Thematic Guideline

Something this game seems to be missing since most of its development time was a thematic guideline and a clarification of such. This page is meant to fix some of those issues by laying down the main idea and concept for design and world/level themes etc. for further development on the game's main story.

If you would like to contribute to help finish the main game, we highly recommend reading through this document!

Contents

1. World Themes
2. Worldmap Design
3. Level Design
4. Boss Fights
5. Story Motives
6. Overall Gameplay

World Themes

The game's world themes are chosen to be diverse in terms of overall appearance, climate and gameplay elements. From the cold antarctic landscapes to the lukewarm forests to the tropical beaches of a distant jungle, we want Tux's journey to feature as much design variety as possible.

The first world, Icy Island, serves as the basic introduction into the game's core mechanics. Rooted Forest, the game's second world will introduce more complex and puzzle oriented elements. The third world, Tropical Paradise, is set to lay a huge focus on Tux's swimming ability and take full advantage of it with more unique obstacles and challenges. The fourth and final world, Nolok's Mountain Peak, will combine all elements of each world but in an even more challenging way and with its own unique spin. It will also feature more mechanical elements, like a bomb factory or mechanical badguys.

Worldmap Design

Similar to how a world's theme is chosen, each world is supposed to have its own unique worldmap design and structure.

Icy Island is an antarctic island thus being designed to look like an island. Rooted Forest, unlike the game's first world, is not an island but part of a large landmass. In order to not have it be too big however, the game only takes place on the southern part of the forest. Despite being island based again, Tropical Paradise's uniqueness stems from the fact that it is the only world that features multiple small isles rather than one big island. Nolok's Mountain Peak compared to all other worlds is very small and takes place primarily inside a large fortress located on a snowy mountain peak above the clouds.

Level Design

A detailed guideline on level making can be read here.

Boss Fights

The game is set to feature five boss enemies in total. Each boss has five lives in story mode and activates Pinch Mode when on their last two lives. In Pinch Mode, bosses get new and more powerful attacks which are much harder to avoid.

All boss fights are meant to vary in how they are fought and how they behave.

• The Yeti, the boss of Icy Island, behaves like a more traditional, straightforward boss. He runs back and forth in a level and attacks upon reaching one side of the arena. Avoid his attacks and jump on his head. Simple.

• The fight against the Ghost Tree, the boss of Rooted Forest, will be more round based. Tux can only attack them during a certain attack once whereas the Yeti can be attacked multiple times in between attacks and even during his attacks (if skilled enough).

• The boss fight of Tropical Paradise against Toucan and Master Totem is unique in the way that Tux must fight two separate boss enemies at once (however they can also function separate from one another). Toucan attacks the player from high up while granting a chance for a counter attack every once and awhile. Master Totem, in the meantime, will attempt to hurt Tux with varying attacks, serving as an additional obstacle during the Toucan fight. Its attacks are depended on their amount of lives!

• Nolok is the final boss of the game and is going to appear in Nolok's Mountain Peak. It is yet not confirmed how his boss fight is going to function. Either Nolok uses a combination of attacks based on past boss fights and his own unique attacks or Nolok only uses a unique moveset of his own.

Story Motives

Since this game is oriented primarily towards younger players, the story of the game is set to not be too deep and complex for a simple platformer. Thus, we will not include heavy exploration of deep, emotional or dark themes!

The story is meant to be lighthearted first and foremost. For more insight on the game's current storyline, go here.

Overall Gameplay

This section must yet be discussed in more detail but there are certain aspects and questions to consider.

• Are we going to have item shops? Is SuperTux "RPG" enough for this? Or do we stick more to platformer?

"I don't really mind, I would prefer not since I hardly see it fit but I've had stronger opinions in my life" - Semphris

"My only true point for a shop or similar is that the coins need some sort of purpose. If not level bonuses, maybe hints for the NOLOK-keys or other hints, unlockables maybe?" - RustyBox

• Is Tux a Ninja? Should he have a dash move? Or is he less mobile?

"SuperTux should remain simple in gameplay. Tux is a fat penguin, and although he should factually be mobile (because it's a platformer), his moveset shouldn't make him look skilled in movement (aka, no ninja moves)" - Semphris

"I agree. The most "complex and fast mobility should come from penguin based actions (i.e. swimming, sliding). To be fair wall-jumping is more of a grey area here but it makes sense for more interesting vertical level design I'd say." - RustyBox

• Is weaponry allowed? To which extent? Are swords good? How realistic can the violence in the game become?

"no, no weaponry at all, for tons of reasons. Yougner audience, cartoon violence, unmatching spirit of Tux being non-violent (not even Noloks hits anyone). All violence should be as unrealistic as possible. Spitting fire bullets and melting snow isn't that bad. Killing enemies with swords and blades is waaaaay too realistic. Seeing enemies burn very briefly, with no pain sound, would be a bit off-limits, but not enough to be worth complaining about imo." - Semphris

"100% agree. You may count the new ghost tree death animation too violent? I mean its face explodes into small pieces leaving behind an empty husk and all its branches plus roots break apart. Though due to the more eerie nature of the corrupted forest this might get a pass." - RustyBox

Category:Design