Game:Wandering Hamster/development

License Change

Complete. Wandering Hamster is now licensed as under the GPL. (Older versions were freeware, with no permission to redistribute modified copies.)

How Can I Help?

Right now, I need help in the following areas:

Bug spotting

If you see any bugs or have suggestions for improving things, you can add notes to the Bugs page.

Music & Sound

All of the GPL-incompatible songs have already been replaced, but a few songs could do with improvement. See Soundtrack

Also, I (and every other OHR game author too) will need a lot of help making nice-sounding attack Sound Effects. Many attacks in Wandering Hamster currently lack sound effects entirely.

Graphics Improvements

I am happy with most of the pixel-art in Wandering Hamster, but many of the sprites and tiles do leave some room for improvement. I welcome any artwork that anyone is willing to volunteer. I think the battle backdrops probably need the most work.

Proofreading

I used to have this irrational hatred of apostrophes. I have fixed most of the missing apostrophes, but a few might still lurk. Any textbox spelling fixes would be most appreciated. You can note spelling mistakes on the Bugs page.

Enemy Gimmicks

Hopefully the battles in Wandering Hamster are less boring than before. When possible I like to have Gimmicks for enemies.

I am not sure about all of these ideas. Many of them are probably more trouble than they are worth, but I am leaving them here anyway.

Enemy	Gimmick Idea	Feasibility
Plip	One-hit-kill rewards you with plip-slop. Take it to the Plip Tamer's house for a mini-game.	Could probably do this now with counterattacks and transmog.
Chum Bug	(Chum Bug==Cabbage Beetle) Reduce cabbage beetle HP. Add cabbage non-enemies to formations. When fatally hit, Beetles take a bite of cabbage to restore life rather than dying. Destroy cabbages to make the beetles killable.	Probably better as a new enemy-type
Broaste's Guards	Lots of water-elemental-related rust effects on armor and weapons	Done
SeedSpitter	Seedling spawning is already a good enough gimmick	Done
Seedling	Might be interesting if a seedling with no SeedSpitter present could take root and grow.	Done
Lode Rat
Pavender	I see these as elusive. Maybe they could appear in formations with other enemies. They would not count for winning, and could hide themselves, then re-appear briefly to do an attack before hiding again. Like they dive under the surface of the water. Killing one (and getting its rewards) would require lucky/tricky timing.	Maybe better as a new enemy type
Monkeymagi	Currently only attack and erode your MP. Should also cast magical buffs on one another. Buffs that change a single-use elemental attack would be cool. A transmogrification that temporarily turns a Monkeymagi into a Monkeybrawler would be cool	Done
Uberplip	Already has gimmick of breaking into three... and that is good enough!	Done
Zombie	Already has gimmick of respawning if not killed by magic. Maybe needs more? Needs a spawning feature to spawn-on-death in its own slot, so it could co-exist with other monsters in a formation.
Jumping Knight	Has Jump gimmick. Can rust boots so that Jumping hurts itself	Done
Guardian	Make his shield more effective. Should be able to destroy his shield. Rust it with bubble, break it with a physical attack.	Done
Evil Knight/Helm	Killing the body first should cause the head to magically explode. Killing the head first should cause the body to get a massive speed boost, a big accuracy loss, and enough poison damage to self destruct shortly.	On-death counterattacks, and attacks that only target specific enemy IDs.
Archer	His arrows automatically pick up an elemental buff if you hit him with an elemental attack. Maybe make them capable of buffing one another in this way too (Fire arrow, Bolt Arrow, Bubble Arrow?)	Meh, doesn't seem worth bothering with
Myrmidon (non-boss)
Mimic	Should be able to change temporarily change itself to look like you and mimic some of your attacks (not fully become a hero, just change into an enemy drawn to look like a hero)	Maybe better for a new enemy-type
Horror	Currently a clone of Zombie. Should still have only-magic-kills rules, but should also grow bigger and more dangerous the longer you go without killing it	Can be fixed with self-transmogrify
Imprawn	Should be floating (add shadow). Not targetable by certain attacks. Other attacks knock it to the ground and make it targetable.	Need battler state bitsets, and targeting rules that respect them.
Shrike
Lefty
Stone Goblin
Troll Fraternity
Heavy Guard
Tetra Knight	Grows/loses arms	Done
Arch Guardian	Already has attack-up-defense-down gimmick. Is okay
Loyalist	Helmet rusts, breaks, runs away when hit-- effectively a 2-hit instakill for bubble attacks	Done
Tickula	Already has gimmick of only attacking targets that have already attacked it. Should make this clearer. Targetless Tickula should do something cute and/or harmless. When hit, tickula should do something that exposes his current target set
Mugboar	Currently can randomly attack enemies also (foil for Tickula). Maybe there should be a way to intentionally confuse Mugboar?
Red Plip	Water (or bubble) magic should turn it into a mud-plip (which would be flammable)	Done
Hermit Toad	Hides from physical attacks inside shell	Done
Opossum Slayer	Not agressive unless you attack first, runs away after a couple rounds.	Done
Knilb Dog	Already has poison gimmick, is okay.
Netherwog
Rhinoctopus	Already has blinding ink gimmick, needs better rebalancing
Tiger Plip
Moggycellular	Should float like Imprawn. Maybe should be able to divide self?
Vampire Cell	Should use drain attacks more vigorously than it does now. If HP reaches max, should divide, each half getting 50% HP	Spawning improvements, AI improvements.
Wild Mersheep
Eyeless Shark	Maybe a "chum" item that can be used to make it attack other enemies (same as the Lode Rat idea)
Any other ideas?

