN use an RPGish battle system? Flashing numbers on the screen works fine for RPGs and borderline D&D games, but it would feel out of place in a survival horror. Specter's suggestion of System Shock is also a good one, but regardless of the holiness of the DARK engine, the graphics may look a bit dated. I suppose that the engine we end up using will depend on what sort of programming talent we have. Merry Christmas, all! ************************************************* Ocular sensors (arrow pointing to the eyes) - after the object that the PHANTO is set to guard is disturbed, the PHANTO switches to a combination heat- and motion-seeking sensor. It will follow anything that moves or has a heat signature persistantly. *(Additional note: Because Koopas are reptilian and cold-blooded, these would be commonly unleashed during invasions to chase after toads.) Hydraulic Arms: Part of the system that allows the propulsion system freedom of movement. *(These move the jet into position and move the pre-launch PHANTO to a 45 degree angle, so it can launch off the wall.) Ring - Both decorative and functional - this allows the PHANTO to dock at wall-mounted fuel stations. Fuel Tanks: Provides fuel for 2 minutes of use when full. Spike Strip: When activated, these will 'snap' outwards counterclockwise and begin rotating at 500 RPM. CPU & Motor for spike strip *(The spike strip will have a separate motor from the rest of the PHANTO.) Propusion system: This short-burst jet engine allows the PHANTO to fly. It allows speeds of upwards of 100 MPH but has somewhat limited manouverability. ________________________________________________ 1) PHANTO activated by remote: This can occur any number of ways, often involving a small object such as a key that the PHANTO is meant to guard. Examples include tripwires, pressure plates, or motion sensors. 2) PHANTO determines nearby heat sources, ignoring what it percieves to be torches and lamps. The eyes glow red as the heat-sensing mechanism is activated. 3) PHANTO unfolds propulsion device and fires itself towards its target. As soon as it has cleared the wall, it unfolds its blades. 4) PHANTO continues to chase target until it is disabled / deactivated, out of fuel, or the target is dead. If disabled, it will contact and activate other nearby PHANTO to resume the hunt.

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Author	Message
Specter	Damn. I just deleted another big post. Anyway, I basically said that the Dark engine is legal to mod, and SS2 is legal to download because the developers are now defunct. I also said that Bean's drawing is PERFECT. Really, Bean, you are probably the best concept artist I've ever seen. Also, I'm gonna compile a list of games we might mod, and the pros and cons of the engine/game.
Xerol. No, Really.	Should I start designing some levels? I've just finished with some blueprints for a few buildings in Xerol's Quest so I've got some free design time now.
Bean	Go ahead, with those designs, Xer. I'll see what I can do to help. I dunno... I think the world needs to have a sort of surreal essence to it. Things need to look vaguely familiar to add an edge of strangeness to them. Instead of a single curb, I drew two curbs like stairs going down to the street. It feels right and wrong at the same time. The roof of the building has an odd shape and whatever material it is made of drips rust, or some other type of residue down onto the walls over a long period of time. Also notice that there are no windows. I think that would really give a surreal edge to everything. Besides, don't fungus generally grow in dim areas? The little houses to the side are actually exact copies of buildings found in the bridge stage on Mario Kart: Double Dash (I think it's the last course in the mushroom cup.). In fact, it wouldn't be a bad idea to take a slow cruise around the courses to get an idea of how the MK's cities and rural areas are set up.
Kupi	NWN is entirely capable of being creepy, I think. You've got the ambient noise system and any music you want, plus the aforementioned camera hacks that may allow us to contrict the field of view more than normal. We can try to set up the stats so fights won't turn into endless whack-fests. Also, we can't necessarily do everything we want to so long as we're a mod team rather than professional developers. Every professional game engine is going to have something that doesn't fit into our collective vision of the game. On another note entirely, I had an idea regarding the PHANTO. What if it were programmed to home in an embedded microchip within whatever item it's meant to guard? That would solidify their role as guardians of specific objects rather than people. I see the PHANTO as something meant to guard things that are never supposed to move (like, say, an indestrutable treasure that the Koopas can't use... for example, the Tanooki Suit). When the object they're supposed to guard is in motion, the PHANTO engages its attack mode and flies toward the object. If someone's carrying it, that means they're in deep trouble. But if they let go of it, the Phanto won't attack them. On another "another note", here's a few examples of what we could do with the NWN engine: with the ambient noise system, we could remove the need for a functional, in-game Chain Chomp entirely. In some enclosed, dark area, the ambient noise plays that Chain Chomp's chain rattling. Constantly. And then, suddenly, that giant WOOF WOOF erupts from nowhere. I'm willing to bet that would scare someone without ever taking them into combat. We could implement PHANTOs with the faction system. If you pick up the item they're guarding, they switch to Hostile. If you put the item down, they go back to the Friendly faction (ergo, you can't attack them and they won't attack you). And we can always fall back on the Tanooki Suit casting Stoneskin once a day.
Xerol. No, Really.	I think if we go the NWN route that we should have a massive amount of moderately easy enemies in most situations, rather than a few tough ones. I can just see Mario swinging his pipe wrench and hitting about forty goombas at once, with the 'bodies' flying off into the distance.
Ffej	I'd kill to see Bean draw us a demonic, chained beast of large stature for the Chain Chomp.
Bean	Kupi wrote: On another note entirely, I had an idea regarding the PHANTO. What if it were programmed to home in an embedded microchip within whatever item it's meant to guard? That would solidify their role as guardians of specific objects rather than people. I see the PHANTO as something meant to guard things that are never supposed to move (like, say, an indestrutable treasure that the Koopas can't use... for example, the Tanooki Suit). When the object they're supposed to guard is in motion, the PHANTO engages its attack mode and flies toward the object. If someone's carrying it, that means they're in deep trouble. But if they let go of it, the Phanto won't attack them. That actually makes a lot of sense. In the game, phantos would only chase you after you picked up the key. They would disappear when you dropped it, but return as soon as you picked it back up. Ffej wrote: I'd kill to see Bean draw us a demonic, chained beast of large stature for the Chain Chomp. Unfortunately, the only way I know to make a chain chomp is to have them mechanical, and mechanical things are rarely demonic.... I can try though. Heheheh.
