Vohaul Strikes Back

Well it may not be a brilliant idea, but its an idea nonetheless.

first off, the penguin lair and trap seems a little easy to overcome so i came up with a rough idea to hopefully make it more interesting...

besides giving the penguin the umbrella perhaps the penguin gives Roger a riddle (kinda like the Ridler as another Batman reference). It could involve the little penguins in a choice game.

once past the penguin, the next room is the trap scene...


Roger steps on a plate on the ground where a cage drops on top of him. Penguin enters and says something like "you really think i'll let you go that easily?" He then smacks the sewer wall which opens and reveals a control panel with a lever and holds onto it. There's also a left to right switch (which is switched to the right). Once the lever is pulled, a big vent over Roger will drop a big load of goo onto him, so Roger must act fast if he doesnt want a nasty death.
The aim is for Roger to throw the smarm can at the switch so it flicks to the left. The idea of this is so the the big vent above Roger (which is unseen) will move to the left over the penguin. However, this cant be done so easily, and it must involve talking to the penguin. The Penguin will ask Roger for any last words before he dies. Roger will naturally say "yeah, what does all this have to do with the plot?". But eventually we want Roger to ask Penguin a question he cant resist to answer so that he will yap and yap about how he's the ruler of the underworld. Roger must throw the can at the moment when Penguin is deep in his speech and have his head turned away from Rogers site. If he does it when Penguin sees, he will immediately throw the switch and the narrator will tell you that timing is everything.
So after Roger successfully knocks the switch to the left when Penguin isnt looking, the Penguin will think Roger was throwing the can at him and then furiously yanks on the lever. The penguin looks up, yelps, pulls his little umbrella over his head and watches the goo demolish him.
Now Roger will be stuck, perhaps one of the little penguins who come to carry Penguins body away will walk toward the cage or the panel, look at Roger and say "thanks buddy" and kick the cage/panel which will then release Roger.

Can this be done with a lot less animation involved?

or we can have Roger walk up to every character in the game, hand them something to get past and so on.
i could draw the cage, and that can easily be dropped over Roger. The splash of goo could be drawn like a big yellow verticle tube of liquid gushing down with simple splashes at the bottom that just disappear. The other animations like throwing a can, pulling a lever etc can probably be done in its most simplest form.

I know its do-able, and its also just an idea

Basically everything except the goo has already been drawn, it's just a matter of animating it. And you'd have to create a block anyway. The process wouldn't take too much more effort. I think this works better.

animating the goo is easier than it sounds (and no, im not doing it )
you could go for the South Parkish approach, the more simple and fast the animation is, the most slapstick appeal it has to it.

Is the smarm can the only thing Roger has that he can throw at the switch?

In the Sewers, Roger will have:

Clipboard
Fake moustache
ID (found in the wallet)
Mallard OS Backup (may also not be picked up)
Viewshield Glass (may also not be picked up)
Fortress Plans
Lockpick
Poem Note
Umbrella
Handheld puzzle
Can of Smarm

So yeah, that'd be about it.

originally Roger was meant to shove the can into the trap mechanism.

Pretty good idea. I suggest that we make the Penguin angry because shortly after Roger left, the little paper umbrella fell apart, making the water drip on the Penguin's head again. It seems more logical.

Is the smarm can empty or full?

Empty at this point. It was spilled on Rupert's puzzle in the boot camp.

The whole idea sounds better than what we have so far, but it could perhaps use some work. The bit about the penguin turning his head away I found a little weak, though I haven't got any replacement suggestions yet. Gonna think about it, though.

It would be difficult to knock a switch over with an empty can. I'd sooner throw the clipboard, but even that wouldn't make much sense. Would this solution seem reasonable to a player?

Maybe there's a rock on the ground you can use?

And any chance of a "Look behind you! A three-headed monkey!"-type ruse working on this guy?

Oh yeah, I just remembered that the first time I read the puzzle, I was expecting Roger to jam the vent with the can somehow. But then I forgot about it by the time I got to the end of the thread.

perhaps there could be a skeleton or corpse where the cage will drop onto Roger. He could throw one of its bones.
also, to have the penguin turn his head, Roger could say, "look behind you! a three headed penguin!"