[Challenge/Puzzle][Medium][Hard] The Legend of the White Elephant

[Vegetal Gibber]

The Legend of the White Elephant

Type: Challenge/Puzzle
Size: Medium
Difficulty: Hard (starts easy and gets progressively more difficult)


Story:

Many centuries ago, eight gods forged a pact with the Knytts: their village would be under the gods' protection and shielded from any danger... as long as the sacred beast, the White Elephant, was allowed to live peacefully in the village. But then, one fateful day, the elephant disappeared and the Knytts feared the wrath of the eight gods would bring doom to their beloved village. To save the Knytt Village from the impending catastrophe, Juni has to rescue the White Elephant from the hands of the evil villain "Cubata-Thrower"... a dark sorcerer who plans to use the magical energy of the sacred beast to make himself even more powerful. To do so, Juni will have to explore the land, recover ancient magical artifacts and overcome many traps, until she finally reachs her destination.


Screenshots: (taken from the preview thread)

Spoiler: (click to show/hide)

Notes:

* This level assumes you've played, at least, the Knytt Stories tutorial. If for some bizarre reason, you've not played it yet... well, what are you waiting for?

* All the in-game text was originally in Spanish, so I had to translate it into English before the public release. If the dialogue seems confusing and/or sounds really stupid (when it shouldn't, that is), come back to this thread and bitch about my poor writing  If you report a mistake or suggest a correct replacement for any text line that sounds strange, I'll give you my thanks and a virtual cookie.


Hints: (this contains spoilers for the puzzles -- read it if you're stuck)

Spoiler: (click to show/hide)

* The "action key" (Down) is used often in the puzzles. If you get stuck at a screen and don't know how to proceed, try pressing Down at a fishy spot (there will be usually a subtle hint).

* If you find a certain section of the game to be a trial-and-error fest, you are probably missing a power-up. Backtrack a few screens and search thoroughly.

* The last challenge requires good use of a certain power-up. If you're having trouble at that screen, do not resort to "brute force" and re-think your strategy carefully.

* To access the secret area, you'll need to: a) Find the secret entrance; and b) Find the four colored keys to unlock it. You can do it just after getting the last power-up, but you can also finish the game normally and reload the last save (the game's automatically saved after the last challenge, so you can backtrack and search for the secret area or any missing keys).

Author commentary: (pretty boring, click on spoiler tag to read)

Spoiler: (click to show/hide)

Finally... my first public release  It's been more than 4 months since I started working on this level, which I originally intended to be just a simple joke level for my close friends. As I was learning more about the KS level editor, I started to improve the design little by little and add platforming challenges and puzzles... and then I decided to spend more time on it and make a full adventure to share with the entire KS community. This is my way of repaying the KS level authors for all the good moments I had playing their great adventures

I'm not gonna lie to you and hype this level saying it's an innovative masterpiece or some stupid thing like that. This is my first attempt at designing a KS adventure, and it shows. Many of you may find this level too simplistic and visually mediocre, as I'm not used to making custom tilesets/objects and complex backgrounds. Still, I tried my hardest at making a decent-looking adventure that could be enjoyed by both novice and seasoned players. I included some challenges and puzzles that I've not seen in other KS levels. If you decide to give this level a try, I'm fairly convinced you'll have a nice time playing it (although it's pretty short... you can finish it in 1-2 hours even if you're playing it for the first time).

The story, despite seeming a little too serious, is not (the bad guy's name is a big hint   ). You'll find stupid jokes and absurd references here and there. The truth is, many of the events of this game are actually a parody of some funny episodes of mine and my friend's real life. However, the game is completely playable as is and you don't need to be aware of anything special to be able to enjoy it (but if any of you wants to know more for some bizarre reason... well, I suppose I could explain a bit   )

One more thing: version 0.9 is a beta release. Although it's practically finished, there are still missing details such as the final illustrations (I had to use rough drafts except for the only 3 scenes that are already colored). Seeing that my sister (the artist) won't come back home until July, I decided to not delay the release anymore and upload this beta. When the drawings are finished and I have time to revise the english translation, I'll release a second, final version. Of course, I'd be happy to hear your opinion and any suggestions you want to make. I'll take any feedback into account for the final version (and for other future possible projects).

Having said that... here's the download link for this level. I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed making it

Download link:

Version 1.0

Spoiler: Older versions (click to show/hide)

Version 0.9.1
Spanish version 0.9.1

Walkthrough: See the attached text file. WARNING: Contains cringeworthy jokes and poor English.

[Purple Pineapple]

Yay! Playing now.

[ElMirador]

I'm stucked in Maze of Owl...
Still trying.

[Vegetal Gibber]

Hint for the maze:

Spoiler: (click to show/hide)

The sign at the entrance warns you to not enter the maze without "directions" or a "compass". If you have neither one, check the eastern section of the forest. It may look like a pointless screen, but there's something that should strike you as odd...

[Purple Pineapple]

Spoiler: (click to show/hide)

I suppose the 'compass' would refer to umbrella?

