KHI makes a KH game! Discussion #4: World and Level Design

[quiteMAD]

cassidy- can't see your video, it says it's still processing. D:

Also, I think every world needs a town area: a place filled with NPCs & shops. Player should be buying new keychains instead of just being given them.

This. Or if not a town area, a shop of some sort beside any major save point.

Toy Story=Andy's Neighborhood
Robin Hood=Sherwood Forest (that's what they called it)
Pocahontas=New World

Actually the Disney movie puts more focus on Nottingham than Sherwood Forest, even referring to it as simply "the forest" instead of giving it a name. So I'd call it something based around Nottingham instead.


Anyway, so long as Robin Hood/Sword in the Stone/The Incredibles/Who Framed Roger Rabbit (it's a stretch I know, but I think it'll be a really fun world to explore) are in this, I'll be a happy camper.


I suppose I should also mentioned that it's been more or less heavily approved that the Traverse Town type world in this game will be Legacy City, which is the home of one of the more major characters in the plot- Lucius.

 

[Ordeith]

Well done on all fronts, Cassidy!
If any part of this game is produced--even just a cutscene or two--your theme and design ought to be included.

While it sounds a little calm for a city of that size, your theme sounds absolutely perfect for a safe haven/sanctuary world. It creates a sense of tranquility that makes the proposed invasion even more horrible to imagine. I especially enjoy the use of conga-esque drums and bells in the beat--as well as the reiteration of the melody in a lower octave, making it sound like a combination of piano and bells.

As for the city design itself, I like how it resembles the World That Never Was in a non-threatening way; it seems as though the dark city would have looked like that before the Nobodies occupied it. The street lamps are a nice tie-in to Traverse Town, and the Keyblade fountain is an excellent nod to Sora. (The soft sparkle/light effect was also a nice touch to the video.)

 

[quiteMAD]

Agreed on the song. Very well made. I really wish I could figure out how to use these music softwares. I have some music ideas of my own (fast paced ones), but my brief adventure into MuseScore proved quite fruitless.

As for the city's deign. I was about to say that it's too dark to be Lucius' city. Legacy City should be a city of light, a little more. As was described in the character design thread, the idea of a night sky should sound insane to the residents of this city.
However, I also mentioned that I like the idea of certain parts of the city being shaded on the map, and locked off to you (like in InFamous) until you unlock them through the Disney Worlds. However, I'm thinking...maybe we shouldn't lock them off. Keep them shrouded and darkness, and when you go in that part of town heartless will pop out and attack you. The deeper into the darkness you go, the stronger the heartless. Basically making it impossible to get to Lucius' mansion (the only spot in the city not shrouded in darkness, but still surrounded by it) until you've beaten all the Disney worlds.

Just brainstorming. Still awesome stuff.

 

[disneyfreaksXIII]

HI i havent been on for awhile and this thread is AMAZING already. so ordeith gave me an idea with the world that never was. (I think) one of the big plot points was that lucious wants to create a perfect world void of darkness, but the fab four (as mad has been calling them ;P) defeat him before he can accomplish his goal. but the city is already in ruin because he had already begun the "purge" so because it was stopped midway it became "The World That Never Was"

idk just an idea tell me what you guys think

 

[Hatsu]

cass that is an amazing picture! Are you feeling better, werent u in the hospital???

 

[MATGSY]

So I just watched Black Cauldron & I gotta say, Horned King's bark is way worse than his bite. He didn't have any physical or magical prowess that I saw, just a creepy voice. Nor was he anymore cunning than the usual movie villain shtick. What was he suppose to do again?

 

[king_mickey rule]

So I just watched Black Cauldron & I gotta say, Horned King's bark is way worse than his bite. He didn't have any physical or magical prowess that I saw, just a creepy voice. Nor was he anymore cunning than the usual movie villain shtick. What was he suppose to do again?

I watched it too yesterday out of curiousity and I have to say.. I was kinda disseapointed in him.

Yeah he has a creepy voice and yeah he does look creepy at times but the guy was not that many times on screen to begin with y'know nor did he do something very evilish (except grabbing his assistant by the throat.. yeah, really evil I know). And the way he died was even worse: *push* *gets sucked into the cauldron* 'nooooooo' *dead* ;/.

Maleficent for example was waaaaaay more evil than that guy, just sayin'

EDIT: I hope you feel better cassidy, your legacy city theme is really good, it's different but I like it very much! Also the design is kinda different, reminds me of The World That Never Was, but still like the song very fitting for a KH game. Keep up the good work!

@ Ordeith
About the battle theme for the black cauldron, I still think something's missing. I know there's a fast percussion in it, now that you mentioned it I heard it too but I think that the percussion is too light, too quiet in comparison to the rest of the theme.

If you could make it a little lower (although that's just a detail, if you like a lighter tone, no problem) and make it louder in comparison to the rest of the song. Then I think it should be really good n.n.