Dark Monkey	Hogulus wrote: Just a little thing about my ideas on what Shyguys and Snifits should be like. I borrowed ideas from several people, like the friendly-then-mean thing and setting themselves on fire, so it's not all my idea and don't give me credit as such. Quote: What was that? Mario thought he saw something out of the corner of his eye as he trudged over the hill. He turned his head... nothing. He shrugged and kept on walking until he heard a footstep. Okay, I know I heard that... Mario turned around. He couldn't see anything. Maybe that was my own footstep, he thought, continuing on. He stopped suddenly to kick a rock out of his way, and felt the thing that had been following him run into his back. He jumped forward and spun around to see what looked like a human in a red robe and white mask. The mask was expressionless, with only pitch-black round holes for eyes and a rectangular hole for its mouth. The mask and the hood of the robes together hid his head; the gloves and boots took care of the rest of the skin that may show. The creature jumped back, unsure of what to do when spotted. Mario drew a wrench from his belt, prepared to take care of this thing that had been following him - This thing wants to kill me, it was stalking me! In reaction to the threatening motion, the Shy One cowered in fear, then stuck out a hand offering a mushroom. Mario felt like smacking the thing's hand away, that mushroom was probably poisoned, but he got a real Super Mushroom from his pack and compared it. It looked and smelled the same as the one the creature was offering. This thing wasn't trying to kill Mario, it wanted to help him for some reason. Mario took the mushroom out of the fearful Shy One's hand, then put his wrench away. It turned its head back from looking away in inticipation of extreme pain, to looking at Mario in a friendly manner. It got up off the ground, nodded, and bowed, then pointed in a direction and made a "come with me" gesture to Mario. This guy must know the way! he thought, following the red-robed thing. He went down the hill and into a small depression with it, then heard gunfire. Wait a minute, who in this whole goddamn world has a gun? And where did that mask guy go? Suddenly, Mario saw a little black orb at his feet. Recognizing it as a Bob-Omb, he leaped backwards and fell to the ground, just before it exploded in a grenade-like blast. Looking up, he saw the masked thing leaning over him, only now it was holding a spear. Mario rolled out of the way, and the spear dug itself into the soft dirt. While the betrayer was trying to get its weapon out of the ground, Mario got up and swung his wrench at it. The Shy One collapsed after two strikes to the skull. Feeling victorious, and now knowing that this is what the Shy Folk the Toads discussed looked like, he took a few steps in his original direction before seeing a spear jab to his right side, grazing his arm. He spun around, and there was another Shy One. Mario grabbed the first weapon he could find, a Fire Flower and his lighter, and set the attacker ablaze with it. The dry robes caught fire quickly, but instead of flailing in pain, the creature jumped for Mario, using its body as a flame weapon. Mario barely dodged before it would have melted his face off with the heat, and soon after this lunge the thing fell to the ground - not from lack of wanting to attack Mario despite the pain, but because its robes had melted and fused with its legs, rendering it immobile. Feeling that he was finally done, Mario walked on until he heard more gunfire, and saw chunks of dirt fly up near his shoes. He turned toward where he could hear the shots coming from - a gray-robed thing that appeared to have a rifle mounted onto its face, crouching behind a rock. The gunner stopped to remove a Bob-Omb from its robes, giving Mario a chance to throw his hammer, the claw side of which went directly through the forehead of its mask. Mario walked over to the dead creature. He pulled at his hammer to get it back, but accidentally pulled the mask with it. The creature's hooded corpse spun around quickly so Mario couldn't get a good look at it, and he thought it might be for the best that he didn't know what these things looked like. He examined the gun-mask - though it was useless now, as not only was it too small but it was apparently triggered by movement of an appendage somewhere on what would be a human's cheek, it would prove useful if he ever got it modified for human hands. He pulled the hammer out from it and continued on his way... This is the perfect way to handle shyguys! I love it! The only thing I'd change is to have the shyguy light himself on fire instead of being lit on fire by Mario.
Shael Riley	As an avid NWN fan, I'd like to dissuade you from using the system. It's great for what it is, but it's just not right for the MK. You don't get that up-close sense of being there; the fights just aren't gritty or realistic OR weird and Mario-esque. It's not a medium capable of expressing the things we want to express.
Dark Monkey	I'd prefer not to make I, Mario into an RPG. As spooky as the atmosphere may be, you just get too detached when you're constantly going into RPG battles. It needs to be more fluid in order to preserve the mood.
Dark Monkey	If we're going to include yoshi, where is Mario going to find him? They're native to Dinosaur Land, right? Maybe as a side quest you could visit a small portion of Dinosaur Land, complete with SMW stuff. Or maybe Mario could rescue him from a circus cage or something. That would be a little cliched though.
Ffej	Yoshis could be another offshoot Koopa species.
Dark Monkey	But yoshis are completely unrelated to koopas, and look nothing like turtles. On an unrelated note, here's somethign I came up with that would make a great little easter egg: In one cutscene, you see Lakitu watching Mario on a moniter through the use of surveillance (sp?) cameras. The image of Mario on the moniter could look just like the original NES SMB game.
Dark Monkey	Since I have no scanner I had to do it in MSPaint. Since Imageshack doesn't take .bmp's I had to make it a .gif, resulting in a little degredation of the picture. This is my drawing of Chuckola Cola, found in Mario and Luigi and Paper Mario 2. As for how it would fit into I, Mario: In Mario and Luigi, Chuckola Cola is alive and must be tamed with jokes. Chuckola Cola could replace alcohol in the Mushroom Kingdom. Since the drink is alive, it has an odd impact on the body similar to alcohol. The energy from it also helps your body repair wounds faster. (Bottles or cans of Chuckola Cola could restore health.)
Specter	Dark Monkey wrote: If we're going to include yoshi, where is Mario going to find him? They're native to Dinosaur Land, right? Maybe as a side quest you could visit a small portion of Dinosaur Land, complete with SMW stuff. Or maybe Mario could rescue him from a circus cage or something. That would be a little cliched though. I said in my little plot/summary thing that the Yoshis were like humans and Goombas, and that they are from a different universe/world. Since nobody is commenting on my plot, I will now post it here: Quote: · The “fractured gravity” concept got me thinking about a lot of stuff. For instance, there was one compliant that said if the Koopas used a gravity bomb to blow up the laws of physics, how come the Koopas still don’t have that technology. Well here’s my explanation (this will have a lot of plot ideas in it): The Koopas were not the ones who used the gravity bomb, it was the Toads. The gravity bomb also screwed with the Koopas’ genetics, causing mutations such as parakoopas and bowsers. Since the end of the war (and the Koopas’ defeat), the Toads have been keeping the Koopas down, generally treating them as inferior. One of the Koopas (Lakitu), managed to escape the Toad’s rule and learn about the highly advanced technology that was being kept from the Koopas. Now, aside from messed up gravity, the mega-bomb did a whole lot of other crazy stuff, including causing rips in the space-time continuum. Long story short, time in the MK moves about 10 times the speed of the rest of the universes (plural). Also, the rips caused portals to open up to these other universes, such as the world where Yoshi came from, the world of the Goombas, and Earth (there are more, but those are the important ones). This whole thing occurred about 1 and ½ years ago by Earth standards and 15 years by the MK. Since then, there have been mysterious disappearances from places on Earth. One EY (Earth year) ago, the Toads figured out how to control the portals and search the worlds they led to. This stopped most of the accidental entrances of the other worlds. Unfortunately, some of the portals are still undiscovered, so entrances still happen from time to time. The Toads monitored the other worlds the portals led to, and discovered that Earth was the only other world with sentient life. Not only that, but they discovered that humans had not managed to blow ourselves to quite a scale the Toads did, even though we had millions of nuclear bombs. The Toads were impressed by this, and decided to find some of the humans that had entered the MK accidentally. They found one, and interrogated him to find information. After the questioning, the human was released, and disappeared. Around that time, two major things happened: Toad scientists figured out how to speed up small sections of time in the other universes, and the Mushroom King died of age. Because the king had no children, the Toads decided to find a person of royalty from Earth. Unfortunately, the first conversation that the Toads managed to record was a section of conversation between Pauline and her father. Her father calls Pauline “my princess,” and naturally, the Toads assume Pauline’s father is the king of Earth, and that Pauline is his daughter, and the princess. The Toads use a prototype transporter in order to teleport Pauline to the MK, accidentally wiping her memory in the process. Back on earth, she is missing assumed dead. At the time the Mushroom King died, the whole MK heard about it, especially Bowser, who was tired of the Toad oppression, and wanted a change of roles. He prepared for a rebellion, and aided by Lakitu, designed a plan to take over the lawless MK. However, just as he was about to start his first assault, the new ruler of the MK was announced, Princess Peach. Not expecting this, Bowser delayed his plans and waited to see what this new ruler would do. Peach forbid the use of anything above earth technology, saying that it cased the Toads to be mean to the Koopas. Bowser was happy about this revelation, and, even though his people were still being oppressed by the Toads a bit, decided to call off the revolution. Lakitu, on the other hand, got pissed at that, and spent the next ten (MK) years in his lab developing his own plan to take over the MK. He convinced Bowser to help him, and called for another revolution. At the same time Lakitu was planning his revolution, Pauline’s advisors decided that she should marry and have children, in order to secure her future as ruler of the MK. Once again, the Toads searched earth, and found Pauline’s father speaking at a memorial service for her on the one-year anniversary. Mario is their and gets up to speak, and talks about how Pauline and him were about to be wed, and so the Toads decide to have him marry Pauline like he was going to. Using a newer version of the transporter, they attempt to bring Mario to the palace. However, Pauline is discovered walking towards the room with the outlawed technology, so the Toads have to do the job hastily, accidentally bringing Luigi along with Mario. Also due to the hastiness of the teleport, Mario and Luigi get separated, with Mario getting stuck in transit. Luigi ends up near the palace just as Lakitu decides to start the revolution. Luigi escapes and wanders the land for one year (MK time) before he sees Mario pop into normal space, finally free from the teleporter. The rest picks off with Straz’s writings.