[Vegetal Gibber]

Hint for Purple Pineapple:

Spoiler: (click to show/hide)

Nope... you do need to use the umbrella at a certain screen that you can reach via the maze, but the "compass" refers to another power-up. However, that has nothing to do with said screen... it's actually a different puzzle.

[Purple Pineapple]

Spoiler: (click to show/hide)

Nope... you do need to use the umbrella at a certain screen that you can reach via the maze, but the "compass" refers to another power-up.

Spoiler: (click to show/hide)

I've already reached the umbrella(wind) screen. I was just wondering because I hadn't seen any need for another power-up yet.

[Vegetal Gibber]

It doesn't matter at that point, but it would be a good idea to remember that detail. Try coming back to the maze later to re-explore it and see what happens.

[Mr. Monkey]

why is there lisp in the GD's lair o__________________________________________________o

(maybe this will be explained later)

Spoiler: alsos (click to show/hide)

Also I activated the magical updraft mechanism then tried to go right and I got a void. (EDIT: this was, of course, before I got the detector - the mechanism switch seems to have disappeared and with it the void, now)

EDIT: Also also, I pretty much cheesed (is that a word?) all the spikes with my hologram (is it normal to have the hologram by then or was I just lucky in finding it first?).

• The ordering of challenges in the pagoda leads me to believe I did things properly.

EDIT: Oh man I was in the pagoda and I fell into shiftland, and in an attempt to recover, I tried jumping left, and got a wallswim.

[ElMirador]

Thanks Vegetal Gibber!
I know the directions now~

[Vegetal Gibber]

The LISP code is just a nerdy reference to a team project I did at the university (computer engineering). Basically, instead of writing a lot of separate loops and auxiliary functions to process an array, I just put a beast of a loop nested into the "make-array" sentence... and when my friend was revising the code, he started to panic and freaked out saying things like "OMG OMG loop from hell!!". I decided to put these code lines in the game just for kicks

Spoiler: (for Mr. Monkey) (click to show/hide)

1) Thanks for the info   I'll fix this right away.

2) Yes, it's normal, the hologram is the last power-up you get. I made this level having both novice and expert players in mind. If you know the hologram disables the spikes, well, good for you. If not... though luck   Also, you probably have crossed the spikes before, when you didn't know what to do and lacked the eyeball thingy. But maybe you're right, that part would be too easy if you do it that way. I should replace some of these spikes with a similar trap, like a custom "fixed spike" and a "hurt" invisible object (being a desert, I can't just put happy death juice there )

3) Man, I sure screwed up a lot    I'll check that, thanks for the report.

Oh, and thanks again for allowing me to edit your tileset

ElMirador: you're welcome

[Vegetal Gibber]

I don't think I should make another thread for this, so I'll just update this one: I uploaded a new beta version of the level (0.9.1) and a Spanish version of the game. Both have fixes for the errors reported by Mr. Monkey (thanks a bunch!). If you want to update from a previous version, simply re-install and choose to overwrite the previous directory. Savegames should carry over to the new version.

http://knyttlevels.com/levels/Vegetal%20Gibber%20-%20The%20White%20Elephant%20v0.9.1.knytt.bin

This is going to be my last update on this level until the final version is ready. Unless somebody reports game-breaking bugs and/or really embarrasing mistakes, I'm not gonna upload a new version of this level until we can finish coloring the illustrations and any other incomplete details.

The first post has been edited to add the new download links.

Spoiler: (for users who have played this level) (click to show/hide)

Has anyone managed to find the keys and the secret area? Just curious.

Oh, and thanks for playing my level

[grimwit]

...
...


This

Level

Drives

Me

CRAZY!!!!

GAH!

Spoiler: (click to show/hide)

I beat up the weird dude at the end, and found ALL the keys, but I can't find the end of the game!  So you know what I did?  I cheated!  Yeah!  That's right!  I opened it up with the level editor and cheated!  ARGH!

But that's not the worse of it.  Am I insane?  I could only find the secret ending.

O_O

O_O

O_O

...sorry, I think I lost some brain cells playing this.  Good chalenge, um...until the end there.

[Vegetal Gibber]

Well... with a secret ending like that, I don't blame you if you feel like you've lost brain cells 

But I can't imagine why you would be unable to finish the game the normal way   I've checked that part just now, but it seems to be working fine. Did you...

Spoiler: (click to show/hide)

...walk to the right after beating the "final boss" and touch the glowing orb? That teleports you back to the upper floor of the pagoda. Then, you just have to go right (the screen where you fall and lose your powers is replaced with a normal, solid floor screen) and touch the white elephant.

Also, the screen where you battle the boss should be replaced with an empty screen with two big holes after defeating him. If this didn't happen, then I screwed up royally 

Anyway, thanks for the feedback. I'm sorry if I caused you too much grief with this 

[ElMirador]

What?!

Spoiler: (click to show/hide)

The secret ending?!!
It means....I haven't found ANY key yet?!!
Ohhhhhh nooooooo.......