 

[quiteMAD]

Yeah the Horned King is poorly represented in his movie. But it was the 80s, what can ya do. We're going to be taking a few creative liberties with him, though. Make him a bit more cunning (i.e. he attacks Legacy City just as a precautionary warning to Lucius not to try and betray him) and more powerful (in his boss fight, he's essentially going to transform into Chernabog). And of course he'll have an awesome death deserving of a true villain in our story. One not as lame as Malificent's in KH. But the Horned King clearly has magic powers. He's a walking ske-....well I don't know what he is, but he's not human. And seeing as he controls an army of goblins and skeletons alike, it's safe to assume he's skilled in dark magic.

Trust me, he's a great villain. His creators just didn't know how to use him right.

 

[riku's_artist7]

^^ suggestion: u think we should have goblin/ skeleton like purebloods as the heartless that attack the city?
I also like ur idea of the shaded parts of LC and the heartless' difficulty gets harder and harder as u reach Lucius's mansion.

 

[king_mickey rule]

Y'know, I listened again to the Legacy City theme and I think this theme should also be used when something sad happened. Y'know like a slower version with a lot of strings playing the light beat of the theme (that starts at 0:08)?

 

[MATGSY]

Yeah the Horned King is poorly represented in his movie. But it was the 80s, what can ya do. We're going to be taking a few creative liberties with him, though. Make him a bit more cunning (i.e. he attacks Legacy City just as a precautionary warning to Lucius not to try and betray him) and more powerful (in his boss fight, he's essentially going to transform into Chernabog). And of course he'll have an awesome death deserving of a true villain in our story. One not as lame as Malificent's in KH. But the Horned King clearly has magic powers. He's a walking ske-....well I don't know what he is, but he's not human. And seeing as he controls an army of goblins and skeletons alike, it's safe to assume he's skilled in dark magic.

Trust me, he's a great villain. His creators just didn't know how to use him right.

A goblin & the skeletons were from the Black Cauldron itself, not of his own power. I still prefer Xanatos as the head Disney villain. There's no need for creative liberties with him, he's already just about the most cunning villain Disney's ever had & a competent fighter to boot.

However in Horned King's defense, I just found out he was actually a final boss in a game before. This could be used for some elements of his bossfight. As for his transformation, his death scene gave an impressive brief shot of him as a skeleton engulfed in flames. Now make that about 20 feet tall & we got ourselves a boss!

 

[DarkRiku-12]

I just thought of this. Have it so when the Horned King turns into Chernabog, he doesn't just "give in to the darkness" like Maleficent did, but he would battle the fab four (or only two of them, whatever works out the best) and he falls in to the black cauldron. The fab four think he's dead and begin to walk away, but then a burst of darkness comes from the cauldron and you have to fight Chernabog.

 

[quiteMAD]

I'd actually imagined it was more of a "I won't let it end like this!" before he calls on the darkness to consume him. With Malificent it was given to her, with the Horned King....he just takes it.

A goblin & the skeletons were from the Black Cauldron itself, not of his own power. I still prefer Xanatos as the head Disney villain. There's no need for creative liberties with him, he's already just about the most cunning villain Disney's ever had & a competent fighter to boot.

...why would you say you dislike that the Horned King has no magic powers, and then say you like Xanatas. I don't even...

It's just that he's only a human. He's a great villain, I loved him in that show too, but without the Gargoyles as a plot device he's little more than a very rich man with some very expensive weaponry.

I'm also not sure about including anything that was a tv show. Again, I watched Gargoyles daily when I was a kid, but KH has always been about the movies. If we start doing tv shows, we'd also have to start considering stuff like Darkwing Duck or
Tale Spin. And then it just starts to get obscure.

However in Horned King's defense, I just found out he was actually a final boss in a game before. This could be used for some elements of his bossfight. As for his transformation, his death scene gave an impressive brief shot of him as a skeleton engulfed in flames. Now make that about 20 feet tall & we got ourselves a boss!

When the Horned King flips onto the ceiling, I actually got big eyed. We should definitely try to incorporate that into his fight.

 

[Wehrmacht]

However in Horned King's defense, I just found out he was actually a final boss in a game before. This could be used for some elements of his bossfight. As for his transformation, his death scene gave an impressive brief shot of him as a skeleton engulfed in flames. Now make that about 20 feet tall & we got ourselves a boss!

That makes me think of Dracula from castlevania with that fireball pattern...

 

[Ordeith]

This tangent probably belongs in the yet-to-be-posted Gameplay thread . . . but I couldn't help making a suggestion:

In the Chronicles of Prydain book series, the Horned King was a human warrior with a horned skull mask, who served as the champion of the Black Cauldron's keeper, a sorcerer named Arawn. Obviously, the two characters were merged for the Disney film, mostly in favor of Arawn--but suppose we draw upon the original Horned King's design for the "transformed" boss fight?

