π± Helmut Game
Update 1
Trying to take the sprites and suddenly animate them... Oh I may be onto something here π€
I'm thinking maybe a platformer, so Helmut could climb his favorite ladders while slapping other lads on their butts.
Thank you so much for your ideas, if you got more to add, please share them in the comments below π
Click to read some ideas we got so far!Reading Time: about 2-4 minutes
Plot: The ultimate contortion artifact is kept somewhere in a vast mansion filled with a cast of odd characters, all equally obsessed with extreme flexibility. Many magebois and other bendy folk were greedy to get their hands on the magical artifact but all were sucked in and turned into mere brainwashed servants of the mansion...
Helmut is the most recent pretender, what makes him think he can do it right and not lose his mind and spine in the process? Can he save all his colleagues AND finally retrieve that cursed item that's been a ruin of many a poor bendyboi?
"Do not cross if you like your body in one piece!" Says the warning in front of the evil mansion. "Do not crossdress if you don't like your body in one piece magesuits with a hoodie!" Smirks Helmut as his enchanted legs, immune to cold, dirt and damage (so he doesn't even need shoes), make first steps into the mansion's lobby...
β‘Contortion Energy can be spent to unblock various paths to adventure further, for example:
π‘οΈGuard: patrols an area, can't be challenged directly but there's a small hole/container that can be used as a hideout to bypass them, which costs a certain amount of energy
βοΈDuelist: will let you pass only if you outbend them in a contortion duel, which requires a certain amount of energy and possibly pressing some key combos
πExaminer(s): prove that you're flexible enough to withstand some great amount of stretching, usually it's two partners who push you into an extreme backbend, oversplit, squeeze between their two bodies, etc.. XD (may also require key combos to survive)
π³οΈHole: squeeze through if you can to discover a new area!
π§΄Lotion can be found or purchased, refills the spent energy, but only to a certain limit. The ways to upgrade the limit? Usually by interacting with the characters you meet... maybe they can help you bend better or maybe knot XD
ποΈItems: bring them to the characters who are looking for them and they reward you with an upgrade!
π²Minigames: win some character's minigame, can be as basic as rock-paper-scissors (or an odd version of it), or as complex as a built-in 4096 game!
βοΈCaptives: some people look familiar... Helmut's friends who recently gone missing? Now brainwashed servants in this house of contorterror! Must immediately rescue all of them someday!! XP
-Kada
p.s. And can pick up lotions to refill the hearts maybe, and pick up an actual rubber heart to increase the limit but those should be super rare :D
-Kada
Minigames? Maybe there can be NPCs that can increase your contortion limit if you beat their minigame :P
yuni.us/bendy-crush . Mushed between two guys till he learns the technique to get suuuper soft. Or wins if it is a boss battle. Or you know, passes out from being squeezed. Mash those button combinations till your fingers are as contorted as Helmut!
-Kada
Whoa that's a plenty of ideas, now need to think of the plot and the place... >.> Was thinking some medieval fantasy but just as Helmut is a lewd mage, other characters could be lewd versions of soldiers, elves, gypsies... But probably need to start small like maybe some skyrimish prison where he's caught for misbehaving and a hole he can squeeze through into some small underground ruin to get the basic idea of the game :P
Or maybe like...a giant mansion/estate filled with a cast of odd characters and odder magic. Maniac Mansion mixed with Castlevania. Which a whole metroidvania style could really work.
-Kada
Metroidvania I think is the closest genre as you're collecting powerups to unlock more areas until you reach the final objective. I wonder if it would be interesting to make that maze randomly generated from connected rooms, so the algorithm will connect them in a certain way that is passable. Then I only have to design the separate small rooms and let the algo connect them, instead of working on a big map manually. And the game can also start small and get updated with new content more easily without having to update a whole big map but just adding new types of rooms.
I think metroidvania is so the way to go! Those are always awesome. An always random dungeon does sound interesting, if a bit daunting programming wise. Might explore a roguelite too, like Dead Cells.
All this makes me wonder what a bendy shopkeep would be like. I could see someone like Lichard selling things in a dungeon.
-Kada
Haha, yeah, Lichard selling lotions instead of potions XD I'm always too lazy to buy potions in games but lotions I'd put on my skin any day! :D
So I got this text so far, I think adding some friends he needs to save might be a good idea :3
"The ultimate contortion artifact is kept somewhere in a vast mansion filled with a cast of odd characters, all equally obsessed with extreme flexibility. Many magebois and other bendy folk were greedy to get their hands on the magical artifact but all were sucked in and turned into mere brainwashed servants of the mansion...
Helmut is the most recent pretender, what makes him think he can do it right and not lose his mind and spine in the process? Can he save all his colleagues AND finally retrieve that cursed item that's been a ruin of many a poor bendyboi?
