The Outros

[pcj]

Well........that brings up another question...which ending is the preferred ending and would therefore be used by any following game as a starter point. It seems to me that it would be the longer version, although...

We could do something like anti-ish Star Trek II-III in the ending where Vohaul "dies", where Vohaul is actually Spock and we show him being shot off into space, but he doesn't get very far because Radon's gravitational pull gets it and in SQ8 he's brought back to life by Slash when he uses the Star Generator Mark II on the planet.

[Datadog]

Oooh. I like that one.

Except that the player doesn't know Slash is Sludge's brother unless they actually go through the optional chapter, and the Star Generator generally vaporises things instead of bringing them back from the dead but we could work around that.

How about instead of worrying about starter points, we just make two endings unique to this game and let other fans sort out starter points on their own?

Ending 1: Vohaul dies. Years later, is found on Radon, ala ST3, and brought back to the life, ala the opening of this game, only in a worse body at the hands of a dumber alien race.

Ending 2: Vohaul becomes reformed, makes amends to the planet, saves Furkunz/Ape relations, Roger weds Beatrice, finds out she's got twins, they go home happy together. "Wanna go dig in the mines?" "Sure!"

Both endings are still pretty open with enough closure on their own. And as mentioned before, this is only a copy of Vohaul, so there's probably millions of bad versions out there still waiting to be uploaded into supercomputers to dominate weak-minded species.

[pcj]

the Star Generator generally vaporises things instead of bringing them back from the dead

Actually, we've never seen the Star Generator's true use...it creates stars, much like the Genesis device from Star Trek II/III it spoofs.

How about instead of worrying about starter points, we just make two endings unique to this game and let other fans sort out starter points on their own?

My point was that this is the first time that an SQ game splits into two "acceptable" endings and that one isn't like a "game over" or anything. Not even considering the Canonicity of Fangames argument, a break in the canon is made which would be pretty interesting if done right. Otherwise, we might have games with concepts like that of SQ2x:VM following VSB.

Ending 1: Vohaul dies. Years later, is found on Radon, ala ST3, and brought back to the life, ala the opening of this game, only in a worse body at the hands of a dumber alien race.

Good. Ideas for sample storyboard script:

Roger pulls out the hamster in Room/701.

He decides to not save Vohaul.

Roger and Bea leave, somehow the Aluminum Mallard gets fixed, that's the last we see of them.

The general Forksmith, now freed by the apemen, takes his fallen lord out on one of their shuttles and they shoot him out into space in one of the laundry capsules as seen in the Pod Launch Cutscene. Rodney could be playing "Amazing Grace" on the banjo. The capsule doesn't get very far before one of the two apemen seen throughout the game reports that it has been captured by Radon's gravitational pull. They assume it is burned up in the atmosphere, and we can show it crashed where the Aluminum Mallard was or something.

Fade to years later, where Vohaul is revived by another group of aliens. Upon realizing how even more crappily re-built he is, fade out on:

VOHAUL: "NOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

THE END

Ending 2: Vohaul becomes reformed, makes amends to the planet, saves Furkunz/Ape relations, Roger weds Beatrice, finds out she's got twins, they go home happy together. "Wanna go dig in the mines?" "Sure!"

Sounds good.

[Datadog]

My point was that this is the first time that an SQ game splits into two "acceptable" endings and that one isn't like a "game over" or anything. Not even considering the Canonicity of Fangames argument, a break in the canon is made which would be pretty interesting if done right. Otherwise, we might have games with concepts like that of SQ2x:VM following VSB.

True. I had one fan write to me about M:I-2 asking me if it was all right to make a sequel to my game using the "Bill and Ted" ending as a starter point. I told them they could do whatever they want, but recommended they actually watch "Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure" first before going off on any misguided tangents.

Rodney could be playing "Amazing Grace" on the banjo.

Niceness.

Or "Tequila" on the bagpipes.

The capsule doesn't get very far before one of the two apemen seen throughout the game reports that it has been captured by Radon's gravitational pull.

That's what we keep forgetting to do - add more scenes with these guys.

They assume it is burned up in the atmosphere, and we can show it crashed where the Aluminum Mallard was or something.

It can be the same scene, only covered in foliage years later.

Fade to years later, where Vohaul is revived by another group of aliens. Upon realizing how even more crappily re-built he is, fade out on:

VOHAUL: "NOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Good place for an Episode III reference too.

"Rise... Lord Vohaul...."

He emerges from the smoke and we see he's made of old tin cans and table furniture.

Let's see... he's already had an army of apes, an army of cyborgs... who'd be the most suitable race to serve as his new army?

I keep thinking "sea otters." I gotta get that South Park episode out of my head.

[mjomble]

Hmm, I'm not too fond of the idea of seeing Vohaul rise again in a similar situation.

When I thought of the bad ending in this thread, what I had in mind was some kind of a realisation that Roger & Co. make, like a room full of Vohaul Backup disks and implications that a large number of them have been shipped out and secured, etc. No actual 'new Vohaul' shots, but just the idea that he's definitely not gone.

Or if we do go with the "launched in pod and land on planet" idea (I'd love to see Rodney playing "Amazing Grace" on the banjo, though. Perhaps in a funeral-only scene in case the full idea isn't used), it could at least be a different planet than Radon. If we make it Radon with foliage or Radon with a completely different population, it'd be hinting that thousands or millions of years have passed, and Roger won't be around, so it'll be sort of irrelevant.

[pcj]

When I thought of the bad ending in this thread, what I had in mind was some kind of a realisation that Roger & Co. make, like a room full of Vohaul Backup disks and implications that a large number of them have been shipped out and secured, etc. No actual 'new Vohaul' shots, but just the idea that he's definitely not gone.

Hmm, sounds like the end of Raiders of the Lost Ark with the warehouse idea.

Or if we do go with the "launched in pod and land on planet" idea, it could at least be a different planet than Radon. If we make it Radon with foliage or Radon with a completely different population, it'd be hinting that thousands or millions of years have passed, and Roger won't be around, so it'll be sort of irrelevant.

Good point. Unless Roger crashing to Radon in the Aluminum Mallard and its subsequent removal from the surface opened a fissure which split the ice shell of the planet in two revealing the lush jungle layer below.

[pcj]

and Roger won't be around, so it'll be sort of irrelevant.

Also, it could be one of Roger's descendants.

[Datadog]

Also, Vohaul has been known to time travel.

I kinda like the Raiders idea, except that if there's already a big room full of back-up disks, why didn't the apes bring him back before?

What I like about pcj's ending is that it's more open to reflect the opening of our game with a cruel twist of irony. But the idea of bringing the back-up disk back into the picture might be handy too.

[mjomble]

I kinda like the Raiders idea, except that if there's already a big room full of back-up disks, why didn't the apes bring him back before?

The idea was that after they retrieved the disk in the intro, they immediately started making lots of backups. They weren't there before.

[pcj]

The idea here, though, was to be able to do the "fade out on Vohaul's glowing red eye" thing, and I don't see how you'd be able to do that with the warehouse of Vohaul disks.

[mjomble]

The idea here, though, was to be able to do the "fade out on Vohaul's glowing red eye" thing

It was?

Anyhoo, just suggesting an idea. If more people agree on something different, you can ignore this

[pcj]

Well, one thing is that I like him going bad in the end.

[mjomble]

Well, firstly, that does not necessarily mean fading out on red eye.

And secondly, it was olzen

[pcj]

Beggars can't be choosers.

[olzen]

Okay, that's just stupid, pcj.

But yes, the idea was having the red eye glow in the end.