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Author	Message
Dark Monkey	Specter, I read your summary there and I like it! (Use paragraphs next time though. That wall of text raped my eyes) My only problem with it is that you made Bowser too reasonable. What kind of villian just calls off his conquest? Everything else is great thouigh. I especially like the portal idea. For some reason, they could always form inside warp pipes. Or maybe the toads just built the pipes around the portals to contain them. I have an idea about Luigi. Maybe throughout the game you and Mario think that that is the real Luigi, but it turns out that it was a Magikoopa disguising itself through magic? It's kind of lame, but I really want to see magikoopas in there somewhere. Especially Kamek.
Ffej	Kamek, a crazed sorcerer who serves as King Bowser's right-hand man. Simple way to add 'em.
friendlyHunter	I think that quantum physics and the parallel universes theory should be used to explain everything unexplainable in I, Mario. Yes, the parallel universes theroy IS actually the best theory the scientific community currenty has to explain certain phenomena. I do like parts of Specter's idea, but I think it should be scaled down a bit. Only rarely are the affects of the "gravity bomb" experienced, maybe only in deep underground pipes or a Toad laboratory. Things like Yoshi and the Koopa's technology can be easily explained by things other than extreme physiscs: Dinosaur island is simply a place with lots of large reptiles, no less explainable than crocodiles and komodo dragons. And the koopas simply don't have the need for bows&arrows to invent them, they can throw pointed rocks with just as much deadlyness. An interesting physics thing to consider: A laser is made out of many photons, moving at the speed of light. If it the light passes through TWO slits very close together, the photons SPLIT UP and bend, forming a stripey pattern on the next surface it hits. The pattern is created because more photons ALWAYS land on certain areas, and less on areas between them. If you send a laser made of ONE photon through, it should technically only go through ONE SLOT. However, it actually makes the same pattern as many photons, apparently SPLITTING UP THE ONE PHOTON into several to go through TWO SLOTS and make an IDENTICAL pattern. It is theorized that the extra photons come from A PARALLEL UNIVERSE =O!!! Even stranger, if someone tries to DETECT the laser as it goes through, it somehow changes back to normal and goes through only ONE HOLE. The parallel universe photons could actually come from universes where the experimenter DECIDES to detect the laser. I learned this almost a year ago, so I'm not sure I remeber it 100%, so don't quote me on it =P This could be somehow incorperated with the boos, so if anyone looks at them, they physically cannot move. Quantum physics could also explain anything really weird that magikoopas do (if we even include magikoopas). Want to read more crazy interesting stuff? (probably not!): http://higgo.com/quantum/laymans.htm
Specter	Dark Monkey wrote: Specter, I read your summary there and I like it! (Use paragraphs next time though. That wall of text raped my eyes) My only problem with it is that you made Bowser too reasonable. What kind of villian just calls off his conquest? Everything else is great thouigh. I especially like the portal idea. For some reason, they could always form inside warp pipes. Or maybe the toads just built the pipes around the portals to contain them. Yeah, sorry about the no paragraphs thing. I coppied it directly from my type-up, which I never hd time to paragraph. I like the idea of the Toads using the pipes as the way that they contain the portals. And for the above post: What can't quantum physics do? Seriously though, I was debating wheter or not to make Yoshi from another universe or not, and seeng as it would be simpler to just give them their own island, I'll scratch the "other universe" origin.
ghuH Daq Hegh	just thought i'd throw some ideas out there... I like the specter's plot, just thought i'd tweek it and add on. so, bowser and lakitu start this revolution. The (whatever type of government the toads have) find out about this, so in order to stop it they make pauline (or whatever) their "puppet leader" to satisfy the koopas by passing laws to give them more freedom and make them equals. Bowser instantly falls in love with the new princess, therefore stopping the revolution. Lakuti, however is still pissed and continues this revolution without bowser knowing. So like specter said, they bring mario to mary peach to eliminate confusion over the next ruler of MK, bringing along Luigi. This pisses off Bowser, so he hires a hit man (who long ago accidently transported to MK) by the name of Wario to kill Mario (only mario) for a hefty fee. I think Wario should be a really big bastard, SO.... He sneaks into the palace and lightly poisons the food for the big dinner party (the party to celebrate mario's coming), and while everyone is passed out, he snags the palaces treasure, Princess, and on accident, Luigi (instead of Mario). Armed to the teeth with bombs, and being the ruthless bastard he is, destroys the castle killing lots of the toads and guests inside. Bowser gets news of this the next day, and is REALLY pissed off. Wario does not return to him. Wario, from a secluded location sells the princess to the highest bidder. Haven taken away the Toads valuables, they don't have a chance. The highest bidder ends up to be Lakitu. Bowser is happy with this at first until he finds out that Lakitu is planning on killing her and Luigi. Bowser, more pissed off than ever, assembles an army of Shy Guys by convincing them that they will be more powerful than the koopas and more respected than the toads. Because they are so mistreated by all races, they are easily swayed. They rape Lakitu's fortress using the element of suprise. Lakitu, being more of a brain, not a warior flees, leaving Bowser in control of The Koopas, abandoning the shy guys. Because of their low self esteem, they don't struggle to go back to living the way they were. Bowser, who is now an angry maniac, greedy with power keeps the princess in his posession. During this time Mario, one of the only survivors of the party, gets depressed because he figures his brother and the princess are dead, and leaves the MK to do a bunch of spiritual crap, findind himself and other nonsense. I don't know what would come next, maybe mario meets a shy guy or encounters a star spirit that convince him to go back to MK. Or finds Wario's hideout, and gets pissed off and beats the crap out of him (good first level )and decides to go back to MK. When he does, he finds that another war had broken out between koopas and the toads. Somethin like that. Anywho, I just wanted Wario included in this cuz he kicks ass.