"Do not cross if you like your body in one piece!" Says the warning in front of the evil mansion. "Do not crossdress if you don't like your body in one piece magesuits with a hoodie!" Smirks Helmut as his enchanted legs, immune to cold, dirt and damage (so he doesn't even need shoes), make first steps into the mansion's lobby..."
Lotions instead of potions is really cute. I personally really like potions, especially with the label peeled off so who knows what you get. Might be rejuvinating, might make your spine into a limp noodle. Although, that can be applied to lotions too. Never thought about that. Damn it, now I'm more into lotions than potions. See what you've done? XD
Totally gotta save friends! I mean, why else would anyone assault a mystery mansion. Also I absolutely love the text blurb! I can already build a really killer mental image of the game in my head. The bit about enchanted legs is a neat detail too, barefoot is amazing but not great for long term soft skin if you walk very far.
I really hope this becomes a reality, it has a ton of promise and I've always really dug your game designs. Awesome discussing this, but I gotta hit the hay as I have an early morning at work. I'm in the discord, a little (very) shy in larger groups but love to talk bendy guys, gals and game design. Maybe we can chat again sometime soon, shoot me a text or something.
-Kada
Yup, save friends from getting brainwashed by the dark side propaganda and rob the evil tyrant of his hard earned treasures, because that's what good guys do :D
I put the ideas in the description of this pic, thank you so much for suggesting them! I'm usually better at improving ideas than creating them, so it helped a lot and I think it sounds pretty solid already! And I think a mansion is a great idea as it can contain some classical paintings and sculptures, maids in corsets and other fancy things XD
imgur.com/a/h43SS6I
He's open to any kind of deal XD...
And yes, Helmut thinks he escaped from Alfold's clutches but they will meet again!.. ;D
Hope you don't mind if I made some other fellas in that style XD...
I'm still thinking about the main villain and the mansion, and how things should look, so any ideas help but a picture is worth a thousand words :D
Just thought... maybe the villain worships Celestials as gods, sacrificing the best fellas to become human furniture XD They hypnotize and brainwash the best contortionists, who think they're in this place to get ultimately bendy but the real result is they get sacrificed to the aliens as the final stage, ironically becoming ultimately bendy XD That adds the final stage on the Celestial spaceship of course... ;P
So this would keep the mystic/magic/mystery aspect of the mansion, as this was owned by the old master for a place to practice all his secret arts...
But I love the idea of using the celestials. Perhaps Helmut could find one of them in a secret chamber in which the master has some specimens, to extract some fluids for his "flexibility research" XD...
Hmm, mansion owned by his old master? So it belongs to Stefano now to practice dark arts, hmm that definitely sounds like a great idea! :D And I can see him go around the world, hypnotizing bendy guys to join him, promising riches, they join him happily after he demonstrates what he can do... Then get sucked into the witchboi's world... ;D
Also that confirms the idea I can add classical paintings and sculptures on the walls, candelabrums in the form of folded cherubs, etc XD
The Celestial chamber sounds great, perhaps captured by Stefano for experiments, trying to replicate the Celestial technology XD
imgur.com/a/3YuiJwE
I'm working on Stefano... hope to finish him soon XD...
I'm thinking he looks kinda like a bendy mension's buttler XD
Also an idea, Ruby could have two forms, first as Roberto (just a suspicious fella) then the more advanced gummy version ;D
I think he looks as a witch boy XD, and one quite committed into reach the level of his old master... even if that implies to make a lot of flexible experiments in many, many sexy boys... XD, also turning them into servants; maids, backguards, pets XP... even some living statues...
I also made Ruby imgur.com/a/tnItFmz ... I like the idea of having him a Roberto first, perhaps as some guy Helmut find before entering the mansion, Now he has vague memories and he's quite devoted to his new owner, but due his naiveness Helmut could deceive him in order to have success in his mission XD...
For Alfie, well, I imagine him more like some kind of merchant, as heΒ΄s perhaps inmune to Stefano hypnosis, primarily because his greed XP. So as he wants to make business with anyone, he arrived in the mansion to close some deals with Stefano, but also he could give Helmut assistance... XD
For now I found a good game engine for the game and was testing it :3
-tbj
Sorry for the delay, I was working on some challenges for Helmut.... in this case both sexy fellas with some combat training XP...
imgur.com/a/IztYcdv
imgur.com/a/lgjGaUI ...
I was swamped by the great amount of work so was not able to continue animating yet or even replying to comments until now, but I'm looking forward to a few free days to make some progress with the game!
I made some minor changes, mostly in the proportions and in the eyes... but also a more substantial mod imgur.com/a/u7kYFFW .. to make them more suitable for the mansion, the trio for Stefano's personal entertainment XD...
I love the idea of human Roberto, and I think I could have it done in the weekend... XD
Hope you'll try the human Roberto as he is a cutie and likes to take good care of his bulge...let's put it that way XP