Boss	Gimmick Idea	Feasibility
Broaste (1)
Myrmidon Mini-boss
Broaste (2)	Hasim is the gimmick of this battle.	Done
Alpha-Omega Troll	Already has form changing.	Done
Broaste Ghost	Already requires the Teddy Bear to win.	Done
Jormungandling	Already has Tied-up-Bob, doesn't need any more gimmicking.	Done
Snakespleen	Already has pulp spawning.	Done
Strange Man	Wooden mask is weak to fire, falls off after a while	Done
Snake Uvula	Summons Snake Tongue when hit with physical attacks. Tongue can Ensnare you, and retreats after just one hit	Done

Special Enemy	Gimmick Idea	Feasibility
Plip Tamer & Tame Plips	Add more battles to teach about some of the other enemies gimmicks
Fraidy-Plip	Currently instantly runs away. Shouldn't run away unless you make a move. There should be a special sequence of attacks that will not scare it away, and will instead purge it's fear and unlock a secret boss
Stress Cat
Rausnarr	Possible criminal proceedings for beating him up and robbing his house?	Already doable
Meumei	Make her much harder, losing should not be a game-over event. Triggers a humiliation sequence? Win either by getting really strong, or by finding catnip somewhere to cheat with.	Already doable

Plot Plans

Spoiler Alert! This article reveals secrets, and reading it might deprive you of the joy of discovering those secrets for yourself. If you like surprises, you may want to stop reading now!

The parts of the plot outline below that continue beyond the currently implemented content should just be considered as James's brainstorming area. Unimplemented ideas might be dropped, changed, or replaced, you never know!