NeoS	I think the Wario idea would feel a bit weird. Why would Bowser get an assasin from another world when he is a badass MF as Bean has drawn him? It doesn't make sense. He could be in the game though. As a Parallel-universe effect thing... Like Mario walks into a weird hallway filled with mirrors manipulated by magikoopa or something like that. Then suddenly he gets whacked by something (which is Wario). That would be a cool Boss fight! Maybe he got his name from Luigi, as Luigi saw him once before. "Weird looking Mario - Wario." About Yoshi: I think Mario could meet him when he moved through a pipe and came out on an extremely weird island. Then he gets the confrontation as i described earlier in this topic.
friendlyHunter	I had an idea for Wario earlier, so I might as well tell it now: He's a gangster from earth, who got sucked into MK just like the other character. His name isn't actually Wario, he should have some really gritty gangster nickname (maybe "Wart" because of his big ugly nose, and an added SMB2 reference?). Anyway, he ended up in a place far from where Mario was, and word of the toad's savior "Mario" was only starting to reach the land. However, the name "Mario" was lost in the translation over distant lands. Wario snuck around and heard rumors about this benevolent "Mario", and found/made a pair of purple overalls, a bright yellow shirt (or is it the other way around?), and a hat with a W on it. Wario's plan was finally complete, so he strutted into the town, saying "It's a me, Wario!". The toads looked at him: brightly coloured overalls, shirt, and hat, big black moustache, stout physique, Italian accent... It MUST be Wario/Mario, or so they thought... So, claiming he had already defeated Bowser, he forced the toads to build him a huge castle and give him lots of riches. Over time, the toads became poor and weak and moved away, so Wario hired other minions to do his work. The land, now called "Wario/Mario Land" (maybe the toads in that area don't have a letter M so they use W instead?), was run by all kinds of greedy creatures, and had become a gangster's paradise. To fit this into I,Mario, there could be a makeshift town of toads who were driven from Warioland. Thinking he's Wario, they try to kill him and steal all his money and tools. Later, Mario would learn the truth about Warioland, and he swears to get revenge on Wario after he's finished with Bowser.
Straziante	No Wario, sorry. That's getting a little too complicated as far as the original story is concerned. Bringing in other enemies from other games is good as filler, but Wario is a step way-too-far.
ghuH Daq Hegh	ACTUALLY...i agree.
Straziante	I know it's a LONG thread, but some people need to go back and read some very key posts about what we are trying to do here. This is a remake of Super Mario Brothers. Period. There's no number or subtitle. Outside elements are being added as filler, not as storyline drive. Although I think the Wario idea is interesting, it doesn't fit. And since I'm the primary writer at the moment, I don't really have room in my outline for anything else. We're facing a daunting task as it is, and this would only make things harder to complete.
Xerol. No, Really.	Well, we can put the later titles off for now, but if this is successful there's always sequels.
Straziante	Xerol wrote: Well, we can put the later titles off for now, but if this is successful there's always sequels. Exactly. I would like to see this succeed in every possible aspect, especially pissing off the faNboys.
Xerol. No, Really.	So, any of the other people with NWN want to get started on something? I'll be on #ocremix most of the night, if you wanna meet up there and then we can go to another channel or something. Someone said something about a utility to convert 3d models?
ghuH Daq Hegh	Is there any place where i can find what is EXACTLY happening? I read through the first 20 pages a long time ago about shy-guys, hammer bros., lakitu, ect. and I read through recent posts, but i don't know what the FINAL decisions are on the ideas.
Straziante	There really haven't been any finalizations that I'm aware of. Then again, I'm in and out.

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Author	Message
Dark Monkey	I think it's been decided that we're not going with NWN. Shael himself said it. About Wario, I'd have to agree that we should leave him out. We have enough stuff to form a nice plto without Wario complicating things. I'd like to get some comments on my Chuckola Cola and my lakitu watching Mario on a security cam idea.
Straziante	The Chuckola Cola can be worked in to a certain extent. I have a lot on my plate with character development, so it'll be up to the gameplay developers. The security camera just doesn't work for an open enviroment. Perhaps Bowser's castle could utilize this somehow.
Xerol. No, Really.	Well, he said it can't get the feeling we're going for, and yet other people have said it can. I'd say at least keep exploring it, since a bunch of us already have it.
ghuH Daq Hegh	I'm confused on how getting drunk on this stuff would restore health, but the idea of it existing is pretty neat. I don't know if I missed something and if it's SUPPOSED to, but it looks a lot like the potion bottles from SMB 2 from the pic you put up
Dark Monkey	Well, Chuckola Cola's health regeneration idea is similar to the way alcohol is said to keep you warm. You don't have to get drunk on it to feel its effects. The livliness of the drink would give your body the extra energy to heal yourself. Now that you mention it, it is similar to the potion bottles in SMB2. I actually based it on what the Chuckola Cola boss from M&L would look in bottle form.
Straziante	Well, I want to stay truer to the original SMB than anything else. As much as I love Superstar Saga, I'd probably leave the role of Chuckola Cola to being a basic healing item. The rival Kerokero Cola could be more/less potent/expensive in certain areas of the MK.
Mr. 1-Up	Dark Monkey wrote: Well, Chuckola Cola's health regeneration idea is similar to the way alcohol is said to keep you warm. You don't have to get drunk on it to feel its effects. The livliness of the drink would give your body the extra energy to heal yourself. Now that you mention it, it is similar to the potion bottles in SMB2. I actually based it on what the Chuckola Cola boss from M&L would look in bottle form. Think of a Coca-Cola bottle, replace with Chuckola logo, and there it is.
ghuH Daq Hegh	I know you said you didn't have much final decisions, but did you decide on the game type? I remember someone mentioning RPGs but then I remember someone disagreeing.
Dark Monkey	I love the idea of Kerokero Cola being a competitor. There could be advertisements for them in parts the city areas.
Straziante	Dark Monkey wrote: I love the idea of Kerokero Cola being a competitor. There could be advertisements for them in parts the city areas. And billboards would provide space for graffiti. This would also leave room for a sidequest dealing with discounts and such if you chose to use one brand over the other over the course of the game. But that is left for a finishing touch.
Dark Monkey	Straziante Synthesized, is that Flonne from Disgaea in your sig?
Straziante	It sure is. I'm about as retarded and ditzy as she is, so I figured it suited the sig.
Dark Monkey	To whoever asked: We haven't really decided what genre it will be yet. I'm pretty sure it won't be an RPG though. If Shael, the founder of this project, says no, it's not going to happen. I think as of now the most popular choice is an FPS. In my opinion a "Sanitarium" (Anyone played that? great game) style adventure game would work too.
Straziante	A 3rd person, possibly isometric, view, would suit this game the best, I think. It's really the only way to experience melee fighting.
Dark Monkey	You know, a third person isometric view describes Sanitarium to a tee. Sanitarium's fighting was severly lacking, but you only fought about 3 times in the whole game anyway. I can see how it could have some good melee with that view. Nothing like Eternal Darkness's fighting though. It was tough to control right and kinda boring.

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Author	Message
Straziante	I totally wish we could mod Kya: Dark Lineage for this. That game was so fun.
