Add story (cutscenes)

[maxteufel]

Currently, many users get confused by the sudden end of the game, without there being more explanations about Penny. The extro file that was once being played after the castle levels seems to have been removed.

The plan is to add the following cutscenes in the style of "Picnic With Penny", more exactly its revised version from #62:

• Interlude: Yeti
• Outro: Antarctica/Icy Island
• Intro: Forest Island: needs story
• more to be discussed and decided on

Because making exact decisions on a cutscene its hard to impossible, the team should decide on base requirements regarding the story and the design of the cutscenes. @SuperTux/level-designers and other interested parties can then submit cutscene proposals. Submissions will be voted on in separate issues. Since the story of the game needs to be coherent, these decisions should be made one after one (after the votes of the previous cutscene).

This issue serves as a place to develop the general story and it is recommended to subscribe to this thread if you're interested. If you're member of the SuperTux team, feel free to add yourself to the list of assignees. As this is an important part of SuperTux, please only write constructive comments and think about your ideas before posting them. Please do not jump forwards or backwards in the story (forwards: does not make sense if we don't know what happens before, backwards: changing already made decisions is not that good, please keep it in a separate issue). Please explain why your idea should be in the general requirements. Please explain why you don't like another suggestion. Simple statements 'a is good/b is bad', will be removed. Repeat offenders will be banned from the organization. If this issue turns into a flamewar or something similar, it will be locked to contributors only.

Minigames and minibosses are out of the scope of this issue.

Ideas by the previous team, which should be the base for the suggestions, can be found on the old wiki. Relevant pages are:

• http://supertux.lethargik.org/wiki/Milestone_3_Design_Document#Story
• http://supertux.lethargik.org/wiki/Story#Part_II
• http://supertux.lethargik.org/wiki/Cutscenes
• http://supertux.lethargik.org/wiki/Cutscene_Storyboard

The Antarctica Intro parts of these documents are not relavant anymore. The updated intro should be used for the story.

Edit 1 (@maxteufel, 2016-08-19 14:35 UTC+2): Lined out obsolete page on the wiki. Note that minigames/minibosses are out of the scope of this issue.
Edit 2 (@maxteufel, 2016-08-19 14:40 UTC+2): Generalized title of Yeti interlude.

[maxteufel]

My suggestions regarding the end of Antarctica...

Interlude: Yeti

The location of this cutscene is somewhere at the end of Antarctica, probably after the cave area. The player will be able to see the Yeti, but they won't know its relationship to the story yet. Growling and so on could be added using scripts. We don't need this cutscene if the Yeti is introduced in the cutscene "Where is Penny?" after the castle.

Interlude: Where is Penny?

Upon finishing the castle level, Tux will enter an area (balcony?) of the castle. If there is no Yeti interlude, Tux will see it run away (to the "No More Mr. Ice Guy" level; possibly after a short 'conversation'). Otherwise, Tux will just find a letter from Nolok, informing him that Penny is at another castle. Tux could also find a map (i.e. other islands could be hidden on the worldmap before, then a script starts and uncovers these).

The battle between Tux and the Yeti will take place in a location where you can see the castle. However note it is not in the castle.

Outro: Leaving Antarctica...

Tux will somehow see and acquire the ship that can be used to get to the next island.

[Karkus476]

I think the two cutscenes aren't mutually exclusive, because the Yeti could be introduced after the cave (although why would the Yeti be there? What is the Yeti doing?) and then still end up having the 'conversation' with Tux, or Tux could see him running away.

On the old wiki page there was the idea that Tux could jump down to fight the Yeti,

Tux reaches a door at the end of the castle. He opens it and finds himself at a balcony outside the castle walls. An angry roar can be heard in the distance. He jumps down into the yeti battle area. After a short conversation between Tux and the Yeti, the battle starts.

I think this idea is good (a slight adaption to "Interlude: Where is Penny?") because then Tux could meet the Yeti, leaving the castle, and then see the Yeti jump down (off the balcony) and follow after him. (Tux might say "Maybe that monster knows where Nolok has taken Penny!") The battle is therefore not taking place inside the castle.

The Outro is definitely a good idea, but could be postponed until the worlds are merged (see #27)

Those are my thoughts.

[maxteufel]

It looks like we have come to a decision on the second part of Antarctica. Proposals can be submitted on issue #64. Voting will take place there too.

This issue is to be used for discussing Forest cutscenes now.

[maxteufel]

Please make suggestions for the Forest story now (Cc: @SuperTux/core @SuperTux/developers @SuperTux/level-designers).

[Rusty-Box]

Idea for the "origin" of the ghost forest (if we still use the ghost tree):

Nolok could have planted the ghost tree and the ghost tree then could have generated the ghost forest by spreading its roots. That would mean that the size of the ghost forest would show how far the ghost tree has spread its roots.

@maxteufel also suggested: Turning the forest into the ghost forest on the worldmap after finishing the ghost forest transition level.