• Introduction
  • Introduce the conflict at Hasim's castle - Some of this artwork needs work.
  • Introduce Bob
• Flanat Area
  • Sidequest: practice battles - Perhaps the battles could be replaced by a short venture into a small Plip Garden mini-dungeon
  • Explore Flanat
  • Introduce Misa
  • Learn you have to Beat Broaste
  • Shortcut: Friar Harvey's Cart
• Dungeon: Flanat Castle Main Hall
  • Boss: Broaste
• Mission: Rescue Hasim
  • Dungeon: Flanat Castle Tower
    • Sidequest: Rescue Dusty
    • Find Hasim
    • Boss: Broaste (2)
  • Reward: Access to Flanat Castle Basement
• Flanat Castle Basement
  • Choice of reward
• Behind Flanat Castle
  • Cactus Sighting #1
  • Shortcut: Outhouse Warp-hole
  • Mission: Cross Mountain
  • Sidequest: Take Dusty Home
• Dungeon: Troll Mountain
  • Cactus Sighting #2
  • Boss: Omega Troll
  • Shortcut: Rock Owl - only appears after you have ventured into Castle Broaste
• Sidequest: Early visit to Ixnekolan
• Dungeon: Broaste's Castle
  • Learn of Broaste Ghost Curse
  • Find Disguise (Myrmidon Suit)
  • Find Teddy Bear
  • Boss: Broaste Ghost
• Misa Takes Castle
• Mission: Help Skeppio and Rathmara
  • Dungeon: Gallopeg Forest
    • Boss: Jormungandling (Unbeatable)
      • Sidequest: Beat Jormungandling This is very difficult but possible, get rewards for later when Skeppio and Rathmara will rejoin the party
    • Bob gets swallowed
• Dungeon: Jormungand's Belly
  • Miniboss: Snake Spleen
  • Minigame: Serpent Greens Putting Range (Mini-golf)
  • Find Gisli the Viking
  • Boss: Uvula
  • Escape the Snake
• Dungeon: Kelp Reef - Bob and Gisli will have an oxygen limit. They must swim from air-bubble to air-bubble to replenish their air. Running out will not make you die, but it will set send you back and make you try again.
  • Mer-Sheep Village - A small village to refuel and resupply and enjoy some mer-sheep related humor
• Mission: Steal the Pirate Ship
  • Dungeon: Pirate Ship - A small battle-intensive dungeon
  • Boss: Pirate Penguin Captain
  • Vehicle: Ship
• Freedom of Movement - I'm not sure exactly how much freedom of movement I will give the player here, but I do want some new content to appear in old locations here.
  • CURRENT VERSION ENDS HERE
  • Something new in Flanat
  • Something new at the Plip Tamer's - or maybe in the Plip Gardens?
  • Something if you visit Lord Hasim
  • Something new if you visit Dusty
  • Signs of Misa's Madness - Misa is starting to act very strangely. Nothing bad yet... just strange
    • Another Cactus Sighting
  • Something new in Ixnekolan - I don't think I want Bob confronting Skeppio and Rathmara just yet, but getting to talk smack about them to all the other cats in Ixnekolan seems like fun
• Havoc
  • New Continent - A new easy-to-find continent with an easy-to-find town
  • Unamed Town
  • Introduce Havoc - Havoc is loosely based on my Real-Life friend Matt Boggs. He has been patiently waiting to be in the game for 15 years and has probably forgotten about it by now ;) . I need to finish re-drawing his sprites to turn him into an bear.
    • Unable to Leave - Ship gets sabotaged? Gisli gets drunk? I dunno yet.
    • Ask Misa For Help - Bob will send messages to Misa (maybe using a fantasy version of the internet powered by CPIP) asking for help. Misa's response will be distinctly unhelpful.
    • Mission: Raise money to fix the ship - Or to post bail for Gisli?
• Culinary Duel to the Death
  • Introduce Lord Pxargo, and his culinary Challenge - Lord Pxargo, AKA Chef Pxargo is the pompous ruler of the local castle, and the self-proclaimed Greatest Chef Alive. Beating him will provide enough prize money to fix the ship, losing will result in shame or possibly death (Trivia: Lord Pxargo appears in Spitwars as Sir Chef)
  • Bob Fails - Bob can't cook, and makes an embarrassing mess, and barely escapes with his life
  • Havoc Offers - Havoc reveals that he has a secret love of cooking, and offers to try to beat chef Pxargo
  • Mission: Collect Ingredients - A monster-hunting quest. Havoc needs the very best ingredients to beat Pxargo. I'm not sure how many ingredients there will be, but for each ingredient, there will be at least:
    • Inadequate - Havoc will not accept it, and send you back
    • Good - Need at least this to proceed
    • Extraordinary - Will be difficult to get or require extra effort
  • The Culinary Battle - If you only collected "Good" ingredients, you will end up having to sabotage Pxargo, and fight your way out with the prize money. If you collect at least one extraordinary ingredient, the cook-off will go differently, and you will win. Multiple extraordinary ingredients will give you extra rewards (up to and including new battle skills for Havoc)
• Sidequest: Confront the Cats - I think at this point, I think I will let you meet Skeppio and Rathmara again, and either beat them up, or forgive them, with differing results.
• The Madness of Lord Misa
  • Misa is attacking Castle Flanat! - History is repeating itself, and Lord Hasim's kingdom is once again under attack
  • Unsuccessful defense of Castle Flanat
  • Boss: ???? - Some kind of wooden robot war machine maybe? I dunno.
  • Flanat Village Enslaved - And your characters too
• Escape from the Mines
  • Dungeon: Waffle Mines - Misa puts the citizens of Flanat (and you) to work in mines under Flanat Castle. Really strange mines. Why are there fresh buttered waffles burried in the ground? (I'm making this up as I go. I think I might be hungry)
  • Help From a Friend - If you helped Dusty before, and took him home, he will help you out now
• Mission: Get the Hot Air Balloon - Hasim sends you to the 45° City to ask for help. To get there, you need an airship.
  • Some Kind of dungeon maybe?
  • Vehicle: Hot Air Balloon
• More Freedom of Movement
  • Trouble in Misaland - And more clues as to the origin of his madness
    • More Cactus Sightings - Hint Hint Hint
  • Trouble in Ixnekolan
  • Trouble in Havocs Not-yet-named Town
  • Trouble in Mer-Sheep Town
  • Maybe some side quests
• Dungeon: 45° City - A floating City in the clouds, so named because its floating mechanism never has worked quite right. It is tilted over on its side. I might use some walking-plotscript magic to make your movement slanted, if it isn't too much of a pain to do so.
  • Some Kind of Boss
  • Introduce King ??? - That's not his name, I just haven't picked out a name I really like yet. He is a disembodied head in a jar with robotic arms and legs (treads?)
• Showdown with Lord Misa
  • Boss: Lord Misa' - With frighteningly enhanced bubble-mage powers
  • Evil Potted Cactus Revealed - The King knows how to break curses and exorcise possessions, and he reveals the Cactus Demon who was manipulating Misa (and Broaste before her) to acquire the terrible and awesome power (the butter in the waffles) hidden beneath Castle Flanat, for the purpose of aiding its grand evil cactusey scheme to poke every living thing on earth
• Final Chapter
  • Access to all available playable characters
  • Chance to go back and finish side-quests
  • Dungeon: Double Nightmare Terra-Cotta Cactus Hell - Or something like that...
    • Boss: Evil Potted Cactus
    • Final Boss: First Decorative Desert Plant of The Apocalypse - Obligatory One-Winged-Angel-esque mega-transformation
• Ending