Dark Monkey	I haven't played that. If it's for console I might have to rent it sometime.
Straziante	You can buy it for like $10 if you can find it. It's the best 3D platformer under the radar.
Dark Monkey	So, what's the plan for sidequests? Are we gonna have any? A few? A lot? There are a gigantic amount of things we could cover in sidequests, from Wart to yoshi to the Koopa Kids. And what rewards would they give? Weapons? Money?
Straziante	I'd say yes, but nothing annoying or hard. That's a big turnoff for me: sidequests that take effort.
drolkrad	Maybe Mario shouldn't be a fat plumber. Maybe he should just be a average or athletic looking guy. But then again that would be changing "MARIO" completely.
Dark Monkey	I'd have to agree about having only good sidequests. No "Mario! I need you to deliver this purse to Betsy in acre A1 600 miles away!". Also, I'd like any sidequests to have a worthwile reward. Nobody wants to spend time doing a long sidequest to get a new polka-dotted hat!
Straziante	No, Mario's going to be a bit thin and built, due to his lifestyle. He's still going to be a bit on the short side.
drolkrad	So what's the "story" I really don't feel like reading 50 pages to get the story, plot, etc.
Straziante	The story that has been written so far can be found in the scripts I've written. Someone else can give you the addy, cos I'm super tired.
friendlyHunter	I think side quests don't need to be any more obvious or difficult to make than in System Shock 2. "What side quests?" you may ask - There actually aren't any real SQs in that game, they're basically like this: 'I learned a new hack skill, so now I'm going to go back to that place and hack into that crate, and go buy some ammo on the way'. And then you get there, and there's different enemies there than there were before, presenting a new challenge. Mario will make his own sidequests based on his current situation, I don't think we need any toads telling him what to do.
Straziante	http://groups.yahoo.com/group/downthepipe/ You have to subscribe to the group to enter.
Specter	ghuH Daq Hegh wrote: I know you said you didn't have much final decisions, but did you decide on the game type? I remember someone mentioning RPGs but then I remember someone disagreeing. It's going to be a survival-horror game. period. Maybe it will have some other elements in it, but the core of the game will be s-h. And if you don't want to read through 50 pages of plot (drolkrad), I have a post that pretty much explains it. It's on page 53 or something. Read from then on and you'll get my plot, and all the suggestions, FREE! Also, if you sign up now, you'll get a limited edition Instruction Booklet (if i feel like giving it to you). All this for just 2(000) easy payments of $00.01. IT'S CHEAP AS FREE! Seriously though, just go to page 51, download my "I, Mario Gameplay Suggestions," read it, and the following posts, and you'll pretty much have it.
Straziante	Or you can wait 6 months and see what I morph this shit into when I finish the scripts.
Shael Riley	Straziante Synthesized wrote: No, Mario's going to be a bit thin and built, due to his lifestyle. He's still going to be a bit on the short side. Mario HAS to be fat. I put my virtual foot down.

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Author	Message
Shael Riley	Straziante Synthesized wrote: No, Mario's going to be a bit thin and built, due to his lifestyle. He's still going to be a bit on the short side. Mario HAS to be fat. I put my virtual foot down.
Straziante	Mario being fat is dumb though. Fat guys never last in the wilderness. Look at the fat guy from "Deliverance." He got raped in the ass and had to rely on the skinny guys to rescue him.
Nobinsor	If a fat guy works and drinks a lot, he can usually hit REALLY hard. That's all I'm going to say...
Straziante	I say Mario should be skinny when he awakens in the MK. He had been asleep for 6 years, according to my script. That is, if that script is final.
finalhazard	Fat people are rarely, if ever, badass. He should be more burnt-out druggie than fat-plumber guy.
Straziante	finalhazard wrote: Fat people are rarely, if ever, badass. He should be more burnt-out druggie than fat-plumber guy. My sentiments, but not exactly. I don't think he should be too burned out until his dependence worsens towards the climax.
Ganemi	I need to pay more attention to this thread, since I'd like to actually help make this game. : ]
Straziante	Ganemi wrote: I need to pay more attention to this thread, since I'd like to actually help make this game. : ] There's the Ganemi I love and adore! <3
Bean	He's neither fat nor skinny. Fat is too broad a word. I'm thinking... husky. He's gotta have a little muscle too. As for the sleeping thing, I was thinking it was sort of a slow fading in to the MK. As if he was somehow stuck between the two worlds for a period of time: in both worlds, yet in neither. It would easily explain how he keeps the same aspects of himself (Weight, hair length, etc.) over that period of time. Besides, the MK, as we have painted it, is a fairly hostile world. Anything could just go kill Mario in his sleep while Luigi is off roaming the land. That wouldn't be possible were Mario not physically there.
Straziante	He's not physically there while he's sleeping. Trust me, I'm going to get to that once the script gets there.
Bobo_XIII	I don't post here at all, but during the last few days this thread has really captured my attention... ... and I just wanted to say that Bean's renditions really capture the mood that you guys are trying to set. I'll probably be lurking in the background unless I have something to say (which is highly unlikely as you guys have really been putting out some fuckin awesome ideas). Anyway, kudos again for your mood-setting sketches Bean. I really hope the project turns out the way you're seeing things, because in all honesty, I haven't ever felt a desire for something for so long. I was consumed in the world of Super Mario for a lot of my childhood, and a different look on Shigeru's universe is really gettin my blood pumping.
Straziante	Bobo_XIII wrote: I don't post here at all, but during the last few days this thread has really captured my attention... ... and I just wanted to say that Bean's renditions really capture the mood that you guys are trying to set. I'll probably be lurking in the background unless I have something to say (which is highly unlikely as you guys have really been putting out some fuckin awesome ideas). Anyway, kudos again for your mood-setting sketches Bean. I really hope the project turns out the way you're seeing things, because in all honesty, I haven't ever felt a desire for something for so long. I was consumed in the world of Super Mario for a lot of my childhood, and a different look on Shigeru's universe is really gettin my blood pumping. That's totally wicked that we got your first post! Thanks for your interest. Bean's talent, along with a few others, continues to blow my mind.
Bean	Straziante wrote: He's not physically there while he's sleeping. Trust me, I'm going to get to that once the script gets there. That's good to hear. The idea of a Rip Van Mario kept running through my mind. Bobo_XIII wrote: I don't post here at all, but during the last few days this thread has really captured my attention... ... and I just wanted to say that Bean's renditions really capture the mood that you guys are trying to set. I'll probably be lurking in the background unless I have something to say (which is highly unlikely as you guys have really been putting out some fuckin awesome ideas). Anyway, kudos again for your mood-setting sketches Bean. I really hope the project turns out the way you're seeing things, because in all honesty, I haven't ever felt a desire for something for so long. I was consumed in the world of Super Mario for a lot of my childhood, and a different look on Shigeru's universe is really gettin my blood pumping. Thanks so much for your support. I really, REALLY appreciate it.
Straziante	Yeah, Van Winkle is totally NOT what I'm going for. Actually, I'm planning on having Mario NOT missing the 6 years at all. It's all in Luigi's mindfuck. Mario can't help but to believe that he actually was asleep, since Luigi told him.