Minus the human flesh tone, this artist's rendition of the Horned King could serve as a basis for his transcended state. Alter the human torso, give him some enhanced magic to use in tandem with his sword, and borrow a few motifs from Chernabog. Viola!

 

[Optimus Rhyme]

I'd be interested to get some conceptual ideas flowing for the main character's home worlds.

Assuming that they're original worlds, is there any basis on the characters so far, or was the #2 thread just visual design? I'd like to take character traits, etc. into account if anything's been determined yet.

 

[Wehrmacht]

This isn't directly related to the project but...after doing some research, I realized the VA for the Horned King (John Hurt) is still alive.

Makes me wish they'd use him in a real KH game so he could reprise his role...

 

[Professor Ven]

Dark, looming worlds;


Why not make 'the Heartless Council' from KH1, only making it with some new faces, maybe, and overall make the plot dark

 

[MATGSY]

...why would you say you dislike that the Horned King has no magic powers, and then say you like Xanatas. I don't even...

I said no physical or magical abilities, Xanatos does have physical abilities, that gives him more immediate gameplay potential.

It's just that he's only a human. He's a great villain, I loved him in that show too, but without the Gargoyles as a plot device he's little more than a very rich man with some very expensive weaponry.

A. His study of the gargoyles means he's into researching ancient magic even if he's not directly using it.
B. His goal, at least stated on wikipedia, is to achieve immortality & will do anything to get it. Obviously Kingdom Hearts itself is something he would have an interest in if it could give him that.
C. The gargoyles' origin story is set 1000 years prior to the show itself. What if in the KH timeline this was during the Keyblade War? The gargoyles themselves would have met keyblade warriors firsthand & have answers to the mysteries of that conflict. Information that could certainly be valuable to the major antagonists.

Also IMO Chernabog is the "alpha heartless" The original dark being that created the purebloods. So unless it's a prequel game, I say nay on anyone becoming him.

I'm also not sure about including anything that was a tv show.

People probably said the same of live action films in the years between KH1 & 2. I say go ahead & branch out some more on Disney properties. There's actually quite a lot of shows I see as viable, either as whole worlds or specific character cameos.

Tale Spin-Not as a full world (conflicts with Jungle Book) but being the Star Fox fanboy I am I want the sky pirates from TS as a gummi ship version of the Star Wolf Team.
Darkwing Duck-Sadly I was never very big into this show as a kid but with a lot of other folks it seems to be the 2nd best show after Gargoyles.
Kim Possible-Never really watched this one either but there does seem to be a following for it's inclusion into KH.
Goof Troop-Max, nuff said.
Quack Pack-Because at some point those 3 ducks need to freaking age already!
Buzz Lightyear of Star Command-Because a Buzz with a working laser & jetpack is infinitely cooler than some toy. Plus the toy wouldn't make sense as a party member that can come along with the main characters to other worlds.
Aladdin TV series-Purely for Mozenrath.
Power Rangers-OK, it's not Disney anymore but for a fan game maybe we can ignore the legalities? I wanna see Gilgamesh appear here & quote his dialogue from FFV Advance: "Its time we fight like men. & women. & women who dress like men. yellow ranger For Gilgamesh its morphing time!"

 

[riku's_artist7]

People probably said the same of live action films in the years between KH1 & 2. I say go ahead & branch out some more on Disney properties. There's actually quite a lot of shows I see as viable, either as whole worlds or specific character cameos.

Tale Spin-Not as a full world (conflicts with Jungle Book) but being the Star Fox fanboy I am I want the sky pirates from TS as a gummi ship version of the Star Wolf Team.
Darkwing Duck-Sadly I was never very big into this show as a kid but with a lot of other folks it seems to be the 2nd best show after Gargoyles.
Kim Possible-Never really watched this one either but there does seem to be a following for it's inclusion into KH.
Goof Troop-Max, nuff said.
Quack Pack-Because at some point those 3 ducks need to freaking age already!
Buzz Lightyear of Star Command-Because a Buzz with a working laser & jetpack is infinitely cooler than some toy. Plus the toy wouldn't make sense as a party member that can come along with the main characters to other worlds.
Aladdin TV series-Purely for Mozenrath/
Power Rangers-OK, it's not Disney anymore but for a fan game maybe we can ignore the legalities? I wanna see Gilgamesh appear here & quote his dialogue from FFV Advance: "Its time we fight like men. & women. & women who dress like men. yellow ranger For Gilgamesh its morphing time!"

the ones in bold are definately ones we should add in the game, especially the goof troop. we were talking in thread #2 about max being a "knight in training" (following in his dad's footsteps so to speak?) as one of the allies but the whole goof troop being in the game is actually very intriguing to me :}
not sure about PR tho o.0 lol