Shael Riley	Straziante Synthesized wrote: I say Mario should be skinny when he awakens in the MK. He had been asleep for 6 years, according to my script. That is, if that script is final. WHOAA-HO! That is an enormous and unnecesarry deviation from the original plot. Remember, we're trying to re-interpret the original in a more realistic paradigmn, not reinvent it entirely. We have to ask, how does Mario having been asleep for 6 years serve of our purpouses? What does it contribute? Is it congruent with our core ideas? Does it convolude or detract from the plot of the original? If so, do the benefits inherent outweigh that convolution or detraction? In my analysis, they don't. But hey, go ahead with it if everyone who's actually putting in the work likes the idea. I'll still be thrilled with the finished product.

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Author	Message
Kupi	Also, how exactly would Mario survive being unconscious for six years? No matter how screwed up the physics may be in the Mushroom Kingdom, Mario's still built human, and there's just no way for someone to sleep for six years without it transitioning into a more permanent form of sleep.
Straziante	Straziante Synthesized wrote: Yeah, Van Winkle is totally NOT what I'm going for. Actually, I'm planning on having Mario NOT missing the 6 years at all. It's all in Luigi's mindfuck. Mario can't help but to believe that he actually was asleep, since Luigi told him. He's actually not going to be unconscious, as stated above. I just really don't want Mario to be fat. Husky, yes. Fat, no. With all that jumping and crap, he won't be able to perform if he's fat. And a hot girl like Pauline wouldn't dig a fat dude. It IS the 80's, you know.
friendlyHunter	I think Bean's picture of Mario last page has a good amount of fatness. Maybe a bit more would be good, but not less. BTW I just watched The Manchurian Candidate, and I'm thinking keeping the crazy Luigi/sleeping/memory-loss plot thing would work really well for suspense purposes. The entire time Mario's there, he questions what really happened, and what's with Luigi, and you only find little clues of what REALLY happened...
Straziante	friendlyHunter wrote: I think Bean's picture of Mario last page has a good amount of fatness. Maybe a bit more would be good, but not less. BTW I just watched The Manchurian Candidate, and I'm thinking keeping the crazy Luigi/sleeping/memory-loss plot thing would work really well for suspense purposes. The entire time Mario's there, he questions what really happened, and what's with Luigi, and you only find little clues of what REALLY happened... My inspiration was the older version.
Bean	I think the idea of Mario being out of the picture for that long was to give Luigi much needed time to learn the layout of the land. As we've got it so far, Luigi seems to know what he's talking about. I mean, he's your support after all. He's basically gonna be giving the player the tutorial. The only other way I can think of Luigi knowing more about the MK is if he knew about it before Mario was taken and had visited it before. Either way, it kinda veers from the original, but I really like the idea of Luigi giving you pointers throughout the game. I've never seen Mario as an obese person. Remember, he used to be a carpenter. A gut, yes. Unable to see his feet, no. I also wanted to say that I really like Specter's proposition for getting the characters in the Mushroom Kingdom. I think having a period of time between Pauline's "death" and Mario's appearance in the MK would give Mario's character much more depth. It let's his depression fester; it shows how far he's fallen. He doesn't have to be "on top" in the beginning, but showing a slight downfall might be a good way of making him a sympathetic character. It also makes his mission to save Pauline a personal one. A lot of people wanted him to be a sort of anti-hero and this would work well. He doesn't care about the MK. He doesn't care if Bowser kills everyone. He wants what was taken from him, and he'll go to the greatest of lengths to get her back.
Straziante	I was planning on having Mario not know that Pauline was still alive until later. His main drive was getting out of the MK so he can try to find her in NY. He's being used by the MK as they hold a way out over his head. But I dunno. I'll have to consider some of these other ideas.
Tai_Zidek	Bean wrote: Ffej wrote: I'd kill to see Bean draw us a demonic, chained beast of large stature for the Chain Chomp. Unfortunately, the only way I know to make a chain chomp is to have them mechanical, and mechanical things are rarely demonic.... I can try though. Heheheh. I had made a post waaaaaay back in the begining about a chained beast for the Chain Chomp. I see them as those 2 legged dog lookin things from the first doom. But they have the chains linked into the skin behind the head.
Bean	Straziante Synthesized wrote: I was planning on having Mario not know that Pauline was still alive until later. His main drive was getting out of the MK so he can try to find her in NY. He's being used by the MK as they hold a way out over his head. But I dunno. I'll have to consider some of these other ideas. Actually, with a bit of reworking, I think you could incorporate what I just wrote into what you had planned. Mario "knows" Pauline is dead so really his motivation at that point is simply to get out and back to his crummy old life. So then the mushroom people tell him that they can get him out, but he has to save the princess. He goes through several horrifying adventures to get there. At this point Mario is about to give up until Luigi comes in and gives Mario a little piece of information. Luigi wouldn't just blurt it out though. He'd hide it somehow. As Mario thinks about what Luigi said, he might pick up on what he was trying to say. Mario's vigor slowly becomes restored as he presses on in hopes that she may actually be alive. Later, Mario may question Luigi directly to which he'd answer, "They never found the body... did they Mario?" Blah, blah, blah, etc, etc. Not sure if that really fits into the character's personalities you've set up, but I'm sure it's possible to tweak my little overview above. Tai_Zidek wrote: I had made a post waaaaaay back in the begining about a chained beast for the Chain Chomp. I see them as those 2 legged dog lookin things from the first doom. But they have the chains linked into the skin behind the head. I'll see if I can come up with a living and a mechanical version.
Straziante	Bean wrote: Straziante Synthesized wrote: I was planning on having Mario not know that Pauline was still alive until later. His main drive was getting out of the MK so he can try to find her in NY. He's being used by the MK as they hold a way out over his head. But I dunno. I'll have to consider some of these other ideas. Actually, with a bit of reworking, I think you could incorporate what I just wrote into what you had planned. Mario "knows" Pauline is dead so really his motivation at that point is simply to get out and back to his crummy old life. So then the mushroom people tell him that they can get him out, but he has to save the princess. He goes through several horrifying adventures to get there. At this point Mario is about to give up until Luigi comes in and gives Mario a little piece of information. Luigi wouldn't just blurt it out though. He'd hide it somehow. As Mario thinks about what Luigi said, he might pick up on what he was trying to say. Mario's vigor slowly becomes restored as he presses on in hopes that she may actually be alive. Later, Mario may question Luigi directly to which he'd answer, "They never found the body... did they Mario?" Blah, blah, blah, etc, etc. Not sure if that really fits into the character's personalities you've set up, but I'm sure it's possible to tweak my little overview above. That works.
Bean	I figure it's gotta be done sooner or later... Presenting the very first I, Mario height reference chart. Sorry about the huge size. I only included a few of the images from the Yahoo Group, but as you can see, I've labeled it version 1 so there's plenty of room for improvement. Speaking of which, if anyone has any qualms with the sizes I've made, please let me know and I'll see about fixing them.
NeoS	HOLY CRAP! How cool Bean! Love that chart already. It would be cool if Mario could actually "ride" Yoshi when cruising thru MK. It would be a great sidekick and ally IF Yoshi comes in the picture though... Besides if Bean could create a real "bad-MF" Yoshi it would really kick ass! Anyway, i like the "Let's get outta here, hey, Pauline still lives" idea. Definitely what i expect from these great minds. But what we're losing track of is the global story. You need some guidelines and keep the story that way. What would be nice is Mario having flashbacks of his days in NY but he can't seem to remember how he ended up in MK. And some flashbacks show him arguing with Luigi again about rent (he rents his apartment from Luigi) and being treated as dirt. Maybe there could be a flashback of Mario being really depressed about losing Pauline he tries to commit suicide by taking an overdose sleeping pills. As he almost falls asleep, things getting blurry, some weird looking person/creature walks up to him... Black screen. The creature could be a mushroom person who was sent to take him to MK to save the princess, but gets tracked by the FBI (or whatever instance) after throwing Mario in a pipe-warp (still unconscious or even in a comatose state)and being hunted down and killed for research. Would make a cool ending too, Mario comes back in NY and remembers nothing. Then he sees a newspaper with Headline: "Mushroom-like Alien found, Friend or Foe?" with a blurry photo. That makes him remember some quick flashes of MK in a real movie effect. [Then camera zoom in on his terrified face (realising he went through hell)"Holy sh*t... It was real..."] Or you could just let Mario being dumb enough to flush his own ass through his own toilet and getting in MK that way...
Bean	NeoS wrote: Besides if Bean could create a real "bad-MF" Yoshi it would really kick ass! Too late. I already designed one. Sharp teeth, powerful legs, and clawed toes. They're omnivores, however, they prefer fruits and nuts to meats. That's not to say they won't eat animals. They move in large herds from one fertile area to another seeking out food. The sack under it's neck there is actually holding an egg. The sack is normally flush with the neck, but stretches to allow things to be stored inside. Food for newborn yoshi and eggs are common items carried in the pouch. They are very fast, and can leap very high.
NeoS	Hmmm, guess i missed your post introducing Yoshi. It's pretty cool tho.
Bean	Thanks. Yeah, it was quite a while back... before the Lakitu design I believe. Anyway, he's probably not the "bad-MF" you had in mind. I drew him in a much more subdued manner. I didn't want him to look too aggressive. I should do another drawing showing their more aggressive side. They can seriously kick some ass, but they prefer to be left alone. I just can't see a yoshi going around picking fights with everything. I do imagine them very smart though. They can communicate, but it's very limited. Basically like the 'raptors from Jurassic Park.
NeoS	I like that idea! I think it should attack everything that could be a threat to it's eggs. It would be great to see a aggressive version of Yoshi. And knowing your mad drawing skills, it will be.

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Johnnycrulez	Instead of actually let it end, Mario could be having flashes throughout the entire game. In the flashes he sees a cartoony version of the world he is in, and in the end he is left completely insane in the pixel world he has created for himself.
Johnnycrulez	Say he is fighting his first goomba, he has a second or two flash where it is pixels, and you see the original Mario fighting a goomba. As he keeps going, the flashes keep getting longer and more frequent, until finally he gets lost in the pixels.
Dark Monkey	I like the pixel flash idea. I was hoping we could use the original NES graphics for some kind of twist at the end. Bean, I like your chart a lot! The only thing I'd change is to make the shyguys a little shorter. They're about 3/4ths the size of toads in the games I think.
friendlyHunter	Quote: Bean, I like your chart a lot! The only thing I'd change is to make the shyguys a little shorter. They're about 3/4ths the size of toads in the games I think. I agree. Also, that Bowser is just HUGE! I'm not sure if that's good or bad, but it would make an awsome ending. "C'mon, Mario, almost there, Boswer can't be that tough, he's just one koopa. I've killed hundreds of them - just one more, just one more, just- HOLY %$&# %!$&@!!!!" (runs in a corner and scarfs down all his starmen) At first I didn't like the pixilation idea, but here's how it could work: Mario has a flashback, where he's playing some arcade game. Maybe Pacman, maybe DK(??), or maybe some other game we just invented. Luigi walks into the room and watches him, arms crossed, leaning in so far he's obsrcucting the screen. Luigi - "tsk tsk... wasting away so much of our money, just for a little game. Just a pointless little adventure contained in a little box. You're not gonna be a hero by getting your name in the high scores. Such a waste. Just a pointless-" Mario - "Goddamnit Luigi fuck off!!!" The screen flashes 'game over', and the 'continue?' screen appears. Luigi - "Going to continue throwing away our money like that, brother? C'mon, we've got work to do" Mario - "OUR money? I EARNED this! Can't I just play a freaking GAME? Luigi - "Whatever you want, Alice." Mario turns around to say something, but Luigi is gone.
Straziante	Luigi doesn't start weirding out until he's in the MK. Also, Mario's not much of a big spender unless it's going towards his drug habit, Camaro, or Pauline. Video games might or might not work. What the hell, I'll see what I can do. The pixel flash would really kill the survival horror aspect. Maybe a pixelated version of each staff member during the credits would be a fitting tribute. That's the last thing we can worry about.
Citris	I don't see how Mario's body type is such a confusing deal. Haven't you guys seen power lifters? Those guys are fat, but they are crazy strong. And for the Brooklyn girl being attracted to a fatty, he's super strong and he-men turn her on.
friendlyHunter	Quote: Luigi doesn't start weirding out until he's in the MK. Also, Mario's not much of a big spender unless it's going towards his drug habit, Camaro, or Pauline. Video games might or might not work. What the hell, I'll see what I can do. The pixel flash would really kill the survival horror aspect. Maybe a pixelated version of each staff member during the credits would be a fitting tribute. That's the last thing we can worry about. Yeah, I agree. I really like the pixilated credits idea too.
Dark Monkey	I think that if it were pulled off well, the original SMB graphics could be used in a really creepy way. It has this great Twilight Zonesque vibe in my head I'm having trouble articulating. It wouldn't be something lame like "lol turned out it was all just a videogame!" or "oh snap I've been zapped into a game!" or even "lol hay guys I'm going pixel!" If anyone here is a fan of the original Twilight Zone, remember the feeling invoked by some of the twist endings? I really think we could use the pixels to somehow cause that feeling.
Straziante	We'll just have to see where this ends up. When we get somewhere and say "hey, pixels work" then we'll try it.
Straziante	Funny, we're being mentioned on other forums now. If you're responsible for this, see if you can recruit some programming people that can help.
SoloGamer87	Totally Straziante! wrote: Funny, we're being mentioned on other forums now. If you're responsible for this, see if you can recruit some programming people that can help. Don't know what forums you're referring to, but I've been mentioning this over at the Game Informer forums. I posted some pics of Bowser, Shyguy, Mario, Boo, Kuribo's shoe, and Hammer Bros. concept art (hope you guys don't mind) and they seemed impressed (especially with Bowser). I already mentioned over there that people with programming experience are wanted.
Specter	Hmmm... I've been gone for a while. Anyhoo: Bean wrote: I think the idea of Mario being out of the picture for that long was to give Luigi much needed time to learn the layout of the land. As we've got it so far, Luigi seems to know what he's talking about. I mean, he's your support after all. He's basically gonna be giving the player the tutorial. The only other way I can think of Luigi knowing more about the MK is if he knew about it before Mario was taken and had visited it before. Either way, it kinda veers from the original, but I really like the idea of Luigi giving you pointers throughout the game. I've never seen Mario as an obese person. Remember, he used to be a carpenter. A gut, yes. Unable to see his feet, no. I also wanted to say that I really like Specter's proposition for getting the characters in the Mushroom Kingdom. I think having a period of time between Pauline's "death" and Mario's appearance in the MK would give Mario's character much more depth. It let's his depression fester; it shows how far he's fallen. He doesn't have to be "on top" in the beginning, but showing a slight downfall might be a good way of making him a sympathetic character. It also makes his mission to save Pauline a personal one. A lot of people wanted him to be a sort of anti-hero and this would work well. He doesn't care about the MK. He doesn't care if Bowser kills everyone. He wants what was taken from him, and he'll go to the greatest of lengths to get her back. About the Luigi knowing more than Mario thing, I said Mario was stuck for a year (I think) in a cross-dimentional teleport. I would cut it down to a month or maybe two weeks though. For Mario not caring about the Toads, I'd say he'd be pissed off for abducting his girlfriend and him. I'm not sure if he would ever realize it was a big misunderstanding or not though. Lastly, great job with the size chart, Bean. I see siluetes (sp?) of characters that aren't on the board yet, (Luigi for instance) so I asume we can be expecting to seem them in the future. Or is my memory just bad? Anyway, I think the cheep-cheeps should be bigger, about the size of the goombas (I imagine them as goombas of the sea). Also, I think the Cloud Mk. VII should be slightly smaller. Lastly, about the pixilation, I think that might work, as Mario might think that his situation sounds like some kind of sick video game. TTFN.
Straziante	Okay, here's the deal: Mario- Doesn't really know where he is or how he got there. All he knows is that there are some mushroom people that are nice, but he's totally annoyed at the fact that he doesn't know what the hell is going on. He encounters Luigi, who seems to know more than he is letting on. The reality hasn't sunk in yet, so he's not convinced that the events in his apartment actually took place. Luigi- He's quite the omniscient character. He knows everything, yet shares very little. He tells Mario that he was asleep for 6 years. This isn't true, but Luigi is playing Mario right into a game-long mind-fuck.
Bean	Specter wrote: Lastly, great job with the size chart, Bean. I see siluetes (sp?) of characters that aren't on the board yet, (Luigi for instance) so I asume we can be expecting to seem them in the future. Or is my memory just bad? Anyway, I think the cheep-cheeps should be bigger, about the size of the goombas (I imagine them as goombas of the sea). Also, I think the Cloud Mk. VII should be slightly smaller. The correct spelling is "silhouette" I believe. Luigi actually is in the forums... somewhere. He's also in my file folder at the group. The Cloud probably should be a little smaller but I was kinda going on the fact that Lakitu would be somewhat the same size as the other koopas. Maybe a little smaller, but still just over human size... in bulkiness, anyway. The cheep cheep was taken from Electronic Samurai's wonderful drawing which showed them as 4 inches. The size I have here is actually bigger than what he was originally thinking. I believe the thought was that they would basically be piranhas of the MK and attack in huge swarms. The goomba was also his, and had four spider-like legs that I liked a lot. I almost put my own goomba in there, but I figured most of what was on there was mine anyway. Heheheh.
Straziante	Bean, I totally forgot to tell you how awesome the size chart was. Sentora and I are brainstorming some ideas at the moment. I'll get him to post them since I'm mega-lazy!

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ghuH Daq Hegh	Are all the drawings complete for either settings or enemies? I'm bored, and not tired.
Straziante	Bean has a nice collection going, and there are a few others with good pics. Background art is dependant on story, and I'm working the script as fast as I can.
ghuH Daq Hegh	Bummer. I'm confused, is this based on ONLY the original mario? Because I think Boney Koopas would be pretty cool for a nice scene with boo (i think you decided to keep him cuz of that cool drawing, but maybe i'm wrong) or any kind of freaky night scene. I don't know though i don't know if it will drift too far away from the original.
Straziante	It's based on, but not so tightly to where we can't flesh things out a bit. We've got a voice actor who is completely kicking ass. Sentora is going upload some WAVs so please give them a listen and let us know what you think! Also, we need a voice for Peach, so round up those young ladies of OCR and find out which ones would be interested!
ghuH Daq Hegh	Will the WAVs be posted here or sent to your email if you've joined the downthepipes group? When will he post?
Straziante	Well, you'll get an email notification when they're up, and I'm sure he'll post here too. EDIT: Probably LATE tonight or tomorrow morning-ish sometime.
NeoS	Hey, does anyone actually read what i wrote a few pages back? About what could be a nice intro to Mario being captured to MK... Oh well. Guess my writing isn't that good.
Citris	Well, I've become intensely interested in this game. Lacking any other skills that would help, I'm thinking maybe I can be the archivist. I'll start downloading this thread later on today for posterity.
guest1304	Whew, just read through all 60 pages and i must commend you all on an excellent idea and execution. The storylines are great, the artwork amazing, and i registered just to let you guys know what an awesome job i feel you're doing. But as long as i'm registered, i might as well give some comment of my own. My mario experience is limited to the original 3 (4 if you include the lost levels) and Mario world, and some of the enemies mentioned here were completely unknown to me (the cola character, for instance). That said, i feel like you guys are missing one of the funnest koopa characters since the hammer brothers. Namely the Boomerang Brothers, especially when paired up, these guys were a nice change from the regular ol' koopa's without immediately bringing in an immensily powerful character. I'm not sure if they appeared in any other versions than SMB3 but i feel they too can have a lot of potential in this game. Another thing you guys might want to think about are "bad" mushrooms, well, even more bad than normal. In the lost levels, apart from the normal red and yellow mushroom, there was also a purple one, which had the exact opposite effect. Not sure if you guys feel inclined to use it, but it never hurts to throw out suggestions. That's all for now, keep up the good work gang!
carra	I have just seen an interesting mario picture. Just go: http://www.rainemu.com/. Oh and pretty good your height chart, Bean. PD: See you next year!!
Dark Monkey	If anyone says they're from LUElinks or GameFAQs, you can thank me for that. Anyway, I think someone brought up the idea of using Drybones (the skeleton koopa troopa) with the boos. I agree that that could be really cool. It would provide some variation in the ghost house.
Citris	I finished downloading the thread. I'll only download a page if it is complete(so I don't have page 60 yet). If you edit a post on a previous page, please tell me so I can re-download it. Also, if anyone needs to find something but is feeling too lazy to go digging for it, just PM me and I will. Obviously give me as much info about what you need as you can so I can find it faster. Having nothing to do with my life has it's perks sometimes.
Straziante	Wow, Citris, that's super awesome of you to do that for us. I appreciate it big time, as I'm sure the rest of the crew does. NeoS, I DID read what you wrote, but it was at like 3am. I'm not sure if you noticed, but there are already 6 scenes of the story completed. Since I am pretty much the main full-time writer, I've already got an overall outline of main events in the story. The entry through the sewer isn't really practical, since Mario and the others would have to be the size of G.I. Joes to fit down the sewer pipes. There are actually political reasons behind the manner of Mario's arrival in the MK. But you'll have to wait until the script makes it that far! Once I'm back home and I get my notebook PC in, the script will come together ten times faster.
Xerol. No, Really.	Anyone noticed the explosive growth of the members of the yahoo group? That deserves a . (Or should that be an ? I'm never sure.)
Citris	Xerol. No, really. wrote: Anyone noticed the explosive growth of the members of the yahoo group? That deserves a . (Or should that be an ? I'm never sure.) Its "an", because its OMG!!! Unless its really ZOMG!!! Then it would be "a".